Thales didn't know what the order of the banquets of the Star nobles was like on weekdays, but at least judging from this royal banquet nominally held by him, the table manners of the Star people were more than one level better than those of the Northlanders:

The banquet was still in the seating stage, but people were exchanging greetings in an orderly manner. Men and women sat side by side, getting along well and naturally. Servants and waiters came and went in an orderly manner. The guards were keeping a low profile and were almost invisible. Even the clowns and minstrels who were cheering for the party were singing.

Appropriate, the performance is measured, and never crosses key areas and annoys guests.

Thales couldn't help but think of the banquet held by King Nunn in the Palace of Heroes. He couldn't help but regret for a second for the little naughty guy - but then he remembered that the latter's life and death were unknown at the moment, so the joking silence turned into a complete silence.

Sadly.

"Your Majesty is here!"

"Long live the King!"

"Long live the Queen!"

As the king's team entered the hall, the originally quiet Mindis Hall exploded, with greetings and discussions pouring in like a tide.

"May you be in good health!"

"God bless the stars..."

"Congratulations on your reunion with His Excellency the Duke and his son..."

There seemed to be a huge whirlpool with King Kessel as the center in the banquet hall. It was so powerful and irresistible that it sucked all the guests from their seats, from honorary earls to actual barons, from invited officials to honorary soldiers.

Ants gathered together until they reached a safe distance and bumped into the royal guards who were not pretentious, and then they woke up like they were dreaming.

Many guests in the front row bowed respectfully and knelt down to salute, but proper etiquette could not conceal their impatience.

"The Lake Murray family of the Donner greets you..."

"Your Majesty, on behalf of all members of the Dongcheng Police Department..."

"Move forward, try to let His Majesty see us, but don't be too deliberate, so as not to lose etiquette in front of the Emperor..."

"Your Majesty, do you remember Hazzard from the Battle of the Altar?"

Thales watched all this, watching the guests surrounding King Kessel vying for an audience, bowing from front to back, like rows of harvested straw.

Wherever the sickle reaches, the straw falls.

Thales suddenly remembered the Mingye Temple drama that he had watched when he was a child. In the scene about the disaster, the actors who played the role of "good people" on the stage were also the same. In the plot of the disaster that wiped out the world, the tense and heavy scenes behind the scenes followed.

The accompaniment screamed and fell down one after another in front of the weirdly dressed "disaster".

The only difference is that after these "straws" fell down, they slowly rose up again, indistinctly, tilting towards Thales' position, bringing a restrained but complicated gaze.

King Kessel looked as usual and walked steadily, while Queen Keya beside him nodded gently and smiled repeatedly. In this way, one of them was silent and majestic, the other was affable, both holding hands and moving forward, walking up step by step, towards the two steps.

Above, facing the entire banquet hall, it is also the highest seat that belongs exclusively to the royal family.

Of course, not everyone was sucked into the "whirlpool" caused by the king:

The Duke and Prime Minister of the East China Sea, Bob Cullen, was sitting on the long table on the second level with a smile on his face. He was surrounded by the nobles of the East China Sea Territory whom he had made friends with. There was an endless stream of central officials and important nobles who came to pay their respects to the Prime Minister.

We exchanged warm greetings and exchanged glasses, waiting patiently for the arrival of the king and prince. From time to time, we would say a few words of praise for you and me, sighing that the kingdom would have a queen and the stars would rise.

Duke Jenn Kelvindir sat opposite Prime Minister Cullen. Many lower-level bureaucrats and newly wealthy businessmen who came to the long table with expectations but failed to muster up the courage to meet the Prime Minister chose to pay their respects to the Prime Minister.

The young dignitaries of the South Bank expressed their respect. Under the encouragement of the Duke, they gradually relaxed their restraints, talked and laughed happily, and when they left, they repeatedly praised the owner of Iris for his approachability, nobleness and sincerity.

In stark contrast to this table, there is another long table on the same floor but much more remote: the shackled Duke of the North, Val Arlend, with beard and hair hanging down his shoulders, sits silently at one end, ignoring his surroundings.

He poured himself a drink with strangely probing eyes, and stood behind him several royal guards who never left his side. Apart from old acquaintances, only a few upright northern nobles and honorary soldiers who had fought alongside him dared to

Come forward and say hello.

At the other end of the long table sat the casual-looking Duke of Cliff, Coste de Nantry. The owner of the giant-horned deer looked at the commotion caused by the king with one cold eye, and from time to time raised his glass to the Duke of Val opposite him. Many family members

Nobles with profound connections to the North and the Clifflands came to pay their respects to him, but compared to the Prime Minister and Duke Iris, this table could only be regarded as deserted.

In contrast, the third-level seats next to the Duke's long table are much more harmonious. The people sitting here may not be nobler than the Guardian Dukes and the Imperial Earls, but they are still more important, such as the center of the Royal Council.

Political dignitaries, bureaucrats from various ministries in Yongxing City, and important leaders in the industrial and commercial industries.

As well as the hereditary landowners of the Central Territory including the "Seven Brilliant Stars".

"There are so many people, aren't there," Baron Straw looked at the king expressionlessly:

"There are four dukes alone..."

Baron Strauss paused.

He saw the young man arriving with Princess Elise and smiled softly:

"Sorry, five."

"Indeed, forget about the Iris and the Sun Sword and Shield. As for the giant-horned deer and the white eagle, including many people..." At the same table, Viscount Adrian of Swan County agreed, sighing towards Mrs. Barney across the long table, looking at

But she focused on her son and the "toy" in his hand:

"I thought I would never see you again in this life."

"The young master has returned, the kingdom is stable, and it is of course unprecedented and gratifying." Mrs. Barney responded with a smile, and whispered to her son who lowered his head and played with the nine-pointed star badge:

"Luther, listen to mother and collect the Duke's gifts first. Take a look, there are a lot of fun things on the dining table."

Over there, D.D.’s father, old Baron Doyle, turned his head and introduced to a market bureaucrat at the next table with great interest:

"So, this year the grain harvest in my territory has been so good that the granaries can't even pile it up... But you know, low grain prices hurt farmers. If you can act in accordance with the law and regulations, when people from outside the area come to buy grain, you can use the local farmers to buy grain."

The grain market price is set high...I mean, you might as well set it more reasonably...Oh, that's it, I understand, after all, you have to follow the rules..."

"By the way, have you seen the two guards behind Duke Xinghu? Pay attention to the more handsome one... Hey, that is the dog Daniel Doyle. He protects the royal family, is loyal, and has won the trust of Duke Thales.

...So, with him here, every time I come to Mindis Hall, it feels like going home..."

"The big man with a serious face next to him is Karen Glover, my son's best friend who serves His Excellency the Duke, brother and sister! He is also the half-brother of Viscount Glover... Which Glover? Oh

, you know, he is the Viscount of Hushan County, Lozano Glover, one of the Seven Shining Stars, the mainstay of the Kingdom’s Finance and Taxation Department..."

"Oh? What? Have you changed your mind? Do you also think that the low price of grain hurts farmers? Do you want to go back and re-check the relevant laws and adjust the pricing? Oh, my lord, I really read you right! To be honest, I am a noble person.

Xu, generally I don’t think much of those mediocre and tacky people. Only good people like you, my lord, who care about the country and the people and do things according to the rules. It’s rare that we feel like old friends after seeing each other... Come and have a drink..."

As the king and his entourage approached, the adults at these noble long tables also stopped talking. Unlike many guests, they were so excited that they rushed forward regardless of their manners, but they also stood up from the long table and paid respectful greetings.

"There is no need to salute, everyone." Thales watched the king walk through the center of the hall, stepped onto the gentle steps, and walked from the most ordinary seats to the long table of the dukes, and listened to him slowly speak:

"If I wait until you finish kissing my ring one by one, we won't be able to start until dawn."

The king's tone was nonchalant, but the depth of it lingered in the hall.

But Thales felt a chill in his heart, and he subconsciously touched the back of his hand.

There is no ring there.

"Pay attention to your own performance," Aunt Elise next to her noticed his abnormality. Although her smile remained the same, her tone became unusually stern: "Maybe Jinni doesn't care, but you..."

Thales only felt his arms tighten.

"You are a prince, facing the entire kingdom, your demeanor, expression, gaze, tone...every move will be infinitely magnified and over-interpreted."

His aunt held his arm, but her words were full of power, causing Thales to straighten up and adjust his posture:

"Put on your armor, or as Jinnie would say: raise your shield."

Thales took a deep breath and tried his best to make his smile look natural.

Under the guidance of Baron Quentin, the steward of the palace, and Adrian, the captain of the royal guard, the king took the queen on his arm, stepped onto the highest seat with great familiarity, and sat down leisurely.

Facing the guests, overlooking the hall.

Tails, on the other hand, took a seat at the long table at the lower level of the king at the signal of Marius and Gilbert. Aunt Elise and Jinnie sat on his left side, both of them looked at him.

Concerned eyes.

A few meters away, Jenn Kevin Deere at the next table gave Thales a meaningful smile.

Countless eyes turned upward, focusing on the people at these few tables.

The guests had different expressions and reactions, which was clearly visible from his perspective.

Of course, from the king's perspective, Thales' actions must be the same.

Thales listened to his own heartbeat, but walked away unprofessionally for a second. He suddenly remembered the memory of his previous life. The moment you stood on the podium, all the luck and illusions you had in your student days would be shattered.

:

It turns out that for thousands of days, the teachers could clearly see all the little moves you made on the podium or under the desk that you thought were hidden and low-key and unnoticed.

But they still pretended that nothing happened and continued teaching patiently and smiling.

It seems that the students in the audience are all good children who listen carefully, right?

At this moment, Thales kept smiling and quietly looked at the "good students" in the hall, suddenly realizing the height of the king's seat.

"Damn it, zombie, sit down over there, otherwise the beautiful maids... I mean the attendants will have a hard time delivering the food..." Doyle's gnashing voice came from behind:

"This place is too narrow, isn't it? Is it really prepared for the prince? Barney's manor banquets are wider than this..."

"In other words, servants have no human rights..."

Next door, Marius, who was sitting at the same table with Gilbert, came over with a knife in his eye.
To be continued...