Who told him to rush up there?

After playing with Alyssa for a long time, Eli saw that it was getting late, so he put away the toys scattered on the ground and prepared to take Alyssa to the most formal dinner of the day.

According to the custom of the Dawn Empire, the man and woman who held the engagement ceremony had to toast with the guests at the dinner. Eli didn't know why this oriental custom appeared in the Western fantasy world, but since there was this rule, he could only do it obediently.

After handing Alyssa to the maids, Eli first found Princess Lina, and then under the guidance of Archbishop Bode, he toasted a glass of wine to the old emperor and queen and the Duke and Duchess of Bruno, and then he toasted to each table, which was the most challenging thing for alcohol tolerance.

Princess Lina was a girl after all, and because of her noble status, no one dared to let her drink more, so every time she toasted, Eli drank a glass and Princess Lina took a sip. After half a circle of toasts, Eli had already drunk a pot, and Princess Lina's cup was only half full.

Tonight's banquet is relatively low-key compared to the luxury of lunch, but those who know the goods know that tonight's dinner, whether it is dishes or drinks, is the ultimate in the mortal world. No matter how many gifts they receive today, they can't make up for it. Even with the wealth of the Duke Bruno's family, they have to scrape off at least three layers of grease after hosting two meals.

But who let their family marry Princess Lina? How can they get the princess if they don't want to spend gold coins? If it were another family, let alone scraping off three layers of grease, they would have to spend all their money to hold a grand banquet, and they would never let the princess down.

All the way down the table, even with Eli's alcohol tolerance, he blushed a little. Princess Lina, who only took a sip each time, was fine, but her face also had a little blush, but I don't know if it was because of the wine or because she was happy or shy.

At the last table, Jessica, Cecilia, Evelyn, Eleanor and others happened to be sitting at this table. It was fine when toasting with others, that was to thank the guests, but when clinking glasses with these beautiful girls, even with Eli's thick skin, he felt a little embarrassed.

Even Eli was like this, not to mention the thin-skinned Princess Lina. Although she did not regard these people in front of her as rivals in love, the actual relationship between them was like this. As a latecomer, she was the first to be engaged to Eli, and she felt a little sorry for Jessica and Cecilia.

After she and Eli officially get married in the future, she should take good care of them. She doesn't want to be a jealous woman...

"I wish you a long and happy love."

"Thank you."

In this occasion, the beautiful girls still gave Eli and Princess Lina face. When they drank with Eli, several girls still gave them blessings, but it was hard to say whether they were sincere.

After finally waiting until the toast was over, Eli took Princess Lina away with a heavy burden, but when he thought that he had more than one woman, Lina, and that he might have to go through this kind of scene many times in the future, Eli suddenly felt a little dizzy.

It's better to have fewer engagements in the future. If conditions permit, just get married directly. It's better to marry several people at a time to avoid this pain...

When Eli and Princess Lina returned to their own table, the engagement banquet was almost declared over at this point. There were no more ceremonies or customs to be done afterwards, and Eli could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

After that, they finished the dinner quietly, and the guests began to leave one after another. The Duke and Duchess of Bruno were busy seeing off the guests at the door, leaving Eli alone to face the old emperor, the queen, and their family.

"Lina, go back to the palace with your father later."

The old emperor took a sip of wine and said to Princess Lina in a gentle tone.

"Go back?"

Princess Lina was stunned. She was already engaged to Eli. She was absent-minded all day. She was thinking about what Eli would do to her tonight. But now her father asked her to go back to the palace with him?

"You just got engaged. If you stay at the Duke's Mansion tonight, it will be bad if it gets out."

The old emperor didn't need to explain this obvious thing in person. The imperial concubine, who was sitting next to her, Princess Lina's biological mother, explained it.

As the mother of a daughter as beautiful as Princess Lina, the imperial concubine was naturally a charming beauty when she was young. Even though she is now in her forties, she still has charm. She is a purebred orc with more cat elements. In addition to cat ears and cat tail, there are soft pads and fine fur in her palms.

Maybe some people like beauties of different races who are more beastly, but Eli only likes beast-eared girls. If this imperial concubine was not the biological mother of Princess Lina, it would be difficult for Eli to have a good impression of his mother-in-law who almost killed Princess Lina in the previous life.

In the previous life, the Orc Kingdom fell earlier than the Dawn Empire. The imperial concubine of this empire ignored the chaos of the war and held the princess hostage to the emperor, forcing the Dawn Empire to send troops to avenge her relatives. However, no matter how much the old emperor favored Princess Lina, he would not be so stupid. He rejected the unreasonable request of his beloved concubine.

After forcing the emperor of the Dawn Empire to send troops without hope, the imperial concubine relied on the fact that she was the biological mother of Princess Lina and forced Princess Lina to lead the army if she could, and if she couldn't lead the army, even if she was alone, she had to go to the Orc Kingdom to avenge her.

On one side was her biological mother's "pleading", and on the other side was her own strong will to fight against demons. Princess Lina really single-handedly entered the old land of the Orc Kingdom. In that battle, Princess Lina killed the demon commander who destroyed the cat people, and severely damaged the demon army that invaded the Orc Kingdom.

But it was also in that battle that Princess Lina, who was already a holy magician and a ninth-level warrior at that time, almost couldn't come back. She used up all the life-saving props that she put in half of her storage bracelet, and her life-saving pills were also used up. In the last battle, she was besieged by several demon kings and suffered almost fatal injuries.

If Princess Lina, who was so rich that she even had a real artifact, was not so rich that she could not even have a real artifact, she would probably die in a foreign country in advance, and she would not even have the opportunity to fight for the Dawn Empire until her death.

It is understandable that the imperial concubine wants to avenge her relatives, but given the war situation at that time, the defense line on the west side of the continent had been breached, and the defense line on the east side was all supported by the Dawn Empire. If the elite of the empire were to be drawn to avenge the imperial concubine's national hatred and family hatred at that time, the price that the entire mortal world would have to pay would be the total collapse of the battle line and the fall of the entire continent.

Eli didn't like this mother-in-law. She might just be irrational, and she hadn't done anything wrong in this life, but Eli still didn't like her.

It's just that he couldn't show this dislike on the surface, so when the imperial concubine spoke, Eli still listened carefully and nodded.

She was right in saying this. He and Princess Lina were already engaged, but engagement was not marriage. There were still so many guests now. If Princess Lina stayed at the Duke's Mansion tonight, I don't know what gossip would spread tomorrow.

Even if people use the most euphemistic words to predict, they will think that Princess Lina is too disrespectful, and she is with her fiancé before marriage...

In fact, the atmosphere of the Dawn Empire is quite open. Not to mention staying overnight before marriage, even if it is loudly announced that there is premarital sex, or even pregnancy before marriage, it is not a big deal, but Princess Lina is different from ordinary women. She is an imperial princess. Her every move not only represents herself, but also concerns the face of the royal family.

Princess Lina and Eli had mentioned this issue before, and she had refused to stay overnight at the Duke's Mansion for this reason, but Princess Lina also promised to let Eli do whatever he wants after the engagement, so in Princess Lina's view, her promise is actually more important than a little face and reputation.

Although Princess Lina was very worried about what happened tonight, she did not think of escaping. Since she did not escape today, she would not run away tonight. She should go back to the palace with her father, mother, and concubine. She is ready tonight... Actually, she is not ready... Anyway, she will die, close her eyes and pretend to be asleep!

"Then I won't go back to the palace either. I've already promised Eli to..."

"You should go back tonight, but you have to stay with me tomorrow and the day after tomorrow."

Hearing her mother's words, Princess Lina hesitated for a moment before she refused, but she was interrupted by Eli before she finished speaking.

In front of the old emperor and the empress, Eli agreed to let Princess Lina return to the palace, but in front of his father-in-law and his nominal and actual mother-in-law, Eli asked Princess Lina to accompany him for two consecutive nights as compensation.

It has to be said that Eli is bolder than a leopard. He said to the emperor directly that he wanted to sleep with the princess for two consecutive nights. This behavior is no less than shitting on someone's head and asking for paper from them...

"Hey, is this okay?"

Princess Lina scratched her head in confusion, not knowing whether she had lost or gained in this exchange. However, judging from the unhappy faces of her father and others, it is very likely that she had lost...

"You... are so bold!"

The old emperor was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, just like the Duke of Black he met during the day, but fortunately he knew that such things should not be heard by others, so his roar was very low, and only the few people around him could hear it.

"Your Majesty, the marriage has been arranged. Lina is already my woman. It is natural for her to accompany me. Even if you are my father-in-law, you can't stop your daughter and son-in-law from getting close."

The old emperor's anger did not affect Eli at all. With his current strength, there is no need to be too respectful to the emperor of the secular world. He is the emperor of the first empire on the continent, but in Eli's eyes, his highest and greatest identity is actually his father-in-law.

If he didn't want to marry Princess Lina, he really couldn't have any respect for the emperor who had been mediocre all his life and only had the eighth-level strength. If he really wanted to respect the emperor, he might as well respect the Pope of the Church of Light. He is a real demigod, and the most powerful demigod in the entire mortal world, no one else.

"You..."

"Yes, yes, I'm already Eli's man, I'll listen to you, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I'll make some more preparations..."

The old emperor was about to get angry, but his beloved daughter ruthlessly slapped him with a slightly happy word, and said back everything he wanted to say. His Majesty, the emperor, just said "you" for a long time, and couldn't say a word.

Is this still my sweet little cotton-padded jacket? Why does it feel a little leaky? The weather was cold at night, but the old emperor felt a fire burning in his heart.

"Then I'll go back with my father and the others first, and come to see you tomorrow."

Speaking of this, Princess Lina took her old father's arm and walked out, and when her beloved daughter took his arm, the fire burning in the old emperor's heart was immediately like being poured with a basin of cold water, and it was extinguished in an instant.

Forget it, Lina looks very happy. As long as she is happy, that's fine. If Eli is as arrogant as he is, just be arrogant. As long as he treats Lina well, the most important thing is that the baby girl is happy!

"Hmph! Let's go!"

So the old emperor tilted his head, took Princess Lina and the Queen's concubine and left, ignoring Eli at all.

At this time, the guests were still leaving one after another. Many people saw with their own eyes His Majesty the Emperor and His Royal Highness the Princess leaving the Duke's Palace. I believe that there will be no unfriendly remarks against Princess Lina tomorrow.

It wasn't until the guests had dispersed that Duke and Duchess Bruno returned after a busy day. This busy but important day was truly over. It was not that Eli had never been engaged in his previous life, but this was the first time he was engaged to a princess of a country. He didn't seem to have done much today, but he was really tired. He felt more tired than killing a million demons.

"Eli, although Princess Lina is gone tonight, please don't spend the night in other women's rooms..."

Seeing her son sitting in the seat with a hopeless expression on his face, the Duchess thought he was depressed because Princess Lena left. But no matter how depressed he was, as his mother she had to give him some encouragement.

After all, today is the important day for the engagement of Eli and Princess Lina. Although the woman has left, the man should not spend the night with other women that night. This would be too disrespectful to his fiancée.

There is no way, Princess Lena left tonight because of reputation issues, and the Duchess asked Eli to stay alone for one night for reputation issues. Both of these situations are not good-looking, so avoid them if you can.

"I'm not some lusty ghost who doesn't like women, so why would I want to spend just one night?"

Eli said weakly, dear mother, who do you think your son is?

"I believed you would be well-behaved before, but now... I can't tell..."

When Eli felt distrusted, his dearest mother gave him another stab.

"Why can't I tell..."

"You used to have Jessica and Cecilia by your side, and you would just play with Cassia from time to time. What now? Just bring Evelin and Princess Lina back, but there is also Eleanor... Who did you let? Dare you believe me?"

Eli's words of retort were interrupted by his mother's combo of attacks, but what she said was the real situation. Eli couldn't refute even after receiving the combo of attacks, and could only look at the sky speechlessly.

At least...don't blame Eleanor on me, well, just yet...