As time went on, the engagement ceremony was carried out in accordance with royal etiquette.

At the ceremony, Her Royal Highness Queen Sophie, the "Mother of the Nation" of the Norman Empire, is undoubtedly the most shining among the stars. She is naturally beautiful, white and beautiful, although she is nearly fifty years old, she still has a shy face and a graceful and luxurious temperament, which can not help but make people sigh why the creator would favor a person so much. In contrast, one of the real protagonists of this engagement ceremony, Gunniwell Grumman, seems to be an unevolved Cinderella. As the "goddess of admiration" loved by the people of the Federation, she is not only full of soft youthful elegance, but also shows exquisite and decent sensual beauty, but whether it is the background of everyone's ladies or the aura of an entertainment star, it cannot be compared with the moon-like brilliance of the Norman queen. Fortunately, few of the guests of honor in the audience would deliberately compare, they were more concerned about the deep meaning behind the engagement ceremony: Prince Ballas and Gunnevere come from the most powerful "poles" today, is their union a signal that the Norman Empire and the Free Commonwealth are truly moving from competition and confrontation to understanding and cooperation?

In the Norman music, this young man and woman, who were originally thousands of miles apart, come together under the red thread of this invisible marriage. The Betrothal of the Norman Imperial Court read out the Betrothal in a royal manner, an essay that was longer than the inaugural speech, describing the family background and experiences of the two couples, and telling the guests that their union was predestined and a work of heaven, and that their union would bring supreme glory and lasting happiness to the royal family and their family. If there are no objections, then the betrothed will have a grand wedding in the Norman Empire a year later......

After the courtiers read the betrothals and the cardinals blessed the couple in a religious way, Queen Sufi expressed the royal family's approval of the marriage contract in a short and powerful way.

It can be seen that it was not until Queen Sophie finished her speech calmly that Barras and Gunnevere breathed a sigh of relief, which shows that they were able to come together and indeed overcome many shackles of traditional thinking. It was the first time Weiss had met the Norman Empress, and it was the first time that many people in attendance, including members of the Grumman family. On weekdays, they are high-ranking and appear superior everywhere, but in front of such hereditary royals, they have become a group of lowly commoners, and even Gunevere's parents are not allowed to speak at the ceremony, which is the temptation of status and power...... It is no wonder that some of them defected to the Normans in the war, trying to gain this hereditary, transcendent status and power.

During the ceremony, the Norman courtiers, religious representatives, empresses, and official representatives of the Confederation appeared one after another, and the banquet time after the ceremony was the time for the two would-be newcomers to perform. At this time, Empress Sophie left the scene with other members of the royal family and important people who were present, most likely returning directly to the royal ship "Crown". There, they can eat and rest with relative peace of mind, unlike at the scene of a ritual where they are constantly on the lookout for attacks that happen in more ways than one.

After seeing these big men leave, Weiss felt that the burden on his shoulders was greatly lightened. Prince Barras and his princess-to-be remained at the scene, and many of the officials and guests of the Norman Empire and the Free Commonwealth were already hungry, and delicious meals and tempting drinks were just around the corner, most of them did not know that there was a hidden danger that could not be completely eliminated.

Under the close attention of all the security personnel, time flowed slowly but firmly, and nothing unusual happened at the banquet scene, and people began to dance, and the atmosphere gradually warmed up. As it approached ten o'clock, a loud bang was heard, and the world of the senses trembled violently, and all the window panes cracked in an instant, and the roof was torn open......

Those soldiers and veterans who have been on the battlefield will never forget this situation. They know very well that this is a terrible scene that can only be found in violent explosions!

What's going on?

Almost from the moment the explosion came, Weiss's mind was racing. Before that, he and his companions had considered the possibility of an attack, and the explosion, while the most reminiscent of it, was actually the least likely to happen. In times of peace, explosives come from a wide range of sources, such as the military-industrial complex, mining sites, the black market, and chemical laboratories, both legal and illegal, but their transportation is strictly regulated, especially in recent times, when Belakaser and its surroundings are closely watched by the military and local police, and Norman intelligence networks are also playing a role in the shadows. How the attackers were able to get their hands on a large amount of explosives and deliver them to Belakaser at the right time and in the right way is a question worth exploring! You must know that Bellakaser is under the aerial surveillance of the Norman Empire and the Federal Army for hundreds of miles, and the Normans have even dispatched a strong air force, could it be that this force has a different heart and is engaged in this attack war? However, if they were the only one or two cruisers, they would have been enough to make much more movement than that, and even a single round of artillery fire would have destroyed most of the facilities at Belakasser.

The air port of Belakaser was built according to the needs of commercial trade, and unlike the previous fortresses, which were able to withstand heavy artillery bombardment, the old fortresses were not demolished, but continued to serve military purposes, as well as shelters in special cases. As soon as the aftermath of the explosion dissipated, Weiss and the federal officers present shouted: "Don't panic, everyone, follow our instructions and move to a safe bunker through a hidden tunnel!" ”

The men present, more than half of them were military or retired soldiers, and thanks to their efforts, the scene was quickly evacuated, and before the evacuation, Weiss glanced through the window, and the scene outside made his heart almost go into arrest, because he saw the Norman "Crown" like a beast shot by a hunter, lying on the ground at an abnormal angle, the hull of the ship was in flames. If Empress Sophie and a group of members of the royal family and important courtiers were on the ship, if the extremely violent explosion just happened on the ship, they might have all died, and the situation is likely to go to an irreparable point, and the war that ended with great difficulty may be restarted, which is obviously what some people with ulterior motives want to see.

The explosion just now was supposed to be a one-off, and there was no second explosion for a while, but just as Weiss was looking through the window to see the situation outside, a bright fireball rose from the "Crown", and a dull roar followed, which was probably caused by the detonation of fuel and ammunition on it - it was equipped with small-caliber self-defense weapons, and if there were weapons, there would naturally be ammunition, and the fuel must have been replenished, and if the previous explosion destroyed its automatic control system, it would only be a matter of time before it was destroyed. Then the chances of survival of the ship's personnel will be very pessimistic......

Unsure if something worse would happen next, Weiss followed the group into the dark and deep underground passage, where they soon found themselves in a sturdy, reliable bunker. At this time, like a wounded beast, Barras viciously rebuked his entourage. Seeing Weiss's figure, he walked over angrily and asked in a low and resentful voice, "Where did the attackers come from?" What exactly did you do? ”

Weiss wasn't sure if he knew about the Crown's condition, and for the sake of appeasement, he said in an official tone: "I'm sorry, Your Highness the Prince, although we have done our best to prevent it, the attacker's way of catching us off guard, we will soon investigate what happened, and I hope you will be more patient at this moment and not make any decisions lightly." ”

Prince Barras glared at him a few times, then turned his head to look at the frightened Gunevere, who was surrounded by a number of Grumman family members. He took a deep breath and replied, "Okay! I give you time and hope that you will give me a reasonable explanation instead of ......"

He barely made a sound in the last few words, but through the shape of his mouth and the look in his eyes, Weiss guessed the content - the truth of the war!

If it were just the words of an angry man, Weiss could have pretended not to have happened, but who was Baras? Nominally, his authority was in the third tier of the inner circle after the emperor and the crown prince, but he was the chief of the general staff, and in peacetime he was the planner and executor of the Norman army's development strategy, and could exert important influence on the direction of war and peace. When the head of the army spares no effort to forge his sword and strike, it will undoubtedly greatly increase the tendency of the sword-wielder to use force.

After a while, the two sides brought news from the outside one after another, and the facts became clearer: the attackers most likely took advantage of the arrival of the "Crown" in Belakaser to replenish its refueling, causing it to explode violently, and the only good news at the moment was that the Empress Sophie and her party had not yet boarded the ship, and although the explosion was threatening, at least it was safe.

Barras looked relieved to learn that Queen Sophie was only slightly frightened, but when he met Weiss's gaze, the latter clearly saw a look of regret in the other's eyes.

How ruthless is it for the sake of status and power to kill one's brother at the hands of an enemy? Although Queen Sophie is his biological mother, if she is the biggest obstacle to the throne, what if she is cold-blooded? Such a bridge has happened more than once in a long history......

The dirty slaughter of the Norman royal family, Weiss has no intention of getting involved, and he doesn't even want to make more comments, even if it involves Gunevere's lifelong happiness, it is not something he can change, but it happened in the land of Lorraine, as the governor of Lorraine, he can't bury his head in the sand like an ostrich, he must face the conspiracy head-on, and let any conspiracy to frame Lorraine and even the Federation go bankrupt!