A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

Just when Novi was in astonishment, the big lion who had been lazily lying beside Garlan suddenly stood up again.

But this time, it didn't put on an attacking stance, it just moved the tips of its ears, raised its huge head and looked forward.

At the same time, Novi also heard the sound of horseshoes.

Not far away, it was getting louder and louder.

Novi thought it was just someone passing by at first, but the sound of horseshoes was getting closer and closer, and it was obvious that they were coming here.

He who was still kneeling got up suddenly, turned around and looked in that direction, his face became serious.

Garlan heard it too.

Putting away his leisurely expression, he stood up while sitting under the tree, and looked towards the direction from which the voice came, with a solemn look in his eyes.

Clang.

That was the sound of a sharp sword being unsheathed.

The young man stood in front of him with a long sword in his hand, and his dark blue eyes looked straight ahead.

He raised his other hand slightly, protecting Garlan behind his back, and looked vigilantly at the large group of people who had already appeared in his line of sight, and they had already entered a fighting state.

Seeing the boy whose head was a bit shorter than his own in a protective posture, Garlan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled.

He was about to speak, but the group of cavalry had already rushed into the olive grove with the rapid and noisy sound of hooves.

The leader was a heroic female knight in leather armor, with her long ponytail swaying behind her head. As soon as she reined in the reins, the steed under her neighed loudly and raised its front hooves to stop on the spot. .

The group of knights she brought also reined in neatly and stopped behind.

The female knight first saw the shining sword in the boy's hand in front of Garlan from a distance, her gaze became sharp instantly, and her hand was placed on the hilt of the sword at her waist.

But she got closer, and when she saw the young man posing to protect the people behind him, and the black and red lion embroidery pattern on the neckline of the young man's cloak, the expression on her face relaxed.

She got off her horse, walked quickly to Garlan, bent over and knelt down on one knee.

"Your Majesty, please follow me back to the palace immediately."

Fataya said, "His Excellency the High Priest Shemul is very angry."

When he found out that Garlan had slipped out of the palace and taken away the big lion Nega, Ximuer was furious.

But losing his temper is his losing his temper, he still has to cover up the fact that Garlan left the palace, and at the same time send trusted people to look for it.

Fataya is one of them.

After seeing Fataya and the other knights dismounted and knelt down, Novi withdrew his sword, took a step back, and stood quietly behind Garlan.

Garlan stood under the tall olive tree, stroking the lion beside him with one hand.

He looked at Fataya who was kneeling in front of him, thought for a while, and asked, "Fataya, if I order you to pretend that you didn't see me and leave on your own, will you obey the order?"

As soon as this remark came out, the female knight couldn't laugh or cry.

"Your Majesty, you have been missing for a day. Although the high priest is angry, he is also very worried about you."

"Who told him to force me to go on a blind date..."

"Your Majesty, what did you say?"

Because Garlan was muttering to himself, Fataya didn't hear clearly.

"It's nothing."

Looking at the large group of knights kneeling in front of him, Garlan sighed helplessly.

"I see, I'm going back now."

He turned his head and looked at the boy behind him.

"Novi, you come with me too."

"..."

No, I have to go back to practice martial arts.

Novi wanted to answer in this way, but his lips parted, but he couldn't say it after all.

King Garlan is protected by such a small number of people, so it is not safe.

It would be fine if that flirtatious guy came over in person, he could leave with peace of mind, but now this group of people don't know if they have the ability to protect His Majesty's safety.

As the knight commander, he has the duty to protect His Majesty.

Therefore, he had to personally escort His Majesty to the palace safely.

The young man with an indifferent expression but extremely awkward thoughts thought so, convinced himself, then lowered his eyes, obediently followed Garlan back to the palace.

……

Just as Garlan returned to the palace, before he had time to speak to Novi, someone stepped on the door.

Shemuer, who had to help cover up the matter of Garlan's departure from the palace, and had to send people everywhere to look for it, had endured it for a whole day, and if he didn't let it out, the fire in his heart was about to explode.

The high priest Shamash, who was dressed in priestly robes as always, was neat and spotless, and stood in front of Garlan, staring straight at Garlan.

Although he still had a stern expression on his face, the gaze he stared at Garlan was almost capable of breathing fire.

Garlan's eyes wandered, and he avoided Shemuer's gaze with a little guilt.

After a while, he couldn't bear it anymore, and turned his eyes to the female officer beside him for help.

Taputi smiled slightly, then shook his head at Garlan.

Even she didn't want to confront Ximuer who was in a rage.

What's more, it was Garlan who was wrong this time, and she didn't intend to help.

Garlan, who was rejected by Tapti, could only try to save himself.

He thought for a while, stretched out his hand and pulled Novella who was standing quietly beside him, and smiled at Ximuer.

"Ximuer, you haven't seen Novi for a long time, right?"

Garlan said with a smile, trying to change the subject.

"Look, they've grown so big, and they've been promoted to Knight Commander, aren't they amazing?"

The high priest glanced expressionlessly at the young man who was dragged over by his majesty as a shield. Although his eyes remained unchanged, he was also a little surprised.

On the face of the grown-up boy, he could vaguely see the appearance of that child back then.

When that child completely abandoned his identity as a prince, changed his name and surname, and entered the town as an orphan, he never paid attention to him again.

Unexpectedly, this person actually joined the army and made great achievements on the battlefield.

Either way.

The 'Prince of West Asia' has been dead for four years.

The one who is here now is Knight Commander Novi who works for Aaron Landis.

If this young knight commander really has enough potential, it would be a good thing to grow into a general of Aaron Landis in the future.

……

Speaking of which, it has been like this since King Garlan was a prince, always able to collect a lot of talents from strange places... Whether it's Tal, female generals, or even slaves...

and many more.

He seems to have come to Xingshi to inquire about the crime.

The high priest, who was almost led astray by Garlan, woke up in time and returned his thoughts to the business.

"You shouldn't have left the palace without authorization knowing that all the ministers are waiting for you."

He said with a dark face.

"I'm not going to play, I'm going to patrol, to see the situation in the surrounding military towns..."

"I'll talk about these things later. Now, Your Majesty, please go to the executive room. Everyone is waiting for your arrival."

Shemul unceremoniously interrupted the defense of King Garlan who was trying to save himself.

Garlan was stunned for a moment.

"I've been inspecting for a day and I'm very tired, so if there's anything to do, wait a few days..."

His words were interrupted again by the high priest's indifferent voice.

"Please go to the executive room."

A few minutes of silence.

"...can you not go?"

"Please go to the executive room immediately!"

Shemur repeated for the third time.

Word by word, categorically, no room for change.

…………

........................

Under the supervision of the ruthless and unreasonable High Priest Shamash, Garlan, who had escaped for a day but still hadn't escaped, could only go to the governing room listlessly.

The ministers who received the notice had already been waiting here.

Immediately after Garlan sat down on the golden throne above, someone came out from one side.

The square-faced man with dark brown curly hair knelt down.

"Your Majesty, you should have a successor."

Sako said so.

As the head of the Royal Knights, it is his duty to protect the throne.

The continuation of the royal family is also one of the things he cares most about.

However, there is only King Garlan in the current royal family, not to mention descendants, King Garlan doesn't even have a princess, so he couldn't help but not worry.

In the past, the heads of the royal knights were all troubled by rejecting different princes who wanted to win him over. He is probably the only one who didn't have such troubles...

he thought gloomily.

"Yes, Your Majesty, you have been evading before saying that you are not mature enough to marry, but you are now 22 years old, and you cannot delay any longer."

Immediately after him stood up was the old Prime Minister You Si.

He is already very old, and now he seldom goes to the royal court to discuss matters.But this time, even the old Prime Minister, who had been living at home for many years, walked out on crutches, supported by his attendants.

"Your Majesty, whether it is us or the people, we have been expecting you to marry the princess. How can you live up to our expectations?"

He persuaded Garlan earnestly.

"Even ordinary civilians will marry wives and have children at the age of eighteen or nineteen."

Not to mention the nobility.

Generally, nobles will have concubines to serve them at the age of thirteen or fourteen, and most of them will get married around the age of sixteen or seventeen.

"King Garlan, for the common people, marrying a wife and having children is their private matter, and others should not interfere with it. But as the king of Aaron Landis, it is your responsibility to marry the princess and give birth to a successor."

At this time, Zuo Sixiang also stood up and looked at Garlan with a serious face.

The words of this Prime Minister who is in his prime are also sonorous and powerful.

"Please be sure to elect the princess as soon as possible!"

Shemuer, who was standing under the throne, also followed suit.

"King Garlan, you said before that because the country is still in turmoil, you don't have the heart to think about getting married, but now the country has stabilized, so it's time for you to think about it."

"Yes, Your Majesty, it's time for you to marry the princess."

"Your Majesty, the people are eagerly waiting for the birth of the princess of this country."

"Please be sure to understand our worries."

"In any case, this matter cannot be delayed any longer—"

"For the safety of the throne, Your Majesty!"

Several bigwigs took the lead, and other ministers and nobles followed up one after another, trying to persuade Garlan to choose the princess as soon as possible.

After all, this group of people was frightened by the original King Kamos, and I am afraid that Garlan, like King Kamos, would delay getting married and having children until he was in his thirties.

Therefore, almost every once in a while, they have to propose to Garlan the selection of the princess, but in the past few years, Garlan has used various excuses and delays.

But this time, the ministers who insisted on waiting in the governing room for a whole day obviously refused to let it go easily.

When everyone rushed forward and tried hard to persuade Garlan to marry the princess, only the priest in green who was standing on the other side of the throne and facing Ximuer kept silent with his eyes downcast.

The ministers were extremely dissatisfied with Suojia, the high priest of Nanna who always helped Garlan to fool the ministers so that Garlan escaped the forced marriage.

Many people wondered if this guy who used to be Heymos's subordinate was still secretly planning some tricks.

After all, if Garlan never married and had children, Heymos would always be the first successor to the throne.

That's why Suo Jia deliberately contradicted everyone and refused to let King Garlan get married.

At least Xie Muer, who had always thought so, and the head of Sage believed that Suo Jia had evil intentions.

Suo Jia, who took the blame, said that he was really wronged.

He is absolutely loyal to King Garlan.

He knew very well that even if Heymos became the king with their assistance, they were only able to overwhelm the Shamash Temple in name and be able to assist the king.

But now, under the regime reform of King Garlan, the Temple of Nanna has real power. Apart from being loyal to the king, they don't need to depend on others at all.

Suo Jia was very satisfied with the status quo, and sometimes he would be thankful that King Garlan succeeded in ascending the throne, and this kind of regime change happened.

Helping King Garlan escape forced marriage, this is the king's order, can he not obey?

However, even Suo Jia, at the moment when the crowd was turbulent, did not dare to risk the displeasure of the world to save Garlan from the siege.

Didn't you see that under the attack of all the ministers, even King Garlan couldn't speak.

"Your Majesty, you can no longer continue to perfunctory me."

In the end, Zuo Sixiang made the final decision.

"The Flower Festival will be in a week, please be sure to choose the princess at the festival!"

Flower Festival.

A festival that symbolizes the end of spring.

Huayu means that beautiful flowers wither.

If you want to cherish it, you have to take it off before it withers and take care of it in your hands.

In folklore, it is a festival for boys and girls of Aaron Landis to pursue their lovers.

A group of Garlan's courtiers had already made up their minds to hold a grand celebration in the palace on that day, inviting all noble girls of the right age to come and participate.

There were so many beautiful and lovely girls, King Garlan could have his eyes on just one of them.

Of course, it would be even better if you could see a few more or a dozen more.

Zuo Sixiang thought so energetically.

The ministers who had achieved their goals stepped back with satisfaction.

After returning to the temple, the High Priest in Tsing Yi, who had been silent in the executive room, secretly released a carrier pigeon.

The carrier pigeon flapped its wings and flew high into the sky, heading north.

Fly to the location of the Black Knights who repelled the Geshurian invasion just a few days ago.