Chapter 501 - The Golden Sons Never Fear Trouble
Chapter 501 The Golden Sons Never Fear Trouble
The woman who announced the start of the banquet was naturally the First Princess Stephanie.
In the entire Fareins royal family, discounting the king, the First Princess’s words held the most weight.
This time, the banquet was held in a corner of the huge palace.
Since this was a banquet held by Stephanie herself, and not an invitation from the king, it could only be held at a remote corner.
But this was already impressive.
The Fareins monarchical power was great, and although it was also in a feudal, segmented state, the royal family’s control over the lords of the various regions was much stronger than that of other countries.
It could even be said that almost all the lords had some royal blood in them.
From the small door beneath the high wall at the side of the royal palace, they entered the location where the banquet was being held.
The large white stone slabs paved a huge square, and every ten meters or so, a huge square-shaped pillar was erected, with a large, white, round stone block at its top They were like white, slender mushrooms of different heights.
The architectural style of the entire square seemed particularly fantasy-like and otherworldly, and also quite beautiful—just completely different from the style of most buildings in this game world. Inside, there were already many dignitaries standing around chatting in groups, and the atmosphere was quite relaxed and cheerful.
And when Alfred himself led Roland and Andonara in, this naturally attracted the attention of many people.
Alfred was an “old acquaintance” of the capital of Fareins. As a Legendary Mage and one of the several heads of the Association of Mages, there weren’t many people from the capital of Fareins who didn’t know him, or who didn’t know of his distinguished name.
The situation in the capital of Fareins was that of three superpowers and many other forces.
The royal family, the Association of Mages, and the Church of Light were the three superpowers, and the other several grand dukes and millennial families formed a plethora of powerful forces.
And among the many powerful forces, there were also those that united in twos or threes, but they were barely able to stand up to the three superpowers, much less pose a substantial threat.
And most of the noble forces were slightly biased toward the royal family in their hearts.
In the capital of the past, the royal family was slightly stronger than the Association of Mages and the Church of Light.
But it was a bit hard to tell now since the Church of Light suddenly had Dragon Knight Schuck.
This guy was a powerful strategic deterrence. Regardless, the capital still maintained a fragile balance for now.
After all, the forces of Fareins had a certain trait, which was to fight but not break.
It was fine to have petty fights normally, but if it threatened the overall interests of the country as a whole, it wasn’t allowed. This was because just over two hundred years ago, the Fareins Kingdom had suffered a loss.
At that time, the kingdom was weakened because the royal family and two major powers were killing each other, and the troops were focused on fighting internal conflicts.
This allowed foreigners to take advantage of the situation.
A small wandering army of 6,000 or so Barbarians, nomads, and a few green-skinned Orcs broke through the defense of the Fareins Kingdom.
And then they fought all the way up to the capital.
Although this army was wiped out within the capital, it also caused great losses to the entire Fareins Kingdom.
Everywhere it passed, almost nothing was left behind.
They burned and killed whatever and whoever they could. Both the royal family and other forces suffered heavy losses, and civilians died in large numbers, over hundreds of thousands of deaths.
Because more than two hundred years had passed, this was gradually forgotten by most people. But after all, the Fareins Kingdom was a large country, and although the official records were incomplete, there were still some regarding this matter emphasized in the records of the Fareins Kingdom.
So later on, the noble forces of Fareins Kingdom understood one thing.
Internal conflicts were fine but in moderation.
When the kingdom was weak, families would also become unstable.
So Alfred obviously didn’t like the royal family very much, but for the sake of the entire Fareins Kingdom, he still wanted to bring a talent like Roland into the country. He even wanted to introduce him to the First Princess. Hopefully, the First Princess would “chain down” this kid who liked mature women and make him stay in the Fareins Kingdom. Even if this kid was on the side of the capital, it didn’t matter; at least it would balance out the Dragon Knight that suddenly appeared in the Church of Light.
Amidst the watchful eyes of many interested people, Alfred brought Roland and Andonara to the main stage of the venue.
There were more big shots here.
Not only were they more flamboyant in terms of attire, but their airs also felt profound.
Most of them were middle-aged, and they were gathered around a woman in a pale blue low-cut dress, smiling very elegantly and happily.
This woman was wearing a duchess’s coiffure, standing in the middle of a group of men, and not to mention her blonde hair and blue eyes typical of an aristocrat, with her pearly round face and a fair, voluptuous, tall figure, one could tell she was a great beauty even from a distance.
When Roland got closer, he found that this woman’s looks were comparable to Andonara’s.
Alfred’s arrival immediately caught the attention of the group.
Their eyes shifted over.
For a moment, there was joy, hesitation, and indifference; each one had their own expressions.
But soon, everyone’s expressions became the same-a faint smile.
The crowd parted of its own accord, and the First Princess Stephanie, who walked like a breezy willow, came out, bending slightly in front of Alfred and smiling. “Long time no see, great grandfather-in-law.”
That’s right… Although Alfred was a member of the Association of Mages, he also carried a certain amount of royal blood.
This was one of the main reasons why the major powers of Fareins’s capital could compromise.
Everyone was more or less related.
Alfred smiled and said, “I heard that you were holding a banquet, so I came over to introduce some friends to you. This is…”
Having said that, Alfred suddenly noticed something strange about the First Princess’s expression.
She, who had been smiling, changed expressions extremely quickly.
It went from doubt, to surprise, to confusion, and finally to a slight surprise again.
Everyone next to her saw the change in expression of the First Princess Stephanie, and they all felt rather confused.
The First Princess had been known as the Smiling Princess since she was fifteen years old, and most of the time, she was smiling, even when she was angry.
Now, however, her expression had changed so much.
Alfred quirked an eyebrow and moved slightly aside.
The First Princess took a few more steps and stood directly in front of Andonara, staring at the latter for a long moment before she said in a nostalgic tone, “It’s been a long time, Queen of Hollevin.”
Huh?
The queen?
Most of the people in the vicinity wore a baffled look.
What queen, didn’t the current queen just go back to her mother’s house?
And she didn’t look like this—not this pretty and voluptuous.
Only Alfred, who knew Andonara’s identity, wasn’t surprised.
But Alfred was still curious as to why First Princess Stephanie’s reaction was so odd.
Andonara sized up the other and said indifferently, “I don’t have much of an impression of you, but you don’t seem to have changed much.”
“The changes are definitely there.” Stephanie smiled, but this time her smile was genuine. Her eyes were bright and happy, not the fake, masked smile she used to deal with people. “It’s just that you’ve changed; even more, your hair color has changed, and you even seem to have grown a little taller. I wouldn’t have recognized you if the shape of your face and demeanor weren’t the same.”
The First Princess Stephanie was also a big shot in the capital who could cause earthquakes with small acts, and would most likely be crowned queen after the old king died.
Most people would be nervous facing her, having to think about how to manage their expressions, their manners, and their speech. But Andonara didn’t need to. “Oh, anything else?”
Almost everyone felt shocked when that was said.
Although Stephanie was known as the Smiling Princess, she wasn’t a benevolent person.
Otherwise, she couldn’t have gathered such great power.
But in reality, Andonara really wasn’t afraid of anyone right now.
The Legendary Great Swordsman itself was the ceiling of battle power, and with her Hero bloodline, she could even fight monsters at a Devil King’s level.
If she wanted to leave, there probably wouldn’t be anyone in the entire Fareins Kingdom who could stop her.
Of course, she would feel a bit troubled if several Legendary powerhouses were to fight her at the same time. She just didn’t feel that the First Princess would dispatch several Legends into dealing with her because of a few simple words.
There was no need.
Even less so from an interest perspective. “Can we talk privately?” Instead of getting angry, the First Princess Stephanie spoke gently. “I also have something I want to ask you. I’ve been trying to find a chance to go to Hollevin again for the last two years, but unfortunately, I’ve been too busy to do so.”
Andonara subconsciously looked at Roland beside her.
Roland didn’t say anything.
He didn’t know what Stephanie was going to talk to Andonara about. This was the other party’s territory and Andonara had almost beaten the First Princess to tears before—what if the other party harbored ill intentions?
Andonara immediately understood what Roland was thinking, and she shook her head and said, “Sorry, I can’t promise you that.”
At this moment, there were cries of surprise from the spectators. Someone had actually refused the invitation of the First Princess.
This was a rather rare occurrence.
Stephanie looked at Roland and continued, “You can come over with your male companion, in which case you would be willing, right?”
Andonara looked at Roland again.
It was now clear to the surrounding nobles that this beautiful woman, who was valued by the First Princess, was actually dominated by the young male Mage next to her.
Roland still didn’t nod his head.
The First Princess, who hadn’t been paying attention to Roland, finally moved her gaze to him.
After looking at Roland for a while, the First Princess said, “You are Andonara’s new man? The old king of Hollevin was removed by you?”
These words sounded a bit harsh.
They implied that Roland had killed the king and taken his wife!
This was not only a major crime but also gravely condemned from a moral standpoint.
Roland chuckled inwardly and said, “I heard that your forces are quite powerful, First Princess. Your intelligence-gathering shouldn’t be bad, so wouldn’t it be clear to you what’s going on if you investigated?” “A small country with a population of less than 100 million, what is there to investigate.” Stephanie was still smiling, but her eyes were sharp. “I just wonder how an ordinary young man like you is qualified to obtain and protect Andonara.”
Roland found this extremely laughable. “I don’t qualify, but you do?”
“I truly do.” Stephanie laughed softly. “I am the First Princess and future queen of Fareins. I will be the most powerful person in all of the human world, and if I don’t, who does?”
Roland turned his head to look at Andonara. “I think you should beat her and make her cry again.”
The surrounding nobles paled in fear and staggered back.
Andonara smiled sweetly. “Yes!”