Unfortunately, this was not popular in the Roman Empire, even if Anna was interested in it, so her ritual was mainly modeled after the court etiquette book of the Frankish Emperor Charlemagne, who whispered to him to kneel down when Gawain approached.

Then, Anna's little hand pressed on Gawain's head, "In order to seek a noble wife, to seek a feudal feud connected by the strange, and to defend the faith of Christ and justice in the world, will the swan lead your boat in the middle of the night and come from the lake to listen to the pleas of the good woman and child?" ”

Starlight shone on the couple's clothes and bodies, and according to the previous rehearsal, Gawain returned aloud, "After listening to your songs, I am willing to sleep on my shield, eat with my sword as a fork, and be loyal to my mistress, my patron, Anna. Komnenos. ”

"May the wisdom of women awaken, and may the power of men perish." Anna's last sentence obviously had a deep meaning, but Gawain understood it all, "May I be able to help my heroine, Anna. Komunen, make her the true Empress of the City of Nations. ”

Alas, anyway, it's good to play with this goddess child, which is about equivalent to the second year of junior high school.

Eventually, Anna smiled triumphantly and contentedly, and when Gawain stood up, she looked up and said mysteriously, "Why am I standing on this floor?" ”

Gawain looked through the light of the stars and moon, and saw that Anna's boots peeking out from under her skirt were exactly the same color as the stone on the floor beneath her feet, and when carefully recognized, they were all purple.

"That's right, this is the heart stone of the Empire, and the ancient emperors deliberately set it in this countless floor. And whoever can step on it will gain the power of the whole land and sea. ”

After saying this, Anna told Gawain, "I will tell you where the opportunity is, for in the past years my father has held jousting competitions in the theater by Augustam when he met with the envoys of Salian Caesar, and this is also a way of showing favor and understanding to the Franks and Germans, and this year it is customary for Mikhail to appear as a representative of the Roman Empire." You will be introduced by me as Mikhail's deputy, and when the competition is over, you will have the opportunity to speak to your father. I wanted to say it directly to my father on your behalf, but I want to avoid suspicion. ”

Gao Wen bowed his head and said that he really wanted to avoid suspicion.

But Anna had already thought of the level of "why avoid suspicion", and directly lowered her head, unwilling to look directly at Gawain, and then when the two left down the corridor, she said, "But even as a deputy, but the appearance and armor must be upright and mighty, and you can't insult the empire, so my father will be happy." And if you look at you Gawain, I think you should still be wearing the crude Norman-style chain mail, the kind of ugly armor that covers your head to your feet, like a black mackerel, which is simply an insult to the aesthetic of art. ”

"It's good, at least I'll survive the arrows, I was wounded twice by the enemy in the Battle of Nicaea." Gawain didn't care, thinking that it was good to get used to wearing chain mail.

"What, you've been shot?" Anna asked with concern, and when she heard this, Gawain unbuttoned the collar of her robe, revealing the healed scar on her shoulder, for the eldest prince to examine.

"Then you still say that the chain mail protection is very good? It's nothing compared to the Empire's Holy Armor. Anna, who had found the topic, opened the conversation, "My father was pursued by Norman bandits on horseback in the Battle of Durazo, and the enemy's javelins and spears stabbed him twice, but they were all protected by the holy armor on his body, and now my father only has a small scar on his brow, which can be covered by a crown. ”

But Gawain didn't answer, he originally wanted to say, how many soldiers in this empire can wear such armor like your father? What he found in the war in Asia Minor was that most of the native Greek soldiers, not to mention armor, did not even have helmets and shields.

Anna also felt that she was talking a little too much, and these secret things, such as her father's scarring, were not to be known to ordinary subjects, so she stopped talking about them. Then, the two of them walked along the long boulevard in front of the palace, and under the starry sky, Anna felt that time had passed so long and so short.

When she returned to the Brachna Palace, Anna was still in high spirits, so she asked the maids to fetch scrolls of paper and reed pens, spread out the reference books on the table, and began to write and draw by the candlelight, and did not go to the bed to rest until late in the evening.

But her father, Alexios, was busy until much later, and bargaining with Salian's envoys for the exchange of interests against the Normans was always an extremely draining task. However, Alexios did not go to Erin or Marlena's dormitory for the time being, but was a little relieved and took the lead in his daughter's dormitory.

Alexios, who walked into the inner hall of the palace, raised his hand to stop the movement of the maid who accompanied him, and then looked at his daughter on the couch with a ruddy face and even breathing, "Today is another safe day. Alexios was relieved again.

Then the Emperor came to the table on the other side of the inner hall, and was curious to see that his daughter was actually reading a secular book from the Franks--Knowing that Anna had been studying Homeric epics and other classics in her daily life, he turned two pages, all of which were Frankish poems praising martial arts, and there were drawings of various battles--I did not expect my daughter to start studying these now, and Anna had indeed made a wish to write her life's work in adulthood, so it was normal to look at them. Then, relieved, the emperor's hand touched it, and saw a draft drawn by Anna, on which was the secret pattern of the holy armor of the Byzantine royal armory, and many words were painted, and on the far right was also painted the smock outside the armor, and the emblem in the center was a white swan, which Anna later erased and added a black eagle.

Alexios nodded, and warmth welled up in his heart: My daughter also designed the style of the armor cover for me, which is really kind. However, the size figures recorded on this seem to me to be a bit too large, and there is time to correct her, and now John's reputation in the court has declined a little, and many people privately say that the prince is not learned and unskilled, but is more inclined to the erudite and inquisitive Anna.

And, of course, Constantine.

Thinking of this, Alexios was also a little entangled in his heart, he didn't want to stay too long, disturbing his daughter's rest, so he quietly left Anna's dormitory.

Two days later, in the early morning, several members of the royal armory sent the box to the house of the Yudoshia family, and the hostess opened it to see that it was a silk armor overcoat embroidered with a black eagle pattern.

"Take this guest in the side hall, and say it's a gift from the Brachna Palace." Yudoshia smiled lightly and instructed the house slaves beside her.