Masked Knight

Aven looked as if he was still at a loss. The King raised his eyebrows and shouted, "Aven! How dare you barge in here like that! How dare you draw your sword in front of the envoy of the Radiant Empire!"

At that moment, Aven was no longer belligerent. He unexpectedly paused for a while and grudgingly replied, "Your Majesty, I heard that you and the Radiant Empire bas..." He was about to say ‘bastard’ but when he glanced at the beautiful woman, he could not feel hatred. He also could not link such riveting beauty with the word ’bastard’. He paused for a moment and continued, "As knights of the Roland Continent, we cannot bow our heads to the enemy even if we were defeated! Therefore, I request Your Majesty to cancel the peace negotiations. True honor cannot be obtained with peace negotiations. It can only be obtained through the sword!"

Rody stood at a side. Although he did not say anything, he had a favorable impression of the young Crown Prince. Rody believed that he would be just as impulsive and hot-blooded if he had not had so much experience.

The King coldly grunted and said, "Aven, you are too impudent! Do you think you, a Crown Prince, can wantonly defy my orders? Do you know what the punishment for being rude to our honored guests is?"

Although the cunning King said the word ‘punishment’, he did not stop looking at Rody and Seth.

Seth suddenly laughed softly and whispered into Rody’s ears. "Boy, he is giving you a hint. He is hinting you to help him out of this awkward situation. Do you really want him to punish the Crown Prince? Quickly beg for leniency so that the King has an excuse to get out of this awkward situation. Then you can take advantage later."

Rody nodded. He was about to speak when suddenly Mouse gently pulled his sleeves to stop him. Rody then looked up at Mouse and saw her lips moved as he heard her say, "Don’t say anything. Let Seth be the one to speak."

Seth rolled his eyes as Mouse coldly smiled at him. "Are you going to speak?"

Seth trembled deep in his heart and felt weak. He forced a smile and gave a gentle yet loud cough. "Your Majesty! His Highness is still young and impetuous. Besides that, he did not injure me. I suggest we just forget about it."

The King still looked enraged and replied, "How can this be alright? Right now, the Sauron Kingdom and the Radiant Empire are negotiating for peace. This means we are allies. Yet, this boy is rude to you..."

Seth felt helpless. He smiled and said, "Prince Aven is also loyal to his kingdom. If you punish him, wouldn’t you dishearten the other warm-blooded knights?"

The King took his opportunity to laugh as he stared at Aven fiercely. He shouted, "If it was not because Miss Nicole pleaded for you...Hmph..." He sighed and then magnanimously waved his hand as he said, "Alright, the peace negotiation has concluded. You do not need to speak anymore! Just stand there and keep quiet!"

Aven felt anxious. He had rushed in with a sword in hand to kill the envoy and wreck the peace negotiations without thinking of the consequences. This young hot-blooded knight did not give much thought to how the King would have punished him. After all, he was the Crown Prince and the King had no son. The King would not have executed him.

When he heard that the King was determined to negotiate for peace without giving any room for further discussions, he wanted to immediately stop it. However, that beautiful woman pleaded mercy for him. Her warm words and her sincere and touching appearance prevented Aven from picking up his sword to kill such a charming and likable envoy.

Aven was sweating profusely and was dumbfounded. He looked back and forth at the sword on the ground and ‘Miss Nicole’. He struggled with his feelings as he felt murderous at one moment and warm and tender the next.

Seth felt extremely uncomfortable being gazed at by him. He felt goosebumps all over his body and could not help but shrink away to hide behind Rody. However, he ended up looking beautiful, shy, and captivating to Aven. He had a kind of fatal charm...

Aven simply stood there muddleheaded. He did not hear a single word of the conversation between Rody and the King. Finally, the King laughed and replied, "It is decided then!"

Rody also had a smile on his face, but his was a pretense. He sighed deeply in his heart as he felt that this task was tiring. He felt pretending to smile and negotiate was much more tiring than fighting and killing on the battlefield.

The King stood up and said, "Since there are no objections on both sides, the peace negotiation is settled. We would get the warships ready, but..." At that point, the King gave Rody a glance.

Rody understood his meaning and lightly replied, "Your Majesty, rest assured. Once you have sent the warships to the Radiant Empire, the prisoners of war would be immediately returned! We would remain here until the prisoners of war have returned to the Roland Continent."

The King nodded. No matter what, with the older sister of the Duke of the Tulip Family as a hostage, it is enough.

"Aven!" The King shouted and finally brought the confused prince out of his daze. "You are the Commander of the Navy. I order you to quickly assemble two hundred warships from your Naval Forces!"

Aven immediately became anxious and replied, "Your Majesty, two hundred warships are too many. Besides..."

"No buts!" The King’s face finally revealed a trace of genuine anger. "Shut up!" He then sighed and continued in a gentler tone. "Didn’t we place an order of ironwood with the dwarfs? Just get the newly-made warships!"

When the King saw that Aven still had things to say, he squinted his eyes and coldly told Aven, "Listen carefully! I have already decided on this. I don’t want to hear another word from you!"

After that, the King invited Rody and his team to stay in the Summer Palace in the Capital. In view of the assassination incident, the King also dispatched a thousand Royal Knights to protect them. Although a thousand knights were not too many, it was unlikely that the Temple would act publicly in a big way. After all, both sides had not yet openly declared hostility with each other.

Besides that, it was rumored that three Dragon Paladins did not succeed. Although Yin Xing had reported that Earl Rody was extraordinarily formidable, the King did not personally witness it and could not believe that Rody, alone, could kill three Paladins. After all, the so-called Domain Masters only existed in legends and myths. He believed that most of the credits in defeating the three Paladins were due to the Black Veil Saint and Paladin Augustine.

The King did not expect that the Black Veil Saint would betray the Temple and also caused the death of three Paladins. In addition, Paladin Augustine only seemed to be in harmony with the Temple on the surface. This time, the Temple’s strength had suffered big losses.

’The result of this peace negotiation is extremely good!’

This left the Crown Prince Aven look as if the King was going to teach him a ‘lesson’. As to how the King was going to persuade the youthful knight, it was not Rody’s problem. The King had sent some palace officials to escort them to the Summer Palace.

When they entered the Summer Palace, they sent away the attendants. After that Rody and Mouse could no longer hold it in anymore and started to laugh. Cold sweat appeared on Seth’s forehead as he angrily shouted, "Have you laughed enough?"

Old Mark who stayed away from being dragged into the matter, held in his laughter and said, "Err...Miss Nicole, it seems like the Crown Prince has fallen in love with you at first sight!"

"Shut up!" Seth listlessly shouted, "Quickly change my clothes and also...and also my face!"

Yin Xing felt worried. He was forced to cooperate with those people. He also did not dare expose Seth’s male identity when they were in the hall. He was now also involved in this. It was tantamount to cooperating with others to deceive the King and was a very serious crime. He tried to suggest, "I think we should stop this here. Or..."

Mouse shook her head and lightly said, "No! Just now, he has already been given the identity of Miss Nicole inside the palace. The eldest daughter of the Tulip Family has visited the Roland Continent. If he were to transform back now, wouldn’t the secret be exposed?"

Seth glared at her and asked, "Then what should I do? Do you want me to keep wearing this and pretend to be the damned, ‘Miss Nicole’?"

Rody refrained from laughing. He walked over and patted Seth’s shoulder. "Seth, when you are angry, your appearance is very charming."

As Seth was about to become angry, Mouse coldly said, "Mister Seth, you better be obedient. My sorcery spell is already in your body. I am also a very petty person, so you better don’t make me angry."

Everyone laughed for a while and then went to their respective rooms to rest, leaving behind only Rody and Mouse in that room. As for Seth, after he returned to his room, how he changed his clothes or how he desperately washed his face was another story...

Rody pondered for a moment and then asked, "Do you think King Sauron would really hand over six hundred warships? The six hundred warships are probably gathered from all the kingdoms on the continent. It is impossible that the Temple would sit idly on this issue."

Mouse thought for a moment and replied, "You do not need to worry about this. You are only responsible for the negotiations. The conditions are already agreed upon. Leave the rest of the things to the others. Whether they could successfully deliver the warships or not is something for the King to worry about. The thing I am worried about now is that the Temple might not let you go. Three Dragon Paladins died in this assassination attempt. It is unlikely that the Temple would give up so easily." She shook her head and looked a little anxious. "Rody, nobody knows how powerful the Dragons really are. You killed three of their Dragon warriors. I believe that this matter is not over yet."

Rody smiled and said, "Naturally, I am not afraid but..." He frowned and added, "But I am worried for Augustine. What would the Temple do to him when he returns?"

Mouse also showed an expression of concern and whispered, "Augustine is my only close friend in the Temple. Unfortunately, he is too stubborn and no matter what, he will not listen to me."

Rody walked to Mouse’s side and gently held her shoulders as he softly said, "That day, when I was still unconscious, I heard you declare your apostasy...I..."

Mouse gently smiled hesitantly. She was unable to stop herself from leaning her head onto Rody’s shoulder and she said, "No matter what, I will not regret this."

Rody took out the black ring on his chest and gently caressed it. He softly said, "That day at Thunder City, when I saw the Tulip fireworks in the sky, I guessed that it must be you. However, we were not able to meet..."

Mouse gently smiled like a blossoming spring flower. She also took out a small rolled cloth from her bosom and gently opened it. Inside the cloth was the lock of Rody’s hair that he had cut off for her on that day when they parted in the Northwest. Mouse’s eyes gradually turned moist as she whispered, "This has also always been by my side."

He looked at Mouse in his arms. She was blushing and looked extremely charming. Rody was excited and could no longer restrain himself. He lowered his head and gently kissed her...

...

In the evening, after everybody had rested, they had dinner together. After about half a day of rest, some of them were regained their spirit. Rody and Mouse had been separated for a long time and finally had half a day to spend with each other. Naturally, they were lost in love as they held each other’s hands affectionately and walked into the hall, the tenderness reflected in Mouse’s eyes.

The only people looking unpleasant were Seth and the Great Sorcerer, Yin Xing. He was dispatched by the Sorcerer’s Association to accompany and ‘protect’ the envoy until the envoy left the Roland continent.

Only Yin Xing himself knew that his job of ‘protecting’ was a joke. He was by Rody’s side and was forced to deceive the King. He was afraid that the fact that the eldest daughter of the Tulip Family was a fake might be exposed.

Besides Ying Xing’s uneasiness, Seth also had an even more unpleasant expression.

Seth had already changed back into a man’s clothing. Initially, he thought of escaping but thousands of Royal knights were ‘protecting’ them outside the Imperial residence, preventing him from escaping. Even though Old Mark had extraordinary strength, the Black Veil Saint had unusual sorcery. As long as Seth was a certain distance away from Mouse, she would immediately be alerted. She also did not need anybody to catch him. Mouse only needed to stay where she was and simply cast a little bit of sorcery and that would make Seth beg for mercy.

Along the way here, Seth had already tried to escape twice. He had experienced how formidable the Saint was. Therefore, the idea of escaping had already been removed from his mind.

Although he had put on some man’s clothes, he looked neither fish nor fowl.

He did not know what sorcery Mouse had used, but his physical strength had been sealed. When he walked, he appeared listless, more inclined towards being delicate and lovable.

Seth also almost went crazy looking at his own face. Mouse had forced him to drink a magic potion such that Seth was unable to change his face back even after washing it with water several times. He even almost peeled off his skin and yet there was no effect. The makeup with eyeliner, blusher, and eyebrow-liner still looked extremely clear. That deliberately modified face fully showed a charming woman’s atmosphere...

Even Mouse could not help but sigh when she looked at his face. ’You descendants of the Tulip Family are truly and naturally handsome and beautiful.’

With that disguise, the refined and elegant Seth had instantly looked like a sweet and beautiful woman. The current Seth, even if he were to wear a man’s clothes, he would just look like a woman disguising herself as a man!

Everybody could not help but tease Seth. When Seth calmed down and listened to a few words, he laughed back, "Rody, today, the Crown Prince has obviously fallen in love with ‘Miss Nicole’ at first sight! Aren’t you jealous? The person whom he has fallen in love with is your ‘Miss Nicole’!"

Although his words were directed at Rody, he deliberately looked at Mouse with the intention of sowing discord.

Mouse gave a faint smile. "Seth, you don’t have to waste so much effort. Rody has already told me everything. It is futile to try and make me jealous!" She suddenly grinned with a smile. Her smile made Seth’s hairs stood on ends. He then heard Mouse whispered, "Your words would only make me angrier at you!"

While they were talking, a loud voice reported from outside.

For the sake of hiding Seth’s identity, Rody had earlier forbidden people from entering their residences without permission. The King also did not think of sending anyone to spy on them. With a Great Practitioner like Black Veil Saint there, dispatching people to spy on them would be asking for trouble. Which sorcerer or knight would have that kind of power?

As the entourage escort, Yin Xing went out to reply. A short while later, he returned with an awkward smile. "His Highness, Prince Aven invites Your Excellency and ‘Miss Nicole’ to attend his dinner banquet. He said he wanted to apologize for his rudeness earlier."

Rody frowned. "The Crown Prince? Why did he invite us?"

Mouse pursed her lips and smiled, "I am afraid he is not inviting you. His main purpose is to invite ‘Miss Nicole’!"

Rody softly replied, "A joke is, after all, just a joke. If it is not necessary, we might as turn down the invitation and avoid complicating the issue."

Mouse lowered her head and pondered for a moment. She said, "The Crown Prince, Aven, is a Naval Regiment Commander and is also the leader of Sauron Kingdom’s young men. Today, you saw how he tried to oppose the peace negotiations. Besides that, when it comes to warships, if he, the Commander of the Navy, were to obstruct in the course of things, it will bring you a lot of trouble...I think it is better to attend. At least you could figure out his intentions."

Rody pondered for a moment and suddenly said, "I have always been puzzled about something."

Rody tapped the table as he thought to himself and said, "Today, inside the palace, the King discussed the negotiation and was finally willing to accept our conditions. In the end, the Senior Prime Minister showed a surprised expression. It seemed that the King and the Senior Prime Minister did not share the same opinion. In other words, the Senior Prime Minister is not an absolutely loyal person and has other intentions! That was why he was very surprised when the King agreed to our conditions. The King’s offer of six hundred warships was definitely obtained from the other kingdoms, but the Senior Prime Minister did not seem to know about it. Obviously, the King had bypassed him and had secretly contacted the other kingdoms."

Mouse’s expression gradually sank as she softly replied, "Hmph, yes. Today, the Senior Prime Minister looked agitated. According to my knowledge, normally, the Senior Prime Minister is an experienced and astute person who does not show his emotions easily. Also, did you notice? The Crown Prince immediately came in soon after the Senior Prime Minister left. It was likely that the Senior Prime Minister deliberately influenced the prince to come in to destroy the peace negotiations!"

Rody sighed. "In other words, the Senior Prime Minister is colluding with the Temple?"

Mouse hesitated for a moment and said, "Rody, on your way here, you met with assassins at sea and on land. This means that the Temple knew your whereabouts. There is no guarantee that there is no leak on your whereabouts."

Rody raised his eyebrows as his eyes flashed with a stern countenance. He then grunted and said, "It is possible!"

Rody then remembered his loyal subordinates who were killed in the battle and angrily shouted, "Damn Senior Prime Minister! If I do not kill him, I would not be worthy of my warriors who died for me!"

Mouse shook her head and said, "These are just guesses. You would need a good plan if you want to confirm it. However, the Senior Prime Minister is well known for his schemes and foresight in the Sauron Kingdom. He also used to be the King’s teacher. Both of us will not be able to test him directly because we cannot compete with him in his plots and schemes." At this moment, she deliberately looked at Seth.

Seth coldly said, "Do not use these kinds of words to incite me."

Mouse smiled and ignored him. While facing Rody directly, she laughed, "Although the Senior Prime Minister is difficult to deal with, the Crown Prince is an impulsive young man. It would not be difficult to test him."

Rody immediately understood. He could not help but glance at Seth. He then faced Mouse and smiled, "Do you mean?"

Mouse deliberately sighed and said, "The so-called ’heroes would fall for the charms of a beauty’! I cannot say if Aven is really a hero, but we have a beauty here! Didn’t you notice?" Mouse refrained from laughing and slowly said, "The way Prince Aven looked at this beauty here in the palace today seemed like he was about to devour her! If eyes could eat, I am afraid that this beauty would have already been gobbled up!"

Seth turned pale as he heard Mouse’s words. He cursed the woman that had a beautiful outer appearance with an ugly heart. He had always considered himself clever especially when it came to dealing with women. However, this time, when he came to the Roland Continent and met the Black Veil Saint, everything turned out otherwise.

In the face of absolute strength, even if Seth was full of wisdom, he could not do anything.

Before Seth could speak, Rody smiled, looked at the awkward-looking Yin Xing and said, "Please give a reply to the Crown Prince that Miss Nicole and I will definitely join him at the banquet tonight."