The crowd withdrew from Nicholas I's bedroom, leaving only the doctor inside to care for the emperor.

"Your Highness," Prime Minister Pitt walked to Crown Prince Alexander's side and bowed slightly, "Now that His Majesty the Emperor has suddenly become ill, the Empire needs you to take on the responsibility of leadership, and I hope you can cheer up." We are also very worried and sad about His Majesty's condition, but the more this time comes, the more we need to be strong, Your Majesty has a whole empire on his shoulders, and now, this burden needs you to bear. ”

Alexander was still a little dazed, although he was very eager for the throne, but because he was the eldest son, he was established as the crown prince since he was a child, but he was not as eager as Beria. Now that the burden had suddenly fallen on him, Alexander did not know what to do.

Cheering up, the crown prince looked solemnly at Prime Minister Pitt. "I know that everything is according to the original plan, and now my father is lying in a hospital bed and cannot serve on the board, and I am not familiar with government affairs, please do your best to help me through the current difficulties. ”

"This is our part, and we will do our best. The prime minister bowed again, and when he heard Alexander's words, his expression seemed to relax a little, "His Majesty the Emperor's illness, I think it is better not to announce it to the public for the time being, the soldiers on the front line will be shaken." ”

"Well, you have a point. The crown prince frowned and said, "My father was still discussing the navy with me before, and he meant to let the Leviathan fleet continue to blockade the Lonnal Strait, and wait until the south is pacified, and then let the navy come back and carry the army to the Badajoz Peninsula." ”

"Yes, I see, I'll tell Dönitz and Guderian about them. ”

"Then please. The crown prince nodded at Prime Minister Pete and turned his gaze back to the crowd. He searched the crowd for the people of the Thirteenth Lesson, and this morning he had seen Manfred, who had come to deliver the report, and the man had made a deep impression on him, especially with his peculiar appearance.

Manfred was standing in the corner, and in his capacity, he was not entitled to enter the Emperor's bedroom. The reason why he is here is because Count Hecate is still unable to act, Artemis is in Glamorgan at this time, after all, it is still the fief of Count Glamorgan, and she needs to deal with the affairs there, especially after the departure of the 20,000 Western Provincial troops, there are still a lot of things waiting for her to deal with.

Seeing Crown Prince Alexander approaching, Manfred also stepped forward in time and bowed to the crown prince.

"Your Highness. ”

Alexander nodded slightly, for this employee of the Thirteenth Lesson, no matter what his status in the Thirteenth Lesson, he was just a small person in front of the Crown Prince. "Mr. Schneider," said Alexander, "I have a matter for the Thirteenth Class, and I ask you to convey it to Count Hecate. ”

"Yes, I will convey every word to His Excellency the Earl. ”

"Your previous proposal to me was rejected by His Majesty the Emperor, and he asked you to do it. ”

Manfred kept his head down, but he was too tall, even if he had his head down, he would be taller than the crown prince. "Are you going to get Karin back?"

"That's right, I hope you'll come up with a charter soon. "Although the emperor asked Alexander to make his own plans, but now that the emperor is sick in bed, no one cares about these details, not to mention that Alexander doesn't have much leisure time at present, "Your Majesty is not in good health now, bring Karin back as soon as possible, and be sure to catch up before Michel VII notices the Midnight Castle!"

"Follow your orders. Manfred bowed, and the crown prince watched the strange-looking man make meticulous manners, and although there was no prejudice, he still felt very incongruous.

"Then please. Alexander wasn't going to say much more to Manfred, now that his time was precious, he didn't have much leisure to waste on a little guy like Manfred.

As the crown prince walked away, Manfred took a few steps back and stepped into the shadows out of sight. Outside the emperor's bedroom, the voices of people were still bustling, and in addition to the people who had stayed in the room just now, many nobles in the court also heard the news, and it was almost like a banquet. They were all whispering, exchanging information with each other, even some unbounded rumors.

It didn't make sense to Manfred, who stayed in his corner. He was out of step with those nobles, who looked down on this strange-looking and low-status man, and Manfred looked down on these mortals.

As if he was born, although Manfred's appearance always attracted the attention of others, as long as he stood in the shadows, he would become extremely inconspicuous, and if he did not get closer, he would not notice a tall guy standing in the corner.

This trait is not limited to Manfred, there are some people who also walk in the shadows.

"Looks like your recipe is working. Herbert quietly walked to Manfred's side, and no one present noticed them, after all, the identities of these two people were too inconspicuous on the surface, an employee of the thirteenth class, a small director of the engineering department, and a nobleman who could enter the palace of Tiamat, would not care about such a small role.

"It's just a little bit of a gadget that I've worked on before. Manfred shook his head, not smiling at Herbert's compliment, "We should be more vigilant now, shouldn't we?"

Herbert frowned, and he had an instinctive hairbreak at this strange creature, as if he were standing beside not a man, but a beast, ready to bite his neck at any moment.

"Count Hecate didn't notice, did he?" he glanced at Wood, who was talking to his real boss, Beria, who was not qualified to come here with his apparent identity, and Herbert still had the blessing of his father to find this opportunity.

Glancing down, Manfred noticed Herbert's gaze as well, and he couldn't help but sneer softly. "You can rest assured. Speaking of which, the two of us are really alike, both of us are doing things without telling our masters. ”

"That's my father. Herbert narrowed his eyes, "My lord is His Highness Beria. ”

"It doesn't make a difference. Manfred shook his head, disagreeing with Herbert's words, "The Lord is just a cover we use to cover our bodies, our escape hole in case of danger. You and I are both loyal to ourselves, and only ourselves are worthy of our unhesitating allegiance. ”

His hands couldn't help but tremble, Manfred's words did speak to Herbert's mind, he was also a very ambitious man, and unwilling feelings always filled his heart. He is not satisfied with the status of the Phil family, as a new family, and it is also a new family that is not so important, such a status is something he will never be satisfied with, not to mention that he is the second son in the family, and it is difficult to inherit the title, these are the reasons why he is unwilling. He longs for a higher position and more power, so he will take refuge in Beria and become the director of the investigation bureau hidden in the shadows, whether it is infamy or fear, he can endure it in order to one day get the reward he expects.

"Your words ......," Herbert took a deep breath to calm himself, "I beg to differ. ”

"Hmph, hmph, hmph......," Manfred laughed, his broad shoulders trembling, "then please treat me when I didn't say anything, we're just running errands, aren't we?"

"That's right, just doing what I'm told. Herbert was so disturbed by Manfred's laughter that he was always uncomfortable standing beside this man, and even now a cold sweat broke out on his back.

"So, what about the next contact?"

"The old thing, Red Pinwheel. With that, Herbert turned and left. He saw that Wood was still finished talking to Belial and was looking for him.

Watching Herbert leave, the smile on Manfred's face still didn't fade. He watched with interest as Herbert posed in front of Wood as an unsuccessful son, and even he could guess how Herbert would explain to his father what he had just done.

"I'm not a pretty lady, dashing Mr. Herbert. Manfred also stood up from the wall he was leaning on, ready to leave. He'd been in Tiamat's Palace long enough, and if he stayed here any longer, he would probably arouse suspicion.

He walked down the classical-style hallway, and the people around him who passed him looked back at the tall man from time to time, and it was clear that once he was out of the shadows, Manfred's appearance was too easy to attract attention. Manfred didn't care about these glances, just some small nobles who had no real power and could only show off by their origins, and for Manfred, these family names were not worthy of him to remember.

But when he saw Princess Anna, Manfred stopped, leaned aside, and bowed respectfully to the Princess. "Hello, Your Highness. He saw Sophia following the princess, and a very bright smile appeared on her terrible face, and greeted her very warmly, "And you, Miss Jericho, we meet again." ”

The princess didn't know Manfred, and she was even surprised when she saw him, especially when she saw Manfred's excessive enthusiasm for Sophia. She couldn't help frowning, although she was not an arrogant person, but with Manfred's dignity, showing such an expression to a young girl like Sophia still made the princess feel uncomfortable.

"Who are you?" the princess moved a half-step forward, covering Sophia behind her. Sophia was also surprised to see Manfred, but thinking of the courtesy shown by Manfred during that meeting, Sophia was not too afraid of Manfred, although his appearance was really hard not to care about.

"I am subordinate to the Thirteenth Division, and this time the director, Earl Hecate, due to health reasons, has come to make a routine report on my behalf. Manfred was still hunched, courteous and unblemished.

"That's so......" The princess paused slightly, even though Manfred was bent over, the princess still needed to look at him levelly, "so is your report over?" The princess had also heard the name of the thirteen lessons from her husband, Crown Prince Alexander, and although she still didn't know much about this institution, the princess could still understand one thing from her husband's tone: it was better not to get involved in this institution, because it was an organ directly under the emperor.

"Yes, because such an incident happened, I still need to go back and inform the director, so I left some time for a long time, so as not to have any misunderstandings and make the director make a wrong judgment. ”

This made the princess very uncomfortable, and it seemed that this Ministry of the Interior was in charge of their royal family. But she couldn't say anything, after all, she knew too little about the agency and didn't know the scope of its duties. "Do you know Miss Jerichault?" said the princess, looking down as best she could.

Manfred glanced at Sophia quietly, he wasn't interested in Sophia, of course, but her brother Swain. Because of the relationship with Herbert, Manfred got a lot more information, and after the Marquis of Metternich and others were rescued by the Philip family, the truth about Michel VII's sudden arrest of the mission was finally learned by the German side, and Manfred also saw this information. As for the reason why Michel VII suddenly wanted to kill Swain, perhaps others can only be unclear, thinking that this armistice negotiation was originally a trap for Michel VII, but Manfred can see some clues.

Quickly lowering his head, Manfred's tone was still respectful, even almost humble. "I'm just meeting Miss Jericho's brother, Count Jericho, a few times, and I'm only a one-sided relationship with Miss Jerichault. However, because Count Jericho had visited Fort Govélen, the headquarters of the Thirteenth Section, before he left for Pritown, he would be a little emotional when he saw this young lady now. ”

Sophia was slightly stunned, she didn't know anything about her brother having been to the headquarters of the Thirteenth Class, and Swain had never mentioned it to her. "Brother, have you been to Govélenburg?" asked Sophia.

"Yes, yes, on April 3rd. Count Jericho also visited the castle that day, and also had dinner, and now Heckat and Jericho are very close families. Manfred said with a smile that made his face feel awkward, but he smiled like a flattering smile.

"What do you mean by that?" The princess was a little strange, after getting the news that Caterina and Swain were safe, she immediately informed Sophia, the two of them were in a much better mood in the past two days, and the princess often invited Sophia to have afternoon tea together, so the relationship was very close, and at the tea party, she heard Sophia tell a lot about the history of the Jericho family, and had some understanding of this family. Therefore, the princess could not help but be surprised to hear Manfred's words, she had never heard of Hecate's friendship with Jerichault.

"Ah, it is so, on the day that Count Jericho came to Midnight Castle, he made a proposal to His Excellency the Count of Hecate. Manfred said, the smile on his face still unchanged, and when he saw Sophia, he had an idea, "He has made a marriage contract to His Excellency the Earl, hoping to marry Miss Artmis, the only daughter of the Earl, and to unite the two honorable surnames......"

"This can't be!" Before Manfred could finish his sentence, Sophia suddenly screamed and interrupted him.

Princess Anna couldn't help but turn her face sideways and look at Sophia in surprise. In a few days of contact, Sophia left a quiet and gentle impression on the princess, and the princess had only seen such a gaffe once, when Sophia learned of the mission's accident. Speaking of which, every time the earl is mentioned, Sophia behaves very differently, as if the meaning of the brother to her has gone beyond the scope of relatives...... Thinking of this, the princess was a little worried, she could now roughly guess Sophia's thoughts, but, in her opinion, the Count Jericho and Sophia were not a good match.

Manfred looked up at Sophia, he deliberately showed just the right amount of surprise, but in his heart, he was satisfied with Sophia's reaction. If you can't take the fortress head-on...... He thought to himself. Then finding a breakthrough is the best way.

Looked at by the princess and Manfred in surprise, Sophia also calmed down a little, realizing her rudeness just now. She retreated behind the princess and said no more.

Seeing Sophia's performance like this, the princess couldn't help frowning. "So, did Count Hecate agree?" she asked Manfred, but her gaze remained on Sophia.

"Your Excellency the Earl is still considering," Manfred said, with a look of sincere fear, "if I have misunderstood something, I hope you will forgive me." If we misunderstand what Count Jericho meant, we will definitely inform His Excellency the Earl when we go back next time, so as to avoid further embarrassment between the two sides. ”

"You must have made a mistake...... Sophia lowered her head and muttered in a low voice, she was more obsessed with this matter than the princess could have imagined.

The princess didn't hear Sophia's muttering, but she could tell the clue from Sophia's expression. "If you're all right, hurry up," she said to Manfred, waving her hand slightly, "Your time must be precious." ”

Of course, Manfred heard the princess's intention to evict the guest, and he immediately retreated in amusement. "You're wasting your precious time, please allow me to leave. He hunched over, took a few slow steps back, and quickly disappeared around the corner of the hallway.

The princess glanced in the direction Manfred had left, and she now had an even worse impression of the man. "You seem excited," she said, looking at Sophia worriedly, her eyebrows lowered, "do you like your brother very much?"

Still keeping her head down, Sophia replied softly: "I'm sorry, Your Highness, I'm a little unwell, please allow me to go back to my room to rest first." ”

Of course, the princess could hear that this was a prevarication, she sighed, other people's family affairs, even if she was the princess, she was not qualified to put her beak in it. "Then go back and rest, no matter what, please take care of yourself. ”

"Yes......" Sophia bowed to the princess and left.

The princess, who had stayed in place, let out another long sigh, and the worry in her heart became even heavier.