The ruler of the Anzu Kingdom and the longest reigning king since the founding of the Second Dynasty, Francis II stood on the high terrace of Silver Castle, overlooking the city that had been ruled by the Morn royal family for seven hundred years. In the ancient city, the magical radiance of the giant sun shone on the old king, casting a hazy radiance on his gorgeous golden-red coat. This radiance was the same as the glow on the surface of the entire Silver Castle. The shimmering light connected together, making the old king, who was known for his wisdom and forbearance, seem to be integrated with the entire castle, even the entire city, and the entire kingdom.
After standing and staring for a long time, a sound of gentle footsteps came from behind. The old king's hearing was still keen. He turned around and looked at the man who was already standing behind him.
It was a middle-aged man wearing a long black coat with gold trim, short light blond curly hair, ordinary appearance and not outstanding temperament. He stood in front of Francis II, his eyes were submissive and gentle, and there was a hint of A hint of awe.
"Welsh, have you seen Aiden?" Francis II looked at the middle-aged man in front of him with an indifferent expression. Although the other man was his eldest son, his tone was indifferent and calm, as if he was speaking. Talking to his most ordinary followers.
Welsh Morn, this is the name of the middle-aged man. He is the first son of Francis II. Before Prince Edmund appeared, he was once the only legal heir to the kingdom. However, On the entire top stage of Ansu, the former heir is not even more active than Veronica Moen, who entered the church early and left Ansu's ruling class. This prince with mediocre qualifications and weak personality is just like Moen. The royal family is like a shadow, hidden from everyone's sight all year round.
The "Aiden" mentioned by Francis II is the king's prime minister, Eden Alfred.
"Yes, Father," the middle-aged Prince of Wales lowered his head slightly and said in a calm tone, "The Prime Minister told me some things to pay attention to when living in Silver Castle."
"Very good," Francis II said lightly, "After Edmund and I leave, Silver Castle still needs a descendant of Morn to take charge. Veronica has converted to the Lord of Holy Light, so this The position can only be reserved for you. Do you understand?"
Welsh was silent for a moment and whispered: "I understand."
"Don't worry, you just need to stay in Baiyin. Just stay in the castle, there’s nothing you need to do,” Francis II looked at his mediocre son and shook his head in a subtle way, “The Duke of the North and West will take care of everything.”
Wales Moen lowered his head deeply: "...Yes."
The door connecting the terrace and the castle was pushed open, and Edmund Moen, who had already changed into a light knight uniform, stepped forward. On the terrace, the young heir to the kingdom came to Francis II and bowed slightly: "Father, you are ready."
The old king glanced at Wales for the last time, then turned his head,Walking towards the door of the terrace: "Let's set off."
Francis II and Edmund left the terrace. They walked down the stairs and walked through the long corridor in the castle. When passing by the front hall, the two A man in rich clothes came forward to greet them.
One is the Duke of the West, Baldwin Franklin, who is wearing a dark blue ducal cloak and has an elegant and bookish temperament. The other is wearing a white dress and a silver fox shawl, and has a cold temperament. Victoria Wilder, Duchess of the North.
The two powerful nobles in the kingdom, who were nominally second only to the king, came to Francis II and bowed slightly. Baldwin Franklin spoke first: "I wish you the best. The trip went well."
"I will work hard for peace," Francis II said solemnly, and then his eyes fell on the Grand Duchess, who was as cold and distant as ice and snow, and he looked at it quietly. After looking at each other for two seconds, he continued to speak meaningfully, "May Ansu be peaceful for a long time."
Victoria Wild nodded slightly: "Ansu will be peaceful for a long time."
Then they passed each other.
When the royal convoy with the emblem of the Morn royal family and escorted by a large number of cavalry and battle mages left Silver Castle, Wales was still standing on the terrace that was blown by the cold wind, and he lowered his head quietly. Looking at the gorgeous motorcade passing by the square in front of the castle, there was a slight hint of loneliness on his face.
A strange cold wind blew from behind. The former heir trembled slightly, then turned around and looked at Duchess Victoria Wilder standing in front of him without any surprise.
It’s so cold. This woman is as cold as the mountains in the north. Wales breathed in the cold breath that suddenly floated in the air, but what came to his mind was the one who was the sole heir of the kingdom twenty years ago. The scene when I first met Victoria Wilder as a girl. At that time, he was also standing on this high terrace, and Victoria, wearing a white princess dress, suddenly ran up, pointed at his nose and said: "You It’s a prince, right? I’m the future Duchess of Wilder!”
A magical snowflake floated on the face of Wales Moen, the middle-aged man! The prince woke up immediately and nodded to the Duchess of the North in front of him: "Duke Victoria, I will trouble you during this period."
Victoria nodded expressionlessly: "You don't have to worry about the kingdom. Duke Baldwin and I will take care of everything for you. You just need to live peacefully in Silver Castle - don't worry, I will watch over you."
Last words and memories. The words suddenly overlapped, and Wales Morn's face trembled slightly, but he still lowered his head as usual and said without any change in tone: "Okay."
Victoria Wilder She frowned slightly and looked at the prince in front of her, then said nothing. A sudden snowflake enveloped her figure. Along with the swirling cold wind and snow, her figure had disappeared into the dew of the castle.On stage.
In the middle of this month of recovery, a piece of news quickly blew throughout Ansu like a warm wind that suddenly turned in this season - at least, among the nobles who were well-informed and had their own intelligence channels. In the meantime, the news spread as quickly as the wind.
King Anzu, Francis II and Prince Edmund led the envoys to leave Silver Castle.
Of course, "spreading like the wind" is only relative to the speed of general news spread in this era. Without the use of gryphon messengers or magic transmission, the speed at which remote areas can receive news still depends on Due to the speed of the messengers, the current Cecil Territory obviously does not have the ability to establish an intelligence line with gryphon messengers and magic communication towers from the extreme south to St. Sunil - this requires crossing countless large and small southern boundaries. The high cost of nobles, across the Rock Fortress, and across the Holy Spirit Plain where the traditional nobles have strong power is only one aspect, and the intricate power structure is even more troublesome - so when Gawain received the news, it was already ten days later.
This is the result of the accelerated efforts of the Cecil Merchant Group nodes along the way and the dispatched officers of the Military Intelligence Bureau, and he has already received the information faster than most nobles in the southern border - even faster than Tanzania Town. Viscount Andrew is even faster.
After getting the information, he immediately summoned Hetty, who was in charge of internal affairs, Amber, who was in charge of intelligence, and Byron, Philip, and Solderin, who were in charge of military affairs, and called them all to the Lord's Mansion. In the conference room.
"The royal envoys set off in a motorcade. In order to synchronize with Typhon, they will not be too fast. They should have just left the Holy Spirit Plain at this time and have not yet entered the Eastern Territory," Gao Wenyang The secret letter in his hand - this secret letter was sent by a military intelligence officer located in the Holy Spirit Plains. It was sent all the way through the trade routes and was finally handed over to him by Amber. "If everything goes well, formal contact will be made." The negotiations will begin at the end of the month of Recovery, or at the beginning of the month of Fire. According to intelligence, Ansu and Typhon jointly built a 'Treaty Fortress' on the border to conduct this negotiation."
Byron. Looking at the information in Gawain's hand, he muttered in surprise: "Has our intelligence line reached Saint-Sunil?"
"It wasn't there last year, but after the spring of this year, our medicine The merchants entered the Holy Spirit Plains - this should be thanks to the efforts of Mr. Padric and the assistance of Dame Roppany Glen." Gawain nodded, and then continued, "Edmund who was traveling with Francis II? Moen, the one currently staying in Silver Castle is Wales Moen."
"The eldest son of the king?" Heti was stunned for a moment, feeling a little strange, "It is said that his qualifications are mediocre. He is good at politics and has been away from the affairs of the kingdom for many years. He is currently just a prince with little real power...Why should the king let him stay in the royal capital instead of Prince Edmund?"
"I'm afraid Francis II? He was not worried about letting his overly talented heir leave his sight—"Especially when he left the royal capital," Gawain smiled and shook his head, "I met Prince Edmund. He was a young man who was very insightful, but also too insightful. As for Wales who stayed in Silver Castle... it doesn't matter whether he can manage this country well, because the Duke of the North, Victoria Wilder, and the Duke of the West, Baldwin Franklin, have already arrived at Silver Castle in advance, as well as the king's prime minister. As the backbone of the royal faction, Aiden remains stable. "
"...Then Wales is really a poor prince," Solderin shrugged. This high-ranking ranger who has witnessed Anzu's seven hundred years of history seems to be dissatisfied with the current "illegitimate royal family. "Not very cold, and not much respect at all. "He is just a symbol in the castle. ”
“It doesn’t matter to Francis II. The entire Second Dynasty was established with the support of the Duke of the North. Whether the Wilder family is in Silver Castle or not, Morn This surname is just a symbol - in this case, Wales, which is easier to control, can save him a lot of trouble." Gawain waved his hand indifferently, "This has little to do with us. "
Amber was a little strange: "Then why did you call us here? "
Gawain did not pay attention to the half-elf lady beside him, but looked at Byron: "What is the progress of the spring expansion of the combat corps and the installation of new weapons? ”
As soon as this question was raised, everyone at the scene was stunned.
They smelled a hint of disturbing information from Gawain’s attitude.