Grand Duke Luna from Ronan? Brewster marrying into Joe? After McFabrie's house, Roseville's weather never cleared again. The color of the sky is always overcast, and Luna feels uncomfortable looking at it.

The bad news on the wedding day completely spoils the mood of Luna and McFafaery's family. After much inquiry, Joe? McFauly's father, Hart? McFalie finally heard relatively true news from an old comrade-in-arms of his son, that the situation on the front line of the Neglo Republic was not as good as the newspapers said, that the enemy had launched a counterattack at the regimental level, that the Sixth Army had suffered heavy losses, that the life and death of the corps commander was uncertain, and that now Ankenrein's troops were establishing a defensive line on the border of the Neglo Republic and waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.

Even if it takes a lot of connections, Hart? All Macfalie could get was such a vague result. As for his son, whether Luna's husband is dead or alive, no one can give him a definite answer. Hart? Macfalie and his wife were very sad, worried every day, and it was difficult to see a smile at the dinner table, and they could not do without their son in three words. For Luna, every minute of her time in the house has turned into torment.

"My lord, Janice, the wife of the commander of the Western Theater? Zhong has sent you an invitation to the tea party at Pansy Manor tomorrow afternoon. ”

Mellen? Warren pushed the door open and entered, and Luna closed the Dragon Hunter in her hand, and looked back to see Merlen placing a beautiful invitation on the table next to her.

"Didn't you say it, don't look for me for this kind of thing, I won't go."

Tea parties were the main means of communication between the ladies of Anconrein in high society, and were usually spearheaded by a group of well-connected ladies of higher rank, usually at the promoter's estate on the outskirts of Roseville. The ladies would arrive around two o'clock in the afternoon, have tea, chat, exchange messages, and then go home around half-past four to wait for their husbands to have dinner. Although the husband does not always come home for dinner for these people, the end time of half past four has never changed.

"My lord, this is the commander of the Western Theater of Operations, Field Marshal Paul? Mrs. Chung's invitation is Lord McFray's immediate boss, if you don't go, aren't you-"

Mellen's words stopped talking. Since following Luna to the Macfali house, the maid who is most familiar with Luna has partly taken on the role of Luna's personal butler. She will give Luna advice based on the information she has received and help her with her ideas.

"Commander of the Western Theater of Operations? What does it have to do with me? ”

Luna replied softly, bowed her head, and reopened the book. But for some reason, her heart suddenly felt anxious. The husband she has never met knows whether she is alive or dead, and her seventeen-year-old bride is likely to become a widow. In such a situation, how could she be in the mood to attend a tea party.

Melen whispered, turned and walked out the door. But she didn't take the invitation with her. Luna reads the book for a while, and feels that she can't calm down, and she can't turn a blind eye to the many fallacies in the book's description of the Magister, as she usually does. She stood up and walked around the room a few times, and saw the invitation again.

"Since you are married, you must not be as willful as you are in the tower. Now that Lord Luke has passed away, the Mage Tower can't help you much, and if you're too willful, I'm worried that you'll be wronged. ”

Before leaving the Mage Tower, Luna still remembers Brooklyn's advice. She held the invitation in her hand for a while, and finally rang the bell.

——————————

Pansy Manor, located on the south side of Roseville, is a large estate covering hundreds of acres. Western Theater Commander Paul? Zhong's grandfather Damon? Fifty-seven years ago, Zhong defended the territory in a battle against the border, and the emperor at that time gave the estate to the Zhong family as a reward for their bravery.

By the time Luna's carriage entered the manor along the somewhat old stone path, it was five minutes late for the tea party to begin. Luna, the Grand Duke, was the highest-ranking lady present at the tea party, and according to Mellen's suggestion, according to traditional etiquette, it was best to show her status 5 to 10 minutes after the appointed time.

The manor is large, and as the weather has cooled, the tea is served in a conservatory with a large glass roof, and two neatly arranged rows of pure glow of fine pyroxene are suspended in the air, creating a suitable temperature for this small space. Everyone stood up when Luna, dressed in a waist-cinching tuft, moved into the conservatory.

"Grand Duke Luo Nan."

The ladies present folded their skirts in unison, as a courtesy of Luna's title of Grand Duke. Luna responded skillfully, but subconsciously used the curtsy she used to use in the Mage Tower. However, no one present was stupid enough to correct her mistakes, Janice, the wife of the commander of the Western Theater of Operations? Zhong enthusiastically stepped forward and introduced Luna to the dozen or so ladies present. Most of these ladies are from the Western Theater of Operations, and their husbands are at least at the rank of major generals, and behind each of them stands a general with a heavy army. Luna met them one by one, and followed Janice to a small table in the south of the conservatory.

Tea parties are different from formal drinking parties attended by men who must be standing most of the time. In order to take care of the weak body of the ladies, the tea party often arranges some small tables in the venue according to the number of people, and the ladies with good relationships sit at the table in twos and threes, chatting about some topics at will. If you want to chat with the ladies at other tables, you only need to pick up the teacup, walk slowly and walk away, everyone stands and chats for a few words, and then judges whether to sit down according to the mood. The initial seating arrangement of such a tea party depends on the organizer's understanding of the participating wives, which is a test of skills and can also faintly reflect the purpose of the tea party.

There are three ladies sitting at the same table as Luna, Janice, the wife of the commander of the Western Theater of Operations? Chung, Commander of the 1st Army Corps in the Western Theater of Operations, Jon? Wright's wife, Lily? Wright, and Skye, commander of the Third Army in the Western Theater of Operations? Hamm's wife, Rennie? Ham. If Luna had the heart, she would have realized that the legions to which the husbands of these three ladies belonged were the first legions sent to the front by His Majesty the Emperor.

"Grand Duke Luo Nan, although I have heard your name many times before, this is the first time I have seen you, and it is even more beautiful and temperamental than the legend. Even when I see a woman, I can't help but be moved. ”

The first to speak was Renee, the youngest of the four besides Luna? Hamm, she praised Luna twice, and then she and the others praised each other, which kind of opened the conversation. After that, several people began to talk about the latest battle situation.

"I heard that His Majesty the Emperor is very dissatisfied with the situation on the front line, and plans to send the prince to supervise the war. Now the fifth prince Dawn? Gibson and Eliot, the Sixth Prince? Gibson is fighting for this opportunity, and it is not known who His Majesty the Emperor will choose. ”

Lily, the Captain of the First Legion? Wright in Rennie? Hamm then opened the topic, Jon, commander of the First Army in the Western Theater? Wright, a confidant of His Majesty the Emperor, took a neutral position, and the choice of this topic was not abrupt. Whether or not she wants to know or pry into something through this topic is not something that Luna can guess.

"Hasn't Prince Daun always developed his power among the ministers? He did lack some military connections, and if he could go this time, it would be a powerful addition to his strength. ”

Janice, the wife of the War Zone Commander? Zhong is also not stressed in this regard, her husband Paul? Zhong is also loyal to His Majesty the Emperor and does not need to take sides among the princes.

"This depends on the emperor's meaning, whether it is Prince Dawn or Prince Eliot, it should be able to greatly improve the morale of the front line, I hope the two of them can pass as soon as possible, the situation on the front line is said to be not optimistic."

The Commander of the Third Legion, Mrs. Skye? Hamm's space on this topic is very limited. Her husband's current position is not yet clear, so she brushes the topic over and turns to the battlefield situation.

"That...... I wonder how the front line is now? ”

Luna interjected a little stiffly, she was really not used to this kind of lady's tea party, everyone seemed to speak casually, but there was some deep meaning behind each sentence. She didn't have the ability to understand the meaning behind those words for the time being, and she didn't bother to think about the twists and turns, so she simply cut the topic to the area she was interested in.

"It's not too rosy, but it's not that bad", Janice? Zhong took Luna's question, "We have retreated quite a bit from the provinces of Anta and Scat in the Republic of Negro, but we still maintain a zone of control for about a hundred kilometers. Generals Wright and Hamm were building defensive lines in the hope of consolidating the occupied area before snow fell. ”

"Well, I heard that the new General Paz and General Helm brought more slaves, alleviating the shortage of slave soldiers on the front line. In terms of troops, we are not under much pressure. ”

Rennie? Ham's reference to General Paz and General Helm refers to Tobias, the commander of the Second Army? Paz and the commander of the Fourth Army, Rove? Helm. As the second group of generals sent to the front, their troops were more complete and more combat-ready.

"So we can hold the area we've taken?" Luna's style is still so straightforward.

"Almost, although the enemy has more advanced weapons and armored spearmen, Prince Eliot's hand artillery cavalry is also very powerful, and it is said that in the first encounter, our hand artillery cavalry had an overwhelming advantage over the enemy's armored spearmen. When Prince Etreus goes to the front with his artillery cavalry, we may have some hope of reclaiming some land. ”

"Well, but I've heard that the pressure right now is food. The prices of rye and wheat in Rennes have doubled, but the supply from the front still can't keep up, and the generals can't eat enough, so where do they have the strength to fight. ”

"No, this autumn the harvest in the southeast was so bad that large tracts of land were wiped out, and many tenant farmers were forced to sell themselves into serfs. In addition, it is said that several large war-readiness warehouses in our western region are seriously in deficit, and many warehouses only have grain on their accounts, and the grain in the warehouses has long been sold out. ”

"It's not the moths, it's long overdue. I don't usually think that this is going to be a war and there is no food, no matter how powerful the generals are, what can they do! ”

"That's it, His Majesty the Emperor should have investigated these people a long time ago, and they all ate fat brains and fat intestines. I've heard that the pyroxene spirit at this year's Fire Festival auction was taken by Edda? Berg bought it, and it cost a full 6,700 crowns, and he was not afraid to spend money and flash his tongue! ”

"That stone was taken by Master Berg? Isn't it a foreign nobleman? ”

"Oh, that's all the trust you found, do you really believe it? Who's going to really let their butler go to that kind of auction, isn't that asking for trouble for themselves?"

"No, people are smart now......"

The conversation of the ladies begins to diverge, and Luna's attention begins to diverge. Her eyes wandered around, and soon she saw something she cared so much about. It was a carriage-sized device, with the same four wheels as the carriage, but without a pole or faucet for a horse, with a high front and a seat, and some strange maneuvers.

"Ahh Zhong noticed Luna's gaze, "This is a new product sent by the RAND Corporation last week, it's called a trackless steam locomotive, they call it a car." I bought one when I saw it interesting, and we can try it later, it's very interesting, it is powered by a steam engine, and you don't need a horse, as long as you have pyroxene and water, you can keep walking. ”

"Hey, trackless steam locomotive? Is it the same as the big guys at our station? Can it be so small? ”

"Does this look really tall? Really don't use a horse? Isn't that okay to go all the way? ”

"Yes, yes, we also said that Sister Janice suddenly remembered to have a tea party, it turned out that she bought a new toy, and I have to let my sister sit first!"

"What, don't talk nonsense, my tea party is mainly to welcome our new sister, Grand Duke Luo Nan, don't talk nonsense, I'm not happy to talk about me!"

Janice laughed with her sister as she called an engineer to prepare the car. The engineer was from the Third Republic of Fern, and he stumbled in Rein's language, and in a moment became the object of ridicule from the ladies. Everyone chatted about this new thing, and soon heard the hissing of steam depressurization.

"All right, ma'am."

The engineer bowed deeply, then climbed into the car and took his place in the driver's seat. Luna at the invitation of Janice, and Lily, the wife of the Captain of the First Legion? Wright, and the Third Legion's Commander's wife, Skye? Hamm got into the car. The interior of this trackless steam locomotive is similar to that of a horse-drawn carriage, with two rows of seats facing each other in front and rear, and leather seats that are soft and comfortable. Unlike normal carriages, the floor in the middle of the carriage has a noticeable bulge.

"Sister, how much did you spend on this? I have heard that the first batch of steam locomotives brought by the RAND Company was only twenty, and ten were given to His Majesty the Emperor. The remaining ten cars, the nobles in the city are crazy to rob, and it is very difficult to buy. ”

"Oh, it's actually okay, it's not expensive, it's not expensive, it's just nine kilograms."

"Ah, the whole Pansy Manor was only 18,000 kilograms of Lang at the time, right? Our car is worth half of Pansy Manor, sisters, Sister Janice bought such a good thing, should we celebrate it! ”

"Not really! Next time you visit First Avenue, let Sister Janice pay for it! ”

Several people in the carriage squeezed Janice while patting their horses. Janice smiled happily, visibly immersed in it. Luna smiled in agreement, but didn't know how to interject.

"Oh, yes, look at us, patronize and say, forget who the Grand Duke of Luo Nan is. The Grand Magister's magic ship is much more powerful than my gadget, and we don't know anything about the hillbillies here, so maybe Grand Duke Lonan laughs at us! ”

Janice sees Luna's silence and brings the conversation to her. Luna smiled back, but looked out the window. With a slight jolt, the trackless steam locomotive pulled out of the warm hall and began to make its way down the stone pavement of Pansy Manor. Luna's gaze looked through the car window, through the trees and buildings of the manor, and saw the light white crystals dancing in the air.

Before you know it, Roswell's first snow has come unexpectedly.