The Black-haired Maid hurried from the manor gate along the gravel path through the courtyard toward the imposing three-story residence. If Shade remembered correctly, she was the maid who had delivered the relic, the Blood Ring, to him on behalf of that lady on the third floor of the Lucky Southern Cross Club.
"That lady is here too?"
Standing beside the long table, Shade looked up at the manor house not far away. He could only see several young ladies in evening gowns chatting on the second-floor terrace.
One of them, a red-haired young woman holding a glass of wine, noticed Shade's gaze and even pointed him out to her friends.
Seeing all the young ladies on the terrace looking his way, Shade gave a slight nod in greeting despite not wanting trouble, then casually left that spot.
"Seeing so many different hair colors at once really is a novel experience."
That was what he thought as he reached the courtyard behind the manor.
Shade did not know the exact area of Lake View Manor, but even without counting the racetrack connected to the estate and the nearby farms, its size surpassed the Outlander's imagination.
Behind the residence lay gardens divided into different sections. Farther back, the estate connected directly to Schluch Lake, where there was even a small pier and pleasure boats. Shade had already seen young men and women rowing across the lake with candles.
He did not go too close to the lakeshore, not because he did not want to admire the beautiful sight of March hanging over the blue waters beneath the night sky, but simply because it was too cold by the lake.
The garden itself was more than enough to broaden Shade's horizons. He did not know whether it was some sort of custom,