In the early morning, it was not yet time for the sun to rise, but the sky was very bright, with strange bands of light crisscrossing and occasionally clouds of transparent mist drifting by, refracting colorful light, covering the trees and buildings in the valley of Auburn Palace with a layer of crystal clear and shining light.

On weekdays, the manor, which has always been quiet, is lively early in the morning, and the motorcades on the road leading to the manor are endless, converging from all directions like a sea of rivers, slowly and methodically entering the gate of the manor one by one, and even too many vehicles arriving at the same time, you must stop at the door to enter. The waiting vehicles are all oddly shaped, ranging from vintage cars from the old era, to elongated black sedans from the old era, and even a carriage pulled by four black horses!

The road into the manor is not wide, just enough to accommodate two cars exchanging in parallel. The road is lined with tall old trees, and there are not many leaves on the branches during this season, and there are a few yellow leaves scattered on the smooth pavement, adding a quiet atmosphere to this manor hidden in the mountains.

This tree-lined driveway, with its walled garden, is a testament to the power and history of the Arthurs, an era when it was unthinkable to have so many surviving trees and flowers for ornamental use, and the daily maintenance and mitigation of plant mutations were a testament to cutting-edge family technology.

By eight o'clock, all the cars were parked in the open space next to the main house. In the dining room of the main house, breakfast has begun.

At the end of the long dining table, Oberen, dressed in formal attire, sat in his master's seat, intently handling the food on the silver plate. His upper body was straight, and there was not a single flaw in his movements, manners, and expressions, and although his delicate face did not match his noble seat, he already had a faint majesty in him. At least sitting in this position, no one will feel that Oberyen is too young.

On either side of the dining table, more than a dozen men sat in a staggered manner, ranging in age from their thirties to their sixties. They ate their breakfast equally quietly, occasionally exchanging glances with each other. At the other end of the long table, in front of Oberen, sat an old man in his fifties with a dignified face, his half-white hair meticulously combed. This old man was Persephone and Oberen's father, Borriello. Arthur.

The three maids, who were not very beautiful, but had sweet smiles and pleasant eyes, were busy shuttling and busily delivering dishes of all colors and flavors to the people, while changing the used plates with their hands and feet.

Breakfast ended at 8:20 p.m., and everyone came to the conference room and sat down in their reserved seats. In the center of the room was a long oval table, and as the current patriarch, Oberen, naturally, still held the throne. Arthur sat with seventeen other people. It was striking that there was still an empty seat at the conference table, which was supposed to be Persephone's seat.

This is the regular meeting of elders of the Arthur family, which is usually held once every two months, and the participants are the leaders of the side branches of the Arthur family or important people. Before Oberen took over as patriarch, he was not eligible to attend the Council of Elders. At that time, the patriarch of the Arthur family was still Borriello, and the actual affairs were presided over by Persephone. In the two years that she was in charge of the family's affairs, the Arthur family grew steadily, and although it did not outpace the Morgan and William families, it was not opened up. For a very young girl, this is already a very commendable achievement. In the course of the family's orderly development in the past two years, the elders have seen in Persephone that she has all the excellent qualities of calmness, calmness, courage, and resoluteness, and she has a long-term vision, attention to detail, and a great skill in dealing with crises. The most commendable thing is that she completely reorganized the Sea Emperor Trident in two years, and made it stand out from several family forces, and finally became a super elite comparable to any army of William and the Morgan family. So that the Arthur family, which was slightly lacking in force, made up for its weakness.

Although the position of the youngest Dark Dragoon Major General before presiding over the family's affairs was a testament to her abilities, the Elders still felt that Persephone had a bright future ahead of her.

In a few years, when Oberen was 24 years old, he would take over from Persephone, who would focus on the development of the Dark Dragoon and lead the family's forces. If it is a good thing, then within a few years, the Arthur family will have two well-trained young talents in quick succession, and Borriello will still be full of energy. At that time, if only from the perspective of the main family, the Arthur family will be stable over William and Morgan.

But the successive changes in the past few months have caught all the elders a little off guard. Oberen's rise to power not only pushed Persephone out of the family, but also absorbed all the forces at her disposal, leaving her with only the various facilities she had built in the Dark Dragoon. This surprised almost all the elders, but when all eyes were on Borriello, he remained intriguingly silent, and the elders approved of the alternation. After all, family affairs cannot be left to a woman for long, even if that woman is Persephone.

Within a few months, Oberen had changed rapidly. From the initial youth with some shyness, to now almost as bold and ruthless as Persephone. The elders often have the illusion that they are looking at an originally tender insect that is shedding its cocoon and turning into a butterfly.

Oberen completely abandoned his interest in the arts, and devoted almost all of his time except for family affairs to the training of his abilities. During this time, the rapid growth of his abilities proved that at least in the realm of spell-like spells, Oberen had a talent that was not inferior to his artistic talents. The results of a number of potential tests show that Oberen, who has cultivated to the fifth order of many spell-like abilities, has the potential to develop to the eighth order ability.

In addition to his abilities, he also began to show his talents in the management of family affairs. The Aquaman's Trident was very smoothly integrated, and after carefully studying the rules and patterns of this force, Oberen kept them all and moderately increased their resources. Other matters have also become more sophisticated and decisive. Perhaps at first it was with Borriello's covert help, but at least recently, it has become clear that Oberen has begun to make decisions on his own in many matters.

The elders seemed to see Persephone two years ago again. It's a pity that she is not in this conference room today, and she will not be in the future. The elders are both wise and laid-back, and most elders are happy to see their siblings sitting together in the conference room, which means that they can spend their old age in a leisurely way, simply allocating resources to their chosen projects or newly developed areas, and then sitting back and waiting for dividends. Borriello's father and son all have a fair and just attitude, and they will not manipulate dividends, nor will they deliberately weaken the side family.

The main family has two monsters one after another, Persephone and Oberen, and there is no need to weaken the opponent at all, as long as you focus on strengthening yourself, it will open up the gap with the opponent.

Since this is a routine meeting, the agenda items are relatively fixed. At the heart of this is the development of new investment projects, the expansion of new areas, and the additional allocation of funds for the armed forces and their corresponding institutions. The elders had already made these projects so well in mind that it took less than an hour to finalize them. According to the normal agenda, the meeting should have ended at this point, and the elders had lunched, either gathered together or left. Boreillo did not live in the old mansion either, he built a wooden house by the river in the south, brought two dogs, and his daily business was fishing and hunting.

However, today's meeting does not seem to be so easy to conclude. A middle-aged man in his early forties knocked on the table, attracting everyone's attention, leaning forward slightly, looking at Oberen, and said, "I have a temporary motion, we should re-admit Persephone back to the family, or at least give her financial and technical support first, so that she can survive the current crisis." ”

There was a sudden silence in the room, and most of the elders' eyes were on Oberen. After all, Oberen's first motion after taking office was to expel Persephone. So far, at least, there has been nothing wrong with the outcome of this motion. Persephone was in crisis, but it was her own fault. The Arthur family's gains from Fabregas were more than enough to compensate for the loss of Persephone, and the most effective part of it had even been distributed to the various departments. From the time of these months, it seems that Oberen, in addition to his lack of experience, does not seem to be able to handle affairs below Persephone.

Almost without any hesitation, Oberen vetoed the motion, he looked into the eyes of the middle-aged man, and said in a calm tone: "No." The secret agreement between the Arthurs and the Fabregas family cannot be broken. The expulsion of Persephone was the most important part of this agreement. ”

Oberen looked around at the elders and continued, "The loss of Persephone is enormous, but what we have gained from the Fabregas family is more than enough to make up for it, as the esteemed elders know. The Arthurs have an ancient honour, and Cesc Fabregas has been a long-time ally. The Pact with Fabregas has long ensured the safety of the family and brought us closer to the Morgan and William families. Wise elders must have been able to see this clearly from the reports of the past ten years. In the long run, credibility is the guarantee of the survival and development of the family, and if we can casually break such an important agreement, then in a few years, you will find that we will no longer have any friends. I would say that no genius can save the world, and it is completely unworthwhile to give up the future of the family for the sake of someone. ”

These words made several elders nod secretly, but the middle-aged man sneered and said, "What I don't understand is that if the genius of the Arthur family, Persephone, is reduced to the plaything of other families, wouldn't it be very helpful to our family's reputation?" Oberen, everyone knows why you expelled Persephone! You don't care if your sister is being ridden by a bunch of foreign men, but this slap is a slap in the face of everyone in the family! What the Fabregas family has, all but money and some technology, as long as money can buy nothing, there is nothing really precious. I would like to ask all of you here, which one can buy us back a Dark Dragoon general? If any of the elders thinks they can, they can vote my veto. ”

According to the rules of the Council of Elders of the House of Arthur, Oberen, who has officially taken over as patriarch, can veto any motion, but if the motion is approved by two-thirds of the elders, the motion will be forcibly passed.

Oberen's face turned a little pale from the obvious anger, but he still exercised restraint and deliberately slowed down his speech, saying, "Dear Uncle Skadi, the problem you spoke of and the reason for the banishment of Persephone are two different things. Despite her family's long-standing alliance with Fabregas, she insisted on Sue joining the Dark Dragoon. The consequence of this is the breaking of our ancient covenant. Please remember that she is the one who puts aside the long-term interests of the family first! ”

Scardy didn't take Oberen's explanation seriously, and still sneered, "You're talking about Fabregas, but if we can give up a major general of the Dark Dragoon, why can't they give up a fourth pick?" Are we one of the Big Three, or are they one of the Big Three? My dear Oberen, it seems to me that your inability to let go of Raikna's hatred is the main reason! I heard that Medirri, one of the three giants of the Inquisition, went to Ralvin Forest Manor in person, not only smashed the gate there, but also slaughtered their third incumbency in public. What else can that old dog from the Fabregas family do, he can't do anything but bark a few times in the council! To be honest, I now think that Persephone made the right decision, and Sue's visible value is no worse than that of Raikna, and there is still significant room for improvement in the future. And it's clear that Sue and Judgment Town's Medirri, who has gradually begun to be feared, has a leg on it. ”

Oberen listened quietly, his face growing pale.

Scardy looked at Oberen's face and suddenly showed a demonic smile: "I don't think it's Persephone's insistence on Sue that is in problem, it's your insistence on Raikna. While we are all receptive to unconventional feelings, you are now the patriarch and need to have at least superficial respect for ancient traditions. Also, I personally don't think you're clever at covering up for Medilli, she's not something you can fool at will......"

Oberen's gray hair suddenly stood on end, and the temperature in the room dropped by more than a dozen degrees in an instant, and there was no sign of stopping. Oberen's right hand on the table was tinged with a strange layer of ice blue, and the wooden conference table suddenly cracked, and a blade-like cold air zigzagged forward through the crack, and pounced on Skadi! The deadly chill spread out in all directions, rushing towards the old people sitting at the conference table.

When the blade formed by the cold condensed was still a meter away from Skadi, a large cloud of white mist suddenly emerged on its own, and it disappeared. Skady sneered and sat still, not even raising his arm. In his opinion, Oberen's attack was simply a child's play.

Among the elders present, there were several elderly people who were not known for their abilities, and even the oldest one was close to losing all their abilities, but in the face of the impact of the outstanding, they seemed to turn a blind eye, and they did not even look surprised. The diffuse cold did not extend beyond the conference table at all, and I don't know which elder was secretly doing it. However, the wooden conference table could not bear this kind of power at all, and its color quickly faded, and then it cracked with a snap, and shattered into forty or fifty pieces.

"Dear Oberen, are you trying to kill me at the Council of Elders? Just because I exposed your heart? Scardy asked, even leaning forward with his right arm propped up on the table, as if the conference table was still intact.

"You ......" Oberen's face turned grim and stared at Skadi, but he knew that he had made a mistake on the spur of the moment, and he had to endure it forcibly.

The eldest of the elders suddenly opened his sleepy eyes and said, "Alright, it's almost time for a nap." I'm old, and I don't have as much energy as you. Let the vote now proceed to Elder Scaddy's provisional motion. ”

Most of the elders looked indifferent, some raised their hands in support, some placed their palms down on what should have been on the table in disapproval, and some folded their arms in abstention.

To Oberen's relief, less than half of them supported Skadi, far from the two-thirds of the votes needed to overturn his veto. But he was also wary to find that the number of elders supporting Skadi's motion far exceeded his previous expectations.

Scardy seemed to have anticipated this outcome, smiling mockingly at Oberen, and got up to leave the room. The other elders also got up, most of them to stay for dinner, and a few needed to leave immediately to go back to their own affairs.

This is the end of this regular meeting, and the atmosphere at the end is not good.

In the evening, after seeing the last car leave the Auburn Hill estate, Oberen was called into the cigar room on the west side of the main house by Borriello.

"Your table today is not good. Or rather, disappointed me. Borriello slowly sliced the cigar with a silver knife.

Okumi Wren sat down in front of his father and took a deep breath before saying, "Scardy didn't really want to help Persephone, and you know what he was trying to do with his sister. ”

Borriello cut the cigar, just admiring his perfect cutting process and not in a hurry to light it. Listening to Oberen's defense, he smiled and said, "Scardy is my own brother, how could I not know his thoughts?" When Persephone was ten years old, Scardy had already expressed his desire for her. Your sister's current situation is actually exactly what he wants, if it is still the same as before, maybe in another twenty years, he will not be able to touch a finger of your sister. In the case of Persephone, there is nothing wrong with your decision. Of course, she should have her own reasons for getting into her current situation, but she doesn't want to explain it to us. ”

Oberen was silent for a moment before he said, "I'm sorry for today's meeting. However, Scardi insulted my feelings for Medirli, which I couldn't stand at all. ”

"I know. Although I am not optimistic about the future of you and Medilli, as a father, I will still bless you. Borriello lit his cigar, took a deep breath, then looked at Oberen, and said, "Scardy's real purpose today is to make you lose your temper and let the elders see your immaturity. You remember to be calm at all times and not to show what you really think in your heart. Winter is coming, and I have a hunch that this winter will not be peaceful, and you must grow as much as you can, and do not let hatred, anger or jealousy dominate your judgment. Also, friends and foes are today and yesterday's things, and no one will know what tomorrow will be. ”

At the beginning of night, Borriello left the Auburn Palace Manor in his old-fashioned two-wheeled carriage with two teenage dogs. He's going to catch a few more fish before the rivers in the south freeze completely, so he can come back and show off to his old friends.

So in the Auburn Palace Hill Manor, there was only one Oberen left in Arthur's house, and the light in his study was on until late at night.

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