Swain refused to dance again after he had finished another dance, but at this time the servants of the Metternich family came over at the right time to convey to him the marquis's invitation again.

Due to a certain incident, the Marquis of Metternich did not continue to meet with several important people as originally planned, and he asked Franz to excuse himself on the grounds that he was not in good health. And because the parlor was still in disarray, the Marquis had no choice but to choose to meet Count Jericho in his study.

He sat in a wicker chair in his study, holding the black feather he had found, not knowing what he was thinking.

Swain walked into the Marquis's study, and the familiar musty smell in the room surprised him.

"This house is more than 100 years old, and I didn't expect the problem of the old house to come so suddenly. When he saw Swain come in, the Marquis did not get up, but pointed to the chair next to him and asked him to sit down.

The atmosphere of this meeting was much better than just now, after all, because of the presence of so many people just now, the marquis had to use some formulaic tone and tone, and the current environment made the two of them as relaxed as possible.

"Say whatever you want, we've spent a lot of time tonight, but we haven't even mentioned a word about business. ”

Since Swain said it so directly, the Marquis also intends to beat around the bush again, there have been enough mutual temptations before, and Swin and Marquis have some understanding of each other.

"Well, I'll be blunt, I invite you here tonight in the hope that you will consider what Franz has proposed to you before. ”

Swain stared at the Marquis, the uncomfortable expression on his face again. "I think I've answered it before. Maybe you don't know much, but it's not surprising, the Jericho family is arguably the oldest family in the empire today, and the royal family has changed dynasties, but Earl Midnight has always been surnamed Jericho. ”

The Marquis frowned. Swain is talking about Karin I, because Karin I succeeded to the throne as an empress, after the union with the Grand Duke of Rosa, the Gion-Gounov dynasty entered the Gion-Godonov dynasty, and although the emperors after Karin I have been living in Germany, they are biased towards the Rosa people in education, and the royal family has gradually transformed into the Godunov-Gion.

"But! Viscount Jericho also has the surname Jericho. "Marquis, this is not just a hint, it even has some smack of threat.

"But it's not that the surname Jericho can inherit the Earl of Midnight, Jericho is not Metternich. ”

The Marquis was a little annoyed, Swain's words just now had already implied that the history of the Metternich family was too short, and now he simply put the attitude of contempt in his words.

"It seems that we can't agree on it. The Marquis closed his eyes, Swain's attitude was already very clear, and perhaps he was also annoyed by Ernest's actions just now, in short, he would not cooperate with Metternich. In this case, it will only show that you are asking for others, but you will lose your demeanor and initiative, so it is better to end this conversation altogether.

"I think so too. Swain didn't mean to say much to the marquis, so he stood up and walked out of the study.

After Swain left, the Marquis instructed his servants to fetch Franz.

"Grandpa, are you looking for me?" Franz, who received the marquis's summons, immediately put aside other things and immediately came over to see the marquis. In fact, he himself wanted to ask the Marquis something.

"What about the guests outside?"

Joseph was at the reception. Although Joseph was his uncle, he was actually about the same age, so he often called him by his first name.

"Hmm. The Marquis nodded, and did not say anything more about such a trivial matter. "I met Count Jericho again just now, and he refused to cooperate with us. ”

"Perhaps he was frightened by Viscount Jericho's behavior just now, so he was reluctant to cooperate with us. ”

"You can't scare him!" the Marquis glared at Franz with displeasure in his eyes. "I think you're scared enough by what just happened, huh?"

The Marquis's words made Franz blush, and the cries came and went.

"Forget it, you can stand in front of me, I'm already very satisfied, after all, people are afraid of death, you haven't experienced a big scene since you were a child, and you don't blame you. The Marquis sighed, and his tone immediately softened, "Indeed, things have changed beyond my expectations tonight, and it seems that the hatred between Jericho and his son is not so simple. But it's not like the son hates the father because of his father's abandonment, but it looks like the father hates or fears the son. ”

Franz nodded, and Ernest's sudden outburst was not only unexpected, but also scared people enough. "When Viscount Jericho pulled out his gun, that look should have really wanted to kill Count Jericho. He never showed the slightest love for his son, but he seemed to have a little regret in his eyes for Miss Jericho. ”

Franz hadn't spoken much during the whole process, and he was standing behind the Marquis, just in time to observe everyone, so he kept paying attention to the changes in Jericho's expressions, except for Swain's expressionless face, Ernest and Sophia's faces could still see a lot of things.

"You can observe so much, and you can still grow. The Marquis nodded approvingly. Although Franz's performance tonight was not satisfactory, there were some commendable points, at least passing.

The Marquis looked up and sighed, "I really want to get that old fellow Wood and ask him all he knows." This old guy has been a good man all his life, but when I got old, I actually fell for him once, and was dragged into this troubled water by a letter from him. ”

"Isn't there a saying, 'The people who can deceive others the most are those who can't.'" Franz also joked with a smile.

"And that too, alas—who would have thought that what Wood said would be problematic?" said the Marquis, too, laughing at himself, "but since we have waded into this troubled water, it is our style of doing things to get the most out of it, even if it exceeds our expectations!"

The Marquis's abrupt change in tone also made Franz serious. "Yes, I'll remember, Grandpa. ”

"Go collect some information about Jericho. Especially that Swain, he gave me a very strange feeling, and now that I think about it, I can't blame you for running into a wall with him. He made a very unreal impression on me, he was sitting there, and I was talking to him all the time, but I didn't feel like he was a definite person. His face, I wonder if it's his, it's like a mask, and I can't see any change in expression on this face. Sometimes, I really want to tear that mask off and see if there's bloody skinless flesh underneath. ”

Although the Marquis's words were quite frightening, Franz was deeply convinced, and he was also deeply frightened by Swain's face. However, even though he agreed with his grandfather's words, he still had considerable doubts. "Why, then, do you praise this man so much, especially in the presence of those in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after all, we are still not on his side. ”

The Marquis glanced at Franz and suddenly laughed. "Why, you are jealous? You must be very unwilling to tell others that he is 'enough to be Metternich thirty years later', even though he is your grandfather. ”

"How, how could it be ......" Franz couldn't help but be a little embarrassed.

"Hmph. The marquis snorted coldly and put away his smile, "Are you still so dishonest in front of me?"

Franz bowed his head. "Yes, grandpa, I'm a little unconvinced. Although Count Jericho's high-minded talk today is very eye-catching, he does not have the basic qualities of a diplomat at all. He didn't even laugh, how could he talk and laugh with foreign dignitaries. ”

The Marquis squinted at Franz, a gaze that frightened him so much that he couldn't help but shrink his neck. "You see when I'm talking to those kings and ministers, who is laughing with me? You kid, I just said that you have grown, but you still can't change the seed in your bones. You always think that diplomacy is a vigorous tact, only to give people laughter, just like Mencken's virtue. ”

The Marquis's scolding made Franz dare not fight back, after all, he had said the same thing to the Foreign Secretary before, and it was said in front of the Marquis just after the Marquis had criticized Mencken.

"You listen to me well!" the marquis snorted, scaring Franz, who was about to shrink into a ball, into a spirit, "A diplomat is not an endless compromiser and a man of his own, a true diplomat must have his own backbone, and even a layman like Jericho knows this better than you guys who have been in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for so many years! Do you know why I praise Gerichault like that? It is because I see that backbone in him, he just says bad things about you in front of you, what are you going to do?" If it were you, would you laugh at others and say that the other party said it well?"

Franz, who didn't dare to talk back to his grandfather, could only whisper: "But, you, you don't have to praise him like that......"

Looking at his unfortunate grandson, the marquis let out a long sigh helplessly. He knew that Franz's character destined his achievements to be only like this, and he could only help him as much as possible within the limits of his growth, but human nature could not be changed.

"What's wrong with praising him. Although what he said was ugly, he was close to me in terms of concept, and we must face this point. What's more, didn't Ernest also say that the Count Jericho would not embark on the road of diplomacy, not even the official career, what are you afraid of?"

The Marquis's words calmed Franz a little. "So, our current position is still to help Viscount Jericho?"

"Yes, even if Ernest seems to be dizzy today, our position does not allow us to fall to the Earl's side. The Wood and Phil families are bound to support Ernest, at least for now, and the Wood and Phil families are more important to us than the Earl of Midnight and the Jerichos. To turn to the Earl would be to be on the opposite side of them, for that would not do us any good, and besides, it would be unpleasant for those who rebelled on either side. ”

Franz nodded, but he immediately asked another question: "But it seems that Viscount Jericho is not very enthusiastic about the seat of the Earl of Midnight, and it really doesn't matter? ”

"How well do you know Wood?" the Marquis glanced at his grandson, "Wood's guy is so good that his brain is broken. But if Ernest really doesn't want to, do you think he'll do a lot of help to others, and finally help others, not only will he not be appreciated, but he will be blamed, such a stupid thing, will you do it?"

"But......" Franz was about to retort, but his voice immediately became smaller when he saw the marquis's eyes, "but, perhaps, Viscount Jericha's purpose is not the title of earl, or something else, such as the ...... of the earl's life."

"You're a bit of a visionary statement. Hearing this, the Marquis finally nodded, "Ernest really doesn't want the title of the Midnight Earl, and even, he doesn't want that thing at all." I could feel his hatred and disgust for the Earl of Midnight, the title, and even the name. He didn't lie in the slightest to hate this Midnight Earl, hate everything about the Midnight Earl. Back then, I thought that there might be something else hidden in his escape from Midnight Castle, although I don't know what it was, but I have been feeling this way for so many years. ”

"What does it feel?" Franz asked subconsciously.

"He wants to ruin the Earl of Midnight, ruin the title, ruin everything that has to do with it. ”

Franz couldn't help but gasp, that man, that taciturn and cunning Jericho, wanted to ruin the family's title, ruined the family's nobility, was that what he was for?

"Could that be his purpose?" muttered Franz, as if talking to himself as if asking his grandfather again.

"It should be. The Marquis's expression was also uncertain, "At least we can roughly guess Ernest's purpose, although it is possible to guess wrong, but at least we can guess his general purpose, and we can also speculate on his actions from this." But I can't see what Count Jerich's purpose is, and that's another reason why we can't turn against him. ”

The Marquis recalled the actions of the young man in the parlor before, he was like a machine, answering with aristocratic etiquette according to a set procedure, but his own thoughts and feelings, even the Marquis of Metternich, could not discern them.

"Jericho and his son seem to be very cold, and they don't show their feelings easily. But I can understand Ernest's performance, his indifference is the same as that of most Imperial officials who have come this far, including me. When we get to this point, or when we get to this point, we have a limit to what we are allowed to put in our hearts, and if we want power, if we want status, or if we want family, then we have to give up some things, such as fame, such as morality. Ernest is the same kind of person, but we still try to disguise, and he doesn't even bother to do that. Therefore, people like him still have something to ask for, and we can understand and control him. ”

"And a man like Count Jericho, we don't know what he's thinking, what he wants, we can't keep up with his thinking, and we can't stop him from doing whatever he wants. Franz continued the Marquis's words, and he roughly understood what the Marquis meant.

"Yes, that little Jericho is such a person. Maybe he has a purpose, but his path to his purpose is too tortuous and strange for us to understand. I hate people like that, it's like a madman, like that 'crazy count' in history. No matter how great such a person is, even if he has the talents of heaven and earth, it is annoying, because such a person can never be trusted, so Astrad I will try to kill the mad count, even if it costs his reputation and his life. ”

When the Marquis had finished speaking, he closed his eyes, and the room fell silent. Franz looked up at the waning moon outside the window, and for some reason, he felt that it was particularly cold tonight.

The silence lasted for a while, and if no one broke it, it would have been maintained forever.

"Father!" the Marquis's youngest son pushed the door open in a panic, but when he saw the Marquis's unkind eyes, he looked like a cat and a mouse, and Franz clearly saw that Joseph's hair was shaking.

"What's the matter, all the fuss?" said the Marquis's tone in a very bad tone. Looking at Joseph's appearance, it seems that he is afraid that the marquis is already a common disease of the Metternichs.

The servants found a large pool of blood in the utility room next to the kitchen, and also in the corridor outside. I—I'm afraid that if some gangsters break into your house, you'll be in danger......"

"Then if you come in like this, you will die another Metternich!" said the Marquis mercilessly reprimanding the young son, "Do you still have to tell the guests with great fanfare on an occasion like this today that our dignified Metternich family has been robbed?

Joseph was scolded by his father to the fullest, especially in the last sentence, and he wanted to retort that he was younger than his nephew. But as Metternich, he knew that he should never talk back to the Marquis when he was angry, so he had to quietly hand Franz who was sitting next to the Marquis a pleading look.

"Grandpa, no matter what, let me take a look, in case one of the guests is injured, our faces don't look good, do they. Although the Marquis had compared himself to Joseph just now, Franz had a good relationship with this uncle, so he chose to speak for Joseph.

The Marquis gave Franz a covert look, and Franz knew that it was the Marquis who told him not to tell what was happening in the drawing-room.

"Don't worry, I'll be measured. Franz responded with a look from his grandfather.

"Let's go, Joseph. Patting the still stunned uncle on the shoulder, Franz half-pushed Joseph out of the room.

"Alas, Franz, now your father is a little nicer to you, like our sons, it is already good that he does not fight. Sure enough, my son is not as good as my grandson, obviously we are about the same grade. ”

Then you didn't see the way he scolded me just now. Franz sneered in his heart. However, he still laughed and teased this Joseph: "Aren't you afraid that grandpa will hear it?"

Joseph immediately covered his mouth, he was really afraid of the marquis to the core.

The two of them quickly walked to the utility room. Because of Joseph's words just now, Franz paid special attention to the corridors along the way. Because there was a thick red carpet in the hallway, they didn't even notice it just now, and there were some dark marks on the carpet.

Looking at the large pool of blood on the ground, Franz also felt a chill in his heart. It seems that the injured person is very badly injured, although Franz does not understand medicine, but so much blood, even Franz also knows that a person who loses so much blood can die.

"What should I do, do you want to call the police?" asked Franz, who was his uncle, but he subconsciously wanted Franz to make up his mind.

"Didn't Grandpa say it, do you want to tell the guests with great fanfare that our dignified Metternich family has been robbed?"

"Then at least get a sheriff, it's not going to be a human life here. Joseph was still a little uneasy, "If we find out about our house in the future, then our faces will not be even more ugly, and those newspapers will say that we killed people." ”

Franz frowned, Joseph made sense, there was no one in the Metternich family who could solve the case, and if they were caught by outsiders, they might become a reason for others to attack them.

He crouched down, looking closely at the blood stains that stretched out into the hallway outside.

"What do you see, will you still solve the case?" Joseph was a little anxious, he was afraid that if a drunk guy came over later, the Metternich family would not be able to hide it even if they wanted to.

Franz looked in the direction where the blood trail was extending, and suddenly remembered something. He thought of the strange appearance of the Hecate father and daughter, especially the Earl Hecate, who had left in a hurry.

Could it be that it was the Count Hecate who had been wounded, but why did they go away without a word? Just when Franz was puzzled, he thought that the drawing room was not far from this corridor, and he followed the bloodstains, and soon came to the one that had not yet been packed.

Could it be ...... Thinking of the mystery of Lesson 13, Franz felt like he understood the ins and outs of it all.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing!" Joseph was really anxious, Franz didn't take the idea, and pretended to be a detective, could it be that he thought that he had been transferred from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ministry of the Interior.

"Tell the servants to clean up the place, and dispose of the bloodstains, so that the people should not say anything. Franz saw that Joseph seemed to want to say something, and added, "That's what Grandpa meant." ”

Joseph decisively shut up.