Imperial Crown

There was no stove or charcoal basin. Under the influence of the temperature control array, the room was still very hot.

After the last invasion by Anderson and others, Denise rearranged the entire house.

The floor was initially covered with a bright red fire velvet carpet. After Nancy entered Eagle Castle on a carpet of the same material, Denise replaced it with a more expensive purple kraken velvet.

In the center of the room is a double bed with neat and elegant white sheets. Opposite the bed is a dressing table, which is much larger than the usual size. In addition to a bronze mirror for makeup inlaid in the center, there are also many documents and documents on both sides. The document obviously also serves as a desk.

At this moment, Denise is sitting in front of the dressing table. She is wearing a slightly loose light green nightgown made of silk. Her black hair is draped behind her head. She is leaning on her temple with her left hand, revealing her delicate lotus root arm. She is holding a quill in her right hand. I brushed dots on the parchment paper, stopping to think about it from time to time. My red lips opened and closed, reciting the numbers on the paper.

Boom, boom, boom.

There was a knock on the door, and Denise opened her mouth slightly: "Who?"

"It's me." Raven's voice sounded.

Denise looked obviously startled, her eyes turned to the side first, and then a smile appeared on her lips: "Wait a moment."

She stood up, put on the shawl that was placed on the back of the chair, and opened the door. When she saw Raven's face, she couldn't help but joked: "Ha, our hard-working Lord Baron actually has time to see me."

"I'm done for now, come and take a look." Raven raised his eyebrows: "Why, you don't welcome me?"

"How dare you?" Denise glanced at him, turned and walked back: "Come in."

The door was closed, and Denise sat back in front of the dressing table and picked up the quill: "There are angel tears over there. If you are thirsty, pour some yourself. I have some things to deal with."

Raven found Angel Tears, poured two glasses out, and placed one of them on the dressing table without saying a word. He glanced at the data Denise was processing and sat on the big bed behind her.

Taking a sip of the wine, the cold liquid entered his throat, making Raven feel much more relaxed and relaxed.

His eyes fell on Denise. Under the light, the dragon blood velvet looked crystal clear and psychedelic, as if clouds were rising from the ground, making those tight and powerful calves even whiter.

The silk nightgown outlines the curvature of the thighs. Although it cannot show the slenderness of the waist, as the body swings, it also highlights the elasticity of the skin under the nightgown.

Denise gathered her messy hair with her left hand, revealing her round earlobes, and her pajamas fell naturally, revealing half of her arms.

Raven had a smile on his face, but he didn't make any move. He just sat there and admired it quietly.

"Hmm..." Throwing the quill back into the ink bottle, Denise stretched her waist and let out a relaxed hum.

She took a sip of the Angel's Tears, turned around and looked at Raven, who was sitting there neatly, and said with some surprise: "Oh, it's really strange, the little bee has changed its nature and turned into a little dumb bird? "

Raven suddenly felt dumbfounded. He stood up and got close to Denise: "Then do I want to return to my true nature?"

He said that he was about to lean in.

But as soon as Denise turned her body, Raven was thrown away. She walked to the side and picked up the wine bottle, then came to Raven and filled his glass: "Why did you think of coming to see me today? What's the matter? ?”

"No." Raven took a sip of wine and said with a smile, "I just got a good thing, so I came to show it off to you."

As he spoke, he touched his hand on his waist and held a scroll in his hand.

"What, is it the title deed of a shop in Men'en City?" Denise asked casually.

"Magic." Raven shook his finger: "And it's second-level magic!"

Denise's eyes lit up: "Second-level magic? How did you find it?"

Everyone knows how precious magic equipment is, and as a businessman from Meng'en City, she certainly also knows how precious magic is.

Even the big merchants in Men'en City who specialize in selling magic items rarely sell magic itself. It's not that they can't afford it, but that they simply can't get it!

"Nancy gave it to you?" Denise immediately thought of another magician in the castle.

"Clever!" Raven said with a smile.

"That's really something worth celebrating." At this point, Denise was keenly aware of the logic behind it, and her expression changed: "You have agreed to let her go to the Bloody Highlands..."

"So, the date to go to Bloody Highlands has been decided?"

"Yes." Raven didn't intend to hide it: "It has been decided and we will set off in half a month."

With a trace of worry flashing across her brows, Denise put down the bottle and sat next to Raven: "Although I know I can't persuade you, I still want to ask, do I have to go?"

Raven raised his eyebrows: "Yes, the arrow is on the string and has to be fired."

Denise's face became more and more sad: "Now the price of food outside has skyrocketed. The price of every 100 kilograms of couscous has risen to 13.77 silver coins, more than six times the same period last year! The province of Nord is about to usher in a new year. There is a big chaos, why do you have to go to the Bloody Highlands at this time, it will only weaken your strength. "

Raven took a sip of wine to moisten his throat: "It is precisely because there is going to be chaos that I must rush to the bloody highlands before that happens."

"Why?" Denise was still puzzled.

"Because the Eagle Territory is currently too weak." Raven rubbed his wine glass with both hands and sighed: "With the current scale of the territory's citizens, this standing army of more than a hundred is already the limit. Any more will drag down the overall economy and construction development. ”

"And with food prices rising so crazily, the chaos that will follow will definitely be huge. By then, the little power I have will not be enough to make a difference."

"So, I have to go to the Bloody Highlands to train these new recruits into elites who have seen blood!"

Denise's eyebrows were filled with doubts and a hint of pity: "You launched an expedition just to prepare for the next war, without even leaving time for yourself to rest. Why are you so desperate?"

Raven was silent and took a sip of wine: "...I want to take control of my own life."

Denise's pupils shrank and she was silent because she felt the same way as Raven's words.

Born in a poor family, she worked as a weaver to support her family since she was a child. It was because she wanted to control her own destiny that she worked hard to learn literacy, keep accounts, and dress herself up.

In this way, we can achieve a class jump.

Every step is a big gamble. If you succeed, you will be completely reborn. If you fail, you will never recover.

Perhaps due to the blessing of fate, she succeeded and became a businessman; now, she has become a member of the Griffith family.

But the road Raven has to take is far more difficult than hers.

If a noble wanted to be promoted, there were only two ways. The easiest way was to curry favor with the king.

Giving up one's fiefdom, giving up one's independence, licking the grooves of members of the royal family, becoming a fawning courtier, waiting like a lapdog for the master to give him two fleshy bones, this is the so-called court aristocracy.

If you want to obtain a real title, you must take another path, pass the test of war, and withstand the baptism of blood and fire, so as to build the glory of the family.

Raven obviously would not choose the first way.

Seeing Denise fall into silence, Raven raised a smile on his lips, leaned over and asked softly: "What are you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about what kind of funeral I should give you if you died in Bloody Heights." Denise glanced to the side and said angrily.

"Then you must get a bigger coffin." Raven put his hand around her shoulders, put his chin on her shoulder and took a deep breath.

Feeling Raven's breath in her ears, Denise felt shy and itchy, but she still couldn't help asking: "Why?"

There was a narrow smile in Raven's eyes: "Save a place for yourself in advance."

"You..." Denise looked back with anger but not anger. Just as she was about to continue speaking, her lips were blocked.

Her mind suddenly went blank.

With a clang, the wine glass fell to the ground, and the bright red wine stained the carpet.

Heavy snoring echoed in the room, and the shawl was thrown to the floor. Denise's originally fair skin was as red as cooked shrimp, and her eyes were covered with mist, as if they were about to melt.

Her white arms were wrapped around Raven's shoulders.

The silk nightgown was starting to show marks and the sheets were starting to wrinkle.

Raven's hand fell on the hem of the nightgown and went up her straight calves. A layer of goosebumps was exposed to the air as the nightgown was lifted up.

Suddenly, Denise held Raven's wrist tightly. Her chest was still heaving violently, her face was flushed, but her watery eyes were full of determination: "No..."

Without forcing a breakthrough, Raven moved his head forward and wanted to continue the deep kiss, but Denise stopped him with her fingers. This really made him a little annoyed: "Why, just because you are my aunt?"

There was a hint of teasing and ridicule in his words.

"Don't talk to me like that." Denise's tone was a little harsh, biting her lips slightly, and then slowed down her voice: "...I am a widow."

"Believe it or not, I had no feelings for Phaedrus, my first husband, and I was only with him for the sake of his estate."

"My second husband, Donald, your uncle, not to mention, we can count on one hand the number of times we see each other a year."

"So?" Raven asked impatiently, "Now that we are talking about the two of them again, what do you want to say?"

"..."

Denise looked at Raven with extremely complicated eyes. She opened and closed her lips, and finally mustered up the courage:

"I like you!"

As if he was hit by a bullet, Raven froze there for a moment, feeling quite unbelievable.

Is this... a confession?

After the most difficult words came out, Denise's words became smoother, but her voice was a little trembling: "You are young, handsome, capable, skillful, wealthy, and ambitious. You can make a lot of money, so I like you!"

"You're the first man I've ever really fallen in love with."

"But I...don't dare to like you too much." She stroked Raven's cheek with her fingers: "It's not just because you are Donald's nephew."

"It's more because I can't see through you, and I can't see the future direction."

"The Bloody Highland incident is just around the corner, and chaos will soon sweep across the Nord province."

"What if you die?"

Raven's expression also became complicated, and he sighed: "People will die..."

"But that's so unfair to me, isn't it?" Denise's voice was filled with pleading: "I've only ever liked someone like you."

"You want me to experience the most beautiful thing in the world, and then let me watch you get involved in danger. Don't you think...it's too cruel?"

Hearing this, Raven finally understood Denise's thoughts. He stood up silently: "...You are right, I did not consider your feelings."

As he said, he stood up and walked out the door.

But immediately, Denise grabbed his wrist: "Cancel the plan for Bloody Highland and stay, okay?"

Raven closed his eyes, took a deep breath, gently pushed her fingers away, continued to move, and stopped at the door.

"The war will end soon." Raven's voice was low but firm: "When the time comes, I will come again to ask for an answer."

There was no response, Raven was slightly disappointed, and he closed the door at the same time.

Just as the door was about to close, a voice sounded:

"As long as you can come back alive."

Bang.

The door closed, Raven raised a smile at the corner of his mouth, and returned to his room.

No words were spoken all night.

In the next few days, Eagle Castle was running more and more busy, and everyone had their own errands.

With the help of Fiona, Old Gordon began to prepare and pack the fodder for the war horses and pack horses, and the servants, led by the cook Martha, began to prepare marching rations in large quantities.

Needless to say, the military camp, even in Eagle Castle, sometimes you can hear the marching slogans coming from there.

Raven squeezed out time and began to try to practice the second-level magic called "Burning Embers".

In the dungeon, Raven's chanting sounded.

…