Despite the veil, although she didn't say a word, the Duchess's aura was so strong that even the doorman didn't dare to come forward to interrogate her, and she led Rhodes into the chamber of commerce headquarters unimpeded, and went upstairs to the door of an office. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Is Dieter there?"

"I've been waiting for you—please come in, ma'am. The bodyguard didn't know who came, but he had already been greeted by his employer, bowed and opened the door for the visitor.

The office was crisp and bright, the air smelled of ink, paper, and coins, the furniture and floors were polished, and the shelves behind his desk were lined with a row of books of all kinds, which Rhodes doubted had ever been opened.

"Ah...... Madame, you are still so radiant, you have lit up the whole room at once!" The man sitting behind the desk jumped up at once, and flexibly pulled out a chair for the female mage around the table, and then looked at the young man, and gave him the same one: "Good afternoon, young master, I haven't seen you for a few years, and I have grown into a handsome young man." ”

"Good afternoon. Rod shrugged and sat down in his chair.

Probably because he had grown taller, Dieter was much shorter than Rhodes had remembered, and his figure was slightly fattered, and just by looking at his flesh and his standard sleek smile, he should have done well in business, and the furnishings in the house confirmed this.

"Enough, don't make senseless compliments, you know my temper. Raven untied her veil and put it on the table, sat down in a chair and asked straight to the point, "You already know the purpose of my coming, when are you going to leave?"

Dieter waited for the two of them to sit down and returned to his seat, rubbing his hands and looking at Rod, a little helpless: "Hmm...... Your Excellency has sent someone to talk to me. But you should know that I'm not really in business, isn't it a little inappropriate to let the young master go out with me?"

Rhodes frowned a little strangely, he had already heard his father say it, "not really" doing business, could he still pretend to be in business?

"My husband thinks that if you put half of your mind on Rhodes to protect him, you can protect him from a single hair. The female mage said in a steady tone: "In addition, I also hope that this time Rod will not cause trouble, and you happen to be steady and cautious." I didn't come back to discuss with you, now answer me, are you ready, when will you leave?"

"If you're sure...... Ready to go, but the original schedule was for thirteen days......"

"Well, in thirteen days, there is no need to change the plan, it doesn't matter. Raven paused for a moment and looked at her son: "You often walk outside, do you have any opinions?" ”

"Opinions?" Dieter poured a cup of tea for each of the two people sitting opposite, touched his face and thought for a while: "I suggest not to reveal the identity of the young master, although no one dares to openly confront the Foster family, but with all due respect, there are some things that His Majesty the Emperor has done with the assistance and support of the Duke...... It has blocked the path of many forces and harmed the interests of those people. In the utter absence of a head-on confrontation, they will be happy to retaliate - out of reach of you and adults. ”

"Makes sense. The female mage raised her eyebrows and nodded lightly: "Then let's just create an identity for him, your suggestion?"

Rod pricked up his ears, after all, this is closely related to his future days.

"I'm some...... The child of a distant relative?" Dieter asked cautiously, "I don't mean to be related to my wife, if I offend ......"

The female mage's expression did not fluctuate: "I am not so easily offended, except for all the members of this small family with the surname Foster, you are my closest people, half of my relatives." She glanced warnly at her son, who was writhing around and couldn't sit still, "Just say he's your nephew?" No, nephew, I'm younger than you and don't mind being a sister once, but my husband doesn't necessarily want to have more than one brother for no reason." ”

"Listen to Madame's orders. Dieter agreed, and Catherine, who had also been in the Foster house, dared to let Rhodes call her sister, and he would not dare to call the Duchess his sister.

"Parenting...... You don't need any training or qualifications to get on the job, but it's hard to be a good job. I tried to be a mother I thought was qualified, but Rod's father once blamed me for spoiling my child. Raven turned to look at Dieter again, and the conversation turned elsewhere: "Obviously he was busy with this and didn't have time to spend with the child, but blamed me for not bringing it well, and at that time I was angry and replied to him - 'Why can't I pet the child I gave birth to by ability'." ”

(Is it still spoiled to be so strict, then Syphus and Jaime are all spoiled.) Rod muttered to himself, but did not interrupt his mother's conversation with Dieter. The merchant sat awkwardly, not daring to comment on the Duke's family affairs, but the woman had no intention of letting him judge:

Naturally, his father didn't talk back, but I knew very well in my heart that words could be said willfully, and this was not the case after all. I am a mage, a duchess, powerful and noble, but inexperienced as a mother. Maybe I have the ability to protect Rhodes for the rest of my life, but after all, I hope that he will grow up to be a man who stands up to the sky. However, he was in charge of me at home, and he was watched by his sister at school, and that guy from Grom just accompanied him to practice swords and didn't care about anything, always staying with women...... Maybe there's something missing about 'masculinity', though I don't know what masculinity is. Raven looked for her own problems unhurriedly and reflected, her attitude calm and clear: "I see that both of your sons have been raised well, Dieter. So I reflected, maybe the male elders really have an irreplaceable role in the child's growth? This time, I overcame a mother's desire to control and protect her child, and I handed him over to you, and for me, and his father, who was always away from home, to teach this child something that I didn't teach. ”

"Madame's words are serious, since you speak, Xiao naturally does his best. ”

"Xiao Luo. The woman turned her head and stared solemnly at the impatient young man: "After you go out, Dieter is your elder, this is not just a disguise, I want you to listen to him as if you listen to me - you will do what he tells you to do, and don't move if you don't let you do it." Dieter, if he is disobedient, just bring him back, and don't think about going out for a while. ”

"No, Mom......"

"I'll let Grom follow, he can hold down this bear child, you two are both penniish and martial, and guide Rod well. ”

"I'm sixteen years old, don't let people follow me when I go out for a trip!"

"Hey, that's amazing, sixteen years old, you can make your own decisions when you're an adult, right, you have your own chance to call the shots outside, but don't say that in front of me. The Duchess narrowed her eyes and reminded the other party that her decision was beyond doubt: "Don't say that you are really childish now, even if you are in your twenties and thirties in the future, you will always be a child in my eyes." If you think you can do anything wrong without me, you can try. ”

"Okay, got it. Rod muttered unconvinced.

"It's almost the same thing that should be said, in the remaining ten days, you should also make preparations, there are so many available people in the empire, you are not the only one. Raven soothed her expression and turned back to look at the merchant, meaningful: "You know what I mean, things have priorities. ”

"Understood. "Dick's head.

Rhodes was further confused by the riddle-like conversation between the two, but quickly put the doubts behind him, knowing that the travel arrangements were complete and ready to go.

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