In this era of backward communication, it sometimes takes days or even tens of days for a message to reach Francis's ears, and he does not dare to use all his resources to search for it with great fanfare, so the final result... Until now, he has not been able to confirm who his target is.

The lack of discovery some time ago made him almost lose his mind, and now that he finally found some clues, he immediately made up his mind to solve these damn things as quickly as possible - it's very strange that the scout disappeared for no reason, and with the previous suspicions, maybe there is really the guy he is looking for hidden among these scouts.

I comforted myself so much in my heart, but the anxiety in my heart could not be relieved after all.

He picked up the parchment on the table, which said that there was a surveillance report about Sally, because there was no way to insert the spies into the "Rosicrucian" temple, so these guys who waited around the church day and night did not get much useful information, and could only learn some useless information such as "attended the service in the morning" and "was appreciated by the bishop" through indirect inquiries.

I also thought about using assassination to make Sally die directly, but the risk of doing so was too great, because once he offended the "Rosacecrutic", it would be difficult for him to bear the revenge. The madness of religious institutions is far less than the "grace" of the lords stabbing each other in laughter and laughter, so in Francis's heart, such a preparatory plan has always been left at the end...

Walking out of the room with such a depressed mood, Francis sighed and prepared to go to the back garden to relax. But when he opened the door, he saw the old butler of the Duke's Palace walking by with a silver tray, so he stopped and gave a simple greeting.

Butler Alpha has been serving the family for more than fifty years, and is sixty-seven years old this year, and still looks in good spirits, with a straight waist and meticulous silver-white hair. Even though he is so old, he still moves quickly when he walks by with that plate.

When he saw Francis, the old butler immediately stopped, then nodded and saluted, and said with a slight smile on his face: "Master Francis." ”

Twenty years have been called this, but now Francis feels that there is an inexplicable irony in it. He nodded and asked, "How is my father's health lately?"

For a long time, the conversation between Francis and Butler Alpha almost always began with this topic. Because even father and son, before inheriting the dukedom and territory, everything in front of him is still in the hands of the father, and as the executor of the order, the Alpha Butler has even more power than Francis to some extent.

So he didn't dare to offend the old butler casually, even if the other party always faced him with a respectful attitude, this inner vigilance never relaxed.

Butler Alpha's eyes were lowered, his posture was still respectful, and he said in a low voice: "Master's condition... Relatively stable. ”

This ambiguous statement made Francis sigh. In fact, everyone knows that the Duke of Angmar's illness has never improved at all, and no one can cure this inexplicable illness no matter how many doctors are invited, how many clergy are hired, and even the druids who are invited from the forests in the south. Speaking of which, all he could do now was to watch Duke Angmar grow old and decadent day after day, but he was helpless at all.

"So... Today, let me bring lunch over, old alpha. ”

He wanted to say this a long time ago, but in the end he didn't say it, and now because he was depressed, Francis suddenly wanted to meet his father—when he was young, whenever he was in a bad mood, he would always be relieved by his father, although he knew that he could only see a taciturn and unconscious old man now, but he suddenly ...... Some nostalgia for the old days.

"Young master, my lord will understand your hard work. ”

Because they were familiar with each other, it could even be said that Francis had grown up under the watchful eye of Alpha, so Alpha did not refuse the young earl's request, and very obediently handed the silver plate to the duke's eldest son.

Francis took the plate and walked to his father's bedroom with a complacent heart, and behind him, the old butler, who had always bent over, slowly raised his gaze.

The gray-white eyes narrowed slightly, and there was a slight chill on the face that had just been full of warm smiles.

The feeling was fleeting, and in the slightly dimly lit corridors of the Duke's palace, the old butler seemed to have stood there for a moment, and when he turned to leave, he regained his usual composure and calmness......

Because of the state of almost "retirement", the Duke's Palace is not only less vigilant, but even has a lot fewer servants. The Duke of Angmar seldom stepped out of his bedroom now, and every day he did not let anyone into his room except for meals, as if he had completely closed himself off.

So Francis hasn't been here for a long, long time. When he pushed open the heavy solid wood door, everything in front of him always made him feel a little emotional.

In a trance, I remembered the scene where I played here when I was a child, and the furnishings in the house did not change much. The crimson carpet is still soft, the armchairs from the Roussifron family fifty years ago glow in the sun, and the candlesticks on the desk are slightly mottled, telling the traces of time here. The fireplace was always burning in my memory, and the feeling of warmth seemed to have remained in my heart since then.

I remember listening to the old duke and duchess tell him stories when I was a child, and the orange fire always warmed my body.

In the memory of warm colors, my sister Sally will always sit obediently on the sidelines, listen to the stories she has heard for her, and look at her sister's adoring expression, and always be proud and proud.

All this... When did it all start to change?

After entering the main hall, the extremely quiet environment made his already bad mood even more dull, and his eyes swept over the ornaments that had never changed—the precious oil paintings hanging on the walls, the full-body armor on the walls, the gorgeous swords on the weapon racks... The warm memories just now seemed to be torn apart in an instant by these things that had lost their hue, pulling him back to reality.

As he walked on, through the main hall, to his father's bedroom, Francis's steps seemed a little hesitant.

The bedroom door was open, and from here he could see the well-lit balcony at the edge of the bedroom, and the back of the man sitting in the armchair in front of the balcony.

There were many emotions in my heart, including anger, unwillingness, resentment and sighs. But he also understands... No matter what you want to do, the person in front of you is your father after all, which is an undeniable fact.

Over the years, his father's estrangement from him could be seen by anyone, and Francis's heart was terrified, fearing that one day his father would declare that he was disqualified from inheriting the title.

So he started these plans - to contact the orcs and get rid of his own sister without leaving a trace... In this way, there is naturally no second choice for the title, and you can sit back and relax.

But the more he thought about it in his heart, the more his mood seemed to be a little disordered at the moment. Francis was devastated by the failure to besiege Sally, and he looked even more nervous when he looked at his father with his back to him.

"Father... Your lunch. ”

Open the hemispherical lid of the silver tray, and inside are roasted pigeon meat, fruit, bread, butter and hot soup. Such food was extremely luxurious for the commoners, but for the noble lords, it could only be called "plain".

Francis's words were not answered, and as if he had expected his father's reaction, he laid the food on the round table and went to the Duke of Angmar's armchair, stretched out his hand, and gently took his father's arm.

The old man's body was already very weak, even thin to the point of skin and bones, and the skin on his face was loose, pale and covered with age spots—the Duke of Angermar, who was only fifty-two years old this year, would not have aged so much, but now he looked as if he had already been over ninety.

When Francis held his forearm, the old duke's face did not change at all, and if it weren't for the slightly fluttering eyelashes and slow breathing, I am afraid that others would have thought it was a sculpture.

The original sea blue pupils were gray, and the Duke of Angmar was looking straight at the street scene of Hollier City outside the balcony at this moment, and when the Francis House leaned down and repeated what he had just said in his father's ear, the frozen gaze finally trembled a little.

Then, like a rusty machine, Duke Angmar's head slowly turned, as if his eyes couldn't move, and he saw Francis's face, and then... Narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I'll help you eat. ”

Without waiting for his father to show his intention to agree, he reached out his other hand and grabbed his father's shoulder, slowly but surely getting him to his feet.

Duke Angmar was skinny at this time, and probably weighed less than a hundred pounds, Francis wanted to say something, but after finding that his father was so light, he still sighed slightly, and helped his father to the round table as gently as possible.

The old man's steps were a little staggering, and it could even be said that the body seemed to be completely supported by instinct, and when he sat in his chair and looked at the food in front of him, he still did not show the slightest expression of superfluity, as if it were nothing more than a pile of stones.

Francis picked up a knife and fork and began to cut food for his father, recounting some of the things he had seen in recent days, including gossip between nobles or land income, which his father had liked to talk to him a few years ago, but now it was more like Francis talking to himself.

"There are three estates that are yielding better than usual, and the last time I passed by, I tasted the wine that the butler of Bolton asked his subordinates to make, and to be honest, the taste was still okay. ”

"Lord Kirk's son has not yet chosen a marriage partner, and he doesn't seem to like Viscount Gordon's daughter very much, and of course, I don't think he likes Viscount Gordon's land. ”

...

With that, Francis cut the tender pigeon meat into small pieces and put it on a plate, sat down in the chair beside his father, and said softly, "You can eat it." ”

This may be the only thing the old duke can respond to, his trembling palm gently grasped the fork in his hand, and began to eat mechanically, but when Francis felt that he should say something, the Duke of Angmar, who had no expression, stopped the movement of his hand slightly.

"Sha... Sally... At... Where?"

The voice was so hoarse that Francis was stunned for a few seconds before he realized what his father was saying—and he suddenly had a premonition that something was not quite right, for his father had never behaved so unusually, and that he would always eat when it was time to eat, and would not even say anything superfluous.

But now—he remembered Sally?

"My sister, she was chosen by the Bishop as a priest-in-waiting, and has now begun her studies in the Rosicrucian Temple. ”

Francis is telling the truth, so his expression is natural.

"No... Right. ”

Duke Angmar, with his arm dangling in the air, slowly uttered the word. As if remembering something, his whole body seemed to freeze there, only his flabby eyelids drooped, but he could see that his eyes were actually twitching slightly—it was clear that the old man, who seemed to be forever silent, was thinking about something.

Francis swallowed, he felt his heart beat faster, and he wanted to say something, but he saw his father turn his head slightly sideways, and his blank gaze lifted to look at him.

I never thought my father would have such eyes... In the gray-white pupils, the first thing that appeared was confusion and struggle, but when it focused on himself, it revealed a little... Disappointed.

"You did... Wrong. ”

"It's excessive... Wrong... Affair. ”

The staccato voice was weak because of the old man's weak body, but Francis could still hear the anger in it.

The father was angry.

This fact made Francis suddenly a little frightened - the use of orcs to attack Sally, such a thing is enough to prove his ruthlessness, but for his father, Francis has never moved any idea of "killing his father and usurping the throne". After all, he is just a teenager who has never stepped out of the southwestern territory of the Karen Kingdom, and although he has ambitions, he is limited to this...

So for his father's sudden anger, he didn't have the usual composure at all, but tried to sit next to his father, trying to make a puzzled expression, and stammered, "Father... Father, what are you talking about?"

“... I won't... Let you ...... Inheritance-"

Before the words that left Francis's mind blank were finished, there was a sudden knock on the door behind him.

The old butler Alpha stood outside the door, still looking calm, his eyes were lowered, and he bent down and said, "Young master, Viscount Charlton wants to ask to see the master, do you want to take a look?"

Francis stood up as if he was awakened, but in a moment his forehead was covered with beads of sweat, and after hesitating for two seconds, he looked at Alpha with a stiff expression, forced out an ugly smile, said "I'll take a look" and walked out of the bedroom, disappearing from the old butler's field of vision as if fleeing.

The atmosphere in the bedroom fell silent again.

Duke Angmar's gaze was raised, and his thin finger pointed at Alpha as if he wanted to say something, but the next moment, the old butler stepped in front of him as if nothing had happened, staring thoughtfully at the back of Francis's disappearance in the corridor, as if weighing something, and when he came back to his senses, he calmly served a bowl of thick soup for Duke Angmar, and put it on the mouth of the Lord of Ivota with casual but resolute movements...

"You're about to succeed, but you're regaining a little consciousness -- heh, the obsession in your heart is really heavy enough. ”

There was no mention of the "Viscount Charlton" in his words, and the old butler fed Angmar a whole bowl of soup almost by force, and then he didn't care if the other party wanted to continue eating, and put the pigeon meat and other lunches that had not been eaten a few bites back into the silver plate, and when he turned to leave, the old butler showed an extremely strange smile to the old duke...

"It's almost ...... It's almost done. ”