Dean II was already quite old, with few hairs, flabby muscles, and a misty, dim eye. The hunting trip from once a month had been gradually changed to once every two months, and today was three months after the last one. He no longer rode a horse or shot with a bow, but just sat on the hillside, in the flying snow, watching the guards accompany his children in chasing prey.
The king was wearing a dark blue hunting suit today, leather boots on his feet, and a belt to hold his belly up, trying to make himself look more energetic, but this effort obviously failed. No matter how he looked at him, he looked like a fat pig tied with a rope.
He sat on a small leather stool and waved his hand. Immediately, a maid brought a pot of roasted lamb. The king picked up a lamb leg, rubbed it in the spices, and then ate it with relish. The freshly roasted lamb leg was soft and fragrant. The king ate two in one breath. When he picked up the third one, the queen beside him spoke.
"Your Majesty, the priests said you should eat less meat. The servants brought a lot of fruits today, you can eat some grapes." The queen looked much younger than the king. Except for her slightly high nose bridge and slightly large lips, she had picturesque eyebrows, fair skin, and stunning purple hair. She was a very beautiful woman.
The king rolled his eyes at the queen, then chewed the lamb leg with more force, saying disdainfully, "Isn't your magic still here?"
"Magic is not omnipotent. The kingdom needs you to be healthy, and so do little Javier and I."
"I lost my father when I was six, but I have a 15-year-old cousin. No matter what, I still made it. Little Javier should also learn to rely on himself."
"He's a good boy. Look at him, he can ride and hunt quite well."
"He is eight years old. When I was eight I had killed people, but he is still hunting rabbits." The king threw the meat bones on the plate. "I heard that you always tell him to be polite? Last time I even saw him say thank you to a servant! He is as weak as a little girl."
The king called over the maid holding the plate and wiped his greasy hands on her buttocks. "He was born to be a ruler. If he hasn't realized it yet, it's your fault. His sister is much better than him in this regard."
The queen frowned slightly. "He likes books and knowledge. He will become a wise man in the future, and maybe even a magician. This is not a weakness. You know, knowledge makes people more elegant and stable. But Laura is almost at the age to get married. You should let her settle down."
"Hmph, I think Laura is good. Look, she has been able to activate the sword energy to cut down the deer. You should let Javier learn something from her. Knowledge is an aphrodisiac. If the body is not strong enough, it will make people soft as noodles. But these noodles feel particularly good about themselves." The king pointed to the tents set up by the nobles who participated in the hunt not far away. "Look at these people, their fathers set up tents as military camps, and their tents? They are like stalls selling flowered cloth. They talk about knowledge, elegance, and grace all day long. But they forget that 'swords are bones and armor is flesh' is the real nobility! A group of idiots corrupted by 'knowledge'!"
The queen sighed and didn't want to argue with the king anymore. Instead, she looked up at Princess Laura and Prince Javier walking towards the slope surrounded by guards.
Princess Laura is sixteen years old this year, but she has grown tall and fit. She has thick brown hair tied into a short braid at the back of her head. There are some angles between her eyebrows and eyes, but she is very attractive, just like the king in his youth. She rides on a tall black horse, wearing a leather cloak with leather armor and long boots, with a longbow on her back and a sword at her waist. She looks like a handsome and promising prince.
The younger brother Javier, who was not far away, looked very much like the princess' stepmother, with the same bright purple hair, the same big eyes, pale skin, and half a head shorter than his sister. He looked like a little girl who rarely went out. The prince held a short bow with exquisite carvings in his hand, riding on a group of small mares, looking at his sister's guards carrying a huge elk with envy.
The two men were each protected by seven or eight guards, and they walked towards the slope where the king was at a distance of four or five meters.
"Father, this elk has very nice antlers. You can put its skull in the reception room." Princess Laura jumped off the horse swiftly and said with a smile.
"Yes, I saw that you used all your fighting spirit when you killed it. There's no blood on the blade, right?" The king stood up and walked around the huge elk on the ground, tapping the antlers lightly with his fingers.
"No, the sword didn't touch the deer at all." Laura shook her head somewhat proudly, "Teacher Salmeron said that I should be able to become a truly powerful warrior before I turn 20. By then, I can lead the army for you and capture the Zhinan Castle!"
"A female general!" The king laughed twice and pounded the princess's shoulder armor, just like a real warrior. He turned around and asked Javier who was standing next to the queen: "What about you? Little Javier, when can you fight for me?"
Javier glanced at the elk on the ground, then at a rabbit he had hunted nearby, and said with a curled lip, "I don't like chopping and killing. I like reading books. There are many great things in books, which are much more interesting than hunting."
The king frowned slightly, obviously not liking this answer. He was about to give the king a lecture, but was stopped by the queen, "Your Majesty, little Javier may have his own ideas. Just listen to him."
Javier glanced at his mother and whispered, "I, I don't want to be a warrior, but I want to be a magician. A magician can burn a hundred elks to death with just a wave of his hand, just like... Saint Sasso, Master Morin and Master Ikasa." He saw the encouragement in his mother's eyes and spoke louder and louder, "When I have that kind of powerful power, I can burn the Compass Castle to ashes with magic by myself."
"Haha, that's what my son said. Although it's stupid and dull, it's finally a bit powerful!" The king walked up to Javier, looked down at him and said, "Only strong power is the basis for us to rule this country. Some power comes from yourself, but more power comes from the people around you. The ruler relies on his will to control these powers, so the strength of will is always more important than the strength of hands and feet! No one will listen to a coward, even if the coward is a Saint-level wizard. So first of all, turn yourself into a person with a strong will! You all must remember this well."
Not far from the training scene, in the middle of the nobles' hunting tent, Count Carlos leaned on a chair. His injury seemed to have almost healed, and today he looked a few years younger in a light hunting suit. He looked at the king's family from afar, raised his wine glass, took a sip of rainbow fruit wine and said, "The king is old, really... old."
"He's really old. It is said that his headache has been severe recently." Viscount Ruiz, who was also wearing hunting clothes, looked around and saw that all the servants had been sent away, so he smiled and echoed.
"This conceited guy never cared about his children, but now he is giving them a lecture. It means he is beginning to worry about the future." The count put down his wine glass and crossed his fingers on his stomach.
"If the princess was a boy, he would have nothing to worry about. But... fortunately it's not." Viscount Ruiz sighed.
"Fortunately not." The Count smiled.