Whispering Verse

Chapter 3176 Moon Bay Celebration

Although Ajelina spoke in a loud voice, the content of her speech still exposed the little princess's secret. Soon after, she was driven downstairs by Resia to rest with the maids. Resia still did not mention the new Saturday class to Shade tonight. She and Dorothy also planned to talk about it after the New Year:

"So how many people will be in this bedroom at the end of the year?"

Her Royal Highness the Princess smiled and said to Xia De:

"My aunt and the others said they wanted to expand your house. I think we should think of a way to make this bed bigger. By the way, do you think I have gained weight or lost weight recently?"

The lights in the bedroom were off. Although the curtains were not completely drawn, there was almost no starlight or moonlight on the snowy night. Shade looked at his beloved red-haired princess in the dark. Although he did not notice any changes in Leicia, he felt it was better to be cautious:

"You seem to have lost some weight. Have you been studying too hard recently? You should pay attention to your health."

Leicia smiled and hugged Shade, then whispered in his ear:

"I also feel like I've lost some weight. If you check carefully, every time I lose weight, I always lose weight here first. It's really annoying."

After Shade's careful inspection and confirmation, Leicia's changes were not that big:

"So when you gain weight, is this also the first thing that changes?"

"Shad, I'm so sorry, I can't reach the level of my aunt's head maid. But it's a pity that Dorothy and I failed in our attempt to go to the hot spring with you on the Red Butterfly Day last month."

She lay on her back on the bed, her red hair scattered on the pillow, and her green eyes were full of pity:

"So, brave knight, please, please try again."

(Mi Mia is running)

In the silver-white harbor, with a whoosh, fireworks flew into the sky and exploded under the clear sky.

Even in the daytime, the colorful fireworks after the explosion still made the children watching on the rooftop cheer, and this also meant that the ribbon-cutting ceremony of Yuewan Bridge officially began.

It was Sunday morning, and citizens who had nothing to do at the end of the year almost all rushed to the banks of the Taton River as long as they had time, ready to witness the grand ceremony in which this "city of wealth" would once again demonstrate its wealth after the great urban disaster in the summer.

The city council also intended to announce that Yuewan had fully recovered from the disaster, and it was also a way to celebrate the arrival of the year-end festival in advance. After Count Bella Belindel lit the first firework, a series of salutes continued to explode in the sky above Yuewan City.

At this time, both sides of the bridge were crowded with citizens wearing thick winter clothes, scarves and hats, and the venue for the ribbon-cutting ceremony was arranged at the west entrance of the bridge, which was closer to Yuewan Harbor rather than the city center.

On the temporary platform, Bella, who was dressed in a gorgeous outfit, was waving to the citizens amid the sound of reporters clicking photos.

Dozens of huge hot air balloons were tied to the base of the bridge. The hot air balloons themselves were decorated with the city emblem of Yuewan City and the emblems of seven major families including Belindel. Of course, in order to save Carsenrick's face, the emblem of the Angevin royal family was not forgotten.

Amid the people's exclamations, the steam-powered airship hired by the city council at great expense flew around the silver-white Moon Bay City in the azure sky. This airship belonged to the Church of Creation, and even for the wealthy people of the "City of Fortune", this strange flying machine was a "legendary" cutting-edge technological creation.

The steam valves arranged around the double-decker tower bridge were constantly emitting colorful smoke through the additional nozzles; and the ships on the Taton River were all docked at the shore under the command of the city hall, and in response to the order, they used steam compression cannons to shoot colorful balls made of silk cloth to the shore.

The colored balloons exploded in the air, and then the "gold coins" hidden inside were scattered to both sides of the river amid the people's thunderous cheers.

Those gold coins were "Yuewan Bridge Commemorative Coins" specially minted for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Yuewan Bridge. Although they were not pure gold, each coin could be directly exchanged for two shilling banknotes in major banks in the Yuewan area - only Yuewan City could afford such a large sum.

However, people with insight know that this coin with the Yuewan emblem on the back and the Yuewan Bridge pattern on the front will definitely appreciate in value in the future, so collecting it is the right choice.

The police on duty today were probably the only ones who disliked this kind of celebration, because they had to maintain order amid the people's looting. But when they occasionally caught the small gold coins falling from the sky, everyone would thank the generous countess.

Everything was in joy and happiness. Outside the celebration ceremony, the church had even set up a porridge stall to distribute relief food. Even the poor people who were not dressed decently could get a full meal on this day of celebration for the whole city.

Shad was not standing among the crowd on both sides of the Taton River, nor among the special guests in the audience, nor was he standing on the side of the podium with church representatives, city council members, city hall representatives, dock union representatives and other representatives of the seven major families, nor was he sitting behind the podium in the carriage with the Belindel family emblem, ready to be the first to pass across the bridge.

On the top floor of the Gilded Age newspaper office, facing the venue of the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Shad and Mr. Ptolemy Albert stood there together watching the countess preparing her speech in front of the loudspeaker.

It is still snowing heavily in the "Steam Capital" in the far north, but today in Yuewan City, the weather is rare and good.

Shade rarely saw this blood-sucking coroner on such a sunny day. In the memory of outsiders, Mr. Albert often appeared in places including but not limited to dark and damp sewers, underground autopsy rooms, deserted and dim taverns, or remote alleys in the downtown area.

Seeing him in the winter sun now, Shade even worried for a few seconds that he would be ignited by the sun. But then he remembered that Mr. Albert was the chosen one of "light", and theoretically he would only become stronger in the light.

The two had been standing here for a while, the illusion created by the chosen one twisting the light obscuring their figures. Shade had actually been with Bella before she went on stage, and only joined Mr. Albert after Bella left.

As they watched the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the bridge, the two talked about various things that happened at the end of the year.

Now that the story of Vista Forest has gone far, we must continue to look forward. The friction between Carsonrick and Delarion has also had a profound impact on this city of wealth on the west coast. Specifically, the business of smuggling goods to the North through Yuewan Port and smuggling goods from the South through Yuewan Port has increased significantly.

He modified some of his previous radical goals and slogans, and with Shad's instructions to Bella, "Eternal Light" is no longer wanted and searched by local police, and is transforming into a mutual aid organization in the dock area and downtown.

This certainly didn't mean Mr. Albert had given up his ideals, he just didn't want to use Yuewan City as a breakthrough point. In fact, over the past six months, the "Eternal Light" has radiated to the entire western part of Carsenrick, and even appeared in the neighboring northern country of Saladil County.

"1854 was a bad year for Yuewan City, but once the war broke out in 1855, this should be the best safe haven for capital."

Shad looked at Bella's speech. Behind her was a representative from the Angevin royal family. But of course they were not princes or princesses. Shad had met Earl of Chichester at Willendel's funeral at the beginning of the month. Margaret should call him her cousin.

"Wilundael's attitude towards Yuewan is very subtle. They are worried that Yuewan will really become independent, but they also think that Yuewan City Council only cares about making money and has no patriotic thoughts at all."

Mr. Albert reminded:

"Remember to remind the Countess to be careful. Although the Anjou royal family will definitely not be bold enough to assassinate the Moon Bay nobles, the inside of the Gray Glove is not a solid block. She should be worried about dangerous situations."

The 12th-level golden dragon descendant "Destiny" witch certainly would not be assassinated by a few steam bombs, but if she was really attacked, it would be a very difficult and troublesome thing to deal with. Bella herself also knew this, but she didn't want to change the status quo for the time being.

"She said that if Willendel puts pressure on the smuggling issue, she will join forces with several other major families to open a special route to the Kingdom of the Islands. The goods from the North and South will be transferred there, and after changing the country of origin of the goods, cross-border trade can be carried out."

"Those island owners and tribal leaders of the Kingdom of Kailagli who practice the 'tribal monarchy' are not really just brawn without brains. Now that the navies of the three parties are confronting each other near the eye of the storm, it is hard to say what the Kingdom of the Islands wants to do."

Mr. Albert said, and Shad sighed, but he was a little worried about the safety of Major Rades.

At this moment, a series of applause broke out in the street below, as if Countess Belindel had announced a policy of reducing taxes for civilians next year.

“Do we really want to cut taxes?”

Mr. Albert asked, and Shad continued to look at Bella who was speaking:

"Yes, but only a few. The City Council recovered so much from the corruption during the construction of the Moon Bay Bridge. After the bridge was built, there was no word on what to do with the surplus, so these were enough to make up for unimportant taxes like the 'bathtub tax'."