In late summer and early autumn, many people take a walk along the river.

There were a number of stone benches on the grass by the river for visitors to rest, and Charles and the three of them were sitting on them eating candied cherries with toothpicks.

Slender wooden disposable toothpicks can be a hassle to make by hand, but there are suitable alternatives for people here.

There is a medium-sized hedgehog with spines about six to nine centimeters long.

When they are in danger, they curl up, at which point they are turned over with long, sharpened sticks and stabbed to death through their soft abdomen.

Their flesh is eaten, and their skin with needles is thrown into a pot and boiled in water until it boils, and when the venom on the spines fails due to the denaturation of the proteins at high temperatures, the spines are the best toothpicks.

Linda, who had only seen toothpicks made of gold, had seen this cheap disposable toothpick for the first time, and she was still in a curious baby state, and she even tried the sharpness of the toothpick with her fingers.

"Sour!" Diana, who had just eaten a cherry, shuddered, "Why does this maple sugar have a sour taste?"

Charles, who sat to Diana's left, was the best person to answer the question, saying, "This is where maple sugar tastes itself. The maple syrup here has a sour and bitter taste when it is first collected. ”

"After the maple syrup is boiled and dehydrated, the bitter components in it will evaporate along with the water, and this bitter component will cause diarrhea to the eater. ”

"But the sour component is not so easy to remove, but this component decomposes after being heated more than a certain level, so we don't have this taste on the barbecue we eat. ”

"And this sour ingredient has a slight toxicity, if you eat too much, it can kill digestive parasites, and it can also be used as a preservative. ”

"Wow!" Diana immediately spotted the point, "If it can be used as a preservative, wouldn't it be very profitable to refine it?"

"How do you think my family makes money?" said Charles, "my family buys freshly harvested maple syrup, processes it, and sells insect repellents, preservatives, and other medicines made from these ingredients." It is precisely because of the high profit of this part of the medicine that we can sell the maple syrup left over after refining at a low price. ”

"How did you get that sour ingredient?" asked Diana.

"Trade secrets, no comment. Charles said, "Unless you have my last name." ”

"Go while it's cool. Then Diana picked up the toothpick in her hand and gestured to Charles.

At this moment, an old man dressed in the linen clothes commonly worn by civilians, carrying a sack on his back, and wearing a hat on his head suddenly appeared next to Charles. He leaned over and said to Charles, "Kid, do you want to buy a book?"

Charles was stunned, but Diana immediately spotted the problem.

Books made of parchment are expensive and are sold in bookstores. A man in a linen suit and carrying a sack asks if you want to buy a book, you should be the plot of a novel, you are really either stupid or stupid.

What's more, this person is a little too strong, which is not the body that ordinary civilians, or even poorer adventurers, should have.

Diana's first thought was that it was sent by human traffickers, but for some reason, Linda's secret guard didn't stop the suspicious guy.

So she pulled the dazed Charles behind her, and then raised her dagger to stop between Charles and the comer.

At this time, Charles also came back to his senses, he grabbed Diana, who was ready to go, and said, "Don't be nervous, this is my grandfather, Duke Redkin of the Raybach Kingdom." ”

"Grandpa?" Diana couldn't accept the reversal for a moment.

At this time, Duke Redkin, dressed as a civilian, stood up straight, and carefully looked at Diana, who was still holding a dagger, with the eyes of picking cabbage in the vegetable market, "Yes, based on your reaction, I allow you to call me grandpa." ”

Regardless of Diana, who was in a state of stupor, Duke Redkin asked Charles, "Little Charles, how did you recognize me, I remember that I never told you who I was?"

Charles replied, "Sister Mila and I already knew. ”

Duke Redkin scratched the back of his head, "I thought I was quite successful in disguise." ”

Back then, after Charles's father abducted Duke Redkin's youngest daughter who was going to take him to marriage, he made Duke Redkin very angry. At that time, he shouted that he should be without this daughter.

Later...... Anyway, a few years later, every now and then a suspicious merchant appeared in the markets of the Mecaden Earldom.

The merchant was in the business of the Earl's children, and he would sell all sorts of fine little toys to the Earl's two children at very low prices. However, his business was not easy at first, who made Charles and Mila not like toys but like to read books, which made him smash all the goods he brought thousands of miles away.

Whenever the suspicious person appeared, Charles and Mira were able to get pocket money from their mother and their grandmother, who was quietly visiting, and went to the village market to play.

Diana had come to her senses by this time, lifted her skirt and curtsy Duke Redkin.

Linda hesitated, and finally went over to greet Duke Redkin.

Duke Redkin snorted in his nostrils and said hello to her.

Charles explained to Diana in a low voice, "More than half of my grandfather's territory was taken from Linda's family. ”

The riverside was not a place for conversation, and Duke Redkin led Charles and them to his lodgings.

Linda stood there not knowing whether to follow or not, Charles turned to her and said, "Come along, let's talk about what King Antoine II has offered." If he can calm the grief and anger of a father who has lost his daughter, then I will choose to forgive. ”

"There's not much to say. Duke Redkin said to Linda in a deep voice, "Go back and tell Antoine II that either pay for your life, or cede the land and pay compensation, or then take you to marry the Redkin family, there is no fourth way to go." ”

Not far from them, four people dressed as adventurers were knocked to the ground by a group of men in light armor, who were lying on the ground with bruised noses and swollen faces, panting for breath.

Duke Redkin's bodyguard encounters the one sent by King Bischberg to protect Linda, and beats him up first.

When Duke Redkin and his party left, the guards who had fallen to the ground struggled to get up from the ground, and then went over to protect Linda, who was alone in place.

On the way, Duke Redkin noticed Charles frowning and not speaking, so he asked, "What, are you worried about that princess of Bischberg?"

"It's not. Charles shook his head, "I recalled just now, I heard my grandmother say before, uncle and cousin, their wives are the daughters of nobles in the kingdom of Raybach, and they are all your core supporters. ”

"If the Redkin family is going to marry the Bischbergs, then they ...... except for their uncle and cousin"

Charleston paused, "Then it's just Grandpa, you divorce Grandma, and then you marry the princess of Bischberg." ”

Then he thought about it again and said, "But it is not impossible, in terms of your career and goals, a queen from a neighboring country is conducive to the stability of the external environment. ”

Although Charles was only joking at first, the more he talked about it, the more he thought it was possible. Of course, the premise is that someone doesn't know who his grandmother is.

After speaking, he found that his grandfather had stopped and was looking at himself carefully, and at the same time his face was full of thought.

"That makes sense. Redkin said.

A man in a black tuxedo suddenly appeared behind Duke Redkin, and he said, "Master, I will report this matter to Madame truthfully." ”

The corner of Duke Redkin's mouth twitched, "Remember to report Charles's words word for word." ”