Chapter 526 1 Transaction

After the welcome banquet, Gawain did not immediately start follow-up contact with Victoria or Veronica, but let these guests rest in the "Autumn Palace", or follow the reception staff he arranged to visit some places, he gave The reason is to hope that the guests can understand the land as much as possible, and take a good rest in these days to relieve the fatigue accumulated from such a long journey-with this legitimate reason, he left the guests dry for three days.

Victoria did not waste these three days. During these three days, she did everything she could to understand everything about Cecil, from people's daily life to the sporadic information of Cecil's army, from market commodities to peripheral products—— Despite her limited access, she did not miss any opportunity to help her understand the land.

It wasn't until the fourth day that she finally got news from Gawain.

In the study room of the lord's mansion, Victoria Wilder sat on a single sofa specially provided for guests. She looked at the place where Gawain usually worked with a little curiosity, and glanced at the full bookshelves and decorative items. The armor finally landed on a huge map: the map hung on one side of the wall, between the two bookshelves, it depicted the whole of Anzu, and even a part of the Gondor wasteland and Typhon, Holy Dragon The land of the Principality and the Ogure Tribe. It is the most beautiful and detailed map Victoria has ever seen in her life. Not only are all the mountains and rivers accurately marked on it, but there are even a lot of numbers used to describe distances... …

It is not unusual for a lord to hang a map in the study, but it is not easy to hang such an accurate map. The Duchess's eyes fell near the center of the map and stopped at a certain point in the eastern area of ​​the Holy Spirit Plain.

She saw a striking red cross marked near the giant wood crossing, and next to the red cross was a line of comments: Ansu 736, the 43rd of the harvest month.

That was the date of the last large-scale battle between the Eastern Rebels and the Kingdom Army before winter, and the time and place were exactly the same.

"Seems interested in my map? The Wilder girl?"

Gawain's voice suddenly came from the side, awakening Victoria from her brief thought. She saw the founding grand duke walk into the room and sit on the other sofa beside her.

"Betty, prepare the refreshments and bring them to the study." After taking a seat, Gawain waved to the little maid standing by the door, and then turned to Victoria, "I hope I didn't delay too long - the new duchy is always busy with business. ."

"Of course, I can imagine how busy you are every day," Victoria bowed slightly and saluted Gao Wen. Even though she was also the guardian duke, the huge gap in seniority made her have to pay attention at all times even on such informal occasions. Etiquette, then she raised her head again and looked at the huge map, "...you have a very good cartographer, and you seem to be very concerned about the situation outside the southern border?"

"Cecilians want peace,

But the outside world will not be as peaceful as we would like - if you want to live a steady life, you must pay more attention to the external situation," Gawain smiled, "and don't you also care about the situation here? "

The members of the embassy were walking around the city. Of course, it was impossible to hide such a public thing. Victoria didn't plan to hide it at all, she just nodded slightly: "This land is very mysterious to us. Since autumn, the whole The southern border is equivalent to hiding in the fog for the capital, which is of course intriguing."

The little maid Betty brought tea and began to fill the tea for the guests, and taking this opportunity, Victoria bluntly turned the topic to her focus: "Duke Cecil, what do you think of the civil war in Ansu? ?"

Gawain kept a smile, looked at Victoria and said unhurriedly, "I'm sorry to see the descendants of my former good friends get into this situation, but if you want to ask me who I support in this civil war— —Then all I can say is that I don’t support anyone.”

This can be said to be an expected answer. Victoria's expression remained unchanged, but she continued: "We didn't provoked the war. No one in Silver Castle wants Ansu to split. We have been passive since the sudden rebellion in the east."

"Ah, 'it was him who made the first move'—I heard Hetty say that Rebecca often complained after fighting people when she was a child," Gawain raised his hand, "You know, until the winter, Rebecca still often complained. I have taught you a lesson because of the trouble, so you should be thankful that Charlie, Snow, Anthony and Evans did not come back with me, otherwise you will not only worry about this civil war - the girl from the Wilder family , are you going to explain to Snow Wilder that it was the children of Anthony Lauren and Charlie Moen who moved first?"

All the explanations and negotiation scripts Victoria had prepared in advance were invalid.

She hadn't communicated with someone who could be her elder for nearly 20 years, and in this respect, her experience was not even comparable to Rebecca, who was beaten twice a month.

But fortunately, her brain is smarter than Rebecca, and after a short period of surprise, she reorganized her language: "...I understand that you and the founders of the kingdom did not build this kingdom to make us kill each other, this time The civil war will certainly make your heart ache, but the situation has developed to this point, the war can not be stopped if we want to stop - we can't hand over our country to a father-killing usurper prince and a kingdom grand duke who has broken his oath, presumably not in the east. So easy to compromise. So the civil war will continue and Anzu's power will be weakened in the course of the war, and all of us know that - Typhon is waiting by the side, waiting for the Anzu to drain the last drop Blood."

Gawain looked into Victoria's eyes: "Very well, you can at least realize that there is Typhon next to you, so in order to end this war as soon as possible - and to end the war in a way that meets your expectations, what have you thought of? "

Victoria pondered for a moment, and then said what Gawain expected: "The king's position cannot continue to be vacant."

Gawain adjusted his sitting posture and leaned back on the back of the sofa: "Wales Moen?"

"...His Majesty Francis had appointed Edmund as his heir and swore an oath in front of the patriarch, but now this oath obviously has to be abandoned. Anzu needs a king and needs to be reunited, and His Royal Highness Wales is the only candidate at present. ," Victoria paused, she watched every change in Gawain's expression, and continued to say slowly, "We hope to make Wales Moen the new king, which is the common wish of the guardian dukes of the north and the west."

She paid attention to the change in Gawain's expression, but Gawain's expression did not change, the founding duke just maintained that faint smile, listened like an outsider, and did not express her opinion for a long time after she finished speaking.

Gawain let the atmosphere solidify for two whole minutes, and then suddenly broke the silence: "Victoria, is the Mithril Pledge in Winter Castle okay?"

The Duchess's heart stopped for a beat in an instant, although she still maintained the usual expression on her face, the tension in her eyes did not escape Gao Wen's eyes.

Gawain's heart was not fluctuating: as he had expected a long time ago, as a founding hero with a halo around him, the nobles of Ansu would not mind hanging him on the wall, writing on books, or engraving him on stones. even on the altar, but they would definitely mind the founding hero sitting on the throne—

Because the hero on the stone in the book on their wall can be fake, but the one on the throne is real.

But he didn't expect the emergency agreement seven hundred years ago to be of any use at all. He just mentioned it, and then continued to say: "Do you think Wales will be a qualified king?"

"He will," Victoria replied cautiously, still circling the contents of the Mithril Pledge, "His Royal Highness Wales is not as sharp as Edmund, but he has inherited his father's steadiness and integrity. Only such a king can heal Ping Su's wounds after the civil war and restore the country as soon as possible - and after the trauma of war, people will also hope for a gentle king who will support His Royal Highness Wales. "

"But it's not enough for you to change the situation with the Eastern Territory - I know what you think, to have a king, gain legitimacy, win the support of more nobles, and make the people courageous, the idea is good, and probably It really has such a little effect, but don't forget, there is also a qualified crown prince in the East Territory, and in the past nearly two decades, that crown prince has been a more popular one, even if you crown Wales in advance, the East Territory You can also establish a new king immediately and bring the situation back to the previous state."

"But if you can also support His Royal Highness Wales, the new king's legitimacy will be greatly strengthened, and more nobles and people will fall to the royal family," Victoria couldn't help but said, "Your attitude is very important..."

"Do you want me to publicly support one of Charlie Moen's heirs to kill another?" Gawain knocked on the small table between the two sofas, "You should understand that it is difficult for me to express my opinion easily in this civil war. of."

Victoria knew that it wasn't that Gawain couldn't express his position, he just didn't want to.

The founding duke was a man who coexisted cautiously and radically. He was cautious now because he didn't trust the Royal Army at all—but he didn't seem to trust the Eastern Rebels either.

This is already the best situation expected.

"Then what do you mean..." The Duchess looked into Gawain's eyes and asked tentatively.

"I have no objection to the Welsh coronation," Gawain said calmly, "but if I am to admit that he is king, he must at least show his merits as a king."

Having said that, he paused for a moment.

"As for the Mithril contract in Winter Castle - the girl of the Wilder family, you can put it away with peace of mind, I don't plan to use it."

Until this sentence came out, Victoria Wilder was really relieved.

Gawain Cecil did not explicitly support the royal family or any party in the East, but at least, he did not intend to be king.

In this way, at least Ansu does not have to face another civil war.

After confirming Gawain's attitude, the Duchess's heart also settled down, and according to the plan made before departure, she began to seek greater support from Gawain: "Thank you very much for your understanding— But if you can give greater support to the Royal Army, then this civil war may end earlier. As you just said, just coronation of His Royal Highness Wales will not fundamentally change the current situation in Ansu. The Royal Army and the East The bloody balance of the realm... must be broken."

"I've just said that I'm just 'not against the Welsh coronation,'" Gawain interrupted Victoria, "I'm not going to publicly support either side of this civil war, and to be honest, the South has just gone through a A war, my army needs a rest, my people need a rest, we can't afford it."

It's a well-founded reason, and Victoria can't think of anything to refute.

But after a moment of silence, Gawain suddenly spoke again: "However, as Charlie's friend, I can't just sit back and watch his kingdom fall apart like this."

Victoria's eyes widened slightly: "You mean..."

"I'm willing to provide help in other fields, besides the military," Gawain said calmly, "such as weapons and armor..."