A girl in a rich dress lay on the ground.

She leaned her face upwards, her long eyelashes were tightly closed, her white cheeks had a few bruises and stains, and there was a dark red blood mouth on her forehead, and the dark red blood that overflowed flowed across most of her face, flowing onto her black hair, and with the girl's innocent face, there was a strange poignant.

Charles stared at the girl on the ground, her blue eyes swelling.

“…… You're doing the right thing, Viva. ”

He slowly closed his eyes, and when he turned his head again, his expression was already calm, and he gently comforted his sister, who was a lover, and a trace of fierceness flashed in his eyes:

Aurora sees what happened to him and Victoria, and even if Victoria didn't miss, he wouldn't allow her to live.

Victoria was held tightly in Charles's arms, her hands clutching Charles's clothes, and her body buried in her broad chest, as if only in this way could she feel a trace of warmth.

She heard Charles's voice, but before she could react, she looked up at him in a daze, and there was not a trace of blood on her face.

"What did you say?"

Charles looked at her frightened appearance, sighed, hugged her harder, and slapped his left hand behind his back.

"Baby Viva...... My dear...... Listen to me, listen to me! My dear! ”

He knew Victoria's current state and said like a child, "It's not your fault, you're doing a great job!" We can't let Aurora know about it, Via, baby, you're right...... Don't be afraid, a qiē has me, huh? I'm here! ”

Charles coaxed Victoria to slowly regain a little blood on her face, then he closed the secret door, sat Victoria down on the big bed, wrapped Victoria in a silk quilt, and got up and walked towards the door.

Victoria tugged at the quilt in a daze, and she didn't react until Charles walked to the door.

"Charles. Where are you going? She asked in a panic.

Charles turned around, and he was still as graceful as ever.

"Don't be afraid. Baby Viva, I'm going to take care of some things and I'll be back soon. ”

"What are you going to do?" Victoria was still uneasy, afraid that Charles would leave her.

"Aurora's bloodline tree is in the palace, this matter will not be hidden for long, we must find a scapegoat now, otherwise her death will be discovered tomorrow morning at most, Viya. You don't want to be known, do you? ”

Compared with Victoria's silence, Charles seemed very calm.

Aside from the initial surprise, he quickly accepted the facts. He had regained his former composure, and now he spoke with a faint smile on his face and a soothing look at Victoria.

Victoria was startled by Charles's last words, and was soothed by Charles's gaze. Nodding his head again and again:

"Yes! Yes! Don't let anyone know...... Charles, you know, I didn't mean to! I really didn't mean to! ”

“…… Okay, it's okay! …… I'll leave it to me...... I have a way, and I will never let people know! ”

Charles reassured Victoria for a while.

In the face of Odin's previous strength, Charles had already wanted to put Odin and his heirs to death more than once in his mind. I believe that Odin may not have similar thoughts about their brothers at this time.

Their father had ascended to that position on the blood of his brothers, as for what might happen in the future. Charles had some calculations.

Some of the plans in his mind had never been put into practice, and although he was caught off guard by this kind of accident, there was still time to make up for the trouble, and he was sure that he would hide it well.

As for Victoria, who is both a lover and a sister, Charles is very reliable and patient. It's just that time doesn't allow him to stay, and after comforting Victoria a few more words. He suddenly remembered something:

"By the way, when you were looking for someone to pass the word, how did you find Heidi? Has anyone else seen you in this room but her? ”

"Heidi?"

Victoria was stunned, "...... I—I just found someone randomly! …… Oh, that's Heidi! That's her! As she spoke, she had an impression in a trance, and she became excited, "I can't let her know!" No! ”

She lifted her spirits suddenly, turned her head sharply and said, "She was the only one, she was the only one in the entire corridor at that time, and there was no one else!" ”

Charles understood Victoria's thoughts, touched her hair, smiled softly, and a hint of coldness flashed in her eyes.

"Well, we won't let her know! …… Rest assured! ”

……

Soon after the opening dance, Prince Cyril and his wife, Rodier, the second prince Byron, and the fourth prince Douglas all arrived with their wives, and even Yorkiadan, who was unable to play due to injury, also sent representatives to the ball.

The arrival of these dignitaries made the whole ball more lively and noisy, and the atmosphere reached a climax, and every guest who was fortunate enough to participate in the ball was honored and enthusiastic.

In addition, nobles from great nobility such as Leonardo and James also appeared in Plantagenet Manor on behalf of the family.

And the current red honorees in the imperial capital, except for nearly half of the people who have already received emergency appointments and have left the imperial capital, the rest are still on standby, and they basically appeared at this ball.

Lin An saw a lot of familiar faces at the ball, she had already greeted them before the dance started, and then she left the ball hall and hid in the dark when she came back, plus the ignorance on her body did not disappear, and the people looking around couldn't find her for a while, and after the ignorance disappeared, she had already hid on a terrace.

"So you're here!"

The familiar male voice came from behind him, and Lin An didn't need to look back, his mental power had already sensed that the people who were coming were James and Leonardo. Bencent.

It was Leonardo who had just greeted her. Bencent, with a glass of champagne in his hand, walked up to Lin An, leaned against the fence with his back, and said familiarly:

"No wonder I look around the dance floor, I always feel that something has lost my color, it turns out that I haven't seen your shadow!"

"I remember that as soon as you arrived, you were dizzying, and you danced five dances with two young ladies and one lady." James disdained the demolition.

"Oh, that's different, no one can replace Lynn in my heart! What's more, there are so few opportunities to see Rin, as rare as a black pearl in a deep-sea mussel! ”

Rheinthal exaggerated in the tone of an opera.

"My dear Lord Reinhardt, I remember that we only met four days ago." Lin An twitched the corners of his mouth and said.

Rheinthal had invited Lin An to run a horse in a suburban racecourse, and James was the guest. The three of them talked happily, and even James, who was used to tearing down the stage and looking at her unpleasantly, no longer targeted her as if he was afraid of something.

As far as Lin An is concerned, no matter what the other party's purpose is, the family and people who still insist on releasing goodwill to her after the big waves are washed away are naturally more reliable than other people who have no deep friendships.

After the incident in the palace, she made her identity clear, but she didn't have to be too low-key in her interactions, and she was too concerned about the emperor's thoughts.

The three of them chatted for a while. Leonardo couldn't disappear for long and returned to the ball hall, leaving James on the terrace.

He leaned sideways against the fence. There is an aristocratic elegance in his posture, and even his years as a mage cannot hide his background that is occasionally revealed in the details.

Leonardo is sociable, he is always active and relaxed in the atmosphere, and he walks away. Lin An and James fell silent.

James looked at the gorse grove, swaying his wine glass in his hand, and suddenly said lightly:

"Fritz is leaving tomorrow."

Lin An was not particularly surprised, his expression paused slightly, "Where is he going?" ”

"Go back to the family territory and take care of the affairs of the Adelaide family." James said calmly, "Tiffany's memory has been sealed, but she is a little sick. He took his wife and daughter back, and let me tell you, but I don't have to go to see him off. ”

"That's fine."

Lin An knew that before the Tiffany incident faded from people's memories, the Fritz family. It is indeed not suitable to appear in the imperial capital circle again.

"But he's been staying in the territory like this? I remember if he wasn't a courtier? She asked again.

The decision was sudden, at least four days ago when the horses were running in the suburbs. James hadn't talked about it yet.

"As the second son, taking care of the family territory is the path that Fritz was going to take, but in the past, the Marquis of Yot saw that he could find his own way in the court, and he didn't want a Count of Jerfa in the family."

James mentioned Count Jefa, and Lin An immediately remembered the matter of the palace, as if he understood something.

James glanced at Lin An, knowing that with Lin An's cleverness, he must have realized that there was part of her factor in this.

Since she came out of the palace, although the Marquis of Yote was as ignorant as everyone else, in view of the unrest in the palace and Lin An's involvement, she still made a decision two days later.

However, Lin An still remembered to ask such a sentence, which can be regarded as her heart for Fritz.

James brought it up in front of her to make her think of it.

Now, he no longer looks at Lin An with the eyes he saw when he first entered the imperial capital:

Being able to come back safely in the treacherous clouds that anyone with a discerning eye could see some time ago, and not hurt a single bit, and the emperor's unpredictable attitude was enough to make the truly experienced nobles understand what attitude to use to treat her-

They really don't need to know the inside story, they just look at the emperor's attitude, and the people who can make the emperor treat and manipulate the ecstasy array so carefully are naturally what they must treat carefully, even more carefully than Count Jefa:

The latter's power comes from the emperor, but Lin An comes from himself.

This was also the reason why Bencent was willing to quickly accept the Emperor's hints and show kindness to her—I am afraid that even she did not understand that she was now quite influential, but with the old habits of those old foxes, outsiders would not see it.

James was born as a great nobleman, although he has not stepped into the family door so far, and he is unwilling to admit his identity, but his habits still carry the imprint of aristocratic education.

But for Fritz, it wasn't necessarily a grind. When the matter is over, if he still wants to come back, of course there will be a chance! ”

Lin An nodded.

James drank his champagne in front of the gorse, straightened up from the white carved fence, and seemed ready to leave.

But before leaving, he also reminded him: "Now you, it's better not to get too close to our companions." ”

Naturally, the only "companions" of the two in James's mouth were the group of honorees.

Because of this relationship between them, the situation between James and her is somewhat strange:

It doesn't seem to be particularly close, and James even looks a little unpleasant to her, but every time something happens to Lin An's side, James will also notice and show up, after all, the relationship between the recipients and the friendship built by sharing weal and woe along the way. There is a special weight in the hearts of all the recipients.

As for the fact that after leaving the palace, there were not many honored people visiting Lin An's Mansion, I am afraid that it was because they were scolded and did not know about it, after all, as strangers who had just entered the imperial capital, even if they had come into contact with the social circle, they were far from being accepted, let alone knowing such a secret thing.

In particular, the nobles of the imperial capital would not talk about Lin An in front of the honorees: there is a saying that is very true, that is, it is often what happens to them, but they are always the last to know.

And because of the same status as the recipient, James said this reminder. In Lin An's ears, there was nothing abnormal, but he just smiled and said:

"It's okay to keep the status quo, it's not necessary to deliberately distance yourself. They were appointed, and it was about a month or two, and then they were separated, I don't believe him. I don't even have this kind of mind! ”

Of course, James knew that the "he" in Lin An's mouth meant the emperor, and Lin An's indifferent attitude towards the emperor made him even more shocked.

But he also knew that this was what Lin An deliberately revealed to him, probably because of his previous words. Otherwise, with Lin An's cautious mind, he would not leak his tone verbally at all.

"That's right!"

He nodded quietly, and at the same time secretly decided in his heart. When he went back, he implied that Benson and his family should not be too close to Lin An on the surface, and they should be cautious in secret, but they must increase-

It's still that sentence, the emperor is a prudent person. They should be more cautious, because the other party is cautious of capital. from the other side itself.

……

"You're really hard to find, are you done?"

Not long after James left, another uninvited guest came to the terrace, listening to the tone, as if he had been waiting for Lin An's side to vacate up.

Lin An heard the voice a little familiar, and when he saw that it was Galileo, he nodded and showed a smile.

She had crossed paths with this one a few times, but had little to no conversation.

In the two days of treating Yokjadan, although the two were in the same room, except for the necessary words, Galileo's mind was on Yokjadan, and there was almost no additional communication with each other, and because of Andre's relationship, there was still a faint cold hostility.

But this goodbye, Galileo's attitude was much better, and Lin An could feel vague kindness, although on his bewitching face, the kind smile also looked very evil.

"You're looking for me?"

Lin An said as he looked at Galileo.

The thinness and sunken cheeks of his cheeks are slightly restored, and the color of his lips is pale and rosy, which shows that he has had a good past few days, and the whole person has recovered from his previous worries and depressions, and he is still in the mood to attend the ball on behalf of Yorkiadan, and it must not be far from Yorkiadan's recovery.

Of course, the origin of Galileo's hidden inheritance has not yet been disclosed, and his external identity is that of Yorkiadan's magical advisor, which just fills the position that Yorkiadan originally wanted to give Lin An.

Lin An had to guess that this might be a move by Yokjardan to dissociate himself from the emperor and her.

"Yokjadan wants me to stay with you for a while at the prom, better for someone to see." Galileo said.

"Isn't it time to get rid of it?" Lin An said strangely.

The relationship between her and Yorkiadan is only a tacit understanding between each other, and on the surface, it should be distanced.

"Being too distant makes 'that person' suspect that you are his savior after all.

And the matter in front of the palace gate, after all, so many guards can't completely shut their mouths, and now those rumors about you outside have also arisen because of this, making many people suspicious, and Yokyadan is just to help you dispel your suspicions-"

Galileo shrugged and whispered, "I suspect that's also a hint of 'that one'." ”

Lin An nodded clearly.

Judging from the current situation, after the affairs of the Imperial Palace, given her background and the bloodline that Lin An and the Emperor did not expect, the Emperor would be much more tolerant of her than before.

Lin An estimated that as long as she didn't violate the emperor's few taboos, the emperor wouldn't care too much about her social situation.

And after no longer low-key, proper appearances and interactions are necessary, in the past, maybe Lin An could still concentrate on cultivating, thinking that it would be a big deal to leave a qiē to retreat from the world and practice, but after that incident, unless the possibility of Odin's ascension to the throne is completely cut off, Lin An may not be able to settle down and practice.

Fortunately. The imperial capital is not without cultivation conditions, not to mention the material and human resources here, judging from her experience in the imperial capital in just one month, the experience she has received is not less than that of traveling, and even more so.

What's more, if Odin didn't report it, Lin An was really afraid that he would leave a defect and even become a shadow on his mood.

……

After chatting with Galileo for a while, the atmosphere was friendly, Lin An and he left the terrace, and the two danced two dances.

After that, another person came to invite the dance. Since Lin An had opened the ban on not dancing, he had to dance a few more songs with Prince Byron, Lancet, James and a few familiar honorees, and felt that his feet and necks were a little sore.

Another dance is over. She separated from Hemmer and found that there were still many people eager to try, including Prince Douglas, who did not have a good impression of Lin An, and immediately thanked him, and Ranster on the side also returned to the dance floor at some point. walked to Lin An's side at the right time and helped her block those who invited dancers.

"Going for a walk?"

"In fact, I already wanted to leave, and God knows I hadn't danced so many dances tonight in my life, and I felt like a duck writhing in the back." Lin An complained in a low voice.

"As your dance teacher, maybe you should have some confidence in my teachings? In fact, your limbs are very flexible, and you have a strong sense of dance skills. The dance is as graceful and light as a swan, just look at the gentlemen next to me with fierce eyes! ”

Lin An rolled his eyes, "Oh." Forget it, don't think that with a mask, I don't know who they are! She scoffed at some of the masquerade's underlying intentions.

Lancet chuckled, his blue eyes under the mask as gentle as water.

Since the acquaintance, Lin An has always been quite mature and steady. Such a state of affairs is rarely revealed, even with a mask. Her smile also touched the hearts of everyone, but he didn't want her side to be shared by too many people.

Lancet turned sideways to block the other party's overly hot gaze, and whispered to Lin An: "Okay, when Prince Charles comes back, we will go and say goodbye to him." ”

Lin An looked around the dance floor when he heard this, "By the way, he doesn't seem to be here all along." ”

The conversation she had overheard behind the pillar flashed through her mind.

But she didn't think much about it at this time, nodded and said, "Okay, let's go and breathe first, maybe we can see him when we get back." ”

The two of them left the crowd as they spoke, and the people who were waiting for the opportunity to invite the dance did not disturb them, except for Douglas, who stood on the edge of the dance floor with some annoyance, staring coldly at the back of Ranster, because Lenster had prevented him from inviting him to dance for the third time, intentionally or unintentionally, tonight.

Lancet only treats Douglas as air.

As the Grand Duke of Stuart, he didn't have to worry about friendship with any prince, and if the relationship was too good, the emperor would find it an eyesore.

At night, the courtyard is a little dark, and the large plantagenet groves are densely bushed, but there are only lampposts and lights on the side of the path, and deep into the flowers and trees, only the stars and moonlight are illuminated.

Lin An and Lanster walked through the cobblestone path that unconsciously broke away from the ground.

In the depths of the woods, there are also some whispering and intimate figures, but the area of the woods is not small, they are hiding in a remote corner, unless the two of them are specifically looking for a hidden place, they will not meet, even if there is an accident, Lin An's spiritual power can also sense in advance and stagger the way forward.

Lin An and Lance walked for a while, calculating that the time was about the same, and began to slowly follow the original path to turn back, walking and walking, but Lin An suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Lin An looked around left and right, and Lancet also stopped vigilantly, and a long sword appeared in his hand.

"What's wrong? Feel something? ”

Lanster asked in a low voice, he hadn't found anything, he was just alert because of Lin An's actions.

Lin An glanced at him, looked around again, frowned and thought for a moment before shaking his head, "No, but ......"

There was also a whisper of the wind in his ears that brought a cheating man and woman in the dark, and he didn't notice anything abnormal in his perception, and the moonlight was still flowing quietly on the canopy full of flowers, but in the moment just now, Lin An really seemed to feel something-

This feeling is difficult to describe, obviously nothing has changed, but Lin An suddenly felt that the insects were light, the fragrance of the flowers was light, and even the night breeze blowing through the branches was cautious, and the whole forest was infected by some strange atmosphere for a moment, silently warning something.

But when Lin An stopped, recovered from the mood of enjoying the night scene just now, and tried her best to perceive it, that feeling disappeared, as if it was just an illusion of hers.

By the time Lancet asked, she could no longer find that sudden feeling.

"Let's go back first, I always think this forest is weird!"

Lin An grabbed a bundle of hair, subconsciously pressed it to his chest, frowned and said, "Wait, if we don't see the third prince yet, we'll go back first-I think it may not be calm tonight." ”

Lancet didn't get to the bottom of it, he knew that Lin An's mental power was strong, and there would eventually be an inexplicable intuition warning, since she warned like this, it was best to do what she said, anyway, even if it wasn't accurate, it would just be a faux pas.

(To be continued)

PS：

Khan, Xiao Muzi protested in the book review area......

Cover your face, say that you have more confidence in me, I'm not a professional stepmother, okay, Odin's matter is needed by the plot...... Charles is now running on the road to death, even if he doesn't offend the heroine, he is digging his own rhythm of digging a hole for himself.

In terms of ability and status, Odin I am very strong, the silver sword saint, the position of the first priority, and the emperor's trust, of course he can afford to offend the heroine;

But Charles is not so bold and capital, he dares to commit crimes against the wind, and runs against Lin An, who has to give in to the emperor - although he is a professional digger, he will not know that it is a big pit that has been stepped on by his eldest brother, and he still wants to step on it, and wants to make a death bento as soon as possible~