“How awe-inspiring.”

One of the personnel to greet the King stood outside Truu Castle and whispered under his breath.

There were nearly 300 people in the negotiating team, and the King’s luxurious carriage was in the middle of the team. The carriage that needed twelve tall horses to be pulled was as wide as a small house. The oak frame of the carriage was plated with metal and gleamed in the sun. The crimson southern flannel covered the carriage and swayed gently as the carriage moved.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

“Don’t be like a bumpkin who has never seen the world.”

The person in the front laughed.

He was a very handsome knight. His pale blonde hair was meticulously combed back, and his eyes were deep and defined. If he was put among the upper class of the palace court, there would be countless noble ladies obsessed with him. The cloak he wore had a golden harp embroidered on it.

“Our Majesty the King is not an ordinary person. I heard that when a large number of people died in the North due to the cold and hunger in the winter, our noble Majesty the King was having people use gold to build a carriage for himself.”

“Why didn’t he bring his golden carriage over? Open the eyes of those Bressians, so that their greedy mouths would widen even more.”

The person who spoke first let out a sarcastic comment.

The King’s servant had already seen them.

The flag of the King’s team waved at them.

“Well, now let us go to meet our noble Majesty.”

The knight with pale blond hair ended the conversation. He drove his horse forward, and the others followed him.

In addition to the scholars and judges in charge of negotiations, there were more than a dozen iron-clad guards in scarlet cloaks. They crowded around the exquisite carriage to separate the King from the others. Those were the King’s vow knights. But in front of the dozen or so armored guards, there were three people with different attire.

“Sheehan.”

The three recognized the blond knight who was approaching, and they greeted him with a smile.

The greeting team led by the blond knight all dismounted, and the King’s team also stopped. The procession that had traveled the long distance finally got a chance of respite. The dozens of iron-clad guards lined up on both sides, and the Master of the Households respectfully lifted the curtain of the carriage. A hand with a rose ring stretched out from behind the scarlet flannel.

The dark gold iron rose was inlaid with a dark red gem in the center. It was the emblem of the Legrand royal family.

But this noble and exquisite ring had become a foil at this time. The hand wearing it was the more noble existence, like the dew dotted on the rose. That hand was as white as the cold jade sent across the sea from foreign lands. It was neither as small as the hand of a lady, nor as thick as the hand of a man. It was both well-proportioned and slender, flawless and exquisite.

The blond knight knelt on one knee, took the hand that extended from the carriage, and kissed the iron rose ring on it.

“I am honored for your health. Your Majesty.”

The King got off the carriage.

This was the first time that many of the greeters have seen their Majesty the King.

It could be said that if one didn’t think about his “great achievements”, many people would be happy to be loyal to such a King. Because he was the very image of the dazzling palace lord, raised on nobility and luxury, and the most captivating prescence in the palace.

The King had a crimson cloak on his shoulders, and a dark red silk satin robe underneath that was embellished with pure gold buttons carved in the shape of a rose. Three layers of white lace were turned up at the neckline, and brilliant diamonds were set on the edges of the lace, appearing as dazzling as stars in the night sky. A crown studded with many precious jewels was worn on his silver blonde hair, and the face underneath was as exquisite and compelling as the diamonds on his body.

In the whole of Legrand, one could not find a second young man as beautiful as him.

——A luxurious rose that brought corruption and death.

The blond knight thought privately to himself as he lead the way for the King.

The etiquette for the formal meeting between King and subject having ended, the negotiating mission led by the King himself passed the lowered suspension bridge and entered Truu City. It could be seen that they did some work to welcome the King. The shops in the castle were decorated with red cloth strips, and the people who accompanied them all wore a bright red rose flower on their chests.

The master of Truu Castle, that is the blond knight, Baron Sheehan.

Baron Sheehan told the King that a banquet and opera had been prepared for him.

The people of the Legrand Empire all knew that their King loved luxurious costumes and feasts, and adored all kinds of extravagance and elegant operas.

——Just don’t know why those operas that praised sage Kings failed to edify him to be a more benevolent King as well.

All in all, if one wanted to put this irritable King in a better mood, there was nothing wrong with preparing more feasts and operas.

Unexpectedly, the King rejected the banquet and opera indifferently this time.

In the lobby of the Truu Castle, the King wiped his hands with a white handkerchief. He casually looked up at the owner of the castle, Baron Sheehan: “Do you think the operas here are of first-rate artistic standard?”

He asked this in a soft, casual tone, with a natural, matter of fact bearing.

The meticulously prepared welcoming gifts were taken lightly and ignored. How would the people of Truu Castle react? How could they react?

——They could only maintain a smile and apologize to the King fearfully.

“Take me to the tower, I want to admire the view of this castle.”

The King ordered.

…………

The tower was very high, from here one could overlook the entire castle grounds, including the mountains and grasslands outside.

Zhu Chi stood on the tower with his hands on the stone window. Thanks to the warm crimson cloak on his body, he remained unaffected by the freezing cold on the top of the tower. The cold wind seemed to make his eyes, which were already difficult to take on any warmth, become an even icier blue.

Baron Sheehan, the owner of Truu Castle, stood by his side and introduced him to the history of the castle.

Zhu Chi was not interested in those long family histories. He looked at the overall condition of Truu Castle.

“Truu” meant “beautiful castle” in the language of the Legrand Empire. It was a strong fortress to defend the city of Truu, and it was also now at the frontlines of the battle against the Bressi expeditionary army. In front of Truu Castle was the deep and turbulent Doma River. The King observed that two megalithic strongholds were built on the wetlands formed by the tributaries of the Doma River.

The wooden bridge across the river was controlled by the turret of the castle. If the enemy came from the front, the bridge would be hoisted up.

Taking the castle as the starting point and looking forward, an undulating grassland could be seen, and on the west side of the grassland was a dark green forest——the undulating Konosen Mountains.

After observing the complete terrain, the King retracted his gaze and looked down slightly.

His silver hair was blown by the wind on the high platform.

“……When spring arrives, the grassland in front will be decorated with beautiful Sana flowers……”

Baron Sheehan could be described as a personable nobleman who had received a good literary education. He was good at using simple words to outline beautiful imagery.

It was just that the King listened quietly for a long time but still didn’t hear anything he wanted to know.

However, the King did not interrupt him, and would occasionally ask one or two questions.

The King leaned on the window sill and looked down at the grounds of the castle from this height. The King’s gaze fell to a place, and he suddenly interrupted Baron Sheehan’s endless talk: “How is your military expenditure?”

He seemed to ask casually.

The look on Baron Sheehan’s face instantly took on a rather gloomy cast for a moment, but the blond Baron quickly concealed his gaffe, still smiling brightly: “Thanks to Your Majesty’s favor, the soldiers have just enjoyed this year’s turkey feast. I thank Your Majesty for them.”

“Really?” The King straightened up, as if he didn’t take the casual question to heart, “That’s wonderful.”

The mood of the young King had always been mercurial.

He was the one who wanted to enjoy the beauty of Truu Castle, and now it was him who was tired and wanted to go back to his room. Baron Sheehan obeyed his instructions and led the King downstairs to the prepared room with warm wood burning.

After awhile.

Baron Sheehan hurriedly returned to the tower. He stood where the King had just stood and looked down with some doubts, trying to find what the King had just seen.

Below were only low stone houses, which seemed to be the same as usual.

“……I am oversensitive.”

He breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time.

“Truly, excellent.”

The King stood in front of the window in his room, and gone was the earlier frivolity and casualness. He stared at the ice on the window expressionlessly, as if seeing the things in the distance through the ice.

“My loyal and faithful thane.”

Just now, when he was standing on the tower and looking down, he saw a soldier dragging a slaughtered horse through the stretch of stone houses.

Under what circumstances would the cavalry slaughter the horses that were extremely important to them?

——When there was no food, when the god of death approached.

The ice-cold mask once again returned to the King’s face.

………………

Negotiations began the day after the King arrived at Truu Castle.

The King’s team traveled to the grassland to the north via the wooden bridge in front of Truu Castle.

The specific location of the negotiation was a low-lying land between the Moon River Fortress and Truu Castle. The tributaries of the Doma River meander through the grass and form a no-man’s land.

Peace agreements were generally held in such places.

The blond knight Baron Sheehan stood on the tower and waved goodbye to the negotiating mission.

“Goodbye, my King.”

The Baron smiled elegantly and impeccably.

In the evening.

Tents were set up on the grassy land between the Moon River Fortress and Truu Castle. The tents at one end were red and belonged to the Legrand Empire ruled by the Rose family. On one end was blue, belonging to the Bressi Kingdom ruled by the Tulip family.

The boundaries were clear.

The teams of the two sides met face to face, and the tall and heroic Bressi expeditionary General shook hands symbolically with the King in the scarlet cloak. Zhu Chi noticed that behind the General was a pale and thin young man.

He retracted his gaze and said succinctly, “Let’s begin.”

Negotiations have begun.

The purpose of the negotiations was to strive for favorable conditions for both sides and end this war. Personnel experienced in law clashed, but the King of Legrand, one of the most important personnel at the negotiations, rarely appeared at the negotiating table.

Accompanied by his knights, the King strolled leisurely in a place not far from the negotiation site.

——This made the ministers who came for the negotiations all shake their heads privately.

On the afternoon of the second day as the negotiations still continued, the King met another person on the grassy land where he frequented.

The person in black robes stood up from the grass and bowed respectfully to the King on the horse.

The King recognized him.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

It was the young man who stood behind Bressi’s expedition that day.

“You purposely came to see me.”

The King dismounted and had the knights step back a bit.

“Your Majesty is not worried that I will assassinate you?” The young man reminded him, “Bressi Kingdom and Legrand Empire are deadly enemies.”

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