14 Old Capital Butler

By the time Sevia handed the briefing to the heralds, Wind Chime and Erin had already entered Butler City. In order to prevent anyone from recognizing Irene, the two decided to go to the city at night, they didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble to the Akayi family, even if the news of framing Erin had not yet reached here, it would inevitably be gossip if people saw it.

In the dark, Wind Chimes and Erin easily dodged the patrolling guards with torches, but as long as they didn't break the law openly in the city, the guards still wouldn't take the initiative to deal with strangers. As the central city of the hinterland of the empire, Butler City has always been very safe, and as a former capital, its inhabitants are mainly members of the upper class or aristocracy of the Spellet Empire, and many officials also used it as a good place to retire. The people here live a prosperous and well-educated life, and even the homeless will take the initiative to integrate into the productive labor when they come here, and abandon laziness and luck. I don't know whose proposal it was, but a few years ago, Butler City demolished its outer walls, becoming one of the few cities in the empire that was completely undefended, and at the same time becoming a city that embraced the world.

The city is divided into north and south by a river, with commercial areas in the south and residential areas in the north, with farmland and livestock farms in and around the city, and mining farms not far away – so it is still a rich city.

The residence of the Count of Akayi, located on the north-western periphery, was a simple two-story villa, surrounded by other noble residences, close to each other. The streets leading to the houses are flat and spacious, as if they were hundreds of years ago. At the center of the residential complex is the majestic Butler Wanyuan Cathedral, the largest church of Wanyuan in the Spreite Empire, where the bishop of the diocese is also located.

At this time, the Count of Akayi's family had just finished dinner, and the host and his wife were bidding farewell to their guests at the door. Count Akayi, an upright and resolute veteran, in his mid-teens but in good spirits and imposing manners, often dressed in military uniform, instructed young soldiers on the training ground how to draw bows and arrows, and wield swords and shields—even if these were no longer his duties. The Count's gray hair and wrinkles on his forehead did not affect his aura in the slightest, he was always the center of attention, and he was very fond of being praised by others as "the sword is not old".

The Countess was dressed in simple clothes, and like her husband, she was amiable and approachable, smiling at anyone she met, and their way of behaving was a celebration of the Akayi family's tradition of being called "commoner aristocrats." Both of them wore red-based clothes, which are the signature colors of the Akayi family, like the family's crest – a white shield on a red background.

The Countess said goodbye to their guests one by one, and not far away came a woman dressed in a black servant's costume, who saluted the Countess and stuffed her with a small note. The Countess returned the salute kindly and opened the note to look at it, and a dark cloud rose over her countenance, and she looked up at once, but the servant could not be found. The Count, noticing Madame's behavior, sent off the last guest, and called Madame home with her. The Countess quickly gave the note to her husband to read, and when the Count had read it, the smile on his face vanished, and a cloud of sorrow filled his face.

The Counts of Akay returned home anyway, and after a short time the only two servants of the house left the house—the Count gave them a considerable reward, and gave them a vacation to splurge outside, but only for the time being, and he wanted to be quiet for two days. After the servants had left, the Countess opened the window of the second-floor bedroom and poked her head out as if waiting for someone.

There was a slight knock from the kitchen window, and the Count noticed it sensitively, and hastened to open it.

"Father!" Erin called out of the window, her voice low and grabbed the window frame to climb in.

"Shhhh The Count said softly, and he helped his daughter in.

"Oh, my child, what's going on? ......" The Countess asked in a loud voice as she hurried down from the second floor.

"Mother!" Unable to contain her emotions, Irene threw herself into the arms of the countess and began to cry. At the window, the wind chimes also came in with the help of the Count. The Earl looked at the wind chimes with a slightly surprised gaze, and he sensely judged that this woman was not as simple as she seemed.

"Father, mother, she is my benefactor, she saved me!" Erin raised her head and said hurriedly.

"Daughter, don't worry, your parents are here, calm down first, and then talk about what happened......" The countess said with concern, "My poor daughter, when you get home, don't worry......"

"That...... Who are you? The Earl calmly asked the wind chime, "After all, my daughter said that you saved her, or do I hope you can declare your identity, we are ......"

"My name is Wind Chimes, Earl." Wind chimes salute. When the Earl saw the wind chimes saluting, he seemed to remember something, and returned the salute.

"Come, daughter, tell us what's going on? Why do you want to take all the servants away? The Countess saw that Irene had calmed down a little, and asked as she wiped her tears.

"I wrote the note, ma'am," Wind Chime continued, "and now Ai's situation is very dangerous, and if outsiders know that her return here will be detrimental to the entire Akayi family, please forgive me." ”

Erin nodded lightly to her parents, signaling that the wind chime's words were credible.

"Tell me, kid, what's going on?" Count Akay also sat down beside Erin, took his daughter's hand, and comforted him kindly.

……

Erin recounted how the group ended their investigation mission, Anseison besieged the city, Duke Risen was assassinated, Sevia enchanted and attacked herself, and fled with the wind chimes. She shed tears from time to time, but her mood was much calmer than before, and Erin finally felt care and warmth by the side of her amiable, respectable and trustworthy adoptive parents.

The wind chimes leaned against the window as Erin narrated, carefully watching for movement outside to prevent anyone from looking inside. She didn't close the curtains, which was safe, but the family had just sent the servants away, and it was obviously more suspicious to close the curtains again. Count Akayi did not forget to pay attention to the wind chimes, and his suspicion and wariness of strangers were always there, but he also greatly appreciated the behavior of the wind chimes, out of the intuition of a soldier.

……

After listening to Erin's narration, the count's expression was very solemn and fell into deep thought. The Countess took her daughter in her arms, patted her gently, and said nothing.

The only sound in the room was the sound of Erin sobbing softly.

"I didn't think he's dead," the countess broke the silence, "Risen passed by here on his way back to Axelsen, and came to our house. I didn't expect this to be ......."

"Evidence." The Count continued, "You don't have any evidence of Saivia's murder of Ryson, but your shot, which should not have been fired, so that Saivia could use it against him, so that the testimony of both of you would be useless." The reproachful tone made Erin bow her head.

"However, under the circumstances, I would have been overwhelmed by the circumstances." The Count comforted Erin and said, "The main thing is that there is no evidence. And the motive is unknown, what was Saivia's motive for assassinating Rise? At least I can't think of it. power, conspiracy, collusion with foreign enemies...... Oh no, he shouldn't be treasonous, even if Ansesen City is captured, the empire has enough strength to sweep away the United Kingdom, it should still be power......" After speaking, the earl shook his head, and he was also at a loss for what to do about the current situation. Erin couldn't tell what Sevia's motives were, but she had stopped crying. Wind Chime agrees with what the Count says, and she also notices that Sevia is not colluding with foreign enemies, otherwise the enemy would have attacked long ago.

The oil lamp in the room dimmed, and the countess replaced it with a new wick.

"Time waits for no one, so take a break while it's still too late." Wind Chime spoke, and his words were very serious, "I guess that now that the siege of Anseson City has been lifted, Sevia will spread the news of the planting of love to all parts of the country, and if it is soon, we will be able to hear the news in the city tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." ”

"Why can you be sure that Anseison City is so easy to get out of the siege? I have heard that the number of enemy troops is at least forty or fifty thousand, and the defenders of the city are only seven thousand, so it would be good to be able to hold on. The Count said suspiciously.

"Believe me, although I don't know the person Sevia, he should have been hiding his true strength, and his execution is very strong, so it will be against him for Ai to escape, so he will definitely quickly break the siege and send the news outside the city." Wind Chimes explained.

A terrifying atmosphere lingered in the room, and Sevia, who was once so trustworthy, suddenly became a devil.

"I'm sorry, I still can't figure it out......," the Count put his hand on his forehead, trying to calm his inner turmoil, "I'm sorry, although Irene said you saved her, how can we be sure that this is not another elaborate trap?" ”

The Earl's words made Erin look up, and she wanted to defend the wind chimes, but she wanted to stop talking, because there were indeed too many mysteries about the wind chimes. The Countess didn't dare to speak, and she couldn't be sure if there were any unknown variables about what was happening in front of her, but she still hugged Erin tightly, hoping that she wouldn't be hurt again.

In the face of the earl's suspicion and questioning, the wind chime did not show any nervousness, she calmly saluted the earl, and said:

"I will use my heart of gold as a shield to protect you."

As soon as the words fell, the eyes of the Counts of Akay widened in unison, and they gasped—