V1C5

The story unfolds on a vast medieval Western magic continent. In this age of expansion and aggression, money rules everything and conspiracies loom over the entire continent like dark clouds. Magic th

The news that Draddy was coming back was not something for Edwards to celebrate. Kellar had told him long ago that when Draddy returned, that was when Edwards would be put to the test. In fact, Edwards wasn't mentally prepared to be an accomplice to a fraud yet.

When halfway through breakfast, Draddy suddenly walked in through the door, most people looked quite happy to see Draddy's return, and Edward had to join everyone else to express his "joy". Soon, Edward knew why Draddy was so well liked.

Draddy gave each of them a gift.

The butler was given a very nice black-trimmed silk bowler hat, which he had wanted for a long time to go with his black silk-collared gown, and he had a nice pair of pants and a pair of leather shoes that Mr. Hyde had given him on his birthday, and all that was needed was a bowler hat like this to complete the gown.

The housekeeper was given a silk scarf, the kind often worn by noble ladies, but the color was slightly worse than that, Edwards estimated, or full of expensive.

Mr. Hyde's gift is a cane carved from walnut, although not worth a few dollars, but, the carving is extremely fine, the grip above the head of the lamb and a circle of maple leaves in the middle vivid, in addition to not too much decoration, the cane is not painted or gold, purely a common elderly use of carved cane.

Mr. Hyde was extremely satisfied with the simple and delicate carving, and indeed it was an interesting gift for a man like him who was used to seeing exotic treasures.

"Where did you buy it?" Mr. Hyde asked.

"Bought it from a shepherd in Piton for five coppers." Draddy said.

"Great stuff. It's been many years since I've seen such superb carving workmanship. It's a pity the shepherd was in Pittston; if he had been in the capital, in Cherbourg, or in Southport, he would have made his fortune long ago." Mr. Hyde sighed.

"If in these places you say, the shepherd may not be able to carve such a fine cane, an inferior piece of work painted, and then affixed with gold, does not also become a cane in the hands of anyone who does not lose decency? How can people still pay attention to whether the carving is exquisite?" Draddy said.

"Not bad, not bad, you are talking now, more and more philosophical." Mr. Hyde nodded his head and laughed repeatedly.

Except for Mr. Hyde's gift, which was just a cheap handicraft, everyone else got their hands on something that was more expensive and had been envied for a long time, but could not afford to buy.

What Edouard got was a model of a sailing ship. It was a Westbay galleon, which could often be seen in Southport.

The ship's hull is carved out of a single block of pine, the sides of the ship, the portholes, the barn at the stern, the handrails on the deck, and the rudder are all carefully carved out.

The sails were made of white silk, and the cables and various halyard ropes seemed to be made of cotton thread, which was stained with gold paint.

The whole ship was decorated with colorful paint, shining beautifully. Edward saw the same model of a sailing ship when he was in Southport, and although he loved it, the price made him not even think about it.

Before that model was bought, Edwards went to look at it almost every day. He envied it for a whole summer. Without thinking, Draddy gave him such an expensive gift. Edwards was so excited that he forgot to even say thank you.

"I know you like sailboats, and I just saw this model for sale inside the store, so I bought it. I didn't expect that a poor place like Piton would have such an exquisite model of a sailboat." Draddy said.

Edwards then realized that he was greatly rude, if it was the usual class, such a big mistake, can only get a result, that is, the a*s immediately received a hot a teaching whip, and then in the evening before going to bed also have to tell the side of their day had what mistakes, while to determine how much punishment they should suffer. Less, the punishment will be doubled; more, Drady will not be kind enough to remind themselves. Thinking of this, Edouard quickly and sincerely thanked.

"Sir, how did Edwardian study while I was away?" Apparently not caring about the otherwise extremely bad blunder, Draddy turned to Mr. Hyde and inquired.

"Quite good, in my opinion, for a little kid his age, living in Frans, his Western Bay language is good enough." Mr. Hyde said.

The servants, each with their own satisfactory gifts, returned happily to their respective posts, and the housekeeper quickly took out from the kitchen a plate of sizzling dry-fried leg of lamb, which was originally prepared for Draddy.

Kellar never came inside the living room to eat, Mr. Hyde had a bad appetite and did not like to eat greasy things, and Edward had his own extremely strict recipe for messy food, which used to be one of the main reasons for making his a*s suffer.

The breakfast time was extended. After a long and tiring journey, Draddy was obviously really a little hungry.

At Mr. Hyde's table is never a conversation, Edwards does not know, this is to make their own habits, or is the original is this, when the previous and Aunt Betty together, mealtime is always the most lively.

When they had filled their stomachs, Mr. Hyde and Draddy returned to the lounge, and the butler went to prepare strong tea as instructed, apparently Mr. Hyde and Draddy were going to have a long talk. Edwards had nothing to do and ran off to the backyard alone to practice shooting.

The backyard was originally a lush green lawn, in the middle of which a marble hall was built, with a table and a few reclining chairs inside. This was originally a rather relaxing place, but the autumn wind blew a chill, so it became the place where the crowd had to stop.

Kailer looked at the place, he placed several targets on the lawn, far away from the hall 70 or 80 meters, and close to 20 or 30 meters. On the table in the middle of the hall, there was a box full of crossbows and arrows. Those crossbow arrows are specially made, only four inches long, the head is made of fine steel, three rash-shaped extremely sharp, close range and even able to penetrate the armor.

Edwards picked up three crossbow arrows from the box, three in a row is the only shooting skills he is still not too pure, three arrows always have a big deviation, within 30 meters can still hit the target, and then a little farther will inevitably be shot outside the target to go.

Edwards practiced on his own, probably because he had something on his mind, the results of the day was not good, the whole afternoon, not even a shot on the bull's-eye. Just when Edwards gradually feel some boring, the butler greeted him from afar to go back to the house.

Mr. Hyde and Draddy are apparently done talking.

Entering the lounge, a strong smell of tea came to the nose, Edwards had heard that this drink was passed down from Thor, it originated further east, probably the country of Chine, where Mr. Hyde had visited. Even in Tor does not produce this drink, can be shipped to Frans that is even less, so the tea has become a drink that only few people can afford to enjoy.

Edwards had tasted it once, it didn't taste very good, and if he was given a free choice, he would rather drink milk. Mr. Hyde and Draddy both enjoyed tea, but only when there were important matters to discuss, Mr. Hyde would ask the butler to prepare this drink.

"You sit down." Mr. Hyde commanded.

Edwards carefully obeyed Hyde's orders. The thickly laid animal fur, warm and soft, in the autumn windy days inside, sitting on such a chair, the body nestled into the expensive fur, there is no more comfortable than this. Because of this, Edwards gradually settled down.

"You've been here for four months now, and you've learned everything you need to be taught, and for that Mr. Hyde and I are quite satisfied, but just because you've been able to learn the lessons we've taught you doesn't mean you're really up to the role you're about to take on, you'll have to try it out to find out." Draddy said.

Said Drady took out an invitation, the highest kind of invitation, the outside of the cover wrapped in bright yellow silk, with a hand of extremely neat decorative body writing the content of the invitation.

On the back of the invitation was painted with a noble coat of arms - a shield and two flowers Edward's knowledge of heraldry was not enough for him to see at a glance from which branch of the kingdom the origin of the coat of arms came, only to know that there had been a frontier official in that family, so the coat of arms was placed on a shield.

But, God knows which family it would be? In Frans even a nobleman who had been the lord of a small city like Lae was able to add a shield mark to his family's coat of arms by any means possible, and this kind of coat of arms was too widespread in Frans.

"Baron Lonar of Piton will hold a grand ball the day after tomorrow to celebrate his beautiful twenty-year marriage, and he has invited all the nobles he can afford." Draddy said.

He handed the invitation to Edouard. Gently opening the invitation, Edouard first paid attention to the line at the bottom: "The Bailiff of Piton, His Majesty's faithful servant, Baron Lonna Beltmore Dench respectfully requests Lord Cadwellet Egret Hyde ......"

"Lord Kevi'elle Egret Hyde?" Edouard recited the name in confusion, was this his new identity?

"Any questions?" Draddy asked.

"Is this my new identity?" Edvard asked directly.

"Haha, no, Kevi'elle Egret Hyde is my name." Mr. Hyde said with a laugh from the side.

"Lord Kevi'elle Egret Hyde?" Edwards was obviously still a little confused.

"Mr. Hyde's public identity is Lord Kevi'elle Egret Hyde, the great navigator and naturalist, Mr. Hyde is also a close friend of the Lord High Priest, and the title of Lord is awarded in recognition of Mr. Hyde's outstanding contributions to diplomacy." Draddy further explained.

All this is absolutely unimaginable to Edouard, and he knows that Draddy does not need to deceive himself in this trivial matter; Mr. Hyde's identity is certainly real, and the title of Lord must have been conferred by His Majesty the King himself.

But it was too surprising that the plebeian nobility, although this title was the lowest among the nobility, without cognac and not hereditary, was so rare in Frans that only the most distinguished people could enjoy such an incomparably enviable title.

In the entire South, Edwards has heard of only two common noblemen, in addition to Mr. Hyde, the other is the president of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce in Southport, once born with Mr. Hyde's companion, Mr. Maier Dauphin.

"Mr. Hyde, you are a commoner nobleman like Mr. Maier Dauphin?" Edouard asked in amazement.

"It's a bit different, my noble title is able to be hereditary." Hyde said, "I bought a foreign noble title and a certificate of cognac from a fallen noble of Yire, the land had long since fallen into the hands of the Tor, and thus become worthless, but it was quite useful to me. This made me a bankrupt hereditary noble who had fled to Frans, and I managed to get a title of lord, which made things much easier. In this way, the title of Lord can be hereditary, of course, inheritance of this title requires the payment of a considerable amount of money to His Majesty the King. But it's still worth it."

"Does that Baron de Lonna and you know each other?" Edouard asked.

"I've never heard of this guy." Hyde said.

"Baron Lonar is a hereditary noble living in Piton, ancestors in the Banan War in military service, promoted to nobility, is a military merit Lord, able to hereditary. At first, his ancestors in those generations were very hardworking, so they were valued and were ordered to guard Talon Castle, which is the origin of the shield in the coat of arms. Baron Ronald was very fond of that ancestor, and gave me his ancestry over and over again. Only, they were still lords, those merits did not bring their family higher status, until they had a lounging, suave ancestor seduced a ducal daughter, the family gradually became good luck. After three generations, the family climbed to the position of baron, but the subsequent descendants were apparently quite satisfied with this status, so there were no more capable characters, and now they have been reduced to those of the idle nobility. In Piton, the Baron of Lonar has more than thirty acres of land next to the manor as his cognac, and it seems that the harvest is not good enough to pay the annual taxes for this title, so I guess not many nobles will be able to attend his ball." Drady described in detail what he knew.

"Do I just have to go to the ball without being recognized?" Edwards asked.

"No, that's not enough. We have spent so much effort training you so that you can be quickly accepted by the noble social circle, you have to be truly welcomed, not just unrecognized. As far as I know, after the ball, Baron Lonner will hold a banquet, the guests invited to the banquet are the ones he really appreciates, you have to get Baron Lonner's approval, the invitation to the banquet is the proof of your real success, you must be invited." Draddy said.

"Accepting an invitation, how is that possible, I'm just a stranger who has just been met, and nobles can't easily invite strangers they don't know well." Edvard said eagerly.

"Yes, this is exactly where the greatest difficulty lies, and it is because this matter is quite difficult that it serves as a test for you, because I have great confidence in you that you can easily attract everyone's attention if you are willing to do it. Therefore, I hope you can prove yourself to be the best, and not just be satisfied with not being recognized by others." Hyde said slowly, his words quite able to inspire: "As long as you do it seriously, do not be too formal, you can certainly do all this. I can give you a suggestion, you do not rush to show yourself to that baron, you have to show your talent to everyone present, let everyone be attracted to you, let that baron himself notice you, let him come to you himself, understand?"

"Talent? I don't have any talent." Edouard said, puzzled.

"No, you are very talented, when I first saw you, I noticed this, Drady and Kellar can also prove this, and in these four months, we try to cultivate you in this area, elegant demeanor, gentle nature, not proud, good learning, and now add a wide range of knowledge, these are enough, this is the talent, can attract anyone's talent ." Hyde said.

"Yes, you just have to get all the people in the room to acknowledge you and accept you like you got us to accept you, and you've succeeded. It's really easy for you." Draddy also helped out on the side.

Hearing Mr. Hyde and Draddy say this in unison, Edwards seems to have some confidence.

With a thick stack of information back to the room, Edward de minute is not willing to delay, immediately read carefully.

In this whole month, Delardi is obviously spent a great deal of effort, will be able to collect everything about the Baron of Lonar are organized and written in these materials. Eduard patiently followed the methods that Draddy had taught himself before, analyzing in detail what kind of a person this Baron Ronald was.

It is clear from the information that Baron Lonner is a character with a strong aristocratic taste, despite the fact that the family does not have much property, but this baron still insists on supporting that meaningless aristocratic facade.

The baron has only two valuable properties in his hands, one is the ancestral home, from there you can see the family when the prosperity of the scene, but now has long since fallen, maintaining such a mansion requires a lot of money, if it were Edwards himself, he would have already sold the mansion, that is a considerable income, the money from the sale of the mansion to invest in Southport, in a few years time The house can be redeemed, of course, if necessary.

However, the baron apparently never considered such things, his only way to save money is the excuse of poor health, so long live in a villa outside of Piton, leaving only a few family members to watch over the empty old mansion. Only when there is a ball or something important happens, this empty old mansion can be useful.

The suburban villa, is the real home of the baron, if the baron's family how embarrassing, it is almost without doubt, in those materials, there is a list of food purchases for the baron's family for a month, that is almost all vegetables, only on Sundays, only occasionally a meal of meat. As you can imagine, for such a family, planning a ball, plus a banquet is indeed a rather uncomfortable thing.

This baron is not a special case, there are many such ragged noblemen in Frans, many of them have no property at all except for an empty title left by their ancestors, although not so much as to live in debt, anyway, living absolutely nothing, some of those who are willing to put down their faces, they go to the rich Some people who are willing to put down their faces, they will go to the rich noble family as a private secretary, on the one hand to maintain the ancestral business, on the other hand, waiting for the opportunity to rise again. However, most people prefer to live a hard life, while still refusing to let go of the meaningless noble decency.

The Baron is definitely one of these people, but although the days are hard, the Baron apparently thinks his married life is quite happy. The baroness was originally another rags-to-riches noble family's daughter, these rags-to-riches nobles also seem to have become a special class, they are not willing to intermarry with the commoners, and the gentry marriage is not an easy thing.

And commoner marriage, even if the in-laws are rich, they will feel undignified. The marriage with the gentry, the gentry may not see them, not to mention the wedding is the real problem, the gentry noble wedding is extremely grand and luxurious, that is far from the rags to riches noble can afford, even to send a decent gift, are able to make those rags to riches noble completely bankrupt.

So the ideal marriage partner for a broken noble is likewise a broken noble. That baron's marriage was clearly exactly what is called a match made in heaven. The couple had a strong bond, so spending twenty years together became an anniversary worth celebrating. But one can imagine the kind of people who would be there when the time came, and it was probably a great display of the rags-to-riches nobility in the south of Frans.

If the baron and his wife have any most precious possessions, then it can only be said that they have that daughter. The information mentions that the baron has an eighteen-year-old daughter, and it seems that this ball, in addition to celebrating the twenty years the couple spent together, is an important reason for selecting a suitable candidate among the many sons of the ragged nobility.

The information has detailed descriptions of each of the Baron's preferences, tastes, and temperament. Like most of the rags-to-riches nobility, the Baron's knowledge was vast, and the rags-to-riches noble families had no extra money for entertainment, so reading obviously became the best form of leisure they could afford.

The same rags-to-riches nobles are very gentle, mild-tempered people, because, for their work is often not easy to find people, temper tantrums make the servants leave them, such a huge loss, they absolutely can not afford.

While looking at the information, Edouard pondered how he should get the attention of the baron and the crowd.

If there are a lot of rags-to-riches noblemen about the same age as yourself, compared to their solid reading skills, your own four months of desperate absorption of knowledge is still shallow, it is quite difficult to stand out with these, and in case you talk about what you are not good at, it can be a problem.

The only thing I am proud of is that I have seen countless precious commodities from all over the world in my previous store, and Mr. Hyde's private collection is the best of the treasures. When it comes to knowledge and appreciation, those rags-to-riches noblemen's children are certainly not as good as they are. If you want to make a splash, it is a good choice to play in this area.

Thinking about it, a plan slowly emerged inside Edward's head.

Throughout the night, Edwards was there repeatedly thinking about every step of the plan, every possible accident, and measures to deal with such accidents. All of this was what Draddy had taught him. Now Edwards really came in handy. When he will think of everything to stop, the sky is already white. Although he hadn't slept all night, however, Edwards still felt refreshed. According to the daily habit, after running around the manor along the route previously established by Kellar, Edwards returned to the house.

In the living room, the butler and Draddy had already prepared, the living room sofa rested on a well-made gown, no extra decoration, nor any flashy accompanying things. With the help of the housekeeper, Edward completed a full set of work such as combing hair and washing face, face washed and washed, the water also added the fragrance extracted from some flowers.

The hair was fixed by the housekeeper, although even the shirt was wet, but after completing these tasks, a new look, so Edward felt that it was all worth it. After changing his shirt and putting on his gown, Edward was a little uncomfortable with the lace of his shirt, which grew out of the cuffs by a large section.

The boots were already prepared, and the bright red, speckled leather was taken from one of the unfortunate little mergansers. Everything was ready. Edwards asked, "Mr. Delardi, can you prepare a tea brick for me? The kind that you and Mr. Hyde always drink."

Hearing this puzzling request from Edwards, Draddy thought for a moment and immediately understood, what Edwards meant, even he had been able to guess every step of the plan that Edwards was going to take. In this regard, Drady was quite happy that the education seemed to be successful.

"Take a pack of large pieces, those small pieces are wrapped with gold foil outside, so that people can see at a glance that it is good, those large pieces, is not suitable for gift giving, so there is no packaging outside, just wrapped tightly with fire wax, those who have not seen it, certainly can not imagine how expensive such a large piece is." An old voice came from behind.

Edwards did not need to turn around to know that Mr. Hyde exceptionally early today will get up. Seeing that he had been thinking all night, and thought he had a brilliant plan, Draddy and Mr. Hyde will be able to recognize at a glance, Edwards felt a little discouraged, maybe the plan is not so perfect, maybe Baron Lonna can also easily recognize.

For what is inside Edwards head, Drady can more or less guess a little, but the head did not express, Drady do not know whether to comfort his student, that plan in his opinion, is quite perfect, the chances of success is extremely high.

After hesitating for a while, Draddy finally decided that it was better to keep his mouth shut. Edwards will definitely encounter times in the future when he is not around and he has to learn to make the right decisions, and that will matter a lot. Therefore, it is best to let Edwards fully grasp the ability to think alone and decide issues independently before that important moment comes.

Everything was ready and the carriage was already waiting outside the door. The driver is still the same person who brought him here, but the carriage has been changed to another one.

That is obviously a nobleman's private carriage, the outside with brown paint to light can be seen, the carriage on both sides of the windows with two pieces of transparent glass, that is a rare thing, that can see the view outside the window, also will not let the wind scraped in. In the ordinary stage coach is installed on both sides of the screen window, summer is okay, winter cold wind straight to the inside of the carriage.

The carriage was obviously taller than the stagecoach, even enough to allow Edward to stand up straight in the carriage. The front of the carriage was equipped with two spotlights, and the hemispherical bronze mirror was able to shine the bright light from the oil lamps far ahead. Ordinary stagecoaches can only have a half-bright, half-bright lantern, if there is no moonlight, simply can not travel.

Following Draddy into the carriage, the butler directed the servants to carry the luggage and gifts onto the luggage rack on top of the carriage. When the coachman confirmed that everything was properly placed, nothing was loose, and absolutely nothing would fall off, the carriage slowly moved on.

For Edwards, this is not his first trip, but sitting in such a luxurious and comfortable carriage is a new feeling that has never been experienced before.

The calfskin backrest seats are covered with a thick layer of cashmere, which is not as precious as the animal furs covered inside Mr. Hyde's lounge, but in terms of comfort, there is not much difference between the two.

The carriage is made of pine boards painted in dark purple, and the top is inlaid with an enameled gold relief, which is a picture of the goddess of harvest and the goddess of the mountains dancing. In addition to the roof, the rest of the decoration is not much, but also enamel inlaid with gold.

Such a luxuriously decorated carriage is not often seen even in the homes of those rich people in Southport. Unlike the stage coach, this carriage travels fast and steady on the country roads. Through the thick glass windows, the sound of the horse's hooves on the ground and the wheels crushing the road was very soft. Because of the good warmth and the sunlight coming in through the windows, it was warm and comfortable on people.

The whole night without a good rest Edwards some drowsy up. The carriage was moving fast, the carriage was rocking and rocking, and Edward's eyes were slowly closing up. He leaned back on the soft back of the chair and gently fell asleep. In a daze, Edward felt the carriage over a few hillocks, and in the middle there seemed to be a few small bridges.

The road later, getting worse and worse, bumpy more and more powerful. When Edward opened his eyes, the sun had already risen to the top of the head, and the landscape had already changed in front of him. If the road from Southport to Lae is green, full of vitality, everything is so vibrant, then here is a completely desolate and barren scene.

The road is sparsely planted with one or two crops on both sides, and the trees are not lush, it seems to have been cut down almost everywhere, you can see the bare stumps.

Compared with Nangang and Lae, the land here is much flatter, with only two small hills as far as the eye can see, unlike Nangang to Lae where the road is full of mountains. Over a hill, two families can be seen far away, sitting alone there, with yellow mud walls and straw roofs. Next to the house, a small vegetable field was reclaimed, and that was the only greenery here.

In the distant wilderness, the yellow thatch grows old and tall, and a few goats can be seen vaguely tethered there, and they are obviously not interested in the same nutritious fodder. The carriage continued to gallop forward, and Edwards even felt a little hungry. As he boarded, the steward placed a basket in one corner of the carriage, which contained food. Edwards glanced there. The basket had obviously been opened.

He turned his head to look at Draddy. Draddy was dozing with his back against the seat and his eyes closed, as he had just done. Edouard bent down and opened the basket. Inside the basket was a marinated goose and a plate of barbecued pork, two legs of the goose had been torn off one, the barbecued pork did not move much.

Edward put the basket on his lap, from the drawer under the seat, took out a cuff and a scarf, put them on and then ate with great interest. The marinated goose was quite good, it seemed the cook had cooked it for at least a whole day, it was quite tasty, and the barbecued pork was also very good, fresh and sweet to the taste.

Edward's appetite is not very big, two wings plus a few pieces of barbecue has filled the stomach. When finished eating and drinking, clean up, the carriage has driven into a small town, the town's road is also very uneven, the ground paved with stone slabs have long been broken into sections. Those littered around, no one to clean up the garbage, let Edward de reminded of Southport where they live.

The houses in the town are also made of mud bricks, and the roofs are gray as if they have never been swept, and as if it has not rained for years. Through the town, the road in front finally became much wider, although the road surface is still the same ragged, but at least there is some through the county avenue of momentum.

The carriage went on for another 20 to 30 miles and a city appeared in front of it. Unlike the prosperous and lively South Port, and also different from the long and deep Lai, this city covers an extremely large area, looks even larger than the scale of South Port.

At a glance, there are low cottages everywhere, and the only few tall buildings stand out in this place.

The carriage slowed down and drove into town. The streets are also lined with stores, but it is obviously not as busy as Southport and Lae. The roads in the center of the city are fairly smoothly built, and it is the busiest place in the city.

In one corner of the central square, a tall building was built, with a spacious porch, thick supporting columns, a floor paved with marble, and a huge family coat of arms carved in marble placed on top of the porch, all of which indicated that their destination had arrived. The builder of this mansion was obviously a rather pragmatic person, no walls, no gardens, no spacious rooms too many to count.

The entire mansion, in addition to the front of the hall used to hold banquets and balls, there is a small exquisite garden on the west side, although not planted with any expensive flowers, but lush with petunias, roses and violets, coupled with the staggered arrangement, but also seems to be a unique art.

The back half of the mansion is probably where the owner lives, and all the rooms face exactly south, with absolutely plenty of sunlight.

The builder of this mansion has obviously minimized unnecessary wear and tear, and the current owner of the Baron of Lonna can not even afford to live in such a mansion, how financially embarrassed can be imagined.

The downtown square is a natural place to park carriages, and the builders of the mansion obviously took this into account. There were all kinds of carriages parked all over the square. As Edwards imagined, most of those who attended the ball were the raggedy nobles. Most of those carriages have been quite old, pulling the carriage of many horses are also old enough.

"You can get off now and put on a good show!" Draddy said.

"Won't you come with me?" Edvard asked.

"No, you cannot rely on me, you must win the attention of the crowd yourself. Ted will be with you, he is your carriage driver and servant at the same time, which is quite in line with the vulnerable nobility, most of the guests who come here are like this, I will wait for you inside the carriage." Draddy said.

Edwards did as he was told and stepped out of the carriage. Ted, the coachman, was already waiting at the carriage door, holding in his hand a tea brick wrapped in silk as a gift.

Edwards pulled out the invitation from his coat pocket, then carefully checked it from head to toe to make sure there was nothing broken before walking towards the front door of the mansion.

Come closer, Edwards only found that the mansion as a baron really is much taller than Hyde's manor, the two men and women in front of the door statue of the god of war is to show that the builder was relying on military service to earn the family, the pillars and walls are made of green stone, that is used to build the fortress material.

The two servants standing in front of the door had already seen this half-grown child with simple and elegant clothes and a boyish face coming towards the place, followed by a servant with a gift behind him. Another nobleman's son has arrived, and it looks like this one's family is better off than the other noblemen's children who came, at least the clothes he was wearing were not cheap, and the carriage he was riding in was brand new.

Waiting to receive the invitation to see, "Lord Keviere Egret Hyde". The two servants opened the guest book and quickly found the name of that Lord.

"You are Lord Kevi'elle Egret Hyde?" A servant asked.

"Oh no, Lord is my grandfather, he is too old and has not traveled for five or six years, for the invitation of the baronet, I can only show a little token of appreciation in his place." Edouard said.

"Welcome, welcome, the master is waiting inside." The two servants said respectfully.

Into the hall, where there has been full of guests to attend the ball, some are the whole family to come, there are also fathers or mothers with their children to attend, in their side all with a handful of servants. As soon as Edwards entered the hall, he did immediately attract the attention of the crowd.

Obviously, it was his expensive clothes that made him stand out, and another reason was that Eduard came to the ball alone. Edward's appearance more or less aroused a trace of hostility from the surrounding nobles, but when they saw that Edward was obviously two or three years younger than the Baron's daughter, the hostility gradually subsided.

Edouard stood alone in a corner of the hall and watched carefully. The host had obviously not yet appeared, and the guests did not feel impatient. Originally, it was quite a rare opportunity for them, the ragtag nobles, to attend one such party.

Most of the adults gathered together, talking about the day, some people tired of standing will greet the squires standing next to bring a chair. As for the young people all stood there alone, without a trace of the initiative to talk to each other. Although there are one or two people were summoned by their parents to introduce them to other nobles, but they themselves definitely do not talk to others, many of them look extremely restrained.

This is the life of a nobleman, Edwards thought to himself, this is far from what he originally expected. In his original imagination, the nobleman should be living in an incomparably luxurious mansion inside, under the many servants, eat is a mountain of sea food. And the nobleman's ball that is more luxurious, wine in expensive glass, you can enjoy drinking, in addition to a variety of exquisite snacks, the ball dancing noblemen, noble and elegant.

This is the nobility that Edwards originally imagined, and in fact, Draddy was going to train him to be exactly that. But everything here, apparently, is not so perfect.

Although, the ball also provides drinks, but there is nothing other than water and light and tasteless ale, refreshments are a kind of baked golden small sweet cakes, taste quite good, but, just brought out, Edwards only tasted a piece, has been divided no.

Some of the attendants standing next to each other were standing together mingling, others looked careless, and it was hard to imagine how the owner of the place disciplined them. All this is still far from those medium rich families in Southport. The only thing these aristocrats can use to prove their status is the jewelry.

In fact, the jewelry didn't quite match the clothes they were wearing. The jewelry was indeed an eye-opener for Edouard. Some were handed down from the time of Reduco the Great to the present, some were from the time of Frans III to V, and some were from the time of the breakup of the Yire dynasty.

These jewelry with the clothes of the time, maybe really good, but with the dress of the match will seem a little less coordinated. What's more, some of them were worn by ancient clergy, and the combination with the secular dress has a strange flavor.

The most interesting thing is that a Frans III era monks wear on the finger, to prove their lifelong service to the gods, renouncing all worldly pleasures ring, on the hands of a noble lady with two sons. It seems that these rags-to-riches nobles can only use these things to regain some decency.

Just as Edouard was watching all the guests present with great interest. The host of the ball appeared at the venue.

Baron Ronald wore a sky blue knight's civilian clothes, the red Hoon belt diagonally draped over the shoulders, looking extraordinarily spiritual, a pair of polished cowhide boots can be seen. The baron was certainly a handsome and dashing figure when he was young, although, the relentless years have made wrinkles creeping up his forehead, but, the grace and elegance is still one of the best in the crowd present.

The baroness wore a long fuchsia silk dress, the style looks like it is already 20 or 30 years ago, but still quite neat and beautiful, like a new one; around her neck hung an extremely thin necklace, something from the time of Frans VII, which also seems to be a legacy of ancestral treasures.

Baroness twenty years ago, must be a beautiful woman, otherwise it can not be chained to the heart of the baron, her young glowing and beautiful appearance, more or less able to see some from her daughter followed behind her.

The baron's daughter was indeed quite beautiful, no wonder the nobles were all excited to bring their sons to the ball in the hope that their sons would win the hearts of beautiful women. The baron and several guests who were obviously old acquaintances greeted each other warmly.

After some pleasantries, the nobles led their children, on the one hand, to offer congratulatory gifts, on the other hand, to introduce their sons to the baron and his wife. As for those young people who have an agenda, they try to look as civilized as possible, or graceful, in order to leave a good impression in the hearts of beauty.

Edouard admired it all with great interest. Those gifts are quite intriguing, since they are noblemen, the gifts must not be too shabby, but too expensive, these raggedy nobles can not afford to send.

A porcelain plate, printed on a blue background the most ordinary kind, is already a relatively eye-catching gift, more a stack of silk handkerchiefs or something. The most boring is an extremely ridiculous-looking gold lacquer jewelry box, looks like it has some history, this thing does not know how many circles in the South for generations of rags among the nobility have been.

As for the words of introduction, it was also one of the things that made Edouard feel interesting. Those noblemen introduced their sons as perfect as possible, and in the end, they all became the same. In fact, to see those extremely restrained, expressionless, half a breath of air of the noblemen's sons, that they are all the same, is not wrong.

It was not easy, all the other nobles were introduced. Edwards saw that it was about time, and some nobles had already pulled their sons for a second round of introductions. Edwards pulled Ted, who was following him, and walked towards Baron Lonner. The Baron was a little surprised that a young man appeared alone in front of him without his parents.

"This is ......," the baron asked.

The servant by his side, the squire who was at the door collecting invitations, replied gently, "This one is here on behalf of Lord Keviélé Egret Hyde."

"My name is Edwardian Hyde, you may call me Edwardian. My grandfather is too old and his health can no longer bear the long journey, so I come to congratulate you on behalf of my grandfather and wish the Baronet and Baroness a hundred years of happiness." This speech, Edouard has been thinking for a long time.

"You are the grandson of Lord Keviélé Egret Hyde? I know your uncle Mr. Delardi well, why is he not here this time?" The Baron asked.

"My family is thin, the last generation is only Uncle Draddy alone, all the operations are taken care of by uncle alone, he is really busy. Originally, uncle was going to come to congratulate you personally, but something came up temporarily and he had to step in to solve it. Uncle really can't get away, he asked me to apologize on his behalf." Edouard explained.

After saying this, Edouard gestured, and Ted, who was following him, respectfully presented the gift. The gift, wrapped in fine silk, immediately drew the attention of the people around him, and everyone guessed what was wrapped there.

The servant behind the baron reached out to take the gift and, with the baron's approval, gently opened the silk parcel carefully.

If the exquisite silk made everyone next to them feel extremely curious, then what was held inside was obviously quite disappointing to them. Even, even the baron and his wife's faces clearly showed their disappointment.

The tea brick sealed with fire lacquer, people who are not clear about its value, will indeed be disappointed with its inconspicuous appearance. Tea brick is originally black, lusterless appearance, from a distance like a peculiar-looking jewelry box, held in the hand light, and obviously there is nothing hidden inside.

The outside of the fire lacquer is extremely hard and solid, and the thickness and hardness of the lacquer can be imagined as it has to be transported from the far east to here without the slightest moisture on the way. But the bright appearance of the lacquer does not prove its value, and it lacks luster and brilliant colors compared to the lacquerware.

Most people obviously took this thing as another "ugly jewelry box", and some people clearly had a look of disdain on their faces. And that's exactly what Edwards needed.

"Thank your uncle for me, and give my regards to your grandfather." The baron said, he has not forgotten the proper manners, apparently for this "insignificant gift" did not mind too much.

Edwards did not pay attention to what the baron said, he was waiting for the servant for the disposal of this gift. As expected, he was not disappointed, none of the people present apparently recognized the origin of the gift, the servant even thought that the hand was holding a garbage that should not appear in this occasion, he casually tucked the tea brick under the many gifts.

Seeing such a situation, Edouard began to carry out his long-planned next move. He said: "Mr. Baron, a small gift is not a token of respect, this is my uncle Mr. Delardi temporarily prepared to express his apologies for not being able to attend the event in person, the thing is fragile, can not withstand pressure, if there is a crack, will soon be damp, if you intend to store for a long time, please cut it into small pieces, put it inside the sealed porcelain, the openings place had better be sealed with wax to ensure that water vapor cannot enter."