Cinderella returned with the young count to his castle, which is said to have been given to him by the king.

It wasn't hard to get along with the Earl, and she was so happy now compared to when she was with her stepmother and sister. He doesn't beat himself, he doesn't scold himself, and although he rarely takes the initiative to talk to him, he always gives her generous guidance if he asks him for advice, and he even hires a tutor for himself.

She hadn't enjoyed this treatment since her mother's death. Cinderella felt that she would probably not be able to repay the favor that Monsieur Count had given her in her lifetime.

She also discovered a little secret of the earl, he would have a headache from time to time, although he hid it well, but whenever he was a little bit interested in a qiē, over time, she also figured out the pattern.

She wondered why the Count didn't ask a priest or a doctor to treat him, but he always vaguely refused, saying that it was the after-effects of the last illness at her stepmother's and father's wedding, and that if it couldn't be cured, it didn't need to be bothered.

A somewhat wayward count......

In fact, he was not as inaccessible as she had imagined, and there was nothing to be afraid of.

Cinderella happily plucked a bouquet of flowers that still lacked the morning dew, thinking that she would send them to the Count later. The vase in his room was always empty, and it would be nice to have a bouquet to decorate it.

……

Recently, the king and queen were almost losing their hair for their youngest son. He never expressed any inclination to be interested in a noble lady, much to the sorrow of the two elders, who were anxious to see the prince married.

The queen asked tentatively, "Do you like the Viscount you saw yesterday, she is so beautiful, and she plays the violin well." She also has a cousin, you've probably seen it too, which one do you like?"

The prince commented with little interest: "One is old-fashioned and mean, the other is arrogant and willful. ”

Hearing him say this, the queen understood that he was not interested in anything. The queen continued, "What about Liana, the young lady of the Marquis of White?"

Prince: "Mother, I don't even know who you're talking about. ”

The queen complained, "You should attend more of your young people's meetings." ”

The king was also helpless.

One day, he complained to the chamberlain, who also had a son and was not engaged.

The king's chamberlain, why not hold a grand ball, and invite all the nobles of the city to bring the female members of the family who are of marriageable age?

The king, who could not think of a better way, immediately agreed to the plan.

In this way, royal invitations printed with golden iris patterns were sent to the homes of various nobles in the city.

The chamberlain reported to the king that the invitations had been delivered, and then respectfully handed the king the list of invitations to the ball.

The king, who had read the whole list in its entirety, and did not see in it the names he had hoped to see, asked, "Why is Earl Grant not invited?"

As soon as the king finished speaking, the chamberlain realized who he was talking about, Count Grant.

The young man who rose from the son of a knight to an earl was the biggest topic of conversation among the upper classes of the entire kingdom in the past few years.

Although the regulations on knighthood in the kingdom are not strict now, whether it is by virtue of military merits, or by opening up land and discovering islands, it is okay to be crowned, even if it is like the former Violet Queen, just because he thinks that a good singer has a good singing voice, it is not unusual to give him a knighthood casually.

But when the knighthood of someone else is put on the current king, it is absolutely fresh.

Since the previous king, except for the part of the nobility that relied on hereditary titles to obtain titles, there has not been any new nobles from ordinary people in the kingdom, and the two kings seem to have agreed not to give anyone a knighthood.

As long as the king wants to knight others, no matter how strict the rules are, he can find the perfect reason to come. As long as the king doesn't want to knight others, even if the rules for promotion have been relaxed into a sieve, he can find a thousand reasons to refuse you.

However, just when the current king would be like the previous king, and would not be knighted until his death, he suddenly knighted a young man, and one was an earl.

That young man was Brian Grant.

The chamberlain spoke with some embarrassment: "Earl Grant does not live in the city, and he is so young, he should not have a daughter of marriageable age. ”

The king waved his hand and said nonchalantly, "Just add his name." He didn't have a daughter, didn't he have relatives and friends, and even if he came by himself, his wife had died, if I remember correctly. What a poor boy, who has been through so much at such a young age, and I think this ball is also what he needs, and God will bless him to have a beautiful and wise new wife to spend the rest of his life with. ”

The chamberlain was in a cold sweat when he heard this, what is the meaning of "what a poor child", whose child can shoot the mad wild bull / to death with an arrow in his hand, and then send someone to cut off the most tender part of the ox without changing his face, and make a meal for the king, queen and prince.

In this era when birth determines a qiē, every word and deed of young people gives people a vague illusion. Elegant in conversation and polite in advance and retreat, if it weren't for the fact that the chamberlain clearly knew the details of the young man - he was neither the illegitimate son of any nobleman nor the lover/husband of a noblewoman, he would have really thought that the young man was a famous queen.

The young man later married the daughter of a declining nobleman as his wife, but who was a little bit of a person did not know that his wife was not in good spirits, and could not give him any help at all. But it is precisely such a young man who has always been at most regarded as a joke at a tea party, who broke the convention of the king not being knighted, and stepped into the ranks of the nobility with a slight leap.

The king and queen trusted the young man so much that they gave him the castle in which they had lived before they ascended the throne.

Such a young man, apart from the king, who would really treat him like a child just because he was young.

But what could he say in the face of the king's undisguised preference? The chamberlain had to reply, "I'll send an invitation to Count Grant." ”

Then the king was satisfied, and said, "I wonder what is wrong with these young people around me, when I was young I liked to go to parties, and I could dance with different young ladies, and at the same time I could talk to my peers without the control of the elders, why don't they like it?"

The chamberlain knew that the "they" in the king's mouth meant the prince and the Earl of Grant.

The prince was just obsessed with art and did not have time for the ball. And the Earl of Grant probably didn't like to go to these messy balls.

The young earl rarely appeared at social balls, and with the exception of a few chamberlains and a few nobles who were in constant contact with the king, he was hardly seen. He can be the most mysterious of all the nobles with titles now.

Thinking of this, the chamberlain couldn't help but ask, "What if Count Grant is unwilling to attend the ball?"

When the king thought about it, it was really possible, and it was very likely. He said: "You drive directly to the gate of his castle, if he doesn't come, you won't leave, it's all like this, he won't come back." ”

The chamberlain replied with a bitter face, and the king also understood the temper of the Earl Grant whom he had personally proclaimed, and when he saw the expression of the chamberlain, he added: "Isn't Marquis Wilson on good terms with him? ”

The chamberlain's eyes lit up, "Your Majesty, I promise, Count Grant will definitely attend the ball!"

Strictly speaking, the Marquis Wilson did not have a very good relationship with the Earl of Grant, or rather, the Earl of Grant did not have any very good aristocratic friends.

I think that at the beginning, when Grant was first made an earl, it was not that no one was hostile to him. One of the Empress's nephews, the Marquis Wilson, was one of them.

The Marquis Wilson had been trying to claim a title for his second son for a long time, but he had not been able to do so. Therefore, after he learned that someone had successfully knighted, he naturally thought that the king had decided not to abide by the decision not to be knighted, but the king still refused to knight his second son, and reprimanded him.

"Since ancient times, it has been the eldest son who inherits the title, how can there be such a thing as a second son being knighted!

Marquis Wilson was almost angry and vomited blood, his second son of noble blood can't be knighted, how can that guy who inexplicably relied on his wife to take the throne be knighted?

He was hostile to the new Earl of Grant, and when the other nobles learned of this, they took the Marquis Wilson as a stepping stone. Marquis Wilson was pouted, and his head was hot and he went to Count Grant.

No one knows what the two of them talked about, Mr. Marquise, who had a gloomy face whenever he heard Count Grant's name before, now every time he heard someone talk about Count Grant, he would interject with a smile on his face, boasting from beginning to end, the gift of God, the reincarnation of angels, the living Paris, if he had known him earlier, he would definitely marry his daughter to Count Grant.

The priest, who was acquainted with the Marquis Wilson, lamented that he had not praised the Lord with such fervor as he had praised Earl Grant.

The King was pleased with the situation, and was even more appreciative of Earl Grant, who was able to settle the conflict with Wilson so quickly, and was worthy of his trust.

But in fact, in contrast to the enthusiasm of the Marquis Wilson, the Earl of Grant was detached and courteous from beginning to end when confronted with him.

The relationship between the two is very good, but they are short and pick generals, and the relationship between the two of them is already the best!

There is a more powerful Marquis Wilson blocking the knife in front, even if Earl Grant is unwilling to come to the ball, it must be Marquis Wilson's fault for making Earl Grant angry!

Thus the carriage departing from the palace to the castle of the Earl of Grant was filled with another Marquis Wilson.

……

Cinderella had a bouquet of pale blue flowers in her hand, she stopped in front of the door of the earl's room, raised her hand and was about to knock on the door, then put it down again.

She looked at the flowers in her hand and felt that something was missing.

She untied a ribbon of little finger the same color as a flower from her hair, and she used it to tie the stems and tie a bow at the end.

She knocked on the door.

Qiao Heng said inside the door, "Please come in." ”

Cinderella walked into the room with the flowers, and she was a little surprised to see that there were two strangers in the room.

Qiao Heng introduced: "The daughter of the Earl of Manific, Sinderella. ”

Then he introduced Cinderella, "This is the Marquis Wilson, and the other is the King's chamberlain, Mr. Genoka. ”

The chamberlain greeted her: "Good day, Miss Manifik." ”

A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, and when she arrived in the royal city, the limelight of the viscount who was famous for her beauty in the royal city, I am afraid that she would be compared to her, and it only took a dance party to take away the name of the flower of the royal city by her.

Marquis Wilson touched his big belly and nodded at her reservedly.

Cinderella lifted the corner of her skirt and saluted the two of them.

Someone came in, and the chamberlain wasn't going to say anything more. He stood up, put the invitation card on the table in front of Qiao Heng, pressed the invitation with his fingers, and pushed it in front of him. He said, "Don't bother the Earl, Your Majesty very much hopes to see you at the ball, and I ask the Count to think again." ”

Marquis Wilson glanced at Cinderella more, Grant had hidden it so tightly.

Qiao Heng called the maid to prepare a guest room for the two of them.

After the chamberlain and the marquis had left, Cinderella stepped aside and prepared to insert the flowers in her hand into the vase.

The vase was on Qiao Heng's left hand, and when Cinderella was about to insert the flower in, he was stopped by Qiao Heng with a hand, he took the flower in his hand, looked at it, and lowered his head slightly to smell the fragrance of the flower, and then inserted it into the vase casually.

Just when Cinderella thought he didn't like the flowers, she heard him say, "Where did you pick them, this flower is good?" ”

Cinderella smiled unconsciously, "I picked it from that flower field outside the castle." ”

The girl's eyes are like a clear sky without a trace of dust, pure and clear, warm and soft.

Qiao Heng said, "Give me a pen." ”

Cinderella pulled out a quill from the pen holder and handed it to him.

Qiao Heng first admired the gilded iris pattern on the invitation for a while, and then gently picked up the folded invitation card with the end of the quill, and then took the invitation card in his hand.

He glanced at it quickly, then closed the invitation as it was. This gilded invitation, which was personally presented by the chamberlain and written by the king himself, was so that he played with it between his fingers, and his eyebrows and eyes were full of contempt.