Knight and Wand

Chapter 143 The Royal Family of Orlando (Thanks for the monthly ticket and the leader)
The majestic royal walls surround the magnificent royal palace standing on the high ground, isolating the endless prosperity and noise of the royal capital city with a population of hundreds of thousands.

Inside the palace behind the high walls, solemn and magnificent palaces and corridors stretch among the huge building complexes, and beautiful gardens are dotted among the towers, bridges and courtyards.

Beneath this majestic palace wall and building, the Orland Guards in distinctive armor, holding halberds, stood solemnly, monitoring and guarding every corner of the palace.

At this moment, in the conference hall at the end of the corridor of the main hall of the royal court, the heavy doors blocked the fierce debate inside.

King Ledwin III, wearing a black and gold dragon-patterned cloak, sat silently at the head of the table, his cyan eyes examining the heated words spoken by the ministers and representatives of the noble lords below him.

The loyal and stubborn Chancellor of the Exchequer, puffing his beard and glaring at the long table, refused to give an inch to the Duke's representative from the Eastern Roman Territory.

The noble representatives of the Western Territory of Great Wester still kept smiling, watching with amusement as Duke Roman's men were busy dealing with the accountability of the Minister of Finance.

The representative of Roman was so thirsty that he could not argue. He turned around helplessly and bowed his head to salute the king: "Your Majesty, the Roman leaders have always paid taxes in full over the years, but the barbarians outside the eastern border have continued to cause trouble and disrupt trade. Since the end of last year, the trend has intensified.

It is an indisputable fact that the situation in the east is becoming increasingly tense. Prince Eric saw it with his own eyes during this trip, which proves that what we said is true.

The Duke has done his best to maintain stability in the east, and now he really cannot afford the subsidies and war taxes that were suddenly levied last year and this year. I hope Your Majesty will allow an extension of the payment."

Representative Loman made his petition to the king, and the conference hall fell silent for a moment.

However, Ledwin III did not immediately respond to this seemingly reasonable request. His emotionless eyes stared at the other person for a long time.

Although Representative Loman could not look directly at the king on the throne, he still felt as if he was being stared at by a terrifying dragon. Sweat broke out on his back and he began to waver in his heart.

As the trusted spokesperson of the Duke of "Temerien and Bomya" of Loman, he naturally knew how much truth there was in this half-true and half-false excuse.

"Well, since Lord Osdor is in trouble, I will understand and you don't have to pay the tax." Ledwin said in a deep voice.

Hearing the majestic Majesty finally speaking, Representative Roman felt relieved after a long silence in the conference hall.

Ledwin leaned back on the throne and continued to order without changing his expression: "Use the dire wolves of the Roman Territory in place of the tax. Within this year, all the lords of the East Territory must gather together 2,000 dire wolves and hand them over to the king. This is the king's order and no more excuses are allowed."

"Two thousand wargs?" Representative Roman was caught off guard when he heard the king's next words.

He opened his eyes wide and raised his head: "But but! Your Majesty, the barbarian invasion in the east has not been resolved yet. If we take away so many wolves, it may cause the military preparations on the border of Roman Territory to be empty."

"When did I ever say I wanted to march?" King Ledwin looked at the other party with a smile.

"Since you are suffering from the barbarian tribes that are disturbing the border in the Hektova Plains, how can I, as your king, sit idly by and do nothing?

I will send Eric and his flying dragons to stay in the east to assist in border defense. When the two thousand wolves are gathered, they can be handed over to him directly on the spot. The king will send his own riders and logistics team to form a dire wolf cavalry unit to help you deal with the invading barbarians."

"This..." The Duke's representative opened his mouth, but seeing the majestic gaze on the throne, he dared not look directly at it, and quickly lowered his head: "In accordance with your will, Your Majesty, I will convey your will to the Duke."

Outside the palace.

Above the bright sky of the royal city of Orlando.

A huge dark red beast body flew across the blue sky and soared among the clouds.

The whistling wind passed by his ears. Eric, wearing a dragon-head helmet, shouted happily, and sometimes rolled the huge dragon beast under him and sometimes flew sideways and circled.

The dragon's roar that could be heard faintly from the sky attracted the attention of the residents of the royal capital below.

But the citizens who have lived in the royal city for many years are no longer surprised by the sightings of the flying dragons raised by the Drakmaar royal family in the Colonia territory.

After a long while of releasing all his energy on the sky and completing the usual dragon-riding training, Eric urged the dragon to descend in altitude. Its wings cast an increasingly larger shadow and it slowly slowed down.

A man and a dragon returned to the royal dragon's nest in the mountain behind the palace. The dragon stayed in the air, and the strong wind caused by the flapping of its huge wings made the waiters and dragon trainers below dodge to the sides.

The beast's hind legs with terrible claws came down with a thud, and the floor of the dragon's lair shook.

The flying dragon tilted its thick long neck, lowered its ferocious horned head, and snorted with a flaming sound full of sulfur. It folded its wings, and the dragon claws at the front of its left and right wings also lay down with its body.

Eric unfastened the buckle on his waist, held on to the high saddle, leaped up, and with a bang, he jumped off the dragon's back with his angular dragon-carved plate armor.

Taking off his dragon-wing-decorated helmet, he patted the curved dragon horn of his companion beside him and said goodbye: "See you tomorrow, Beauty."

Feilong shook his head contentedly.

The dragon trainer stepped forward, blew the whistle, and carefully led the giant beast with its claws and feet rumbling back to the depths of the dragon's nest to rest and eat.

The attendants nearby waited until the huge flying dragon went far away, then ran to the prince's side and removed the armor and changed the clothes for the honorable Crown Prince of Orlando.

"Your Highness, His Majesty's court meeting has ended." The waiter reminded.

"That's great. I need to go see my father," Eric told his servants to follow him.

The group followed the winding stairs out of the dragon's nest on the back mountain, rode on the horses waiting at the foot of the mountain to avoid being frightened by the flying dragon, and hurried back to the palace.

Entering the inner city of the royal court, Eric dismounted and walked to the main hall where his father was. Passing the royal garden, he suddenly stopped.

He was pleasantly surprised to see a young girl leisurely sitting under a parasol among the flowers drinking tea by the lake in front of him.

"Ines!"

Calling out his sister's name, Eric smiled and walked quickly towards her.

The blonde girl under the parasol heard the call and looked up with her cyan eyes.

Seeing her brother coming, she put down her teacup, stood up from her chair, gracefully stepped back, bent her knees, and lifted her skirt to salute Eric.

"Good day, my king. Long time no see." Ines smiled calmly. "You're back from Xiwan County? When did you arrive?" Looking at his relatives who had changed a lot, Eric counted the days. It had been more than three years since Ines was sent to "Greater Wester Territory" by her father. Ines, who was small and childish back then, has now become a graceful sixteen-year-old girl.

"I just arrived, just one day later than you, my brother." Ines replied gently.

Seeing his younger sister being so polite, Eric inexplicably felt that there seemed to be some inevitable unfamiliarity between them.

"We haven't seen each other for a few years. How are you doing in West County?" Eric asked.

"Thank you for your concern, my brother. Xiwan County has a pleasant climate, rich resources, and the scenery of the sea is also intoxicating. If you have free time in the future, you are welcome to visit me. Ines will definitely take you to taste the fresh and juicy golden fin sea fish." The little princess raised her fan to cover her lips and answered with a smile.

"Since you said so, I will definitely go and see it when I have the chance." Eric nodded.

As he spoke, he slowly stopped smiling and sighed, "I also met the Duke of Wester's son yesterday. The Duke is handsome and his wife is a beauty, so how come their son has such a noble appearance?
"Father is really a fool. He actually wants you to marry that pig? Sigh, I don't want to be rude, but that guy is as fat as a meatball. I doubt if he can climb onto the saddle by himself. How can such a guy be worthy of you?"

Ines smiled and shook her head: "Haha, Lord Ackerman will be sad to hear this, my brother, please don't speak out of turn. Besides, Ackerman and I have never been engaged, so there is no question of whether I will marry him or not."

“That’s right. Originally, father sent you to West Territory because he hoped that you could grow up together and see what that boy is like. But now it seems that you can’t possibly like that guy, right?
Even if you spend some time practicing martial arts every day, you won’t get that fat, let alone fight in the battlefield.”

As a warrior who goes into battle to kill the enemy, Eric speaks with contempt. Orland is named after the knights and is a country founded on military power. Such a lazy and greedy person who is lazy and indulgent is not worthy of marrying a royal daughter who has the blood of the Twilight Knight, even if he is the son of a duke.

"How about this, when I meet my father I will just persuade him that the son of Duke Osdor is a brave knight, and I fought alongside him last year. Isn't he a hundred times better than that pig from the West family? How about you come with me to the Roman Territory to see if he's up to standard?" Eric suggested to his sister.

Ines heard this, a trace of helplessness seeped out of her eyes, and she felt at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
After three years, my brother is still so uninformed about politics.

During the civil war sixteen years ago, my father rose to power with the support of the eastern nobles, and was eventually able to defeat the western nobles who supported the previous king and seize the throne.

Duke Osdor took advantage of this situation and now has the entire territory of Roman under his control.

As the leader of the so-called "Royal Party", she has the support of many lords in the east, including Garsom, as well as the west. If she, the Princess of Orland, marries the eldest son of the other party.

Decades later, if given the chance, Orlando would probably no longer use the last name "Drakmaar".

Over the years, General Trosa's faction alone has been far from enough to help my father split the so-called "royal party" which is difficult to resolve.

Her father sent her to the Territory of Wester, apparently hoping that through marriage with the weaker Wester family, he could unite the remaining nobles who were excluded from the royal party and once supported the "former king" in the civil war, and slowly balance the eastern lords who were gradually losing control and forming a subtle alliance.

But now it seems that his silly elder brother still hasn't understood why his father arranged for him to lead the troops and interfere in the border defense of the Roman leaders.

Lowering her eyes, Ines did not comment on her brother's proposal: "Thank you for your concern, my brother, but Lord Ackerman is not as useless as you say. In short, Ines' future still depends on my father's arrangement."

"Don't worry, I will have a good talk with father. We'll talk again at dinner time." Eric promised, patting his chest.

After bidding farewell to his sister temporarily, he continued on his way to the main hall.

Ines waved her little hand and looked at the king's departing back with a smile.

In her mind, she seemed to be able to see the scene of her silly brother being scolded by his father.

The smile on the girl's lips gradually faded, and the indifference in her eyes returned to normal.

Who her future husband will be is not something she can decide now. At the moment, she is destined to be a bargaining chip in her father's hand to maintain his rule.

In this case, whether it is Ackerman from the West family, the eldest son of Duke Roman, or anyone else, it makes no difference to her.

But she still didn't want to give up any opportunity to control her own destiny.

It's certainly difficult.

She was not a man and could not compete with her elder brother for the inheritance rights that were destined to belong to the eldest son. Even if she found a way to kill this foolish elder brother, the throne would only fall to other brothers or even the side branches of the royal family.

If you want your father to respect your ideas, you must have the power to make him reconsider his true value.

"Let's go, Agatha. I've missed the scenery here enough." Opening the exquisite Seralil folding fan in her hand again, Ines turned around and called the tall female knight beside her to follow.

"Yes, Your Highness." The heroic woman who had remained silent all the time lowered her head and touched her chest. She waited for her loyal master to pass by before she followed him silently.

"Sometimes I envy you, Agatha." Ines glanced sideways and smiled leisurely.

"Me? I don't understand, Your Highness." Agatha responded in a muffled voice, somewhat puzzled. She was born a slave and endured a miserable and filthy childhood. She had finally learned how to wield a sword and strengthen her body amidst the ridicule and humiliation of men, and fought her way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood time and time again to become a mercenary.

But if she had not been favored by the noble princess and given the title of knight, she would probably have died in a meaningless battle like everyone else sooner or later.

As someone like me, what could be worthy of Her Highness Ines' envy?

“I’m not envious of your life, but I envy your ability to determine your own value no matter what situation you face.

When I was a kid, I also dreamed of being able to pick up a weapon, ride a flying dragon, and fly into the sky like my brother.
But I was not allowed to practice martial arts and become as big and strong as you, because to my father, as a beautiful girl, lying in the bed of a powerful man, my contribution and value to Drakmaar is greater." Ines said self-deprecatingly.

"When I first arrived in Xiwan, I even sneaked to the Northern Fortress, hoping to master the power of those warlocks to help me break free from the constraints of the mortal world.
But unfortunately, the gods did not give me the talent to learn magic. Master Hilgard was right. The blood of the Dusk Knight is naturally not compatible with that power. I almost broke the warlocks' machines.

Then I knew there was only one way forward for me.”

Before he finished speaking, a young man dressed gorgeously but chubby like a dumpling wrapped in ornaments, ran over with sweat on his forehead: "Your Highness~! Your Highness Ines, where have you been? The palace of Orlandon is too big, it took me a long time to find you."

"What? Lord Ackerman, I let you have time to meet with your little boy servant in private, but you don't thank me?" Ines teased with a sly smile in her eyes.

"Ouch, hush! Hush! Your Highness! Princess! Keep your voice down. Don't talk here! If my father finds out, he will beat me to death." The Duke's son couldn't help but change his expression. He just hoped that the little girl in front of him, whom he couldn't afford to offend, would shut up.

Thanks to the leader of Ishtar SS, and the fourth leader for the reward. I also thank the previous three leaders for their support. I also thank all the readers for their monthly votes. I am a loser who can’t update the novel, but you guys are so awesome and strong. You pushed me to the sixth place on the fantasy list. Woohoo, I have never been in such a high position. I am so happy. I can only kowtow to you all. In addition, a list of noble characters has been updated, so you can check their titles and names to prevent confusion. The names of people in Western fantasy novels, especially the noble characters, are quite confusing. There is no other way. For the sake of that flavor, I have to taste it. Woohoo.

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(End of this chapter)