Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1768 - 1767: Eternal Longing and the Eve of the Banquet
Before lunch, in the southeast corner of the living room of Room 1 on the second floor of the Shard Family, there was now a glass case filled with metal butterflies, and Shard was quite pleased with this purchase.
As for buying a frame from Old John, it was for that "Mermaid" oil painting. "Desire" requested Shard to hang it at home, claiming that the painting no longer possessed any transcendent power, but Shard wouldn’t be so at ease because of that.
Worried about Old John being affected, he didn’t hand over the task of framing to him and instead did it himself. Although the Outlander was not professional in framing work, fortunately, it wasn’t too difficult. For safety, during the framing process, he even carefully drew the holy emblem of the Old God—the God of Love—on the white mat between the oil painting and the wooden backboard.
Then, to be extra safe, he added the holy emblems of the five True Gods before fixing the oil painting onto the mat with canvas tape, and attached the edges of the oil painting to the inner side of the frame.
With these done, the vibrantly colored oil painting was quietly sealed within the glass. The "Mermaid" with orange-red hair in the painting watched the outside of the frame with a slight smile, and Shard stared blankly at the painting for a second before shifting his gaze. Even if it truly had no elemental reaction, the mermaid in the painting was still beautiful.
The remaining consideration was where to hang this painting. Shard absolutely wouldn’t hang it in his bedroom; he couldn’t bear to be startled awake at midnight or see "Desire" watching him while entwined with a girl—it was not good for his well-being.
But it’s also not good to hang it in a room that’s rarely used; Shard wanted to see the painting at least once a day to ensure nothing was amiss.
"Why not hang it in the living room?"
The living room wall isn’t lacking in decorations. Shard’s Knight’s Award Sword, Big City Player Championship certificate, the City Circuit Horsemanship Championship prize shield, and his honorary doctorate certificate are all there. Haila Osenfort’s snow portrait of Shard is in the dining room.
"But this way, every visitor will see it, wouldn’t that be dangerous..."
At least for now, Shard couldn’t feel any abnormalities from the painting in his hands, though it didn’t rule out the possibility of it going berserk someday.
After much deliberation, he decided to hang the painting on the wall between the two windows in the living room, outside of which is Saint Delan Square. He also found a piece of black cloth as a curtain to cover the painting when he isn’t home, to prevent Mia from being affected when alone at home.
"Looks pretty good."
Not wanting to damage the walls, he used special alchemical glue to stick the frame to the wall. After the work, he looked up at the painting of high artistic and aesthetic quality, feeling a great sense of satisfaction. He felt his house was entirely deserving of such a beautiful painting.
"Meow~"
"Got it, it’s lunchtime. Do cats have absolutely no appreciation for human art? Mia, don’t you understand beauty?"
At least to this cat, the painting was not nearly as pleasing as a sumptuous lunch.
Though there was an important banquet to attend tonight, after lunch, Shard still chose to go out. This time, the destination was Coldwater Port, and to avoid delaying the evening’s matters, he quickly reached the old lighthouse on the sea cliff and met Mr. Edmund.
The visit was also concerning the three strange items encountered in Black Mist Camp. Granny Natalie of the Guiding Light Hermitage and Old John each recognized one, and the remaining gray fossil conch was naturally recognized by the old folklore scholar, Mr. Edmund, who lived in the seaside area.
"This is quite rare."
The old man commented on the conch and provided specific information about the relic:
"Scribe Level Relic [Eternal Longing], the number of such conchs in existence is unknown, but they only appear on beaches. People harboring longing for the deceased walk on the beach, and when sorrow and longing reach their peak, they might catch a glimpse of the legendary ’Styx.’ At this time, a conch like this is bound to be washed ashore, which is [Eternal Longing]."
"That story sounds nice."
Sitting on the sofa on the lighthouse’s bottom floor, Shard said, Mia, who needed a nap, did not come along, and he was talking alone with Mr. Edmund:
"So what are the traits of the conch?"
"Drench the conch with seawater, then hold it to the ear, and you can hear the voice of the dearly departed. Similarly, drenching the conch and calling the name of the deceased can briefly summon the undead, but doing so consumes the relic. As for negative traits, it may not summon the zombie being longed for but something else unusual."
The old man shook his head:
"In my opinion, those who should leave, should not be retained. It’s best not to attempt such relics, nor attempt any actions that traverse life and death, it’s good for no one."
Shard understood that Old Lady Miles’s attempts at Black Mist Camp were ineffective because the conch they obtained was not washed ashore, so it wasn’t wet with seawater. Next time, he only needed to bring some seawater to solve the trouble. Although there were still some issues in the camp, the old lady’s wish should be resolved.
"Can all undead be summoned?"
To be sure, Shard asked again, and Mr. Edmund surely shook his head:
"It must be the undead whose soul is free after death. If the soul has already transformed into a powerful wraith spirit, is captured, solidified, imprisoned, or even destroyed, then naturally, it’s not possible."
Shard nodded cautiously, then once again inquired about news of the Old God, the [Golden Sovereign].
Time passed swiftly, and as the sun in the sky gradually tilted westward, at five in the afternoon, on the north shore of Green Lake in Central Old Continent, in the master bedroom of a witch’s boat on the Duin River, the beautiful witch stood in front of a floor mirror, humming a tune and feeling quite pleased, as her maids checked her hairstyle and headdress for the last time.
Outside the window, a light spring rain made Green Lake City under the sunset appear as if it had already entered the night. But this didn’t affect Megan’s good mood. She looked at herself in the mirror and then showed a confident smile:
"Mirror, mirror, who is the smartest and most beautiful lady in the world?"
Of course, the mirror couldn’t answer.
Suddenly the sound of a door opening was heard, followed by Shard, dressed in a black formal suit, entering the room. The presence of the handsome detective brought smiles to the witch and the maids in the room. His charm, so different from the witch’s, was very alluring to the young women.
"Not bad at all."
Megan said to the reflection of Shard in the mirror.
In Shard’s view, Megan had let her shoulder-length hair grow longer today for the sake of styling. She wore a dark blue gown with a lace-trimmed three-tiered skirt that almost reached the floor. Her waist was particularly slender, with the corset inside the dress highlighting her waistline, adding an even more elegant and refined look to the witch’s overall figure.
"How do I look?"
Seeing Shard looking at her, Megan gestured for the maids to step aside before lifting the hem of her skirt, turning around, and smilingly asking Shard, the skirt blossomed like a blooming flower as a result.
"Quite impressive, may I have a dance with you later?"
Having become familiar with the process of such noble banquets, Shard asked, and Megan transformed into Audrey:
"Certainly."
The sound of high heels clicked on the floor as she approached Shard and gave him a hug:
"You look quite good yourself. I thought I would have to ask the maids to help you tidy up. In my opinion, you don’t seem like the type of man willing to spend time grooming himself."
This wasn’t something Shard prepared himself; Lecia had personally brought the maids to prepare his clothes earlier. Although she couldn’t attend the important meeting at Green Lake, she refused to completely dissociate herself from the event.
"What identities shall we use to attend? What does the invitation say?"
Intrigued by the pleasant scent of perfume, Shard asked, knowing it was almost time to leave.
The maid handed the gilded invitation to Audrey, who wore white lace gloves, and she smiled:
"We’ll go under the name of Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals. You might recall that the Earl of Chichester’s daughter, Ms. Sarah Kaufman, wife of Mayor Roland Kaufman, invited me a few weeks ago. This banquet is significant, and I’ll introduce you to my merchant friends and local nobility, oh, and a very important friend of mine."
Shard tried hard not to show any facial expressions at this moment, but in his mind, he couldn’t help but picture Miss Galina with a face full of smiles:
"Yes, you’ve mentioned it numerous times. Once you’ve introduced me to your friends, I will also tell you whose... uh, I hope you won’t be too surprised. I permit you to give me a punch."
"I also hope you won’t be too surprised, but why would I punch you?"
The witch was in quite a good mood, believing she had prepared for everything. Waving at Shard, he leaned forward, thinking she had something important to say, but the brown-haired girl only kissed him on the cheek:
"Let’s go, I hope everyone will enjoy themselves tonight."
Shard was nervous in his heart, but he knew, at least, that Miss Galina was bound to have a great time.
It had been a long time since a true figure like Galina Cavendish had visited Green Lake City, so even though tonight’s banquet was only held at Rose Manor, and only local nobility and celebrities were invited, the streets in the city center had been specially cleaned and renovated.
Shard and Audrey set off in a carriage from the riverside dock, and as the bright gas street lamps receded outside the carriage window, Audrey showed Shard a small gift she had prepared according to etiquette—a bottle of red wine produced in the Roman Winery in the Huntington Area, vintage 1823.
