Imperial Crown.

Chapter 302 Are you kidding?

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……

Raven's army has set out, but Blue Castle, the capital of the Principality of Eivor, is still a place of peace and prosperity.

This city with a population of more than 70 is located on a vast plain in the north-central part of the Principality of Eivor, spanning both sides of the Heilan River.

During its construction, it used the local unique "fluorite", making the city wall appear as deep blue as the sea in a dream.

This is also the origin of the name "Blue Castle".

As the art capital among the city-states of Fitun, Blue Castle not only has the only officially run bard academy on the continent of Middles, but also has a city construction full of beauty.

Artworks are the most common thing to see here.

Fountains, statues, graffiti, and various reliefs are engraved on the walls of street shops.

Even street lamps and drainage ditches need some decoration.

The bright moon accompanies the ditch, and the roast chicken and the swan fly together.

Originally, although Blue Castle is also full of artistic atmosphere, it is not so exaggerated.

The story begins when Eivor VIII came to the throne.

This heir, who was born into a branch of the Eivor family, had been addicted to artistic creation since childhood. After becoming the Grand Duke, he required that all buildings in the Blue Castle must be "full of artistic atmosphere."

He wants to live in a world that is like a work of art.

In order to implement his plan, he did not hesitate to issue a decree to impose an "ugly tax" on all buildings that did not meet the standards, and the amount was enough to bankrupt anyone.

So how do you meet the standards?

Of course, it must be approved by Count Quentin, the Grand Duke's brother-in-law and the Duke's Marshal - and to gain approval, one naturally has to pay a price.

Although the decree was eventually withdrawn, many people had already lost a lot of money because of it, and some even lost their families.

Anyone who passes the certification will have a bunch of herbs inserted at the door as a mark.

This is also the origin of the name "Grand Duke of Vanilla".

Even so, Eivor VIII was still not satisfied - if it weren't for the pressure from Prime Minister Gatugen, he would even plan to make the city walls hollow.

The palace where the Grand Duke lived was called "Posa Palace", located in the eastern part of the city, upstream of the Hailan River.

At this time, Eivor VIII was standing upright in the garden.

He is tall, thin, pale-skinned, and clean-shaven. At first glance, he looks to be in his early 30s, a classic handsome man.

He wore a wide-brimmed soft hat common among bards, his light red hair was draped over his shoulders, and he wore a green banquet robe dotted with red flowers. The collar was wide open, revealing a loose white cotton shirt.

A pair of straight legs, wrapped in tight white stockings and wearing high heels, fully revealing her figure.

Opposite him, a painter was sketching his figure.

"Your Highness." A palace attendant hurried over and stood aside, bowing and saying, "The Prime Minister requests an audience."

Eivor VIII frowned slightly, showing a bit of impatience: "Then let him wait a little longer."

As an artist, Eivor VIII has received professional vocal training and his voice is soft and pleasant.

"This..." The waiter hesitated, but still said: "...The Prime Minister said that if you don't go to see him, he will come to you."

"Damn it." Eivor VIII muttered, took off his hat and threw it on the ground, then turned to the painter and said, "Oh, don't worry, I'm not talking about you. You leave first and we will continue tomorrow."

As he spoke, he tore off his robe and threw it on the ground, then stretched out his hand and magic power drew runes in the air, and the dress that was originally hanging on the railing not far away flew into his hands.

That’s right, Eivor VIII is a magician, and a second-level magician at that.

Unfortunately, he had no pursuit of magic, and he learned magic only to better complete his artistic creation.

After changing into formal attire with the help of the waiter, Eivor VIII asked, "What on earth does Gatugan want?"

The waiter whispered, "Your Highness, why would the Prime Minister tell us servants what's going on?"

"Waste..." Eivor VIII scolded in a low voice.

He really didn't want to meet the Prime Minister.

Although he was reluctant to admit it, he was actually a little afraid of Gatugen.

Since he ascended the throne 13 years ago, Gatugen has been the Prime Minister of the Principality. At that time, Gatugen hoped that Eivor VIII would become a great ruler.

Eivor VIII was also willing to cooperate.

Therefore, the two of them had a honeymoon period that lasted for two years. During that period, the court of the principality was harmonious, the monarch and his subjects got along well with each other, and it was a peaceful scene.

Gartugan also began to be willing to slowly return power to Eivor VIII.

But as time went on, Eivor VIII's true nature gradually revealed itself.

Until the "Duke of Vanilla" incident, the originally harmonious situation was completely destroyed.

Thinking of that incident now, Eivor VIII still feels itchy in hatred -

Yes, I may have gone a little too far at that time, but I am the head of the principality, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke!
Gatugen was just a minister, a landless court noble!

He, Gatugen, even threatened to dissolve the cabinet and asked Eivor VIII to take back his decision.

What's even more hateful is that Eivor VIII found that he really couldn't manage the duchy without Gatugen.

So he had to swallow his anger, withdraw his order, and personally go to ask Gatugen to come back.

Then began an 11-year-long tug-of-war between the emperor and his subjects.

Eivor VIII has been trying to insert his own people into the cabinet, while Gatugen has been trying his best to avoid it.

Since the previous finance minister passed away four months ago, this vacant position has become the focus of the struggle between the emperor and his ministers, and everyone wants to put their own people in it.

Unfortunately, someone found fault with Eivor VIII's selection, forcing him to exile him.

So Eivor VIII used his willful power as a monarch and refused to approve the appointment of the new finance minister, and tried his best to avoid meeting with Gatugen.

"You, Gatugen, are capable, so why don't you take on the responsibility of Finance Minister?"

However, this was only said in private. No matter how willful he was, as a Grand Duke, he had to meet his Prime Minister.

After crossing the garden and arriving at the meeting room, Gatugen was already waiting there.

As an old minister who had served as prime minister during the previous Grand Duke's period, Gatugen was not at all arrogant. Although he was over 50 years old, he was still standing in the conference room waiting.

By the standards of a civil servant, he was quite muscular, and even when covered in a robe, he still looked robust.

In fact, Gatugen was indeed a military man.

As the heir of a knight family, he was noticed by the former Grand Duke when he was young for his meritorious service in fighting against horse bandits in the Bloody Highlands. With his relatively humble background, he climbed all the way to the high position of Prime Minister of the Duchy.

Seeing Eivor VIII coming, Gatugen immediately stepped forward and saluted: "Your Highness the Grand Duke!"

Gatugen had six fingers on his left hand.

Unlike ordinary people with extra fingers, who do not have an extra finger growing from the knuckle, he actually has six metacarpal bones and phalanges.

This also made his left hand look much broader than that of an ordinary person. Every time he saw this palm, Eivor VIII would instinctively feel disgusted. He frowned and then relaxed his brows: "No need to be polite, Prime Minister, please take a seat."

"Today is a day off. Why are you in such a hurry to come here?"

Gatugen held out a document with both hands: "Your Highness, urgent military information."

The document was handed over to Eivor VIII by the court eunuch, who took it and looked at it carefully, his brows furrowed more and more.

He knew all the words written on it, but when they were read together, it was a bit confusing.

The main person mentioned in this document is Raven Ota Griffith.

Eivor VIII had also heard of the name Raven.

After all, the Angel's Tears that he drinks every day, the Angel's Embrace that he uses for washing, and the Angel's Gift that he takes a dozen times a day, were all invented by Raven.

But it was just this man, a small baron, who wanted to lead an army to attack the Duchy of Eivor?
Is he dreaming or am I dreaming?

I didn't eat the wonderland mushrooms this morning.

"Is this the urgent military information you mentioned?" Eivor VIII looked extremely strange: "Are you sure there is nothing wrong with what is written here?"

Gatugen said, "Yes, Your Highness."

He glanced at Gatugen, then at the document in his hand, and even turned to the back to see if he had missed anything.

After confirming that nothing was missed, Eivor VIII asked, "Okay, then I would like to ask..."

"Who is Raven?"

Gatugen said: "I have written the contents in the document. He is a descendant of the Griffith family, a baron of the Keynes Empire, and the leader of..."

Before he could finish his words, Eivor VIII raised his hand to interrupt him: "I am sure that my eyes can see clearly, and I have read everything in the document."

"I mean, he's a baron who went crazy for a while and came to attack my country. Can that be considered important military intelligence?"

"Has the wall of sighs collapsed?"

"Or maybe my common sense is wrong. This baron has hundreds of thousands of troops under his command?"

"Are you kidding?"

Gatugen remained calm, as he had already anticipated Eivor VIII's reaction.

After all, even he himself was a little bit unconvinced when he first received the news, and only dared to report it after verifying it from multiple sources.

"I'm not kidding, Your Highness."

"This incident may seem absurd, but it is very likely a trick used by the Keynes Empire to make us let down our guard."

These words calmed Eivor VIII down slightly.

A conspiracy by the Keynesian Empire to paralyze me? Really?
However, the Keynes Empire was fighting the Insa people on their northeastern border and was losing ground. It was already unable to cope with the situation. How could it have the spare energy to open up a second battlefield?
Gatugen came prepared. Before Eivor VIII could ask, he said:

"Although the Keynes Empire has been retreating again and again on the front battlefield, the northeastern provinces are not their core territory. Even if they are completely destroyed, as long as Majik City is not lost, it will not be a serious loss."

"But the Langqing Province, which is adjacent to our Principality of Aiwo, is the financial and tax center of Insa. It is the only ice-free port of Insa in the western part of the continent, and it is very close to its capital. Its strategic value is more important than the northeastern provinces of Cairns."

"Once we are defeated, we can directly threaten Insa's core interests and create the possibility of peace talks on the Northeast battlefield."

"That's why I think that Raven's high-profile military deployment is a means for the Keynes Empire to paralyze us!"

These words made so much sense that Eivor VIII didn't know how to refute them for a moment.

But he still instinctively felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure it out in such a hurry.

Gatugen was not prepared to give Eivor VIII time to think:

"Your Highness, I also know that this matter is incredible."

"But a baron would not have the guts to do such a thing. Even if it is not as I guessed, there must be a huge conspiracy behind it."

"Keynes is the most powerful empire after all, and we must deal with it with caution."

"Therefore, I suggest that we immediately send more troops to the Sighing Wall to prepare for any eventuality."

Just as Eivor VIII was about to agree, his eyes caught sight of the six fingers on Gatugen's hand and he was suddenly startled.

He realized what he had overlooked.

It is clear that the focus of the recent dispute between the two is the appointment of the Minister of Finance, and once the war starts, the position of the Minister of Finance will not remain vacant.

But Gatugen had obviously thought of everything, so why didn't he mention this?

"War is not a child's fight. We must deal with it with caution." Eivor VIII said in a deep voice:
"But if we, the great Principality of Eivor, were to treat the outrageous words of a small baron as if we were facing a formidable enemy, it would not only be a loss of national dignity, but would also be ridiculous."

Gatugen wanted to persuade him again: "But Your Highness, if there is really a conspiracy here, it may be too late for us to react."

Seeing that Gatugen was a little impatient, Aivor was quite proud. He felt that he had seen through Gatugen's intentions, and became more calm:
"Don't worry, Prime Minister. I'm not saying we shouldn't respond to this war."

"Your documents also say that Raven has assembled more than 4 troops, and the march will take a long time."

"What I mean is, we should send someone out to investigate first and learn more details. Once we have enough information, it won't be too late for us to respond."

"Sigh, the high walls are not made of mud after all."

Having said that, without waiting for Gatugen to continue his argument, Eivor VIII stood up and walked out:

"Let's leave this topic for now. You lead the cabinet to come up with a strategy, and I will think about it carefully."

Gatugen opened his mouth, but in the end he could only bow helplessly: "Farewell, Your Highness!"

Feeling that he had won a victory, Eivor VIII returned to his bedroom with happy steps.

As soon as I sat down, I heard a crisp ringing sound.

The subtle fragrance hits your nose.

As the petals spread across the ground, a beautiful woman walked over gracefully.

By court standards, her attire was extremely inappropriate.

She wore a light pink dancer's veil on her head, with long hair that looked like distant green mountains pressed down below, and a bright red spot decorated with gold flakes on her forehead.

She has deep facial features, long and thin eyebrows, charming almond-shaped eyes, and plump lips that are hooked in a seductive smile.

With a unique charm that is not like that of humans.

There are only two straps on the upper body, wrapping around the shoulders and towering collarbones, tightly covering the private parts, but fully revealing the curve of the waist that is less than the size of a hand.

There is a gem inlaid on the small belly button.

The vest line is clear and hidden in the lower abdomen. There are only two pieces of cloth like a loincloth tied around the waist with a thin rope. As the steps sway, the tight thighs are revealed.

A string of bells hung on her tender lotus-like wrist, and the crisp sound came from that.

She walked up to Eivor VIII, and even though she was wearing so little, she still performed a skirt-lifting salute:

"Your Highness!"

The beauty is revealed.

……

(End of this chapter)