After resolving the commotion caused by the dragon, the black-haired wizard hurried back to the palace of the Red Blood Castle surrounded by the wings of the sky.

All the onlookers of the Byrne knights and the people saw was that their duke was alone in a confrontation with the dragon that symbolized the empire, and won the "victory".

The monstrous dragon "succumbed" to the Duke's inviolable majesty, and after bowing to the Duke, if that action could really be called a "salute", took off.

Even the dragon, which symbolizes the empire, has such respect for our duke;

What does this mean?

Does this mean that in the eyes of the dragons, the blood of the Turin family and the De Salion family is as noble?

And the dragon didn't leave, hovering over the Red Blood Castle... What does this mean?

Does this also mean that our duke, like the de Salion family, has reached some kind of agreement with the dragon - does it mean that from now on, the Turin family will also have the same qualifications as the royal family to become the "dragon rider"?

If the Turin family can also become dragon riders, can they go further......

The Byrnes love mythology, worship heroes, and feel like they're living in a world of legends all the time – often with the slightest "idea" they can write the rest of the story themselves.

The Byrnes, caught in some ecstasy and delusion, were immersed in cheers, but none of them noticed that their full duke's name was silent and grim-faced.

"Duke, your expression is not very good......"

Lu Sien, who followed closely, was a little worried, "Is it because the negotiation with the dragon is not going well?"

"Didn't go well? No, no, no... Lusen, you misunderstood. ”

The black-haired wizard turned his head and barely managed to squeeze out a smile:

"It went so well!"

The gray-eyed boy looked inexplicable, and he didn't know how to continue with this.

Lusen doesn't understand, that's right... Of course, he didn't understand, and whoever got such an "honor" all of a sudden, I'm afraid there would be no second thought other than surprise.

A dragon ally who can communicate and will appear when you need help, and even willingly fight with you - isn't this the setting of all legends, dragon knights?!

But herein lies the problem, Loren can be assisted by dragons, but he can't be dragon knights.

Quite simply, because he doesn't have the surname de Salion.

In an empire that relied on dragons for unity and stability, the "dragon rider" could only be a royal prerogative, and now, as the lord of a principality, he was favored by the dragons......

It's too flamboyant, it's too flamboyant.

Even if Loren can explain to Conrad, even if the emperor and the royal family can really understand - it is almost inevitable that there will be a rift, and the imperial nobles will regard Byrne as a thorn in their side, and the Byrne nobles will probably have some "great rebellion" thoughts because of this......

Enzo, the silver dragon, and the dragons of Jufeng Mountain... It is impossible not to understand the consequences and the bad effects of doing so.

Even if you want to cooperate, even if you secretly make a fortune, why do you have to make a big fuss?

Deliberately creating friction between themselves and the Empire, what the hell do they want to do?

A kind of anger that had been calculated and could not guess the reason made the black-haired wizard clench his fists and walk into the round table hall without saying a word.

At this time, the hall was already "overcrowded" - at Charlotte's invitation, guests from all over the empire gathered here early to chat.

Out of a Byrne's instinct to love banquets, but also to show off Byrne's strength and financial resources today, the originally simple hall was decorated with Charlotte's magnificence.

Flowers in the middle of summer and maple leaves in autumn and winter have been carefully cut to replace the original satin decorative benches and staircase handrails, and under the ceiling painted with frescoes, a huge thirty-two fluorite crystal lamps brighten the hall, and the incense of the rainbow bridge placed on it emits ethereal wisps of green smoke, with a refreshing smell.

In front of the small round table covered with plain white satin, a bottle of fine Byrne wine was placed very intimately, which was drunk casually as an ordinary drink;

As for the maid holding a tray full of sweets, the low-level caster performing various tricks, and the attentive attendant... It can be seen everywhere, so that every guest can get the most comfortable enjoyment possible.

And that's just the "hospitality" stage, and according to the Byron tradition, it doesn't even count as a "warm-up" - at most, in order to avoid waiting for the guests to wait for the formal banquet, sit down with a glass of wine, eat some snacks to relax, and by the way, you can look forward to the next feast.

But even if it was just hospitality, the strength displayed by the Turin family was enough to amaze her guests.

With a wine glass in hand, the absent-minded deacon of the Holy Cross Church, Sylvik, strolled through the hall, his bloodshot eyes constantly looking at the palatial and lively hall.

With such a grand banquet, even if it was the same dinner in the Heavenly Dome Palace, he couldn't help but feel inferior.

You must know that it is already a time of war, and 100,000 troops have been gathered in the territory of the Red Blood Castle, and they are the most elite knight legions - under such circumstances, the Turin family is still rich to hold such a lavish banquet, it is unimaginable!

And all this wealth should have belonged to the Holy Cross Church!

Every time he thought about it, Deacon Sylwick couldn't help but grit his teeth.

Not just three years ago... Or should I say four years ago... That stupid imperial governor lost the Duchy of Byrne, and was even promoted by the Church to the throne Bishop Weber, who actually allowed the Turin family to divide the wealth belonging to the Church!

"The Church should focus on spiritual practice, and entrust worldly affairs and authority to secular rulers" - this kind of deceiving the aristocracy and compromising was actually explained to himself by him as the most formal reason.

I'm afraid he's stupid to read the Bible, right?!

Because of him, in less than a year, the strength of Byrne, or the House of Turin, has more than doubled, and although His Royal Highness Conod has been crowned on the throne, the Duke of Byrne has also won the respect of the entire empire in the Battle of Ebolden.

His Highness Brandon's power and influence are swelling dramatically, and if he is not allowed to develop, I am afraid that the position of heir that was originally compromised to him will become true.

Is... Why don't the Lothairian church colleagues, and the nobles of East Sackland, understand that the most important enemy at the moment is not the long ears from the Azores, but Byrne and Brandon!

Even if you lose to the elves, it is only a temporary fiasco, but if you lose to His Royal Highness Brandon, or let Byrne swell and even fight against the imperial capital, it will never turn over!

Sighing, a resentful Sylvik put down his glass, and just as he was about to leave the noisy hall and no longer be "poisoned" by the wealth of the Turin family, a figure suddenly burst into the hall and attracted his attention.

"Loren... Lord Duke?"

The black-haired wizard stopped, squinting his eyes in the direction of the source of the sound, and a particularly unfamiliar figure was looking at him, walking step by step.

"You are... Lord Sylvik?"

"Exactly, it's a great honor for the Duke to remember me. With a meaningful expression, Deacon Sylvik, who deliberately lowered his voice, chuckled, "I wonder if I can delay you for a few minutes?"

The black-haired wizard raised an eyebrow, and Lusen, who was behind him, immediately understood and turned to leave.

"Absolutely. ”

"If I could, I would really like to raise a glass to your generosity right now. Sylvik chuckled flatteringly, but sighed softly the next second:

"It's a pity... I can only worry about your future now. ”

"Why?" asked Loren, expressionless.

"Because right now a catastrophe is about to befall you. Not noticing the black-haired wizard's expression, Sylvik sighed to himself:

"Embrace His Highness Conod, maintain the peace of the Empire, and hold on to the city of Ebolden... These feats cannot be erased by anyone, but the glory that cannot be erased is easily forgotten. ”

"As the Duke of Byrne, your reputation is now unparalleled, and even the whole Empire holds you up as the model of Imperial Knighthood, only the Black Duke can surpass you, but because you have reached the top, they will not worship you even more. ”

"The people of the empire are very forgetful, and what will they see when they forget your exploits?"

He looked at the black-haired wizard expectantly, waiting for a response.

Loren was silent.

But Sylwick still said, "Yes, they will only see your mountain of wealth, you have an army worthy of the Empire, and the wizards under your rule who are no different from Ebolden!"

"We poor believers, simple and ignorant, do not understand your greatness and sacrifice, they will only quickly forget your glory and attack, and begin to worry about whether the knights of Byrne will be a threat to them, jealous of your hard-earned wealth, and incomprehensible to the wizards. ”

"In the end, the glorious Byrne Knight will become a villain that everyone shouts at. ”

Sylvik shook his head and sighed again and again—he didn't say anything more, just stared intently at the black-haired wizard.

Half a minute, a minute, two minutes.

The two of them looked at each other and fell into a kind of calm in the noise.

Helpless, Loren could only resist the urge to roll his eyes and speak: "So, in the eyes of you and the church, how can I avoid this outcome?"

"Good question, you are so blessed and loved by the Holy Cross, you are simply very wise!"

Grinning, Sylvik also secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "It's easy to avoid all of this - the simplest way is to keep your humility and piety, and you don't need to worry about all this!"

The black-haired wizard tugged at the corners of his mouth, revealing a smiling expression.

Absorbed in Sylvik, he immediately sensed this—he also understood that it was nonsense to talk about piety and humility to Loren, who was now at the peak of everything, and that the prestige and power of the other party were so great that it was useless to preach.

Therefore, it is necessary to use both hard and soft measures to make Duke Byrne understand that he must move closer to the church.

So he laughed dryly, and his expression was even more flattering: "Of course, these are only possible situations for the time being, maybe they will happen, maybe they won't—after all, our believers are still simple and not so sinister. ”

"But the nobles of the Empire... Not necessarily. ”

"Oh?" Loren deliberately showed a puzzled expression, "Please be more detailed." ”

Sure enough, he still had concerns, and Sylvik secretly rejoiced.

After all, the other party is still the duke of the same place, and no matter how arrogant and arrogant he is, it is impossible not to see the threat of the empire, and to understand who is the greatest threat to him.

"Before you came, I had heard about it just now—the dragon of Jufeng Mountain had reached some kind of agreement with you. Sylvik deliberately lowered his voice, with a mysterious expression:

"You and I both understand that this is nothing more than the dragons fulfilling their promise to protect the Empire, and that you are the most prestigious duke in the Empire, and Byrne is the most powerful duke in the Empire, and that they have nothing to do with you. ”

"What's more, this is just a unilateral statement by the dragons, you are not asking for anything, and it is impossible to do such a thing on purpose - any sane person will understand that this is just a misunderstanding and an accident. ”

The black-haired wizard nodded, indicating that I thought the same thing.

"But the nobles of the Empire... Especially the royal family, they don't think so. Sylvik's expression became more meaningful: "In their eyes, this is a signal, a signal that the Turin family of Byrne is challenging the royal family of de Salion." ”

"They will think that the House of Turin and Byrne are starting to be dissatisfied with their current position, and think that they have the strength to challenge the House de Salion of Sackland... Even, they will think that you have ambitions to become emperor!"

"Once they start thinking like that, you're in danger—even if our noble and intelligent His Majesty Conrad and His Highness Brandon can understand you, the others won't. Whether Loren listened or not, Sylvik continued:

"And in order to appease the anger and apprehension of the people, Your Majesty and the royal family must make some gestures to suppress you, or even to exclude you, and what can you do but endure it so that you may not be perceived as having such a great rebellion?"

"What do you think I should do?"

Loren asked very "humbly".

"It's simple, piety—piety is the best solution to all problems!" Sylvik said excitedly, "as long as you make a public statement, give up the excessive support for wizards in the past, and donate many of the properties in the name of the Turin family to the church, then no one can blame you!"

"Because in that case, to accuse you is to accuse the Church, and to accuse the Church is to accuse the Holy Cross - who in the Empire would dare to accuse the Holy Cross?!"

Hearing these impassioned words, Loren smiled.

Sylvik smiled too, and smiled very happily.

Laughing, Loren held out his hand to him.

Sylvik, who understood it, had a mysterious expression and hurriedly reached out.

Then he heard a particularly crisp reply from the black-haired wizard who was "full of spring breeze":

"Dream on!"