At nightfall, the royal palace banquet hall.

The resplendent hall is filled with waiters, and the chandeliers that fall from the dome emit a warm glow, mixed with the moonlight that falls from the opening at the top, together cast a soft color on the things in the hall.

Nearly 100 participants are all well-known princes and nobles in the capital area, as well as heirs of various families, or wealthy businessmen, scholars and masters with outstanding social status. At this time, people looked intently at Prince Alsace standing on the high platform, looking forward to his opening remarks.

However, the Terenas did not attend, reportedly unwell.

His Royal Highness the Prince held the wine glass in his hand, with a just right smile on his face, and said in a very relaxed tone: "First of all, thank you for participating in this banquet, but the protagonist of the banquet is not me, but our Earl......

He stretched out his arm to his side, and Oryx smiled and stepped forward, appearing in the "spotlight".

"You've all heard of him. When I was a child, my father used to tell me a story about a family that used to pile up firewood around the stove. The wise man who passed by said that he was in danger of fire and that he should move the firewood, but the family scoffed at the wise man's advice. Soon after, the house caught fire, and as the wise man said, it was the firewood that ignited the firewood during cooking, which eventually caused the fire to engulf the house. Although the fire was extinguished with the help of the neighbors, the people who caught the fire were only grateful to the firefighters, and did not remember the wise man who advised them to prevent it from happening......"

As he spoke, Arthas put his hand on Oryx's back and gently led him to take another step forward, his tone changing to solemnity.

"Recent events often remind me of this story and the wise man in the story. I think Count Oryx is such a wise man, but fortunately, Lordaeron is not the one who caught fire in the story. With his help, we foiled a terrible conspiracy, strangled a terrible plague in its cradle, and saved millions of innocent people. ”

His Royal Highness raised the wine glass in his hand very seriously.

"He has revealed to us a terrible enemy without whom he would have succeeded and Andohar would have become a paradise for the undead...... Here, I propose a toast to Count Oryx," he turned to Oryx, "and the nation will always remember you for your deeds." ”

"To Count Oryx."

"Saints."

The princes and nobles raised their glasses in unison.

Although he was a little empty, Oryx raised his glass with the same expression and took a sip of scarlet wine.

Applause rang out.

The orchestra played a soothing and melodious piece of music at the right time, and the banquet began as scheduled.

……

"You're quite adapted, it's really the first time you've attended a banquet like this?"

Off the dance floor, Arthas picked up two glasses of wine from the waiter's tray and handed one to Oryx, smiling.

The afternoon contact undoubtedly shortened the distance between the two.

The long talk lasted for hours, and the more we talked, the more speculative it became. From astronomy to geography, from the Holy Optics to the forging of muskets, from martial arts to fighting, from whether the climate of Eastern Lordaeron was affected by the super-large-scale climate spell that made the Eternal Song Forest spring all year round, to the nine personalities, palmistry, the twelve zodiac signs of the magic version, and whether it was necessary to install non-slip mats when bathing to avoid falling and getting injured.

Oryx was impressed by Arthas's bearing, and the prince really had no arrogance at all.

Although he knows that there is a great utilitarian tendency in the social interaction of royal family members, he can also make full use of extraordinary self-cultivation to make others feel the slightest deliberateness. However, he just felt that it was too comfortable to be with Arthas.

After a few hours of getting along, the two became friends.

Arthas, on the other hand, was amazed by his incomparably vast knowledge - as an expert in Internet trivia, Oryx thought he was still very comfortable in this era. It's just that I didn't expect that the little knowledge that I originally wanted to use for my sister was actually used on my future boss first.

Arthas also took him on a tour of the place where he trained on a daily basis, where Muradinin Copperbeard, the ruler of the kingdom of Kazmodan and ambassador to the capital of the kingdom of Lordaeron, often paid homage to the teenage prince many years after the end of the Second War.

Oryx also expressed to him his nervousness to be part of a banquet that the big names would attend—polite words, of course. As someone who has talked and laughed with Khadgar, who has been tough (died in seconds) with Medivan, and who has greatly changed the course of Azeroth's history (digging a hole to bury himself), how can this little scene make him nervous.

Hence the question of Alsace.

"True, Your Highness......," said Oryx, as he glanced at the celebrities and ladies on the dance floor, and said wittily, "if not counting the kind of country party where the participants are regarded by these big men as rich people." ”

Arthas smiled heartily when he heard this, and although he deliberately suppressed his laughter, it still attracted a lot of attention. Especially the ladies in pretty little dresses - who wouldn't want to marry a prince? This is the future king.

I heard that he and Her Royal Highness the princess of Kul Tiras have an old relationship, but the two of them have already gone their separate ways.

"Your Highness, those ladies seem to want to dance with you, should I better avoid it?" Oryx joked.

"No, it's me who should be avoided," Arthas motioned for him to look at the girls who had come in, a smile on the corner of his mouth, and left his side with the pretense of taking the olives, his meaningful voice still coming from afar, "I hope you survive this catastrophe safely, and it is best to keep a leaf out of your body." ”

"Your Highness?" Oryx blinked.

Sure enough, instead of chasing Arthas, the girls came to his side.

In the end, it was a petite girl who preemptively struck behind, leaving the other competitors behind, and said with a red face: "Lord Earl, can I invite you to do a dance?" ”

The girl is very petite, just over one meter and a half, looking fourteen or fifteen years old, wearing a goose-yellow decent long dress, two bare forearms like thin couples, and a pair of lace gloves, like a delicate little porcelain doll.

The girl's eyes were full of anticipation.

Damn, are the nobles of the capital area so direct? Oryx almost scratched his head, there were very few women at the dance party at his house who took the initiative to invite men to dance.

"Uh, I can't dance."

"It's okay, I can teach you. Court dancing is easy to learn! ”

Oryx wanted to politely excuse himself, but he didn't expect the other party to take his hand directly and happily pull him onto the dance floor.

And then......

Then the painful hour began.

After jumping with this, take a break on the sidelines. A certain duke came over to talk, and by the way, introduced his daughter.

After smiling and coping, the next girl came to invite her to dance.

I don't know what consensus this group of ladies has reached, maybe I know that he is a wooden lump that is not good at refusing and has no shelf, so just take the initiative and pull it directly into the dance floor.

After the jump, it's the next round of rest and inter-field communication. There were even a few handsome young men with red lips and white teeth who came over to talk, and I don't know if it was the kind that was not normal.

Oryx was not idle for a moment. He was either dancing or talking to people, the attendees were staring at him all the time, he was on the offensive whenever he had free time, and many people invited him to his home these days when he was staying in the capital, so as to enjoy the friendship of the landlord or something.

In short, it is the feeling of the stars holding the moon, and everyone wants to have a good relationship with the future king's right-hand man.

"Oh, Lord Earl, what a lovely man......"

On the dance floor, a fat lady who was constantly being trampled by Orrix, who was worried about his dancing steps, laughed and slapped his chest with her little fat hand. When he walked to the sidelines, he still held his hand tightly around his waist and refused to let go. Fortunately, he was in a hurry and said that he wanted to solve his personal problems, and he was able to get out.

Not to mention, this noble lady is always a little old, and she is a little fatter, but it is said that she is the widow of a childless nobleman under her knees, and her inheritance is higher than that of the distant cousin of this dead earl, and it seems that after solving the last testamentary question, she will soon become a rare countess in the kingdom.

A proper rich woman, the kind that can make people struggle for less than 50 years, just don't know if you like to use steel wool balls.

Standing on the sidelines, Oryx felt like he was not used to this kind of occasion. He would rather do one more open-loop timeline mission than attend another banquet hosted by the royal family.

"Lord Count should change to a softer pair of boots."

At this moment, a gentle and beautiful voice came from my ears. Oryx turned his head and hurriedly saluted, "Your Highness the Princess." ”

Galia smiled slightly, brought up the pleated dress in return, and continued: "I can protect the soles of my feet, and I can also protect the soles of my dance partner's feet." When Alsace first learned to dance, he wore the hard-soled leather boots he had trained and almost didn't break his dance teacher's feet. ”

Oryx looked down, well, old Langton suggested that he wear it that way before leaving. But he was used to wearing hard-soled shoes, so he chose a pair that was decent and comfortable enough.

"Has Her Royal Highness been here all along? Why didn't you go to the dance? Oryx asked with a smile.

Galia looked up at him slightly, her blue eyes full of meaningful smiles.

Oryx couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and suddenly, he seemed to see Alsace, who was chatting with several aristocratic ladies in the distance, casting encouraging glances at him, and suddenly understood.

I seem to be a real wooden head.

This banquet is to make himself familiar with the capital's elite circle, but King Terenus's deep intentions are not to be said for the time being, according to etiquette, how can he, the protagonist of the banquet, interact with Her Royal Highness the princess, on the one hand, it is in line with etiquette, and on the other hand, it is also to release a kind of signal of royal saints and family in front of the powerful. After all, you can't dance with Alsace! Isn't this why people Jialia attended?

These magnates often go in and out of the social occasions of the royal family, and everyone knows this in their hearts. Therefore, at the beginning of the ball, no one came to talk to him, and after waiting for a long time, he saw that he had been standing, and the aristocratic girls came to issue an invitation.

dared to dance for more than an hour, but he put aside the people who really should be cared for...... There are indeed some faux pases.

With this in mind, Oryx hurriedly said, "Ahem...... I'm so sorry, Your Highness the Princess, that I've never been to a place like this, and I'm going to make you laugh. ”

With that, he leaned forward slightly, and stretched out a hand forward, "Can I invite you to dance—please rest assured, everyone who should step on it has stepped on it, and I think my dance steps have become more and more proficient in the past hour." ”

"Ms. Ona is right." Kylia put a hand on his.

"Ms. Oona?" Oryx was puzzled.

Galia gestured to the fat lady who had just danced with him.

Oryx still didn't get it, "Uh...... Please forgive my stupidity, did Ms. Ona say something? ”

Galia covered her mouth and chuckled, "You're a lovely person." ”

Rao is no matter how thick-skinned Orrix is, he can't help but blush at this time, which makes Jialia laugh more and more.

But just as the two of them walked to the dance floor, the divine energy in Orrix's body suddenly became agitated.

He was stunned for a moment, instantly alerted, and immediately looked at Arthas on the sidelines. The other party was still talking to someone, but he soon noticed the abnormality and looked at him.

In each other's eyes, both of them saw a trace of solemnity...... Something isn't quite right!

In the next second, the assassin hiding in the crowd undisguised himself and drew his weapon.

The soothing and melodious music came to an abrupt end.

Blood flashed, and a stream of gray necromantic energy swept through the hall, and the guests fell one by one, screaming in all directions.

It's messed up, it's all messed up. The banquet that had been a moment before had been a feast for the guests had turned into a bloody Shura field.

It's an assassin.

Assassins of the Cursed Sect!

Instead of the palace guards, more Assassins poured in from outside the hall.

Oryx took Galia into his arms, looked at Arthas, and was relieved to see that the prince had joined his captain of the guard, Pharik, who was always inseparable, and who was always by his master's side even in social occasions.

"Your Royal Highness Princess, don't panic, I'll take you out of here."

When Jialia had never seen such a scene, she had already turned pale with fright, and she couldn't do anything but nod.

Oryx stretched out his hand and swiped forward, and in an instant, a spear descended from the sky like a meteor dragging a long tail of holy light from the sky, through the opening of the dome, and stuck straight into the ground in front of him.

He pulled the spear from the cracked floor and looked at the Assassins who surrounded him.