On a sunny afternoon, our protagonist Salian was sitting at his desk in his castle study, perusing a secret letter that had just been delivered to him, and the beautiful seal of the Count of Paldinay was clearly visible on the wax stamp. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The secret letter states that Hans von Ensbach, Count of the Imperial Palace, has invited Salian to attend a wedding ceremony in his fiefdom of Palatinate. Next month, the earl's eldest son, Viscount Charlie, will marry Miss Margaret of Tver, the illegitimate daughter of Archbishop Bruno of Tver. In addition to a week-long feast, there will also be a host of entertainment, including jousting tournaments, to celebrate the marriage of two great families in the western part of the empire.

The Count of the Imperial Court was a family of regents, the most noble secular prince in the western part of the empire, and the Archbishop of Tver was one of the largest ecclesiastical princes in the empire, and the legal deputy speaker of the Imperial Hierarchy. The marriage of their two families is definitely a big event in the empire.

According to the general idea, if it was just a simple invitation, then it did not have to be sent to Salian through secret channels, so the letter must have other meanings, especially since he was from an old fox like the Earl of the Palace.

Salian raised his head and asked the middle-aged man standing next to him what he thought, "Dear Uncle Moreau, do you think this letter has any special meaning?"

"Young Master, even if such an invitation falls into the hands of the Earl's enemies, it won't have any effect, but if it is handed over to you through a secret channel, it means that the Earl of the Palace wants to discuss some secret topics with you. ”

The man known as Uncle Moreau said with a smile. The man was about forty-five years of age, of medium height, and the few curls that remained were gray, and he should have been chestnut, but his eyes were sharp and wise. Having worked for Salian's father twenty years ago and now for his heirs, he is the most trusted thinker of both father and son. The Itkanians of the southern part of the continent, born into a civil family in the Republic of the Two Islands, came to the empire due to the loss of power of the family, and were taken in by Salian's father.

After listening to Morrow's words, Salian nodded slightly and said: "I think so too, then the question now is whether I should go or not, you must know that in the current situation, there is a suspicion of choosing a side in doing so." ”

"Why don't you go, according to the information we have so far, it is estimated that an Imperial Council will be convened soon to elect a new emperor, and what he is negotiating with you must be to ask you to support their Ensbach family on the throne, and the key is how much benefit he can give you. ”

Salian interrupted Moreau with a gesture and said to him, "Uncle Moreau, as a Itkanlia, it's okay to discuss the benefits. However, I am a knight of the Empire, and I must put the interests of the Empire first, and I will only support the most suitable person to be the Emperor, especially at the moment when the Empire is in turmoil and undercurrents. ”

Morolo bowed.

"Then young master, let's go and see if the count's bearing can be the emperor. Well, in addition, Viscount Charles, the son of the Earl of the Palace, who is the first in line to the throne of the Earl of the Palace, I heard that he is young and promising. ”

Salian smiled and said, "That is what I like, Uncle Moreau, and please invite for me to have dinner at my castle the day after tomorrow with the Counts of Archerin von Altmanshofen and Baron Manstel von Barenberg, saying that I have gained a great deal from my hunting and that I would like to share it with them." Also, please pick out a few gifts for me to give to the Earl of the Palace. ”

Then Salian made a gesture to step back.

After Moreau bowed and retired, Salian immediately got up and went to the window of the study, holding in his hand a crystal artifact that had just been placed on the desk, in the shape of a bird. Salian stretched out one hand to push open the window, and with the other he held up the artifact, which suddenly seemed to come to life, fluttering its crystal wings and flying out of the window like a real carrier pigeon. Salian did not leave the window after the crystal pigeon had left his sight, but continued to admire the scenery outside the window, thinking.

A short time later, through the window of his study, Salian saw a man galloping down the road below the castle hill, wearing a hooded cloak, but still visible the flaming red hair that could not be completely hidden under the hood.

Salian immediately left the study, quickly came to the gate of the castle, and ordered the guards to lower the drawbridge and open the gates. The steep and difficult mountain path seemed to have no effect on the visitors, and Salian barely made him wait, and before the drawbridge was lowered and the gate was fully opened, Salian could already hear the sound of horses' hooves.

When he walked out of the city gate to meet his guests, the man had already dismounted and threw himself into his arms, and his hood had fallen, revealing a beautiful red hair and a beautiful girlish face. And the horse was immediately led away by a well-trained servant, oh no, it was actually a nightmare beast, and the servants who had seen the monster often knew how to deal with it.

"Dear Salian, I came at once when I saw your message, what happened to you and you rushed to find me?" asked the girl with her arms around Salian's neck.

She tried to put on an unnatural smile on her usual haughty face, trying to pretend to be a bird, but her extremely proud figure, her bumpy curves, and her height above half of Salion's head made her movements always look a little incongruous.

"My sweet little Anna, it seems that it is time for us to contribute to the Empire, I have a lot to talk to you about, let's go, let's have dinner while we talk slowly. ”

"I don't know how to contribute to the Empire, I just know that I just need to listen to you. ”

Salian smiled and took the girl's hand and walked into the castle together.

He summoned his personal maid Yulia, the daughter of Moreau, a lovely Itkanlian girl with beautiful chestnut curls, beautiful camellia-colored eyes, slightly upturned mouths, and a slender and slender figure. Growing up with Salian, yes, she is certainly not an ordinary maid, Salian not only treats her as his sister, but also as his concubine.

But now, the first thing she had to do was a maid's job, and Salian ordered her to arrange dinner quickly. Although the girl was reluctant and very jealous of the status of the red-haired girl, she did it immediately, and she naturally knew the knight's temper when she had been by Salian's side since she was a child, and now was not the time to fight for it. And she also has the advantage, not only can she sleep at any time, but she can also satisfy all kinds of special aristocratic hobbies that Salian inherited from the family, and this red-haired lady is of noble birth and arrogant personality, so far she has not let Salian get her hands, and the most right thing is to hold the little hand.

Taking the opportunity to arrange dinner, it is just right to introduce our protagonist, a young nobleman of about seventeen or eighteen years old, young but very well-proportioned, and it can be seen that he has received strict military training since childhood. The appearance fully integrates the varied, even contradictory, characteristics of different heroes in the knight novels of this period, with well-groomed black hair and a pair of lilac eyes draped over the shoulders, a resolute gaze, a high nose bridge, and on the other hand, the lips are very thin, with smoother and more delicate skin than ordinary girls, because of the relationship between often wearing facial protectors, the complexion on the face looks unusually white, and it may be better to apply some powder in the eyes of some decadent artists.

He is now dressed in a brightly coloured cut-out outfit popular in the southern part of the Empire, a novelty that first spread among mercenaries and has become a favorite among today's trend-catching youth. But the most striking feature of Salian's body was the bright purple silk ribbon, a combination of military straps and grotesque ornaments in the ancient toga style, which hung diagonally from his chest with beautiful gilded buckles that fastened the ends to his right shoulder and the belt on his left side. It has been worn regularly by a profiteer from the south who sold it to Salian at a very low price at the bazaar in Black Singen, a Salian territory.

Let's take a look at his origins. First of all, let's talk about the so-called empire, the full name of which is the "God-blessed Great Tutonian Empire", which is a state in the middle of the continent established by the Tutonians to which Salian belongs, on the basis of the ancient Eastern Kingdom. Originally, it was a great power that dominated the continent, but for many reasons, it has now declined.

The sire line of Salian von Hohenstlingen became royal vassals during the First Dynasty, the Duchy Dynasty. In the era of the Third Dynasty, the White Lion Dynasty, the Strlingen family was granted hereditary by the emperor because of their meritorious participation in the Eastern Apologetic Holy War, and the title of Imperial Knight, which originally needed to be re-canonized for each generation, was granted hereditary by the emperor, and because of the merit, they were granted a territory in Heixingen, which belonged to the former Duchy of Schwartenn in the southwest of the empire. Since then, the Stirlingen family has taken root in this hilly and wooded valley and built a family castle on the top of a hill in the center of the fiefdom, which has been passed down from generation to generation for about 300 years, serving the empire as knights of the empire.

In this way, during the period of the Rosenberg dynasty, the fifth dynasty of the empire, the Stirlingen family also passed to Salian's grandfather Friedrich, and in his hands the family finally expanded greatly. Friedrich accompanied the current Emperor Siggis I in the northern and southern wars, and gradually rose to the rank of general of the imperial army with his military exploits, especially risking his life in a battle with the rebels of Vanolia.

The emperor was very grateful to Sallian's grandfather for saving his life, and at the same time, in order to maintain his authority, he recruited his right-hand man Friedrich to continue to serve him, so in the absence of cash for the royal family, Siggis I, who weighed the pros and cons, gave Friedrich one of the hereditary domains of the Rosenberg family, the new mark border in the most remote northeast of the empire, and at the same time gave the seat of the imperial hierarchy there to the Stirlingen family, and the emperor also granted the Stirlingen family a special honor to the surname。

From then on, the young Imperial Knight Stlingen became the honorable Count of the New Mark Territory, Hohenstlingen, who went from not having the right to participate in the Imperial Hierarchy to being a prince of the Reich who had the right to vote alone. Although the strength is at the bottom of the princes, it is even inferior to many of the empire's merchant families. However, it has been a qualitative leap for this ancient family that has gone through ups and downs and struggled for hundreds of years.

As for the Imperial Knight family of Merempergard, which is of Salian's mother's line, I will leave it aside for the time being, and we will talk about it in more detail later.

Today, after Salian inherited the title and became the head of the family, he still lives in the family castle in Heshingen, which is simply called "Stlingenburg" by the local people, and the distant Neumark border has been managed by Salian's uncle, the famous alchemist Dietrich von Hohenstelingen, as regent for the family since Salion's grandfather first acquired the fief. Salian inherited the career of his father and ancestors and served the emperor in the southwest of the empire, having said that, the old emperor Siggis I was too old and basically no longer asked about the world, and Salian only visited the emperor once when he inherited the title, and the rest of the time he was in Schwartenn and a few fox friends and dogs, and was "affectionately" called the "cruel black sun" by the local people and nobles. The Hohenstlingen family has been passed down from generation to generation not only for their dedication to public service, but also for their arrogance, bravery, vanity, and great achievements, and at the same time they have no immunity to wine and beauty.

Finally, let's talk about the girl invited by Salian, Miss Countess Anna von Celine Fisher, with her bright and slightly wavy red hair, bright features, deep purple eyes, independent and strong temperament in front of ordinary people, and tall and full figure, all reflect that she is a typical martial Tutonian girl, and you can find her manly spirit from a distance.

Although the Celine Filst family has declined and retains only the title of an ancient earl, the family has a long history and is a direct descendant of the family of Duke Lyuddorf, the owner of the old Duchy of Schwartenn in ancient times, and has the most orthodox ducal blood. Although this family has always been politically unintelligent, it has always been known as Schwartenn's bravest family, and in the past eight hundred years, there have been more than a dozen knights of the King of Terror, and the family of Hohensteringen, who has always been known as the loyal eagle dogs of the Divine Grace Empire, including Salion's grandfather Friedrich, has only had two knights of the King of Terror. Salian has been called talented by the elders of the family since he was a child, and at the age of seventeen this year, he has become an official horror knight, but Anna is only one year older than Salian, but he has already reached the rank of the horror knight, although the real strength is meaningless just by looking at the rank, but Anna's hard power is indeed much stronger than Salian.

Three years ago, they met for the first time in the 32nd Schwartenn Local Games Knight Tournament and National Trials under 15 Youth Group held by Schwartenn's "God-blessed Great Tutonian Empire's Southwest Cities Alliance", which is also known as the "Southwest Cities Alliance". Salian easily defeated the others, and then Anna defeated Salian again in the final, although Salian held on for dozens of rounds. Things didn't go my way, and the prize he had hoped to win - a full-covered plate helmet was enchanted by a famous magician, and thus became Anna's trophy.

Salian returned home and was sad for several days with Yulia, who was with him, Salian was sad for his helmet, and Yulia was sad because her rival was so strong, she could see that this girl must be the type of girl that Salian liked, and Salian would definitely go out of her way to pursue the girl she liked. Sure enough, at a later ball, Salian was fascinated by the fierce and graceful Anna, who was pretentious but beautiful. Anna fell in love with Salian, who was a maverick and did not lose the heroic demeanor of a typical Tutonian man, and who also possessed the graceful conversation and political acumen that the nobles of the poor countryside lacked.

The two men did come together in the end, and they formed an unbreakable offensive and defensive alliance. But for Yulia, although Salian and Anna don't admit that they are a couple, she still feels very sad. She clearly knew that although the arrogant and indifferent Anna would not succumb to Salian so easily, the more she could not get what she wanted, and according to Salian's personality, she would definitely try her best to kiss Fangze. And what she regrets most is that she was conquered by Salian's charm too early, and gave everything to him too obediently. For the people of Schwartenn, they were henceforth disturbed by the "arrogant Akatsuki" and the "cruel black sun".