[Chapter 102: The Princess’ Birthday Gift]

Wearing a full set of leather armor to attend the party?

Without asking too much, just based on Earl Stewart’s reminder, David knew that this so-called party would not be too friendly to him and Sharon.

“But you can’t bring weapons.”

No hammer of judgment, no firearms, weapons were placed in the hotel room, old alchemist Pierre Newton was in charge of the house, and there were soldiers left by Earl Stewart outside the suite.

David and Sharon took the Earl’s carriage and drove all the way to a place in the capital.

On the way, Earl Stewart didn’t say much, and the health consultant Beram only nodded to David and Sharon to show his friendliness when he first introduced them, and didn’t talk too much with David and Sharon.

Considering the eagerness he showed when chatting with Earl Stewart before, his silence today was probably because he was reminded by the earl next to him, and he controlled himself well and didn’t talk to David to deepen their friendship.

After the carriage had been driving for a while, David found that the scenery outside was gradually becoming “desolate”. There were fewer and fewer buildings, but there were a lot of trees that were beginning to turn green.

If the carriage had not been driving on the flat stone road and had not passed through any city gates, he would have even doubted whether it had reached the outside of the city.

Just as he was thinking this, the carriage was stopped by several soldiers. A middle-aged knight with a good appearance carefully looked at the passengers in the carriage before signaling that the carriage could pass.

“Is this also in the capital city?”

Through the sentry, David noticed that the city wall here was not tall, and its blocking function was far greater than its defensive function. It was better to say that it was a wall than a city wall.

“This is the hunting ground of the royal family.” Earl Sutton-Stewart, who had not spoken much, introduced this gathering place: “Of course, we are not here to hunt today, but to attend an open-air party.”

The carriage drove in the hunting ground for a long time and finally arrived at the destination.

In fact, there is still some distance to the real party venue, but you can’t take a car for this section of the road. Earl Sutton-Stewart, who got off the car, walked in front. The health consultant reminded David and Sharon: “Just follow me next, and don’t talk to anyone.”

As for what to do when someone speaks to them? Beram didn’t explain, but David immediately figured out the key point: the people attending this party would never take the initiative to talk to him and Sharon.

Following Earl Stewart, they walked through a piece of wasteland where no grass had grown yet, and soon came to a building.

This is a building that can’t be seen what it is for, and there is no roof. There are some stone pillars and pools around as decorations. In the center is a circular shallow pit, maybe a dance floor?

David noticed that there were several stone tables around, on which many fruits, wine jugs, wine glasses, etc. were already placed.

When Earl Stewart walked in with a few people, there were already some people around chatting in twos and threes. Earl Stewart stopped and looked at it, and then walked straight to one of the small groups.

“Oh, Sutton, that’s really strange. It’s not like you at all. You’re always the last one to arrive.”

When one of the middle-aged men saw Earl Stewart, he immediately stopped talking to the two people in front of him and turned around to greet them.

“I went to bed early yesterday.” Earl Stewart was also very enthusiastic and greeted the middle-aged man with a bald head opposite him. At the same time, he did not ignore the other two people: “Didn’t we agree to have a party at the Duke of Campbell’s house? Why did you change the venue temporarily?”

“The Duke of Campbell suddenly felt unwell and couldn’t hold the party.” The bald middle-aged man’s tone made it hard to tell whether he was worried about the Duke or gloating: “It is said that it was Her Majesty the Queen’s suggestion to change to the hunting ground.”

“So that’s it.” After Earl Stewart said a few words to the bald middle-aged man, he turned around to greet others. He chatted with almost everyone along the way, and finally took Beram, David and Sharon to a corner.

This party had already started when they appeared here. There was no formal announcement and no host.

As more and more people came, a band appeared on the scene and kept playing.

After a few songs were finished, a new group of performers would come on to ensure that the music would not stop.

Occasionally, men and women would walk to the circular venue to dance, but David noticed that those who could dance were relatively young men and women, and some older people stayed around and chatted with others. After

observing for a while, he understood that this party was actually a place for nobles to socialize, and some less formal things were very suitable for discussion in such occasions.

For example, let the next generation of young people get to know each other; bring their heirs to recognize other nobles in the kingdom; it is not ruled out that some nobles discuss the marriage of young people here.

“It’s a bit boring.”

No one paid attention to the few people in the corner, so they chatted in low voices.

Sharon began to feel bored after observing for a while. No one would pay attention to them in this place. When she followed Earl Stuart to greet people everywhere, the people here were all the dignitaries of the capital. In the eyes of these people, they were no different from the stone pillars used as decorations.

“That earl… sir.” Glancing at Beram standing next to her, Sharon decided to retain appropriate respect verbally: “Why did you invite us here?”

“I don’t know either.”

David was also thinking about this question. At this time, His Majesty Abelson-Tiran, the King of the Kingdom of Tiran, arrived.

The music stopped, and all the dignitaries present saluted His Majesty the King who was walking into the venue.

David and Sharon hid behind the crowd and didn’t pay any attention to them, but they still saluted honestly – the etiquette of holding the chest and bowing, there was no need to kneel down and kowtow, so the two did not have any resistance.

The appearance of His Majesty the King did not bring any special changes to the party. People were still chatting in twos and threes. However, His Majesty the King would chat with different people. After Earl Sutton-Stewart said something to His Majesty the King, the ruler of the Kingdom of Tilan turned his attention to David in the corner.

“Let’s go over there!” Beram, who had been paying attention to Earl Stewart, immediately reminded the two to follow.

David and Sharon did not hesitate and followed Beram directly to His Majesty the King.

Abelson-Tilan waved his hand to indicate that they did not need to salute again. He was looking at David and Sharon beside him.

“What an outstanding young man.” The outstanding appearance of the two people left a very good first impression on His Majesty Abelson-Tilan: “You built a new village with the pioneering order?”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” David knew that this was a question to himself. In fact, when Abelson was looking at him, David was also looking at the king.

Abelson looked about forty or fifty years old, with gray hair on his temples, and seemed to have entered old age. But Abelson had a strong physique, standing there like a boulder, giving people a very calm feeling.

At this time, His Majesty the King looked at him with eyes that seemed to see through everything, and the two people’s sights soon collided.

Generally speaking, it is very disrespectful for David to look at His Majesty the King, but Abelson didn’t seem to care about such trivial matters at all, just asking the next question: “Do you want to upgrade your village to a town?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Your village should not have been established for a long time!” Abelson could see this from David’s age. After all, David was the one who established the village, not the one who inherited the position of village chief: “Can you apply for an upgrade?”

“I assure your majesty that Winter Town absolutely meets all the requirements of the kingdom.”

“Winter Town?” Abelson glanced at Earl Stewart next to him, and Earl Stewart nodded to the side, and immediately a knight came over with a document and delivered the document to King Abelson.

After Abelson flipped through the document and took a few glances, he knew that the content of the document was very detailed. According to the information recorded on it, this new village called Winter Village did meet all the conditions for upgrading to Winter Town.

Of course, it was impossible for the Tilan officials to believe whatever David wrote on the document.

According to convention, the kingdom must send officials to Winter Village for on-site assessment to ensure that the data is consistent with the information filled in the document before the real administrative upgrade can be completed.

If His Majesty the King said at this time, “Send someone to Winter Village according to the process,” the matter would basically be settled, but Abelson did not say this. He just handed the document in his hand back to the knight next to him, and then asked another question: “Do you want Winter Village to become my territory?”

“Winter Village is part of the Tilan Kingdom and is originally the territory of His Majesty the King.”

This answer made Abelson smile, but he still did not say whether he accepted it or not, but asked about the geographical environment of Winter Village and the output of crops.

David reported everything truthfully without exaggerating, but even so, he still attracted some slightly suspicious scrutiny, which David dealt with by using potatoes, a high-yield crop.

His Majesty the King chatted with a strange young man for a long time, which also aroused the curiosity of others in the field. Everyone was looking at David, the strange young man, including Queen Rosie Stewart and the little princess Sophia Tillane.

At this time, Earl Sutton Stewart suddenly made a suggestion that surprised His Majesty the King: “Sophia will soon come of age, maybe Winter Town can become the territory of Her Royal Highness the Princess.”

(End of this chapter)