Chapter 2: I Seen the Hat
"The one with your head down, what's your name?" The voice was not loud, but all the young people in the audience raised their heads at this moment, and all their eyes were on Alice. The moment she raised her arm, everyone's heart tightened, especially the young people in the direction where Alice raised her hand, who were all very excited. However, when they found that Alice's eyes were not on them, the excitement in their hearts stopped abruptly, and then they looked in the direction where Alice's hand was pointing unwillingly.
The young men looked behind them, praying in their hearts that Alice was just asking casually and had no other meaning.
When they all looked to the outermost part of the crowd, they saw Gervis. When they saw clearly what Gervis was doing, they all breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts, because they all thought Gervis was a joke. Why are you still eating at this time? We were drooling just now but we didn't dare to eat even a bite.
Gervis was seen eating a piece of cake with great enthusiasm, with some cake crumbs stuck on the corners of his mouth.
As he was eating, Gervis suddenly realized that something was not right in the atmosphere, as if something dangerous was slowly approaching him. Gervis swallowed his saliva and swallowed the cake in his mouth. Then he slowly raised his head.
As soon as he raised his head, Gervis knew that his day was over.
He saw that the crowd blocking the way in front of him had parted, and a group of young people were looking at him with playful eyes, with expressions of gloating on their faces.
Looking up again, Alice on the stage was still pointing her jade hand at him. Her face, which had been calm till then, was now slightly red. She must be very angry.
"That's him," Alice thought to herself. Sure enough, when everyone else lowered their heads, he was the only one who looked up. And when everyone else raised their heads, he lowered his head again. Seeing some cake crumbs at the corners of his mouth, Alice was a little annoyed. How could such a person exist among the retainers' children? But it was not a good time to get angry at this moment, so she could only suppress her anger and ask again: "What's your name, and who are you from?"
"My Lord Earl, my name is Gervis Gale. My father is Gandalf Gale, and I am his second son." After hearing Alice's question clearly, Gervis did not dare to be negligent and quickly saluted and answered.
Originally, he wanted to continue eating at the dining table, but when he heard Alice start to speak and everyone gathered under the podium, he thought he would be conspicuous if he continued to eat standing at the table. So he quickly picked two pieces of delicious cake and ate behind the crowd. He thought he would be safe this way, but he was discovered anyway.
Gervis thought that he had suffered a double whammy tonight and was a little nervous, wondering whether the cold and aloof countess on the stage would punish him.
"Respected Earl, I'm very sorry. My brother has been stupid since he was a child and doesn't know etiquette. I hope you won't blame him." At this moment, Deris in the crowd suddenly spoke up. Although he didn't understand why his brother, who had always been timid and cowardly since he was a child, would be so presumptuous tonight, and he knew that speaking without saying hello might anger the Countess, he still needed to come out and say something for Gervis. First, because Gervis was his brother, and second, because he was worried that the Countess would be angry with their family because of Gervis.
Gervis felt helpless. For the past month, he had been very careful at home, relying on the limited memories he had received to carefully disguise himself, fearing that his family would notice something was wrong. Only today did he leave the sight of all the familiar people, thinking that no one would pay attention to him, but he didn't know which big shot in the sky had offended him, causing him to get into trouble. He just wanted to come here to eat and drink, but he was targeted by this countess.
Gervis felt that he had to stay away from this countess from now on. She was beautiful, but she was a jinx to him.
"He is the son of Baron Gandalf. I have heard my father say that Baron Gandalf was always the bravest when he followed him to fight. You should learn more from your father, Gervis." Alice nodded after hearing what Gervis and Darius said and did not continue to embarrass Grace.
Hearing the Countess's words, Gervis breathed a sigh of relief and quickly responded, "I will, Count!"
After hearing Gervis's response, Alice did not reply. She was just thinking about something in her heart, and kept looking at Gervis. He was not short, and was considered to be of medium height in the hall. He was handsome, but a little thin. The most noticeable thing was that he had black hair, which was different from most people. But it didn't matter, this guy was the most annoying one in the hall.
Looking at Gervis, Alice was silent for a moment, made a decision in her heart, and said in an affirmative tone: “Then you will be my husband, Gervis Gale!”
The young men in the audience froze instantly, their hearts dropped to the bottom, and their faces, which had originally been full of amusement, instantly turned pale and blue.
Gervis's cheap brother was also stunned on the spot, his lips trembling, obviously he couldn't believe it. If there was one person who couldn't accept this answer the most, it was him. Deris never thought that his cowardly brother would be chosen by Alice.
"It was chosen so easily?" Many young people couldn't help but shout in their hearts. They had thought that there would be some open and secret struggles before the beauty would choose a master. They didn't expect it to be so fast. Before they could react, the beauty had a master. It was really unexpected.
"Me? I... okay..." Gervis couldn't believe his ears. He was the one who least wanted to be the husband of the Countess. So, Gervis subconsciously prepared to say, "I don't want to." But at this moment, a sound came from Gervis's mind, and his welfare as a time traveler finally started.
Ding! System task: Become the Countess's husband.
Reward: 1 energy point.
Note: Since this is the first time the task is released, the system will reward you with an extra kiwi fruit after completing the task.
After hearing the content of the system task, Gervis changed the two words "I don't want" after "I don't want" to "OK".
It didn't matter whether Gervis objected to what the Countess said. No one dared to object. Of course, it was useless even if they did. Everyone present, including everyone in the earldom, had to listen to her.
Looking at Gervis's uncertain face, the Countess just thought he was shocked. The Countess waved her hand, and the maid standing next to her saw it and immediately bowed respectfully to the Countess, then walked out of the hall quickly.
Gervis's head was a little bit immobile, as if a large colored hat was slowly coming down on his head, and it was the kind that he couldn't avoid. More importantly, in addition to the hat, there might be a sudden disaster, because the countess was obviously forced to do this, choosing a husband so frivolously, a countess with a status several levels higher than his cheap father couldn't stand the trouble, if it fell on him, he would be crushed to pieces immediately, now that the matter was done, he just hoped that the trouble would be smaller.
The hall suddenly fell silent, and Alice stopped talking. But soon, she heard a noise outside the hall door.
A line of male and female servants filed in from the door, each holding flowers and decorations, and began to decorate every corner of the hall.
"Lord Gervis, please come this way! The Earl has ordered that you need to change your clothes!" Just as Gervis was watching the many servants coming in with flowers to decorate the hall and thinking of a possibility, a male servant came up to him, saluted him respectfully, and then said to him.
After saying that, he made a gesture of invitation and bent down 90 degrees to wait for Gervis.
Looking at the servant's humble attitude, Gervis suddenly understood what authority was. The change happened in an instant. As an ordinary person in his previous life, he only had a literal understanding of authority and had never experienced it personally.
Before the time travel, not to mention an ordinary person, even in the month since the time travel, the servants in his own castle would not treat him so humbly. After all, he was just a second son, and he was cowardly and timid. As long as he was respectful in words and ordinary greetings, it would be fine. There was absolutely no one as humble as the male servant in front of him. And now, just because of the decision of the Countess, the male servants who were not so humble when he came here immediately treated him differently.
"Okay." Gervis didn't say much. Since things had come to this point, everything would be arranged by the Countess. He could only think about it after completing the task.
Led by the butler, Gervis changed into a suit of fine material and workmanship in a special dressing room. The size was also very suitable, because Gervis clearly saw that there were at least five or six sets of the same clothes in the cupboard. The butler just measured the size for him and picked out a suit that fit him very well.
During the process of changing clothes, the male servant was very diligent and even helped him put on his clothes. Fortunately, under Gervis's strong objection, Gervis put on his pants himself. After all, Gervis had very positive values. It was nothing for a male servant to help him put on his pants. If a female servant came, he would still consider it. After all, he was still wearing underwear and would not be taken advantage of, right?
"Lord Gervis, you are such an excellent man. This suit fits you so well. No wonder even the Earl likes you!" After changing his clothes, the butler started to flatter him again.
"Haha!" Gervis remained silent. The flattery was too obvious, although it was a little pleasing to hear.
Afterwards, the butler did not dare to delay and led Gervis back to the hall.
At this moment, the hall has changed a lot. It is filled with colorful flowers, especially roses. In the center of the hall, which was originally empty of clutter, there are now five or six rows of chairs neatly arranged. The high platform in front of the hall has also been decorated. Racks have been set up on both sides of the high platform, and strings of crystal pendants are hung on the racks. Under the illumination of many candles, the crystal pendants reflect countless dazzling light spots.
Under the high platform illuminated by the dazzling lights, there was already a lot of noise and everyone was discussing something. Gervis suddenly saw that his cheap father, Baron Gandalf, was also in the hall at this moment. He was surrounded by five or six middle-aged men. They were talking about something from time to time, with smiles on their faces, and they never stopped for a moment.
"Is this the rhythm of a flash marriage?" Gervis asked himself, afraid that he didn't play like this in the world he came from. Is this a child's play? You are a count, a count!
When Gervis walked into the hall, everyone in the hall stopped talking and turned their eyes to him. Young and old, they all looked at him intently.
To be honest, Gervis was panicking and wanted to turn around and leave, but the servant was bending over and respectfully clearing the way in front of him, so he had no choice but to move forward. The looks of these people were really too scary. Hundreds of eyes were all focused on him. The middle-aged men were okay, just with slightly complicated looks. The young men were all glaring at him, their eyes full of jealousy, wishing they could rush up and beat him up, including his cheap brother, Darius. Among the crowd, perhaps only his father Gandalf looked at him with eyes full of approval and pride.
"Let's start!" When Grace walked to the front of the stage, Alice, who was sitting on a leather sofa, stood up. She was still wearing the same clothes as when she first arrived, but with a wreath of fresh flowers on her head. She gave an order to the servant.
"Yes, Lord Earl!" Upon hearing Alice's order, the servants beside him immediately moved. One of them walked up to the platform and said loudly to the hall: "My lords, please take your seats. The wedding of Lord Earl and Lord Gervis will begin soon."
After that, another servant led a priest in a white robe and a badge on his chest to the stage.
Then, Alice took two steps forward, walked to the right side of Gervis, raised her slender arm with a hollow armband, wrapped it around Gervis's forearm, and then slowly walked towards the stage with Gervis.
Gervis was gently pulled by Alice and immediately reacted.
He walked up stiffly, shoulder to shoulder with Alice.
There was nothing strange about Alice's arm around him, except for the initial physical contact when she put her arm around his. By the time Gervis reacted and got his arm into position to cooperate, there was no contact between them anymore. Alice controlled the distance just right, so that other people couldn't notice anything unusual and her arms didn't touch Gervis's.
"This woman!" Gervis thought to himself. The reason why the Countess chose him was entirely because of what he did today. Otherwise, it would be impossible for her to choose him so immediately. It was more likely that she was taking revenge on him. After all, the Countess knew best what troubles she had.
If Alice knew what Gervis was thinking, she would give him a thumbs up. Alice chose Gervis as her husband, which was indeed a bit of revenge, because she knew that after becoming her husband, whether Gervis was willing or not, he would bear some risks. However, who told this kid to despise me? When others were looking forward to my choice, only this kid lowered his head, afraid of being discovered by me. What's more, he was still eating. Wasn't he more attractive than a piece of cake?
Women are strange creatures, with strange thinking patterns, and everything is based on their own ideas, so Gervis is not wronged at all. In order to be less conspicuous, Gervis hid behind the crowd to eat, which was misunderstood by Alice as a contempt for her.
Fortunately, because of this incident, Gervis learned how to use his golden finger, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
(End of this chapter)
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