Being a knight is not easy

Chapter 167 Exodus
Two days later, the gilded gate of Duke Hawke's mansion slowly opened, and the light from the crystal chandelier poured down the steps, illuminating the entire bluestone road as if it were daytime.

Robin Gabriel held an ancient lyre in his arms, and the silver embroidery on his dark green velvet cloak was faintly visible in the light and shadow, creating tiny ripples as he walked.

The gold-plated emblem on the invitation letter felt slightly hot in his palm, reminding him of his current identity - just a wandering bard who was summoned to entertain.

Once upon a time, the name "Robin Gabriel" appeared on wanted posters across the kingdom, symbolizing betrayal and danger;
Now, when his boot heels knocked on the marble floor of the Duke's Mansion, the newly forged Tang sword faintly visible at his waist seemed to be the best amulet.

Even if those nobles who once hated him to the core recognized this face at this moment, they could only be secretly frightened amidst the clinking of glasses - the reputation of the legendary knight was enough to temporarily put any conspiracy dormant.

The banquet hall was filled with the aroma of wine and perfume. Robin's eyes swept across the guests' jeweled faces and finally fell on Lady Aisha who was sitting in the main seat.

The other person was wearing a veil inlaid with pigeon blood rubies, covering her lips with a peacock feather fan, and nodding slightly at him.

Robin's fingertips wandered over the strings, and the power of order seeped into every note like a gurgling stream.

The passionate melody of "Exodus" suddenly sounded, and the crystals on the bronze chandelier trembled slightly, as if pulled by an invisible force.

The sound of knives and forks clashing in the banquet hall suddenly stopped. The nobles' hands holding wine glasses were suspended in mid-air, and their gorgeous clothes with jewels and gems were eclipsed by the music.

The peacock feather fan in Lady Aisha's hand fell to the ground with a "plop", and her pupils contracted violently under her ruby-encrusted veil.

This melody, wrapped in the majestic momentum of breaking through shackles, hit her heart like a heavy hammer - twenty years ago, she was an orphan girl selling flowers barefoot at the dock. When she was huddled in the bottom hold of a merchant ship to sneak across the border, she had heard sailors humming a similar tune.

At this moment, the power of order contained in the music became real, exploding like thunder in her ears. The fragments of memory buried by jewels and power suddenly surged violently in her mind.

After the song ended, the lingering sound seemed to freeze in time, and the entire banquet hall fell into a suffocating silence. Everyone was still immersed in the shocking atmosphere created by the interweaving of the passionate melody and the power of order, unable to extricate themselves.

Ten seconds later, an old nobleman with a white beard, as if just awakened from his intoxication, flushed, was the first to applaud vigorously.

His hands trembled slightly with excitement, and the applause was particularly loud in the empty hall.

Immediately afterwards, as if the applause broke some kind of magical bondage, the banquet hall suddenly erupted in thunderous applause.

The nobles all stood up, their faces filled with amazement and admiration.

Some raised their glasses and cheered loudly to Robin;

Some people were whispering to each other, excitedly discussing the exquisiteness of the song that had just been performed.

Lady Aisha also came back to her senses at this time, and there was a strange light in her eyes, which showed a complex emotion of memories of the past and a strong interest in the young bard in front of her.

She gently lifted her veil, a faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and her eyes were fixed on Robin, as if she was looking through his appearance to explore the secrets deep in his heart.

Robin bowed slightly and thanked everyone gracefully. The new Tang sword flickered coldly in the candlelight behind him.

This song has successfully attracted everyone's attention and also taken a crucial step for his next actions.

As Robin was swept into the center of a wave of fragrant wind and jewels, the hilt of his new Tang sword rubbed his ribs through his velvet coat. Three countesses wearing laurel coats trapped him against a carved pillar. As their diamond earrings brushed against the back of his hand, he heard one of them ask in a voice only aristocratic girls could pronounce: "I've never heard this song before. Where does it come from?"

"It's just the wild tricks of some wandering artists." He smiled and took a half step back, but at this moment the tassel of the guitar case was caught by a lady's ostrich feather fan.

Amidst the laughter that erupted from the crowd, a hand in a pearl glove quietly slid towards his lower back, while another pair of fingertips coated with marigold juice was unbuttoning his cuffs.

Robin felt like a piece of fresh meat surrounded by wolves. The greed burning in the eyes of those seemingly elegant ladies made his scalp tingle more than the sharp teeth of the mechanical siren.

"Ladies!" The sound of wind chimes finally drifted through the crowd. Her silver hair ornaments shattered into cold light under the lamplight. "Madam, you wish to meet this poet who can make stones weep." As she spoke, she calmly separated the hand of a certain marquise. The metal buckle of the whip in her sleeve brushed against the back of Robin's hand. "There's rose honey on your harp strings. Do you need me to wipe it off?"

When she finally escaped from the pile of makeup, Robin looked down at the tea stains and lipstick marks on her velvet jacket and sighed helplessly.

On her left breast was the rouge handprint of a fat duchess, shaped oddly like a raven with its wings spread.

When Feng Ling handed him the lavender-scented handkerchief, he suddenly smelled the rose scent mixed with rust from the other person's cuffs - it was the Viscountess's special aphrodisiac perfume.

"Madam is waiting for you in the greenhouse."

Robin followed her through the corridors filled with hunting specimens. The glass eyes of the deer heads on the wall reflected the greasy fingerprints on his shoulders. He suddenly felt that this party was more difficult to handle than he had imagined.

At least the mechanical siren didn't hook its diamond-studded nails around the hilt of his sword and ask him if the power of order could make wrinkles disappear.

Under the glass dome of the greenhouse, Mrs. Aishaer was watering Ye Luolan. She had taken off her heavy work clothes from the banquet and was wearing only a moon-white gauze dress. Her exposed shoulders were still stained with the gold powder of the noble lady just now.

"They all say you're a bard from the North." When she turned around, Robin saw the sapphire necklace around her neck. It was the fake one the Viscountess had stuffed into his palm yesterday. "But I think you look more like a fallen angel punished by God."

Robin knelt on one knee, and the guitar case made a dull thud as it touched the ground.

The new Tang sword vibrated slightly in the box. He heard the first stroke of the midnight bell in the distance and knew it was time for the guard to change.

Lady Aisha's fingertips traced across his rouge-stained collarbone, and she suddenly chuckled. "It seems my collections like you more than I expected." Her voice suddenly softened. "But you know what? True treasures are never touched by too many people."

Robin looked up and met the flickering candlelight in her eyes.

The handprints left on his body by those noble ladies suddenly became burning.

It turned out that from the moment he played the first string, he had been caught in a double hunt.

Is he the prey in Lady Aisha's eyes?

The silver bells of the wind chimes rang outside the door, signaling the end of the guard change. Robin felt Lady Else's nails digging gently into his shoulder, but then he heard her whisper, a voice only the two of them could hear: "The roses in the greenhouse will bloom extraordinarily brightly tonight, just as I saw them twenty years ago, in the blood-stained moonlight."

(End of this chapter)