before he was crowned king

The snow-white beef bones that have been divided are placed in the silver disc, and a small handful of emerald green basil is sprinkled on the soft beef bone marrow.

The dinner prepared by the Rose Manor is undoubtedly sumptuous. According to Mrs. Mary's strict requirements, most of the ingredients that can be placed on the table are fresh in season.Looking at the reflection of the sauce on the meat under the candlelight, Sean recalled the scene of eating around a small square table at Resana's house, four people gathered around two stacks of pancakes and a pot of wild vegetable soup, and everyone huddled together to chat Talking, each other's arms inevitably touch each other.

But here, Sean couldn't even see what kind of food was on Alex's plate through the marble square table several meters long.

Who is poor and who is rich, maybe the standard only exists in everyone's heart.

"Grandpa Thomas, is Lilian feeling better?" Alex asked as he put down the white towel.

"Miss Lilian has recovered a lot during the time you went to school." The old butler said beside her.

"Really? That's great." Alex nodded and said, "I'll go and see her."

"Sorry, I want to wash my hands." Sean suddenly interrupted their conversation apologetically, his hands were stained with brown sauce.

"Of course," said the old butler, "I will have someone accompany you."

"It's still not necessary, I'll go alone." Sean looked a little embarrassed, showing that he was not used to being served by others.

"Okay, you go up the stairs, at the corner of the second floor." The old butler leaned slightly.

Sean was outside the bathroom, and put his hand into the sink. He heard the sound of servants walking up the stairs outside the door. After a moment of silence, he walked to the black door diagonally opposite, holding the edge of the doorknob and turning it gently.

The door was not locked, and I just wanted to try it, but Sean didn't expect him to enter his original study easily.

It was as if no one had been here, the whole room was covered with a thin layer of dust, and everything remained where it was before.

Sean walked directly to the bookshelf, and his eyes fell on a heavy tome.He opened the classics and quickly pulled out a black leather book from inside.

This is exactly the book that recorded the magic circle at the beginning. If possible, Sean didn't want to leave such a key thing in Rose Manor.

Before leaving, Sean saw the iron mask he had been wearing for several years in the corner, and he stretched out his hand habitually to put it on his face, but the moment he felt the cold touch, he quickly woke up Come over, back to real reality.

"It's not the time yet." Sean said softly, as if talking to himself.Then, he pushed the door open a small crack, and after making sure that no one was passing through the corridor, he left his former study.

"Butler Thomas."

When he reached the corner of the stairs, Sean's pupils shrank slightly, and the old butler in a black dress was standing there as if waiting for him.

There was no panic on Sean's face. He calmed down very quickly. After a simple simulation in his mind, he deduced that the old butler was in a position where he could not see the door of the bathroom.

"Excuse me, where is Alex?"

Thomas bent slightly, and led Sean up the spiral staircase to the top floor of the building.In the dark corridor, Sean faintly heard Erics' dissatisfied voice.

"Lilian fell asleep again? Is she really getting better?"

"Why does her face still look so pale? Did you really treat her well?"

Sean walked in slowly, and then he heard the woman's voice explaining again.

"Master Alex, Miss Lilian's illness cannot be cured so easily. Her illness is not a physical damage, but an irreparable damage to her mind."

"Such a disease needs to be alleviated slowly. Every patient's situation is different. It will take a few years at least."

There was silence in the corridor, Sean stopped, and heard Alex's heavy and painful voice, "How many years? Can she really wait so long for her appearance?"

"Master Erics." The old housekeeper stepped forward and called softly.

The black-haired young man turned his head, calmed down a little, and then walked towards Sean and the others, "Sorry for keeping you waiting, let's go."

"Are you done with everything?" Sean asked softly.

"Yeah." There was a bit of bitterness in the corner of Alex's mouth, and he said in a hoarse voice, "I can't make things better if I stay."

Sean said nothing more.He and Alex got on the horse and left the gray wall before the city gate closed.Summer nights come more slowly, and dusks are much longer than winter days.

They drove another hour according to the map. After surveying the nearby terrain, Sean chose to camp at a place near a water source.

Eriks was responsible for finding dry firewood in the woods, while Sean tied the two horses to a tree trunk not far from them.

Sean simply set up the firewood picked up by Erics. He was about to take out the tinder bag he was carrying, but before he could take it out, bright sparks shot out between the firewood.

"Do you know fire magic?" Sean glanced at the figure sitting beside him

"A little bit." The black-haired young man scratched his head and acted very modestly.

Sean nodded slightly and didn't ask any more questions.It is extremely rare in the history of the entire world that elemental magic and ritual magic can be mastered together.However, Sean was not surprised, because he had always known that Alex's talent in magic was the pinnacle.

Surrounded by the fire, the two didn't talk much, they were both thinking about their own thoughts.So after a while, they decided to take an early rest.In this way, when the sun comes out tomorrow, they can ride directly and continue on their way.

As night falls, St. Via Royal Palace, Second Courtyard.

Only the nobles of the highest class can attend the dinner party. There are 80 to [-] people in the hall, most of them are waiters. They are either holding dishes, or holding fine wines, or holding musical instruments... distributed around the edge of the hall. Orderly and busy.

In fact, the number of people who really came to enjoy this feast can be counted with two hands.

As the only woman present, Madam Mary sat in the first position on the right hand side of the main seat. Opposite her was the richest Duke Henry in the entire empire, and on her right was Executive Webb. The subordinate officer of Princess Tisifeng, the chief logistics officer of the Imperial Firearms Battalion.

The ones sitting in the back are also the leading figures in the empire. They either have huge family support behind them, or they hold absolutely important status.

Of course, the criteria for judging the top nobles is not only based on the title, if this is the case, there is no possibility of Madam Mary appearing here.Stripping away those glamorous titles, her background is very ordinary compared with the people present, and to be more clear, she is just a noble widow who died of a husband and a son.

She can sit here because she has the support of the first heir of the empire behind her, and because she has enough strength herself.

She is a magister who can cast advanced magic.At least on this table, everyone will be secretly afraid of her terrifying fire magic.

The melodious music stopped abruptly, and everyone straightened their backs.Madam Mary stood up together with everyone, looked at the golden gate with a smile, and waited for the arrival of Her Majesty the Queen.

Because it was a small banquet with only a dozen people, Queen Karina purposely did not dress extravagantly. She wore a slim gold silk dress and a cloak inlaid with light pink pearls. The crown looks like a dignified and elegant noble lady.

As his own brother, Grand Duke Henry greeted him first with a smile, and led Her Majesty the Queen to sit on the throne.

"Let's eat first, I just had it with some of your highnesses." Queen Karina said gently, "Tonight is not a feast for birth, but our private celebration, so don't be too restrained."

All nodded yes.

"You seem very happy today." Grand Duke Henry said with a smile.

"Ah, Your Highness has grown up." Queen Karina smiled gratifiedly.

"I heard that your Highnesses have prepared congratulatory gifts for you." Grand Duke Henry paused slightly, "I think they are very interesting treasures."

"They really put a lot of thought into it." Queen Karina said slowly, "That kid Fern found such a unique porcelain, I have never seen that color before, I heard that he got it from Japan. here."

Seeing that Her Majesty the Queen was satisfied, Grand Duke Henry felt relieved. In order to help His Royal Highness Fern find the rare treasure of St. Via, his long-distance fleet burned a lot of gold coins.

"Mrs. Mary." Her Majesty turned her head to the right and asked with a smile, "Have you noticed anything different?"

"What do you mean?" Madam Mary was a little puzzled. She looked at the queen, and suddenly a light and distant fragrance filled her surroundings.

"This scent..." Mrs. Mary only felt that it was very familiar, as if she had smelled it somewhere.

"Is it perfume? Don't you never like to use it?" Grand Duke Henry also smelled the faint fragrance, "It seems to be the smell of vetiver and iris, very unique?"

"This is a perfume formulated by an alchemist that Mars asked, and it's called [Eternity]." Queen Karina said, "I heard from Mars that this perfume has the effect of eternal youth."

"Eternal youth? So miraculous?" Grand Duke Henry frowned, and the others were also surprised when they heard it.

"Maybe he exaggerated his description, but I tried it, and it really has a good effect." Seeing Her Majesty speak, there were no other doubting voices on the table.

"I wonder which alchemist His Royal Highness Mars found to concoct this perfume?" Madam Mary suddenly asked.

"Do you like this taste too?" Queen Karina smiled, "I don't know who matched it, and Mars didn't say anything about that child. You can ask him when you see him."

"Okay." Madam Mary forced a smile. She vaguely remembered something. She seemed to have smelled this perfume called "Eternity".