"Why are you in such a panic?" Andre turned to Richard.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me for disturbing you." Richard hurriedly rose to his feet, and after a brief hesitation, he decided to come clean. "The tenth elder said that Duke Abraham placed a bet of 20,000,000 copper coins on Amy, and the payout was 100 to 1. Now, the Magus Tower's gambling house has to compensate him with two billion copper coins. I overreacted."
"Two billion?!"
"Duke Abraham made a huge bet …"
"Not only did the Magus Tower lose face, but they also lost money."
All of the officials wore peculiar expressions. Duke Abraham wasn't on the stage today, and he was watching the competition from somewhere. Even the president of the Magus Tower couldn't remain calm.
The elders of the Magus Tower were also panicking. That was two billion copper coins! Would they lose all of their salaries as well?
"This Abraham sure is interesting. He's even more confident than I am that Amy will win." Crassus also raised an eyebrow. He hadn't thought of taking advantage of the Magus Tower's wealth.
"This Abraham …" Andre didn't know whether to laugh or cry upon hearing this. He knew that two billion copper coins was no small sum for the Magus Tower. All of the preparations for the Magus Tower had taken half a year, and in the end, all of it had gone to Abraham.
The Magus Tower had been self-sufficient for many years through the triennial Magus Tower's Magic Conference, and they had never needed the support of the national treasury.
This year, they had completely failed.
"Go and bring Duke Abraham to me," Abraham instructed.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Two guards quickly followed the tenth elder toward the gambling house.
"Hey, is your casino trying to go back on your word?" Abraham frowned as he looked at the servant blocking the door with the gambling ticket in his hand.
"Your Excellency the Duke, you must be joking. How would we dare to go back on our word? It's just that the elders aren't here right now, and we can't take out two billion for you. Please wait a moment, and let the elders deal with your huge reward." The servant said with a sad smile, his legs trembling.
Who was this man?
He was the king's younger brother, the king's right-hand man, and one of the four great dukes of the empire.
Even though he didn't hold any position in the royal court, it wasn't that he wasn't favored by the king. Instead, he had resigned from all of his positions and stayed at home.
Everyone knew that he was the king's most trusted duke. No matter how kind and gentle he looked, he was still the most powerful person in the Roth Empire, and even on the Norland Continent..
Moreover, he was here to receive a prize. Twenty million bets and two billion in prize money. Even if they emptied the casino's coffers, they wouldn't be able to gather this amount.
They did not dare to provoke this man, but the Tenth Elder had run off to look for the president, so they could only temporarily delay him.
..... Is the Magus Tower?..... Abraham's brows furrowed upon hearing this. It was only two billion. He felt like the Magus Tower was quite wealthy, but why were they so stingy with their opening bid?
However, he didn't make things difficult for these servants. In any case, the betting tickets were in his hands, and no one had ever been able to go back on their word, not even the Magus Tower.
The two guards stepped forward and bowed, "Duke Abraham, His Majesty requests your presence."
"His Majesty invited me?" Abraham was a little surprised. He looked at the 10th elder with a disdainful expression, and said, "Is your Magus Tower trying to go back on their word?"
"Please don't misunderstand, Duke. We wouldn't dare to do something like that. It's just that the amount is too large, so I reported it to the president. His Majesty just so happened to hear about it, and asked about it. We're here to discuss the matter of the prize." The 10th elder hurriedly shifted the blame to Abraham.
"Alright, let's go collect the money." Abraham nodded and followed the two guards to the platform.
"You're making such a huge bet just to watch a competition, Abraham. I really want to see how many days you can afford to gamble with your net worth." As soon as Abraham stepped onto the platform, Andre began to interrogate him.
Abraham looked at Andre, who was speaking in a stern voice, but wore a smile on his face. An innocent expression appeared on his face as he said, "Your Majesty, I only made a small bet for fun, and I only won a total of 1,000,000 copper coins, all of which I bet on Little Amy. However, I didn't think that she would become more and more valiant as the competition progressed. In the end, she even became the champion.
I also wanted to keep a low profile, but Little Amy's strength didn't allow me to do so. "
All of the officials' lips twitched upon hearing this. His tone and words were really … asking for a beating.
The elders of the Magus Tower were also rather perplexed. No one could've imagined that Amy would become the champion, and no one would've thought that someone would bet on Amy from the very beginning.
Andre couldn't help but burst into laughter upon hearing this. "So you're saying that you won this two billion copper coins by luck?"
"As you know, I've always had good luck." Abraham nodded with a smile before turning to Richard. "Could it be that the Magus Tower doesn't want to pay me the prize, so they're here to look for Your Majesty? Isn't that a little too much for an honest man? "
Richard was just about to say something when he heard this. An honest man like him was definitely not honest at all.
"Nonsense, do you know what kind of existence the Magus Tower is? Since they dared to set such high odds, they naturally won't go back on their word and deduct your prize." Andre's expression became serious as he looked at Richard. "Isn't that right, President Richard?"
Richard's eyelids twitched upon hearing this, but he could only nod in agreement. "Your Majesty is right. The Magus Tower will be sure to provide Duke Abraham with the prize money. Please give me three days to prepare, and the Magus Tower will send someone to deliver the prize money to your residence."
"Seeing as President Richard has made such a promise in front of Your Majesty, then I have no objections." Abraham nodded with a smile.
Everyone on the platform finally understood what was going on. This was the real brother of the Magus Tower. The king wasn't trying to avoid the Magus Tower's debt. Instead, he was supporting his brother and ensuring that the Magus Tower would give him the money.
"Since you're already here, then take a seat here. After the award ceremony, come back to the palace with me," Andre instructed.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Abraham nodded and sat down on the chair that Andre had added for him. Even Josh had to move aside to give him a seat.
Amy ascended the platform under the guidance of the staff, and the venue gradually quieted down as they waited for the important moment of the king's award ceremony for Amy.
"Master, I've won the championship!" Amy exclaimed as she blinked at Crassus.
"Hmm, not bad, not bad." Crassus stroked his beard and nodded with a profound expression, as if everything was already within his expectations.
The emcee led Amy to the center of the platform, and Jasper could only stand by the side and wait.
"Please give a speech and present the prize to the champion, Your Majesty."
The emcee said respectfully.
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