In fact, not only Henry VII, but the entire banquet hall, whether familiar with Duke or unfamiliar with Duke, could not believe that everything in front of them was real. How could such a waste straw bale have anything to do with Cardinal Leonard, and the Cardinal still affectionately let him sit next to him.

It can be said that since Leonard assumed the post of archbishop of the diocese of the French Empire, he had never seen him so close to the young nobleman. How did Duke do it, could it be because of Duke Otto? But seriously, even if Duke Otto is known as the god of war of the empire, his influence is limited to the French Empire, and the Holy See still doesn't need to give him this face.

"Thank you, Cardinal. ”

Duke also replied politely at this time, but what he thought in his heart was that he really had money to do things, he just threw the money last night, and today Leonard is obviously much more enthusiastic about himself. After all, Duke not only paid the indemnity, but also offered double the Mass money, which is not a small amount.

But then again, with Leonard's status and energy, it is definitely worth it to build a good relationship with him for such a small amount of money. If you change to an ordinary high-ranking official in the imperial capital, you may spend several times as many gold coins, and you may not be able to let them help say a word.

The reason is very simple, because the high-ranking officials and real power figures in the imperial capital are all rich people, and they are not even the kind with a net worth of hundreds of thousands of gold coins at every turn. Moreover, in this era, there is no definition of corruption at all, and the income of any nobleman is legitimate, except for military supplies, so they may receive a lot of filial piety.

However, the clergy of the Holy See are strictly forbidden to accept worldly goods without permission, and they must ensure the purity of their hearts. Although there are few people who have been able to maintain the temptation for thousands of years, this torii has not fallen, and if it is discovered, it will be severely punished.

Moreover, Leonard, as a high-ranking cardinal, who dares to bribe him in ordinary people, is simply looking for death. It was only at the beginning that Kasmai, anyway, when he came up from the bottom, he wanted to transfer out of Storm Castle to live, so he naturally risked his life and bribed, but he didn't expect to be successfully put on the line.

So Leonard, seriously, has a lot of power, even control over a country. But in reality, there was no money, and the Mass money that Duke sent this time may be the largest income he has received since he became a priest, or it may be one of the few additional incomes. Duke just paid off Leonard with minimal cost, plus the audacity to bribe Leonard, and finally got an unimaginable return, and the deal was definitely worth it.

But this is far from the end, after Duke sat down in front of everyone, he naturally greeted Andre, who was closest to him: "Lord Paladin, thank you very much for your love for me, I am actually very sorry that I was not able to become your student. ”

Duke's sudden statement made Andre directly stunned, he never expected Duke to speak such a family. What is the love that used to be for him, before Princess Gina didn't ask, she didn't even know what this guy's name was.

is even willing to accept Duke as his student, but also for the sake of Princess Jina's repeated requests. As for Duke's final refusal, in addition to making Andre feel a little faceless, it was more of a blessing. You must know that as a paladin and a knight teacher of the Martial Arts Academy, Andre cares very much about his reputation as a knight, and if he recruits a student who can't even graduate, it will be a huge blow to his reputation.

And Andre has always upheld the integrity of a knight, and it is impossible to use means to make a straw bale like Duke graduate, so he will inevitably fall into an endless loop. So Duke's departure, in a sense, is also a good thing for Andre.

It's just that Duke is saying this now, so that Andre really doesn't know how to take it, but with Andre's character, he can't do that kind of cold face to expose it, so he can only politely reply: "It's okay, everyone has their own ambitions." ”

But Andre's simple answer just misunderstood everyone present, and they thought that it was really Andre's love for Duke and wanted to accept him as their student. What's more, Duke actually rejected Andre's recruitment very awesomely, which is unbelievable.

Before, it was rumored in the imperial capital that Andre was able to recruit Duke because of Princess Jina's face. It may not be the case now, after all, this guy is so close to Cardinal Leonard, and it is not difficult to enter the martial arts academy.

Just when everyone thought that this was the end, Duke raised his glass at this time and said to the chief royal mage Dumbledore opposite: "Lord Dumbledore, I didn't have time to talk to you in a hurry last night, and I will toast you today to make amends." ”

Compared with Andre's stunned and surprised, Dumbledore's face did not change, as if he knew that Duke would greet him, with a kind smile on his face, and then raised his glass and replied: "It's a small matter, if Sir Duke has time, he can come to my residence and have a drink with me." ”

"No problem, I'll be there. Duke quickly picked up, and then took the lead in taking a drink.

To be honest, Duke was also gambling just now, because compared to Leonard, Duke and Dumbledore are really only one-sided, except for knowing his hidden identity, they are completely in a strange state.

However, since he is the president of the Dark Witch Society, Duke has reason to believe that Gandalf, the old fellow, must have told Dumbledore everything he did and everything that happened to Stormcastle.

The enemy of an enemy is a friend, not to mention that Duke is now almost on the same page as the Dark Witch. So theoretically, Dumbledore would never have exposed himself.

As Duke expected, Dumbledore did not expose it, and he was unusually cooperative with himself, even inviting himself to the residence for a drink. Of course, Duke also understood that it was definitely not drinking, but that Dumbledore wanted to say something to himself, so Duke directly agreed.

It's just that as Duke greeted these bigwigs one after another, it was an incomparable shock in the eyes of others. It can be said that there are only a handful of people in the entire Francois Empire who can do this, and they are the most powerful in the Francois Empire. And among the aristocratic youths, none of them can do it, even the prince is no exception.

But now Duke has done it, and it's so easy and clichéd, it's beyond the influence of Duke Otto, how the hell did this guy do it?