The young man in front of him was tall and slender, wearing a decent and exquisite suit.
Under the jet-black hair was a face that was less angular but softer and more handsome than an elf's.
He stood like this under the pitch-black night, with behind him the magnificent palace that gathered the hustle and bustle of the entire imperial capital.
Airola gently placed her hand in Char's palm and jumped off the carriage in her high heels.
The waiter in white pushed the door open.
Then, the two of them entered the magnificent and noisy place together.
…
"Not only the Theocracy, but even the Princes' Alliance and the City of Knowledge have sent envoys... The Borgia family's move this time is really big."
"Who says it's not true? But if you ask me, the Church made the biggest noise this time. They even sent a bishop to watch the ceremony."
...
...
"That's only natural. After all, it's directly related to the life of a God-favored One... or a future Saint. Even considering the size of the Theocracy, a Saint is a genuine strategic trump card."
In the Hall of Oath, the nobles were dressed in exquisite costumes and sat together in groups of three or four.
The party was lively and bustling.
For the old aristocracy who leaned towards the Borgia side, this was undoubtedly a time of high spirits.
Your royal family, or rather your second princess, has just won a victory on the border battlefield and wants to take action to rebuild the Sword Bearer.
In the blink of an eye, the leader of the Sword Wielders was abducted by our big brother, the Borgia family. Aren’t you angry?
As for the members of the camp who were more inclined to the side of the second princess, they naturally felt a little uncomfortable.
The poaching behavior of the Borgia family is no different from being confronted by a minotaur.
However, those who were eligible to be invited by the Borgia family to attend this dinner, regardless of their identity and position, were at least powerful people in the imperial capital, and they were naturally familiar with such impromptu balls.
No matter how much he wanted to eat the person in front of him alive in his heart, he would appear to be friendly and smiling on the outside.
At the highest point of the Hall of Oath, in a room that is not very luxurious, but dignified and quiet.
A small table and two teacups.
The white-haired old man, who looked like a gardener, raised the teapot and brewed two cups of tea in the manner of the phoenix's three nods.
"This new trend that has spread from the Black Lily District is quite to my liking."
“It lacks the luxury and strength of alcoholic beverages, but instead has a more mellow and charming flavor of bitterness followed by sweetness.”
“Whoever created this drink really has some class.”
Across the wooden table, Isadella raised her teacup and took a sip. "Sir Guderian has good taste. If he wasn't so outstanding, I wouldn't have chosen him as my swordsman."
Today, the Second Princess was no longer wearing her original Black Eagle military uniform, but had changed into a palace dress.
Despite this, the sharp and majestic aura around her remained unchanged, like a sheathed silver sword, clear and awe-inspiring.
"Yes, if he wasn't so outstanding, I wouldn't be willing to marry Histalia to him. The Borgia family has very strict requirements for choosing a son-in-law."
Guderian Borgia also smiled: "I hope Your Highness will not blame me for stealing your love."
"Borgia let the wolf into the house. Isn't he afraid of suffering the consequences?"
"It doesn't matter... He is a smart man. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have been able to climb to this level on his own. And a smart man naturally knows what choice he should make."
"Sir Guderian, you are impatient... nothing has been settled yet."
"I am indeed a little anxious... After all, as I am watching the empire fall, how can I not be anxious as a member of the Oath Family?"
"Are we just going to watch this country, which was once the largest country in the Western Continent, decline in national strength and eventually become a nameless small country, or simply be buried in the dust of history, just like the ancient country of Cang Ting that was recently unearthed?"
Guderian put down the teacup in his hand and looked down into the hall, where the nobles were bustling about and toasting each other.
"Perhaps Your Highness does not agree, but everything I have done is actually for the empire."
"If we really follow my ideas, then the will of heaven will prevail and the empire will be revived like the last emperor."
"Besides, isn't Her Highness Isadella in a hurry?"
His old eyes suddenly revealed some profound meaning: "Your Highness actually opened the Seventh Soul Covenant two years ago."
"If you simply want to use the feedback from signing the Seventh Soul Contract to become a legendary beastmaster, you can actually do it at any time."
"As far as I know, there happens to be an Imperial-class black-scaled dragon in the Imperial Breeding Facility, whose blood purity is close to that of a pure-blooded black dragon. This should be the one Your Majesty prepared specially for you."
"However, you have yet to take this final step. In addition, in the past two years, apart from occasionally appearing in the imperial capital and on the border battlefield, you have rarely been seen taking action most of the time... For high-level beastmasters, fighting is the fastest way to improve."
Isadella was still drinking tea with impeccable manners: "My father is ill, and as the princess of the empire, I have to devote a lot of energy to handling government affairs. Naturally, my practice as a beastmaster has also stagnated."
Guderian's eyes paused on the green tea leaves at the bottom of the teacup: "In the first year of the Holy Calendar, the Golden King Rhine established the Church of the Dawn, opening a new era named after the Dawn."
"The following year, under the name of 'Knight King', he established his career in the turbulent times between the old and new eras, and founded the Foresta Empire, just as famous as the Golden King."
"Several pets under the command of the late emperor, such as the Black King, continued to guard the empire's territory as guardian gods even after the late emperor passed away."
"However, two holy relics are missing."
"It is said that the holy sword and holy spear were born from the world and the planet... They appeared in the world due to the catastrophe at the end of the old era, and they are also the symbols of the Knight King."
"It is said that the Holy Lance was given to a knight by the late emperor in the early years. After that, it disappeared along with the retirement of the guardian knight. After nearly a thousand years, it is difficult to find its trace anymore."
"But the other Star-Forged Holy Sword was passed down by the Knight King to his descendants and has been kept by the royal family ever since..."
"But nearly a thousand years have passed, and no member of the royal family has ever been recognized by the holy sword. The sword in the lake has been sealed in the dust, and has become an illusory legend today."
The light in Guderian's eyes became brighter. "However, in the past two years, the palace has often received the sound of concealed holy relic fluctuations..."
“Your Highness, you have been reluctant to break through to the Legendary level. Could it be that you want to gain the recognition of the Star-made Holy Sword, so that you can directly skip the accumulation of decades or even hundreds of years required for ordinary Legendary levels and directly step into the realm of the Throne in one fell swoop?”
"It is the dream of every royal family member to be recognized by the sword in the lake, and I am no exception."
Facing Guderian's deep gaze, Isadella shook her head without comment.
Her beautiful red eyes looked up at the sky outside the window, and I wonder what she was thinking about.
"It seems that Your Highness has not yet completely taken that final step."
The light in Guderian's eyes faded, and he turned back into the gentle old man like a gardener, smiling and shaking his head.
"Augutina seems to have arrived. Is it because of your Highness' invitation?"
"no."
"I have vaguely sensed some other spying, but I can't sense it clearly. Does Your Highness know?"
“I don’t know.”
Isadella's brief and calm answer made Guderian feel something strange in his heart, but he didn't have time to test it again.
In the auditorium below, the noisy discussions suddenly became quieter and then disappeared.
"Ms. Histalia is here."
Pure white steps descend from the sky in layers.
A beautiful girl appeared at the top of the pure white stairs.
She was wearing a pure white dress and her face was so exquisite that there was not a single flaw to be found.
What was most eye-catching was the girl's ethereal and otherworldly temperament. The faint light of dawn shone from her eyes, making it impossible for anyone who looked at her to feel any disrespect in their hearts.
What replaced it was pure admiration.
Histalia Borgia.
The eldest daughter of the Borgia family is also a favored one of the Church of Dawn and has been chosen as a saint by the Church.
Marrying her is equivalent to embracing all the power, prestige and wealth in the world.
Nowadays, there are many people who just shout "I'm hungry" in order to avoid taking decades of detours.
What's more, Histalia herself is so beautiful, as if she is the embodiment of all the beauty in the world.
For a moment, a hint of passion flashed in the eyes of many young nobles present, but it quickly turned into dejection.
Because they are nobles, they know the power of the Borgia family...
In today's imperial capital, apart from the royal family, the Borgia themselves are the biggest faction, and the families behind them are merely their vassals.
It is for this reason that everyone knows that the marriage decision made by the Borgia family is not something they are qualified to dream about or interfere with.
"Master Xia Yinggulit has arrived."
Just then, another announcement was made.
The door was pushed open.
Under the gazes of thousands of people, the black-haired, black-eyed young man slowly walked into the center of the auditorium, followed by Aurora, who was also wearing a pure white dress.
"Is this the orphan of the Ingulite family, Master Xia?"
"Yeah, I didn't expect that the "Winter Flower" family actually had survivors left."
"He is handsome enough. No wonder he was chosen by the Borgia family to be the husband of their eldest daughter."
"Don't say that. Their engagement was already decided when they were born. This is an engagement between two sworn families. The Borgia family is not such a snobbish family that would change its mind with the wind."
"And that Master Char is not just handsome... You may not know, but when the Ash Cult attacked Ceylon a few months ago, it was Master Char's efforts that saved the lives of an entire academy of students."
"And it is said that he is not too far from the fourth level. Although he is slightly inferior to Miss Histalia, who is favored by the God of Dawn, he is already outstanding in the empire."
"So, they are really a perfect match."
"But isn't this an engagement ceremony? Why did Master Xia bring a female companion?"
"I don't know, maybe a maid or a servant."
Boom——
Thousands of uproars and discussions rang out at the same time.
But overall, there is not much envy and jealousy, but rather recognition and blessings.
On the one hand, as Char's past achievements were actively publicized by Borgia and exposed to the spotlight, his excellence itself was difficult to conceal.
On the other hand, most of the forces here are friendly to the Borgia family, so it is naturally impossible for them to ruin the engagement party for the new son-in-law chosen by the Scarlet Rose Family.
"Master Xia, come with me. The lady has been waiting for you for a long time."
Lill appeared silently beside Char and led him through the crowd.
The crowd consciously made way for him, and soon, Histalia's figure appeared in front of Char.
"Are you the Char my father was talking about?"
A pleasant but cold voice rang in Char's ears.
Histalia's gaze lingered on Airola behind Char for a moment.
The beautiful brows were slightly frowned, but soon moved away.
“When parents make marriage arrangements for children, they actually never consider the feelings of their children.”
"However, since this is an oath made in the name of the Borgia, I will not break it."
She swept Xia's face with a cold gaze, and after a long moment, she nodded as if examining him.
"You gave me a pretty good first impression. As for things like feelings, it won't be too late to slowly cultivate them after we get married."
"It doesn't matter if I can't train him. It's just an exchange of interests anyway."
"but--"
"I don't like things that belong to me to be shared by others, even servants."
She looked at Airola behind Char as if she was examining a piece of merchandise.
"After you and I get married, let your maid leave..."
"The Borgia family will give her a severance pay and a position in a large city outside the imperial capital."
Histalia raised her swan-like white neck and looked down at Char from the steps.
She just opened her mouth and wanted to say something to Char.
But then Histalia suddenly saw that Char in front of her suddenly smiled.
The next moment, a slight voice suddenly sounded in her ears: "Really?"
"But my first impression of you is not very good."
"The holiness and arrogance you displayed were so fake and so deliberate..."
"It's just a poor imitation of my Saint of Dawn."
…
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