The sunset had not yet completely sunk into the horizon, and there were only two people in the empty palace, Lawrence II and Fellowo, and there were no attendants and court maids.

His Majesty was holding the newspaper and reading it with relish, and from time to time he smashed it twice.

He was surprised by the radical nature of the newspaper's content, but also at the indifference of the tower. From the moment Pope Paul IV and Duke Clark stood in front of him a month ago, arguing with President William, he knew that this group was going to do something, but despite his mental preparations, the current battle was more blatant than he could have imagined.

This is different from the petty fights of the past.

"I bet you, what's going to happen next."

He quipped to his son.

Since the end of that birthday dinner, he likes to take his third son with him when he has nothing to do, firstly for that inexplicable sense of security, and secondly to protect him.

If nothing else, the future king will also be handed over to him.

Lawrence II had always taken this matter lightly. Interestingly, there have been dozens of coups in Morningstar's history, but none of them have been in Jialan. Guyin's discerning people know that the king's seat is nothing more than the mouthpiece of the six-member council, and it doesn't matter who sits on it, but he still has to suffer from this anger, so he pushes it around.

If there is any benefit to being a king, it is probably to be able to directly command the royal city guards, a swordsman regiment with a total number of 4,000 people and an average rank of more than the silver rank. In Fa Lan City, where the mage was greatly weakened by the enchantment above his head, this was also a force to be reckoned with, and what was even more commendable was that he did not stop high-intensity training during the peaceful years.

It's a pity that good knives are useless, and the security of Falan City is outrageously good under the joint efforts of the towers and shadow footsteps, and most of this force is used for façade, in addition to patrolling and standing guard around the palace, it will also change into a beautiful dress and walk through the motions during the festival.

For example, tonight, on the celebration day, the silver-plated, polished, hollowed-out, all sorts of flashy armor and weapons that had been bought at great expense from the Cape of Kane were also put to use.

So, being a king is actually an extremely boring thing, so boring that there is no prince to fight for it.

This also explains why Lawrence II loved "A Song of Frost and Fire" so much.

On the road called Westeros, people fought for an iron throne that was uncomfortable to sit on, and their families were ruined. Only when he saw those would he feel a sense of solace and the comfort of being alive in the depths of his heart.

It turns out that it's still good for me to be like this.

So these days, looking at the agitation of Fa Lan City, he is also faintly excited. So much so that for several days, he went from a lazy state half-lying in a chair to sitting up.

He is not stupid, he can play the role of "puppet" well, and he is a royal family for 700 years, it cannot be said that every generation is a smart person, but at least there is no stupid person who is not worthy.

The tower chooses the stupidest-looking king from each of the princes, and these princes are not competing to be stupid? In the end, the one who pretended to be the most like won, and the others were relieved, taking off their disguise and returning to their true nature, so that they seemed much smarter than the king.

But in fact, who is the smartest is the one who becomes the king. It was only when he became king that he realized that the grand ideals of his youth had come to naught, and he became negative.

He could understand it, and kings had always understood it, that the Tower wanted to infiltrate the council, and that the Mage Guild was becoming more and more useless...... They all see it, but they don't have to do anything, and they can't do it. When Jialan founded the country, he casually dragged a line of nobles to be puppets, and the puppets were not grateful to this group of mages, this is work, just like a drama actor. An actor can love this job, but he will not be overly grateful to his boss for giving him this opportunity, because he eats by his ability.

The so-called change is nothing more than a change of boss on the top of the head, and the actor doesn't care even more, this has nothing to do with him, no matter who is on the top of the head, there will always be someone.

But this does not affect his liking to watch the excitement.

He had been looking forward to something new to happen these days, such as the Tower purging heresies, such as the sudden emergence of the Mage Guild and some old mages who were not familiar with the world to contend with it......

It's a pity that there is nothing but the whirlpool of public opinion in the newspapers.

"Oops, why didn't the tower even hold a fart out for a long time, it's really boring, it looks like they're either preparing for a more aggressive counterattack, or something is wrong inside, and they can't lift this breath for a while......" Lawrence II yawned and put away the newspaper. He was going to get up and go back for a nap, he was going to spend hours tonight with the people in the Square of Truth, which was really a physical task for him.

At this time, Philo suddenly spoke.

"Father, you're smarter than those people think."

Lawrence II froze slightly as he got up, and then he smiled, "No, no, kid, you are mistaken. I've never been a smart person. My father, or your grandfather, taught me that there are only two kinds of people in the world who can survive: the smartest people, and the foils of these people. I knew I couldn't be the smartest, so I just wanted to be their foil. ”

"But you are the king, the manager of a vast empire......"

"So what?" The king sighed, "There are only two of us here, father and son, and we are not afraid of other people's jokes, don't you know what the king of Jialan is?" Do you think that you are petty, naïve, and vain...... All those are pretended to be for the Father? Hehe, that's actually what I want to do. I know very well that as long as I do this within a certain limit, not only will I not be punished, but I will make the people around me think that I am easy to deal with.

"I can do that, whatever I want, but that's all I can do. Sitting on this throne, I have to learn to regulate myself, I have to learn to relax, and that is one of the few means I have to relax. Sooner or later, you will have to inherit the throne, and it's time to learn to control your temper. ”

"Your Majesty."

Philo shouted suddenly, and instead of saying 'father,' he used an honorific title.

"Would you like to make a bet with me?"

"What?"

The king was slightly surprised, and did not even notice the change in the title of his son.

"The future of Jialan does not belong to the Mage Guild or the Elemental Tower, but to the people of Jialan. The future king of Jialan is a real king, not a puppet. Philo said firmly, his voice sonorous.

Lawrence II was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.

His unbridled laughter reverberated back and forth in the emptiness, revealing a thick sense of self-deprecation and sadness.

He burst into tears of laughter, and after a while, he stopped laughing, wiped the corners of his eyes, and said with a smile: "Child, you are really like me." When I was nineteen years old, I said the same thing to your grandfather, and guess how he answered? ”

"How do you answer?"

"He said, 'Well, it's no point in just paying lip service, let's bet on this throne, I'll give it to you now, and if you do what you said in a year's time, then sit down forever, and I'm proud of you as a father.'" But if you don't, I won't laugh at you, and I'll tell you what the punishment is. ’”

"And then?"

"Later?" The king chuckled, "The punishment is 'sit on the throne even if you lose', so do you think I won or lost?" I was put on this throne when I was 19 years old, and now, more than 40 years later, if it weren't for the immaturity of your brothers, I would have found a fool to cheat on this like his old man, and then went to live happily. So, my dearest son, do you still insist on making this bet? ”

Philo did not answer, but went straight to the king and got down on one knee.

Lawrence II laughed again, drew his sword from his waist with his backhand, and lightly tapped Fello on his left and right shoulders.

"I ask you in the name of the king, are you willing to abide by the courage, faith, integrity, and perseverance of the nobles to rule all the people in the territory of Jialan?"

"I do."

"Well, I ask you again in the name of the king, are you willing to exercise your power as a king with a loving heart and the justice of the law?"

"I do."

"Good." Lawrence II nodded, "There's a long piece of nonsense to follow, but I don't remember exactly, but you have to say 'I do' four times and kiss the crown." Well, now you're the king. How about we set a deadline, I'm not as over-the-top as your grandfather, I won't leave the throne and go to the rest of the world, I don't want to see you killed by the Tower or the Parliament, so how long do you plan to make your dreams come true? A year? Two years? Or five years? ”

Fello took the crown and put it on his head, his eyes full of determination.

"No, father, it's tonight."