A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

When the beautiful girl came slowly, the blond knight next to him raised his eyes and looked at the girl from head to toe.

His eyes turned around again on the smiling middle-aged wealthy businessman's face, and then he lowered his eyes, the forehead hair scattered in front of his eyes covered the meaningful expression in his eyes.

"I wonder if my little girl is honored to be His Highness's concubine?"

Just after taking a sip of the wine, his highness coughed violently.

It seemed that he was quite shocked by the words of the middle-aged rich businessman, and choked hard.

Kaihos put down his wine glass, turned around, reached out and patted the back of Garlan who was still coughing.

Garlan looked at him, coughing until the corners of his eyes leaked a little water.

The knight smiled at his master, and while stroking the boy's back, he raised his hand and wiped away the tears from the corners of the boy's eyes with a handkerchief.

Probably infected by the knight's calm demeanor, Garlan also calmed down a little.

Kyhoes gave him a slight nod, then turned around and continued eating with a nonchalant expression.

Garlan waved his hand at the middle-aged man.

He said, "Sorry, I appreciate your kindness."

"What? Your Highness, is my little girl not in your eyes? Or do you think she is older than you? If so, I have another daughter who just turned fourteen this year..."

"No, it's not like that."

Wait a minute, 14 or something is a crime.

"Your daughter is beautiful, but I personally don't have that idea yet."

"Why? Your Highness, you are about to become an adult, and it is not in line with your noble status to have no one to serve you. My daughter does not have any requirements. As long as she can serve you, even if she is an unknown maid willingly."

The middle-aged wealthy businessman who wanted to bring his daughter over was too enthusiastic, and Garlan couldn't stand it for a while.

"No... that, I think, before I get married, I won't consider such things as concubines. It's not good for my future wife..."

The middle-aged man laughed hahaha.

"Your Highness, you are really, what are women, they just rely on men to survive, and they live by watching men."

He didn't care about it, and said it as a matter of course.

"How many women men want is beyond their control. If they are disobedient, they have to be taught a lesson. You see, a businessman like me has dozens of concubines. If you don't have hundreds of concubines around you, why don't you Can you show your identity? A woman is just a thing to please men."

Garlan frowned slightly.

He felt that the man had spoken too much.

At this time, a low humming sound with disdain and contempt suddenly came from his ear.

He subconsciously turned his head to follow the sound, and looked around, all around were maids who bowed their heads and served everyone meekly, but he couldn't find the one who hummed.

On the other hand, Keyhors seemed to not care about the conversation between them at all, and he was concentrating on eating delicious food.

The fat boy Tal on the outside glared at the middle-aged man and his daughter angrily.

Originally, as soon as the beautiful girl came out, Tal's eyes lit up, staring at the girl non-stop, but when he heard that the middle-aged wealthy businessman wanted to dedicate the young girl to His Highness, Tal's eyes changed instantly.

From admiration at the beginning, he became picky, and suddenly, he saw how disgusted that beautiful girl was.

Bah, you are not as good-looking as my Highness, you have the audacity to want to climb up to His Highness.

Shameless!

Little Fatty Tal thought inwardly.

As soon as Garlan refused, he was happy.

Well, my Highness has high eyesight, so I can't see you——

Tal was full of thoughts here, while the middle-aged wealthy businessman over there continued to persuade with a smile on his face.

"So, Your Highness, please don't be polite and accept the little girl, even if it's just to be a servant."

As he spoke, he winked at the Tozes Consul next to him.

The consul understood, and said to Garlan with a smile.

"Your Highness, this is a wish on behalf of the citizens of Tozes. I hope someone will take good care of you, so please accept it."

"........."

The persuasion of the two of you and me made Garlan ponder for a while.

He raised his eyes and looked at the black-haired girl who was still kneeling on the ground.

The girl raised her eyes slightly, and glanced at her slender Danfeng eyes shyly and timidly. She had a pure face, but there was a touch of coquettishness in the corners of her eyes.

Like a blooming flower bud, there is a touch of charm in the innocence of a girl. This kind of stunner, just a seductive look in her eyes, makes people feel itchy.

Garlan, who was looked at shyly by the girl, lowered his eyes slightly, and the shadow of his slender eyelashes fell in his half-closed eyes.

He sat cross-legged on the cushion and thought for a while.

"In a few days, I will pay a visit."

He seemed to be a little tempted by persuasion, but he hadn't made up his mind yet, he didn't say yes or no, he just said something vaguely like this.

However, this hesitation made the smiles of the few people who kept persuading him brighter.

However, when Garlan let go, Kayhos's face was indifferent, and he couldn't see any expression, but for Taal, it was a bolt from the blue, and he was completely dumbfounded.

Your Royal Highness? !

No, this is absolutely not possible...

You can't be fooled by that woman's appearance!She is obviously not as good-looking as you!

No matter how Tal wailed in his heart, as if mourning his concubine, the others, including Garlan, seemed to be in a good mood.

Thus, a dinner party ended in a pleasant atmosphere.

Garlan had a good night's sleep.

Only Tal, who was unwilling, tossed and turned, and had dark circles under his eyes when he woke up in the morning.

Garlan raised his eyebrows when he saw it, and asked, "What's the matter? Didn't sleep well?"

Tal didn't speak, and looked at Garlan sadly like an abandoned chubby puppy.

Garlan couldn't help laughing, and raised his hand to pat Tar's head.

Tal's curly hair feels good to the touch.

Speaking of which, everyone around him was extremely tall, and only Tar was slightly shorter than him, allowing him to touch his head.

The consul rushed over early in the morning, greeted Garlan warmly, and then accompanied Garlan to inspect the city.

He said with a smile on his face that he had already made all the arrangements, and he was just waiting for you, the prince, to leave.

Garlan did not refuse, and under the arrangement of the consul, he sat in a beautifully decorated carriage, surrounded by numerous troops, and walked through the small half of Tozes City to the Shamash Temple.

The newly built temple is located by the sea, on a high ground.

The entire temple is cast like gold, covered with golden light, embellished with precious stones, extremely gorgeous and luxurious.

The trapezoidal high platform makes it stand high in the city. In the open-air square, a huge statue of Shamash stands here, condescending, overlooking everyone.

He looked solemn, holding a sword in one hand, the tip of the sword pierced under his feet, and pressed the other hand on the lion under his feet, his golden pupils looked down at the ground.

The soon-to-be-completed temple was buzzing with people, and the workers were busy doing the finishing touches.

Most of these people were bare upper body, with dark skin.

It is completely different from the healthy and beautiful honey-colored skin of the upper-class nobles. It is an ugly black that has been rough tanned by strong light, and there are many scars on the body.

Overseers kept waving their whips and slapped those who moved slower heavily.

Seeing that Garlan's eyes fell on those people, the consul explained with a smile.

"Your Highness, those are slaves."

Garlan didn't answer, his eyes swept over the resplendent and magnificent temple.

He said, "It took a lot of money to build this temple, didn't it?"

The consul quickly replied: "There is not much money allocated from the finance, and the cost of building the temple is all donated by the citizens of Tozes." He added.

"Most of it was donated by those businessmen last night."

"Are those the biggest businessmen in the area?"

"Yes, they are all honorary citizens of Tozes. They often donate money to build bridges and pave roads. They have also opened several relief homes to help the elderly, widowed and disabled."

The consul smiled and said, "Look, there is a family over there."

Garlan looked in the direction pointed by the consul, and nodded slightly.

After seeing the shrine of Shamash, the consul took him to the harbor.

The seaports of Tozes are divided into military and civilian. Along the way, you can see that the large or small civilian seaports are bustling with ships coming and going, and the crowds on the docks are very lively.

Tozes was often attacked by pirates because of its prosperous trade.

Therefore, the Aaron Landis army here is dominated by the navy, supplemented by infantry.

King Kamos granted a charter that one-third of Tozes's tax revenue can be reserved every year for the maintenance and expansion of Tozes' navy.

Unlike the cavalry of Aaron Landis, the sea soldiers of Aaron Landis did not have armor, but wore dark blue civilian clothes, only equipped with leather armor at key points.

Because Tozes is the most important seaport of Aaron Landis, a total of three fleets are stationed here.

The consul is only responsible for governing the town, and only has the right to advise the army without interfering. All the military power of Aaron Landis is directly under King Kamos.

At this moment, the commander in command of these fleets was waiting in the military port with three captains.

As soon as they saw Garlan, they bent down and knelt on one knee to salute.

Garlan's eyes paused for a while on the face of the middle-aged commander, then moved away, smiled and said a few words of official praise to them.Then, under the leadership of the consul and accompanied by these generals, he watched in the military port.

In the military port, Garlan and his party saw a large number of warships moored in the port.

There are large and small warships, light three-masted ships and heavy galleys.Among them, the most mighty and majestic one is 70 meters long, and there are hundreds of oars on both sides of the boat, which are arranged in three layers from top to bottom. .

The huge warship made Tal, who saw the huge warship for the first time, let out a wow sound and a sound of tsk tsk.

While Garlan and his party were watching the giant warship, one of the several people following them had a strange look on their faces.

It was a middle-aged general with dark brown short hair, one of the three captains, his complexion was very dark, the kind that drifted at sea all the year round, exposed to the scorching sun and sea wind, it was dark and vicissitudes.

Thick eyebrows and thick lips, rough-skinned face with sharp edges and corners, broad forehead, and firm eyes.

Along the way, he was full of thoughts and kept silent, as if he was thinking about something.And the people next to him seemed to push him aside intentionally or unintentionally, telling him not to get too close to the prince.

The general was silent for a long time, and it wasn't until Garlan was about to leave the military port that he fixed his eyes, as if he had made up his mind.

Ignoring the warning eyes of his colleagues around him, he strode forward suddenly, stopped in front of Garlan, and knelt down.

"His Royal Highness, Aaron Landis Seventh Fleet Captain Seth has something important to report to you."

The sudden behavior of the middle-aged general stopped the voices of the people who were talking and laughing harmoniously. The consul frowned and looked at the leading middle-aged commander.

The commander stepped forward, with a cold face, and said in a deep voice: "Captain Seth, you are too presumptuous in front of His Royal Highness."

He stared coldly at Seth.

"Go back to me immediately and prepare to be punished!"

"I will accept any punishment, but before that, Your Highness, please listen to my report."

Seth's face remained unchanged, with a determined look on his resolute face, he eagerly cast his expectant eyes on Garlan.

Garlan pondered for a moment, then asked.

"Tell me first, is what you want to say related to the fleet?"

"yes, I……"

"Then don't say it."

The blond prince interrupted Seth and said sternly.

"Brother Wang decides all military matters. Without Brother Wang's permission, no one is allowed to interfere with the army, and I am no exception."

After finishing speaking, he didn't look at anyone, and walked away quickly with his hands, as if he was afraid of getting something.

The people left behind looked at each other, knowing the meaning of Garlan's words.

All the military power of Aaron Landis directly belongs to King Kamos. Although Prince Garlan is now the first in line to succeed, if he has any involvement in the military power, he will probably attract the king's attention and even dissatisfaction.

After all, military power has been the most dreaded thing for kings since ancient times.

That's why Prince Garlan flatly refused, and immediately walked away, obviously because he didn't want to be suspected by King Kamos.

Seth knelt on the ground on one knee, staring blankly at the back of the departing prince, his whole body froze in place like a stone sculpture.

A blond knight with a blindfolded eye came up to him, looked down at him, stretched out his hand, and pressed it on his shoulder.

He snorted, he was kneeling on one knee, but when Kayhos pressed him so hard, his other knee also slammed to the ground.He propped his hands on the ground with all his strength, barely keeping his whole body from being pressed to the ground.

Apparently, the prince's guardian knight was displeased with his rudeness to the prince and imposed a punishment on him.

After the punishment was over, Kaihos let go of his hand, turned around and quickly chased after the prince.

The middle-aged commander gave Seth a look of embarrassment coldly, ignored him, and turned to leave.

The others also glanced at Seth with eyes like looking at fools and dead people, and then hurriedly caught up with the prince.

They all knew that this guy might be doomed after this incident.

Seth, who was left behind by the crowd, was still kneeling on the ground, his eyes were blank, and he looked devastated.

After a long time, he smiled wryly, as if mocking himself.

His friends persuaded him for a long time, telling him not to believe the rumors of the so-called 'wise prince', but he still insisted on going his own way... As expected, he was still too naive.

In the howling sea wind, Seth stood up slowly, and walked towards the depths of the military port with heavy steps.

That lonely figure looked extremely desolate.

After a while, there was a sudden movement in this quiet place.

Something was chasing the direction Seth left.

……

"Your Highness, don't be angry, it's not worth getting angry with that kind of reckless and rude guy, or else, let His Excellency Kehoes go and teach him a lesson..."

Trotting after Garlan who was walking fast, Tal was very dissatisfied with that rough guy who made his highness angry.

Garlan glanced at him, and suddenly said, "Tal, don't you think that admiral looks familiar to you?"

"Have it?"

The little fat man scratched his head, he was too busy looking at the giant warship, and didn't pay attention to those people at all.

"Yeah." The one-eyed knight next to him nodded slightly, "It looks familiar."

He still wanted to say something, but at this time the people behind had already caught up, so he smiled and didn't continue talking.

The Consul and the others hurried to catch up, surrounded Garlan for a long time to persuade him, kept apologizing, and promised to deal with the captain named Seth. Only then did Garlan's face soften, and he smiled again.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

After leaving the military port, it was already halfway through the afternoon, and the consul asked Garlan where else he wanted to inspect, and Garlan thought about it.

He said: "Since I agreed to visit the businessman yesterday, let's go now."

The consul nodded, summoned the waiting carriage, and graciously helped the prince into the carriage.

I pretended to refuse yesterday, but today I can't wait to visit the little beauty.

He smiled on his face, but thought to himself secretly, and snorted.

Although the prince is young, he is still a man after all, and he cannot avoid being seduced by beauty.

Sitting in the luxurious carriage again, Garlan closed his eyes and rested for a while. The carriage passed through the street surrounded by soldiers, and drove to the mansion of the wealthy businessman from yesterday.

It was already evening, and the middle-aged businessman who got the news had already waited respectfully at the door with everyone, welcoming the arrival of the prince with a wide smile.

After getting out of the carriage, Garlan raised his head and glanced at it.

He could vaguely hear the sound of waves beating against the shore, and what appeared before his eyes was a huge mansion.

It is not even inferior to Tozeth's governing hall, but it is even more magnificent and luxurious.

Built on a beautiful seaside, it stands majestically on a high stone ground, with carved buildings and high pavilions, and even a tall tower stands in it.

The roof seemed to be infiltrated with gold powder, and when the setting sun shone, the golden light was shining and extremely gorgeous.

The corners of his lips raised slightly, Garlan looked away, and walked into the merchant's mansion surrounded by everyone.

The evening was a feast, even more luxurious than yesterday.

All kinds of delicacies are presented like running water, and after only a few mouthfuls, they are taken down and replaced with new ones. The completely different delicacies are like flowing water.The middle-aged businessman had been paying attention to Garlan's expression, seeing that Garlan was eating to the fullest, and his expression was also very happy, so he smiled even more happily.

By the time the meal was over, it was already dark, and the middle-aged businessman took the opportunity to persuade Garlan to spend the night at his home.

Garlan hesitated for a moment, the little beauty who was following the merchant gave him a shy look, the boy's gaze paused, and he nodded hesitantly.

Tarton, who was eating his belly round, was in a panic. He stared fiercely at that delicate little beauty, wishing he could pull her away from His Highness's eyes.

Seeing the prince's reaction, he was very worried.

When he was arranged to rest in the bedroom, the thing that worried Tal the most finally happened.

I saw the brazen middle-aged businessman bowing to His Highness, and said with a smile: "Since Your Highness is staying here today, and you can't choose another day to hit the sun, let the little girl serve you tonight?"

Tar was shocked.

As soon as he turned his head and saw the prince hanging his head, he seemed hesitant but a little moved, so he immediately leaned over to try to persuade the prince to refuse.

However, he really stretched it out, he was fat, and before he could squeeze through with effort, he heard the shameless and beautiful girl shyly calling out to her Highness.

The sound is like the strings of a piano, with a hint of vibrato, touching the heartstrings.

Then, Tal stared at his highness with dumbfounded eyes and nodded.

He stood there blankly, watching his highness enter the room with the girl, and the door closed before his eyes.

The middle-aged businessman smiled and left contentedly.

Before leaving, I asked the servants to retreat, so don't get too close to this place tonight, so as not to interfere with His Highness's good deeds.

Tull was so angry that he grabbed the arm of Keyhos, who was about to turn around and leave.

"Lord Kehoes! You can't just watch—Prince—he—"

He was so anxious that he stuttered.

"That's not possible!"

The blond knight looked indifferent, and glanced at him indifferently with his green eyes.

"Tal, Your Highness is not young anymore, and it's normal to find a woman to serve you. You'd better not meddle in other people's business, or you will get angry with His Highness, and maybe you will be driven away."

After finishing speaking, he waved Tal's hand away, yawned casually, turned around and entered the next room, and closed the door with a snap, as if planning to rest.

Tal stayed in place for a while, and finally had no choice but to walk into the house on the other side resentfully.

He was lying on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

He stared blankly at the ceiling, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Cavalier Cayhos is right, they are all men, and he also knows that if he disturbs His Highness about that kind of thing, His Highness will definitely be angry.

but……

Thinking of the expression on that girl's eyebrows, his heart was on fire again.

Although he is young, he has already met all kinds of people in the palace.

He could tell that the girl looked innocent, but she was carnivorous at all. The way she looked at His Highness was like a jackal trying to swallow His Highness.

After tossing and turning on the bed for a while, Tal sat up abruptly, gritted his teeth, and felt his heart skip a beat.

No matter, die is dead!

Don't care so much!

Even if His Highness drives him away, he will not allow that kind of girl who is not sincere and has other purposes to defile his pure and noble Highness!

He hesitated when he hesitated, but once he made up his mind, the little fat man acted immediately.

The door of the prince's room must have been locked from the inside, and he would definitely not be able to get in directly.Because the prince's room is next door, Tal thought about climbing from his own window sill to the window sill of the prince's room, so he ran to the window sill of his own room to have a look.

...Fuck, good, high.

The little fat man who was a little afraid of heights shivered back.

He rolled his eyes, thought for a while, searched around the room, found a sharp object, and opened the door.

After poking around at the door for a while, he saw no one around, so he ran to the prince's tightly closed room.

Fortunately, since he was a child, in order to find gossip to make the prince happy, he likes to secretly inquire about the news everywhere in the palace.

Just do it, the little fat man started to pry open the door.

Not long after, with a slight click, the door opened.

Tull pushed the door open lightly, and sneaked a head in first, intending to check the situation first.

However, upon seeing this, he immediately charged with blood and anger.

I saw the big bed in the room, and the girl's graceful and soft body was lying on her side, holding the clothes that had slipped to the prince's elbow with one hand, and she seemed to be leaning her head on the prince's left shoulder.

The prince was sitting sideways, the clothes on his right shoulder were torn apart and slipped from his arms, his graceful shoulders and half of his fair chest were exposed to the light.

Tal, who rushed forward in anger, jumped three feet high in an instant, and rushed in without thinking, like a fat hen guarding a calf, the hair all over his body exploded.

He pushed the girl who was leaning softly against Garlan away.

There was only a bang, and the girl was pushed off the bed by Tal.

She lay face down on the floor, as motionless as a log.

Garlan was taken aback, and when he turned his head, he saw Tal's big round face flushed red with anger.

He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could speak, Tull grabbed his shoulder.

The little fat man looked at his Highness's torn clothes, the top half of his body was uncovered, and his heart ached so much that his chest throbbed.

"Your Highness, it's all my fault, I'm late!"

He looked sad.

"What did this woman do to you? Did she give you to—"

Garlan was a little dizzy from his shaking.

"Uh...Tal, calm down first..."

The little fat man, who was caught in his own delusion and was filled with grief and indignation, didn't hear Garlan's words, and continued to blame himself endlessly.

"It's all my fault! Blame me! Your Highness, wow, wow, I'm sorry, I should have come earlier."

Tal grabbed Garlan's shoulder tightly and did not let go, gnashing his teeth, his fat face looked a bit ferocious.

When he thought of the pure prince being poisoned by that woman, he almost burst into tears.

"I'm sorry you—"

At this moment, there was a sudden creak, and a small black figure came in from the open window sill.

The little black mouse ran into the room, stood up straight, retracted its two small front paws, tilted its small head and looked at the two people in the room, with a puzzled look in its dark Doudou eyes.

And the next second, the man who followed the little black mouse in the night climbed over the window sill and stepped into the room.

As soon as he looked up, he saw the situation in front of him and was stunned for a moment.

The girl who fell to the ground motionless.

The prince was obviously attacked, his clothes were messed up, and even his jacket was torn.

The fat man I saw in the morning was pressing in front of the prince with his obese body, holding the prince's shoulders with both hands, with a ferocious expression on his face.

This young general, who was extremely loyal to the royal family of Aaron Landis, suddenly had blue veins on his forehead.

With a clang, the sharp sword from his waist was unsheathed.

He stepped forward, swiped, and the blade touched Tar's neck.

"Bastard! What do you want to do to the prince!"

The man lowered his voice and yelled angrily, staring at Tal's eyes almost bursting into flames.

"How dare you do such a shameless act to His Highness!"

If it wasn't for the concern that this filthy guy would violently injure the prince when he was about to die, he would have chopped it off with a single sword.

He looked at Tual angrily, growling under his breath.

"If you don't want to die, let go of your dirty hands immediately!"

As soon as Tal, who was being scolded, heard half of the man's words, his attention was completely attracted by the sword drawn by the man. His mind was full of the shining silver sword, and he didn't hear the man's lower voice at all. roar.

There are assassins!

This thought flashed through Tal's mind for a moment.

The bright sword light made his legs go limp.

But when he thought that His Highness was behind him, he gritted his teeth and opened his hands to block Garlan.

"With me here, don't even think about hurting Your Highness!"

Garlan who was blocked by him: "..."

Just now, I wished I could slash a certain general of Tal with a sword: "???"

Tal, whose legs were so weak, gathered all his courage to stare fiercely at the assassin in front of him who wanted to assassinate His Highness, wanting to kill him with his eyes, but suddenly felt that the assassin looked familiar...

…………Um?

Isn't this the admiral who recklessly knelt in front of His Highness in the afternoon and said he had something to report?

Why are you here?

Tal, who had the sword pressed against his throat, was dumbfounded.

The little black mouse, which had been forgotten aside, tilted its head to look at the few people in the room, squeaked, and raised its mustache.

Then, as if it smelled something, it turned its little head and looked towards the window sill it had climbed in just now.

On the high wall outside, a slender figure sneaked up from the window sill next to it in the dark.

With a nimble turn, he neatly climbed onto the window sill of this room, then turned over and landed lightly in the room.

Looking up, the blond knight was startled by the mess in the room.

After sweeping his gaze, Keyhos showed a clear look, and he whistled softly.

"Your place is really lively, Your Highness."

Garlan: "...It's quite lively."