Tails stood crampedly at his desk on the third floor, scooping up a towel soaked in hot water from a wooden basin.

He was still wearing a sweat-stained training suit, his skin was sticky and greasy, his bruises and bruises were still faintly hot, and his body was still sore, which made him very uncomfortable.

It's as if you're back in the days of beggars.

But Tails didn't speak.

He just wiped his face and neck quietly, with a little expectation and nervousness, and looked at the sassy figure by the window from time to time.

Ji Ni silently looked at the sunset near the horizon, and watched the servants in the courtyard busy lighting the lights, the expression on the side face was calm and deep, thoughtful, and reminiscing.

"You shouldn't let them do that. ”

Jenny's voice was cold and powerful, with a hint of weathered determination.

Tails' arm, which was wringing the towel, froze.

"Just now, you shouldn't have let the guards be so presumptuous. ”

The court lady turned slowly, as tall and tough as she had been six years ago, like a cedar in winter.

"Boy. ”

Her eyes were sharp and her tone was stern, reminding Tails of the first time they met six years ago.

At that time, she also crossed her arms like this, with an esoteric and difficult expression, and looked at him quietly.

Six years later, Tails subconsciously wanted to tilt his head and avoid scrutiny from the Enlightenment instructors.

"Maybe. ”

He spoke low, with a little helplessness and a faint fluctuation.

Tails scooped up the towel just in time, blindfolded his gaze, and pressed his dirty face and uncontrollable expression into the warm, soft fabric at the same time.

Genie didn't speak.

He put down the towel and tried to calmly meet Ji Ni's eyes, trying to release his most natural and warm smile:

"Ma'am, it's a pleasure...... See you again. ”

After six years.

Ginny didn't answer immediately, she still looked at Tails silently, but there was a little more indescribable meaning in her originally cold and stern eyes.

"Good. ”

After a few seconds, the first-class court lady looked away, and she took a deep breath, as if to restrain something.

"So, your etiquette lesson starts now. ”

Ginny's tone returned to a steady and strict tone, and she paced away from the window.

Tails came back to his senses, and with the usual nervousness in front of the Enlightenment instructor, he endured the tiredness of his body and hurriedly threw down the towel.

"No need," said Ginny, who stopped him from carrying the tub away.

"Today, we don't practice table manners. ”

Table manners.

Memories of the past hit Tails' heart, and he forcibly suppressed it.

The female officer sat down on the guest chair by herself, ignoring the refreshments at hand, and her eyes glanced at Tyers, who was slightly embarrassed after training, and softened slightly:

"The first class won't be very long. ”

"And you're obviously in need of rest now. ”

Tails was stunned for a few seconds, then nodded gratefully:

"Thank you, ma'am. ”

But Ji Ni's expression immediately changed:

"Don't be too busy rejoicing, we'll make up for the lost time in the next class. ”

At that moment, Tails seemed to go back to six years ago, and saw the female officer Ginny, who was strict and cold on the training ground and at the dinner table, and made him raise his shield and hold his knife and fork with a cold face.

The familiar feeling came back to me and I couldn't suppress it.

It was like it happened yesterday.

It's like he never left the country to go north, and he didn't return for many years.

It's like more than six years have passed just last night's dream, and nothing has happened.

And when he woke up this morning, he was still sitting under Geni's hands, listening attentively.

Tyers held back the throbbing in his eyes and chest, nodded, recalled the etiquette that belonged to the Kingdom of Stars, and sat down solemnly.

Ginny kept an eye on him until Tails adjusted his form.

"Thousands of years ago, during the Imperial Age, the Supreme Emperor sent his personal guards to the princes, serving as knights. ”

Ginny was as straight to the point as ever, but her eyes were still looking Tails up and down.

"After the end war, the old knightly tradition was almost extinct, but the practice was inherited by successive Star Kings: placing royal guards at the side of adult princes—becoming their guards, attendants, subordinates, assistants, and future vassals. ”

Tails didn't expect that Jenny would talk about history as soon as she opened her mouth, but the boy immediately came to his senses:

She wasn't happy with her performance.

"And how to manage and use these subordinates with extraordinary significance and complex backgrounds, and get along well with the royal guards. ”

"This is a compulsory course for every prince throughout the ages. ”

Meaningful subordinates with complex backgrounds......

Tails clenched his fists slightly.

He remembered the indifference of Marios, the frivolity of Doyle, and the coldness of Glovo in the Mindith Hall.

But in the next second, he remembered the silence of Sakel, the persistence of Barney Jr., and the extremism of Samir.

"There is no doubt about it," said Jenny's words, which became more and more solemn:

"It's also part of royal etiquette. ”

Tails listened silently.

The court lady's eyes were like knives, and she cut straight through Tails's heart:

"Remember, you are the Duke of Star Lake, and you are the master of the Mindis Hall. ”

"It's their host. ”

Duke of Star Lake.

...... in the Mindish Room

Their......

Master.

The young man's eyes were slightly rippling.

"You are no longer an illegitimate child who needs to hide from Tibet, but an official second prince, the heir to the kingdom. ”

Geni's words were harsh.

Bastard.

The second prince.

Heir to the kingdom.

"Really?"

Tails spoke as if unintentionally, choking Ginny's words.

"That's right. ”

After a few seconds, Ginny's voice became much tougher, and she sounded a little unhappy with his reaction:

"As a duke, you have to take the initiative and show them your majesty, toughness and severity. ”

"Let your subordinates know the consequences of belittling the prince. ”

Take the initiative ......

Show your majesty......

"Majestic, tough and severe?"

Tails muttered, smiling reluctantly.

The Duke exhaled slowly, but what he saw in front of him was the dark and deep Fuxing Palace.

and the high throne at the end of the deep corridor in the council chamber.

His shoulders slackened.

"Maybe. ”

Tails struggled to curl the corners of his mouth, a slight silence.

"But ......"

But that's really not my style.

No.

He didn't say it, but finished it in his heart.

Genie frowned.

It seems that I didn't expect students who haven't seen each other for many years to react like this.

The silence in the study lasted for a few seconds.

"The letter from the north says that you have been tempered, you have a great heart, and you have no fear in the face of the most vicious and tough enemy, neither humble nor arrogant. ”

"It's like you're in a state meeting. ”

Ji Ni said coldly:

"Why is it here, facing your subordinate guards, that you have become weak?"

Tails was silent for a few moments.

"Because that's different. ”

The young man seemed to feel something, and sighed softly:

"In the country, in the North, I have to face only my opponents. ”

"All I need to do is raise my shield as I was taught. ”

Raise your shield.

As if remembering something, Genie lost her mind slightly.

"But here......"

Tails pursed his lips and fell into deep thought, his face slightly solemn.

"It's not just my guards that I have to face. ”

Tails stared into the distance.

Ginny didn't speak, she just frowned and looked at Tails.

After a few seconds, she spoke slowly:

"Your guards, Marios, they ......"

But Tails interrupted her.

"Ma'am, please. ”

Tails closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"Along the way, Gilbert only picks good words, yodel always keeps silent, and the others ......"

Ji Ni was stunned.

Tails looked up and gave an unnatural smile:

"But you, ma'am, you are the one who enlightened me in swordsmanship and etiquette, and even more so his ......"

Tails didn't finish, but Genie vaguely sensed something.

Duke Xinghu lowered his head:

"I thought you should be more honest than they were. ”

Ji Ni abruptly repeated:

"Honest?"

Tails nodded, looking at Ginny:

"He doesn't like me. ”

Jenny was stunned.

Tails speaks the truth as if it were the most mundane truth:

"From the first glance, he didn't like me. ”

"It's no secret. ”

The Duke chuckled without emotion.

"Even my guards know it. ”

"That's why. ”

At this moment, Tails' eyes were calm, and he stared directly at the slightly surprised Gennie.

The latter wanted to say something, but couldn't.

There was a long silence in the study.

The court lady had a deep expression, her eyes flashing with an unknown light, scanning back and forth over Tails's body.

Finally, Ji Ni took a deep breath and said slowly:

"The sea is raging. ”

Tails didn't react, and was puzzled.

I saw Ji Ni stabilize her expression that changed several times, lowered her eyes, and said in a deep voice:

"What Marios said, your awakened power of the end, what's going on?"

Oh.

Angry seas.

Still immersed in the inexplicable emotion just now, Tails exhaled and adjusted himself back.

"I don't know," the Duke reluctantly shook his head, and said honestly:

"It's also the first time I've heard it. ”

But Genie smiled.

"Most of the knights in the kingdom have a similar end to their personal experience, especially to the teacher who taught them. ”

The court lady said lightly:

"There are also a small group of people who are diametrically opposed: master and apprentice are opposite to each other. ”

Tails' heart moved, and he wondered if this was something in common with what Ricky had said.

"Yes. ”

So.

Angry seas......

"So, Northlanders, they've taught you a lot?"

Ji Ni looked at him, consciously or unconsciously.

Northlanders.

Tails remembered his life in Exeter, and unconsciously curled the corners of his mouth:

"Sort of. ”

But when Tails looked up again, he suddenly noticed that something was wrong.

It's Jenny.

At some point, Jenny's stern eyes softened.

She looked at Tails quietly, her eyes filled with indescribable emotion.

It was at a loss for Tails.

I saw his enlightenment teacher's lips tremble, and he wanted to speak several times and stopped.

"Boy. ”

Finally, Genie spoke.

This time, her voice was no longer cold and tough, but soft and hoarse:

"You're in the north...... I've lost weight. ”

Tails was stunned.

Ginny stared at him, a smile not often seen by Tails.

"yes. ”

Her smile was quiet and elegant, but with a hint of indescribable sadness.

This made Tails stagnate.

In the days since he returned home, Yodel, Cohen, Gilbert, and many other old acquaintances have expressed their excitement and emotion after seeing him.

You've grown taller.

Grew up.

Matured.

Become...... More like someone.

But......

You've lost weight.

This is the first time Tails has heard such an assessment.

The boy stared blankly at Gennie.

And Ji Ni just looked back at him quietly, releasing a sad smile in the wrinkles in the corners of her eyes.

At that moment, it was as if there was some kind of force that filled his chest.

Tails had to turn his head, blinking desperately at an angle that Ginny couldn't see, and at the same time squeezed out a smile and spoke to divert attention:

"Well, that's, ah, it's been a bit choking in the past few months......"

But Genie didn't listen to what he said, and didn't notice Tails' somewhat transfigured voice.

For the first time, the court lady held the teacup on her side, and her posture was elegant and dignified.

"You know. ”

Jenny's voice was still soft and sad:

"Once upon a time, your grandfather didn't like him very much. ”

Tails' figure froze.

Grandfather?

He mechanically turned his head and looked at Genie.

I saw that the court lady at this moment was sitting peacefully on the chair, rubbing the teacup in her hand, but there was a trace of sadness that Tails had never seen on the corners of her eyebrows and lips.

"It is said that after the death of the first queen and the departure of the eldest son of the king, for a long time, he was not popular in the entire Fuxing Palace. ”

Ji Ni looked at the reflection in the teacup in her hand stupidly:

"The servants were even 'careless' enough to forget his meals and fires, and the royal guards often ignored his whereabouts and safety. ”

Tails froze.

He suddenly remembered that scene many years ago:

In the burial chamber, the scepter-wielding figure whispered to him.

He said that in those years, when he was a teenager, he was sneaking around the palace and living like a mouse. ”

Ji Ni said softly:

"Self-reliance. ”

Tails was shocked.

Sneaking around......

Pull oneself up by one’s bootstraps......

Live like a ...... A mouse......

The boy subconsciously grabbed the arm of the chair.

It's like holding on to a hole in a wall in an abandoned house.

Ji Ni looked up:

But this did not prevent him from growing up with a wicked smile and in the midst of discrimination, neglect, contempt, and abuse throughout the kingdom. ”

"Until now. ”

Ginny looked at Tails quietly.

Tails stared blankly at the floor.

After a few seconds, Tails came to his senses and took a deep breath.

"Thank you, ma'am. ”

The boy smiled again:

"I see. ”

Ginny tugged at the corners of her mouth, trying to pull out a smile that she wasn't usually good at, but after a moment, realizing something, she put down her teacup and put on an unnatural face.

"So boy, I mean, you're so skinny, look at how many people beat you up......"

Kenny noticed that her words were shaking, so she took a few deep breaths and paused again in an angle that Tails couldn't see.

"Remember to eat more. ”

Ji Ni hesitated for a while, and added:

"Also, go to bed early. ”

But this time, Tails was not brought into the same atmosphere by her serious tone, and the Duke smiled:

"Of course, ma'am. ”

"Of course. ”

After a few seconds, Jenny turned her head again, her expression and tone slowly changed back to cold and stern, and she sounded like she didn't care:

"Speaking of which, boy, how well do you know your guards?"

Tails lifted his eyes and adjusted his mood.

"Not much?"

Jenny tugged at her lips and was silent for a moment.

"Listen up. ”

"After the year of blood, your father made the reckoning too ruthless and implicated too widely in order to eradicate the threat. ”

Tails' face changed.

In the dungeon, the resentful expression of Marina of the Sword of Calamity flashed before his eyes.

Ji Ni Zhengsedao:

"So, inside and outside of Eternal Star City, along with the threat, there is trust. ”

Tails frowned.

"And don't forget, for twelve years, your father had no heirs. ”

This not only weakened his prestige and aroused the ambitions of the dukes, but also undermined the confidence of the traditional supporters of the royal family, the central lords, the vassals directly under the Bright Star family, led by the Seven Servants of the Bright Stars, in the king. ”

Tails subconsciously added:

"And loyalty?"

Genie glanced at him, noncommittal.

"During those twelve years, your father had to promote and reuse many new men—three marshals, such as Gilbert, whom you are familiar with, Earl Godwin, Viscount Coney, Baron Garth, Jucoe Man, and Sodot Rader...... They became the main force of the current pro-royal party, consolidating his rule. ”

But on the contrary, under his rule, under the dissatisfaction of other guardian dukes, traditional royal vassals like the Seven Servants of the Bright Star have fallen into a trough and silence, and they have gradually distanced themselves from the Fuxing Palace. ”

The Seven Servants of the Bright Stars......

Tails remembered Gilbert's explanation and pondered.

Ji Ni said solemnly:

"Until ......"

Tails raised his head and frowned:

"Me?"

Ji Ni was silent for a while, but still nodded:

"Thanks to you, thanks to the recontinuation of the genealogy of the Bright Star Royal Family, in the past six years, the Seven Servants of the Bright Stars, who have been separated from morality and are silent and estranged, have successively shown favor to the Nine-Pointed Star again. ”

But Ji Ni immediately turned pale:

"But they're still waiting. ”

"And you can't win their approval just by title and bloodline. ”

"Your father can't erase their resentment after the bloody years and win back their trust with just one heir. ”

Tails remembered Doyle and Glovor.

"Yes. ”

Genie sighed:

"Your Star Lake Guardian is just one example of that. ”

Tails didn't speak.

Ji Ni looked at him silently and said softly:

"Soon, it will be the day when you will make your official appearance at the banquet, in front of all the nobles of the royal capital. ”

I saw the lady's gaze sharpen:

"Be careful, boy. ”

Jenny's tone made Tails nervous:

"You, like me, are below them. ”

"But like your father, he is higher than them. ”

"And you have come back from the north, outside of them. ”

Three sentences in a row made Tails think deeply and at the same time aroused his vigilance:

"And that means that you are inside out, at the end of the day, ......"

Ji Ni said firmly:

"It's not them. ”

Not them.

Tails opened his mouth to speak, but eventually closed his mouth.

"It took me almost three decades to figure this out. ”

A rare vicissitudes appeared in Ji Ni's eyes:

"I wish you could be shorter. ”

Tails exhaled.

"Banquet, all right. ”

"So?"

The teenager scratched his chin with a headache:

"Can they still eat me?"

Jenny closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Nope. ”

But when the female officer opened her eyes, there was a sharper edge inside:

"But they're going to tear you apart. ”

Hearing this figurative description, Tails was stunned.

"But...... I am the son of the king, the heir of the kingdom?"

"That's right. ”

Ji Ni looked alert and dignified:

"So they will be mild-mannered and polite - tear you apart. ”

Tails nodded understandingly.

"So what should I do?"

Genie was silent for a while.

"You know, boy, you knew it six years ago. ”

Tails' expression changed.

"Raise your shield. ”

I saw Ji Ni looking at him directly, just like when he taught him swordsmanship many years ago: "Never let go." ”

"Until you die. ”

"Until the enemy dies. ”

Tails fell silent again.

This time, he thought of something more.

"What about my father?"

The young man said quietly:

"Is he too?"

Jenny's arm twitched.

The way she looked at Tails changed.

It's as if he's back to the Genie Buckway who asks him, "Are you thin?"

After a few seconds, Genie sighed softly.

"Boy, do you know what this place is?"

Tails knew that the question was a little sharp, and smiled helplessly:

"Uh, study?"

Jenny looked at him again.

Tails had no choice but to put away what he thought was a humorous smile and said:

"Mindis Hall. ”

"A royal treasure, a virtuous palace, a great art estate. ”

and one of his most familiar childhoods.

"Oh, and three hundred years ago, its first owner was the unfortunate early death of the 'King of the Mist', Mindis I. ”

Tails tried to make the tone sound humorous, but for some reason, he always failed.

Genie looked at him quietly.

"Yes, but more than that. ”

More than?

Tails raised an eyebrow.

"Eighteen years ago. ”

Jenny's expression changed.

I saw the female officer's eyes slightly blank, as if watching the scenery in the fog:

"This is the residence chosen by Crown Prince Etoile, your uncle, His Highness the First Prince Midil Bright Star, as an adult. ”

Tails' face changed slightly.

"You mean that ......"

"Yes. ”

Genie looked at him:

"The one who is destined to sit on the throne. ”

()

Stealing incense