"Are you sure I don't need to wear this? Ms. Jinni said that at the banquet..." In the room, Thales frowned, holding up a small trimmed vest, and asked Putilai.

And these are the luggage that the mission worked hard to carry along with the flag, right?

"This is in Exeter, in the Northland," the neatly dressed Putilai looked at him disdainfully: "Even at the banquet, they hate pretty boys and sissies the most... If you really want to use that thing

If so - I think you will be the strongest competitor for the banquet clown."

Thales stuck out his tongue and threw down his vest.

"Ah, you know," Ada, who was sitting by the window, came back to her senses and sighed with regret: "A banquet without a clown is boring."

After nearly a month of nervous tension, Thales had no time to think about anything else. From the ruined house to Red Square Street, from Mindis Hall to Fuxing Palace, and then from Broken Dragon Fortress to Longxiao City, the new second prince even had his own bed.

He was not even hot from sleep, so he was rushed into the noble's carriage, put on the prince's yoke, and faced a different kind of challenge that he had never seen before.

So it wasn't until the servants and Michael came to remind them that Thales suddenly realized that he had no experience or knowledge in attending noble banquets.

He had not lost his composure when facing swordsmen, vampires, and magic masters, but he suddenly became a little nervous.

"Don't worry," Putilai ordered the Northland tobacco he ordered from the servant disapprovingly, "Compared to the standards of the Stars and the Principality of Anrenzo, Exeter's banquet is simply a military camp picnic for the big-headed soldiers——

If you've ever experienced the style of Humble and Suye, my God, their banquet etiquette is hell."

"Etiquette, decoration, fashion, style, these efforts to distinguish status, separate status and class, and classify people have never stopped," Thales tried his best to calm down the uneasiness in his heart with small talk. He squatted down and spoke in front of a simple

Adjusting his shoes in front of the full-length mirror, he sighed: "I must take a shower after tonight..."

"Let's think about the business tonight first," Putilai seemed to be unaccustomed to the choking tobacco in the North. He coughed and said with difficulty: "Ahem, damn, they sent inferior goods——"

Putilai's words seemed to have magic power, making Tails immediately forget about the awkwardness of the upcoming banquet and seriously think about the situation in front of him.

The door rang.

Rolf stepped on his increasingly proficient metal prosthetic leg and walked in. It seemed that this was the first time he had encountered such an occasion, and his face was a little pale outside the silver mask.

Huaiya, who came next, seemed calmer, as if he had seen such a scene before.

"Your Highness," Thales' attendant nodded solemnly: "Everything is ready."

Next to him, Rolf made gestures:

【They are coming.】

Thales nodded.

The second prince took a deep breath and gestured back amid Putilai's confused expression and Huaiya's furrowed brows:

【Let’s go.】

————

Before the sunset had completely set, Exeter's welcome party had already begun.

Led by the king's officer Michael and a group of servants, Thales walked beside Putilai, followed by Rolf and Wyatt... As for Ada, everyone agreed that she was not suitable to participate in such an action.

"I don't know what your Highness understands the banquet in the North, but I must remind you that the distinguished guests from the stars may not be used to our banquets," Lord Michael said expressionlessly: "And tonight is quite special.

…”

Thales responded with a friendly and understanding smile.

The group of them stepped on the rough floor tiles of the Palace of Heroes and stepped on the stone steps.

"The banquet hall is where King Nekaru hosted a banquet for the Nine Knights. It is said that the banquet for the heroes of the North lasted for three days and three nights, and consumed almost all the captures during their campaign," Michael said with respect for them.

Introducing the place he is about to go to: "It was also in this place, amid the cheers inside and outside the castle, that Nekaru Aix was elected king."

Thales stepped onto the last stone stairs and arrived at the sixth-floor corridor of the Palace of Heroes.

Lively and noisy voices could be heard.

The ground on this floor is almost seven or eight meters high from the ceiling. There are many braziers here, which are supported on shelves one by one and evenly lined up throughout the corridor. They are burning brightly, illuminating the Palace of Heroes after the sun goes down.

Like daytime.

Different from the corridors on other floors that are full of rooms, the corridor on this floor only has a thick wooden double door in the center. The servants coming and going have cheerful faces, either carrying plates or holding wine barrels, coming in and out.

Thales took a deep breath, exchanged glances with his subordinates, and under the leadership of Michael, stepped into the banquet hall of the Palace of Heroes.

The sounds of noisy discussions, the clinking of wine glasses, the tearing sounds of knives cutting flesh, and even the sounds of quarrels, gradually grew louder and began to intrude and torture his ears.

Thales raised his head and saw the hall clearly.

This is a circular hall, with the triangular flags of the Dragon Spear logo hanging on the wall, blazing braziers lit in every corner, and several bright ceiling-burning lamps hung on the ceiling (thank God, Thales

I thought the only lighting fixtures in the Palace of Heroes were braziers). Servants appeared at the side door and barbecue grill from time to time, bringing waves of food and drinks to the venue.

The banquet hall can accommodate hundreds of people - and it is indeed the case now. At least one or two hundred people sit around a dozen rectangular tables placed in parallel. These rectangular tables are perpendicular to the direction of the door, leaving a space in the center line of the hall that is large enough to accommodate

Passage for servants and guests.

Thales frowned and looked around. He couldn't see the place further away in the hall due to his height, so Putilai explained it softly in his ear.

But the atmosphere in the venue was quite lively.

Busy servants coming and going with plates, rude nobles arguing loudly on the table until their faces turned red, guests who had been drinking for some time and their faces red, and lecherous nobles who laughed and touched each other from time to time, taking advantage of their drunkenness.

Passing by the maid's buttocks, there was a burst of yelling.

The five Grand Dukes sat at the main seats of five long tables with different expressions: the bearded Grand Duke Olesiu had a steady expression on his face and absentmindedly turned the wine glass in his hand. He was surrounded by almost all families with triangles and circles emblems.

Knights or subordinate lords; the shaved pot-headed Grand Duke Trudida laughed with the surrounding subjects, seeming to be at ease in socializing; the bald Archduke Lecco sat together with Marquis Slys of the Camus Alliance

, listening carefully to the latter's slow speech; the long-haired Grand Duke Ronny still had a serious face, and seemed to have a cold aura. The long table where he was sitting was the most deserted, and no one dared to come forward to talk, only the servants and subordinates behind him.

Food or wine was added to him from time to time; the young Archduke Perfitt raised his wine glass with a smile on his face, and talked to the various nobles sitting around who didn't know whether they were their subordinate princes or their entourage. The latter

They nodded frequently, and then drank the wine in the glass together.

What a group of people drinking and drinking together - it was a replica of the Northland villagers and soldiers drinking and drinking together in Aikou Village.

If Thales hadn't raised his head and saw Nunn VII sitting on the horizontal table a little higher at the end of the hall, surrounded by White Blade Guards and sitting among several ministers drinking silently, he would have almost forgotten it.

Those swords and swords lurking in the conspiracy tonight.

It is almost forgotten that among these five great lords, there is a conspirator who is so bold that he intends to murder the princes of the two countries.

"I don't know, it turns out that the banquet has already started." Thales turned his head and said helplessly.

"Most of the nobles have already taken their seats," Michael said calmly: "His Majesty Nunn is waiting for your arrival."

Thales narrowed his eyes and finally glanced at Nunn VII in the distance, noticing that he still had a cold expression on his face.

The king seemed to notice his gaze, and his old but sharp eyes swept towards this place.

"Then it's about to begin." Putilai behind him muttered intentionally or unintentionally.

Thales sighed slightly in his heart.

A few seconds later, the waiter on the side announced his identity in a loud voice at Michael's signal:

"Distinguished guest from the Kingdom of Stars, His Royal Highness Prince Thales Bright Star!"

The sound spread to every corner of the hall and even echoed.

The noisy banquet suddenly fell silent.

At a dozen long tables, almost everyone stopped what they were doing - whether drinking, cutting meat, chatting, fighting or even teasing the maid, countless eyes were cast on them.

Even many servants, guards on guard, and even the White Blade Guards looked in this direction.

Thales recognized this feeling - the last time was at the state meeting in the Hall of Stars in Yongxing City.

"Should I laugh at this time?" Feeling the various gazes ranging from malice, murderous intent to curiosity and friendliness, Thales' expression remained unchanged and his lips moved slightly: "It is better to put on a dead face, which is more in line with my identity as the enemy prince.

?”

"Relax, relax, they opened the show early and didn't even arrange the order of seating... You don't have to make a fuss and prepare for it." Putilai looked at the anxious prince and sighed: "No expression is important, you are just a face now.

The flag called 'Star'."

The expressionless Michael nodded to Thales, politely stretched out his right hand, and motioned for him to move forward.

"Should I just walk forward like this? Or should I stay behind and wait for someone to greet me?" Thales ignored Michael. He frowned under the pressure of everyone's attention and asked Putilai behind him in a low voice.

"If you are in the stars, of course you have to wait for the host to send someone to take you to your seat, but this is Exeter," Putilai frowned and glanced at the messy hall. Many guests seemed to have given up on the temptation of curiosity, and even

He has already begun to bite the food that was served: "Don't expect so much etiquette - walk to your seat without looking away. I guess it is the one next to King Nunn."

Thales walked forward with a smile that was neither humble nor overbearing, but also amiable that he imagined a "prince" should have.

Unlike Xingchen, who insisted on rules and etiquette in everything, there was not even a carpet in the banquet hall. When he stepped on the uneven floor tiles, he felt as if he had returned to an abandoned house.

As he walked past the long table, whispers came to his ears, and his good hearing showed its effect at this time:

"Is that the young prince?"

"I heard that it has been lost for many years..."

"Seven years old? Are you kidding me?"

"The Star People preached that he was a miraculous person. You know, a genius... Humph!"

"So, our army can't move because of this kid?"
To be continued...