"I thought you'd bring a lot of followers." Brochette looked Prutol up and down, "Is the journey safe?" ”

"It's a bit of a twist," Prutor smiled lightly, "but Sir Barandoke has dealt with it without a hitch." ”

"He's your bodyguard?" Brochette was a little surprised, "Then Your Majesty really does not hesitate to trust others." ”

"Although this is not very pleasant to Sir Barandoke, it is important for you to know that it is not he who deserves my father's trust, but you. And I'm sure Sir Barandoke knows that, too. ”

Brochette shrugged, noncommittal. He walked into his dwelling and glanced at the parchment that Plutor had placed on his desk: "Is this your painting?" There has been a lot of progress over the years. If you're interested in continuing your studies, you can take Petast's Aesthetics class, he is the chief tutor of the art school and a well-deserved master of painting, and he can easily learn all kinds of styles. He has a row of special shelves in the library, so he can go and observe it when he has nothing to do. ”

"If you have extra energy, I'd be happy, but my main purpose here is to learn from the dean."

"No, your course will be arranged by the corresponding Chief Grand Tutor." Brochette shook his head and began drafting papers behind his desk, "From now on you are an auditor protégé of the Royal Academy, enjoying a weekly charcoal ration of one pound and borrowing the first five rows of books in the library. After one month from the date of your enrollment, you will be automatically promoted to a full-fledged protégé, with a charcoal ration plus half a pound, and you can borrow the first eight rows of books in the library at will. ”

"Auditor protégé......" Plutor smiled wryly, "I thought I would at least start as a trainee scholar." ”

"When your father or grandfather came to me, they were treated like scholars and scholars and studied like scholars. Attained in military, historical, and philosophical matters, they had returned to Raven City to nominate as mentors in the Royal Academy. At that time, I was also the great tutor of many schools, so I had the friendship between teachers and students. Your Majesty probably didn't tell you that I am no longer a teacher. And my current research is not suitable for a crown prince to study, which will only distract him from irrelevant knowledge. ”

"It's up to the dean." Prutor said no more, and saluted Brochette respectfully.

"Very well," Brochette signed his name at the end of the parchment, and handed it to Plutaure, "come with me, and I'll take you to the lodgings." I'll send a couple of medical servants to deliver your luggage later. Oh, and there's. Brochette paused for a moment before stepping out of his residence, "If it's not a matter of urgency, stay in the academy as much as possible, and if you need it, report it to Captain Dahar, and he will assign a team of Black Spear Knights to serve as your bodyguard." It is still an extraordinary time, and I would appreciate your understanding. ”

……

Ranmaroke sat across from the Duke of Aldemar, who had an envelope in front of him, and a black three-forked crow paw print on the corner, which at first glance looked somewhat similar to the Knights of the Black Spear Order's Dark Raven Spear Feather Insignia, but the sketching technique was too rough, and the original position of the spear tip was replaced by a twisted claw. The letter was not delivered by a raven, and then handed to the Duke of Aldemar by hand, but was swallowed in the beak by a raven that swaggered in from the rooftop, and dropped on the table, and before the guards could react, they struck twice and flew away from the castle along the way they came. Ranmaroke almost instinctively put his hand behind his back, and it was only then that he realized that he had never brought a bow and arrows with him when he reported to the duke. He had never seen such an evil crow, and he was not like his own kind. And is there really anyone in the North who would train a raven as a messenger? Unlike their distant cousins, ravens, crows are resident animals, do not have the habit of migrating long distances, and are more rebellious and wild, and domesticating a crow is no easier than subduing a goshawk. The Duke of Aldemar was not surprised by the arrival of the crow and the letter, but he never reached out to open the envelope, but lowered his head and stared silently and gloomily at the mark that opened his teeth and claws in the corner of the envelope.

"Your Excellency?" Ranmaroke called tentatively.

"Ranmarok......" Duke Aldermar finally raised his head, and Ranmarok was surprised to find that his eyes were bloodshot with unwillingness, "I was once young and ignorant, and I made arrogant promises to people. I thought the day of fulfillment would never come, but—" He pulled out a cold-colored black iron token from his bosom, which Ranmarok recognized at a glance, it was the Iron Order of the Lord that he had returned earlier. In any northern jurisdiction, the person who presents this order can briefly have authority equivalent to that of the king. Before the elder Aldema died of illness, he gave the iron decree to Brochette, who took it out during the defense of Poimbru, in order to force Ranmarok not to pursue the identity of Esher and Kia. Now the Iron Order had lost any value, no different from a piece of scrap metal, but Duke Aldemar just held it tightly in the palm of his hand, like a drowning man, desperately trying to grab a slender straw. But where did the undercurrent that drowned him come from? Where does despair come from? Ranmaroke knew nothing

The Lord's iron order fell from the palm of Duke Aldemar's hand in a dejected manner, and he finally picked up the envelope, his fingers trembling violently, and his nails piercing the cover, but he never tore it open. The iron-fisted duke, who had wanted to abandon Poimbru in the round table to retain the military power of the north, seemed to have lost the courage to make a decision at this time, and when he looked at Ranmaroke again, the bloodshot in his eyes became more and more dense: "Is there a difference between the oath and the oath?" ”

"My lord, every oath made by a knight in honor is supreme, and in the event of a conflict, the earliest oath from the date of the oath is made, and the older it is, the stronger it is, and the more power it has priority to fulfill." Ranmaroke thought for a moment, and subtly quoted and extended the program of the Valides Charter, after all, Livingston inherited from the old Pender Empire in the knightly aristocracy like Sarion, and the dragon knights despised only the cumbersome and rigid rules that the knights had to follow when forming the Knights, so they would selectively follow the knightly code of the charter.

"Prioritization?" Duke Aldemar's facial features twitched in pain, "Do you know how many justifiable betrayals in the history of Pander are based on this fair and honest principle? ”

"Your Excellen......cy," Ranmaroch felt uneasy for no reason, and every word that burst out of the duke's mouth was so sharp that he felt like a man's back.

"You go out, Ranmaro," Duke Aldermar said dreamily, as if to himself, "I'm going to wait, wait, wait until 'that man' has something to do before making a decision." ”