"I have heard from His Majesty's message that Crown Prince Hermes has passed away. She didn't raise her voice, and every word was sonorous.

The cheerfulness had faded, and the triumphant glint in the eyes of the crowd had dimmed, and she paused for a moment to let them realize the fact, and then nudged her horse on, and the people followed her back to Fort Stag.

The people passed through the city gates unhindered, and the soldiers in charge of the guards looked up as the people passed by, and one of them saluted the queen casually, but she did not notice. Borges's face sank even more, but he didn't say a word.

The situation in the courtyard of the castle seemed to be no different from usual.

The stable's men helped the people to bring the horses back, and the other servants and people were busy with their daily chores.

It was all so familiar that Teach Filin felt a little upset. Hermes is dead, but the routine goes on as usual, and it just doesn't feel right.

Borges helped Floya dismount, and her group of maids had been waiting there for a long time.

Filin watched as the court maids hurriedly carried Floya into the house, surprised by her fatigue and difficulty, and asked her if she was okay, while expressing sympathy, regret, and sad exclamation.

And I vaguely noticed a look of jealousy on the fox glove's face. As the captain of the Queen's Guard, she has the status of a soldier and swears to protect the Queen's life, but no matter how much she cares for her Queen, she cannot follow her into the castle at this time.

Floya was now cared for by her court maids, but Filin knew that Borges wouldn't be alone at Floya's door tonight.

Floya's maids eagerly whispered to each other for her, letting Filin understand that rumors of her pregnancy had spread, and wondering if His Majesty had heard about it too.

I was well aware that rumours were almost always circulating in the circles of ladies before they became known, and he was suddenly anxious to inquire whether His Majesty knew that Floya was pregnant with an heir to the throne.

Filin handed the reins of soot to Afa and thanked him and promised to tell him everything later, but Borges put his hand on Filin's shoulder behind him as he walked towards the castle.

"I'm going to talk to you now. ”

He sometimes treats Filin almost like a prince, but sometimes he treats Filin as a minor character who is not even as good as a horse boy. His words were not a request, but a commanding tone.

Ah Fa smiled wryly and handed the soot reins back to Firin, and then left to take care of the other animals, and he followed Borges, who led the red child, back to the stable.

It wasn't hard to find a vacant spot next to the soot stables for Hong'er, as too many of them had already been vacated. People began to carry out the routine of caring for the horses. Borges works nearby while tending to the horses, and the intimacy of the routine is pleasant.

The stables were quiet, but Borges waited until there was no one around before he asked Film, "Is it true?"

"To be honest, he doesn't know either. Filin's contact with him had been severed and had become weak before he traveled to Gie's Bay, and Filin had always had a hard time maintaining contact with him while fighting.

He said that I was strong enough to defend the people around me, but I kept him out because of it. ”

"I don't know anything about that, but Filin knows the problem. Are you sure you lost contact with him at that time?"

So Filin told him that he had faintly felt Hermes in that battle, and that perhaps he had been attacked at the same moment, and Borges nodded impatiently.

"But, now that the situation has stabilized, can't you speak to him and re-establish your connection?"

Filmin immediately suppressed his churning frustration. "No, he can't, he can't speak in secret like that. ”

Borges frowned. "Listen, if people know that there have been frequent errors in the transmission of information lately, how do people know that this news is not unfounded?"

"One cannot confirm it, but it is hard to believe that His Majesty dared to falsely fake the death of Hermes. ”

"Filin can trust him to do anything. Borges said calmly.

After Filin had cleaned the soot of the mud from the horse's hooves, he straightened up and watched Borges lean against the door of Hong'er's stable, staring into the distance, a strand of gray hair on his head as a vivid reminder of how cruel and ruthless his Majesty was.

He ordered Borges to be killed as if he had killed an annoying fly, and His Majesty did not seem to care if he was not killed, not at all afraid of the revenge of a master of the stables or an illegitimate son.

"So, what will he say when Hermes returns?" Filin asked calmly.

"Once he became king, he would not let Hermes come back.

Whoever ascends to the throne of the Five Dukes is free to dispose of anyone he deems a thorn in his side. Borges did not look directly at Fihrin when he stated this, and he tried not to let the prickly words affect him. That's true.

Once Your Majesty gains power, there will undoubtedly be a group of Assassins waiting to do what you are told, perhaps by now. The thought sent a chill to Firin.

"If people want to confirm that Hermes is alive, they can only send someone to him and bring back his message. Filin proposed to Borges.

"Even if the messenger makes it back alive, it will take too much time. Once His Majesty is in power, the words of the messenger will be nothing to him, and those who carry such messages will not dare to speak out loud.

People need proof that Hermes is still alive, and proof that King Creek will accept, and if he has this evidence before His Majesty gains power, that guy will not succumb to the crown prince for long. ”

"But King Creek and Floya's children were still ahead of him. Filmin protested.

"It turns out that even a strong adult can't sit in that position, let alone a frail old man or an unborn child. ”

Borges shook his head and brushed the thought aside. "Well, since you can't speak to him, who can?"

"Any member of the arcane spelling team. ”

"Come on, he doesn't trust any of them. ”

"King Creek maybe," Filin suggested hesitantly, "if he can draw strength from Filin." ”

"Will it work even if you lose contact with Hermes?" Borges asked eagerly.

Filmin shrugged and shook his head. "Fei Lin didn't know, so Fei Lin said 'maybe'. ”

He did one last straightening on Hong'er's freshly combed, shiny fur. "You have to try," he said firmly, "and the sooner the better, and Floya must not be left to mourn for no reason, for it might cost her a child." He sighed

One breath and then looked at Filin. "Go and rest, and then plan to meet the king tonight. If Filin sees you in his room, whatever King Creek finds, he will make sure someone sees you. ”

"Borges," Filin protested, "there are so many uncertainties that he doesn't even know if the king will be awake tonight or if he will be able to speak in code, or if he will accede to Filin's request." If people do this, Your Majesty and the others will know that Fei Lin is a citizen of our prince who knows arcane magic, and ......"

"Sorry, boy. Borges interjected suddenly, almost mercilessly. "There are too many crises here that are more important than your life.

It's not that I don't care about you, but Filin thinks it's better to let Your Majesty know that you know that you can use secret spells and prove that Hermes is alive will make your situation safer than to convince your Majesty of Hermes' death and make His Majesty think that he can get rid of you at the right time.

People have to try tonight, maybe it won't work, but they have to try. ”

"Filin wants you to find some elven bark. "I whined about him. "You're getting addicted? Be careful. Then he grinned, "Of course Filmin can get some." ”

I smiled back and was surprised at myself. Filin didn't believe Hermes was dead, and the smile he had just had just made was meant to prove it. Filin had no idea that Fillin's crown prince was no longer alive, and that I was about to go hand-to-hand with His Majesty to prove that this was the case.

And only by letting Fei Lin do this with an axe in both hands can he be more satisfied.

"Can you help him?" Filin asked Borges.

"What's the matter?" he asked alarmedly.

"You have to be very, very careful yourself. ”

"Filmin has always been, and you have to be careful. ”

Filin nodded, then stood silently, feeling extremely embarrassed.

After a while, Borges sighed and said, "Say, if Filin sees Ariana, do you want Filin to tell her...... What?"

Filin shook his head to himself. "Just tell her I miss her, and what else can I say to her?" Filmin couldn't give her anything but that. ”

He looked at Filin with a strange expression, sympathetic, not the slightest hint of false comfort. "Film'll tell her. He assured Filin.

When Filin left the stable, he felt as if he had grown up, and wondered when he would stop judging himself by Borges's attitude towards Filin.

Filin went straight to the kitchen to get a bite to eat, and then followed Borges's advice to rest. The guard room was packed with soldiers returning from the battlefield, gobbling up stews and bread while telling those who stayed behind what had happened. This is to be expected,

And Fei Lin only wanted to take his share of food back to the room, but saw that the kitchen was full of kettles of boiling water, bread was fermenting and expanding, and the meat skewers were on the barbecue fork. The servants of the kitchen were busy chopping vegetables and stirring, hurrying around.

"There's a banquet tonight?" Filin asked squishily.

Sarah, the cook, turned to face Filin. "Oh, Kaz, you're back alive, unscathed, unlike ever. ”