Bishop Nerga raised his hand to signal everyone to keep quiet, then turned around and gave instructions to the priest.
"Reporting to the Bishop, you...your Guardian Knights...are gone..." Seeing the serious expression on Bishop Nerga's face, the priest suddenly became nervous and began to hesitate in his words.
"Calm down and speak slowly." Upon hearing this, Bishop Nerga frowned, and a long-lost sense of panic arose in his heart.
The priest took a deep breath and said slowly, word by word: "I am reporting to you, Lord Bishop, that the team of Guardian Knights you sent to the Far North Icefield was unfortunately wiped out."
Bishop Nerga's expression suddenly changed.
…………
This weekend, Allen's dance party held in his mansion came as scheduled.
Although his father, Earl William, had lived in the territory of Kent for a long time and rarely came to the capital, Alan unexpectedly discovered that the York family was surprisingly popular in the capital.
Of all the invitations sent by Allen, most of them received a positive reply; even a small number of them were unable to attend due to special reasons, but they also expressed their deep apologies to Allen through letters.
Therefore, by the time night fell, many ornately decorated carriages had already filled Allen's courtyard.
Gentlemen in tuxedos and ladies in lace corsets gathered here in pairs, waiting to be received by the owner of the mansion.
Allen had already put on the dress specially customized for him by Earl William and stood at the door of the hall to greet the guests.
The first person to come here was a young man named Melga Christine. His father was Marquis Christine, Lord of Notting County in the northern territory of the Braden Kingdom, and his mother, Lady Lillian, was the late king's
Sister, aunt of the current queen.
According to common sense, Melga should have the most noble status among everyone present. Even the second son of an earl like Allen, if he does not have the status of a magician, he must bow to him obediently.
But Alan never expected that as soon as the two met, Melga would be so excited that she seemed to be seeing an old friend. She hurriedly walked forward and took off her hat to greet Alan.
"you……"
"Mr. York, I am here to express my gratitude on behalf of my father." Melga bowed deeply to Allen. "In recent times, the evil cultists have caused chaos in my father's territory, resulting in the loss of a large number of residents and the loss of territory tax revenue.
Sharp decrease. If your father had not extended a helping hand in time and persuaded Iris Bank to lend us a loan, I am afraid that our family would have gone bankrupt."
"This is just a simple effort," Allen said politely. "The York family and the Christine family have been friends for generations. When encountering such a thing, of course they have to help each other."
But Melga still stood stubbornly and insisted on giving Allen a set of ancestral and priceless dishes as a gift, calling it a "show of affection".
It wasn't until Allen reluctantly nodded and agreed to accept the gift that Melga walked into the brightly lit hall with satisfaction.
The second person who came was Gramma, the owner of the largest steel factory in Lund City.
This lean middle-aged man was even more exaggerated than Melga. When he saw Allen, he almost shed tears of excitement, and his voice couldn't help but tremble slightly when he spoke.
"...Dear Mr. York, your father is simply my great benefactor! If he hadn't invested two thousand gold pounds in us five years ago, we would have become homeless people begging on the streets..."
Seeing that the gifts he brought were quite generous, Allen listened patiently to his endless chatter, and then asked the servants to lead him into the house.
Next, the guests that Allen received were all kinds of nobles, bankers, factory owners, members of both houses of Congress... They all gathered here after Allen sent out the invitation.
Looking at the figures dancing under the gorgeous lights, Allen deeply felt how terrible the network of connections that Earl William had weaved with gold pounds over the years was.
The saying "connections equal money" was obviously interpreted to the extreme by Earl William.
However, because there were so many guests here today, after Allen said hello to everyone, he already felt a little exhausted physically and mentally.
It was at this time that he suddenly remembered that he seemed to have left Howard aside while he was busy dealing with the guests.
So, he called the servant, asked about Howard's location, then strode through the crowd, and finally found Howard in an inconspicuous corner of the hall.
Today, Howard put on a newly customized dress and should have looked energetic and majestic.
However, at this time, he was standing alone in the corner, looking melancholy and lonely, as if he was out of tune with the surrounding environment.
"Why don't you join them?" Allen pointed at the crowd and asked with a smile, "This should be a rare opportunity for you."
Howard shook his head.
Allen originally thought that Howard would explain righteously, "I am not the same type of person as them."
But he didn't expect that Howard smiled helplessly and said a little embarrassedly: "Alan, thank you for worrying about me. But I can't remember faces since I was a child. On such an occasion, if I identify the wrong person, I will
It’s very embarrassing.”
"So you'd rather be alone?"
"Yes."
"So, it was also for this reason that you behaved like a cool academic in school and didn't talk to others very much?"
"That's right," Howard nodded, "To be honest, when I first entered school, I couldn't tell the difference between you and Jeffrey, and I almost called the wrong person several times.
"But not anymore."
…………
at the same time.
No matter day or night, the palace of Braden Kingdom is extremely quiet as always, with few guests visiting.
Under the bright blue moonlight, this majestic and magnificent palace looks exceptionally quiet and peaceful, just like the castle in a fairy tale where the princess has slept for many years.
The young Queen Margaret had long been accustomed to this kind of silence.
At this moment, she was sitting alone in her gorgeous room, closing her eyes and meditating.
Suddenly, her maid Lila knocked on the door and walked in.
"Dear Her Majesty the Queen, the information you requested has been delivered."
The maid bowed respectfully and presented a pile of information with both hands.
"Thanks a lot."
After hearing her words, Queen Margaret opened her eyes, reached out to take the information handed over by the maid, and looked through it casually.
Soon, she dug out a few photos from the pile of information, as well as a fresh interview transcript.
Then a faint smile appeared on her lips.
…………
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