After the welcome banquet ended, Gao Wen did not follow up with Victoria or Veronica immediately, but let these guests rest in the "Autumn Palace", or follow the reception staff he arranged to visit some places. The information he gave The reason is that he hopes that the guests can learn about this land as much as possible, and have a good rest in these few days to relieve the fatigue accumulated from such a long journey. With this justification, he let the guests hang out for three days.
Victoria didn't waste these three days. During these three days, she did everything possible to learn about Cecil, from people's daily life style to the sporadic information about Cecil's army, from market commodities to surrounding products. With limited access, she still didn't miss any opportunity to help her understand the land.
It wasn't until the fourth day that she finally heard from Gao Wen.
In the study room of the lord's mansion, Victoria Wilde sat on a single sofa specially provided for guests. She looked curiously at the place where Gawain usually works, and glanced at the full bookshelves and decorative armors. , and finally landed on a huge map: the map hung on one side of the wall, between two bookshelves, it depicted the entire territory of Ansu, and even a part of the wasteland of Gondor, as well as the Duchy of Typhon and the Holy Dragon , the land of the Ogure tribal country, it is the most exquisite and detailed map that Victoria has ever seen in her life, not only all the mountains and rivers are accurately marked on it, but also a large number of numbers used to describe the distance...
It is not uncommon for the lord to hang a map in his study, but it is not easy to hang such an accurate map. The Duchess's sight fell near the center of the map and stopped at a certain point in the eastern part of the Holy Spirit Plain.
She saw a striking red cross marked near the giant wooden crossing, and beside the red cross was a line of annotation: Ansu 736, the 43rd day of Harvest Moon.
That was the date of the last large-scale battle between the eastern border rebels and the king's army before winter, and the time and place were exactly the same.
"It seems to be very interested in my map? The girl from the Wilder family?"
Gawain's voice suddenly came from the side, waking Victoria up from her short thoughts. She saw the founding prince enter the room and sit on another sofa next to her.
"Betty, prepare refreshments and send them to the study." After taking his seat, Gawain waved to the little maid standing by the door, and then turned to Victoria, "I hope I didn't delay too long. The newly-born principality is always busy with business."
"Of course, I can imagine how busy you are every day." Victoria bowed slightly and saluted Gao Wen. Even though she was both the Guardian Duke, the huge gap in seniority made her always pay attention even in such informal occasions. Etiquette, then she raised her head again and looked at the huge map, "...you have a very good cartographer, and you seem to be very concerned about the situation outside the southern border?"
"The Cecilians want to live a peaceful life, but the outside world is not as peaceful as we wish. If we want to live a stable life, we have to pay more attention to the external situation." Gawain smiled, "And you are not also Are you concerned about the situation here?"
The members of the mission group were walking around the city. Of course, such an open matter cannot be concealed. Victoria did not intend to hide it at all. She just nodded slightly: "This land is very mysterious to us. Since autumn, the whole For the capital, the southern border is equivalent to being hidden in the mist, which is of course curious."
The little maid, Betty, brought tea and began to fill up the tea for the guests. Taking this opportunity, Victoria bluntly turned the topic to her own focus: "Duke Cecil, what do you think of the civil war in Anzu? ?”
Gao Wen kept smiling, looked at Victoria and said unhurriedly: "I'm sorry to see the descendants of my former friends make trouble like this, but if you want to ask who I support in this civil war, then All I can say is, I don’t support anyone.”
This can be said to be the expected answer. Victoria's expression remained unchanged, but she continued: "We did not start the war. No one in Silver Fort wants Ansu to split. We have been passive since the sudden rebellion in the east."
"Ah, 'he did it first' I heard from Hetty that Rebecca often complained like this after she got into fights when she was a child," Gawain raised his hand, "Did you know that until winter, Rebecca often complained because of getting into trouble? You were taught a lesson by me, so you should be really thankful, thankful that Charlie, Snow, Anthony and Evans didn't come back with me, otherwise you will not only worry about this civil war, girl of the Wilder family, when you Do you want to explain to Snowveld that it was the children of Anthony Loren and the Charlie Moen family who started it?"
All the explanations and negotiation scripts prepared by Victoria in advance failed.
She hadn't communicated with anyone who was her elder for nearly twenty years, and in this regard, her experience was even inferior to Rebecca who was beaten twice a month.
But fortunately, her head was smarter than Rebecca's, and after a brief astonishment, she reorganized the language: "... I understand that you and the founders of the kingdom did not build this kingdom to let us kill each other. This civil war It will definitely make you heartbroken, but the situation has developed to this point. The war cannot be stopped if you want. We cannot hand over the country to a prince who killed his father and usurped the throne and the prince of the kingdom who broke his oath. Presumably the Eastern Territory will not be so easy Compromise. So the civil war will continue, and Anzu's strength will become more and more [ .] weakened in the course of the war, and all of us know that Typhon is waiting by the side, waiting for the Anzu to shed the last drop of blood. "
Gawain looked into Victoria's eyes: "Very well, at least you can still realize that there is Typhon next to you, so in order to end this war as soon as possible and in a way that meets your expectations, what method have you thought of?"
Victoria pondered for a moment, and then said what Gawain expected: "The king's position cannot continue to be vacant."
Gawain adjusted his sitting posture and leaned back on the back of the sofa: "Wales Moen?"
"...His Majesty Francis once appointed Edmund as his successor and swore an oath in front of his ancestors, but now this oath obviously has to be abandoned. Ansu needs a king and needs to be reunited as a whole. His Highness Wales is currently the only candidate, Victoria paused, watching every change in Gawain's expression, and continued to speak slowly, "We hope to support Welsh Moen as the new king. This is the common wish of the Guardian Dukes of the North and the West."
She paid attention to the changes in Gawain's expression, but Gawain's expression did not change. The founding Duke just maintained that faint smile, listening like an outsider, and did not express his opinion until she finished speaking for a long time.
Gao Wen froze the atmosphere for a full two minutes, before breaking the silence suddenly: "Victoria, is the mithril oath in Winter Castle still okay?"
The Duchess's heart stopped for a moment. Although the expression on her face remained normal, the tension in her eyes did not escape Gawain's eyes.
There was no wavering in Gao Wen's mind: as he had predicted a long time ago, as a founding hero shrouded in halo, the nobles of Ansu would not mind hanging him on the wall, writing it on a book, carving it on a stone. even on the altar, but they would never mind the founding hero sitting on the throne
Because the heroes on the stones in the books on their walls can be fake, but the one on the throne is real.
But he didn't even expect that the emergency agreement seven hundred years ago would be useful. He just mentioned it, and then continued to ask: "Do you think Wales will be a qualified king?"
"He will," Victoria still lingered on the contents of the mithril oath, she replied cautiously, "Although His Royal Highness is not as sharp-edged as Edmund, he has inherited his father's stability and integrity, Only such a king can heal the scars of Ansu after the civil war, and restore the country as soon as possible, and after experiencing the trauma of war, people will also hope to usher in a gentle king, and they will support His Royal Highness Wales."
"But it's not enough for you to change the situation with the Eastern Territory. I know what you think. Establish a king, gain legitimacy, win the support of more nobles, and let the people have courage. It's a good idea, and it probably really is. It has a little effect, but don't forget that there is also a qualified crown prince in the Eastern Territory, and in the past nearly two decades, that crown prince has been more popular among the people. Even if you crown Wales in advance, the Eastern Territory can also Immediately establish a new monarch and bring the situation back to the previous state."
"But if you can also support Her Majesty Wales, then the legitimacy of the new king will be greatly strengthened, and more nobles and people will fall to the royal family," Victoria couldn't help but said, "Your attitude is very important..."
"Shall I publicly support one of Charlie Moen's heirs to kill another?" Gao Wen knocked on the small table between the two sofas, "You should understand that it is difficult for me to express my position easily in this civil war .”
Victoria knew that it wasn't that Gao Wen couldn't express his opinion, he just didn't want to.
The founding duke is a man who coexists with caution and radicalism. He is cautious now because he doesn't trust the king at all, but he doesn't seem to trust the rebels in the east either.
This is already the best situation that was expected at the beginning.
"Then what do you mean..." the Duchess looked into Gawain's eyes and asked tentatively.
"I have no objection to the coronation of Wales," Gawain said calmly, "but if he wants me to recognize him as king, he must at least show his achievements as king."
Having said that, he paused for a moment.
"And as for the mithril contract in Winter Castle for the girl from the Wilder family, you can put it away with peace of mind. I don't plan to use it."
It wasn't until these words came out that Victoria Wilde was truly relieved.
Gawain Cecil didn't explicitly support the Crown or either side of the Eastlands, but at least he didn't intend to be king.
In this way, at least Ansu will not have to face another civil war.
After confirming Gao Wen's attitude, the Duchess's heart settled down, and according to the plan made before departure, she began to seek greater support from Gao Wen: "Thank you for your understanding, but if If you can give Wang ** greater support, then this civil war may end sooner. As you said just now, simply crowning His Royal Highness Wales will not fundamentally change the current situation in Anzu, Wang ** The bloody balance with the Eastern Territory... must be broken."
"As I said just now, I'm just 'not opposed to the coronation of Wales'," Gawain interrupted Victoria, "I will not publicly support any side of this civil war, and to be honest, the southern border has just experienced a There is a war, my army needs rest, my people need rest, we can't afford to be exhausted."
This is a well-founded reason, and Victoria can't think of a place to refute it.
But after a moment of silence, Gawain suddenly spoke again: "However, as Charlie's good friend, I can't just sit back and watch his kingdom fall apart like this."
Victoria's eyes widened slightly: "You mean..."
"I am willing to provide some help in other fields, besides the army," Gawain said unhurriedly, "such as weapons and armor..."