Inside the palace, the banquet was still going on. Emperor Karl-franz, Ivan the Griffin Duke, and Emilia the Empire's Countess sat together and chatted about the emperor's proposal.
Emilia swirled the red wine in her glass. It was a premium red wine from the agricultural province called Conti, and it was the best 'Aged Classic Conti'. But for Emilia, it was nothing special. The Countess of the Empire maintained her ladylike posture as she chatted with the emperor and Laing's Godfather. Emilia's face was less cold and impatient. She was just bringing her habits from Nur to the banquet.
From a certain point of view, Emilia was right. Like she said, if one greeted people with a smile all day, one would easily be seen as an easy target, especially for a woman.
It was different for a man. If Laing greeted people with a smile all day, it meant that someone was going to be in trouble.
"How about it? What do you think of my proposal?" Emperor Karl Franz maintained his standard bright smile. "Emmanuelle, do you want to think about it?"
"What a thunderous opening speech." Emilia looked at the emperor of the Empire from the corner of her eyes. Not only was there no respect in her tone, there was also deep contempt. "Your Majesty, if you don't care about your Rik Hill, why do you care about me? This is not a time of war, and we are not in the Empire's parliament. I have no obligation to listen to your orders. None at all. "
"Don't be so rude, Countess. His Majesty is not ordering you. He is only asking you to think about his proposal." Ivan the Griffin Duke spread his hands and spoke up. "We have never forced you to do anything."
"Just like how Karl can't order you around?" Emilia snapped. The Countess of the Empire did not even give face to Laing's Godfather. "Your Excellency Ivan, perhaps you would like to tell me, what is the condition of our emperor to ask for your help?"
The sarcasm made Karl-franz and Ivan Ferdinand feel a little awkward. Emperor Karl coughed a few times and could only say in a low voice, "Emilia? It's not appropriate to talk about this now. We agreed not to talk about this … Alright, about my proposal, can you give me an answer? "
Emilia's thin eyebrows furrowed.
Just a moment ago, Emperor Karl-franz made a proposal to swap territories.
This swap of territories was not a swap of Karl-franz's Rik Hill and Emilia's Weissen Hill, because there was no need and could not be swapped. Karl-franz's proposal was to swap territories with Emilia's Weissen Hill and Laing's Duke of Musilon Hill to strengthen the friendly relationship between both sides and at the same time deepen the alliance between both sides, including Laing's and Emilia's, as well as Brittany's and the Empire's.
Swapping territories was not uncommon. The most famous example was the famous city fortress between Rik Hill and Midden Hill — Karonburg. This city was first swapped between Rik Hill and Midden Hill. In the end, both sides reached a compromise. Karonburg belonged to Midden Hill, and the nobles in Karonburg were allowed to swear loyalty to Emperor Karl-franz.
And now, Karl-franz meant that Laing could use his status as Duke of Musilon to swap territories with the Countess of the Empire. This way, the alliance would be stronger, and it would also promote cultural exchange between both sides and strengthen the alliance. It would also be easier to command the alliance when the alliance gathered, and they would not need so many excuses to send out reinforcements.
Emilia was instinctively annoyed, because the Emperor's intention was obviously to strengthen his relationship with Laing through her. Everyone knew that it was the easiest to interact with Laing by taking the wife route.
If Suria and Morgiana were the two ropes that tied Laing together with Brittany, then Emilia was the important link between the Empire and Laing.
The little maid did not like this. She always felt that the relationship between her and Laing was a pure relationship that started at Marlin Castle. Back then, the communication between the two of them was very pure. Now, it had become an interaction between them that directly affected the country's interests and diplomatic relations.
But after thinking about it carefully, Emilia's political wisdom and clever mind immediately realized that this was a good idea and was suitable for her. She had no reason not to accept it. After many years of experience, Emilia had long understood that personal likes and dislikes were one thing, and the overall interests were another.
"Your Majesty, you stay in the palace every day and don't think about the various problems of our great Empire. Instead, you focus on helping me and my people think about swapping territories? Then I really have to thank you! " Emilia still did not let the Emperor off. She said sarcastically, "It is the Empire's fortune to have an Emperor who works so hard for the people of the Empire!"
"Then what should I think?" The Emperor understood Emilia. Since she had spoken like this, it meant that she was already moved, so Karl-franz humorously made a joke. "As the Emperor of the Empire, there are only seven days a week. Should I be angry on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and cry on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and then think about how to hang that Marlin merchant on Sunday?"
"Pfft!" Emilia was amused by the Emperor's black humor. The Empire's Countess covered her mouth with her hand and could not help but laugh out loud. "Karl, do you usually make Helena happy at home like this?"
"Not often. You know, Emilia, I'm not as eloquent as Laing." The Emperor shrugged humorously. He looked at Laing who was chatting with Boris, Vanier, and the others in the distance. "He's very popular with women, am I right?"
"You're very popular too, Karl." Emilia was a little resentful when talking about this. After all, she did not get married. The Empire's Countess said casually, "But you're too weak, Laing. Let me think, if you don't use the divine hammer Gail Maraz and don't wear the silver plate armor blessed by all the gods of the old world, can you beat Laing?"
"Hahahahaha!" Ivan and Karl-franz laughed at almost the same time. The Emperor shook his head helplessly. "Don't compare me to Laing. Let me put it this way, Emilia. Even if I use Gail Maraz and wear the silver seal, it's not very likely that I can defeat Laing. At most, I can only rely on the divine hammer's strength boost and the silver seal's protection to stall him for a while."
"So don't blame Laing for being popular with women." Emilia stretched out a small hand wrapped in a black and red lace long glove. She put her fingers together and raised them. "Such a fine man will always be popular with women."
"Hahahahaha!" Karl-franz raised his glass. "Then, let us toast to Laing's popularity with women and his son, my godson, Frey Derick Jr.!"
"Cheers!"
On the other hand, as expected, Laing, Boris, and Wamir began to converse with each other. Listening to the three men's lewd laughter, it was obvious that they were talking about dirty topics. It was not strange, because such topics were inevitable when men gathered together. When they talked about it, the previous conflicts and the minor unpleasantness were soon forgotten. After a few glasses of wine, the dirty topics began to heat up. Laing and Wamir argued about whether pantyhose or suspenders were better, which was a sacred and philosophical question that was full of the origin of the world. They reached a lot of consensus on the basis that they kept their differences.
At eight o 'clock in the evening, the dinner time was over, but the night had just begun. There were a lot of entertainment activities in the royal palace, but the most popular one was undoubtedly the tabletop war games. The great nobles of the Imperium all collected a lot of such interesting chess pieces. They couldn't wait to have a great battle on the tabletop. Other than that, some of the great nobles and noble ladies, on the other hand, went to the concert hall to listen to the performers playing and singing around the pianos and harps, or to play cards together.
Laing simply watched them play. He was not particularly interested in such tabletop war games, and the expensive, delicate chess pieces made him feel ashamed, too. For example, Boris Todbinger, who had the richest collection of chess pieces, had a box of well-preserved chess pieces that could be sold for thousands of gold marks on the black market. Also, the demand was always higher than the supply.
"Laing, aren't you going to play?" Emperor Karl-franz was obviously an expert in this kind of war chess game. Not only did he collect a full set of chess pieces, but he also collected himself. The chess piece of the Emperor riding on a griffin was placed behind the army. The Death Claw and the Emperor's majestic appearance had been restored very well. Even the godly hammer in the chess piece's hand, Gail Maraz, was carefully carved out of metal.
"No, I need some space of my own, Karl." Laing shrugged and looked at Emilia, who was holding his arm. "Alright, it's us."
"If you really need some space of your own, you don't have to stay here. There are many rooms upstairs." Elector Wamir joked.
The humor of Elector Wolffin cum Grand Duke of Auster caused a lot of laughter.
Laing did not refute. He smiled awkwardly. He did not immediately agree, nor did he explicitly refuse, which made him look guilty. It also made everyone feel that in this relationship, Emilia seemed to have the initiative.
But only the little maid knew about Laing's plan. As the Chosen Champion of the Fairy of the Lake and the Knight of the Holy Grail, Laing had always been a "perfect man" to the outside world. This kind of man who had no shortcomings, was extremely charming and powerful, was easily rejected and hostile by other men of the same sex in the circle.
This was not the purpose of Laing's visit to the Empire.
However, after Laing showed this "henpecked" attribute and his incompetence in the tabletop war chess game, he quickly turned from a perfect man into a target of ridicule. After everyone ridiculed him, Laing naturally made people feel close to him.
Everything was this man's disguise. Laing was really … Maybe it was this kind of man who could make me like him willingly. Emilia thought as she held Laing's arm. She simply said, "In that case, why don't you play a game with me?"
"Well … I'm not very good at it." Laing was indeed cooperative.
"If you don't know, I can teach you!" Emilia finally threw out her scheme all along. "Come on, let's play a game. You can borrow the chess pieces from your Godfather. I don't think Duke Ivan will be stingy, right?"
"Alright." Duke Ivan of the Griffin nodded with a bitter smile.
So, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Laing and Emilia played a tabletop war chess game.
Similarly, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Laing lost to Emilia without any suspense. Although he did not lose by much, Emilia did not give Laing any chance to turn the tables. The little maid seemed to be particularly excited about defeating Laing. She put away the chess pieces and said to Laing with a smile, "I won, Laing."
"Yes, you won, Emilia." Laing nodded with a smile. He did not care much about winning or losing.
"Well, now your heart and kidney are mine." The little maid stretched out her hands to Laing. "Hurry up, dig out your heart and kidney for me. Those are my trophies."
"Hahahaha!" The nobles of the Empire in the room all laughed in unison. The performance of this man and woman was as interesting as a play.
"What prize is this …" Laing also laughed very happily. He said with a smile, "You defeated me. Very good, I will give you a title in this tabletop war chess game. Let's call you 'tossgirl.'"
“tossgirl？ Swing girl? " Emilia did not understand. She thought for a moment and felt that she could not lose out like this. "Then let's call you tossboy!"
"Okay, my nickname in tabletop war chess will be tossboy from now on." Laing nodded repeatedly. He rarely admitted defeat so easily, but a loss was a loss. There was nothing to be ashamed of.
At this time, the nobles of the Empire present, including Karl-franz himself, all had a strange feeling. They felt that Laing was the victor.
They felt like they had been fed a mouthful of dog food.
The Emperor smiled and clapped. He thought to himself, Maybe this is what it means to lose a game but win a life.
What no one knew was that Laing and Emilia's performance at this banquet and the tabletop war chess game were witnessed by the royal court poet of Brunswick and adapted into a bard's poem. It became an enduring classic in the Old World. The love between them touched generation after generation.
This famous poem was named "The Wind Rises." It praised the love between the Knight King, "The Unifier" Laing, and Lady Emmanuel. It became a well-known classic song in the Old World. As this song was very difficult to sing, it became an important standard for bards to sing.
… I'm really a traitor who's trying to fan the flames …
After the banquet at the palace, another large-scale massacre took place in the wealthy district of Brunswick. The Von Rac family suffered a terrible tragedy. The head of the family, Werner Von Rac, several family members, and more than a dozen guards were killed in a single blow. Other than that, several other nobles died in the small manor. Similarly, the murderer stayed in the manor for a few hours after the murder before leaving. This was clearly the work of the same person.
The two consecutive massacres shocked the whole of Brunswick. For a while, all kinds of rumors spread in the capital. The nobles greatly strengthened their own guards. Everyone was worried about the capital.
Some said that the Chaos Demons had sneaked into Brunswick and were ready to kill. Others said that the Emperor was eliminating dissidents and taking the opportunity to suppress the nobles who did not have military merits. There were also some who said that all of this was a conspiracy of the great alchemist, Galt, or the supreme dean of the Flame Academy, Gehrman. One of the two candidates was definitely not confident, so they wanted to find a way to postpone the game.
Karl-franz immediately responded. First, the capital of the Empire entered a state of martial law. A large number of troops patrolled, and at the same time, the curfew was strengthened. Even the nobles could not move around at night without a permit.
Then, the Emperor also announced that the Empire's royal court's chief wizard competition would not be postponed for any reason.
Just like that, a week passed quickly amidst the tension and uneasiness.
The competition was held according to the original plan.
Galt and Gehrman would fight for the position of the strongest human leader in the Old World!
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