The second day of the king's return to the throne, at nine o'clock in the morning, the dormitory.

Huggins, who was walking a little lame, straightened his clothes, buttoned the door, and said softly, "Your Majesty, I'm here." ”

There was no response from behind the door.

Knocking harder, Huggins raised the volume by another three points.

Still no one answered.

Apologetic, Huggins pushed open the door and looked out over the huge King's bedchamber.

Empty.

Huggins walked over to the bed and saw that the bed was still as clean as new, with no signs of use.

Turning his gaze to the corner of the room, a simple bunk made of futon was placed at the base of the wall.

Exiting the room, Huggins called the maid on duty and asked, "Have you seen Your Majesty?"

The latter pointed to the garden outside the window.

Walking to the entrance of the royal garden, to Huggins' surprise, Cumberland sat in the gazebo early, looking intently ahead.

Walking into the gazebo, Huggins followed Cumberland's line of sight. Todd, whose upper body was naked, raised his long sword high and swung it down again, and so on, the sword wind was fierce.

"The posture and way of using the sword is a bit like it comes from the northern barbarians. Huggins looked at it for a moment and said.

Cumberland snorted: "If you don't want to learn serious swordsmanship, you want to practice this wild skill!"

Huggins closed his mouth and smiled bitterly, for the king's farewell half a year ago, among the crowd, the most fierce reaction was the old knight Cumberland.

Although Todd contacted all the officials immediately after leaving, Cumberland was determined to find the king as soon as possible.

During that time, the old man seemed to be stunned, riding a war horse, rain or shine, going out of the city early in the morning, returning at sunset, not letting go of any possible information, and his footprints almost traveled all over the entire Yuexi Plain.

To this day, the king has returned, but for some reason Cumberland's face is still worried.

After the daily training moves, Todd carried the long sword and walked towards the two watching with a smile.

Tossing his weapon to Huggins, Todd sat down at the stone table in the pavilion and motioned for the others to sit down as well.

"Tomorrow evening, the envoys of the Holy Acropolis will come to the palace as guests. Todd reached out and took the damp cloth from the maid, wiped his face and neck, and said to Huggins, "How's the dinner arranged?"

Huggins nodded, "We've got twenty-two of the best chefs in Twilight, each of them has a nationally renowned specialty, and tomorrow night's dish is guaranteed to be delicious yet distinctive." ”

"In addition, I have informed the first-class theatre company, the Golden Skylark, to put down all notices and make sure that the performance is in the best possible condition tomorrow night. Of course, the hot star in Twilight City, Miss Barbara, will also appear on time. ”

Hearing this, Todd nodded with satisfaction: "Receiving the Holy Acropolis envoy is the first diplomatic event of the kingdom, and it should be well prepared." ”

Huggins took out a list from his bosom and handed it to the king: "Your Majesty, I have drawn up a list of the guests to attend tomorrow night, so you can take a look." ”

Taking advantage of Todd's reading list, Huggins glanced at Cumberland, who had closed his eyes and was silent, and whispered, "Your Majesty, there is a person, I am not sure whether I should invite her to the banquet, and I hope you will make up your mind." ”

Todd looked away from the paper and asked strangely, "Who?"

"Mistress Mary. ”

"Why can't she come to the banquet tomorrow night......" At this point, Todd finally realized the problem.

When Mary was a girl, she married from the Holy Acropolis to the Silver Ring, although the fundamental reason was that the King of the Silver Ring listened to the rumors, so she had to defect from the Silver Ring Kingdom, but after all, she was the princess of the Holy Acropolis. The Kingdom of Twilight received the Holy Acropolis mission this time, and if Mary was present, it would indeed be a rather embarrassing situation.

Out of the corner of his eye, looking at Cumberland beside him, Todd noticed that the old knight was secretly observing his actions, presumably in Mary's matter, the other party also wanted to see his attitude.

"Write her name first, and I'll confirm with her personally. Todd tapped his fingers on the table and whispered to Huggins.

After confirming a series of relevant details of the banquet, and seeing that the king had nothing else to say, Huggins stood up and took his leave, handing over the time of solitude to the old and the young, the king and the minister.

Seeing that there was no one else around, Todd, who could clearly feel Cumberland's resentment, was just about to open his mouth softly, but the other party spoke first.

"I heard that Your Majesty went out this time with only that woman named Richer with you?"

Todd was stunned for a moment, then nodded yes.

"Your Majesty should know the identity of Richel, right?"

Although Cumberland's words were somewhat expected, Todd was still going to defend Rachel: "I know she was once a member of the Presbyterian Legion, but she has long since defected from that organization. Now, she's loyal to the kingdom and loyal to me......"

Cumberland didn't seem to have much resonance with this statement: "Your Majesty, are you absolutely sure of it? Can you say that there is no secret hidden behind this woman?!"

Todd rubbed his temples and said bitterly, "She saved my life!"

"How about that?!" Cumberland glared and whiskered: "In a game of chess (chess), in order to protect a valuable chess piece, the flag bearer often sacrifices some secondary chess pieces, but this does not mean that this valuable chess piece will definitely be the king!"

Todd felt the blood vessels on the top of his head bulge, and his words began to carry three points of anger: "You can't imagine what I've been through in the past six months! I'm trying to survive under the scythe of death, struggling in endless hell! If it weren't for Rachel, I'd be gone!"

"Listen to you, Your Majesty, do you want to make her queen?"

Todd was stunned by Cumberland's sudden question, and was speechless for a moment.

After a while, he frowned and exclaimed, "These are completely different things!

"It is a blessing for a nation to put the quality of 'wisdom' in the king, but it is a misfortune for the king to put it in the queen!"

These words made Todd's face flush, and he grabbed the hem of the stone table with both hands, and the iron scales of his arms slowly emerged.

It took a long time, using the 'anger management method' of his previous life, Todd finally calmed down a little, and he said to Cumberland in an unusually cold tone: "Originally, I invited you to ask about some customs and details of the Holy Acropolis, but now it seems that we all need time to think about some more important issues. ”

To Todd's surprise, the old knight Cumberland suddenly knelt down on one knee, gave the king a standard knightly allegiance salute, and said bitterly: "Your Majesty, as the lord of a country, there should be no personal affection between him and his subordinates. After all, we are your courtiers first and your family second. ”

Todd closed his eyes, put his palm on his forehead, and waved his hand, signaling that he wanted to be alone.

After waiting for Cumberland to go away, Todd, who was in a state of confusion, called the chamberlains in the palace.

"Prepare a carriage, I'm going to make a trip to the Lilielle clothing store now. ”