By the time Charles returned to the table, the banquet was already halfway through. Although he and Elena had been careful to limit the time of private meetings between them when they were on the tower, when the couple met each other, all sanity seemed to be less important.

Thankfully, when Charles returned to the table, Dewey and Prince Gennaro hadn't returned yet. Therefore, although the other nobles at the table seemed a little curious about what Charles had done after leaving for such a long time, there was no one in this group of people who did not ask Charles without brains, which greatly reduced Charles's troubles.

Charles loosened the collar of his gown, and poured down a large glass of wine in front of him, as if he was very thirsty, and then exhaled a little tiredly, and looked out the window at the night that was so thick that it could not be dissolved.

It was late at night, and the stars above them were shining brighter than at the beginning of the feast, for it was too late, and many of the nobles had begun to put down their glasses and prepare to return to the room arranged for them by Count Atlas to rest. Although there were already a lot of guests, the lively atmosphere in the hall did not decrease in the slightest, and it was even more lively than at the beginning.

The men sang and danced, puffed out their drunken red faces, and boasted loudly about their wealth and status, and the appearance of a philistine was almost indistinguishable from that of the old peasants in the country taverns. Charles secretly despised this group of self-proclaimed noble nobles in his heart, but his face still did not show a little expression, and even cooperated with them from time to time to send out a burst of praise and exclamation, which provoked them to spit even harder.

Although Charles himself was a little unhappy that he had to do such a degrading thing because of his status. But the effect of this incident was obvious, almost all the men present had a great affection for this foreign nobleman who had never heard of it before, and even the nobleman who had taken the initiative to find him before showed a friendly smile at Charles. So to some extent, these things were still a good way to soothe Charles's emotions, so that he would not be nauseous for the next few days.

Slowly, the servants of Count Atlas in the hall came and went more frequently, and in order to make it easier for the guests to drink the wine faster, under the order of the butler Hull, they worked hard to move the barrels of wine stored in their master's cellar to the back corridor one after another, ready to serve the group of barrels in the hall to enjoy at any time.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the hall was suddenly pushed to a climax, and with a burst of cheers, almost all the young people present rushed in one direction, as if they would miss out on something great if they only took one step slowly. Charles glanced in the direction they were heading, and turned to continue his conversation with the Count of Talba, who had clearly been a little optimistic about him, without any intention of mixing in with them.

But Count Talba didn't think so, and he interrupted Charles with a wave of his hand, and then said to himself, "Time flies so fast, look at those great boys, just like me was more than thirty years ago!" Alas, it was more than thirty years ago, also at a banquet in Djerkhara, Lord Atlas's father, Count Malfoy, that I met my current wife. I was just like you now, handsome, talented, and ambitious at the same time. ”

"But in a strict sense, I wasn't as good as you are now. First of all, I didn't have a hereditary title of nobility in a foreign country, nor did I have a domain of my own, and the only thing I could be proud of was my strength and the championship I won by luck. Luckily, I met my current wife, and we fell in love at first sight, and at that feast I professed my love to her, according to the Calradian tradition, and gave her my laurels, and won the admiration of her father by defeating many of her opponents. ”

"However, out of responsibility for his family and his daughter, he did not immediately agree to my proposal, but lent me a large amount of dinars and an army of less than a hundred men. He agreed with me that he didn't care where I came from, but that I could marry his daughter as long as I could meet his requirements within three years. ”

In this way, I became attached to the family of a great nobleman, and in the following three years, my lover also gave me a lot of help, which gave me my current status and wealth. It is no exaggeration to say that it is because of her that there is the current Talba of Kulma Fort! Sometimes I wonder if I hadn't met her then, I might have been a destitute adventurer by now. “

As he spoke, the venerable Count of Talba slowly put down the cup in his hand and smiled a little self-deprecatingly, before he raised his head and looked at Charles with loving eyes, and said softly: "Go son, for outsiders like us, only by joining a local noble family can we be guaranteed to be accepted by others. It may sound cold and unfair to the ladies, but that's Calradia! If you want to sink like this for the rest of your life, you'd better go over and show yourself, maybe you can really meet romantic love! “

Charles looked at him a little bewildered, not knowing what he meant by saying these words. But when Charles followed his gaze and looked back at the young men, who were like male birds showing off their feathers, and the ladies and ladies who were surrounded by them, he understood it all at once.

Charles smiled gratefully at Count Talba, but was surprised to find that at this time, the old man, who was not very visible in the kingdom of Rhodok, still had a little bit of the old and faint appearance he had before, and his face was full of shrewdness and cunning. He gave Charles a look that all men know, and patted Charles on the shoulder, as if to encourage the young man who couldn't save face.

After all, the unaccompanied young man in front of him was so similar to his own situation back then, that he unconsciously wanted to help him.

Charles stood up, bowed deeply to him, and then turned to the group of ladies and ladies who were gracefully seated together. Count Talba sat upright in his seat, holding his glass and looking at Charles's back with a shrewd expression, and nodded in satisfaction.

It's just that what he doesn't know is that this young man's inner thoughts at this time are completely different from his own, and he doesn't want to "fall in love" with a young lady from a noble family like a male bird in estrus as Count Talba said before. After all, he already has a lover in his heart, and he can't tolerate anyone else.

On the contrary, the reason why he suddenly became interested in the people and things here was only because he saw from a distance through the crowd that there were a few oily little white faces surrounding Elena, jumping up and down like monkeys.

He looked coldly at the young generation of nobles, secretly clenched his fists and came to Elena's side, recalling in his mind the experience that Count Talba had taught him, and mustered up the courage to say in a loud voice: "Beautiful young lady, may I dare to offer my most humble love." “