The next day, Father Watt received another invitation to lunch with Duke Arnold, and he gladly went, but in his heart he could not help but hesitate.

From Arnold's attitude yesterday, Father Watt already sensed that the Duke was not so interested in Northway's proposal, and it could even be said that there was some resistance, and the matter of the alliance was probably not so easy to achieve.

Worried, Father Watt was not very interested in lunch.

"Am I being inhospitable?" Arnold put down his knife and fork and wiped his mouth, "You don't seem to have much appetite. ”

Father Watt smiled, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the red syrup in his glass.

"The lunch was delicious, but my ignorance of taste affected the taste of this delicacy. ”

Arnold's eyelids twitched, and his expression could only be said to maintain a polite manner.

"About the Duke of Æthelwolf's proposal......" Arnold paused in the middle of his sentence, taking the opportunity to observe Father Watt's expression.

"Have you figured it out?" asked Father Watt, squeezing a smile.

"I want an interview. Arnold narrowed his eyes, "And Louie, I think it's better for the three of us to discuss this matter in person." ”

"I'll repay the Duke for that. ”

"Hmm. Arnold nodded, "Of course, I don't guarantee the outcome, and whether or not to accept the covenant is not necessarily determined by the outcome of the meeting. ”

Father Watt immediately picked up Arnold's words.

The outcome of the meeting is not necessarily determined by the outcome of the meeting, which means that there may be other interference factors...... But the request for a meeting was made by Arnold himself, so the distraction may not have come from Arnold himself, but from someone else.

Father Watt remembered the vassals of the Cold Mountain Lords who had made a great effort in banishing Tegman.

"I'll give back to the Duke. ”

He looked behind Arnold, there were not many servants in the dining room, and the huge dining room seemed a little empty. Father Watt recalls yesterday as if he hadn't seen the retainers of Feglaf since he arrived at Lionheart.

Coupled with Arnold's words just now, Father Watt roughly guessed the problems within the Cold Mountain Domain, but he was still a little puzzled, recalling yesterday's situation, he felt that Arnold's resistance to forming an alliance was not because he disagreed with the vassals, it should be Arnold's own rejection of this alliance.

So why did he give this information?

Father Watt was a little puzzled, and his intuition told him that the opinion of the vassals was not the reason why Arnold rejected this alliance, but the other party used this information as a reason, is this what is the purpose?

He thought that this question could only be considered by the Duke of Louis and Archbishop Benedict.

"Hopefully, these boring topics haven't disturbed your appetite for food. Arnold wiped his mouth and stood up, "I beg your pardon. ”

"Please. "Father Watt is very intrigued.

Arnold left the dining room, and Father Watt continued to sit at the table and eat slowly. He didn't feel much hunger, and although the food in front of him was delicious, the priest didn't really have much of an appetite.

He continued to sit here, just following Arnold's words and giving the duke face.

However, just as he was about to put down the dishes and end the lunch, a sound of footsteps sounded at the door.

He looked up and saw a young girl in sight. The girl's clothes are luxurious, but the gorgeous dress is like a fog, making the girl hiding in it seem quite mysterious.

The other walked straight to the table and sat down peacefully in the same seat where Arnold had just sit.

"Are you ......?"

Father Watt probably had some guesses in his mind, but out of politeness, he chose to ask first.

"You should know who I am. Serena looked at the priest indifferently, not saying her name, "Didn't you come to Lionheart Fort just for me, though I can only be regarded as a condition of your visit." ”

Father Watt lowered his head, and his words were already clear, not only the identity of the other party, but also the attitude of the other party.

"Miss Feglaf, it's an honor to meet you. He politely stroked his chest and bent over, his posture very low, "Maybe you have some misunderstanding about us, but I think I should apologize to you first." No matter how the misunderstanding arises, there must be a reason for your misunderstanding, and this reason should be my responsibility, I hope you can understand. ”

Serena's indifferent eyes did not change, even though Father Watt was already quite polite and accommodating, but she did not have the slightest intention of appreciating.

"But this is a responsibility you can't afford, Father. Even if the Duke of Northville sneezes, the entire Askar Alliance will be nervous for a long time, how can you bear the responsibility of such a mistake?"

Father Watt's head hung lower, and he could hear the true meaning of the contradiction in Serena's elegant tone and harsh words.

"Then we can only apologize to you on behalf of the esteemed Northway, even if it is not satisfactory to you. If you want to tell the Duke of Æthelwolf something, then the emissary of House Northville will be able to do it. ”

"Is the messenger of Northville on the way too?"

"Yes, the messenger sent by Northville to Whitehorse is His Excellency Juan, Bishop of Vodahara, the last brother of Lord Æthelwolf. After the news of Leng Shan Collar is transmitted back to Whitehorse, His Excellency Juan will come to Lionheart. ”

"Names I've never heard of. Serena raised an eyebrow, "Father, you are in the service of the Tamska family, since you can't deliver the news to the Duke of Æthelwolff on my behalf, then Louis, you should be able to do it for you, right?"

"Of course, do you have anything to say from me to pass it on?"

Serena leaned back in her chair, her eyes off Father Watt.

"Actually, it's nothing, I haven't actually met that cousin, and even though we're relatives, there's nothing to say. ”

"It's just ......"

She rubbed the ring on her hand, and Father Watt subconsciously looked at the ring, but it was covered by Serena's fingers, and she couldn't see the ring.

"It's always going to be seen, isn't it?"

Serena burst out laughing.

That smile sent a chill down Father Watt's heart, and he didn't think that Serena's "meeting" meant that she was willing to marry into Whitehorse, but on the contrary, there was a provocation in her words.

Combined with the performance of Arnold and Serena, Father Watt felt like he saw the current Figlaf family. That's right, now this ancient and prestigious family is the brother and sister, and the other side branches may not be able to represent this great surname. However, the two people at the helm of this family are like children in adult clothes, they are immature, and in many places they are reflected in their willfulness, and worse......

They are very sensible and careful.

Father Watt could sense that Arnold had a plan, that he was hiding his intentions, but his attitude was obvious. And the young lady of the Figlaf family who appeared now seemed to be more straightforward, she didn't care about covering it up, but it was also more difficult to figure out.

Father Watt wasn't sure if Serena and Arnold were on the same page, and it seemed that they were in the same position towards the Alliance's proposal, but perhaps the two would have been different in their way of dealing with it.

The priest now remembered Arnold's words before he left, and suddenly it suddenly occurred to him that he might not be referring to his vassal, or to his sister, whom he could not control.

"If you would like to see Lord Louis...... Father Watt replied with a smile, having figured out the point, "then I will convey your wishes to the Duke in earnest." ”

"If you can understand the timing......" Serena's smile did not fade, and the faint curvature of the corners of her mouth seemed to be a mysterious symbol, making it completely impossible to understand the meaning, "I'm sorry for you." ”

Father Watt gave a polite scold, and then Serena stood up and left the dining room again.

Father Watt stared in the direction the other man had left, thinking of his teacher, Archbishop Benedict.

————————————————

Herkasi looked at the snowy landscape outside the castle, but his eyes were not focused on the landscape.

Webster, who was standing beside the old earl, was very interested.

He looked out at the snow-capped plains, a look of nostalgia on his face.

"After so many years in the imperial capital, I have almost forgotten what the snow looks like in the cold mountain collar. He shook his head, and suddenly remembered the prosperity of the imperial capital, "It's great to have the opportunity to go back to my hometown once in a while." ”

Count Helcassi glanced at the dissolute Figlaf with no respect in his eyes.

"Do you like snow?"

"Hmm. Webster didn't think too much, "There is a white silence between heaven and earth, and the mood will become ethereal, although the heart is empty, it can be filled with silence, this is the wonder of the snow scene." ”

"Interesting idea. The old earl was noncommittal, he was naturally not in the mood to talk to Webster about feeling this kind of nothingness at this time.

"Do you remember Arnold as a child?"

"When he was a child...... Webster recalled, looking up at the gray sky, "Arnold was not in good health as a child, and his mother gave birth to two girls, so my brother didn't like him. However, although Arnold was not in good health at that time, he did not seem to be submissive, but a little gloomy. And now...... It seems that he is getting better, but his gloomy personality has not changed. ”

"Yes, the character has not changed, what has changed is ......" Count Hercasi had a calm face and did not continue.

"Why do you say that?" Webster turned to look at the old man, "although we are Arnold's elders, he is now a duke after all. ”

"Yes, duke, it's interesting that we just banished a duke, and with this duke. ”

The expression on Earl Helcassi's face did not change when he said this, but Webster's face on the side changed sharply.

"From the time I was a child, my grandfather told me that it is not because of our family that we have our territory, it is because of this territory that we have our family. Why should we help Arnold to exile Lord Tigerman?Lord Tagman is indeed a good general, but he is not necessarily a good lord, he wants to concentrate all the power of the territory in the hands of Feglaf, all in his hands, so there will be the tragedy of the Evelyn family, I know what he wants to do, he wants to make all the land that will pose a threat to Figlaf, The families that would take away Feglaf's power were wiped out, and the land existed because of Feglaf, not because of it. ”

Webster's face shook involuntarily, and he was about to turn his face away subconsciously. He didn't want to listen to Count Helcasie, he didn't want to get involved in these things, as he had done before.

But the old earl's movements were quicker, and he seemed to be more vigorous than Webster, who was much younger than him, and quickly grabbed Webster's shoulder, pulled him over, and forced the other to look at him.

Webster's eyes were still dodging.

"We thought Arnold would be better off becoming an earl, and we all know that he and Master Tegman are two very different people. However, there may be differences in personality, but Fegraf is Fegraf after all, and this will not change. He's going to do what Tegman is trying to do, he's not respecting those of us who helped him banish his father, what he wants is for us to respect him, even to prostrate ourselves in front of him, not as vassals, but as servants. ”

"No, not ......" Webster smiled reluctantly, his eyes dodging, as if looking for an escape.

"If it was before, we would be worried, we would be hesitant, but not now. The old face of the Earl of Hercasi was smiling, with a somewhat disdainful smile, "Since there is already a precedent, why should we be so afraid?"

Webster was stunned and stared at the old earl with wide eyes.

"Do you want ......?"

"Banished Arnold!"