Blood Dragon

Chapter [-] Outsiders

These detailed paintings were not achieved overnight.Anyone can see that even for a professional painter, with good talent and long training, it takes months to paint a picture so delicate and detailed.

Ashrufat's gaze rested on one of the paintings.This is a scene where the protagonist is standing in a certain room—probably a bedroom.The painting looked familiar...he remembered seeing it before.She was even modeled for a while by Aunt Mary.But at the time he didn't pay much attention to it.It was evident that Aunt Marie had continued this hobby after he left Brassian.

"It's just my hobby." The voice sounded from behind.At some point, Aunt Mary had come behind them.

"Auntie," Xing Ke asked. "Who is this painting...?"

"Mikael." Although Aunt Mary was able to walk, her steps seemed to be a little shaky. "my husband."

Everyone knew that Aunt Mary had married many times and had many lovers, and was even once the famous slut in Falcon City.So this topic made several juniors feel awkward.

"My first husband," explained Aunt Mary. "The earl of the frontier... same as you, Ashuruffat, he is also an earl."

"Frontier..." Ashrufat's title is temporary. Although he has the title of earl, he has no actual territory, or at least has not been granted a territory yet.But Count Mikael should be a... a real lord.

Within the scope of the Seven Kingdoms, the nobles can be divided into three categories according to their actual power. The king or grand duke is the first level. They themselves are the supreme rulers. Vassal duty.The second level is the lord. Although he owns the territory under his own rule, he must be loyal to the lord of a higher level and perform various obligations.Finally, there are nobles who have only titles and no territories, but can get a certain salary by virtue of their titles.Of course, there was originally a final grade, that is, pure title nobles with only titles but nothing else.Such titles of nobility are usually bought with money.However, the seven countries have signed relevant treaties in recent years, and jointly decided not to confer the last kind of honorary nobles, and those that have been conferred are only valid in their own countries, and other countries will not recognize them.

However, Gruney's situation is slightly special.This is because the country has long been at war with the barbarians of the north.In order to concentrate manpower and material resources against foreign invaders, it is not advisable to divide the country into small pieces and distribute them to nobles as fiefs.However, it is not possible to directly confiscate the land of the small lord, and it is not suitable to transfer the small lord to other areas, so the "trusteeship" system came into being.Small and medium-sized lords centrally "entrust" their territories to a certain big lord (although they do not have a relationship with each other as vassals) to collect an appropriate tax.Therefore, when the word "frontier" is added in front of a noble title, it usually means that the noble's actual power and control over the land are much stronger than his appearance.

This concentration, concentrated in the northern part of the kingdom, was a special case created by the perennial threat of barbarians.Therefore, a special kind of nobleman was born-although they had an objective territory, they could not actually rule that territory.

"That's right, a border lord," said Aunt Mary.

In fact, Axiuruffat really wanted to ask Aunt Mary why she drew these paintings, especially why the faces were all vacant, but he could tell from Aunt Mary's expression that the old lady would not say this for the time being. thing.

"Ashrufat, why are you back?"

"Well, someone wants me to hide for a few days first." Ashuruffat replied. "Avoid those menacing rumors outside."

"Well, a wise choice." Aunt Mary's expression became severe. "But why are you coming back now?"

"Because I haven't seen you for a long time..."

"Ridiculous!" snapped Aunt Mary. "You are irresponsible to yourself, and you are also irresponsible to your fiancées! You have to know, if the news that you failed to report to the Queen in Falcon City... then it is equivalent to adding an undeniable crime!"

Although Aunt Mary was scolding, Ashuruffat was actually mentally prepared and remained calm.

"I'll just stay for a while." Ashuruffat said. "Before I came in, I had observed for four weeks, and no one was watching."

"Of course no one is watching. You're only a public enemy now, not a target of the law. No fool is too full to stay here and watch us," answered Aunt Mary. "Who gave you this advice?"

"Someone." Ashuruffat reluctantly replied.

"What should we do next? It's okay to avoid the limelight temporarily, but it's impossible to delay for too long. Because others can use the crime of 'abandoning your job and absconding' to deal with you. And this storm of public opinion will not subside in a short time." sign."

"Our country has reached an agreement with Tiberius, and the two countries will jointly form a coalition to fight against the invading barbarian invasion army." Aishuruffat said. "General Beryl of Tiberius will arrive in Falcon City in the near future. At that time, we will discuss the details of the coalition forces, and then..."

"You will enter the coalition." Aunt Mary looked relieved. "This is really a good idea. Keep a firm grip on the short period of time before public opinion turns into an actual attack, and use it to hide... When the army is gone, the public opinion in Falcon City will have no influence on you. If you want to attack again, you can only After the war is over... the war is over, and a year or so has passed... No matter how powerful the power of public opinion is, it will not be able to arouse people's interest after such a long delay... It's really a good idea, it's great. I have been worrying for so many days in vain."

"Sorry for worrying you."

"Then you really shouldn't disappoint that friend," said Aunt Mary. "You shouldn't go into the city, but wait in the suburbs for a few days."

"I just think..." Ashuruffat hesitated for a moment, Aunt Mary's attitude had obviously softened, but she didn't say what he thought she would say. "I need to let you know."

"Now we know." Aunt Mary's stern look had disappeared, leaving only a smile. "Ashrufat, be more careful these few days, and we will be able to overcome this difficulty."

"Aunt... is there... anything I need? I have some friends who can help a lot."

"No need," Aunt Mary replied. "We have a good time here. By the way, do you need a change of clothes? I have several sets here, all of them..." She pointed to the other three people beside her. "They bought it for you. It was originally intended to be used at the wedding... Because we knew you did a good job in Falcon City at that time, so we thought we could hold the wedding directly here in Wangcheng. It's gorgeous for a few days, for your current situation It may not be suitable for you, but there are also a few sets that are relatively ordinary, which should be good for daily wear.”

The old woman looked at Ashuruffat, and suddenly let out a laugh. "Ashuruffat, that look on your face... is really funny. You seem to be waiting for me to ask 'why'. I guess, if you came all the way back, everyone asked you one Why? Why are you doing that kind of thing in Fornoros City?"

Ashrufa nodded.

"This is the difference between family members and outsiders. Because we believe in you, I chose you as my niece-in-law and heir, and several of them chose you as their husband. We are a family, and trust is the most basic thing in a family." stuff. If you make a decision, there must be a reason for it. So there's no point in asking that kind of question."

There was a clear sound of horseshoes outside the window.There are not many carriages in Falcon City, but there are indeed many horses.But this time, the hoofbeats seemed a little too loud.If I am not mistaken, the sound indicates that there are hundreds of horses.It is not normal for hundreds of horses to go shopping at this time.

Everyone exchanged glances with each other, Xing Ke immediately rushed to the second floor, and observed the outside through the upstairs window. After 1 minute, Xing Ke ran down.

"It's okay, it should be a foreigner who has entered the city. It feels like a foreigner."

Through the window, a large team can be seen.From the movements and demeanor of the men and horses, and from the clothes of the riders, it can be seen that this is a team from other places.

"Who are these people?" Ashuruffat couldn't help asking.

"Ah, there are a lot of people like this recently." Xingjian replied. "They're all from other places or even foreign countries."

"Why?" Ashurfat felt that this team didn't look like diplomats, and they didn't look like a caravan. He couldn't guess why they came to Falcon City for a while.

"It is said that he intends to propose to our little queen."

"what……"

"No one came to propose before because everyone believed that the little queen would marry Byron or Rafa's son." Xingjian said. "After the coup d'etat and the war, no one was sure that the little queen was capable of protecting her throne. But now, all doubts have been removed, and our little queen immediately became the coveted target of everyone."

"But... but... the war is not over yet?" Ashuruffat thought of the barbarian army that invaded the northern part of the kingdom at this time. "Besides, our Queen is only 12 years old."

"13 years old." Aunt Mary next to him interjected. "She won't be 12 forever. And your first question is the same. Although the war is still going on, no one has questioned whether Her Majesty's throne is safe or not. In this case, wait until all the dust settles He who strikes second is a fool. It is a simple truth that everyone knows to strike first. Look at this one," Aunt Mary pointed to the middle of the passing line downstairs, where the most gorgeously dressed and most outstandingly dressed a young man. "Looks like a prince."

"Prince... wait, that flag is..."

Beside the young man whom Aunt Mary called "Prince" was accompanied by a flag-bearer, and the patterns depicted on the flag looked familiar.Ashurfat thought he had seen such a flag somewhere, and then remembered that it was in a dream.He had seen this banner before in dreams of blood and carnage and fighting.In the dream, this flag once flew over the opposing camps.And he defeated the army under this banner more than once, and stepped on the bloody and dilapidated banner under his feet.

"It's from Sham..." Aunt Mary seemed to be talking to herself. "Ha, this is the flag of the royal family of Sham. This one should be a prince or a young prince. Since the people of Sham are here, I am afraid that the royal families of all countries will not miss this competition."

The royal families of all countries have reason to do so.This is not an ordinary marriage, because everyone knows that the Mark Remiz family is already dead, and the marriage with the little queen can easily bring about a strong inheritance.