It was late at night.

The dance party, which was completely over, finally ushered in its moment of end. Wealthy merchants, aristocrats, and elites from all walks of life from all over the empire were exhausted from a night of revelry, leaving their identities behind, and each returned to their respective residences for a moment of rest.

In the outer area of the Emperor's residence, Balfraim Palace, in a clean-cleaned room, the boy and girl just sat silently on the edge of the bed, without any sleep.

Because of what I heard not long ago.

Heliga was confused and not too uneasy - after all, his father was not a character who liked to be lively. And even after ostensibly joining the Duke's family, he rarely participated in the various gatherings of the Duke's capital. Besides, the illness of his youth did not allow him to make too many tiring journeys, and in connection with a series of problems caused by Liber's mutation not long ago—Heliga thought that he was probably just too tired to politely refuse the prince's invitation—and that was fine, and that he would go home to pay a visit.

However, the truth revealed from Laura's mouth made Helica's originally calm heart violently shake up waves - if he had to say, he had a sense of panic and anger that "killed the enemy in front, and caught fire in the backyard".

During the time when he was away and not in the empire, his own family actually encountered financial problems. The reason for this embarrassment was none other than a financial activity in which his father had been involved after joining the Duke's power.

Some of the nobles under the command of the Duke of El Bare are high-ranking officials with a lot of capital, among which Count Goti is the most famous. Not only did he have a strong presence in the fur and gem business around Baryahat, but in recent years he has shown signs of making his fortune bigger. His investment targets have gradually expanded from luxury goods to many things that can be called "just needed" for a country; At the same time, perhaps for the sake of comparison, or perhaps just for the sake of comparison, he also awakened a new habit of collecting art. Therefore, when Hailiga's father knew that he had a lot of ancient books, he was eager to get some benefit from them.

In this regard, Wernas, who was very fond of books, naturally did not want these books to be taken by the illiterate Count Gotti. Besides, Count Gotti had caused trouble for Wernas during the confrontation period before, and now that he has become an ally on the surface, he has put on a self-cooked appearance, which is really disgusting. But after all, the other party is a financial and business tycoon who has a monopoly on the entire southwestern part of the empire - after thinking about it, Werner finally decided to compromise and give away some of the relatively less important books in it, as if he were buying peace.

Sometimes, however, once you start doing something, even if you want to get out of the pit quickly, the pressures and pushes around you will make you find that it is impossible to break free. Count Gotti was overjoyed, and actually pulled Wernas into his financial circle - knowing that Wernas's family had a lot of books, almost all of these characters were the same kind of people, and at the instigation of Count Gotti, almost everyone tried to buy some of the books in the Viscount's Mansion at a high price - not just verbally, but really using his influence in the circle to create pressure and force Wernas to comply.

Faced with this situation, Werner knew that since he had promised to join the Duke's power, there would be no shortage of such things that he had to do, and it was likely that there would never be an end to them—and Wernas, having figured this out, returned to his old habit: feigning illness. Announcing the recurrence of his old illness to the outside world, he can only spend it alone in the somewhat clammy and cold winter in the south at this moment, with melancholy and depression.

"Father said...... Count Gotti and his henchmen have begun to realize that your father is faking illness...... Some of them thought it was disrespectful to them, and even clamored to give him a little color...... So, well, your father will refuse His Highness's invitation, in fact, in a sense, he is avoiding them. Laura finally said.

"Won't the emperor care about this?" Fei said on the side, "If there is pressure from the emperor......"

"His Majesty the Emperor himself has a lot of things to worry about...... To tell the truth, he himself probably can't control the open and secret struggle between the aristocratic faction and the reformists inside and outside for so many years. "Besides, Count Goti can easily fool around this matter, and then go back and slowly clean up his father...... In that case, not only the Viscount's family will be involved, but also innocent townspeople...... In that case, the cart would be put before the horse, and my father would never have done that. ”

"Heliga, I'm sorry." Laura said apologetically, "Father said that he relied on the merits and glory of his ancestors to clear himself in this era...... Therefore, the Yarsaed family can only remain absolutely neutral, and what is happening in these surrounding areas can only be regarded as ...... Blind eye. ”

"From his standpoint, he's doing the right thing." Heliga stood up, "I'm going back, Laura. Nice to meet you. Let's talk tomorrow if we have a chance...... Now I want to be quiet. ”

"Why......" Laura tried to stop her, but the boy had already walked out of the room with a worried face.

"Laura." Fei gently patted Laura's shoulder, "Don't worry, he'll be fine." ”

After saying that, Fei glanced at Laura with comforting eyes, then lifted the hem of her skirt and trotted out after her.

“…… No problem......" Laura was left alone, and sighed to herself.

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"I see...... This is really ......" Olibart let out a long sigh after listening to Victor's story, "In a sense, His Excellency the Viscount really has ...... Well, how to put it, a feeling of helplessness. ”

"yes. Unfortunately, I can't be of much help from my standpoint. Viscount Victor agreed, "Therefore, one of the reasons why I have come to this imperial capital at the cost of putting down all my training plans and pushing the government affairs to Klaus is to report this matter to His Majesty the Emperor...... However, Your Royal Highness, you know it now. ”

"If it's you, the name 'Alsside' is enough to make these things credible." Olibat nodded, "In that case, I will meet my father with you tomorrow." ”

"Very good," Victor readily agreed...... and then with a sad look on his face, "Speaking of which, if nothing else, the boy must have known these things by now." I'm a little worried......"

"Worried that his heart will swell because he has mastered new powers, and do something he shouldn't do?" Olibat took it on and smiled, "Your Excellency, with all due respect, you seem to be ...... to your apprentice Even if it is nominal, some are too low-minded. ”

"Oh?" Viscount Victor raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry...... With what I've known about him during this time - he will never lose his cool and do something that shouldn't be done because of this kind of thing. If anything...... "because we're all ...... Someone who believes that this empire has a "bright future" and is willing to work hard for it. ”