Chapter 59 Michael Bribes Thugs, Wants to Harm Her?
Cressida had spent almost the entire night thinking about her plan.
But the next morning when she woke up, Verity whispered to her: "Ms. Hamilton, that Mr. Simmons died suddenly at home last night."
Cressida's eyes darkened: "Does Prince Miguel know?"
Verity nodded: "Prince Miguel said you should just enjoy the scenery at the Flower Festival tonight, no need to worry about anything else."
Cressida acknowledged this.
She pondered quietly.
What exactly had this Richard, who had just returned to Emerald City, done to make so many people want to kill him?
Cressida tried hard to recall what had happened in her past life related to this Richard.
Unfortunately, in her previous life she had been forced to stay home most of the time, so she wasn't well-informed about outside news, especially national affairs.
Emma walked in: "Ms. Cressida Hamilton, a servant from the estate who went shopping yesterday saw Mr. Michael Hamilton having dinner with some well-known thugs and troublemakers at Sparrow Tavern."
Cressida looked up: "Who told you this?"
"Noah."
Then it must be true.
Cressida had known before that Michael knew some hoodlums from the gambling house.
Ever since his family found out about him going to the gambling house, Clio had been very strict with him, making him reduce contact with those people.
But why was he suddenly treating those people to dinner now?
Cressida thought for a moment, then said to Emma: "Make a trip to the martial arts school for me and ask Mr. Clarence Fisher to lend me two skilled companions, they must have real combat experience."
"Yes, Ms. Hamilton." Emma bowed in acknowledgment, then turned and quickly disappeared into the rain.
As the sun set in the west, the rain gradually stopped, and dusk soon enveloped the entire estate. At this time, Jessica lifted her skirt and came to Cressida's courtyard on her own.
"Cressida, we can head to the festival grounds now." Jessica was wearing a pink silk gown today, with pearl earrings dangling by her ears and small pink roses tucked in her hair, looking especially charming and attractive.
But when she saw Cressida, her eyes instantly lit up, and her steps unconsciously paused.
Cressida raised an eyebrow: "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Cressida, your outfit today is so special, you should have dressed like this earlier." Jessica stepped forward, her gaze lingering on her, her tone full of admiration.
Under Cressida's light purple cloak was a bright purple seven-layered brocade dress. The slightly narrow collar revealed her slender neck, and her elegant hairstyle was decorated with just the right amount of jeweled ornaments.
This look made her appear both cool and noble.
Faced with the compliment, Cressida just smiled lightly: "I have to let others see that I'm doing well after returning to Emerald City."
Cressida and Jessica were talking as they walked out when they saw Michael walking quickly toward them along the corridor. Seeing Cressida, he actually quickened his pace and called out in an unusually obedient tone: "Cressida, you're going to the flower festival, right? I want to go with you too!"
Cressida's expression was cold, and she didn't respond. Jessica was rather confused: "Michael, you've never liked these noisy festival occasions. Why are you suddenly interested today?"
"This year is different. I heard the festival's flower parade has specially made floats, and I want to see them. Plus I have the day off today. Cressida, please take me along." Michael's tone was earnest.
"The carriage won't fit everyone." Cressida's voice remained cold.
But Michael wasn't discouraged at all: "I'll ride a horse alongside, won't take up space in the carriage. Besides, Jessica, didn't you make plans with Ms. Bianca Baldwin from the Baldwin family? I'm good friends with her brother Mr. Tyrell Baldwin, and I've already arranged to go to the festival with him."
Jessica was helpless and could only give in: "Fine then, let's all go together." With that, she took Cressida's arm and led the way out of the courtyard.
When Cressida and Jessica got into the carriage, the curtain lifted, and Cressida indeed saw Michael riding a reddish-brown horse beside the carriage, his face full of excited smiles.
Jessica pursed her lips and said quietly to Cressida: "He's never been this friendly to us before."
Cressida just smiled without speaking, having already guessed Michael's intentions.
As soon as it got dark, Glory Street and Prosperity Street were already packed with carriages and horses, completely jammed. They had to park the carriage outside the market entrance and walk in.
At this moment, the lights were just coming on, and the festival lanterns and shop candles reflected off each other, illuminating the night sky like daylight. Street vendors called out loudly, selling flower wreaths, candy, and handmade ornaments. Children ran through the crowd playing with pinwheels, and if you weren't careful, they'd bump into passersby.
Cressida quietly observed her surroundings and noticed that every ten steps or so, there was a royal soldier on horseback, holding a spear and solemnly scanning the crowd. In her view, while the vantage point from horseback was good, if the crowd became agitated, the horses would actually become obstacles and might even cause chaos.
Pushing down these thoughts, Cressida was pulled by Jessica into a viewing building called "Wisteria Terrace." This terrace had been donated and built by a wealthy merchant years ago. It had three floors, each covered with soft velvet cushions, and the carved arch windows on all four sides could be removed at any time. Standing here, you could take in the entire night view of Emerald City - it was the city's highest viewing platform. It had now been purchased by someone and was only open for use on special festival days like this, or when people receiving honors paraded through the streets.
Going up the stairs, passing the second floor, Cressida glimpsed that it was already full of people, a sea of heads, very lively.
"The spots here must be hard to book, right?" Cressida asked casually.
"Of course." Jessica said with a smile, "Cressida, remember Mrs. Woods from the last banquet? Her family has good connections. Ms. Woods got a reservation and specially invited us to watch the parade together. When the time comes, from here we can see both the fireworks show and get a clear view of the 'King of Flowers' float passing by. It'll definitely be exciting!"
As they spoke, Jessica and Cressida had already reached the third floor. Looking around, the people sitting here were all young nobles, men and women, all dressed magnificently. Some were chatting quietly, others were spontaneously reciting poetry, and the atmosphere was very lively.
As soon as Michael appeared, someone waved at him, and several young men in fine formal wear stood up to greet him. You could tell he was quite popular in Emerald City's young noble circles.
Cressida heard someone call out loudly: "The little warrior of the Hamilton family, we've been waiting for you! We were just talking about you!"
Those men pulled Michael to sit down, and he quickly turned to Cressida and said: "Cressida, I'll go sit with my friends first."
Jessica tightened her grip on Cressida's arm: "Cressida, don't mind him. Let's go over there, Ms. Woods is still waiting." She led Cressida to the arch window in the innermost area, where four or five pretty noble girls were already sitting.
Jessica spoke first to introduce: "This is my sister, Cressida."
Elysia Woods immediately stood up with a warm smile: "Ms. Hamilton, I remember you. We met at the church last time." Elysia had a quiet, refined appearance, around twenty years old, with features somewhat similar to Ursa's.
Last time when Cressida had that incident at the church, the Woods family hadn't distanced themselves from her because of it, and afterward Ursa had specially sent a maid with gifts of sympathy. Cressida nodded slightly in greeting: "Ms. Woods, hello."
Elysia pulled over the girls beside her and introduced them to Cressida one by one. There was Lyra Simpson, Jessica's cousin from her maternal family the Simpson family, and the others were daughters of high-ranking officials. They all came from prominent families, were elegant and well-mannered, and were around Cressida's age.
The Kingdom of Novaria had always had a humane regulation set by the founding empress: women came of age at fifteen and could begin marriage discussions, but formal marriage required being at least eighteen years old. Otherwise, marrying an underage woman would be considered a serious crime. Therefore, many noble girls would only seriously consider marriage after turning eighteen. While it was uncommon for someone like Cressida to still be unmarried at twenty-four, it wasn't unheard of. The girls of similar age quickly got into conversation.
As soon as they sat down, the lively Lyra curiously leaned over, her eyes bright as she asked: "I heard Ms. Hamilton spent several years at a military fortress. Was it interesting there? More fun than Emerald City, right?"
Cressida smiled and shook her head: "It's not quite right to call it 'fun,' but the scenery there is indeed unique, especially the sunsets, which are magnificent. However, the soldiers stationed at the fortress work in shifts all year round and can never let their guard down. Life there is actually quite hard."
The girls all expressed sincere admiration. Lyra's eyes were full of respect: "The soldiers really have it tough. I heard General Hamilton is extremely skilled in martial arts - enemies can't get within two feet of him. Ms. Hamilton, you must be very skilled too. Can you use a spear? Could you show us?"
Before Cressida could speak, Jessica waved her hand to interrupt: "Stop it! My sister isn't a street performer - she can't just perform on demand."
"I'm not trying to make fun of Ms. Hamilton, I genuinely admire her! I often watch my brother practice with the spear, and he's really good. I just wanted to see Ms. Hamilton's skills." Lyra quickly explained.
"Still no." Jessica was firm.
The two cousins Lyra and Jessica went back and forth, looking quite amusing. Elysia stepped in at the right time to ease the atmosphere: "Alright, if you keep arguing, we'll miss the opening of the flower parade."
Just then, there was suddenly a commotion at the stairway, accompanied by servants announcing arrivals loudly. Cressida looked up and saw a group of people heading up to the third floor with great pomp, clearly people of high status.