"Whoosh...... bang！ ”

Somewhere in the noisy city-state under the dark night sky, a bright fireworks soared into the sky, accompanied by people's shouts and cheers, and finally bloomed in the cold night.

The November night was so cold, but it couldn't stop the enthusiasm that still existed in the darkness. The poor gathered together and prayed to the gods of the underworld. Older people accompany their wives or husbands and confide in each other about the hardships and gains of the year. Children run along the open streets, and the streets of the city are lively and crowded, but at least safe. Pickpockets and girls also have the best time of the year, and the difference between them is that one is busy with their hands, and the other is rich with their legs.

Young people meet by the river, in the woods, in abandoned mines, the throbbing of hormones is often accompanied by unquenchable youth** touching each other, and the blazing flames are as fierce and radiant as shooting stars across the night sky. Sweet vows catalyze all this, and in an age where reality is brutally hellish, allowing a little fantasy is the last placebo for people to live. Even if the fantasy is just a dream, they are willing to immerse themselves in the moment.

Because this moment is a rare moment when hard-working civilians can feel the so-called "happiness".

So the middle-aged people hugged each other and cried, the young people indulged in their first love, and the children danced excitedly over an insignificant toy. And the elderly - there are no elderly people in this era, and most civilians die before they grow old. For civilians who are oppressed by dragons, aging is actually a very luxurious thing.

This is the first Tuesday of November, the harvest festival celebrated all over the world. Although the harvest festival was originally only celebrated by humans, due to the traditional surname and the amazing appeal of the festival, the dragons eventually had to accept it. Although there were still some people in the upper echelons of the Luha Empire who complained about this festival that originated from the Ember people, this opposition disappeared without a trace after the old emperor first experienced the pomp and circumstance of a harvest festival held in a certain place.

Without a doubt, this is the most exciting day of the year, for every city.

Grand Pudding City is no exception.

One of the few large cities in the South, Grand Pudding City is the domain of the Dragonman nobleman Earl Lyle. In stark contrast to the stubborn northern aristocracy, Count Lyle is not a belligerent, but an out-and-out business genius. Instead of isolating himself from the common people with his towering, icy walls and loyal soldiers, as other northern nobles did, he devoted himself to building a hard-to-find city around the castle handed down by his ancestors from the day he inherited the title of count.

A real commercial city.

As the years passed, houses began to be built on the edge of the castle of Lyle, which had been standing alone on the plain of Mosong, and under the strong impetus of the Count of Lyle, wandering people came from all over the world to dedicate everything to the construction of the city. Thirty years later, the city was fully formed, and the castle of the Count of Lylele was deeply enclosed in the interior of the city, while the outer commercial district was almost ten times the size of the castle. The Earl of Lyle was so pleased with this that he named the city the Grand Pudding - meaning that even the most ordinary puddings can be found in a wide variety of varieties and flavors.

Grand Pudding is one of the few dragon-man cities on the mainland that does not have a curfew, and there is no such thing at the Harvest Festival, where people are free to roam the streets cheering and roaming - provided that nothing is illegal, otherwise the Earl's triple-heavy patrol during Thanksgiving Week will show no mercy. In Grand Pudding, the law means that the Earl's clerk always holds the code of law made by the Lord Count himself, and as long as you do not violate the contents of this code, you can do anything in the city, even if you are a slave of unknown origin.

But all this is limited to the civilian area, and in the aristocratic area, the only way to find death is to step into the nobility without a certain identity.

At night, the Manor No. 7 in the New Azeva neighborhood was brightly lit, and dozens of luxury carriages lined up quietly and orderly at the gate of the manor, and the coachmen escorted the master into the manor accompanied by the attendants, and then returned to their respective carriages to sit. They chatted with each other about their respective masters' affairs.

Each carriage represents a name that carries enough weight in the Grand Pudding, because the owner of the manor is named Adolf. Lyle is the lord of this place.

"This is the ninth year in a row, and it has been out of control since the Earl tried to hold a Harvest Festival ball nine years ago." A strong coachman said with emotion: "Nine years ago, when my master took me to drive the carriage, I was still a half-grown child, and in the blink of an eye, the old man passed away for four years. ”

The coachman beside him continued, "No, it seems that the Earl likes this ball." The other adults are also said to be very enthusiastic about it, and it is said that many young ladies are especially fond of it, and it is convenient for them to meet new friends at the ball, and it is difficult for them to find a good wife or husband. I think that the Earl's harvest festival ball is probably also meant to let them get to know each other. ”

"If you want to meet new people, this year there is a great person in this manor." The strong coachman suddenly showed a look of longing: "Have you heard?" ”

"You mean the young lady?" "I have heard that the young lady arrived in Grand Pudding two weeks ago, and has been living in the castle of the Earl, and she must have come to this ball to-day." I heard that the Earl is interested in proposing to that young lady......"

"Hey, you can't talk nonsense." The strong coachman said unhappily, "The Earl's age is too far from that of the young lady. ”

"Age is not an issue. Lord Earl's authentic dragon man, he can live for a hundred and fifty years, to say the least. Lord Lyle is in the prime of life, and that young lady is of noble birth, and it is said that her appearance is also first-class and peerless, and the two of them must be a good match......"

At the end of the day, the coachmen seemed to be suddenly interested, and they gathered together and began to talk about the "noble lady." At this moment, in the corner where the coachmen were out of sight, a small figure hurried towards the entrance of the manor.

The figure was walking too fast, as if in a hurry, but there was no doubt that he was stopped by the guards at the entrance to the manor.

The guards at the gate of Earl Lyle's manor were heavily guarded, and no idlers could get in. One of the men, who looked like the captain, looked the man up and down, and said in a deep voice, "Miss, please report your family and your invitation." ”

"I—I'm Ricky. Marty, my father was Mondstadt. Marty, here's my invitation. Sorry I seem to be late, my father's carriage had a problem halfway through, so I had to trot all the way over. The girl with her head buried low said with some restraint.

"It turned out to be the daughter of Knight Marty." The captain's expression was slightly relieved, he took the girl's invitation, read it casually, and returned it to her. The girl is not tall, she is wearing a slightly rustic white flower rimmed pleated dress, the whole person is ashamed as if she wants to burrow into the ground, and at a glance she knows that her family background is very ordinary.

"I'm afraid this outdated dress is also a dress that Marty Knight's family has worked so hard to come up with, right? Poor old knight, in order to help the Count expel the mountain bandits, accidentally fell disabled, and could not get on the horse to fight for the rest of his life, although he was given the title of a knight by the Earl, but I heard that life is still very difficult. It was probably not easy to get this invitation this time, it seems that he wanted to find a good home for his daughter at the ball. The captain suddenly felt some sympathy for the girl in front of him, and his tone became much softer: "After entering the door, go to the right, the ball will be over there." If you don't understand something, you can ask the waiter. Remember to be polite, these are all big people you can't afford to offend. ”

The girl nodded apprehensively and said thank you. The whispering demeanor and the occasional appearance of the corner of his face made the veteran's thoughts stagnate, and his heart suddenly itched.

"Huh? What's going on? It's just a half-grown girl. The captain of the guard shook his head a little strangely, and the strange feeling did not disappear until the girl was far away. But at this time, he suddenly remembered a stubble-

"If I'm not mistaken, Marty's girl looks like she's wearing a pair of crystal slippers on her feet, right? It's strange that the old knight's family is not rich. ”

……

In the bright hall, melodious dance music is endless. The musicians invited by the Count at a high price were naturally not ordinary goods, and the beautiful tunes were one after another, making it difficult for the nobles who loved dancing and socializing to stop their dance steps.

In the corridor on the second floor, two girls leaned against the railing and watched the people dancing in the ballroom, one of them with a thin veil covering her face.

"Another boring evening. A group of vulgar women and a group of vulgar men, secretly sending autumn waves to hook up with each other, and using the name of the dance party to satisfy their hunger, it is really boring to the extreme. Another girl tapped the wooden railing and complained.

"I think it's funny, you see every girl in the hall wants to find a suitable husband, and those boys are not necessarily negative people." The veiled girl chuckled softly: "I don't see vulgar women and vulgar men, I only see a cynical woman named Xena." ”

Zina patted the railing dissatisfied: "Jane. Miss Lancelot, do you want to go down and find a suitable husband? ”

Jane smiled softly, "I'm veiled, they don't necessarily look down on me." ”

"Her Royal Highness the princess is humble, even if you are veiled, you are not comparable to those vulgar fans in the hall." A respectful voice came from behind them, and the two women looked back to see that it was a handsome young man with a long build.

"My father is now alone in his study, and he wants to talk to you about tonight's exhibition, mainly about the treasure you lent, the Crown of the Deep Sea."

Jane nodded, "Okay, I'll go over here." ”

The young man smiled slightly: "Your Highness is good, I won't accompany you over." ”

With that, his gaze politely bypassed Jane and landed on Xena.

Zina frowned slightly, this kind of fiery gaze from a man made her very uncomfortable. Instinctively, she pressed her hand to her waist, only to find that she had touched the void - after all, this was the Count's territory, and no one was allowed to carry weapons at the ball, and Xena was no exception.

The young man didn't seem to see Zina's movements at all, but smiled more enthusiastically: "Miss Zina, I don't know if I'm lucky enough to invite you to a dance?" ”

Zina replied stiffly, "I can't dance." ”

The young man continued to invite, "Even if you don't know how to dance, it's good to go down and walk." ”

Xena snorted, the hand that grabbed the railing suddenly exerted force, and the right foot hit the ground, and the whole person actually jumped directly over the railing on the second floor and jumped into the hall!

The people who were originally dancing suddenly became a little confused, and Zina landed quickly and safely, and glanced at the second floor defiantly.

The young man showed a more and more pathogenic and fanatical look: "What an arrogant chick, what a fascination......"

Zina ignored the young man, bored and could only wander around to see if she could find a girl she liked.

At this moment, a short figure suddenly burst into her field of vision. (To be continued.) )