Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 759 - Tri-Flower

Chapter 759 -759 Tri-Flower

The Royal Guards, clad in uniforms, stood in front of the steps leading to the upper seats of the southern spectator stands, seemingly unaffected by the surrounding din.

In this era of transition between the old and the new, the Royal Guards’ equipment was also quite interesting. They naturally had firearms, but in addition, each was dressed in thick armor, carrying a spear, and had a sharp longsword hanging at their waist.

Shard had heard that sometimes agents from MI6 needed to temporarily act as Royal Guards, and he hoped he would never encounter such an assignment, as the gear looked unbearably heavy.

Shard, accompanied by his cat, approached, and after the loyal guards inquired about his identity and origins, one of them went up and stopped three rows of seats away from the noble ladies to inform a Maid of the visitor’s identity.

By this time, a few people had already noticed Shard’s arrival, so before the guard returned, Queen Diana, Miss Galina, and Tifa, who was behind Miss Galina, also shifted their gaze from the racecourse to Shard.

Queen Diana, donning a silver filigree crown set with a ruby, held in her hand a fan made of colorful feathers today. She covered her mouth with the fan, tilted her head, and whispered something to Miss Galina, causing the nearby women to burst into laughter.

Naturally, Shard was given permission to continue upwards, and he straightened his attire before quickly arriving at the high level of the shading canopy.

Miss Galina wanted to rise and speak with Shard elsewhere, but she was stopped by the Queen, who still possessed the vitality of youth despite being over forty years old:

“Have the Knight take a seat over here,” she instructed.

And so, Shard, who had merely wanted to see the world and in passing inquire about items related to the sun, found himself seated in a daze to the right of Miss Galina.

To his right was an empty seat, and further to the right sat another noblewoman, apparently in her thirties, who was addressed as the daughter of a Duke. To the left of Miss Galina sat Queen Diana, who looked at Shard with interest:

“Knight Hamilton, it’s been a while, good day. Is there anything of importance you need from the Duchess?” she asked affectionately, resting her hand on Miss Galina’s shoulder. The Witch remained expressionless.

“Good day, Your Highness, good day, Miss Galina. I’m grateful for Miss Galina’s help with cleaning up the house recently, and today I brought wine to the manor to thank her. It was the manor’s butler who told me Miss Galina was here. I hope my visit isn’t too presumptuous,” Shard said.

As he spoke, Shard reached into his coat’s inner pocket. After a two-second pause and under Queen Diana’s curious gaze, he pulled out two wilted roses. His right little finger, ring finger, and middle finger grasped them, while the thumb and index finger held the two pretty flowers.

Since he couldn’t see the specifics inside his pocket, the two flowers he retrieved—one red, one white—were not identical:

“For two beautiful ladies,” he said with a smile. The face of the Red-Haired Duchess finally showed a smile:

“Knight, this is the first time you’ve brought me flowers. Though they don’t look fresh, they’re still nice,” she commented.

Although the Queen held a higher rank, as an elder, Miss Galina chose the red rose first, and Queen Diana took the white rose.

Both ladies looked delighted, and Shard too smiled as he lowered his hand. His gesture just now had been awkward because hidden between his right pinky, ring finger, and middle finger was a small, flower-shaped pendant toy.

As he lowered his hand, with a gentle swipe inside the hem of his clothes, another red rose appeared.

Shard subtly extended his hand behind his back, passing the flower through the gap in the seat towards the rear. On the surface, he continued to converse with the Queen with a polite smile on his face.

Standing behind was Tifa, the Miss Maid, who had been focusing on the Queen and Miss Galina’s banter. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a flower slowly extending from below. It was Shard’s hand, his fingers even hooked slightly, signaling Tifa to take the flower away.

The Miss Maid’s black eyes glanced at Shard, who was talking to the Queen. If it weren’t for his hand’s subtle motion, no one would have suspected that he was the one passing the flower.

Looking around, she quickly bent down to take the flower from Shard’s hand. With her left hand behind her back, she leisurely twirled the flower stem, her fair face barely concealing a controlled smile.

“Knight, I often hear my daughter mentioning you lately,”

Queen Diana said, her gaze once again drifting towards the horses running on the racecourse. Shard was startled and was about to explain his relationship with Lecia when Miss Galina interjected:

“What did little Angelina say about Shard?”

“Angelina recently complained to me that she has invited Hamilton Knight to her salon several times, but Mr. Knight always finds a reason to decline.”

This was rather unfair to Shard. Apart from hearing Angelina mentioning invitations during his meetings with Lecia, he had not received any formal invitation. Moreover, he had indeed been quite busy this autumn with numerous matters at Midshire Fort.

“I have a lot of detective commissions, and recently I’ve taken on a big deal. The tasks left by Uncle Sparrow also still require finalizing.”

Shard apologized, also puzzled why Angelina kept mentioning him:

“Of course, I still wish to express my apologies. For Her Highness the Princess’s next invitation, I won’t decline.”

“Angelina will probably be very pleased with that. Speaking of which, Mr. Hamilton, you are not so young anymore, and I remember you aren’t married yet? Oh, then you should indeed attend more of these events. A gentleman as handsome and outstanding as you, I believe, is very popular among the ladies of the Royal Capital,”

The topic aroused the interest of the surrounding ladies as well. Only Miss Galina looked at the Queen oddly, as nearly everyone had heard the absurd rumor of Shard being her “lover.”

“Marriage isn’t something to rush into. I have even heard of local nobles marrying in their thirties,”

Shard said while teasing Mia, who felt some anxiety about the unfamiliar environment, but since Shard was still by her side, she wasn’t frightened.

“That is but a rare example…”

The Queen suddenly smiled, then turned to ask Shard:

“Knight, do you ride horses?”

“Of course…”

Shard wanted to shake his head.

“He will.”

Miss Galina finished the sentence for him and then, under Shard’s surprised gaze, she undertook the following task:

“Why don’t we let Shard take a turn riding a horse down below?”

The Witch said, seeming serious rather than joking, as she had already turned to her Maid:

“Tifa, take Shard to pick a horse, I hope he can choose a suitable mount.”

As she spoke, she “snatched” little Mia from Shard’s arms and then gave him a meaningful glance.

“Yes, Miss.”

Tifa replied softly, and at the same time, the Marchioness Lemer, who was sitting in the front row, also stood up and arranged for the servants to accompany them to select a horse.

“This is indeed interesting, let’s add a little more excitement.”

Queen Diana said:

“Knight, if you can win one of the top three places in the next round, this fan is yours. As a token of thanks for that lovely white rose.”

The fan seemed to be made of ivory, and the pendant was a purple gemstone. A rough estimate, it was worth no less than three figures, equivalent to a special Roder Card.

“That’s a good idea, Shard, if you can be one of the first three to cross the finish line…”

The Witch wiggled her finger:

“This ring will be yours.”

In her hand was a golden ring with such a faint trace of Enlightenment Element that no one, except Shard, could possibly notice it. It must be some kind of Alchemical Item, though its specific function was unknown.

“Alright, ladies, please look forward to my performance.”

Shard, who had no skills in horse riding, pretended to be calm as he stood and followed Tifa and the Lemer Family’s servants down to prepare for horse selection at the stables.

“Don’t worry, there’s no need to be nervous.”

The Maid of the Lemer Family took the lead, with Shard in the middle and Tifa slightly behind. She whispered into Shard’s ear with a very soft voice, clearly understanding the Witch’s intentions:

“Her Highness Angelina is a chess piece that King Larus III plans to use for a political alliance. The Queen is testing your relationship. To prevent you from misspeaking or even exposing your connection with Her Highness Lecia, the Miss suggested that you temporarily leave.”

“But I truly do not know how to ride a horse.”

He pretended to survey the crowd in the opposite stands, speaking softly.

Last time, Tifa had only taught him how to mount a horse and maintain the correct posture; he really did not know how to ride.

“That’s okay, please take this.”

Tifa subtly handed a metal talisman to Shard:

“Hold this, it will make animals docile, at least it won’t let you fall off.”

“And then…”

“Remember the horse riding tricks I taught you last time.”

“That was just the theory part.”

“Yes, it’s enough, a well-trained racehorse won’t give you trouble.”

Tifa’s voice paused for a moment:

“I will tamper with another horse’s hooves, a delayed ‘Limp Curse’, so at the very least you won’t be last.”

But Shard was still not reassured, losing to a limping horse seemed even more humiliating.

Next was heading into the stables that reeked strongly, to select a horse that could serve as a mount. Considering Shard’s lack of riding skills, Tifa picked out a docile bay Draleon Highland horse for him.

It was a mare, and as Shard approached it, the horse was bowing her head eating fodder. When Shard patted it with the talisman, the mare merely glanced at him, as if blaming him for interrupting her meal, but showed no other reaction.

In fact, Shard actually would have preferred a horse of the same color as little Mia. But in this world, there were no horses with the sun-like dazzling orange hue.

“I wonder if I could ever find a Relic Ring that could make little Mia grow larger. Riding on a giant cat doesn’t seem too bad. That cat is quite bold when facing animals that are smaller or of a similar size and its own kind.”

Anxiously watching the Maid of the Lemer Family and the stable boy talk, Shard’s mind wandered off with chaotic thoughts.