The dining room fell silent again.

Until the maiden broke it.

"So, you deliberately provoked Longxiao City this afternoon so that everyone could see your rudeness," Selma frowned: "Are you preparing for this step?"

Ian blinked happily.

The Grand Duchess thought thoughtfully: "Marriage proposal, will this work?"

"I'm still saying that, in case you marry someone else," Ian glanced at Tails intentionally or unintentionally, and patted him on the shoulder, "What about 'us'?"

Tails felt Thelma's eyes sweep over him from time to time.

That kind of gaze is the helpless look that the little girl once threw at him in the library, in the Hall of Heroes, in the shield area, in the cell, in front of the five Grand Dukes.

Tails was both reassuring and awkwardly unfamiliar.

But......

[But, Tails Bright Star, what am I to you?]

He could only continue to maintain his serious countenance, without replying.

After the Grand Duchess, Ian also set his sights on Tails.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

It seemed like a century had passed.

Thelma was still staring at Tails.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Ian, who finally couldn't stand this atmosphere, put on an inexplicable expression, raised his hands and shook it: "Or ...... Shouldn't I go?"

Under the pressure of the two, the prince finally relieved his face.

He pulled out a faint smile and bowed slightly to the grand duchess.

"You're going to have to face this storm sooner or later," Tails whispered, "you're the Grand Duke." ”

"It has to be you, it's your own decision. ”

"To be, who you want to be. ”

Thelma paused slightly.

Listening to the prince's words, she hung her head and fell into deep thought.

Ian on the other side frowned, his eyes rolling back and forth between the two.

After a few seconds, Thelma looked up.

She looked at Ian, as if she had made up her mind, and her tone was resolute:

"What do you need?"

At that moment, as if opening the floodgates, Tails let out a breath.

Ian smiled in satisfaction.

"We need an occasion for your vassals—I mean fiefdoms, troops, and ambitions, to attend. ”

Ian mused, "The sooner the better, lest they have a chance to set up, and they can't give the Black Sand Collar time to fight back." ”

"We will be there, cutting your ropes and breaking your chains. ”

"The same goes for you. ”

Thelma only muttered for a few seconds before quickly speaking.

"There's still half a month left on the day," she replied crisply, "but I'll go and talk to Charles, and I should be able to mention it in a few days." Normally, the counts send their officers to attend, but I can send a letter inviting them to come and discuss the dispatch of troops. ”

It was the first time Tails had seen Thelma so resolute.

He was surprised.

"So," Ian's eyes flashed with a strange color, and he tilted his head slightly, "We made a deal?"

"Ma'am...... Oh no, Your Excellency the Grand Duchess of Longxiao City?"

Thelma looked at him and nodded slowly: "Of course, His Excellency the Viscount of Qiyuan City." ”

Tails curled the corners of his mouth, only to feel a strange feeling welling up in his heart.

It's like he's lost something.

"Good. Ian put away his expression and slowly stood up.

At that moment, Tails had the illusion that the temperament on His Excellency the Viscount was slowly changing.

Ian raised his right hand, stretched it over the table, and pointed it into a palm.

"Ian Ronnie," at this moment, his expression was neither superfluous nor deliberately serious, but only pure indifference: "For our alliance." ”

Tails looked at him silently.

Look at this indifferent expression Ian.

Maybe.

This is who he really is.

The real Ian Ronnie.

The Grand Duchess took a deep breath, stood up with a stiff face, and stretched out her palm to Ian.

"Thelma Walton," the girl said coldly, "for our goal." ”

But when her palm was about to touch Ian, it stopped in mid-air.

Ian was slightly stunned.

I saw Selma slowly turn her head and look at the only people left in the field.

The prince with a complicated expression.

Ian reacted, and he smiled and looked at Tails as well.

Now it was Tails' turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Do I want it too?" he asked, stunned.

"You're a witness to this covenant, Tails, don't underestimate yourself," Ian chuckled, "or do you want to be an outsider who listens to the whole plot but doesn't do anything?"

Thelma looked at the prince with a blank face, and although her gaze was complicated, she did not leave for a moment.

Tails sighed and stood up helplessly.

"Tails Bright Star," the prince stretched out his right hand and subconsciously closed the palm of Thelma opposite according to the action of the five Grand Dukes swearing an alliance in his memory: "For the ......"

He groaned slightly, and then said coldly, "For our common enemy." ”

Ian looked at the two clasped palms and raised half of his eyebrows.

He sighed and shrugged, closing the back of Tails' hand from the outside.

The three palms clenched together and shook vigorously in the air.

The Covenant was made.

"And you have to be there too, Tails, that kind of occasion can't just be us and Longxiao City, there must be outsiders with sufficient status to witness and put considerable pressure on them," Ian let go of his hand, and he gestured to the south, "But inviting the Black Sand Collar is obviously a bad idea." ”

Tails frowned, "Need anything else?"

"No, the faster, the shorter, the simpler," Ian pursed his lips, seeming apprehensive, "the better our odds of winning." ”

But a few seconds later, the stern Ian showed his true colors and returned his smile:

"Of course, or maybe our Star Prince can also write a letter and ask the Star Kingdom to send troops from the Western Wilderness, cross the Great Wilderness, and enter the Freedom Alliance from the south?"

"And we're under attack from the east and south," Ian laughed, picking up another piece of cheese, which eased the atmosphere a lot, "and it won't even take two months for the war to end." ”

Tails rolled his eyes.

Yes, and then I'm in trouble with Exeter hostage - guess what, will the rumba publicly order the execution or just ask the assassins?

"I think, compared to the stars," said the prince angrily, "you better ask the orcs in the desert for help, it's more realistic." ”

Ian muttered and began to fight with the cheese.

But Selma sank her expression: "What are our chances?"

Ian shook his head and said vaguely, "Let's see how far we can go." ”

He didn't look at this side, his eyes focused on the food in his hand, and his cheeks swayed back and forth from chewing, but the words he said couldn't help but make people startled: "As I said, we are writing our own legend." ”

"It is a pleasure to speak with you, Ma'am, Your Highness. ”

Ian swallowed the last bite of cheese and walked out of the dining room without hesitation, without the slightest politeness.

Leave the thoughtful Tails.

And the inexplicable Selma.

The two were relatively silent in the dining room.

Thelma sat down, silent, while Tails watched her silently.

After a while, the girl suddenly said, "Propose, huh?"

"Did you know it from the beginning, or did you react after the fact?"

Without anyone reminding you, the atmosphere instantly became embarrassing.

Tails exhaled and said in embarrassment, "That's just a means, Thelma." ”

But the Grand Duchess interrupted him.

"You believe him?" she looked out the door, unrecognizable.

Tails looked at the girl's side face and squeezed out a smile.

"Nope. ”

"But I believe in you. ”

Thelma's face moved slightly.

Tails walked over to the window and looked out the window, at the lights outside Valhalla.

It's been six years.

Longxiao City.

What is this city to him?

The second prince closed his eyes, shut Longxiao City out of sight, and sighed:

"Promise me, Thelma. ”

"On the next day, no matter what happens, don't do anything stupid. ”

Thelma was stunned: "What?"

"Don't care about others, don't pay attention to others, don't hesitate and hesitate in the slightest. ”

"Just choose the path that suits you best, the most suitable for the Grand Duke, and that's enough," Tails turned, his face as ice as if he was about to face the hardest test in the world: "I'll solve the rest of the problems." ”

Thelma looked at him, and stopped talking.

But she finally kept her mouth shut and said nothing.

Tails barely smiled, nodded slightly, turned around, and walked out of the dining room.

Leave the girl behind.

Tails walked out of the hallway, and he walked past the still cold and solemn eyes of the female officer Jinx, past the whispers of the maids, past the malicious gaze of the guards.

Just as he had walked through them countless times in the previous six years.

Until he was stopped when he was about to leave the palace gate.

"This afternoon, in the hall, I noticed the way they looked at you. ”

Tails frowned and looked back: Ian Ronnie stood around the corner, stopping him and smiling a fake smile at a guard who didn't seem to be very easy to deal with.

The heir of Qiyuan City turned around and quickly followed Tails, leaving behind the eyes of the guards behind him like knives, and said with a smile, "I don't think she can protect you - especially among these Northlanders. ”

Tails sighed slightly.

So you did do it on purpose, once again pushing me to the front of the stage and being scrutinized.

They walked down the hallway to meet a pair of patrol guards—apparently the Grand Duke's personal guards—and their eyes narrowed, looking at the pair.

Ian shrugged his shoulders slightly and said in a low voice, "You know, Qiyuan City is the most remote territory of Exeter, far away from the king's tentacles, and we are adjacent to the Great Desert. ”

Tails raised an eyebrow: "So?"

"So, if you're in Qiyuan City, you don't have to worry about the king's threat, and my father welcomes you too," Ian blinked, "And, from us, as long as you cross the desert, you don't even have to go through other Grand Dukes, you can return to the Western Wilderness Realm of the stars." ”

Tails paused lightly and shook his head helplessly in his heart.

Oh, yes.

But only if Dragon Sky City and King Chaman will allow me to leave.

And you are really kind enough to let me go, and let go of a chess piece that can be used to blackmail the Star Kingdom.

"If things don't go well," Ian looked up, his trademark uninhibited smile again, "remember, the climate in Qiyuan City is much better than here." ”

"I can't thank you enough," Tails said quietly, "I'll take it to heart." ”

The two walked side by side towards the palace gate—they could already see Huaiya, Rolf, and several guards of Qiyuan City waiting at the gate.

"Ian. ”

"You said you wanted to write your own legend," Tails asked softly, "What does that mean?"

Ian looked up, rubbing his chin, as if intrigued by the question.

"What do you mean......

He smiled.

"The Ronnie family has not had a king for more than three hundred years, and Longxiao City has just let go of its monopoly on the throne. ”

"And Pray Far City is always overlooked," Ian turned his head and smiled, looking like he was joking, "Maybe it's time to balance the distribution of power in Exeter, you say?"

Tails' eyes froze.

He heard what the other party meant, and remembered the long-haired resolute warrior: "Grand Duke Ronnie, do you intend to compete for the throne?"

Ian shook his head.

"Ha," he bowed his head, flicking the knightly code insignia on his shoulder, hiding his eyes in a corner that Tails couldn't see, "Of course not. ”

Ian looked up, his eyes shining with an incomprehensible light.

With a rhythmic tone, Ian bites the words lightly: "At least not him." ”

Tails stopped.

There were still more than ten meters away from the palace gate, and Huaiya in the distance bowed respectfully to him.

Ian also stopped, looking back at Tails as if he had a moment's time.

The prince chuckled, "You know, you're going to face Rumba, perhaps the toughest king in the history of Exeter?"

Ian smiled too, "yes, my father reminds me once every meal - how terrible that person under the crown is. ”

The two looked at each other.

"But. ”

"Since we're going to write our own legend," Ian's smile slowly faded, "then we can't leave too much ink for the supporting characters." ”

Tails tugged at the corners of his mouth and shook his head helplessly.

"Are you sure he's a supporting character?" the prince looked at Ian fixedly, "Charman Rumba." ”

Ian shrugged his shoulders with an innocent expression.

"I don't know. ”

"But I know that if I want to be the main character," the nineteen-year-old Viscount sighed, "he has to be a supporting character." ”

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Tails looked at him with a complicated expression and nodded, "Yes." ”

Ian pouted: "Legends of success are written like this, without exceptions. ”

The second prince of the stars stared at each other for several seconds.

The expressions of both men faded.

"Now I'm starting to believe it. The second prince narrowed his eyes slowly.

Ian raised his eyebrows and said in a bright tone: "Believe what?"

"Ian Ronnie, no doubt," Tails let out a long breath, with a slight sigh:

"You are indeed your father's son. ”

(End of chapter)