The Sensory Animals of Ston Hill

His Majesty looked at William in surprise, then at Grace, and suddenly applauded enthusiastically.

He was beaming, and said in a recitative tone: "It's an unexpected ending! But it's extremely satisfying!"

Grace didn't understand why he spoke in such an odd tone, so flippant and artificial.He suddenly remembered how he looked when he first met His Majesty.

"Send a blessing to Commodore Ston!" The king took Grace by the arm and brought him to William, and ordered his servants to pour them each a glass of wine.

"I wish Brigadier General Ston a happy wedding!" His Majesty raised his head and drank the wine in the glass like a trick.

He asked the servant to pour him another glass, and he almost danced with his hands and feet when he spoke. The wine in the glass swayed, making it feel like it was about to be spilled at any time.

"Grace, you have to say the same thing! Your most valued friend finally has a dear wife, aren't you happy for him? Say that sentence quickly!...Forget it..." His Majesty poured the glass of wine He drank it too, "It's okay if you're embarrassed to say it, you're going to marry me soon, so it's the same for me to say it for you... Brigadier General Ston, I wish you a happy wedding again, and you will treat your wife well , won't you? I'm sure you will, you're the most upright man I've ever met, and you'll remember that dictum you've just been given—"

His Majesty bumped his own cup against the one in William's hand loudly, and the sound made people worry that he might smash the two cups.He stared at William intently, with the expression of a drunken madman, but he spoke very clearly, saying every word: "'Whoever harbors evil thoughts shall be ashamed.' Commodore Stone, I sincerely hope that you have just accepted the honor At that time, I didn’t hide any shady thoughts in my heart.”

Grace smashed the wine glass in her hand to the ground, and the fine glass produced in Venice reflected hundreds of broken lights on the marble floor, and the wine splashed on the three people's shoes.

He was trembling with anger. It turned out that the king had insulted William by using the honor ceremony just now, and he almost didn't know anything about it!How the king had thus injured William's dignity when he was receiving the honor he had long deserved!

The king also showed anger. He tightly grasped Grace's hand that threw the cup, and said with gnashing teeth in his ear: "Do you know what you are doing? Have you seen the excited eyes around you? They want you to show some more!" Ugly, so they can spice it up and make it the funniest story at their next feast! You've turned the king into a laughing stock!"

"...Why did you do this?" Grace asked him through gritted teeth, "William has done so much for the country!"

"If you were asking me why I wanted you to be the queen, I would feel better, but obviously it's impossible..." The king was disappointed for a moment, and then changed into a kind smile.He also whispered so that only William, who was closest to them, could hear, "What Brigadier Stone did for the country was what he wanted to do for the people in his heart, and what could the king gain from it? I also just made the changes I wanted."

"I asked why you did this!"

The king was still smiling, but also extremely indifferent, "I have already answered you, Grace, because I want to do this. Because the king wants to do this, and that's why."

Grace found the look in his eyes familiar now, he had seen the same thing in a pair of gray eyes before.

The king pushed back the hair from his ear, and put his lips against his ear, "It's not that I'm between you two, nor his wife is between you, it's not even your blood relationship...how dare you tell Ston Commodore, why do you wear men's clothes? Do you dare to let him know how good you are at lying?" His hand fell to Grace's waist, slid down again, and whispered to him: "Dare to tell your brother, your pants Is there something hiding under there?"

Grace is really convinced this time that the king and Arundel are the same.They are all pretending to be kind, but inside they are hard-hearted.Once again, he fell for a fake face just because someone was nice to him.

"Your Majesty, you hurt her." William suddenly stepped forward and clamped the king's arm that was holding Grace.

His Majesty's face froze for a moment, and at this moment, he also noticed tears in Grace's eyes looking at him.

William increased his strength, and the king was forced to let go.He brushed William away vigorously, went upstairs to Grace's waist again, and took the man away from William with a gesture of affection. He laughed and ordered the musicians to continue playing, "Let's be the happiest! Everyone will dance tonight! It must be Celebrate all night!"

Grace glanced back at William, who was already leaving, and Alan ran to him.Fortunately, Alan was with him.Allen also looked back at Grace, and left here with William.

The dinner always lasted all night, but the king fell asleep first.His drink was spiked with laudanum.With such indulgence, Grace didn't need to do anything extra.

The king was sleeping soundly on the bed, and Grace stared at the ceiling with her eyes open.He didn't blow out the candles, and the mural above his head smiled at him with nude women and bare-bottomed children.His eyes slid back and forth over the woman's plump flesh.

He waited until the outside gradually became quiet, and continued to wait for a long time before getting out of bed.It was three o'clock in the morning, earlier than he expected, but he didn't want to wait anymore.

He put on his dressing gown, went to the king's bathroom, picked out something he needed, and walked out of the room.He said to the guard guarding the door of the king's bedroom: "I will go to my own room. If I come back before six o'clock, you can ignore everything; of course, you can also tell Your Majesty the truth."

The guard had put his hand under his arm, dragged him back to His Majesty through the door, and let him through when he had no title.Grace knew it was a smart guy.

"Miss Nakoren, I have always wanted to ask you a question... If the reformers can abolish the tradition of hiring foreign troops, will we, the soldiers in our country, be able to properly improve our status?"

"Of course, Brigadier General Ston and I have been working hard on this matter. Soldiers like you are our most trusted armed forces."

The guard bowed his head and kissed the back of his hand respectfully, took out a mask from his coat and handed it to him: "Maybe this will be useful to you. I sincerely hope that you can come back before the clock strikes six o'clock."

Grace went to her room first. This room has been unoccupied for a long time. Although the girls often come to clean it, it still feels deserted.He took out the box he brought from the villa from under the bed, and found a skirt from it.

It had been left to him by his mother and had been resized by Sophie to fit him.Now he knew that it was an ancient Greek style of clothes, with the top and bottom joined together, and it had been in fashion for a while.No one here has ever seen him in it, and he wears it over his nightgown.

He also tied his hair, which always fell loose, into a bun at the back of his head.Then he squatted down to prepare his body a bit.He hasn't done this for a long time, and he is very unfamiliar with it, but he still remembers the essentials.It took him some time, but in the end it was done.

He held up the candle and looked at himself in the mirror, and the flame danced around his face, making his eyes glow like beasts.

He straightened the shattered hair on his temples, put on a mask, and walked out of the room.

He also brought candles, because there were not as many lights in the summer palace wing as in the main building, and he had to use candlelight to identify the door.People often passed by in the corridor, and when he went upstairs, he met two male guests who were already drunk.They were not surprised by his attire, there were so many women in trousers at the party, it was not so unusual to have a woman in a long skirt.They also judged by his size that he was young, and were eager to take off his mask.Grace kept her mouth shut, said nothing, and chased them away with a candle.

He pursed his lips tightly and found the door he wanted to walk through.

There was no one in the corridor, so he took a pin from his pocket and stuck it in the keyhole.His hands trembled violently, and the candle flame trembled violently. Hot wax flowed from the hollow around the wick and dripped onto his hand.Fortunately, he kept biting his lip and didn't scream out from being burned.

With a soft "click", he succeeded.