Anthony grabbed the flying arrow, a short arrow less than half a meter long, the steel arrow glittered with cold light, and a warm smile appeared on his face.

Anthony thought for a moment, then pinned the arrow in his hand to the back of his head, making it look like an arrow had been shot in the head from the front.

He walked in the direction the arrow had come from, bypassing a wall of roses more than a man high, and then came to a small lawn.

On the small lawn was a boy of three or four years old, covering his face and throwing a small soft bow and a small quiver at his feet.

Beside the little boy, a woman in her twenties who looked like a young woman in a hunting suit was laughing at him.

Not far away, on the wall of the rose, hung an arrow with an arrow next to it, and four or five arrows on the rose wall around it.

Anthony walked up to the little boy and said with a smile: "Who shot the arrow so accurately just now, is it my little Deco?" ”

The little boy who heard Anthony's voice immediately ran towards him and shouted, "Daddy...... Daddy......"

Anthony picked up his son and said, "My little Deco, did you listen to your mother today?"

Deco, who had been lifted high, nodded incessantly, then he turned around, pointed to the arrow pinned to his father's head and said to his mother, who was not far away, "Mom, my arrow missed." ”

Anthony's wife stood there and watched the father and son laugh without saying a word.

Anthony put his son down, then picked up the toy bow and arrow on the ground and began to teach him how to shoot a bow and arrow.

His wife walked under a parasol and began to prepare the drinks for the two of them.

Anthony only needs to have black tea, and Deco, who is growing his body, can't be sloppy, he wants to drink yogurt with juice.

The time of amusement between father and son did not last long, Anthony's butler arrived, and distinguished guests visited.

Anthony removed the arrow from the back of his head, and after his wife had helped fix her hair, he followed the butler to the living room.

An elderly elf was waiting for tea in the living room, and Anthony hurried over when he saw it.

He bowed slightly to the visitor and said, "Welcome, Your Excellency Samuel Hood. ”

Samuel put down the teacup in his hand, smiled and said, "Don't be nervous, I'm just here for a little personal matter this time." ”

Anthony couldn't help but be nervous, at this critical moment, the sudden visit of the retired high-ranking official of the Elven Royal Court made him unsure of the other party's intentions, he pretended to be calm on the surface and said: "I don't know what it is, what kind of help can I provide to Your Excellency?"

Now he is afraid that the other party will say something like "borrow your head".

Samuel pulled out a roll of parchment and spread it out to reveal a colorful drawing of a gold necklace strung with green gemstone leaves trimmed with gold trim and a flower carved from bright red gemstones below.

Anthony was shocked to see the necklace in the picture, which was the same necklace he gave to Sophia on her birthday last year.

He didn't understand what Samuel meant, so he asked, "Your Excellency, what ......is this?"

Samuel said: "Some time ago, an old friend of mine saw the princess of your country wearing this necklace in the city of Saarbrücken. The original owner of this necklace was a student of mine from hundreds of years ago, and I wanted to know about the descendants of that student, so I came with the legations. ”

"I just heard that you gave this necklace to Princess Sophia, so I took the liberty of bothering, hoping to know the origin of this necklace. ”

Anthony breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, if Samuel's purpose was only that, then it would be fine.

Because elves have a different longevity and view of time than humans, they often say goodbye to their human friends forever.

When those elves came out of the sea of elves again, dozens or even one or two hundred years had passed.

Elves often draw the descendants of old friends when they read about their old friends, which has created many works on themes such as "The Poor Boy Turns Over" that bards like to see, such as "Elf Father" in the "Elf Tetralogy".

In Anthony's opinion, it was normal for Samuel to have a desire to find his descendants after learning a glimmer of clues about his old friend.

Anthony thought back for a moment and said, "This is the year before last I commissioned the royal family's caravan to buy it back, and I have to ask them about the specific situation." ”

Samuel left after thanking Anthony for his help.

Anthony breathed a sigh of relief, and the other party did not mention what he had done recently.

Time passed peacefully, and then it was time for the banquet in the palace to welcome the envoys of the Elven Court.

In the banquet hall of the royal palace, in the middle of the long table sat Juan of the Kingdom of Meseta.

Juan was no more than forty years old, but he was extremely thin, bloodless, with deep-set eye sockets, and he looked like he could die at any moment.

Unlike the fragrant steaks and wine in front of the others, Juan had a bowl of porridge and a glass of water in front of him.

Although the priests of the Temple of Life had been treating him for so many years, it could only prevent his condition from deteriorating so quickly.

Opposite Juan sat Macail, the itinerant ambassador of the Elven Mission, who was tasked with making regular trips to various countries on behalf of Queen Victoria, bragging about drinking and communicating with the leaders of various countries.

Sitting next to Macael was Samuel, who was entitled to sit here even though he had come for a private matter.

Anthony sat beside Juan and listened with a smile as Juan reminisced about the kings of the Kingdom of Meseta along with Macael and Samuel.

Although the kingdom of Meseta is located in a remote corner, it has a long history, and more than 600 years ago, the various forces of this land came together to warm up, and then established the country.

Later, because of the elven royal court, they shrank in the corner to avoid the reshuffle of power after the last war between humans and the Rurik Empire.

As a result, elven officials such as Macael and Samuel were no strangers to the kings of the Kingdom of Meseta.

The nobles and foreign envoys in the royal capital were all invited by Juan, and their attention was on the lord's side.

Many political creatures have a vague sense that there is a big ** to happen tonight.

At this time, Macale suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, I don't know why I didn't see Princess Sophia tonight?"

Juan said: "Our little princess has gone to Saarbrücken to visit her grandmother. ”

After he finished speaking, he picked up the water glass and took a sip, only to be choked and coughed violently, and Anthony on the side hurriedly slapped him on the back.

After relieving himself, Juan wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and said to Machel, "I'm sorry to make you smile." ”

Then he said: "My body is not good, if I can see Sophia marry beautifully, I will be satisfied." ”

The next moment, there was silence in the entire banquet hall, and everyone—including Anthony—was looking at Juan.

Especially Anthony, the expression on his face changed a few times in an instant.

As the saying goes, the shorter the news, the bigger the matter, and often a sentence contains a huge amount of information. In this way, sometimes a word is different, which means that the nature of a thing is completely different.

The queens of a country will not use the word "married", they will only "marry".

And what Juan said about letting Princess Sophia "marry out" means that the successor in his heart is not Sophia.

In this way, it shows that Juan's intended successor is only his younger brother Anthony.

Hearing this, Makail smiled and said to Anthony: "Anthony, your brother's health is not good, you have to worry more about your niece's marriage." ”

Despite the mixed feelings in his heart, Anthony still had the same smile on his face as before.

He thought in his heart that this would be fine, and when Sophia's bad news came, his succession would be even more justified.

At this moment, the door of the banquet hall was slammed open.

Everyone in the banquet hall looked at the door.

Say Sophia, and Sophia arrives.