Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 432: The Princess in the Prophet’s Society

Mr. Mark and President Stan, both friends of Shard, seemed to be free today; they actually invited Shard to have a drink after work in the upstairs office and chat about the affairs of Big City Players this year.

Although drinking during work hours is prohibited, people still like to decorate their offices with fine wines. Timing their drinks for the moment work ends, having a small drink with friends and colleagues is considered a refined preference among the upper-class gentlemen of this age who work in offices.

Shard had never been interested in drinking, but he was interested in the Big City Players, so he followed the two gentlemen up to the third floor.

The President's office decorations were relatively simple; not quite the collection of antiques one might imagine, even the oil paintings on the wall were ordinary landscapes. The only expensive decoration in the room was the wine in the liquor cabinet. The most prestigious Prophet in Tobesk enthusiastically discussed the origins and history of those wines with Shard.

Apparently, the Vice-President was a Roder Card enthusiast, whereas the President was a fine wine enthusiast. It's good this isn't a regular organization or else the Prophet's Society really would have a worrisome future.

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All three sat down and talked about the Demon Series Roder Card that Shard had obtained not long ago, the latest deck compositions, and the various card games around the city. Just as Vice-President Mark was entertaining everyone with jokes about Roder Card players and drunkards, there was a knock on the office door.

The cat on Shard's shoulder meowed at the door, a habit it had formed at No. 6, Saint Delan Square, reacting instinctively to anyone knocking.

But it wasn't the receptionist downstairs notifying Shard that Luviya had returned; instead, a middle-aged Diviner from the association was looking for President Stan due to an issue. A distinguished guest had suffered minor injuries while divining with companions at the association.

"Injured? Which room?"

Mr. Stan stood up, frowning.

The local association in Tobesk has a President and three Vice Presidents; Shard's friend Vice-President Mark is responsible for Roder Cards, while the other two gentlemen are in charge of divination services and the association's logistics. If a guest is injured within the association, they should not directly seek President Stan to deal with it, so it is very likely that the guest's identity is somewhat problematic.

"Sir, it's the big Divination Room at the end of the second floor."

Hearing this, both Shard and Vice-President Mark stood up. The room at the end of the second floor was the VIP room, usually used to host guests of extremely high status or those with strict privacy requirements. Luviya and Shard had mentioned that room before; ordinary nobles were not entitled to use it.

"Which lady has come? Lady Rose? Lady Raven? Lady of the Loom? Or Lady Thorn?"

Vice-President Mark asked; those dignified ladies did not like to use their real names for divination events.

The Diviner, wrapped in a scarf, glanced at Shard and, seeing nobody opposed, spoke softly:

"Lady of the Loom."

Vice-President Mark's expression immediately turned serious, and even Mr. Stan was taken aback. The High Ring Sorcerer frowned deeply:

"This is indeed troublesome."

Saying this, he asked Vice-President Mark to stay with Shard while he himself left first with the Diviner.

But after this intrusion, Shard and Mr. Mark were no longer in the mood for chatting. Shard, holding the cat, was somewhat curious about "Lady of the Loom's" identity. Mr. Mark noticed his curiosity and hesitated for quite a while before he was willing to divulge her true identity:

"Normally, this isn't allowed to be discussed, but since you're involved with Miss Galina, knowing the lady's identity shouldn't be a problem."

"A Member of the Royal Family?"

Shard asked.

"Yes, it's Her Highness Angelina Cavendish."

Seeing Shard's bewildered expression, Mr. Mark added:

"The sixteen-year-old princess who received a ruby the size of a dove's egg from His Majesty the King as a birthday gift this spring. The matter was a hot topic of conversation for several months."

Shard, of course, was unaware of this event. He had not been there that spring, and the original Shard had just begun his training under Detective Sparrow and wasn't privy to such matters. However, he vaguely remembered Princess Angelina Cavendish as being one of the daughters of Larus III, who in recent years had been particularly favored by him in private.

Looking at the past, other princesses deeply favored by His Majesty the King had all embarked on married lives through political marriages. In contrast, daughters not particularly beloved privately by the king, like Lecia, who was more like a powerful minister to the king, had more freedom regarding whom they married.

In this respect, the Royal Family was truly pragmatic.

Seeing that Mr. Mark seemed to know much about the nobility's secrets, Shard asked him to share some information about the other children of Larus III.

Mr. Mark's attitude, like most of the nobility today, suggested that Larus III's harsh treatment of his children, as well as his allowance for many adult children to participate in politics without settling on an heir, was very likely to lead to dramatic changes in the Kingdom decades later.

He didn't specify what the "drastic change" was, but Shard could guess it pertained to the succession of the throne.

Unlike Lecia, who was exposed to state affairs at an early age and could even be sent to Carsonrick for visits, Princess Angelina Cavendish, who occasionally participated in Divination events at the Prophet's Society with her friends, was the kind of princess Shard could imagine in the traditional sense.

Trained in etiquette, dance, and literature, not involved in the Kingdom's politics, lingering at banquets and noble salons, fond of sneaking out of Yordle Palace to play with friends... Considering that the Prophet's Society was not far from Yordle Palace, even a lazy cat being held by Shard could make the transfer between the two places in ten minutes, so whether such "sneaking out" was with the tacit approval of His Majesty the King was really hard to say.

But regardless of how Larus III treated his children, a princess getting injured at the Prophet's Society was by no means good news for the Society.

President Yadis Stan, the most outstanding prophet of the Tobesk Region, Shard had believed that with him handling the matter, the cause and proper handling would soon be known. Unexpectedly, just as Shard and Mr. Mark had begun discussing the rumor that suddenly emerged a few days ago about "Prince Sax entering Yordle Palace with a gun," President Stan returned with a somewhat panicked Maid following him.

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Shard and Vice-President Mark immediately pretended to be discussing Roder Cards.

"Mr. Hamilton, I remember you're a detective,"

President Stan asked apologetically.

"Yes,"

Shard nodded, surveying the Maid. The Prophet's Society employed only workers and servants, no Maids in uniform, so she should be accompanying a noble miss.

"Sorry, there's a bit of a complication downstairs, and we need your help with the investigation. Rest assured, whether or not there are results, this will be a commission by the Society, and there will be an appropriate reward,"

he added. Shard hesitated for a moment before standing up, nodding in surprise:

"Understood, I think there shouldn't be a problem."

In fact, the problem was significant. The princess sneaking out and then unfortunately getting injured was indeed not something to be publicized. Avoiding the police and seeking "Rejed's Hamilton," who just happened to be in the Society for an investigation, was understandable under normal circumstances.

But as Tobesk's most outstanding prophet, Mr. Stan couldn't possibly have failed to uncover the truth.

Even if Diviners couldn't divine anything involving Relics, as a Circle Sorcerer, he had no reason to seek "ordinary person" Shard for this matter.

So, thinking it through, the only possible reason was that President Stan had already discerned the truth, but it was not appropriate for him to disclose it from his position, hence he turned to Shard, whose status was suitable.

"But what advantage could I have over President Stan in terms of status?"

As he walked along the corridor towards the staircase, Shard pondered:

"Could it be this involves political factors, so President Stan didn't want the Society to get casually involved?"

But that seemed unlikely, as President Stan didn't seem like the sort of Sorcerer who would throw his troubles onto an ordinary person.

Shard could refuse the commission, but with the Prophet's Society as a safety net, he didn't have too many concerns.

Arriving on the second floor of the Prophet's Society, he immediately noticed several female employees standing at the end of the hallway with signs forbidding entry.

After greeting them, Mr. Stan continued to lead Shard forward.

Two burly middle-aged men stood guard at the door of the room at the end of the corridor. Since they didn't bear the Prophet's Society's Ouroboros symbol, Shard suspected they were guards accompanying the Princess when she went out.

They proactively opened the door for Shard and his party, revealing that the VIP Divination Room was twice the size of a normal one, looking as though a decorative wall between two rooms had been removed.

The room was adorned with curtains, and the red carpet was embroidered with gold and silver threads weaving fascinating, quirky patterns. The windows were closed with curtains drawn, and a pungent scent of spices lingered in the room.

The noble misses probably created a dim atmosphere for divination, but now all the gas lamps on the walls were lit, making the interior very bright.

Shard first observed the abstract landscape paintings on the walls, meant to set the mood for divination, then turned his attention to the stone round table placed in the center of the room.

Shard was indeed curious about how that object had been moved to the second floor.

The room wasn't short on people; young ladies in dresses were currently resting on the sofas against the wall, numbering around seven or eight. An old doctor, along with his apprentice, was bandaging a redhead girl who was back-facing Shard, while two Maids stood by the sofa, warily eyeing the strangers entering the room.