The main hall of Sanssouci Palace, the inner courtyard.

The courtyard is beautiful and tranquil, with beautiful oak trees planted inside, and the white gravel path under the trees is very clean, shimmering golden in the reflection of the sun, and occasionally some half-green and half-yellow fallen leaves fall on it, adding a bit of artistic conception.

At the entrances of the four directions of the courtyard, there is a statue standing in each direction, all of which are classical statues of guardian knights, the statues stand on the ground with swords in both hands, the knight's armor on their bodies is vivid under the superb craftsmanship of the carvers, a cloak is dragged behind them to the ground, and the facial expression is holy and solemn, giving people the feeling of being a living person standing there.

The statue is surrounded by a small flower garden in which various flowers bloom one after another, giving it a quiet beauty.

This is the atrium garden juxtaposed with the beauty of the crystal steps of Sanssouci Palace.

Because it is located in the central area of Sanssouci Palace, it is not usually open to the public, so there is usually no one here except for the gardener and the maid.

But today's two visitors shattered the tranquility.

......

The two swords intersected, and Gehr's footsteps moved slightly, and Epheros was straight in front of him, blocking a sword that slashed from above.

The sword was in the hands of a woman.

The woman looks like she is only in her twenties, her skin is like snow, her tall figure is wrapped in a well-fitting snow-white knight's suit, highlighting her proud figure, her long purple hair is tied at the back of her head to form a ponytail, and her white slender neck is revealed below.

At this time, the standard knight's cross sword danced as quickly as nothing in her hand, adding a bit of heroism to her.

She is none other than Gehr's titular employer and superior, the eldest princess Salorath.

Salorath took a step forward. The long sword in his hand had quickly completed a series of movements to look back and forward, stabbing him in the chest. It's fast and ruthless.

Gehr took a few steps back steadily, and Epheros turned into streamers of light in the air. Steadily opened a series of offensive attacks by Saloras.

Salorath's figure leaped rapidly, and after the attack was fruitless, it suddenly changed position sharply, and swooped in from the side at an even more rapid speed, and then the longsword quickly stabbed.

Gehr's pupils were filled with the brilliance of the streamer for a while.

Simple, ruthless, effective.

This is the hallmark of Saloras's swordsmanship.

Boom!

In an instant, Epheros blocked the sword that seemed to burst out of the void.

The sword light stopped, and Gehr and Salorath took a few steps back to each side. Gehr leaned sideways to look over his left shoulder. Sure enough, on his shoulder armor, the sword mark was deeply imprinted into the steel, and if it was not blocked, even the steel would be cut in two under this sword, and Gell would be seriously injured even if he did not die.

"Okay, let's stop fighting, let's stop today. Salorath put away her sword, ignoring Gehr, who was poised for a counterattack. Walk straight to the side of the courtyard with your back turned away.

Gell put away his sword, shook his head and laughed.

For a martial artist, it is a rare thing to have an opponent of a similar level to hone his martial arts. So during this period of time, Gehr and Salorath will practice against each other for a while if they have the chance.

Salorath is worthy of being one of the heirs cultivated under the special heir system of Haysting, and her swordsmanship is completely honed with a lot of actual combat experience. It is the road of killing martial arts that have been tempered in the war.

The same goes for Geer's style of swordsmanship, so this period of competition has been very beneficial for both of them. There is only an approximate estimate of the progress of Saloras Gehr, but for his own situation. Just the data that the military swordsmanship in the skill is only half a step away from the expert level, you can know how much progress he has made.

"Tomorrow is my brother's birthday, you know?" Salorath went to the chair that had been placed on the side, sat down on it in a lazy half-seated and half-lying position, and picked up a towel to wipe the sweat from her face.

"Zhilu said, I have an invitation. Gehr nodded, the birthday invitations of the Seventh Prince Ursula had been delivered to him, and of course he knew it, although it was sent by Carmelita.

"Well, who invited you?" asked Salorath, confused.

"Carmelita. Gehr gave a short name.

"It turned out to be her, it seems that you have a good relationship. Salorath was stunned. "It just so happens that the rest of the matter has something to do with her, and it's good that you have a connection. ”

"Speak. ”

"Since you have also received an invitation, then you will follow Seventeen tomorrow, I have already agreed with Carmelita that Seventeen will go to the Ingrid Church to represent the royal family of Haysting, and you can bring all the Silver Radiance Iron Guards with you for your safety. ”

"I got it. What about the itinerary?" said Gehr, although it was a little strange why Salorath would make such an abrupt decision, and when did Saloras become so familiar with the Ingrid Church? But he didn't ask too much, and directly agreed, after all, it was a good choice to be able to leave this place of right and wrong.

"You can just communicate with Carmerita when the time comes, and this has already been handed over to her. ”

Salorath clapped her hands, and the maid who was waiting at the door hurried over and poured the drink that had been prepared for a while for the two of them.

The two of them drank the refreshing cold drink of the summer, and rested in a place where the sun did not shine, and for a moment the only thing left in the courtyard was the rustle of caressing the leaves.

"Gehr, have you ever considered becoming my or Seventeen's retainer? Salorath spoke suddenly.

Nobles can not only accept commoners as retainers, just as Gehr accepted Antonio, but also accept lower-ranking nobles as retainers. Becoming a retainer of the nobility means becoming a member of the family, and will be protected by the nobility and enjoy many rights that commoners cannot obtain, but at the same time, it is also deeply branded as a retainer.

Becoming a retainer of the royal family such as Saloras or the Seventeenth Princesses is equivalent to Gehr's identity being linked to the entire royal family of the Duke of Haysting. Although the Principality of Haysting is not the top power, but it is also the best in the sub-country, becoming a retainer of such a royal family, the privileges and resources that can be enjoyed are not available to ordinary nobles, and as long as they make meritorious deeds, the title and material endowment will never be stingy, it can be said that after two or three generations, it will become a branch of the royal family, which can be said to be an opportunity for ordinary people or ordinary nobles to ascend to the sky.

But that doesn't appeal to Gehr at all.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. Gehr directly refused.

"Well, forget it, people like you really don't take this seriously. Saloras's face was filled with regret. "In this way, how about I propose a marriage contract to you on behalf of Seventeen?" Her Royal Highness the Celestial Princess casually threw out another proposal that would appeal to both ordinary people and nobles.

Gehr frowned slightly, Salorath's somewhat unusual situation gave him some unpleasant premonitions, but this proposal was not what he wanted to accept, and he could only continue to repeat the previous words: "I'm sorry, Your Highness." ”

"Oh, that's a pity. Salorath sighed softly, and Gehr saw in her a rare look of exhaustion that could not be concealed.

"I'm going to rest first, how about you?" Salorath stretched out as she didn't dwell on her previous proposal.

"I'd like to go to the palace library for a while. ”

"Well, so be it. Ellie, you take Gehr to the library. Salorath nodded, and called a maid to show Gehr the way.

Then, Gehr took his leave.

The palace library was not far from the atrium garden, and Gehr, led by his attendants, reached the library after walking a short distance through the garden-like palace.

It is a spire-shaped building located in an open field, with a complete wall and a special guard. It wasn't the first time Gehr had come in, and after the maid had talked to the guards, and after the guards had let Gehr go, he had entered the tower with all his knowledge.

There were no people in the tower, but the space was filled with abundant light sources. I opened a door casually, and when I stepped inside, there were large bookshelves, and there were a lot of books, but compared to the library outside, it was much less. The quality of the books here is more important, and the books here are only hundreds or a thousand copies in a room.

When he opened the book, the scent of ink representing knowledge rushed to his face, and only a few minutes later, his record was complete.

He put down the book and replaced it with another, flipping through it so quickly, each one that took only a few minutes, and if anyone in the room saw it, all he could see was that he picked up one, flipped it cursory for a while, and put it down—much like a trial reading of an outline.

He walked out of the palace library when Gehr had finished recording all the books in the room that he had been to several times before and had already recorded most of them.

It was already dark outside, and the maid who had brought him was waiting for him at the door.

"Your Excellency, please come here, Your Highness has specially instructed that your diet has been prepared for you, and the water in the bathroom has been changed. The maid bowed to him.

Gehr nodded and let the maid lead the way. This is not the first time this has happened, and if he is late for various reasons, he will sometimes go back after eating something good at the main hall and washing up.

The bathhouse, located at the rear of the main hall, is a large stone chamber made entirely of marble, and it is more appropriate to call it a bathhouse, which is so large that you can even swim in it.

After eating a delicious meal in the lounge outside and connected to the bathroom, Gehr changed out of his clothes and walked into the bathroom.

Stepping into the warm water, Gehr sat down, leaned against the wall of the pool, and exposed the area above his chin to the water.

The water temperature is just right, almost 40 degrees.

Gehr closed his eyes, completely relaxed his nerves in this safe place, and soon fell into a half-dreaming and half-awake state.

Suddenly, Gehr felt something soft against the right side of his body, and he woke up, and when he turned his head, he suddenly felt his mouth dry...... (To be continued......)