Surdak touched the ground on one knee, took the back of Lady Marianne's hand in one hand, and brought it to his mouth and kissed it gently.

Lady Marianne smiled and motioned for Surdak to stand up and speak.

"You're Baron Surdak?"

When she laughed, there were crow's feet piled up at the corners of her eyes, which were the marks left on her face by the years, and she must have been a beauty when she was younger.

Surdak respectfully replied:

"Yes, ma'am."

Marianne said gently, "Somewhat different from what I thought, you are as strong as a northerner. ”

Marquis Luthor looked very happy, he stretched out his hand and motioned for Surdak to sit on the sofa opposite, and said, "The journey must have been smooth, you came a week earlier than I expected. ”

"Yes, Lord Marquis. After receiving your letter, rush to the airport dock of Highlandsa City, just in time for a magical airship about to fly to Bena. Surdak replied with some restraint as he sat on the sofa embroidered with ornate patterns.

The lavish level in the hall of the manor castle was somewhat beyond his imagination, many of the utensils were inlaid with gold wire, the ceiling was hung with crystal chandeliers, and even the tea table in front of him was carved from ironwood, and the tea sets on the wooden table were made of sterling silver, inlaid with red sapphires, and the gold guards were polished brightly.

After Surdak sat down, the maid who had been waiting for a long time hurriedly made fragrant tea for everyone.

He sat up straight on the sofa, but the soft sofa was not suitable for such a sitting position, and he said to the Marquis of Luthor in front of him: "Lord Marquis, if it were not for your recommendation, I would have been the Knight of the Guard Battalion in the city of Highlandsa, for which I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you." ”

With that, he got back to his feet and gave Surdak a military salute.

The Marquis of Luther was dressed in a neat aristocratic dress, and when he did not keep his face, the fierce momentum on his body disappeared at once, but his eyes were still embarrassed, his hair was neatly combed, his beard was cleanly shaved, and he was at least ten years younger than when he was in the city of Warzhmara.

The Marquis of Luthor was very satisfied with Surdak's humble attitude, and he waved his hand at Surdak and said:

"Hehe, it's nothing, for a knight who is good at holy light arts, you will step into the nobility level sooner or later, I just shortened the process a little, and played a little bit of a role in the middle, I am very happy to help a young and promising knight like you."

Marquis Luthor picked up the teacup and took a casual sip before asking:

"Is your barony settled? If you don't find a suitable place, you can come to Bena City, after all, the layout of Highlandsa City is still a little smaller, and the noble lords over there almost have private planes, and it is difficult to have more fertile land for you to choose. ”

Surdak didn't expect that Marquis Luthor would help him expand his territory, and he was about to say that he had already chosen a territory in the city of Highlandsa, when he heard Marquis Luthor continue:

"Relatively speaking, Bednar City has a lot more territory options than Highlandsa City, and a good young nobleman like you should choose a plane with more development prospects, set the barony in a wealthy plane, and when everything is stable, you can expand your new territory in the plane, which is a step that every capable nobleman has to go through."

‘……’

Surdak didn't expect to be able to do this, he thought that the land on the main plane would be more valuable.

Marquis Luthor said: "As long as you expand your territory to a large enough size, and then build enough merits on the plane battlefield, you can be promoted from a third-class baron to a second-class baron, in fact, this process is easy for you, the territory that needs to be expanded first does not need to be very large, and the merit that is established only requires a few enemy heads." ”

Hearing Marquis Luthor say this, as if a new door was slowly opening in front of Surdak, he asked with a look of surprise:

"Lord Marquis, can I still be promoted?"

The Marquis de Luthor and Madame Marianne looked at each other and said:

"Of course, there seems to be a high wall between nobles and commoners, which is difficult for ordinary people to overcome, but when you enter the aristocratic class, you can exercise some of your powers according to the code of conduct of the nobles, and you will find that it is not difficult to promote the title, the only criterion for judging is territory and merit, as long as you establish enough merit, you can even reach my current position."

"Now that plane wars are breaking out everywhere in the Grimm Empire, it is far from as difficult as imagined to establish meritorious service."

Surdak thought that Marquis Luthor was one of the lords of the main battle faction in Bena Province, so he was naturally very supportive of the young nobles of the empire going to war, and he had two very famous swordsmen in the army, which was probably the reason for Marquis Luthor to say these words.

Marquis Luthor said, "After this maca plane battle, I guess I will have to rest for a while. ”

"It's just that at present, most of the army of the Bednar Legion is trapped in the Warsaw plane, although the battle situation has improved some time ago, but recently it has fallen into a passive war situation, the main army of the Bussman family's constructed knights has been blocked by those demons in the mountains east of Gandaur Mountain, and the Kempato River defense line has also declared a crisis in the situation. Duke Bussmann has offended the royal family of Angelboy, and the Royal Constructed Knights have now completely evacuated the Warsaw plane. ”

"Now the Supreme Council of Bena has several different opinions on the next strategic deployment of the Warsaw plane, and no matter which opinion is finally decided, the province of Bena will send you a new army to change the defense."

"My next defense zone will not be in the Warsaw plane, and I hope you will accompany me when the time comes."

Marquis Luthor looked at Surdak expectantly.

Although Surdak didn't really want to participate in the plane war, and his not so good memories were related to the plane war, he knew that he must not say it at this time, so he could only bite the bullet and say: "I am willing to go with the adults." ”

Hearing Surdak say this, Marquis Luthor felt very satisfied, he liked a young nobleman with backbone like Surdak, and young people should be hard-boned.

As if he had remembered something, he looked at the empty seat beside him, and glanced impatiently at Lady Marianne.

Lady Marianne nodded slightly to him, motioning for him to be patient.

At this time, the curtain of the arch next to the living room shook slightly.

The two maids lifted the curtain hanging on the arch, and several aristocratic ladies dressed in court-like dresses came out of the cloister.

Blonde with a faint smile on her face, snow-white arms and chest. Surdak was a little dazzled.

This court dress style long skirt corset can be pinned to the waist, and the design style of the large open chest, although it is decorated with some white lace, is still the most unrestrained long skirt Surdak has ever seen, with exquisite collarbones and large breasts. Almost all of them are unobstructed.

Hathaway walked behind the three noble ladies in a long white gauze dress, her dress was a little elegant, far less gorgeous than the clothes of her three sisters, but as beautiful as a pure white lily.

She deliberately walked at the back, and when she walked, she also seemed depressed and absent-minded.

When the ladies came out of the cloister, they saw Surdak sitting on the sofa, and when they saw the Marquis Luthor talking to him with a pleasant face, they looked at Surdak curiously, and whispered about his appearance.

Surdak's appearance may not be very handsome, and even a little ordinary when thrown into the crowd, but what flows out of him is a kind of momentum that can only be possessed by countless killings on the battlefield, and people who have been baptized by countless wars are far more masculine than those young nobles who were raised in greenhouses.

The aristocratic lady who walked in the front held a small folding fan with one hand, and when she saw Surdak, her big sparkling eyes became bright, and the smile on her face became much more natural.

The Marquis of Luther reacted to his daughters by motioning for them to sit down.

Four aristocratic ladies came to the Marquis of Luthor, and one by one they looked like they were in a flash.

Only Hathaway was looking down at the tips of her shoes peeking out from under the hem of her skirt, stirring a ribbon in her hand.

When introducing them, the Marquis Luthor said to his daughters, "This is Baron Surdak, the bravest knight in the battle of the city of Warjmara on the Maca plane, and these are my daughters, who are usually so spoiled that they do not know the etiquette of the nobility......"

Hearing the first sentence of Marquis Luther's introduction, Hathaway was a little absent-minded. Luthor jerked his head up, only to find Surdak staring at him with a faint smile in his eyes.

He was dressed in a not-so-modest aristocratic gown, and stood straight in front of the sofa with his waist straight.

Hathaway's eyes widened immediately, and the joy in her heart instantly crept to her face, if it weren't for the fact that she still had a little reason in her heart, she might have pounced on it at this time and gave Surdak a big hug.

She had no idea that the young nobleman Marquis Luthor wanted to introduce to their sisters was Surdak.

At this moment, she remembered that when she was in Handanar County, Surdak was only a soldier in a heavy infantry regiment, and then she saw Surdak again, he had become a knight of the guard battalion of the city of Highlandsa, and now it was Baron Surdak standing in front of her.

Hathaway was incredulous.

During this time, I had heard Marquis Luthor at the dinner table many times that he had met a very nice young man on the maca plane...... Hathaway never thought about Surdak, but now that Surdak suddenly appeared in front of her, this surprise was indeed a bit big, I knew that it would be like this, and I wouldn't have risked running out of the manor the night before yesterday to meet Surdak privately.

Come to think of this...... Hathaway's face flushed slightly.

Everyone present, including the Marquis of Luthor and Lady Marianne, could see that the noble ladies had come out of the cloister, and Surdak's eyes fell on Hathaway, who was walking at the back, and he kept staring at her, never leaving again.

Apparently this was what the Marquis of Luthor wanted to see the most, and he stood up and said to Lady Marianne, "Perhaps we should let the young men talk together......

Lady Marianne stood up and left the drawing-room, taking Marquis Luther by the arm.

Several aristocratic ladies were like cats full of curiosity, surrounding Surdak, vying to introduce themselves, and then chatting with him left and right, but they didn't understand much about Surdak, and Hathaway, who was sitting on the side, didn't interject from beginning to end, just sat quietly on the side, with a faint smile on her face, and at the moment she just wanted the good news to be passed on to Beatrice in the back.

Apparently several of Hathaway's sisters also had a good first impression of Surdak, and they tried their best to make themselves more ladylike.

"I don't know the name of this young lady yet......"

For some reason, the more Hathaway didn't speak, the more Surdak wanted to tease her.

"Hathaway."

Hathaway raised an eyebrow and glared at Surdak as she spoke.

She saw the distress in Surdak's eyes, probably unwilling to sit here to deal with her boring sisters, and she felt a little smug in her heart, so she said, "There is still some time before dinner, or I will take you around the manor......"

"I can't ask for it!"

Surdak quickly got up from the couch and followed Hathaway out of the ornate hall.

The three aristocratic ladies stayed on the side of the sofa and looked at each other, the atmosphere was a little awkward.

"Why does everyone like Hathaway?" Hathaway's sister complained.

Watching the two walk out of the hall side by side, the other sister sighed, "Why do I think they seem to have a bit of a tacit understanding?" ”

"Shall we follow?" The youngest sister squinted her eyes, raised her proud chin very angrily, and asked the sisters.

When they followed out of the hall, and saw Hathaway and Surdak ascending the stairs of the castle's watchtower through the side door, they immediately said with some discouragement:

"Forget it, do you want us to climb such a high staircase in a crystal slipper?"

The Hathaway sisters, who stood by the door, frowned and complained in a low voice:

"Father was simply too partial to Hathaway...... She obviously had a fiancé before, why did she call her this time......"

Hathaway and Surdak walked side by side towards the top of the watchtower, she deliberately chose this tower, only here more than 200 steps can block the three half-sisters behind her, although Hathaway and they live in the same castle, it is almost impossible to intersect in the usual circles, they are not favored by the Marquis of Luther, and they can't even go to the restaurant where Hathaway frequents for breakfast.

Seeing that there was no one else around, Hathaway turned around, stared at Surdak with blue eyes and asked, "How could it be you?" ”

"You never told me that you are the daughter of the Marquis of Luther, and I came to Bednar City this time to receive an invitation from the Marquis of Luther, and this world is really a bit small...... Or maybe the circle of nobility is not too big! Surdak said to Hathaway with a smile.

Hathaway turned her head to look out the window, leaving Surdak with a perfect side face, the pearl necklace around her neck and her milk-colored skin.

Ascending the high platform, Hathaway leaned against the wall of the lookout and saw that the ball scene was being set up in the garden below, some tables had been set up, neat and clean tablecloths were laid on them, some fruit bowls were already placed on them, the maids were busy around, a few barbecue grills were set up at the outermost stage, and several cooks were cooking.

"Shall we have this for dinner?" Surdak asked curiously, looking at the roast on the grill below.

Hathaway shook her head and said, "Of course not, these are specially prepared for the ball, and the dinner is prepared in the kitchen!" ”

After saying that, she turned around and raised her pointed chin, and when she looked up, her delicate collarbone was deeply dented, and a gust of wind blew across her cheeks, and she stared at Surdak who was curiously looking at the back garden, and her slightly upturned lips like water chestnuts crossed an upward arc......