I will be crowned king

No...no, she's not Lisa.

Although they look exactly the same at first glance, even their smiling expressions are very similar, they are indeed not the same person... they just look too similar.

After recovering from the shock in a ten thousandth of a second, Anson's eyes quickly became calm, and he completed the "looking back" action with a little bit of shock that should have been due to being shocked by the voice behind him.

"Please...please, who are you?"

"Thalia Rune, you can call me Thalia directly." With a toothless smile, the girl lifted the hem of her skirt with both hands and saluted gracefully.

In the upper-class social situations of the Kingdom of Clovis, women are not allowed to call their names by name unless the other party takes the initiative. Even if they know, they cannot say it. Otherwise, it would be a great disrespect for the host of the banquet. This rule was ignored by the little clerk. On the headlines of "Cheat Sheet".

"Good morning, Miss Thalia."

The moment the smiling Anson lowered his head, his eyes quietly swept over the girl's cheek... He couldn't feel any magic aura on the other person's body, but it might be that the other person was too secretive. After all, even Mace Honnard was becoming a black mage. Later, it took the trial court thirty years to discover him... He raised his head, pointed at the portrait behind him and said with a smile:

"I'm very interested in these portraits, so I'm a little fascinated... Has the party already begun?"

Guests should not easily ask about the host's situation. When they don't know what to say, the best way to start is "When will the banquet start?"

"No, that's another hour."

The smiling girl raised her hand to cover her pink lips, and walked towards Anson in a reserved manner: "Are you interested in history?"

This is also a standard "Clovis aristocratic courtesy" - it is often an opportunity for both parties to trumpet the long lineage of their families.

"It can only be regarded as interest." Anson deliberately did not answer. He and his predecessor Anson basically knew nothing about the history of the Bach family:

“That was my favorite subject at St. Isaac’s.”

"oh?"

The girl raised her head and glanced at Anson with her shining eyes: "What about... Professor Mace Honnard?"

"He was my favorite professor... ever."

Anson stopped smiling, quickly showed a disappointed expression and sighed:

"But now he has become a well-known evil spellcaster, the Old God sect who destroyed the well-being of the Clovis people - if the church hadn't banned it from being published in the newspaper to avoid influence, he would have been notorious by now."

"So my current feelings towards the professor can only be described as 'complicated'."

"I see."

Thalia nodded calmly, stood beside Anson, and quietly looked at the portrait of Mace Honnard with him.

"And you, Miss Thalia?"

Anson casually probed: "Since the Luen family has sponsored the professor, you should have seen him... right?"

"I?"

Thalia showed a somewhat surprised expression, which was exactly the same as Lisa's usual look, making Anson almost lose his mind:

"The way I feel about Mace Hornard is...well...probably like a family member, right?"

"Relatives?"

What kind of answer is this? Could it be that the professor is a branch of the Luen family?

"right."

Thalia replied reservedly, giving the answer to the riddle in a calm tone:

"Because he is my fiancé."

"Oh I got it."

Anson, who seemed suddenly enlightened on the surface, was already in a state of turmoil inside.

What? !

What did she say? !

fiancé? !

Professor Mace Honnard should have become a blasphemous mage thirty years ago, and had the qualification to be a tutor at St. Isaac's College even earlier, almost forty or nearly fifty years ago. He should have been killed before he was killed. She is in her early sixties; and this Miss Thalia Rune, well, no matter how you look at it, she is...underage?

Of course, age is never an issue in upper-class marriages. The prerequisite for determining love is the interests between the two families; but with the status of the Luen family, what can Professor Mace Honard give them?

unless……

"No, you seem to have misunderstood."

Thalia shook her head and continued to explain:

"Professor Mace Honnard was once designated as my fiancé by my father. We only met once or twice occasionally. We knew each other's existence, but we didn't understand him."

"So I said, I probably feel like a family member to him."

"Oh, that's it." Anson suddenly realized again.

It's like those distant relatives who are only mentioned in the mouths of elders... almost.

"Then Professor Mace Honnard, for what reason was he chosen by your father and funded by the Luen family?"

Anson continued to make insinuations, trying to get the information from Talia beside him that the other party invited him here.

He could now be basically sure that the other party was really not Lisa - apart from the fact that the other party's eyes and conversation seemed to be many times smarter than Lisa, there was another most critical aspect.

hand.

The other party's hands were so slender, so white that you could even see the veins underneath, and Lisa's little hands were so strong and even calloused from hunting in the wild, building fortifications, and manipulating rifles and artillery. A world of difference.

Even if the other party can find a blood mage to transform her body, and then let a black mage give her psychological hints, some small details of habits cannot be changed - and Lisa's little habit is that when she relaxes, her hands will not move. Consciously clenched.

"talent."

Thalia explained:

"There are always people in this world who are extremely talented, but due to the limitations of objective conditions they are unable to achieve the achievements they deserve. For hundreds of years, the Luen Family has been committed to discovering such talents and allowing them to become part of the Luen Family. members, get better conditions and achieve their goals.”

"In return, while they realize themselves, they will also put the Luen family in the first place, so that Lunde Manor and the Luen family can continue forever."

I see. Is this the reason why Professor Mace Honnard can become a black mage and keep such a low profile in Clovis City, but still have huge power... Anson said silently in his heart.

Relying on the huge and all-pervasive financial resources and influence of the Luen family, he can indeed gain access to the top society of the Kingdom of Clovis as an ordinary professor, and reach cooperative relationships with those equally ancient nobles who tend to the Old God Sect, and even In turn, use the other person to your advantage.

In this way, the reason why the other party left the invitation instead of killing him is because Mace Hornard has lost value to them, so they need to find someone with extraordinary talent...

"But these are not the reasons why I invite you to be our guest."

……Why?

Isn't it because of this?

Anson was suddenly stunned and had the illusion that he was choked by the other party. He even forgot how to continue the topic.

"Please do not misunderstand my words, Your Excellency Anson Bach."

Thalia glanced sideways slightly, her eyes sweeping from the oil painting to Anson's expression:

"I don't mean to belittle you by saying this. In fact, it's quite the opposite. You mean far more to the Rune family than the people hanging on these walls."

"What's that for?"

Anson, who had suppressed his smile, asked slightly seriously.

Are we finally getting to the point? The politeness between these ancient nobles always makes him feel that the other party is deliberately delaying... time.

"It's almost lunch time."

Thalia changed the subject, but still did not answer Anson's question directly. She said with a friendly smile: "How about we sit down first and then chat while eating?"

"……good."

Resisting the urge to question the other party, Ansen smiled.

This is the manor of the Luen family... Even if Roman could support his escape outside the manor, it would be impossible for him and himself to escape the pursuit of a blasphemous mage; in this area and the more than 20,000 acres in the outer suburbs of Clovis City In the private domain, the Church of Order and the Inquisition could not pose any threat to the blasphemous mage.

You must maintain restraint and find an opportunity to ask about Lisa's whereabouts.

Following the figure of the petite girl, the two came to a restaurant composed of white marble and red and black curtains. The butler Otto and two rows of six male servants were already waiting in the restaurant; it was clearly daytime, with dim sterling silver candlesticks and a fireplace. The shadows of the fire inside and the crystal chandelier overhead gave the room a midnight feel.

The moment he walked in, Anson's eyes naturally fell on the dining table; it was covered with a white tablecloth and decorated with candlesticks and flowers, but there were only two chairs.

"Where are the others?" Anson asked softly with a puzzled look on his face, and couldn't help but tense up in his heart.

Although the other party only invited herself, she couldn't be the only one in the huge Luen family, right?

Thalia looked back at Anson with a slightly amused expression:

“Would you like to have a lot of people dining with you?”

"...Not really."

Anson shook his head slightly and walked to the table amidst the smile of the other party. A pale-faced male servant came forward to serve him to the table.

"Otto, how long until lunch time?" Thalia looked at the housekeeper with a smile.

"There's still half an hour, but the kitchen is all ready." Otto bowed and said:

"If you need it, you can do it now."

“Then let’s serve the food—it’s been a hundred years since the Saints’ Calendar, so there’s no need to stick to the red tape of the past.”

"As commanded."

Soon, the servants came one after another carrying various delicacies - extremely tender veal steak drizzled with black pepper sauce; pan-fried foie gras stewed in fine wine, as red as blood; melt-in-your-mouth dishes , sweet and delicate mushroom beef soup with eggs...

Following the little clerk's reminder, after using the main table knife to put a small piece of baked snail into his mouth, Anson returned the tableware in his hand and glanced at Thalia, who was holding a glass of sweet wine.

"Can you tell me now why you invited me to this luncheon?"

"Relax, Your Excellency Anson Bach, relax."

Thalia, who was shaking the wine glass, whispered softly, with a sweet smile on her young cheeks: "The purpose of inviting you to be a guest is to hope that you can have an unforgettable experience and worry-free comfort at Lund Manor."

"Mace Honnard is dead. No one in this manor will have even the slightest bit of hostility towards you."

"Thank you." Anson smiled slightly:

"But if you could answer my questions or tell my sister the whereabouts of Lisa Bach, I would be very grateful."

"Lisa...Lisa August."

Thalia gave Anson a meaningful look: "You care about her?"

"Of course." Anson said without hesitation, his eyes gradually becoming serious:

"She's my sister."

"But she is not a blood relative, she is just an orphan you picked up on the battlefield of Thunder Castle."

Shaking her head, Thalia continued to ask: "Why do you care so much about an orphan?"

"She is my sister." Anson repeated.

Thalia blinked: "Is that why?"

"That's why."

"Is there no other reason? She is the bloodline of August, and may even be the only descendant of this ancient blood magic apostle. She has the possibility of allowing you or your descendants to evolve to a higher level... Could it be that you Have you really never made any attempt in this regard?”

"I'm not interested in that."

"Hmm...maybe."

Thalia's smile became more playful, and a trace of malice flashed in her slightly narrowed eyes:

"But the person who exposed her identity as the Blood of August and became the target of Mace Honnard... was you."

Anson was silent. This was a mistake he could not deny.

"Mace Honnard, or... the Black Mage." Thalia, with twinkling eyes, picked up the wine glass and took a sip gently:

"He was once the Luen family's investment, and was regarded by my father as one of the most promising young men; relying on his brains and skills, the old god faith that had long since disappeared in Clovis was revived; the old god sect... reappeared A place in the upper echelons of Clovis for once.”

"And such close cooperation ended when a young army lieutenant colonel brought his 'lovely sister' to Clovis City."

Thalia winked at Anson:

"The first time he saw Lisa August, he discovered that she looked almost exactly like me, and he learned about August from a certain lieutenant colonel who accidentally leaked the information. 'This surname reveals the origin behind this bloodline and the blood magic apostle who died thousands of years ago."

"From that moment on, he completely betrayed the Luen family."

Bah!

There was a sound like something breaking, and Ansen, who inadvertently raised his gaze, was startled.

Standing behind the girl, the pale-faced male servants suddenly began to fall off in large swaths of skin on their faces and the hair on their tops, and their facial muscles became necrotic and rotten at a speed visible to the naked eye.

This this……

"Among the ancient Old God sect families, there is a no-become rule - if one family defeats another, all remaining blood relatives of the other party must become members of their own family."

The smiling Thalia seemed not to notice Anson's expression and continued:

"Mace Honnard...because of the similarity in appearance between Lisa and me, he speculated that she was most likely to be the forgotten blood of August, and then based on the information about Rune and August The records revealed the connection between the two families, and he found the truth that made him overjoyed."

"Yes, the apostle who defeated Lisa's ancestor August and took possession of him and everything in his family was my father... Rune."

"And I am the heir to the next generation of the Rune family who has two bloodlines and was appointed... Thalia Rune."

"Occasionally known as Thalia August Rune."

"Lisa, she is my sister by blood."

Snap!

The withered and necrotic eyeballs fell from the completely rotted eye sockets, rolling and hitting Anson's feet who were completely stunned.

"So do you understand the reason why we must entertain and express our gratitude to you - for helping to find the family blood relative and protecting her from the traitors, the Rune family owes you a favor that can never be repaid."

Thalia picked up the exquisite goblet and toasted Anson enthusiastically:

"Welcome to Lund Manor, welcome to the real world of the old gods connected by blood, Your Excellency Anson Bach!"