The ancient castle where the Gilen Family had lived for generations stood quietly in front of Gwen.
It was located at the top of the mountain, next to a steep cliff. Years of erosion and collapse caused the cliff to almost start to cave in, making the castle on the cliff appear to be in an unsettling and shaky posture. The old castle itself added to the worries of every visitor in this regard. But no matter what, a castle on the top of a mountain, next to a dangerous cliff, did indeed bring a kind of shocking beauty to people.
Gwen had been looking at the castle since they were still at the foot of the mountain. When the carriage finally reached the top of the mountain and came to the front of the castle, he sighed softly. "The people of the Gilen Family are quite generous..."
Amber was stunned. "That's what you're talking about all the way?"
Gwen looked at the half-elf girl in confusion. "What do you think?"
Amber opened her mouth but could not think of any other words. So she looked up and sighed with Gwen. "The people of the Gilen Family are quite generous..."
"Okay, stop sighing. Go and knock on the door."
The heavy black door of Gilen Castle slowly opened in front of Gwen. As the oak door inlaid with purple steel and bronze runes opened, Gwen's eyes swept across its surface.
He saw mottled scars and some charred marks. Although they had been decorated, they were still faintly visible.
Behind the door was a brightly lit long hall. A red carpet was spread from the main door to the stairs at the end of the long hall. Maids and attendants stood on both sides of the red carpet, and a rather tall middle-aged butler stood at the front. He bent down and stretched out his left hand like a swan's wing, guiding the distinguished guest to step into the door.
The mistress of the Gilen Family stood in the middle of the long hall.
She was a tall but too thin woman in her thirties. She had long black curly hair, deep eye sockets, and a slightly pale complexion. But time had not left its mark on this lady's face. She was still a beautiful woman who could attract attention at the banquet.
As Gawain stepped forward, the noblewoman also stepped forward at the right time.
Everything was well-mannered and well-regulated. Gwen could not help but think of the Castle of Kant that he visited last time. However, there was only a chaotic and illusory dream in the Castle of Kant. What was here?
Gwen showed a faint smile. "I hope my sudden visit will not cause trouble to the neighbors."
"Your arrival has brought unprecedented glory to this land," Luo Peini said. Penelope Gilen bent down and saluted Gwen according to her title. Gwen noticed that the lady's salutation was that of a male aristocrat, but he was not surprised.
After the Gilen Family lost its male owner, the widow took on the role of the male owner. She was the lord of this land, and there was no news of her remarriage. This was enough to show her attitude. She was now greeting the duke with the salutation of a male aristocrat. This was a "language" that only nobles could understand.
Gwen raised his eyes and looked at the end of the long hall. As he expected, he saw a huge portrait on the wall between the two curved stairs. A handsome young man with black hair, wearing a black coat and a white shirt, stood in the portrait with a faint smile on his face. In front of the portrait, there were also white candlesticks and white "Death Heralding Chrysanthemums".
It should be the former Viscount Gilen. It was not strange that his portrait was hanging here, but the white candlesticks and the Death Heralding Chrysanthemums were rather unusual. For many contemporary nobles, marital loyalty was limited to the premise that both parties were still alive and their respective families were stable. Once one of the parties died, the surviving party (whether it was a gentleman or a lady) would naturally find a new marriage partner as soon as possible after a short mourning period. This was not considered a sign of "disloyalty", because timely and wise marriages were exactly the means to maintain the strength of the family and support the development of the territory. A widow or a widower who had married more than once could even be described as a hot commodity under certain circumstances.
The enormous, complicated, bloated and dirty history of Ansu and the history of land transfer were formed in such "marriage wars".
Gwen withdrew his eyes from the portrait of Viscount Gilen and recalled the intelligence that Amber found. Then he turned around and smiled at Luo Peini Gilen. "My lady, I believe you've already heard that the Kant territory has been merged into the Cecil family and that His Majesty the King's new enfeoffment. The Cecil territory has been connected to the Gilen territory. I'm just here to visit my new neighbor."
"I should be the one who takes the initiative to visit you," Luo Peini Gilen said. Golan revealed a slightly stiff smile. It seemed that her smile had left her for too long, and it was difficult for her to move the muscles on her face. "However, I left the territory a few days ago, and it was only a few days ago that I came back here …"
"Rules." Gwen waved his hands. "We made the rules years ago. So, as long as I don't care, you don't need to care about the rules."
After a brief and meaningless greeting, Viscount Luo Peini invited Gwen and his personal attendant (Amber) to the parlor of the castle. She had asked the servants to prepare the most exquisite snacks and the best wine. The best harpist and bards of the Gilen territory had also come to liven things up.
After the afternoon tea, there would be a rather grand ball in the castle, and the dinner would be held in the middle of the ball.
To be honest, Gwen was not interested in the ball at all. He was not interested in any kind of welcoming ceremony, but these were all necessary procedures. Nominally, the ball was started and held for him, but in fact, a duke had nothing to do in such a 'small castle' ball. No one would dare to invite him. The real purpose of the ball was to serve as a social platform for the nobles, big and small.
With the invitation of the duke, Luo Peini could invite all the lords in the surrounding area to be her guests. She could even invite nobles who were more powerful than her. As long as she could successfully host this banquet, the reputation of the Gilen Family would definitely soar. Even if the nobles in the Southern Territory did not like the surname Cecil, they would still take seriously the ability that Countess Gilen had displayed in the process of hosting the banquet. When it was not suitable to show off their weapons, hosting banquets and balls of various sizes was a common means for nobles to show their strength.
Neither Gwen nor Amber was interested in these complicated things, but the latter was at least satisfied with the fact that there were a lot of people standing behind her and waiting on her. While eating the snacks served by the maid, the half-elf lady muttered to Gwen, "Look at them, and look at you. I'm afraid you don't even have as many maids and attendants as you do in such a big ducal mansion."
"Why do I need so many people to watch me eat? I find it annoying. "Gwen was talking to Luo Peini earlier. At this moment, the Viscount went to check on the situation in the banquet hall, so he chatted with Amber. "Eat slowly. There's another meal tonight."
"God knows what a 'proper meal' is. A radish decorated with feathers or raw meat surrounded by a circle of colorful stones? I've seen a 'ceremonial meal' in a formal noble banquet, but it's not as good as Betty's cake. "Amber stuffed a small piece of cake into her mouth, swallowed hard and winked at Gwen." Hey, hey, did you find any clues? Do you feel that... the dream is out of place? "
"No." Gawain did not expect Hu Po to not forget his business while he was stuffing himself with food. He glanced at Hu Po and shook his head. "But I think this place is different from Fort Kant. This place should not be affected by the real dream."
Amber looked at Gwen curiously. "How do you know?"
"Do you still remember our experience in Fort Kant?" Gwen explained patiently. "Viscount Kant lived in seclusion. The castle never held any banquets, and almost no guests were invited. Even when I was there as a guest, Fort Kant did not take advantage of this opportunity to hold any activities. This is because the more outsiders in the 'real dream', the higher the probability of the dream collapsing. The sober people will be a great burden to the ritualistic spells of the eternal sleepers. But Viscount Gwen obviously did not have this concern."
Amber nodded. "She invited a lot of people to visit you..."
Gawain casually knocked on the half-elf lady's head. "This castle doesn't have the strange atmosphere of Kant Hill. It's open to the public, which basically cuts off the possibility of a large-scale dream illusion enveloping the castle. Of course... the specific situation needs to be observed to be sure. "
At this time, the viscount who went to check the banquet hall returned to the room. She sat down in front of Gwen and said, "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."
"Don't mind me. I'm admiring the collection here," Gwen said casually, his eyes sweeping over the oil paintings and wooden carvings displayed for the guests in the reception hall. "Very good collection."
"These were all left by my husband when he was alive," Luo Peini said lightly. "He loved art, especially painting. Some of these were even painted by him."
Gwen stood up and walked casually to a painting depicting a large area of farmland and houses. "It's rare to see someone painting farmland on a canvas."
In this era, 'painting' was a high-end and luxurious artistic enjoyment. Basically, only the nobles, the church and the rich could afford to spend money on it. Therefore, the audience of painting was only those 'upper-class'. The content of the paintings could be described as monotonous. Basically, there were only various kinds of portraits, religious paintings and paintings depicting the life of the castle and palace.
"This is my husband's work," Luo Peini said. "He likes to draw pictures of the things he sees with his own eyes, even if it's a dirty cowshed or a dilapidated barn."
"I see." Gwen turned around with a smile on his face. "Very good."
At this time, a servant suddenly opened the door of the reception hall and walked quickly to Viscount Luo Peini.
Gawain noticed that the attendant's expression was rather nervous.
"Madam," the servant stopped in front of the viscount and said quickly, "Miss Patty said that she is not feeling well..."
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