Archduke William followed the two guards and walked slowly down the narrow corridor. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info He was looking at the famous paintings on the walls while thinking about his own questions.

Outside the window, in the distance, the dark and quiet night seems to have a little more hidden hustle and bustle.

"Ah......h

Under the names of the Patriarch of the William family, one of the seventeen nobles of Northwater, the permanent president of the noble council, the chief military officer of the empire, and so on, Archduke William often said that he was nothing more than an old man who liked to think and play chess. Xia is a young man who knows how to forbear, and he is also a good chess friend, but every time he plays chess, he can see that he lost to himself only intentionally. It can't be helped, young people just think faster than we bad old men.

The "struggle" with these young people always reminded Archduke Wilhelm of his own youth.

- It's nice to be young, he always thinks so.

"Here we are, Archduke William. The two guards, dressed in full armor, stopped and turned to salute Archduke William, one of whom spoke without a word.

It's terrifying, these henchmen of Thea. Even in the face of me, he can maintain such a neutral attitude, not hostile, and not flattering.

Not bad. It's just that neutrality is hostile to me.

Archduke William's long beard, which showed his majesty to the fullest, shook slightly. This old man, who is nominally one person below Northwater, above ten thousand, but in fact the supreme ruler of Northwater, exudes an awe-inspiring aura just by standing there.

He was just thinking.

The unspoken guard saluted a little unskillfully, was it a recruit, or did Thea not care about cultivating the "etiquette" of this group of soldiers?

Archduke William sneered in his heart, but it was himself who laughed.

When did he become so concerned about that boy as Sia? jealous, or something else?

It's not a good habit to look down on others.

Although almost all of the power has been hollowed out by us, he has always behaved honestly. However, the son of the tiger is still a tiger after all, and no matter how much he tries to disguise himself as a docile kitten, the fangs and claws can only be put away for a while, not for a lifetime.

"Tiger", the last emperor of the empire, Runes, ultimately failed to take back the emperor's "rightful power" from the nobles, so what about the "son of the tiger"?

Will it be "better than blue"?

I am also a little "contradictory".

Thinking so, Archduke Wilhelm pushed open the door of the Emperor's study.

......

......

......

There was no frills in the room, and apart from the four rectangular bookcases and neatly organized desks, and the wooden chairs, which did not describe the necessary features at all, the only thing that could be called decoration was the plain curtains that fell down. Bookcases are tools for storing books, and tables and chairs are essential for handling government affairs, and as mentioned above, they do not have any cut-outs and patterns as decoration.

Here, there is not even a decent candlestick, only a candle that is about to be burned out is placed diagonally on the edge of the window. It's really a room that doesn't match the emperor's status...... However, it was such a simple, even rudimentary, room that made Archduke Wilhelm really pay attention to the young man he had watched grow up.

Chia Tulufates.

"Squeak", a slight sound was made, and the door was also the most "shabby" in the palace. Habitually wanting to salute, but with a glance at it, Archduke Wilhelm failed to find Thea, the young emperor, in the room. Originally, the salute was only a traditional form, and among the many nobles in Northwater, I am afraid that only Archduke William and the "noble" Aiden Walden, who was picked up by Sia, would salute the young emperor in private.

"Is His Majesty the Emperor not there?" said Archduke William, frowning, but his expression was immediately soothed, and he straightened the hem of his red-and-black gold-trimmed robe, which in Northwater was a style of clothing that only the highest nobles could wear, and smoothed the beard at the corner of his mouth, and turned slightly, but to listen to the two guards who had brought him with him, who had told him, "His Majesty the Emperor is waiting for you in his study," in such words.

Experienced as Archduke William, he has already noticed that something is wrong. However, most of the guards in the palace are from their own side, so it can be said that they have nothing to fear...... No, I hardly saw any familiar faces in the palace today, did you use some method to transfer all my people away? Or is it not right, the reason why I hardly saw familiar guards was because there were no other guards here!

What an old fool...... Archduke William thought self-deprecatingly. In fact, here, no matter what the occasion, there is not even a single person who dares to call him "old fool", because no matter who knows that the reason why this high-ranking old man has been able to actually control the military and political power of Northwater for more than 30 years is not only because he is a nobleman, a member of the William family, one of the three nobles of the empire.

So, what exactly does Shia want to do? That's what the old man thinks about right now.

"William, have you also been called here by the Emperor Boy?" made Archduke William stop thinking, and also stopped the sound of turning around from the doorway that was pushed open, the blind spot of Archduke William's vision.

Behind the door.

It's not Thea, so who is the person in this room? Judging from the tone and the content of the speech, the tone is obviously very solemn, but it will make people feel a little inexplicably jumpy. Will call me "William" directly, dare to call Xia "Emperor Kid", and finally, there will be people who may be interested in standing in that strange position...... That could only be one person.

Archduke William turned his body back and looked out the window.

"Archduke Newster, is it your hobby to stand behind the door like that?"

"Not a hobby. From behind the blackened wooden door, the same voice as before appeared with the footsteps.

This is an old man, who looks about the same age as Archduke William, and like him, an "old man" who does not look old.

The only one in the Council of Seventeen Nobles who has maintained a neutral attitude all the year round, and is also one of the three nobles, the patriarch of the Neustrian family, the "old father" of the imp Evan, Black Calion Newster. And he is also, once recognized by William as the only person in the country who has a certain threat to his status, a man with an eccentric personality and a soft and hard man.