Flowers, Swords and France

The clock struck nine o'clock and the dance began.

A neatly combed, brown with a little bit of gray hair, wearing a palace-style embroidered dress, with a blue ribbon, a very elegant-looking middle-aged man walked into the hall unhurriedly, and from the looks of the people around him Judging from the reaction, this should be Matilda's father, Mr. Viscount Dillion, the heir to the current Lord Seal, Count Dillion.

Miss Julie, whom Charles had just seen, followed her in, holding her father's right hand.

After reaching the end of the hall, he turned back and looked at all the guests with a smile. The beauty of the Dilion family coupled with the most common stylized smile in the palace makes people feel an indescribable sense of relaxation.

"I'm really grateful that you all were able to attend my daughter's birthday party today. However, I also have some emotions at this time. I didn't expect that my daughter would be twenty years old in the blink of an eye, and I would already be He is an old man..."

After saying this, he smiled mockingly to himself, and the guests laughed along with him.

"Everyone who came here today are all French young men and ladies. It really makes me feel the vitality that I have not seen for a long time! To think that I was once this young..."

Everyone laughed together again.

"It's rare for you young people to gather together. Naturally, you have a lot to say, so I won't say more, so as not to waste everyone's precious time." Then he turned to look at his daughter standing next to him.

Miss Julie still looked a little distracted. It took her a moment to react, and then she looked at the guests with a forced smile.

"Thank you all for coming to my birthday party, let's get started!"

The performance of the dance host made everyone stunned for a moment, and there was a brief silence, but everyone accepted it as "it was just excitement after all." Then, the Viscount nodded politely to his daughter and left the hall, and the dance officially began.

Charles didn't like dancing, so after the ball started, he sat with his sister and Mademoiselle Leolan, eating snacks and watching others dance.

After a while, Charles noticed that Miss Leolan's face was a little red and she seemed hesitant to speak.

Just as Charles was about to ask her if she felt uncomfortable, Fran suddenly kicked Charles hard under the table.

In pain, Charles looked at Fran, but Fran looked back with disgust, her eyes full of questions like "Why don't you know what's interesting? Do you have to let the girl speak for herself?"

Ciel suddenly understood, and then looked at Mary with a smile.

"Mademoiselle Leorain, would it be my honor to dance with you?"

"Of course, sir." Miss Leolan's face turned redder.

Just as one dance had ended and the next dance was about to begin, Charles stretched out his hand forward. Mary lowered her head and stretched out her hand for Charles to lead to the temporary dance floor in the center of the hall.

As they were about to begin, Ciel complimented his dance partner. "You are so glorious today that it makes people enchanted."

"Yeah?"

Mary was wearing a white gauze dress today with a rose-colored ribbon and a pair of pink dancing shoes. It can be seen that she has dressed up carefully for the dance. There was a joyful smile on her face, and she seemed to have forgotten her shyness just now, and raised her head to look up at Ciel.

"Really." Charles replied sincerely, and at the same time he controlled himself to touch the blond hair.

"Thank you, teacher." Mary lowered her head again.

Ever since she and Ciel started learning to play chess, she often addressed Ciel in this way, which made Ciel dumbfounded.

This song is a mazurka. Charles and Marie hold hands and dance slowly along the edge of the circular dance floor.

Around Charles, Mary turned lightly and gracefully, sometimes stopping on Charles's right hand, sometimes on her left. In the bright hall, the lights and jewelry complemented each other, shining with gorgeous light, making her look even more gorgeous.

At last the dance ended, Charles bowed to Marie, and Marie curtsied in return.

The two looked at each other and smiled.

"Nice dance, Mr. Treville!"

Charles suddenly realized that Matilda had walked next to him at some point, and she was actually holding her sister beside her.

"Thank you for the compliment." Ciel replied calmly.

Matilda suddenly turned to look at Julie. "Sister, how about you dance a song too? You are obviously the protagonist tonight, but you haven't danced a dance today... The next song is a waltz, how about you and Mr. Treville dance a song?"

"Forget it for today, I'm feeling a little unwell..." Julie replied hesitantly, unable to hide the nervousness on her face.

Ciel felt a little embarrassed and then prepared to leave.

Suddenly, he found that the eyes just glanced at him again, and stared more closely.

"Since you're not feeling well, it's better to go to bed early." Charles suggested to Julie calmly, then took Mary's hand and walked back.

"You guys danced so beautifully just now!" Fran looked at the two returning people with a smile, "Mary, are you tired? Let's have something to drink."

The two of them sat down and drank some drinks, and Ciel felt the presence of that line of sight.

After thinking for a few seconds, Charles decided to remain calm, and then confessed to his sister and Mary, claiming that he had to go to the bathroom.

As he walked out of the hall, he could always feel the other person's eyes scanning him from time to time.

Who is he? He searched his mind carefully, but found that he didn't know the other person at all.

Was it a misunderstanding? He recognized the wrong person? Or... is he a political person?

There were many thoughts running through Charles's mind at the moment, but none of them could make him feel at ease.

After walking out of the mansion, he carefully looked behind him and found that no one was following him. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't seem to be Zheng Ax's spy, at least it wouldn't be targeting him.

However, even so, there was still a trace of uneasiness in Ciel's heart.

After a while, Charles returned to the hall, only to find that the young man had just walked out. Seeing Ciel, his eyes suddenly tightened - although the movement was small, Ciel still noticed it, and then he walked out of the hall pretending that nothing happened.

The remaining uneasiness made Charles dare not neglect, and he slowly walked to Matilda, who was still entertaining guests.

He asked, pointing to the man who just walked out. "Miss, who is this?"

"That man? I received him at the door today. He is Viscount Burrell..." Matilda said his name, and then thought about it carefully, "His father is a diplomat, and he took him in Europe He wandered around and died, leaving him a legacy. He later joined the army and seemed to have served in Algeria before returning recently."

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"Viscount Berrell?" Charles was stunned, "Are you sure?!"

"Huh? This is the invitation he brought," Matilda replied, "My memory of names is not that bad."

"No, he is definitely not Viscount Burrel," Charles replied firmly. "Viscount Burrel briefly studied at the Henry IV School for a while. I have met him."

"Perhaps he has changed over the years?" Matilda asked.

"No, it can't be that big," Charles replied. "I'm very impressed by him. I'm afraid you don't know that I have a friend at school named Albert de Foa Grail. My friend once had a big quarrel with the then Viscount Burrel over some trivial matter, which eventually led to a duel. I served as a witness for Albert. I saw with my own eyes that Albert shot him in the head and knocked him out. There is a small cut on his earlobe. This man’s head is fine today!”

"Could it be...could it be..."

Matilda's eyes widened, and then her breathing suddenly became rapid and she took in big gulps of air.

No way, such a big reaction? Ciel was a little surprised. Matilda had always given him the impression of being relatively calm, but he didn't expect that she would lose her composure like this.

"Could it be... could it... be him?" Matilda's eyes kept changing, and her expressions were mixed, including nervousness, anxiety, and even a hint of anger. "How dare this guy come... Damn it... Damn it... Sister! Sister!"

she suddenly shouted.

Then she glanced into the hall, only to find that her sister was no longer in the hall. "Damn it! When did you run out? They are really capable of it!"

She cursed under her breath and suddenly ran out of the hall.

"What's wrong with you?" Charles was a little surprised.

"I hope nothing bad will happen. Dad watches my sister very closely. If he sees him, I'm afraid something will happen... Damn it! I have to stop it..." Matilda murmured to herself, not knowing what was going on. Not in answer to Ciel's question, "I hope it's not too late!"

However, at this moment, a loud noise came from outside. Then there was another girl's scream.

It's gunfire! Ciel immediately judged it. Also, the scream belonged to the eldest daughter of the Dillion family!

Others also judged it, and there was a burst of exclamations.

"Damn it!" Matilda cursed again and ran out of the hall.

The guests who heard the gunfire panicked, and the order of the dance suddenly collapsed. No one was dancing anymore. Everyone looked at each other in surprise, and then found that there was no one from the host's family in the hall.

Whispers sounded from everywhere.

Until a moment later, a middle-aged man who looked like a butler walked in, with an apologetic smile on his face. "Dear guests, I'm really sorry. The master accidentally discharged his gun when he was packing up the collection just now..."

There were murmurs of exclamation.

"Fortunately, no one was hurt at the time, but..." the housekeeper continued, "The lady was frightened. She was already a little uncomfortable, and now she needs to take a rest. Please don't mind. , continue to enjoy the dinner..."

How could you not mind?

Also, this explanation seems a bit wrong no matter how you look at it, right?

Under suspicion and worry, the guests said goodbye one after another, and the butler did not stop them. He said he was sorry and allowed the guests to leave.

Fran and Mary also walked next to Charles. Fran whispered: "Brother, let's go back. I felt a little strange from the beginning..."

At this moment, Charles also felt that it was not suitable to stay here for a long time, so he nodded.

Probably tomorrow, this matter will become a big news, he thought to himself.

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