Chapter 244 - is It Exciting?
244 Is It Exciting?
Dalton's disappearance and the decline of his family were heated topics in the capital.
Even more interestingly, Rourke, Dalton's only son, stood out when his family was in peril. He managed to get a few supporters for his family with diplomatic skills at the cost of some of his family's interests. In the end, he successfully saved half of his family's interests and influence.
Although the temporary decline was unavoidable, there was still hope for his family to rise again later.
In any case, Rourke had made a name for himself. Earlier, people had thought that Rourke was only a baby bird under the wings of the eagle that was Dalton, but now, a lot of nobles, including the royal family, believed that he was a mature head of a family now.
Many nobles thought that he was a good candidate for a marriage alliance.
Roland and his crew spent a few days in the capital. Seeing that Rourke and the royal family had no intention to retaliate, they decided to retreat.
The members of F6 each had their own business. Roland planned to go back to Delpon to continue his magic studies.
He had planned to teleport back, but the queen insisted on going with him. So, he could only use Teleportation once outside of the city to record the coordinates of the capital.
They had hired a carriage and were leaving the capital, when Andonara, who was looking out of the window excitedly, exclaimed and said, "Stop. Roland, I need to go out."
Roland craned his head and found a small squad next to the road.
They were Veronica in a princess's long dress and about twenty guards.
"You can go."
Andonara blinked her eyes at Roland gratefully, before she jumped off and walked to Veronica.
"You're waiting for me?" Andonara looked at her former student.
Veronica took a deep breath and asked, "Do you know what you're doing?"
She seemed angry and regretful.
"Of course I do."
"Do you not feel guilty for abandoning your husband and your daughter just like that?"
"The royal family wronged me in the first place. Why are you talking like I'm the bad guy here?" Andonara said with a smile. "Besides, have you ever called me your mother? You never even called me Madam."
"Mother! Mother! Mother!" Veronica roared with a red face, before she looked at Andonara embarrassedly. "Are you happy now?"
The vague smile on Andonara's face was gone. She said solemnly, "Though it's rather late, I'm happy that you're willing to call me Mother. I tried to be your mother a year ago, but His Majesty did not seem to have feelings for me. I was just a toy for him when he felt lonely. He barely talked to me."
"My father is old and not as capable in that aspect as before! Please be considerate."
Andonara smiled. "I really don't care much about that. I only care about his attitude. When I was kidnapped, he stopped looking for me after a random search, and after I was released, he kept me at a distance without providing any comfort. He even intended to sentence me to death for tarnishing the honor of the royal family. Do you think that's what a husband should do?"
"It's not true. That was all my second brother's lie in order to take you away," Veronica said anxiously. "My second brother is already dead."
"So, nobody can deny it now, right? Although I never liked the second prince, is it really appropriate to blame everything on a dead man?" Andonara asked with a smile.
"It was really my second brother's scheme." Veronica almost burst into tears. Then she remembered something else. "Right. My father asked me to tell you that you can come back after you have enough fun. He won't blame you."
After a brief daze, Andonara laughed so hard that she almost shed tears. "Do you think I would believe that, Veronica? If I do go back, I would probably be imprisoned and disposed of quietly."
"Really. My father meant it." Veronica stared at Andonara seriously. "He knew that you wouldn't believe it, so he asked me to bring this to you."
A guard immediately delivered an item that was covered in a handkerchief. Veronica opened it for Andonara, and it turned out to be a crown encrusted with multiple blue and white gems.
It was the crown of the queen.
After a brief shock, Andonara began to sneer.
He thought that a crown was enough to win her heart back?
She was not as cheap as that!
Andonara turned around and was about to leave, but then she remembered something and picked up the crown. Spinning the crown with her finger, she said, "All right, you can go back now. I'll take the queen's crown. It's mine anyway."
Veronica was greatly relieved to see that she kept it.
Then, she thought for a moment and said, blushing, "My father probably wouldn't care if you're intimate with Roland or not, but remember not to make a baby, or my father would probably go nuts."
"That's none of your business."
Andonara grimaced at Veronica and returned to the carriage.
Watching the carriage wobble away, she couldn't help but wipe her eyes.
Familial bonds were really rare for the members of the royal family.
Veronica had only sensed a familial bond, or rather, friendship, from Andonara for a year or two.
After all, the two of them were of a similar age, and all her skills were taught by Andonara.
Now, her only family was gone, and there was no telling when they could meet again. Naturally, she felt upset.
On the carriage, Andonara put on the crown solemnly, which made her appear much more sacred than before.
She then approached Roland and smiled. "I'm still the queen! The king hasn't terminated my rank yet."
Roland was slightly confused. "I know you're the queen. What's wrong?"
"You have a queen that you can do anything to…" Andonara rolled her eyes, then narrowed them charmingly. "Are you not thrilled and excited?"
After a brief shock, Roland slapped his own forehead.
It seemed that he was returning with a big problem… But it was definitely exciting!
It took the carriage about ten days to reach Delpon.
They didn't run into any robbers on the way. After all, Roland had killed too many robbers in the past two months, and other robbers had learned a lesson and decided to go elsewhere.
When Roland returned to his manor in Delpon, Vivian was waiting for him.
But when she saw Roland getting off from the carriage with a crowned woman, her face was so dark that ink seemed to be dropping.
Holding White Amber, she managed to ask with a smile, "Roland, who's this?"
"Queen Andonara."
"Queen!" Vivian's eyes widened. The news was so shocking for her that she even forgot her jealousy.
Andonara promptly went forward and grabbed Vivian's hands, before she smiled gently. "You must be Vivian. Roland talked a lot about you."
Vivian looked at Roland and then the queen, before she asked in delight, "Really?"
"Of course, let me tell you…"
The queen walked into the manor holding Vivian's hands, as if she were the hostess of this place.
Roland couldn't help but click his tongue. It was true that the more beautiful a woman was, the more deceptive she would be.
He had indeed mentioned Vivian to Andonara on his journey back to Delpon, but it couldn't have been more than three times.
Yet, it somehow became "a lot" in Andonara's mouth.
After returning to the manor, Roland bonded with White Amber first.
He certainly had to care for his own magic pet.
Then, he had dinner with the queen and Vivian.
He discovered, to his surprise, that the queen and Vivian were already quite close. They were talking and laughing like blood sisters.
But it had little to do with him.
He only kept Andonara here to fulfill his promise that he would give her a safe place to live in.
There was no place that was safer than Delpon, which was the players' territory now.
After dinner, Roland opened the forum in his study and made a post.
"Whoever wants to be promoted to a Great Swordsman or learn advanced specializations, please come to Delpon."
He briefly mentioned in the post that Andonara was in Delpon and that she could help with promotion and teach advanced Warrior specializations.
As for the tuition fee, it would be high but mostly depended on the queen's mood.
He had talked to Andonara about it on the ride back to Delpon.
Andonara did not care about what he said at all. She seemed so obedient, as if she would listen to everything he said.
After he uploaded the post, many players replied in less than a minute.
"See? I was correct that Roland would take the queen to Delpon."
"F6 are all pretty boys. Schuck counts on the dragon princess, and now Roland makes money through the queen. Damn it. Why is the gap between people so huge?"
"I don't care if she's pretty or not, I support Roland. Do you know how difficult it is to be promoted to be a Great Swordsman? 99% of the people can't even meet the identity requirement. Now, Roland has given us a chance, and you're cursing him? That's too ungrateful."
"I'm not a Warrior. Why should I be grateful? I'm just cursing him. What can you do?"
"If you have balls, tell me where you are in the game. I'm a LV5 Warrior. I'm going to duel you."
"Does anybody know the queen's fee? It's time for the rich players to check it out."
"I think you're implying her fee for other services, my friend, but forget it. I think I'm more or less rich. I'll ask for the fee for the advanced specializations in Delpon. Wait for my update."
Roland took a quick glimpse at the replies and shook his head. He was about to turn off the forum when he was drawn to a short message.
He had refused private messages from most people. Only his friends on his whitelist could message him.
Hawk: "We've accepted an epic dungeon quest, and we need a powerful Mage. If you're interested, please come to the docks ASAP."