At night, Richard lay in his tent, Will asleep beside him, his sword still in his arms—like a tame hound, even in his dreams.

Looking at his sleeping son, Richard sighed and stroked his head gently. After moving away from the crowd, Richard was no longer the leader who had to be calm and calm all the time, and for the first time there was confusion and fear in his eyes......

Yes, fear.

Fear is one of the important emotions that accompany human beings, which reflects human beings' fear of the past, anxiety about the present, and ...... for the future

Richard was no exception, and these days, whenever he remembered the three prophecies Kyle Korland had given him, he couldn't help but shudder.

How should the damn prophecy be interpreted?

"The leader will fulfill his long-cherished wish, but he will also pay a reciprocal price. ”

What is the price of becoming the leader of the clan? Is I now the leader of the clan? If so, what is the price I have paid?

"He will lose his beloved, but it will always come back at the right time. ”

What does the beloved thing mean? Richard thinks that there is nothing worthy of his attention, or rather, in order to make the Holy Clan rise again and let the people of the clan get the respect they deserve on this dangerous continent, Richard is willing to give everything he has, let alone what items! I have to say that Kyle Cornland's prophecy is too vague!

Richard shook his head, and then the last prophecy came to his mind......

"His offspring will fight each other over some irreconcilable contradiction, until one of them dies a tragic death. ”

The offspring fight each other...... Perhaps, there is only this one, he understands it more thoroughly......

Richard sighed, remembering the question Will had asked him in the jungle, and Cohen was about to roar at him at the expense of his sword.

At the end of the day, it's because of Will's mother, Cohen's sister, her own ...... Woman.

Under the hype of the elders of the Council of Elders, Richard became a villain who did not hesitate to abandon his wife and marry Fiona, the "cursed princess", and also to be appreciated by the Roman Emperor Caligula......

Only Richard and his wife knew about Richard's grand plans hidden deep inside......

Therefore, the third prophecy is the most predictable, that his eldest son, Levier, will fight with his and Fiona's child, the five-year-old Richie, until one of them dies tragically......

As a father, Richard didn't want to see that happen—despite his political marriage to Fiona, Richard was still his child......

The night passed slowly like this, and Richard, with his godless eyes open, took advantage of the night when everyone was asleep, silently venting his vulnerability......

......

At the same time, at the western tip of Sicily, in the south-central part of the Roman Empire, the castle of the city of Gadrin, known as the pearl of the sea, is in full swing......

The floor of the castle is made of marble brought from the Palando coast, covered with a bright red velvet carpet, and the walls of the narrow corridors are hung with countless famous paintings by modern masters.

In the hall of the lords, waiters shuttle freely between the banquets, bringing wine and food to the guests.

The feast has been going on for some time.

That's right, a grand banquet is being held in this castle, which is located in the pearl of the sea, called "Black Thorn", which is the residence of the city lord.

Most of the guests who received the invitations were nobles and nobles in the southeastern part of the empire, and sea merchants who sailed on the sea of Aesson, and those nobles who were entangled in trivial matters also sent envoys to the banquet.

They were all very different in status, but they had only one purpose in coming—to celebrate Archduke Gloria's victory over the Carthaginians.

The owner of Blackthorn Castle, the Venerable Grand Duke of Golia, lay lazily on the elven wood bench that symbolized the supreme power of Blackthorn Castle, and quietly watched the people below who were elated and clinking glasses with each other.

He was tall, pale-skinned, gray-brown with hooked nose and gloomy complexion, a Roman in the traditional sense.

He is very thin and looks weak, but he has a special temperament that attracts the attention of those around him all the time.

"Grand Duke, I am Pochton from the Grant Realm, Pochton Julius, please allow me to pay my sincerest respect to your victory!"

A plainly dressed young nobleman fell to his knees on one knee and humbly held a pair of platinum bracelets in both hands, and many of the guests sitting in the front row looked at him sympathetically.

This is already the seventh person who dares to give a gift alone.

According to the tradition of the Roman aristocracy, any guest who presented a gift to the host alone at the celebration was welcomed and reciprocated by the host, which was called a "gift of glory".

And most of the guests who offered these gifts were rangers who enjoyed a good reputation on the mainland, or the descendants of nobles who had no inheritance rights.

With their pockets, they have barely stepped into high society, just enough for the great nobles who are willing to give generously to earn some fame from them.

Whether it's giving back some gold coins or the big nobles don't like things, or simply leaving them as their own family's guards. It's a win-win for both parties.

However, this tradition has been of little use to Glia, who is the master of Blackthorn Castle and the de facto master of the Sea of Sonion, who is sitting on endless wealth and prestige.

For Gloria, the Gift of Glory is just one annoying farce after another.

Before the arrival of the boy named Bochton, six young men had already offered their gifts, but their gifts did not even have the desire to make Golia look at them squarely, so one by one, they were dragged down by the guards and thrown out of the door.

Gloria, still taking small sips of the red wine in her glass, seemed more interested in the gesture of the poor creatures being thrown out and struggling.

Despite this, others praised Gloria's tolerance because of her strength......

I just didn't see that among those who were thrown out, there was a little nobleman who was humiliated and committed suicide with a sword.

Now, everyone present had changed their minds, they no longer expected any bright gifts to appear here, they were just curiously looking forward to how many of those poor ghosts' dignity would be torn apart by Glia tonight.

Surprisingly, Gloya tilted her head, looked at the bracelet for a moment, and then looked at the young man named Pochton with a smile on her face.

"Who is Kuru you?"

"He's my grandfather, Lord Duke. ”

"Grandpa? Oh...... I haven't been to Grant for almost sixty years. Glia smiled apologetically, and the others put away their chatter.

They held their breath, what was the origin of this young man? Who was that Kuru?, they whispered to each other, but after the supposedly well-informed of them didn't know, Qiqi turned his gaze back to the young man standing in front of Glia.

Glia didn't seem to see the other people's reactions, but took the bracelet and played with it in his hand, and after a while, he looked up and asked, "Are you a direct bloodline of Kuru?" Oh, I'm sorry, with all due respect, I don't see anything like him in you. ”

"This ......," said Bochton, who hesitated for a moment, and saw that Glia was still staring at him playfully, "I am an orphan adopted by my grandfather fifteen years ago. Grandpa asked me to tell you that your guess is very correct, and none of his descendants are useful. But Miss Akasha was born ten years ago...... Therefore, he said that after the third generation of the direct line is born, Miss Akasha's guardian knights will be fully staffed, so let me ...... first."

"Excuse me?" Gloena interrupted him impatiently, and then stared into the poor young man's eyes with a smirk.

Seeing that Glia didn't believe his words, Bochton smiled helplessly, imitating the tone of his grandfather in his impression and said, "Grandpa said, help me tell Glia that disgusting mosquito, Lao Tzu is willing to gamble and lose!"

"Hahaha......" Glia laughed when he heard it, and the guests who still maintained an incredulous look when they heard what the young man said, looked at each other, even the most stupid people could hear from Gloa's voice, he was not annoyed by the offense of the young man's words, on the contrary, he was still happy?

Just when everyone was puzzled and Bochton looked embarrassed, Gloa put away his laughter, waved his hand, and an attendant covered in a cloak appeared beside him out of thin air.

"Spiegel, after the feast, you take this little fellow to familiarize yourself with the castle, and let him meet Akasha in the evening, she has the right to choose her own guardian knight...... And tomorrow I'd like to invite you to Grant Collar, you know what's going on, right?"

"Yes, master!" Spiegel's voice was a little hoarse, but the banter in his tone could not be hidden: "I'll beat that old bastard, and by the way, make him pay back the wine bill he owes us seventy-two years with interest!

"Hmm...... Then you go to him, this little fellow, I'll find someone else to take him to my daughter...... Oh yes, the interest on the wine money is calculated using the latest set of interest rates researched by the Imperial Royal Academy!"

"Yes, master, your wisdom is incomparable!"

Bochton wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and he suddenly remembered that his grandfather had told him a thousand times before he came, that he must hide from a person named Spiegel this time, and even if he met, he should not let him know where he was, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable......

But it was getting late, and the people in the hall were now silent.

Spieg de Vivar, steward of Blackthorn Castle, loyal guard of the Mocavi family, and one of the only twenty-two remaining poetic heroes of Rome! But it is also rumored that his strength is infinitely close to the legendary level! Spiegel's most recent victory was fifteen years ago, when the Empire launched a campaign against the Sonnehai Clan.

In the turbulent waters of the Sea of Asonion, he single-handedly defeated three of the Sea Clan's poetic heroes, and at the negotiation table for the Sea Clan's peace of mind, he used his shrewd wits to secure ownership of four additional coastal crystal mines for the Empire. After the war, he coerced and induced the greedy senators in the Imperial Senate to compromise and get back three of the crystal mines and the title of "Grand Duke of the Sea" for the Grand Duke of Greia.

And now, he actually wants to meet a little person who is not famous in person?

Some of the nobles had already begun to swing excitedly, they never expected to meet the hero of the empire today, Spiegel, the second mysterious figure of Black Thorn Castle!

After Spiegel sneered and rubbed his fists out of the hall, Gloa patted Pochton on the shoulder and asked with a smile, "Do you know where this bracelet came from?"

Bochton shook his head blankly, at first he didn't expect Glia to summon Spieger, and he didn't know who Spieg was, but now he knew, from the talking guests......

"Alright, little one, go get something to eat, don't worry, your grandfather will be fine. Gloya winked at him quietly and shoved the bracelet into him: "This is a game between several of our old men, your grandfather and Spiegel, both used to be my followers when I traveled around the continent. I made this bracelet for him, and he should have told you about the purpose of this bracelet, but now it's yours......"

"Hmmm......"

Bochton descended the steps in shock, and as he returned to his seat, which was almost next to the door, a crowd instantly surrounded him.

Gloya watched all this, a smile on his lips, and suddenly, he sensed several familiar souls coming to his castle.

Glia smiled, and while everyone's attention was not on him, he slowly hid his figure and left the lord's hall.

Now that everything is supposed to come, it's time for the show to begin.