Imperial capital, Heavenly Dome Palace.

"What time is this?"

Her Royal Highness, the eldest princess of the empire, sat silently on the opposite side of the chess table, her eyes as cold as frost looking at a certain "disgraced prince" who was dejected and looked like a defeated dog, holding a letterhead in her hand.

"Thirty-seventh plate. Brandon, with his hands hanging down and his face slumped on the table, muttered quietly, his bloodshot eyes under his messy red hair, staring at the black chess piece on the chessboard that had checkmated him.

"Impatient?"

"Who said that?!"

"Oh... Are you ready to throw in the towel?"

"Not really!"

There was a weak rebuttal, even with an exclamation point to no avail, and Brandon, who was extremely tired, was not even interested in raising his head and moving now, and just wanted to lie down for a while.

Playing chess with his father, Eckhart, was the most frustrating thing that Brandon had ever encountered in his life.

In all fairness, Brandon didn't think he could win at first... Or that it was easy to win, and he expected that His Majesty would be prepared for this request, and he could also guess that he would have a hard time at first, and even lose badly.

However, it was definitely not so miserable - every 37 sets was a complete defeat.

The so-called "complete defeat" is not a quick victory, or seeing through the chess path to find the flaws, but killing all the pieces of oneself every time, and then generalizing.

Even later, Brandon, who gave up on himself, took the initiative to "send off", and His Majesty Eckhart II still unhurriedly "cleaned up" all his corners and corners, and then let his Wang Qi last "curtain call".

It's not a game anymore, it's a one-sided torture, a complete ravage... With the most shocking, cruel and violent means, Brandon saw how unworthy of his father was in the aspects of his pride.

The strong run rampant, and the weak are slaughtered... Without the calmness and pride of a victor, there is no need for even the most basic fig leaf.

Thirty-seven sets - according to the progress of two sets a day, there is one more set tonight, but at this moment Brandon has no motivation at all, and even begins to fear the sun that is about to set.

"Not so soon?" Fittronay glanced at him, "The pain of a fiasco is the darkness that must be experienced before dawn... I remember a saying that described it like that. ”

"Really, then how do I think my dawn has already set early?"

Pouting, Brandon sat up with drooping eyelids: "My sister-in-law is so interested in coming to me, it should be not just to see how ugly I lose, right?"

"Half a reason, I guess. Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess also did not hide it at all: "It is one of my interests to watch a certain guy who is always smug fail miserably in the most proud place one after another. ”

"It's such a terrible interest, I began to worry about the happiness of the second half of my brother's life. Shrugging, Brandon held his right cheek tiredly, and his big red eyes blinked:

"What about the other half?"

Fitronay placed the letterhead on the table: "Your 'former' wizard advisor, Loren Turin, led the Byrne reinforcements, almost fifteen thousand or so men, into the territory of Boi. ”

"After repelling the 10,000 or so forwards of the Chiyan Banner, I have now gone north with the 1,000 Boi hussars who broke through... It should already be on the way to the Thousand Hordes City right now. ”

"Is it so detailed?" Raising his eyebrows in surprise, Brandon looked at the letterhead in his hand, and then turned his gaze to his sister-in-law: "Rut Infinit gave you?"

"Why, do you think there are no night watchmen in Boi?"

"Just a little emotional......" Brandon opened the envelope, the look of surprise in his eyes remained undiminished: "But fifteen thousand people... How could Byrne only have fifteen thousand?"

"Apparently Duke Laszló Varna didn't tell the full truth in his distress letter, allowing your 'former' wizard advisor to miscalculate the situation of the war. ”

Fitlonay leaned forward slightly, his eyes drooping and looking at the "miserable" chessboard: "He doesn't know what kind of terrible opponent he will face, and he doesn't know that his originally powerful ally has long been torn apart by infighting. ”

"Of course, he will soon be clear about all this... On the battlefield. ”

Brandon, who was biting his nails, looked at the shocking report in his hand, and his lazy gaze became a little more solemn: "Weapons and armor... Traces of a large number of material transfers... Projection equipment... Kerosene... More than three supply lines ...... from the south"

Raising his head suddenly, Brandon's eyes widened: "Dwarf?!"

"Able to circumvent the Night's Watch and the Empire's surveillance network, and establish three stable and large supply lines in a short period of time, providing a steady stream of weapons and logistical ......"

Fitlonay, whose expression remained unchanged, looked at him: "Who else do you think there is?"

"Are they crazy about such a large scale of enemies - even if Boe doesn't have time to take care of them, Byrne is on the border with them!"

"As long as both principalities are devastated in this centaur war, who can do anything to them?"

"What about the empire, they don't worry about the empire's settlement after the autumn?!"

"With the world's only Mithril mine in their hands, and the hinterland in the mountains, how could the dwarves ever truly fear the Empire?"

Playing with the chess pieces on the chessboard, Fitlonai's tone was very flat: "What's more, dwarven infighting has long been accustomed to it, and this time I'm afraid it was also done privately by a dwarven lord who is unwilling to submit to the High King, right?"

"So we're going to watch as a well-armed centaur army, probably armed with catapults and heavy cavalry, completely crushes down the Duchy of Boe and Byrne?" Brandon tilted his head in disbelief:

"I know that my father and brother would like to weaken them, but this is too outrageous - we still expect them to keep the eastern and southern frontiers, so that the Imperial Legion can wholeheartedly guard against the invasion of the Broken Boundary Mountain!"

"If you're going to save the world, save your little wizard advisor by the way, yes. Fitrona raised her head and shook the chess piece in front of his eyes:

"Win against your father, and you can be a hero. ”

The tired Brandon didn't even have the strength to roll his eyes, and collapsed in his chair with a hurt expression on his face.

"I guess your visit today, Aunt Fitronay... It wasn't an accident or a coincidence, was it?"

Her Royal Highness the eldest princess looked at him expressionlessly, which was considered a tacit acquiescence.

"Except for my dear Imperial Brother Conrad, there should be no second person in this world who can still instruct the eldest princess of the empire to do things... Except for fathers. ”

Flattening his mouth, Brandon sighed and asked, "Suddenly being so cared for by the imperial brother really makes my brother who is not angry very grateful... Before you prepare to trap me, can you tell me why?"

"Because the world... It's starting to get more and more dangerous. Fitronay's expression was a little more solemn:

"Needless to say, the eastern part of the country has seen a massive invasion of the Centaurs and the dwarves in civil strife, and even the north of the Broken Mountains has begun to become unstable since the last war, and the werewolf tribes roaming the frontier are ready to move;

South... The trolls of Arles have once again begun to roam the frontiers, and although we have not yet received a request for help from the Grand Duke of Arles, as far as we know... The hunting war against the trolls is not going well;

In the west, the ogres in the Oldwood Forest east of Lothair are showing signs of migrating again, and the eastern forest has begun to call for the elves of the Oldwood Forest to assemble, and Duke Fried has begun to send troops to the Deepwoodhold to negotiate a joint battle with the elves;

As for Ebolden...... The ocean-going fleet sent to the elven kingdom of Azur this year has not yet returned, and it seems that it has been attacked by pirates in the misty seas, and it is rumored that there is also a civil war in Azur, and the outcome is unknown, but ......"

"But whatever the outcome, it's not going to be a good thing for the Empire, is it?" Brandon frowned and thought for a moment:

"So... Is it Brother Connad who wants me to win this time?"

"Even if you win, it won't hurt him anyway. Fitlonay stood up and said very carelessly:

"But if you lose, Brother Eckhart shouldn't give you a second chance to turn the tables;

So since there's no way back, why not give it a go?

Just like you used to. ”