Whispering Verse

Chapter 850 The Princess and Wine

"The Lady of the Lake?"

The vampire frowned slightly and nodded slowly:

"This is a local folklore. I heard similar stories when I was a child. For example, the brave man seeks strength, and then draws out the sword after being tested, and the wise man seeks wisdom, and then obtains the ancient treasure book after being tested. These stories are plausible. , which has been circulated locally for a long time.”

He paused:

"Before I left the local area in early autumn, there was news in the black market that someone really encountered the Lady of the Lake. If you need more detailed information, I can help collect it. Tomorrow, tomorrow I will give you the information that I can collect so far. you."

"That's really troublesome for you."

Shade raised his glass and touched it lightly with Mr. Bernhardt:

"Also, since you have arrived in a new city, can you introduce me to the local black market? I would like to see the local specialties."

"It's no problem. The number of ring magicians in Huntingdon City is no less than that of Fort Midhill."

"So, besides the Righteous God Church, are there any Ring Warlock organizations here that need attention?"

Shade asked, Mr. Bernhardt thought for a while:

"There is none within the city limits. To the east are large vineyards and farms, and there are not many permanent residents. But to the west, in the Pantanal, there is the 'Pantanal Voodoo Society' composed of swamp natives. These people are strange, good at using toxins and diseases, and their beliefs are not unified. Some even believe in the Pantanal region itself. Because in the early years, they polluted the groundwater near the city of Huntingdon, and were pulled by the Church of Nature. Of course, there are many good guys among them, but when interacting with such people, don’t just eat the water and food they offer.”

“Is that Pantanal Voodoo Society powerful?”

Shade asked again, and the vampire thought for a while:

"Members of the organization are located throughout the Pantanal area and make money by selling rare herbs and animal products in the swamp area. They are really good at this. If you are interested in going deep into the swamps and wetlands, take a look at the uninhabited mountain forest Most of the small houses you visit or the herbal medicine-growing pharmacists you see on the outskirts of remote villages are members of the Pantanal Voodoo Society. However, this organization only operates in this area. They are active in the Old World. and almost no trace of it elsewhere in the New World.”

Shade had indeed never heard of the name of this organization before:

"The Voodoo Society should have high-level warlocks, right?"

"Of course there is, but the highest level is only nine rings. The organizational structure of the Voodoo Society is very loose, so the organization itself is full of contradictions. It is not as tightly structured as most organizations we know."

Herr Bernhard shrugged:

"You know, wherever there are people there will be disputes, that's normal."

The two exchanged the local situation with great interest. Mr. Bernhardt, who has lived here all year round, was very talkative and even wanted to invite Shade to his manor outside the city as a guest tonight.

Today is Thursday, and Shade has nothing to do, so he wanted to agree immediately, but at this moment the hurried club waiter came over, leaned over and said a few words in Mr. Bernhardt's ear, and the latter revealed Surprised expression:

"Oh, I know, it's my honor, I'll go right away."

He put down the wine glass, hurriedly wiped his mouth with a napkin, and said to Shade sheepishly while stroking his hair:

"There is a distinguished guest upstairs who wants to see me. Mr. Watson, you can dine here first. The cost of this meal is mine. I will come back as soon as possible. Yes, that's the one. Is my hair messy now?"

"It's not messy, it's nice. Do you need a comb?"

Shade understood that "that one" referred to the princess. As he spoke, he took out the wooden comb from his pocket and handed it over:

"Then go up quickly."

He understood this and was very curious about what Princess Margaret of Anjou wanted to do with this vampire seed lord.

Mr. Bernhardt combed his hair and left with the servant nervously, leaving Shade to continue his meal. Although he is a distant relative of the Anjou royal family, he is not actually able to meet members of the royal family very often.

I originally thought that Mr. Bennhardt would be gone for a long time, but before Shade could finish the Huntington's secret honey-glazed grape steak in front of him, the gentleman came back worriedly.

He handed the comb back to Shade, took the napkin from his servant and put it back on. Shade believed that his current expression was almost like "I am very curious" written on his face. Mr. Bernhardt also understood Shade's expression and said with some annoyance:

"It's still related to this matter."

He pointed to the news about the princess's visit to Tobesk in the table newspaper, and Shade nodded:

"Although this kind of diplomatic exchange of visits is very important for the two countries in peacetime, I shouldn't ask you to go too, right?"

"No, no, what does this have to do with me? Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret is visiting Tobesk and wants to prepare a gift in a private name, so..."

Mr. Bernhardt shook his head:

"Someone mentioned to His Highness just now that I have several bottles of good famous wine here, and I also manage the White River Valley vineyard for the royal family, so Your Highness asked me to take out some of this year's batch of wine from the wine cellar."

Although all Shade saw was fermenting wine, there was actually wine left over from previous years in the warehouse. The exchange of gifts between the Anjou royal family and the Cavendish royal family does not require the princess to prepare it herself, but she is preparing to give gifts privately to important nobles and officials in Tobesk in her own name, which she needs to take care of herself. .

"What's so difficult about this? Isn't there a lot of wine in the cellar?"

Shade asked, Mr. Bernhardt shook his head:

"Yes, but the quality is very poor."

This very respectable gentleman considered his words:

"Due to the climate in recent years, the quality of grapes grown in the White River Valley vineyard has declined year after year, which is also the reason for the shrinking profits. Therefore, every summer, I send the wine from the vineyard to Willendale."

He pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows at Shade. Shade knew that this involved some private topics and immediately said:

"I won't tell anyone."

"The vineyard can make a loss, but it would be too shameful to send out such bad wine. The wine in summer these past few years was actually produced by my own winery."

Mr. Bernhard lowered his body and spoke very quickly. After speaking, he looked around.

This is actually a small matter. Although Mr. Bernhardt's approach was not quite correct, it was at least not wrong. He maintained his dignity, received subsidies from the managed vineyards, and the royal family also received good red wine.

"So, that princess thinks the wine at the winery is very good?"

Shade asked with a smile, and the middle-aged noble sighed:

"Yes, and the problem is that this summer, all the wine from my own estate has been sold, and there is not even a bottle left in stock."

This was a very embarrassing thing. Mr. Bernhardt could admit the origin of the red wine he sent every year, but it would make him lose face. Therefore, this gentleman planned to buy a few bottles of good red wine at a high price and let Margaret Anjou take them to Tobesk.

Of course, the second princess of the royal family is very good at tasting wine, so Mr. Bernhardt must find the kind of good wine that the princess has never been exposed to, otherwise the princess will immediately find that the source of the wine is wrong.

This matter is not complicated, but it is not easy to do either, so Mr. Bernhardt is a little embarrassed at this time.

Shade never expected that this gentleman, who even participated in the divine descending incident, would be troubled by such a trivial matter, so he suggested:

"Good wine? I don't think you need to look for it. I have good wine here."

Helping this gentleman is just a simple matter. There are still many things that he will need help from in this city in the future.

After saying that, he first asked the vampire servant on the side to get two new goblets, and then put his hands into his pockets. After looking around to see that no one was paying attention, he "pulled out" the two red wine bottles from the inside of his clothes and placed them on the table.

Mr. Bernhardt raised his eyebrows:

"When you go out, do you take a bottle of wine with you?"

"No, no, I rarely drink. But when I go out, how can I not take wine with me?"

Shade joked and distinguished the two wine bottles:

"Not this, this is cider, this bottle is wine."

He handed the bottle of cider to the vampire servant who came back and motioned for him to pour wine for the two of them:

"Viscount, I know these two bottles of wine don't sell well."

After all, even wine bottles are recycled twice.

“But please taste this cider.”

Shade said confidently, Mr. Bernhardt sat crookedly on the chair:

"Well, I rarely drink fruit wine made from apples. I hope it can surprise me."

The fruit wine produced by [Blood Wine Brewing] does not have extraordinary properties, but no matter what kind of wine it is, it will have the same scarlet color as wine.

Mr. Bernhardt was very surprised when he looked at the liquid ruby-like wine in the wine glass. He picked up the goblet and carefully observed the color under the light. He couldn't help but admired:

"This color, it's amazing, it's a noble color."

Shade has already taken a sip of apple cider. He is actually sorry that [Blood Wine Brewing] can only make wine but not non-alcoholic juice:

"Please taste it."

"Just by looking at the color, I'm sure of it. Why is the cider this color?"

Hesitantly, he stretched out his nose and sniffed lightly. The vampire's powerful sense of smell allowed his nose to fully smell the rich aroma of high-end wine. For a moment, the world seemed to be spinning. Mr. Bernhardt took a big breath and threw his head back, his eyes widening:

"Oh, my God, this is so exciting!"

The second half of the sentence is Kasenrik's slang, and Shade hopes that his translation is correct:

"This is not a contraband product such as the blood brew from Middleburg. Your performance is too exaggerated."

Although he knew it would have this effect, Shade still smiled, and he couldn't help but feel a little proud at this moment.