Clough, the most notorious earl's residence in the imperial capital, is located in the Potsdam district north of Jupiter, where many old and powerful families are gathered, and the nouveau riche such as the barbarians cannot settle in, so they can only stay in the emerging Suna district, in the words of the old owner of Clough, a stinky fart in Potsdam is more fragrant than a feast for Suna. At this time, a group of Hu, dressed in milant-style light armor, went straight to Potsdam from the knights across Suna, and along the way, there were countless ladies and ladies of good status screaming and rushing to the balcony to scatter flowers, and most of the large flowers that symbolized the eternity of love in the empire were lost to the great dragon lance knight alongside a shabby knight, the most alternative hero of the empire, Octavian.

"Anchovy fern, you've always been very popular in the imperial capital. Augustine, who was riding on a thoroughbred horse with a staff in his hand, laughed, "The phoenix-tailed fern" was the nickname he gave Octavian, this plant only survives in the icy wastelands of the far north, has a vigorous vitality, and once it gets a little sunlight, it can emerge from the cracks of the ice and bloom wildly, so Octavian liked this nickname. The heir of Clough, who has both the bloody and delicate virtues of the enemy, is actually the most admired character is the professor of literature, his wife, who was originally a royal librarian, and this absurd marriage that was not suitable to the extreme caused a lot of sensation in the imperial capital, but for so many years, even in the long years when the dragon lancer knight was away from the imperial capital and went to the battlefield, there has been no peachy scandal about him, which is probably the reason why the ladies and ladies of the imperial capital are particularly favored by him, which lady does not want to have such a husband who can bring a great sense of securityThe fierceness on the bed, the loyalty under the bed, the heroic killing of the enemy on horseback, what a song and cry, it is simply a living poem.

Octavian, who had a bearded face, grinned, and was a little shy.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Mrs. Richmond about your luck in Suna. Augustine quipped.

Octavian was visibly relieved.

The Clough family's private homes were not imposing, far less in scale than the private courtyards of some wealthy families in the suburbs, and the interior decoration was more old and old-fashioned, maintaining the same decoration style for hundreds of years. A few years ago, it was hard to inject a little fresh style that was well received by all parties in the empire, but after a certain old man returned to power, it disappeared immediately, in short, this is a family that is recognized as aesthetically deformed. When Augustine dismounted, he was greeted by a sparse crowd of three, an old, a small, a woman, a very strange combination, without a huge and ornate battle, but I believe that every Potsdam resident does not question the importance that the Clough family attaches to their guests today.

That smiling old man was Clough the Elder, the most legendary count of the Empire. He held his little grandson who had just learned to walk, and there was a woman with an indifferent face standing beside him, she gave people the feeling that she had nothing to do with the femininity of women, and her slender figure revealed the cold temperament of a falcon, this kind of taste was a rare thing that had been cultivated at the top of the food chain in the aristocratic circle for a long time, and it was hard to imagine that it was this small woman who was just 160 cm tall and tamed the great dragon lancer rider Octavian. Augustine stepped forward and bent down to look at the little boy who was very special because he had inherited a significant family trait, the child stood, with a still immature fortitude, and his eyes were not as ignorant and dazed as ordinary children, as if he probably knew the identity of the strange guest in front of him, the future godfather.

Augustine smiled, reached out and touched little Clough's head, and then took off a sacred triangular necklace from his neck that had been prayed and blessed by several patriarchs, and hung it around the child's neck himself. The child's mother, Mrs. Richmond, who successfully trained a bloodthirsty lion, saw this silent harmonious scene, and the corners of her mouth were slightly hooked. In a way, the priest was her potential enemy. But at least as a mother, she wants her children to have a godfather who is knowledgeable and not pedantic. Octavian had been silly anyway. The group entered the Earl's Court and went to the family church, the baptism process was not cumbersome, no different from the commoner family, except that a little water ceremony was arranged, and the water immersion ceremony was exempted, Augustine dipped his finger in water and drew a holy triangle on the forehead of Little Clough, simple and solemn. At the end of the baptism, Augustine took the hand of the Protestant, came to the crucifix, and said softly: "Little Clough, no matter what path you choose in the future, you may not be diligent in frequent ceremonial prayers, but you must make sure that every prayer is sincere, because those hypocrites who love to stand in churches or pray aloud at the intersection of roads to be heard, will not receive the gift of the Lord." Their oily tones, even if they sound like thunder, will never be acceptable to the Lord. ”

The two-year-old child could not understand, looking at his mother with some apprehension, Augustine smiled and said, "It's okay, when I was your age, I didn't understand this." ”

Mrs. Richmond laughed dumbly.

The food on the long table is simple and coarse, and the only advantage left is that it is full. Worth less than a few bourbon coins, Clough maintained one of the few original family traditions in an age of prosperity when the aristocracy was fond of bringing in all sorts of delicacies from far-flung regions, and the family had only one lesson: the best food was the heads and blood of enemies, and the best lovers were spears and swords in their hands. Octavian was especially fond of watching his best friend Augustine the Younger eat, as rough as he was, not at all like the sissy of the weak aristocrats at boring banquets. There weren't many words at the dinner table, and little Clough kept glaring at the godfather beside him with clear eyes of curiosity. Mrs. Richmond's gaze never crossed paths with that of old Clough. Octavian was busy eating, drinking and eating meat, and occasionally his wife would quietly wipe the corners of his rough mouth stained with wine with a napkin.

At the end of dinner, Augustine and old Clough came to the dimly lit study, this large study did not have a large number of books that had never been read in a lifetime like ordinary nobles, the bookshelves were very small, and only the personal biography of each head of the family on the genealogy was placed, as a family that had given birth to more than 20 powerful generals and countless honored knights, these books, few wind and snow and red wine banquets, the current emperor His Majesty once spent a whole day flipping through it, and sighed that this is a complete set of imperial war history. The Emperor even promised to arrange for the most beautiful court poet in the empire to write a biography of the old man, but the old man politely but resolutely declined, because he had already chosen the person who would write two biographies for him and Octavian, and the man who possessed this precipitated honor was standing in his study at this moment.

A few questions of faith have been discussed. Old Clough rolled up his tobacco and lit it, looked at the private priest worriedly, and said, "It seems that His Majesty the Emperor has been a little dissatisfied with you lately, well, I think it's not just dissatisfaction, but annoyance." Augustine, what did you do to cross the line?"

Augustine smiled wryly, "Killing the son of the Lion King, Marquis Todd, annoying the fraternity of Marceau, the Condy family, or secretly creating an army of the undead? From the time the Senate sent a jury of ostensibly eating, drinking, and merrymaking to test the poetry, I knew that it was just a prelude to paralyzing the order. The real feast, I'm afraid the chef is still the chief secretary of state, the Marquis of Todd and the Condi family will inevitably fan the flames, but I wonder what is the key point that can make His Majesty the Emperor angry. ”

Old Clough spat out a smoke ring, because the tobacco was cheap, the smell of smoke was not good, and even a little choking, the old man frowned and said, "Are you too close to the barbarians?"

Augustine shook his head and said, "I'm just getting close to Miss Alice from Greenspan, but not so much that the palace will be jealous and suspicious. ”

Old Clough asked tentatively, "Augustine, do you confess to me that you still have a great secret that you can't tell?

Augustine smiled, "Yes, of course, who doesn't have a secret or two?" ”

Old Clough nodded in agreement. The friendship he had forged with the private priest at the monastery of Maideo had never been about interests, and it was an extremely rare friendly relationship in the old man's long life. Therefore, the old man had great trust in this young but knowledgeable priest, and old Clough had every reason to believe that a young man who could make the godfather give up the patriarch's scepter for protection was worthy of some elder love, such as finding some excuse to give a sum of money and a hundred and twenty high-ranking knights.

The door to the study was gently pushed open, and a small head poked out.

Augustin and old Clough looked at each other and smiled, and the old man sitting in the chair quickly extinguished his cigarette and beckoned, his hoarse voice revealing kindness, "Little Clough, come." ”

The child staggered to the old man's side, and was held in the arms of the old earl, and in the Clough family, every child must learn to walk and run as quickly as possible, and if he falls, no one will help him, for only in this way can he quickly learn to ride a horse and hold a spear in his youth, not afraid of pain, but proud of being scarred on any battlefield. Therefore, in the Clough family, there are very few children who go to their parents to cry when they lose a fight. Augustine did not stop his godson from observing him persistently, pushed open the window, dispersed the smell of smoke, and sat back in his seat and sighed: "Octavian is going to the southern border of the empire, if he can get an Ivy League badge and a tiger tail orchid medal in his hands this time, then he will have collected twenty-one war badges of the empire, and the last one can be traced back to more than forty years ago." ”

The most aggressive sons of war on the continent are ready to move. After the death of the Titan's number one public enemy, Prince Odis, the arrogant Titan radicals all threatened that the Holy Empire had degenerated from a young man to a baby overnight, that the Titan's knightly sword could be slaughtered at will, and that the current Frontier Legion of the Holy Empire was more suitable to serve the ladies on the goose down bed than to compete against the most powerful knights on the epic continent. Prince Otis's lifelong enemy, Prince William, the Titan God of War, was even more straightforward, explicitly saying that he would crush the Titan's horse's hooves on every inch of the Holy Empire's land. According to several secret letters from the Titans' high-ranking officers who were captured by Caesar's Gold Coins, it was indicated that this would be the largest war in the past two decades, and that the Titans would unprecedentedly devote six legions to participate in the battle at the same time, and there were signs that the Kamiao Kingdom, which had been guarding the northern gate of the Epic Continent for thousands of years, would echo from afar, and at all costs would first fight against the "Climate", the largest barrier of the Holy Empire, and then launch an offensive against the Holy Empire at the same time. But once, instead of sending a delegation of emissaries carrying a large amount of money to the Far North as it did fifty years ago, the Holy Empire maintained a near-conceited silence and methodically prepared for a two-front battle, as it seemed that the most low-key king on the continent was trying to prove that the Holy Empire in fifty years later was no longer the country that lived in the cracks and panicked at the slightest disturbance. And the generals within the empire, especially the military upstarts who have risen in recent decades, are just as confident and ambitious. Archpriest Napoleon's discovery of the New World, the Torch Young Witch being summoned to the Mayan temple for breaking a century-old record, and the bankers' activity and potential support for the war, all showed the prosperity and rise of the Empire, and the private talks were all about discussing when the Holy Empire would be able to get the ace of spades in the apostle card.

The old count laughed: "Those poor generals with few medals on their chests will not give Octavian this opportunity, unless he rushes to the front line at the cost of violating military discipline." ”

Augustine smiled knowingly. It is not difficult to understand that women are jealous of the beauty of other women, and literati are jealous of the quill of other poets, so generals, naturally, will be jealous of the badges that hang on the chests of other soldiers.

The old man blinked: "I will reveal a secret to you, Octavian has always asked me to keep secret, these twenty-one badges, he will only leave the family an iron oak, give little Clough an ivy gift, and the rest, will be given to you, because he knows that you are a family badge and war medal collector." ”

Augustine laughed and quipped, "If I had known this, at the St. Carroll Academy of Magic and Wizardry, I should have forced his drunken mouth to behave more warmly with him than rewarded him with a fist." ”

Old Clough waved his hand and said, "It's okay, Octavian likes this kind of friendship." This guy isn't used to the tedious etiquette of chatting about best-selling poetry books or aristocratic gossip as soon as they meet. ”

"Grandpa, is Father leaving home to go to war again?" He was smart and learned to walk slowly, but he read and read quickly, which may have been inherited from his mother.

The old earl was a little displeased, and just wanted to teach a little about family education, but was stopped by Augustine's eyes, who smiled and explained: "Little Clough, do you want to be a knight?"

The child hesitated, because his mother deliberately gave up the ceremonial officer and taught him to go into battle herself, which made the new heir of Clough yearn to become an elegant nobleman, of course, so far the young children did not understand the meaning of the word elegance.

The old earl cursed softly. The old man didn't have the slightest affection for that daughter-in-law, not because he was dissatisfied with her ordinary status, but because he was disgusted that this woman was trying to take charge of a military family, and even more damn wanted to turn Clough into a bullshit literary family. Augustine glared at the old earl, who smiled awkwardly and shut up. Augustine said patiently: "Little Clough, when the godfather was young, he had a wish, that is, to become a knight, to be able to ride a dragon, do you think?"

Little Clough, who had heard a lot of the wonderful stories in the epic told by his mother, had a sparkling eye and nodded vigorously.

Augustine said softly: "And the reason why I want to become a knight is that when my mother's servant knight is old and can't hold a spear, I can protect her personally." Little Clough, do you want to protect your mother when you grow up?"

Little Clough was silent, thinking very attentively, and then nodded.

Augustine said softly, "Good. The godfather didn't do it, and hopefully Clough Jr. would do it, and do it well. Because your mother, perhaps, is not a woman who earns everyone's respect, but she is certainly a good mother. So even if your grandfather doesn't like her, and when your father is old and can no longer ride on horseback, then you have to stand up and protect her and protect the family. Perhaps, you will encounter your own ups and downs and difficulties, and like your godfather, you will be a little lonely in this world and struggle to survive, but little Clough, no matter how down, you have to be strong, it is not terrible to fall, what is terrible is to be defeated by the pain caused by falling, in that case, who will protect your mother and the family you are in?"

Little Clough didn't fully understand, but he still understood the simplest desire to protect his parents and grandfather.

The old earl sighed.

If it weren't for the venerable loneliness and unknown piety of the young clergyman in front of him, why would he, an old fellow who would not live many years, take such a great risk to be in the company of him?

Outside the study, a lady was holding a tea tray with two cups of black tea with a rich fragrance, looking moved. Taking a gentle breath, she gave up the idea of knocking on the door and walked away from the study, because for the first time she felt that it was enough to have three men of different ages there.