Forty-five progress

It's dark at night. Little Rowling had already said goodbye and left, and at this moment, only Luke was sitting alone in the room under the lamp and writing hard.

“...... This investment is really worth the money...... To be honest, I was surprised to get an immediate return. Eshurufat wasn't a knight...... Thomas was lying. Sure enough, the lies of an honest person have the greatest lethality...... It's just that our Majesty Rangier probably wouldn't have expected that he would investigate Ashrufat, but Irina would tell little Rowling about his findings, and little Rowling would tell me. This is extremely important information, and in fact, I already have a killer weapon against that guy in Ashrufat!"

“...... It has taken a lot of effort for me to travel in the past few days. But everything is worth it. I think I've dispelled Princess Irina's suspicions of Ryan. If she hesitates to refer the matter to the courtiers for discussion, then my efforts during this time will be useful......"

“...... After all, our Royal Highness Princess Irina is just a young adult, and she has neither a far-sighted strategic vision nor a deep insight, let alone how to use and protect power. Like a child, she loses her temper when someone touches her toy, but she keeps destroying it. Of course, this is true for most people of this age, and only a few outstanding geniuses can have enough wisdom and vision...... His Majesty Rangier must have given up, otherwise Princess Irina would not have thought deeply, but would have consulted him after a brief consideration. Although it has long been rumored that His Majesty Rangier is not in good health, until now, I can judge that His Majesty is no longer able to move freely......"

Rook closed his journal and kept it in his pocket. Tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow at the latest, the results will be revealed. Ryan's future can be decided in these two days.

Originally, there were six of Princess Irina's core ministers. These six were the most loyal and reliable and powerful subordinates selected by His Majesty Rangier (although Landwin may not be reliable enough, but at least the loyalty is unquestionable), and now Thomas is leading the expedition, Landwin is on a foreign mission, and Judge Leonis is going to various places for routine circuit trials, in other words there are only three men left. Rook hadn't even beaten the idea of these three.

Now, in order to maintain the balance within the court, Her Royal Highness has expanded the scale of the Imperial Council and included some additional people. There's room for Rook to do his best. He was originally seventy percent sure, but with the factor of Rowling Jr., now it has increased to eighty percent.

For Loren City, this time was very happy and fulfilling. Every few days, good news comes from the battle reports on the front. General Thomas has been like a bamboo, beating the Paro army with a head to go, and recently there has been news that he has conquered the Wolf's Mouth Castle. In other words, Princess Irina has achieved the most basic goal of "recovering the lost land". The war was already a big victory. Now, the legend of Thomas's invincibility spreads everywhere in the streets, and everyone has no doubt that the final victory will be won. And their confidence was quickly supported by the strongest evidence.

At noon one day, a group of Paro's diplomats, under the watchful eye and escort of a group of knights, entered the city and caused a great sensation.

Citizens poured out of their homes to watch the Paros in the streets. There could be no more obvious evidence than this, and the dejected faces of these Paro, who were messengers, made it clear who won and who lost the war.

Within three days of the arrival of Paro's emissary, news of the signing of a peace treaty became household news. Princess Irina proposed a harsh contract and did not accept any changes to the terms, only allowing "further negotiations on details and specific figures". While the Palau emissaries were trying with all their might to reverse these unfavorable treaties, the people of St. Jean informed them directly, "If you want to change, you don't have to continue negotiating, we will continue to fight on the battlefield!" The news was so explosive and sensational that it attracted everyone's attention that almost no one knew that the previously somewhat famous "Duke of Lane" had returned to Loren City.

On the sixth day of the envoy's arrival, Her Royal Highness the princess and the envoy of Paro signed a peace treaty. On the same day, Princess Irina delivered the news of the truce to the army of St. Jean in the border castle, and at the same time sent the Pegasus Knight as a messenger to convey the news of the end of the war to General Thomas, who had already penetrated deep into the territory of Paro. A few days later, after the Paro people had withdrawn from the border castle, the princess ordered a massive masquerade to celebrate the victory in the war.

Indeed, the war is over. The situation is now quite clear, and even if other countries want to intervene in this war, they have missed the best opportunity. Thomas led an expeditionary force of less than 10,000 men, and in a few months, he completely defeated Paro and annihilated hundreds of thousands of Paro troops. This record is enough for any third party who wants to fish in troubled waters to weigh twice before acting. In addition, although Cassilos was broken, St. Jean's military strength was preserved intact. For those countries with plans, it is too risky to act rashly.

For Paro, the timely suching for peace finally gave them the last army to spare, and a respite. This war had an unusually brilliant start to Paro, and he even came close to winning it completely. But unfortunately, they met Thomas and ended up in the tragedy of land reparations. The only thing they could do now was to heal their wounds, build up their strength, and wait for their chance - they no longer had the strength to contend with Princess Irina head-on.

The dance party was extraordinarily grand on this day.

Although everyone knows that the real large-scale celebrations, such as triumphal ceremonies, large-scale worship of the gods of nature, and lantern parades, will not be held until the return of the great general Thomas, the ball also serves to "let the subjects share the joy of victory". The nobles and knights in the city, as long as they have some status, can participate in this big ball. In fact, in order to accommodate so many people, almost the entire royal palace was opened except for the living areas.

Naturally, Rook and Ryan were among the invites.

Because it was a masquerade, Rook wore a common oak mask, while Ryan also wore a carp mask.

"Uncle, can I really find Irina?" Facing the crowd of people in front of him, Ryan couldn't help but ask again. To be honest, everyone knows that Princess Irina is also at the ball, but finding Her Royal Highness's true body from so many masks is a great challenge. Especially the girl has a prom dress and a variety of thick-soled shoes to cover, and it is difficult to judge her figure and height carefully.

"Of course, you have to trust your uncle. Rook replied confidently.

They stopped in the courtyard where there was the most people and the noisiest place. Although the number of guests invited this time is extremely large, many people still have self-knowledge, knowing that their identity is not suitable to go deep into the palace. There are no bands, but there are still good food and wine, as well as lanterns and candlesticks. People gather in groups and are chatting and talking. Ryan found that the one they talked about the most was Thomas.

“...... You don't know what to say, but that day Master Thomas held me up and almost made my heart explode...... He's really so charismatic...... Strong, brave, and polite......," he heard a woman say. But from the sound of the voice, this woman is very young, enough to be the granddaughter of Thomas.

Woman of vanity!! I don't know what Lu Dao is for, but when he hears these women talking back and forth without leaving Thomas, he feels very uncomfortable.

"It's shameless that those Paros actually framed Thomas for using some kind of dark magic!" another woman said.

"Of course, they have no other way than to frame Lord Thomas's reputation now......"

The people in the four capitals were talking non-stop, and Luke didn't have time to care about what the people around him were saying, he was looking left and right. It took about a minute or two to find my goal.

A woman, also wearing an oak mask, is on the side of a rockery in the courtyard. The woman stood alone in the shadow of the rockery, as if she was looking for something. Ryan saw Rook walk up and talk to the woman. Then, Rook beckoned to Ryan.

Ryan was a little curious, but Rook secretly gestured to him not to ask. So he could only follow this woman and Rook. It is worth mentioning what Rook said during this journey - Rook kept praising the girl along the way, using the most flowery words and the most exaggerated ways to make even the irrelevant Ryan feel hot on his face. But the girl giggled and accepted all the compliments.

I really didn't expect my uncle to be able to say such sensual things to a woman. Ryan was a little surprised. He knew that Dao Ruke had given up the right to start a family and joined his brother's family, and on the surface he could freely enter and leave the circle of nobles without worrying about his status, but in fact, when it came to knighthood, he was just a mere apprentice knight. Theoretically, no woman would fall in love with Rook.

Moreover, this woman's voice sounds very young, and her demeanor and conversation can be seen to be quite status, at least she is also from a famous family. How could Rook get together with her, but because Rook had told him not to speak, he didn't dare to speak for a moment, and could only keep his doubts in his stomach.

The mysterious young girl stopped, and Ryan realized that her destination had arrived. It was a small ballroom in the palace, where about twenty or thirty people gathered. On the surface, it looked like it was no different from any gathering place he'd seen along the way, but upon closer inspection, Ryan noticed that several of the men here weren't at the ease of the ball, but were wary.

The young girl who led the way whispered a few words to Rook, then gestured ahead.

Rook smiled and offered a few words of praise again, then came to Ryan's side.

"Dear nephew, remember clearly. Men need to use all their wisdom to deal with a woman, and even then, often this is not enough. Rook whispered in Ryan's ear. "See that girl in a light green dress and a cat mask? That's Princess Irina. ”

"Ah......h

"I repeat again, dear nephew. Princess Irina has not made it clear that she will strip you of your dukedom, but she has not stated that she will keep your dukedom. I've won the best opportunity, and now it's up to you to officially become Princess Irina's courtier. As I told you, Princess Irina has been overshadowed at the Imperial Council many times lately, and she must have felt a deep need for support at this moment. Keep this in mind and it will be your breakthrough. ”

Ryan stepped forward. A few minutes later, Rook was pleased to see him and the princess dancing on the dance floor.