Under Earl Lewis' strange tone of inquiry, Dele's expression remained as usual:
"In front of you is Tyr..."
But Lewis immediately laughed and interrupted Dele's introduction with a wave of his hand:
"Don't be nervous, it was just a joke, of course I know where he is..."
Dele's face darkened after being interrupted.
"Come, let me see..."
In Dele's silence, Lewis slowly turned the horse's head and looked sideways at Thales with a profound expression.
The prince took a deep breath, suppressed the discomfort in his heart, and accepted the attention of Earl Black Lion with a smile.
A few seconds later, Earl Lewis, who had almost circled Thales half a circle, finally laughed out loud:
"Your Highness, I have heard about your great achievements in the North for a long time. It is a great honor to come here."
He closed the distance between him and the prince, with his back tilted back and his expression still arrogant:
"Maybe you don't remember me..."
But unexpectedly, the prince raised his voice and interrupted the other party:
"Will the black lion who is good at fighting still fight for the pride of lions?"
Lewis was stunned when he heard this.
"'Fight to the death', that's how you answered my father at the beginning," under everyone's attention, the second prince looked straight at the leader of the Black Lion family:
"'As long as the head lion remains wise and brave, I will take care of the lions.'"
Lewis looked surprised.
Even Dele frowned slightly.
"Yes, I remember you, Count Lewis Bozdorf from the Castle of Heroes."
"At the state meeting six years ago, you were sitting not far from me."
Thales cleared his throat, and his eyes began to turn cold under the setting sun:
"And I still remember, when they voted on whether I was a prince or not..."
"You voted against me."
There was a warning tone in Thales' words.
Bozdorf's expression changed instantly.
He sat up straight on the horse and looked at Thales with a different look.
Even Dele on the side pursed his lips.
Lewis coughed slightly:
"Your Highness, in the past..."
But the prince's cold face melted away suddenly, like iceberg melting into water.
Thales sneered and interrupted the count:
"Don't be nervous, it was just a joke..."
Under the frowning expressions of both Lewis and Dele, Thales leisurely lifted the reins and rode his horse past the Earl of Black Lion:
"Come, let me see..."
The prince calmly looked at the black-armored soldiers behind the count, as if he was reviewing his own army.
A few seconds later, Thales followed Lewis's lead and reined the horse back, smiling brightly:
"Your Excellency, I have long admired the Black Lion family's reputation for being good at fighting."
After saying this, he smiled kindly and extended his right hand to Earl Lewis.
"It's an honor to meet you today."
Lewis looked at the prince blankly.
The Black Lion Family of Heroes Castle.
Another surname that is resounding throughout the Western Wilderness.
Historically, Bozdov's ancestor was a heavy infantryman who participated in the Battle of the End. Due to his bravery and good fighting skills, he was promoted repeatedly by the Renaissance King, rising step by step, and finally achieved the position of earl on the day of the founding of the country.
The expansion of the Star Kingdom's western border to what it is today depends largely on the warlikeness and strength in their blood: at the beginning of the second century of the End Calendar, "King of Blades" Tormund II conquered the Dragon's Kiss and attacked Dragon's Kiss.
In the battle to destroy the Principality of Mist, it was Bozdov's infantry regiment that beheaded the first and last Grand Duke of Mist.
After the First Continental War, the power of the Heroic Soul Castle reached its peak. In the Western Wilderness, the Black Lion Family even suppressed the Guardian Duke until they died in the "Double Star Confrontation" of the late second century and the death of "Cloud King" Horace II.
Later, in the fierce internal strife between the two branches of the Canxing royal family fighting for the throne, like most families of that era, they unfortunately fell on the wrong team.
The stunned Earl Lewis stared at the prince's outstretched right hand, then looked at Thales's smile, and was silent for a while.
Next to him, Dele, who was silent, looked at Thales and raised the corners of his mouth slightly.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Half a second later, Earl Black Lion calmed down his previous arrogant expression, urged his mount to take a step forward, threw off his iron gloves without hesitation, and firmly grasped Thales's palm:
"I promise you'll see that we live up to our name."
Thales only felt his tightly clenched palm vibrate.
The Earl of Black Lion has quite a strong hand.
Earl Lewis narrowed his eyes:
"The lion head is indeed extraordinary."
Count Bozdorf let go of his palm and waved back:
"Your Highness, come and meet my eldest son and successor, Paul."
A young man with brown hair and a resolute face, who looked silent and low-key, rode forward on a horse wearing armor with a black lion emblem.
"Paul Bozdorf," young Paul said with a straight face, clenching his fists and pressing his chest. He looked less complicated than his father, "Your Highness, it is my honor to serve you."
Thales smiled:
"It's also an honor for me."
Earl Lewis, who had been looking at Thales, laughed and reached out to the black-armored soldiers behind him:
"Your Highness."
"My son, two hundred elites from the Black Lion family, and one hundred people from the fourteen families around Heroic Soul Castle, will accompany Dele to escort you home."
Lewis added:
"Forgive me for not being able to accompany you in person, but please do not doubt our enthusiasm and loyalty to Fuxing Palace."
Thales looked at the black lion flag behind Lewis and the fourteen other flags of small and medium-sized nobles.
The prince frowned slightly at first, then smiled:
"Never doubted."
Lewis also smiled:
"I never doubted you never doubted."
But the next moment, Earl Black Lion looked east and his tone changed:
"But I doubt others doubt it."
Thales's smile was a little stiff.
Well, that's really a good statement.
In the awkward atmosphere, Dele next to him coughed intentionally or unintentionally.
But Lewis seemed not to understand, and suddenly said:
"So I heard that our Lord Cyril, the Duke of Xihuang, has already gone to find you, Your Highness?"
"I also gave you a good sword?"
Thales's nerves, which had been slightly lowered, were immediately raised by these words.
Damn it.
How did he know?
The prince, who had a severe headache, changed direction and subconsciously wanted to block the "warning" on the saddle.
"About that, I wanted to return it..."
But Lewis sighed and pointed at the troops he brought with him, his eyes uneasy.
"Me and Dele."
"Together, we first mobilized countless citizens, and then mobilized six to seven hundred elite guards to accomplish what the Duke did with only one sword."
Count Bozdorf hummed:
“What a bargain.”
He suddenly turned to the owner of the one-winged crow:
"What do you think, Dele?"
The Earl of Wingburg raised his head, but did not answer. He only gave Lewis a friendly smile.
Thales looked at Dele's expression as if he had some realization.
The next second, Earl Lewis's eyes returned to the prince, his attitude seemed casual:
"So, did he also 'dump' you with his sword?"
Thales was startled:
"Dump?"
Dele next to him coughed again.
But Earl Lewis still didn't seem to hear it. He smiled indifferently and gestured to the prince on his mount:
"You know, he just deliberately swung the sword in front of you. If you were scared to death, then he would just smile and say, 'Ah, that's just you.' If you didn't react, he would pretend to be serious and say, 'Well, you pass.
Mine tested'."
I saw Lewis waving his hands with disdain and saying:
"After bluffing someone, of course, he can talk in a long and serious manner."
Holding a sword in front of you on purpose...
Thales was confused for a while, and then he was completely stunned.
What?
The day before yesterday, the scene of Duke Xihuang and him being alone in a room flooded into his mind.
"What?" the prince asked in surprise.
As if anticipating the other party's reaction, Earl Lewis had an "I'll just say it" expression on his face and chuckled:
"I guess the Duke expressed his heartfelt feelings and worries to you, showing that he loves Xihuang deeply, crazily, and well-founded, and cannot extricate himself. It moved heaven and earth. In the end, he solemnly declares,
Everything is a last resort. In all the chaos, big and small, he actually just wants to remain neutral and doesn't want to choose sides?"
Thales blinked, a little confused by the amount of information in this sentence.
What?
But Lewis continued:
"And did he take that set of a dozen words and go around dozens of twists and turns and come back again? What kind of word game does power originate from violence? Violence gives birth to a lot and then gives birth to power again.
I’m here to trick you with lies…”
Power arises from violence...
A word game that goes around in circles and back again...
Listening to what the other party said, Thales was stunned and confused, his brows rising and falling several times.
Earl Black Lion's tone was joking:
"Does it make you think he is unfathomable, far-sighted and different?"
Dele, who was next to him, turned his head away and coughed heavily.
Thales finally found an opening and asked doubtfully:
"How did you..."
But Lewis didn’t give him a chance to ask back:
"You know, after all the bullshit, when the time comes, he'll just snap his fingers like this..."
Count Bozdorf waved his hand contemptuously and snapped his fingers:
"He blinked again and flicked his teeth: 'Don't worry, I won't say this to others, but I am with you!'"
The way he shook his head and the look of disdain on his face was quite a bit like Duke Falkenhauser.
But this shocked His Royal Highness:
"what?"
Lewis smiled coldly:
"Don't be surprised, Your Highness."
"That was the unpopular Lord Cyril. When we were young, he treated everyone..."
He put away his joking expression and turned cold:
"That's how it's done."
Thales looked at him blankly, trying his best to control his expression.
What's the meaning?
Is this what you do to everyone...?
That……
Then what he heard in the Ghost Prince Tower yesterday, what the Duke of Xihuang said...
Do you think I would pick up a random fourteen-year-old kid on the street and tell him this?
Thales felt a little messy.
Lewis turned his head disdainfully:
"Am I right, Dele?"
On the other side of the room, Dele saluted politely, but still smiled and said nothing.
Looking at Dele's performance, Earl Black Lion snorted dissatisfied.
But at this moment, Thales's heart was already in chaos.
that……
That Duke of Xihuang who looks like a boss, how come... actually... but... that's not right... then...
"I'm going to visit the Duke in the camp today. I hope he won't use the old methods to deal with me."
Lewis hummed:
"But no matter what, whether it is the beginning or the end of this farce."
"We really need to thank you, Your Highness."
Earl Bozdorf looked steadily at Thales who was thinking hard:
"And from the ruins to the Wing Castle, whether it's Lord Cyril or Dele, including so many of our subordinate lords, if it weren't for your presence, it would be rare to see such a large gathering of people in Xihuang."
"You must be our savior, Your Highness, whether it was six years ago or now, you can reunite us who are not in contact with each other."
"You think so, Dele?"
Dele raised his eyebrows for the third time and smiled politely.
Looking at the implacable Earl of Wing Castle, Bozdorf turned his attention to Thales again:
"And I have a gift."
I saw Earl Black Lion wave his hand, and the next second, several powerful black-armored soldiers raised the flagpole and raised an exaggeratedly high and surprisingly large flag in the air.
Thales was about to say thanks just now, but his smile froze again.
"Miss your family crest, Your Highness?"
Amid unanimous exclamations and uproar from residents on both sides of the town, the flags unfurled in the wind.
That is a nine-pointed star flag.
However, the nine-pointed star on the flag seems to be made of special materials. As long as the flag moves slightly, it will shine with a dazzling silver light, as bright as the starry sky, which is difficult to ignore.
It was so shocking that many people, including Thales, subconsciously raised their hands to cover their eyes.
Damn it.
This is too...
Thales turned back awkwardly:
"I'm grateful for your gift, but it's too high-profile..."
"High profile?"
Lewis interrupted him very quickly. He raised his arms angrily towards the surrounding towns and fields:
"For the sake of the goddess, this is your country, your home, and we will all be your vassals. We should be free to walk in your own home."
Thales said in a low voice:
"I'd rather keep a low profile..."
But Lewis didn’t seem to hear him and continued to say loudly:
"And if there really comes a day when you, as a member of the Bright Star royal family, have to hesitate even to reveal your identity in your own home and are full of doubts, then maybe..."
Lewis leaned forward and pressed Thales' shoulder with a slap, and the exaggerated expression on his face suddenly cooled down:
"There is something wrong with this family."
He said coldly:
"What do you think?"
Thales was shocked.
Lewis pressed Thales' shoulder, showing an extremely disturbing sense of disobedience.
Thales took a deep breath.
After a second, he curled up the corners of his mouth, but said nothing, just released a...
An impeccable smile.
"Excuse me for disturbing you," at this moment, Dele, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke up:
"It's time for you to set off, Lord Earl. It still takes half a day to walk from here to Blade Tooth Camp."
Thales was extremely grateful for his interruption.
Whether it was because of Dele's helping hand or because he finally had nothing to say, Earl Lewis just let go of his hand after being silent for a while.
He put away his strange expression and smiled slightly:
"Of course, don't let me disturb you."
"Paul, protect the prince with your life," Lewis told his son pointedly:
"Just like this prince who risked his life to defend his homeland for six years."
Paul pressed his chest and bowed his head solemnly:
"I will, Father."
"I will."
Count Bozdorf curled his lips and pointed at the shining silver nine-pointed star flag with his thumb:
"Also remember, although that flag is very heavy, you have to make sure it stays in the air."
"Don't let it fall."
Lewis clicked his tongue, not knowing who he was talking to:
"It will hurt people."
Thales' expression remained unchanged.
This time, Paul did not answer, but nodded silently.
"Well, have a good trip, Your Highness."
Earl Black Lion reined up his horse, lost his cold expression, and said with a confident smile:
"The roads in the Western Wilderness have been in disrepair for a long time and have always been difficult to travel."
Surrounded by the soldiers, Lewis Bozdorf rode unsteadily past Thales, leaving the prince with a back view and a profound sentence:
"Presumably, Chi Dao from the central leadership..."
"Would it be flatter?"
Facing the retreating team of Earl Black Lion, Thales breathed a sigh of relief.
He and Dele looked at each other, both showing an impeccable but helpless smile.