"We can only send you here, Lann." Yarpan scratched his head. "After all, he is the King of Temeria. It is not easy for us to go in without his summons. Besides, we have other things to do."

Vizima, outside the palace, the dwarves brought Lann all the way here and are about to part.

"Thank you very much, Yarpan, Zoltan." Lann looked at the two dwarves while speaking. "If it weren't for you locals leading the way, I don't know how much time I would have wasted on the road."

Yarpen laughed out loud, but Zoltan looked very unnatural.

Lann noticed Zoltan's expression and knew that the dwarf was very concerned about his retreat during the previous commotion, so he took the initiative to comfort him:

"Zoltan, I believe that if you were alone at that time, you would definitely stand by my side unwaveringly. But you have companions and brothers to take care of. This is a responsibility, I understand."

Lann smiled and said, "Responsibility sometimes makes us do things that go against our conscience, but this is not a shame, but rather something to be admired."

As for Zoltan, Lann knew that the dwarf was kind by nature, one of the few people who had great love in his heart and could put it into practice.

After the Nilfgaardian invasion, he would gather refugees from the war, treating them equally, whether old, women or children, and would spend all his wealth to protect them.

However, he was also a witness to the brutal beatings of society, so this kindness later became much more tactful, for example, he would rob other refugees to help his own refugees.

When Geralt met Zoltan, he politely questioned this, and Zoltan said: I can't stop myself from helping others, but I also know that I can't help everyone, it would be like adding a drop of water to the ocean; so I only help specific people to avoid wasting my efforts.

Lane applauded the idea.

After hearing what Lann said, Zoltan suddenly felt even more guilty.

The smile on Lan's face also became brighter.

"If it's convenient, could you tell me about your next itinerary? I'm going to visit the king of Redania later, maybe I can stop by."

Yarpen patted his head regretfully and said, "I'm going to Kaedwen. The Scoia'tael there brought shame to us dwarves. I'm going to help their king fight Nilfgaard and win back the reputation for the dwarves!"

Zoltan was very happy: "I am going to Novigrad to do business. I have several partners there. But if you want to go to the king, Lan, I have information that he is in Niubao recently. I know a friend who has a big ship and can take you there by water."

Lane was disrespectful of Zoltan's help, and then turned to Yarpan.

Lann has a different opinion on the dwarf's decision:

"Yarpan, I treat you as a friend, so I'm telling you this: If I were the king, when I faced a team of unknown origin, I would definitely find ways to test them. At least I would let a few people die for me to prove their loyalty, and then I would accept them as my own people. Do you understand?"

Yarpan, who leads the dragon-slaying team to travel around the continent, has rich social experience, but he mostly makes friends with the same kind of peasant mercenaries and rangers, and has little understanding of the thoughts of those in power.

Lann knew that this dragon-slaying team would be enthusiastic about Kaedwen in the future, but what they got in return was suspicion and ridiculous "tests", and eventually even caused Yarpan to lose two team members who he had been with day and night.

It was not uncommon in the Northern Kingdom for a warrior who had the honor of slaying a dragon to die due to the king's ridiculous suspicion.

After hearing Lann's words, the enthusiastic dwarf leader was visibly stunned: "But I'm going to help them..."

"I don't know if you've heard of the King of Kaedwen, Yarpen," Lann said sincerely, "but he was a king who was extremely cruel to non-human races. In a sense, the Scoia'tael deserved what he got. And you are not obligated to sacrifice your brothers for him."

Zoltan also came over to persuade him: "You stupid hammerhead! I have told you long ago that it is enough for us to protect our brothers and friends. Is Lan's opinion of those kings any worse than yours?"

Yarpen became visibly frustrated.

At this time, because of this conversation, Lann and his party had stayed at the gate of the palace for a long time. Kayla's figure could be seen not far away. It was obvious that she came to receive them after hearing the report from the guards.

Lann pretended to take something out of his arms, but in fact he took out two tokens with the Lannister family crest from the [Inventory].

He handed the two emblems to the two dwarf leaders respectively and said: "Yalpan, no matter what you choose in the end, I respect your decision. But if you encounter any difficulties, you are welcome to come to Cintra to find me at any time. As long as you show this token, you can go anywhere with the flag of Cintra."

After saying this, he smiled sheepishly and said, "You also know that Cintra is still in a difficult situation recently. I may not be able to give you any major help, and I may even need your help. But I can guarantee that you will receive enough respect and courtesy, and no outsider will be able to hurt you in Cintra before I die."

Yarpan became even more disappointed, while Zoltan's eyes lit up. Obtaining this emblem meant that he could open up a new trade route, especially in a country at war, where the business opportunities were greater.

Afterwards, Lann temporarily parted ways with the dwarves and walked into the palace of Temeria under the guidance of Keira.

His entourage of soldiers and attendants were all arranged, for the king wished to see him alone.

The steel greaves made a "clattering" sound as they stepped on the marble corridor. The guards on both sides held spears and shields and stared intently. In the middle, Lann also walked through a royal garden, where the fragrance of lilac flowers was refreshing.

Lann couldn't help but sigh. He hadn't walked in a building of royal palace standards for a long time, and he actually felt a little nostalgic for a moment.

Kaila quickly led Lan to the door of the reception room of the palace. Lan nodded to her and pushed the door open.

Foltest, one of the most powerful kings in the North and also the most handsome king in the North, was warming himself by the fire with his back to Lan.

"Lord Lannister," he greeted quietly.

"Your Majesty." Even though the other party couldn't see, Lann still performed a court salute.

The king turned around, and Lan couldn't help but sigh that the other party was indeed as handsome as the legend said, and was even not inferior to himself.

There were at least ten guards in the room staring at Lann. The moment he came in, all the guards stomped their spears together, making a loud noise.

The smile on Lan's face didn't change at all.

"Sit down, Lannister." The king pointed to the chair in front of his desk.

"Don't say anything extra. I believe you are a smart person, so I will treat you the same way I treat smart people."

The king's majestic eyes looked directly into Lan's lion pupils: "Let's get straight to the point, Lion of Cintra, why did you go to so much trouble to come to see me?"

"I took great pains to come to see you because I noticed your attitude. I am feeling uneasy now, but not for Cintra, but for Temeria and the northern countries."

Lann said calmly, "Your cold and indifferent attitude makes me, who came here with sincerity, feel frustrated, but for the sake of the North, I feel that I must come to see you."

King Foltest laughed. "Your Cintra is almost gone, Count. You want to use sweet words to lure me to help you, right? How do you want to convince me?"

"It's not you who helps me, Your Majesty, but we help each other." Lan said slowly, "I have seen an old saying in a book: If the lips are gone, even a cool breeze will make the teeth feel cold."

"Now, Cintra's two lips of the North are about to be torn off. By then, the bones and flesh of the entire North will be directly exposed to the cold wind of Nilfgaard. Cintra is defending the safety of the North with the blood of countless warriors. Are you going to turn a blind eye and let the imperial cavalry do whatever it wants?"

The king said indifferently: "I mean no offense, but Cintra cannot be compared with Temeria. Nilfgaard has left you powerless to fight back, but they cannot invade Temeria at all."

Lann sighed and said, "But as far as I know, the United Kingdoms of Rivia and Leiria are also being invaded by the Empire, and Kaedwen, which is separated from Nilfgaard by Redania, has been invaded by the Scoia'tael. With your wisdom, you will surely see the connection."

"Nilfgaard's invasion has never been limited to cavalry. They have used everything possible, even including trade and academia. I can tell from my mere guess that Temeria has had a big tax problem recently."

In response to the question raised by Lann, the King of Temeria finally remained silent.

He worked hard to make Temeria the strongest country in the North, so he was naturally proud of it. However, Nilfgaard's tactics were endless, and even if they didn't fight head-on, they seemed to have been attacked. Temeria wanted to fight back, but they couldn't see the enemy.

In other words, those "enemies" were his own people and nobles, and even himself.

"Your sharp tongue has fought back every attack I made. It turns out that you are smarter than I thought. I never thought that Henselt is not as knowledgeable as a count who is less than 20 years old."

Henselt was the king of Kaedwen, one of the four great kingdoms in the north. Unfortunately, there seemed to be something wrong with the inheritance of this generation. Anyway, as far as Lann was concerned, he had heard of his contempt more than once.

"You're too kind." Lann smiled modestly.

"According to what you said, I have no reason not to help you, but as a king, I have to consider my people." King Foltest said, "I cannot trust you completely, so you need to provide us with a guarantee."

Lann made a listening gesture, indicating that he was willing to hear more.

"Marriage is the strongest alliance." King Foltest raised his chin slightly, "I only have one princess, but I have many illegitimate children. You can choose a suitable husband for your Princess Cirilla. I will recognize his identity and make him a real prince to match the identity of the Cintra Lion Cub."

Allowing Lann to choose a husband for Ciri was a big concession in King Foltest's eyes. It meant that Lann could just pick out a fool to be his puppet in the future without worrying about the power of Cintra falling into other people's hands.

But Lann's lion eyes narrowed and glowed slightly.

…

Just as Lann and the king were discussing matters in the reception room, Keira Metz was stopped again by the red-haired Princess Yada outside the room.

"Ms. Keira, is the Lion of Cintra in there right now, conferring with my father?"