Knight and Wand

Chapter 171 King’s Landing
After sending Lady Adeline to her destination peacefully, Leon hurriedly looked around at the crowd gathered in the castle lord's hall.

He discovered that, including his three brothers, except for some knights who were unable to leave their garrison posts, almost 90% of the vassals and family members of the Thorn Flower had gathered in Achesburg.

Not only did Adeline come to meet her husband, but even Baron Elliver's two sons, the eldest son Feodor and the second son David, who had been guarding the rear, also came to the family's new territory.

Leon estimated that Earlliver intended to let as many of his family and vassals as possible witness the glorious moment of the family's revival.

After visiting the feudal lord, everyone was arranged to rest in the guest rooms in the inner castle.

The huge inner castle showed no signs of damage caused by the war, and after such a long period of tidying up by servants, the former lord's fortress and courtyard had completely restored their former cleanliness and luxury.

At this moment, a large number of busy servants were embellishing and decorating the interior of the castle in the Orland style on the original basis, just to welcome the many nobles of the kingdom and even His Majesty the King himself who were about to come.

As for the family of the former Lord Kantadar who were originally stationed here.

I heard that after they opened the gates and surrendered because they could not bear the long siege, Baron Elliver simply imprisoned them and did not make things difficult for these living "gold coins".

Not long ago, after the Thorn Flower Army and General Trosa repelled the lords of Glade County who had returned with their troops after hearing the news, most of the prisoners of war were released due to the ransom paid.

Now this inner castle, along with the entire city of Aches, has completely fallen into the hands of the Farolis family.

After a night's sleep, this time without the disturbance of the assassin, Leon recovered comfortably from the fatigue of the journey.

The next day, unable to find anything to do, he volunteered to go on patrol. He took his companions and guards and strolled to the wall of Aches to enjoy the breeze and chat.

The city is preparing for a grand banquet to welcome the king. The Farolis family is receiving one Orland noble after another who has taken time out from the army to come. Vigilance work cannot be neglected.

At the gate of the city, teams of lords who came to attend the meeting passed by. Leon, with nothing to do, looked around on the battlement.

Some of them are familiar, such as the Stag's head emblem of the Stag family, the War Dog emblem of the Rahman family, and the Sea Dragon with a Sword emblem of the Wester family.
There were also unfamiliar ones, such as the flag with a white-tailed sea eagle painted on it.

Leon moved his eyes downward, and suddenly, he saw a very bright golden color in the head with brown, brown, black and other hair colors.

Under the banner of the sea eagle emblem, knights in blue robes and silver armor were guarding a petite blonde girl.

The beautiful girl with blonde hair was wearing gorgeous armor tailored for her body and a beautiful light sword on her waist.

She rode her well-armored warhorse like a noble young general, leading the knights through the city gate.

This unintentional glance made Leon rub his eyes, and he almost thought he saw Olivia.

But if you look closely, you can still discern the significant differences between the two.

The two people have different appearances and their temperaments and demeanor have nothing in common.

But that beautiful blonde hair is just as dazzling.

Girl, leader, blonde
Matching the characteristics, Leon remembered the noble lady who had visited him not long ago as mentioned by Olivia.

He stared at the young knight, and when he lowered his head and could no longer see her walking into the city gate, he turned around and went to the other side, continuing to look around.

She is too young. Looking at the petite figure on the horse, Leon was a little surprised.

Even though her lover had said that the young lady looked younger than she was, the sight of a frail noble daughter wearing armor and leading an army really made one curious.

"That girl should be the niece of Count Trosa that Olivia mentioned, right?" Lockhak murmured as he looked at the back of the "female knight".

He had also heard about the visit that day, and with such conspicuous features, there was probably no other possibility.

However, as soon as Lohak finished speaking, Sergeant Farolis on the tower next to him looked over in confusion, but his eyes were hesitant and he did not dare to interrupt.

Leon noticed the guard's strange expression and asked, "What? Do you have anything to say?"

Seeing the Knight asking directly, the sergeant of the city gate guard hesitated and reminded: "My Lords, please forgive me, you are wrong, that should be the third princess of the kingdom, Her Highness Inis.

I heard that Her Royal Highness is the niece of General Trosa, so wouldn't the King Supporter be of a different generation than the King?"

".Princess?"

Leon was suddenly shocked.

After a pause, he turned around and looked at the Sea Eagle Flag team slowly marching towards the city.

Leon didn't think that the soldiers would have nothing better to do than to fool him. After all, the Farolis warriors guarding the city gate must have become familiar with many troops and noble leaders who came south from Orland during this period of time.

Then, the Lanis Ines that day? The former is undoubtedly a pseudonym?

Why did the princess of Orland, Her Highness Ines, suddenly visit her home?
And met Olivia in person! ?
Leon felt a slight chill on his back.

With his current strength, it would be extremely difficult for him to keep his lover, who has the blood of the previous king, from the hands of King Orland.

If things really came to that, Leon felt that he could not stop the king's army, and his only option was to abandon his territory, pack up his belongings, and run away with his brothers and family.

After all, no matter what, he could not hand over Olivia.

But how did Olivia's identity get exposed? After thinking about it, Leon calmed down and put aside this worry.

He realized that he was just scaring himself.

If Olivia's identity had really been revealed, the one who came to the house that day should not have been Princess Ines, but the king's guards who were there to capture the remnants of the previous dynasty.

This could just be a pure coincidence.

Leon turned his gaze and looked at the Sea Eagle flag following the princess, next to which stood a Wester Sea Dragon flag.

It seems that Princess Ines's troops may have close ties with the Lord West, and the two sides should be allies.

Thus, when Count Rahman's Duwana troops were stationed in March Town, the princess most likely also came to the vicinity of Selva with her troops.

What the other party said, that he came here because he heard the legend of the griffin, was probably true.

This is such a joke of fate.

Olivia unexpectedly met the daughter of the man who killed her father and usurped the country, and they had a very pleasant conversation.

But when I think about it carefully, in terms of naivety, the princess herself is actually in more danger.

If Olivia is the kind of person who wants revenge, and the other party only has one guard, can he stop Olivia's sword?

Leon shook his head. He knew the character of his little lion. Unless Ines threatened someone she cared about, she probably wouldn't take the initiative to kill her even if she knew she was a princess. Besides, killing a little princess would be meaningless and would bring endless troubles to everyone.

Moreover, if you calculate the age carefully.
Ines was younger than Olivia. When the princess was born, the civil war had already ended for more than a year or two. She certainly had never met Olivia's parents.

According to the kingdom's current records, all of the previous king's descendants had already died in the civil war in the palace of Orlando.

If it weren't for someone who was familiar with Olivia's parents, it would be difficult to guess from the girl's current appearance and behavior that the queen did not die in the fire, but instead fled the palace with old Brian while pregnant.

Leon breathed a sigh of relief for the moment.

It is unlikely that Olivia's identity will be exposed to Ines, otherwise, after such a long time, trouble would have come to her long ago.

In this world, as far as Leon knows, the only two people who might actively associate Olivia with that identity when seeing her in person are King Ledwin III and Count Trosa, who supported the king back then.

Secondly, there are the two Dukes of West and Roman, who were familiar with the late king and queen in the previous generation.

Especially those old nobles of the previous dynasty who stood on the side of the late king during the civil war, stayed with the late king, and are still alive today.

As for Ines' generation, they shouldn't be that sensitive.

Otherwise, all the blond-haired and blue-eyed people in the Kingdom of Orland would suffer.

Standing on the city wall, Leon was considering this. Although the result of his speculation made him feel a little relieved, to be honest, he didn't dare to guarantee it 100%.

Do you want to find an opportunity to contact her and test her out?

"What's wrong? You look so nervous."

Ines tilted her head and looked at the female guard who was looking back frequently.

"I feel like there are always a few eyes watching you." Agatha looked towards the top of the city wall behind her. She could make out a few knights who should be from the Farolis family. Their eyes were fixed on this side and would not move away.

"Just let them see. I am so proud of myself right now, and I am not ashamed to show it to the people of the kingdom~"

Ines chuckled and raised her head slightly.

Agatha turned around helplessly and sighed, "Your Highness, His Majesty will definitely go to meet General Trosa on this trip, so why bother coming here to greet him? After all, Achesburg was just occupied by the Farolis family not long ago, and it is not a city where the kingdom's power is rooted. I am afraid that the Thorn Flower family cannot guarantee your safety."

Ines shook her head and waved her folding fan with her right hand: "Welcome? No, no, no, I am not here to welcome my father. I am here to attend as many important occasions as possible where powerful lords gather.

If I had always stayed within the layers of protection and away from others, how would these nobles know that a princess had some bargaining chips and wanted to join their 'game'?"

Agatha shrugged when she heard this, not quite understanding.

Ines looked back at the castle with the thorn flower flag in the distance. "I can take advantage of the birth of a new earl to leave my current image in the eyes of many lords who I have never seen before. Impression is very important, Agatha. Even if the sword on my waist is just a decoration, it can convey enough attitude to others."

She suddenly remembered something and joked to the female knight who made the amusing comment, "Besides, this time we come here just in time to meet that 'lustful' Griffin Knight. As a close minister of the Farolis family, he will surely not be absent from the ceremony of the Lord of the Thorn Flower being conferred the title of Earl."

Agatha couldn't help but be alert after hearing this. According to the rumors she heard later in the countryside of Kossos, the brave Knight Leon seemed to have a great liking for "blonde beauties". She couldn't let that man have any improper thoughts about Her Royal Highness.
The nobles who came to welcome the king arrived in the city one after another.

That night, Leon tossed and turned in his room, wondering how he could approach the princess in military uniform without arousing suspicion and test her inconspicuously.

Since she is interested in griffins, why not tell her that the griffin at home can do backflips?

It's true, although Deathclaw never did that on the ground, little Goethe and Corvis really did do backflips when they were playing.
After much thought, he finally gave up on such a ridiculous excuse for chatting.

Let’s find an opportunity at the next banquet.

On the third day after arriving in Achesburg, Leon was told that the army led by King Kronia had arrived. He immediately dressed up and went out of the city with the nobles to welcome the king of Achesburg.

But they were specifically told not to ride horses that day.

So, the armored nobles and knights formed a huge walking team in tacit understanding and came to the plain outside the gate of Aches.

The large banners with coats of arms symbolizing different families fluttered in the wind in the wilderness. Military nobles in gorgeous armor stood shoulder to shoulder according to their status.

Leon held his sword in Farolis's ranks, waiting silently with everyone else for the arrival of His Majesty the King's army.

He discovered that for some reason Baron Elliver had arranged neither musicians nor a procession of servants to throw flowers, which did not seem to be in keeping with the pomp of welcoming the king before a celebration.

Scanning the team, Leon found the princess he saw yesterday.

Princess Ines, wearing close-fitting armor, was standing at the front of the team with the highest-ranking lords.

Looking at the girl's armored back and seeing her beautiful golden braided hair fluttering in the wind, Leon couldn't help but have some visions of Olivia again.

He wanted more and more to find an armor-making master as soon as possible to make a set of smart and well-fitting knight plate armor for his lover at home.

I wonder how heroic Olivia will look when she puts on the tailor-made armor.

While he was daydreaming, not long after, the huge army that was gradually approaching from the distance appeared at the end of Leon's sight.

Just as he was quietly waiting for the king's army to slowly approach, a majestic roar suddenly came from the sky.

The deafening sound almost triggered the body's instinctive nerve reaction, causing Leon to unconsciously tighten his sword and look up in shock.

A huge body passed through the clouds, its huge wings casting a terrifying shadow, and it quickly swept over the crowd and soared up again.

--roar--!!!
The dragon roars loudly, its power shaking the heavens.

"Dragon! Is that a dragon?!" Lohak and Azerien both widened their eyes.

Even though they had witnessed all sorts of magical sights and monsters over the past few months, they still couldn't help but tremble in their voices at the most terrifying existence in the legend.

Leon was calmer than the other two, but he still felt a deep sense of wonder and envy when he saw the gigantic beast hovering above the team, which was about 20 to 30 meters long from head to tail.

A real man should be like this! Riding a dragon in the sky, there is no greater romance for a man than this.

Unfortunately, I don’t know when the Deathclaw will be willing to take me for a ride.

Taking advantage of the stunning glimpse of the flying dragon soaring sideways, he also saw the majestic figure sitting on the dragon's back, with a high saddle and a crown on his head.

That is undoubtedly the current king of Orland, Ledwin III.

Of course, to Olivia, that was also the real enemy who killed her father and usurped the throne.

(End of this chapter)