On the evening of the banquet in St. Guardian City, Todd stood at the church entrance, looking at the breathtakingly luxurious carriage before him, and turned to Tristan, asking, "Is this the carriage that's taking us to the banquet? Isn't it... a bit too ostentatious?"
Tristan straightened his robes and holy medals, climbed into the carriage without looking back, and said, "This is already the most low-key carriage His Highness Mathilde has ever had."
Todd was speechless for a moment, then got into the carriage.
The vehicle's interior features down cushions, a pull-out ice bucket, and even a folding bed large enough for three people to lie down in.
Looking at all this, Todd thought bitterly that he was a ruler of a country, but compared to this guy, he was just a bumpkin who didn't know how to enjoy life.
Tristan gazed at the ever-flowing scenery outside the window and muttered to himself, "Prince Sinclair and Prince Mathilde, aside from some physical resemblance, are vastly different in character and ideology. Prince Sinclair inherited his father's personality; he actively contacts the nobles and generals of the country while simultaneously trying to free Holy Guard City from the influence of the Church..."
Todd sighed almost imperceptibly, thinking to himself, "If you knew about Sinclair's slave trade with the Pope, I wonder if you would still think this way."
“As for the second prince of Holy City, His Highness Mathilde… he is a… pleasure-seeker.” Tristan carefully considered his words: “He knows which season’s wine is the best, he knows how to cook Luwen fish to make it the most delicious, he knows every graceful dance on the continent… but he has absolutely no interest in governing the country.”
Todd glanced at Tristan: "It sounds like you value Prince Sinclair more than Prince Mathilde, who is supported by the Church?"
The latter said noncommittally, "What the church needs is an easy-to-control puppet, not an unruly ruler."
Todd paused for a moment, then changed the subject: "The delegation from Twilight City, right?"
"The Twilight City delegation? What do you want to know?"
"I heard that Mu Xicheng publicly supports Prince Sinclair?"
Tristan gently parted the carriage curtains: "It's not just simple support. The Twilight City delegation must allow His Highness Sinclair to ascend the throne, otherwise Holy Guard City will become a barrier to Twilight City's development."
"Which of you two princes has a better chance of winning now?"
“Not good. One has the support of the nobles, and the other has the support of the church. Both have a chance of winning.” Tristan reached out and grabbed the carriage armrest, saying to Todd, “Hold on tight, we’re about to pass through the Place of Honor…”
"Honors Square?" Before Todd could react, the carriage suddenly began to bounce up and down due to the uneven road surface.
Todd stuck his head out of the window and glanced out of the carriage. The scene before him made him gasp.
Dozens of wooden crosses stood in the vast square, and charred corpses were scattered everywhere. The wheels of carriages crushed and cracked over the charred bodies.
Todd pulled back and asked Tristan in surprise, "Where is this...?"
“This is the Place of Honor, where the church used to carry out burnings at the stake.” Tristan lowered the curtain. “At its most frenzied, hundreds of people could be burned to death here in a single night. There were so many charred corpses that most of them stuck to the ground; coupled with the shortage of food and supplies, and the inability to hire people to dispose of the remains, the Place of Honor gradually turned into a pile of corpses.”
"Were all the creatures burned to death here mutants?!"
Tristan scoffed, "Where did all these aliens come from to be burned? Those who were dissatisfied with the Church, those who supported Prince Sinclair, those who tried to escape from Holy Guard City... were all sent to the stake."
Hearing this, Todd glanced again at the 'Black Earth' under the afterglow of the setting sun, lowered the carriage curtain, and sighed heavily.
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The carriage traveled for a full hour before arriving at the royal banquet hall in complete darkness.
Upon entering the hall and seeing the table laden with a dazzling array of food, as well as the marble-made "wine fountain" in the center of the foyer, Todd finally understood the "grand banquet" Tristan had described earlier.
“There’s enough food here to feed hundreds of families,” Tristan said, looking at Todd, who had a serious expression.
Todd shook his head and walked towards the main hall of the banquet. To the sound of melodious music, he saw a group of nobles surrounding a couple who were dancing.
The man was handsome and dressed in a magnificent court suit; the woman, Todd, recognized him as the leader of the Twilight City delegation—Knight Dion.
Dion, dressed in a pleated corset, had a cold expression on his face, looking at the other person as if he were looking at an ugly toad.
"That person dancing is His Highness Mathilde..."
Tristan's words startled Todd.
How did those two end up together?
In the dance floor, Mathilde hugged Dion from behind, her fingers lightly brushing against his skin, only to be met with a heavy stomp.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness, I was unsteady on my feet." Dion said politely, but her beautiful eyes glared at the other person.
Mathilde straightened up, as if nothing had happened: "It's nothing, it's nothing! Get up, did you receive the flowers I sent you?"
"Flowers?" Dion twirled around as the other person danced, then calmly replied, "I took them to feed the horses."
Mathilde's face immediately broke into a smile that looked more like a grimace.
Dion glanced warily at the surrounding guests, then brought his mouth close to Mathilde's ear: "What about what you promised me?"
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