Chapter 108
This Alchemists and Physicians Exchange sponsored and organized by the royal family of the Saint Airo Empire, and therefore, it was given more importance than ever before.
The preparation time for the event itself is not long, and the event itself is expected to last for a month.
After arriving in the Saint Airo Empire, with less than half a month to go before the start of the exchange meeting, Cyrus stayed at His Holiness the Pope's residence on his first night there.
He even shared a room and a bed with His Holiness the Pope...
The next morning, upon returning to the Sheri Hall, they happened to encounter Gena Kozmo, and naturally became acquainted with him through Prince Kashu's introduction.
Three days later, at Gena's invitation, Cyrus went hunting at the hunting grounds on the outskirts of Boer Mountain —a place built by the imperial royal family for the hunting and entertainment of the royal family and nobles.
Even in the cold winter, the hunting grounds never close; in fact, they become even more popular.
Because nobles had very few places to socialize, and both men and women needed a public space for social interaction.
Aside from banquets, the hunting grounds were undoubtedly another place to showcase one's charm.
Even if the cold weather leads to a decrease in prey in the hunting grounds.
But this did not deter the members of the imperial family.
They would order the animals, which had already been raised, to be released into the hunting grounds in advance, and then open the hunting grounds at a set time for them and other imperial nobles to use for hunting and recreation.
This time, Cyrus happened to arrive during the opening hours of the Boer Mountain Hunting Grounds, and all the kings or nobles of the small countries in the Sheri Hall were invited.
He had not originally planned to go hunting.
After all, wearing not-so-thick riding gear in winter, and "enjoying" the biting cold wind blowing in from horseback...
This is clearly not a good experience.
But Gena Kozmo's reason for the invitation was. "Wild beasts shouldn't be confined to small spaces; they should roam freely in the vast forests. Perhaps you should let these wild beasts go out and unleash their wild nature."
Cyrus: "..."
No, his furry friends spend almost half the winter indoors in the castle, fattening up, and they don't want to go out unless he constantly urges them.
They're all incredibly lazy.
But then Cyrus thought again, Ice Cream is only a little over half a year old, which is the time when she is very lively. Although she usually looks very calm, she will play with the two little ones.
Last night, just like Black Sugar, it jumped onto the windowsill and perched there, its blue eyes gazing out the window with curiosity, probably wanting to go out and see what was happening.
So he nodded and accepted Gena's invitation.
Cyrus did not intend to take Eggy and Rice Cake to the hunting grounds, as the crowds and environment of the mountain hunting grounds were still somewhat dangerous for the two cubs.
This is the Saint Airo Empire, and some people are unlikely to be too friendly to him.
For example, he received news from Orville that Marquis Phoebe would also be going to the hunting grounds at Boer Mountain, along with Thomas, the Grand Master of the Ed Merchant Guild, and his son Jared.
After all, the maintenance costs of the Boer Mountain Hunting Grounds are mostly covered by the Ed Merchant Guild Ed Merchant Guild, which naturally also has the right to use the Boer Mountain Hunting Grounds.
Whether it's the Marquis Galli or the president of the Ed Merchant Guild, these two are probably not exactly enemies, but they certainly don't like Cyrus, Orville, and Archibald.
They won't do anything openly.
However, the Boer Mountain Hunting Grounds are, to some extent, the territory of the Ed Merchant Guild. Coupled with the support of the royal family of the Saint Airo Empire, they may secretly make Cyrus suffer losses without being able to directly reveal it.
There are many reasons why Cyrus was unwilling to go, and this was one of them. After all, he just wanted to attend the alchemists' exchange meeting as soon as possible and return to his territory.
I don't want to cause any more trouble.
And... I wonder if I'll meet the female lead on this trip to the Boer Mountain Hunting Grounds?
If they meet, wouldn't that be the first meeting between the female lead and the male supporting character?
As for the male lead, Cyrus remembered that in the original book he was stationed on the border of the Saint Airo Empire and had not returned to the empire for a long time until the female lead appeared when the pandemic was about to end.
The original book describes it this way: She walked through muddy and dirty streets, comforting those grieving the loss of family members due to illness, her white skirt stained with dust, yet she didn't care at all...
As dawn broke, the sound of horses' hooves echoed through the streets once more...
Shamir looked up at the sound and saw a person greeting the rising sun with brilliant blonde hair and eyes as blue as the ocean...
At that moment, she was completely captivated.
Boer Mountain Hunting Grounds.
The royal family and nobles of the Saint Airo Empire, as the hosts, were already waiting here. Later, the distinguished guests of the Sheri Hall would arrive, and a competition would be held in the hunting grounds.
--A competition about hunting prey.
The two teams were naturally divided into two groups: one from the Saint Airo Empire and the other from the distinguished guests of the Sheri Hall.
Although it was just an entertainment competition, it was still related to the dignity of the empire to some extent.
Therefore, even the king made a special order, not only ordering Prince Kashu to participate, but also specifically allowing his other two children to come along.
One of them was Kien Gales, the reclusive second prince of the empire.
He rarely appears in public. Like Prince Kashu, he has brown hair and blue eyes, but unlike Kashu, he is not as handsome as His Majesty the King.
The second prince, Kien, looks like he has all the flaws of the king and queen. He is very ordinary-looking, at most handsome. Apart from his noble air, brown hair and blue eyes, he does not resemble Kashu at all.
However, it is still possible to tell that they are the children of the King and Queen.
It can only be said that the Creator God forgot to give even a little bit of attention when the second prince Kien, was born.
The other one was the only princess born to the King and Queen, Lennar Gales.
The princess resembled the queen, with long, curly blonde hair and brown eyes. She was beautiful yet aloof, showing no courtesy to outsiders, like ice flowers frozen on a riverbank in winter, untouchable by ordinary people.
Even if one is fortunate enough to touch the branches and leaves of the ice flowers, the coldness makes them withdraw their hands.
Outside the Boer Mountain Hunting Grounds, servants had set up wooden sheds in advance, with tables, chairs, wine, or food arranged underneath.
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On the other side was the entrance to the hunting grounds, from which the nobles of the empire could clearly see the distinguished guests of the Sheri Hall entering one after another.
They then gathered together to exchange pleasantries, maintaining the superficial etiquette between nobles.
Kien sat with his sister Lennar; they were all alone, enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet.
Although Kien has an ordinary appearance, he has a gentle temperament that makes it difficult for people to feel any malice towards him. His sister, Lennar, is the complete opposite; she is cold, aloof, and noble, making people afraid to approach her.
Just now, because Lennar had turned cold, no more nobles came over.
Everyone else was either circling around Prince Kashu.
Lennar took a sip of the steaming hot herbal tea, her voice carrying a clear, cold quality. "Kashu's ambitions have grown too big."
He didn't lower his voice when he said this.
Although there were no nobles around them, there were servants and attendants coming and going, and knights guarding the rear.
So Kien turned his head and glanced at her, then whispered to Lennar, "You shouldn't be saying that. Kashu is, after all, our brother."
Lennar gave a soft, cold snort, her lips, painted with the latest season's maple-red hue from the Thorn Merchant Guild, curled into a sarcastic remark. "Come on, Kien, no one can stop me from speaking the truth. Do you think Kashu treats you like a brother?"
"Oh right, he's probably almost stopped respecting our big brother."
Kien sighed, picked up his glass and finished the rest of the drink. The cold liquid slid down his throat and into his stomach, bringing with it a wave of heat.
He then whispered, "You're right."
"So, I've already sent a letter to my elder brother... Perhaps he'll be returning from the border soon."
"Really?!" Lennar exclaimed in surprise.
After receiving Kien's affirmative nod, Lennar grabbed his arm and exclaimed, "Kien, I knew you'd have a way!"
"It's time to teach our little brother a lesson."
She wanted to make Kashu understand that he shouldn't become arrogant and disrespectful just because of his mother's favoritism, especially towards them.
Although Kashu was very good at hiding his true feelings from outsiders, he was lacking in the ability to do so when it came to his family.
Upon hearing the news from Kien, Lennar was finally relieved and began to pay attention to the distinguished guests who had come to the Sheri Hall.
She looked around and said, "I heard from the knight who delivered the invitation earlier that the Lord of Desinia will not be coming to the Boer Mountain Hunting Grounds for the hunt."
"Heh, that really puts Kashu at ease."
Kien fell silent as he recalled the ferocious beasts brought by the Desinia lord.
He heard Lennar continue, "Look over there, Marquis Galli and Thomas, the Grand Elder of the Ed Merchant Guild, are gathered together. Is this friendship formed after they were both swindled out of countless gold coins?"
Lennar covered her mouth with one hand and scoffed, "The result of insatiable greed."
She saw that the Marquis Galli and old Thomas were each accompanied by a young woman, one of whom was wearing a white cloak and was smaller in stature; she was probably the Marquis Galli's daughter.
The other one was a young man, probably old Thomas's son.
Lennar was about to tell Kien to let him see the half-face of the Marquis Galli's daughter, which, though not the whole face, was truly beautiful.
This young woman named Shamir Phoebe caused a sensation as soon as she settled in the Imperial City with Marquis Galli, simply because of her unparalleled beauty.
At this moment, being on the outskirts of the hunting grounds, Shamir was undoubtedly the most watched person.
Lennar wasn't particularly jealous of this.
She was simply curious about Shamir's beauty, having yet to see it clearly.
Just as Lennar was about to get up and go take a look, the people around her began to look towards the entrance of the hunting grounds, one by one, and then they started to gasp...
Lennar felt Kien tug at her arm.
A loud eagle cry rang out from the sky.
The sound of wings flapping seemed to be right above the wooden shed roof, close to my ears.
Lennar turned to look at the entrance to the hunting grounds—the first thing she saw was a boy dressed in a black and red riding outfit and wearing a black fur cloak.
His hair fluttered slightly in the winter wind, revealing his handsome and delicate face. His right hand, gloved, gently stroked the golden lion beside him, rubbing into its thick, heavy mane. Other ferocious beasts followed behind and on the other side.
He was surrounded by wild beasts, standing out like a king in the center, so conspicuous and majestic.
Lennar's heart pounded; she could barely see Archduke Achiyoli, Cavendish, and the others walking behind her.
She heard someone talking around her.
"What's going on?! Didn't Desinia not come to the hunting grounds? Who called him here?!"