Stepping off the carriage with one foot, Todd looked up at the "Lilielle" signs that could be seen everywhere on the street, and asked the attendant with some confusion: "Why is there such a sign everywhere on this street, which one is real?"

"Your Majesty, every shop you see belongs to Lilielle, and almost half of the shops on this street have been rented by Lord Mary. ”

"Half the street is rented?" Todd was taken aback.

"That's right, the Lilielle brand has spread to many countries, whether it is the barbarian kingdom of the north, the southern empire, or the holy city of the East, and every year a large number of customers come here to buy clothes in horse-drawn carriages or ships. ”

Todd shook his head and laughed, who would have thought that the queen who was in distress a few years ago would now be able to earn such a huge family fortune in Twilight City.

Without prior notice, Todd took the royal chamberlain and the knights of the guard to find a small three-story building in the center of the block.

Originally a store where Lilielle started, it has been converted into the brand's office building.

In the hall on the first floor, a group of young women who were busy checking warehouse receipts and goods suddenly saw many heavily armed men walking in, and the timid people were immediately frightened and screamed.

The attendant found the store staff in charge of the reception and asked where Marime was.

Before he could ask a result, Mary, dressed in studio overalls, walked down the stairs surrounded by the clerks and looked at the visitor suspiciously.

"Your Majesty, Lord Mary, is waiting for you in the gallery of the front hall. ”

Mary looked stunned, looked down at her unpainted clothes, touched her unfinished hair, and hurriedly said, "Please wait ten minutes, no, five minutes!

"Your Majesty has made a special explanation, Lord Mary, and there is no need to go through any further trouble, he only needs to talk to you for a few minutes. ”

Mary agreed to the invitation with embarrassment, and before she could find a clean handkerchief and wrap her untidied hair, she followed the attendants out.

The knights guarded the door of the small building, and any visitor who wanted to enter was told to wait outside the door for a while.

Walking through the Lobby Gallery, Todd stopped in front of a painting called "Redemption."

The deity in the painting, carrying a cross that symbolizes human sin, is gradually consumed by flames, and walks step by step into the depths of hell.

"Your Majesty, Master Mary is here. ”

Todd turned his head to look at the woman who seemed to have just come out of the pile of paint, and said with a smile, "Did I disturb your creation?"

Mary shook her head slightly.

In another world, although they can see each other almost every day, when they get together after half a year of separation, Mary can feel that something is changing in each other's body.

"The paintings here are all your work?"

"There are some of them, and some of them are painters who were influenced by the Renaissance. Mary looked around and said sincerely, "Speaking of which, Your Majesty, you are the leader of the Renaissance, and most of the inspiration in these paintings actually comes from your world. ”

Todd found a chair and sat down, not complacent at the woman's praise: "I'm not a leader, everything you see belongs to this era in itself." Strictly speaking, I'm just a porter. ”

Mary's eyes widened, and she could only dimly understand half of the words that meant them.

Todd looked at Mary's bright face and said softly, "You should have heard about the dinner for the envoys of the Holy Acropolis. ”

Mary frowned, and finally nodded slightly.

"Do you want to come?"

Mary was stunned and asked in an incredulous tone, "Are you asking for my consent?"

Todd didn't understand why the other party reacted so much: "Yes, but there is one thing I must warn you of. If you're willing to show up, your identity will only be related to Twilight City, and it will have nothing to do with the past......"

Todd's words were meant to remind Mary that Twilight City had given her a happy and independent new life, the only home in her life. As for the Silver Ring and the Holy Acropolis, it's just her past. She should keep this in mind during this dinner and consider herself a Twilighter.

But Mary misunderstood this sentence......

"Your Majesty, you are an incredible man. ”

"Incredible?"

"You are completely different from those in power I have met...... My father once told me that the world is full of danger and death. Deceit, hypocrisy, indifference, and cruelty are the souls of a king. But look at his country, the staff officers are silent for fear that telling the truth will lead to death, the generals are afraid that the power will be too high and will be suspicious, and they prefer to sit back and watch the defeat in battle, and the princes are worried that their father will kill the killer, so they have to keep their army private and secretly seek power. The whole kingdom has been plunged into endless civil strife because of the king's ruthless power and wanton behavior......"

Mary walked up to Todd, knelt quietly on the ground, gently held the other's palms with both hands, tears flashing in her eyes: "The past days were more like nightmares for me after falling asleep, but by your side, I felt peace and calm for the first time. As long as you don't ask me to leave, I'm willing to stay with you forever......"

The knights of the guard winked at each other, and all of them tacitly turned away, turning their faces against the wall, leaving their backs to the two in the room.

Todd looked at the woman in front of him, and then at the knights around him, looking confused. I thought to myself, as if something was wrong......

"I'll be on time for tomorrow night's banquet. Wiping away tears from the corners of her eyes, Mary stood up and said firmly to Todd: "Even if the envoys of the Holy Acropolis bring my father's handwritten letter, I will stay with you!"

Looking at the dozen or so heads poking out at the end of the corridor, some people chattered excitedly, and some people wiped the corners of their eyes with deep emotion, and Todd's brain suddenly became alarmed.

It seems that something really is wrong!

——————————————

The eastern suburbs of Twilight City, an immigrant area.

"How long is tomorrow's dinner?"

Gordon, the head of the Holy Acropolis Legations, lying on the haystack of the shack, looked up at the leak in the roof, and said weakly.

Knight Harry looked at the setting sun outside the window, and said softly, "There are about 24 hours left......

Knight-in-a-Knight Nerjay, who was lying beside Harry, pressed his hand on his abdomen and said weakly, "I haven't eaten anything for a day, and my stomach is like a fire!"

"Bear with me! Think, by this time tomorrow night, we'll have a meal we'll never get a chance to eat again!" Harry leaned over and drew the outline of a 'roast chicken' on the ground with his fingers, saliva flowing into a 'stream' at the corners of his mouth.

The door to the shack was suddenly opened, and two men rushed in, startled by the "corpses" all over the ground.

One of them shouted, "Lord Gordon, Harry, and Nerjay, what's wrong with you?!Has there been an enemy?!"

Gordon glanced at the doorway and said softly, "It's Caponodas and Deeds, where have you been?"

Caponodas stared at the half-dead three people on the ground, and said hesitantly: "Yesterday, the two of us planned to rely on swordsmanship at the gate of the city to make a little money, but those twilight people would rather spend twenty bronze stars to listen to a drama than take out a bronze star to watch a real sword fight." ”

"Later, in a nearby village, we met a fellow of the Holy Acropolis. He was willing to take us to a restaurant where we had free food and money. We thought, hurry back and bring everyone in the group, and go to fill our stomachs first...... Then again, why are you all lying on the ground in broad daylight?"

Harry snorted twice, "Tomorrow night, King Twilight will hold a grand dinner for the Acropolis envoys. In the past two days, everyone will try not to move if they don't eat, and tomorrow we will make up for the amount of several days with one meal!"

Nerjie pressed his abdomen and shouted, "Tomorrow night, I'm going to eat a whole roasted whole sheep!"

Gordon, the head of the regiment, said to everyone: "The key is that we can save the money for these two days of food and use it as the cost of the journey back to the city. So, from now on, you try to talk less and rest more, and save your energy!"

Cabo Nordas and Didze, who had just entered the door, glanced at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and sat down against the corner.

Lying on the ground, Nerjie struggled to crawl to the side of the two, turned around and looked at the head of the regiment who had closed his eyes and recuperated, and whispered to them: "Hey, what is the matter with the one you just said, free food and money?"

Caponodas patted his stomach and looked proud: "That fellow villager of mine told me that there is a gang of gangs in the city who have opened an 'all-you-can-eat restaurant' in the immigration area, and they serve food for free. ”

"Is there such a good thing?!"

"Of course, although the food is some beans for the horses, unpalatable wheat bran, and such worthless things. But the point is that the shopkeepers there promise to eat as much as they want, and the food is full!"

Capono Daston paused, and then said, "However, the shopkeeper also has the condition, and after eating, he must be in the store's latrine once before leaving. ”

Listening to such "wonderful" conditions, Nierjie didn't come back to his senses for a long time: "After eating, you still ask the guests to in the store?! What kind of restaurant is this?!"

Caponodas sat up: "Listen to me after I finish speaking, after the pull, the shopkeeper will not treat you badly, and everyone can receive three bronze stars." ”

Glancing at the sky outside the window, Caponodas lowered his voice and said to Nerjay, "Since the dinner is tomorrow night, then Deeds and I plan to go over and eat something tonight." ”

"However, Lord Gordon has already ordered that we have dinner together tomorrow......"

Caponodas put his arms around Nerjay's neck and whispered to him, "You have not eaten for a day, and you are so hungry, if you come back another day, do you think you still have the strength to walk?" ”

Intense hunger is like a wave, pounding on fragile nerves.

Nerjay finally succumbed to his appetite and clung to Caponodas's hand.