After everyone left one after another, the queen turned her head slightly, looked at the guardian knight beside her with soft eyes, raised the corners of her lips, and said softly:
"My knight commander, please take off your visor, go to the chair, and have a rest. There is nothing important at the moment. Let's chat casually."
"As you command, Your Majesty."
Kebi Hearing this, he quickly and respectfully took off his visor, placed it gently on the long table, and then sat down firmly beside the Queen.
At this time, his face was much darker than that of Odinburg. The ferocious scratch on his right cheek, instead of destroying his heroic spirit, actually added a bit of toughness.
The Queen stared at the scars on Kebi's face and spoke slowly:
"It's been really hard for you to accompany me in the conquest of Jatu these days. If you hadn't risked your life to block that shot for me, I would have been killed by Jatu Demons."
Kebi made a fist with his left hand, placed it solemnly on his chest, lowered his head slightly, and said in a sincere tone:
"Queen, as a member of Order of the Falcon, I will follow you forever in this life. Even if I sacrifice my life for you, why not?"
"You kid, you are just too down-to-earth.
"Although the queen's status is noble, isn't your life worthless?
"Remember my words, each of your lives is as precious as mine.
"If you encounter a critical situation again in the future, you must focus on protecting yourself."
"This..."
"Stop talking about this and that. You will gradually understand this truth in the future."
"Yes, Queen."
Kebi's short and somewhat bewildered answer made the Queen chuckle.
She paused and continued:
"Now, your father Odin III has handled the matter of Manslayer's barbarian army very properly.
"Relying on the sentry's early warning and timely transmission of the message, he safely moved almost the entire population of Odinburg to Dawn Furnace City, successfully averting a tragedy.
"However, this ultimately violated the lord's oath to protect the territory, so his status as a baron has been stripped away."
"I understand, Your Majesty, we will strictly abide by the rules."
"I haven't finished speaking yet, silly boy." The queen looked at Kebi with eyes filled with the love of an elder for a younger one.
"Please continue your instructions."
"This time you followed me to attack the Jatu army and made great achievements.
"With your original noble status, it is natural for you to be promoted to baron.
"However, I plan to officially knight you after defeating the Misty Mountains savages.
"If you perform well in this battle, you may be directly promoted to Viscount.
"At that time, you will officially become the new owner of Odinburg. Do you understand what I mean, Kebi?"
"Thank you Queen for your promotion!" Kebi's voice was filled with uncontrollable excitement.
The queen smiled slightly:
"This time we were able to successfully kill one of Jatu's warlords, thanks to the great help of Sarleon's army.
"I didn't expect that Little Odin would also be made a baron now.
"Kebi, you don't have to worry about this, Little Odin's choice may have its own reasons.
"In this Continent of Pendor, there are not many famous aristocratic families.
"A hundred years ago, a certain noble family might still be working for the Bacchus Empire, but a hundred years later, it might switch to working for us, Northern Kingdoms.
"As long as these nobles can take root and develop in the corresponding countries, it doesn't make much difference to me who they serve for."
"Her Majesty the Queen has a broad mind, which is admirable." Kebi sent a timely compliment.
"You, your ability to flatter others is not as good as that of my manager West."
Without waiting for Kebi to respond, the Queen continued:
"Now Dick and they are almost there Ravenstern City.
"Judging from West's letter, Witcher Order only came with three people this time. It seems that Dick is still a little dissatisfied with me.
"Fortunately, these three people are all masters of Swordsmanship. I don't know how much power they can exert.
"However, the fact that Dick was able to survive the disaster of the cult shows that his strength has greatly increased recently, which is comparable to your ability to kill five or six Drowners in one breath."
Kebi After hearing this, I felt my face heat up, and my cheeks turned red instantly.
He knew that the queen was making fun of him.
A few days ago, Vanessa wrote in a letter mentioning his encounter with Dick, and also relayed what he once boasted about Vanessa.
However, this shy mood was fleeting, and a look of joy soon appeared on Kebi's face:
"I haven't seen Dick for a long time, and I really miss him. If it weren't for him, my fiancée Vanessa's family might have been poisoned by monsters long ago."
"Duke Amara is anxious to study ways to deal with [The Slayer], and this time even Dick refused to attend the banquet.
"But I don't believe that an army of more than a thousand people composed of a dozen nobles can't defeat Manslayer's rabble of 2,000 people."
"Under the wise leadership of Her Majesty the Queen, we will surely win." Kebi once again sent compliments.
"You, don't imitate that West, you only know how to flatter others all day long.
"At Northern Kingdoms, if we want to gain a firm foothold, we rely on solid skills.
"Just like Duke Amara, even though his character is a little unkind, he is very capable and can still occupy an important position in Northern Kingdoms.
"We, Northern Kingdoms, can't get ahead by just talking." The Queen said earnestly.
As she spoke, the queen frowned.
"Your Majesty, are you feeling unwell?"
"It's not because of my health. I'm worried about my brother Prince James. He really gave me a big problem this time."
Hearing the Queen mention the prince, Kebi immediately became cautious. Knowing that this was an internal matter of the royal family, he obediently kept his mouth shut and did not dare to express his opinions at will.
When the queen saw Kebi like this, she was not angry. Instead, she seemed to have found someone to talk to, and continued to talk to herself:
"I am now forty years old. I have been fighting on this continent for more than twenty years and I still have no children.
"So, the next ruler of our Northern Kingdoms must be the son of my brother, the prince, but it can never be the illegitimate son Brownie.
"James and I talked about Brownie. I know in my heart that my brother did not participate in the extermination of Witcher Order.
"I know his character very well. Although he is almost forty years old, his mind is like a child that will never grow up. Everything he does is just to prove his usefulness in front of me.
"He has never coveted the position of king, but Brownie is different. He actually wants to pave the way for my brother, and wants James to become the new king of Northern Kingdoms.
"The Duke of Longsong Harbor must have overestimated his ability to set up an ambush when we returned. He must have also been bewitched by Brownie. It may not be just him, but many nobles also want me to die. The policies I have implemented now have really violated the interests of too many nobles."
After hearing this, Kebi quickly lowered his head.
"I asked for Brownie from James, but my brother was very tough in front of me this time and refused to hand him over.
"Now Dick is coming soon. Although he said he would let Brownie go, I have an ominous feeling.
"This thing really gives me a headache and I don't know how to deal with it.
"Kebi, tell me what you think. Don't worry. Speak freely. I won't blame you."
Kebi opened his mouth, and there were thousands of thoughts in his mind. He was thinking quickly in his heart about how to answer that would satisfy the queen without offending other people.
Just as he was thinking hard, there was a knock on the door outside the palace.
"Come in."
In the blink of an eye, Meve regained the awe-inspiring and inviolable aura of the past, while Kebi quickly put on his mask and stood behind her again, the afterglow of the light beam enveloped the two of them.
The door opened slowly, and a servant bent down and entered slowly.
"Her Majesty the Queen, Witcher Order Grand Commander Dick has come to see you."
"They are indeed here." The queen stood up suddenly and walked straight out of the palace, followed closely by Kebi.