Vesas is located at the very edge of the Gardayat Kingdom, far from the royal city of Cais.
Therefore, when Xia Zoe arrived at the royal city, almost half of the lords in Gadayat had already arrived.
The rest of the lords also arrived in the royal city of Cais shortly after Xia Zoe entered the palace.
There are fifteen cities and nineteen lords in Gadayat.
On the Western Continent, only those who own land can be qualified to be called lords, and it is not necessary to own a city or a castle to become a lord.
There may be two lords in a city.
The big lord is the supreme ruler in the territory, and the small lord is the manor owner who is sealed by the big lord to part of the land and fief.
This "land" could be a village within a city, a monastery, or a plantation, etc.
In layman's terms, a small lord is a trusted "official" appointed by the big lord in his city to help manage various affairs.
Such a small lord is equivalent to a local petty official of the ninth or seventh level in ancient China, but everything, including life and death, of the local petty officials in ancient China was decided by the emperor himself.
On the Western Continent, everything about the little lord, including life and death, is decided by the superior lord who entrusted him with the land.
for example.
Xia Zoe owns two cities, and he is the great lord.
If he gives Fernandi a fief in Vesas or a village in Fort Comoy.
Fernandi has the right to enjoy the taxes handed over to him by the people of this village, and can not pay taxes to Xia Zoe.
The status of a minor lord can be a knight without a title, not a nobleman, or a baron or viscount with the smallest title.
But some nobles with the smallest titles may not even have land.
From the count up is a watershed.
That is to say, the high lord who can own a city must be held by a noble above the count.
Generally speaking, it is rare for a small lord to be sealed in a city, and only those who are very close to the big lord can enjoy the right to own a fief.
The nineteen lords of Gadayat gathered in the palace.
Except for a little beanie like Xia Zuoyi, all the members are adults and tall.
They wear naturally draped garments, mostly black and white, to show respect for the king's mourning.
The neckline, sleeves, and hem of the clothing are stitched with various decorative patterns.
The waist is tightened with a belt, slightly loose white trousers are worn on the legs, and long black boots are covered from the knees down, the overall posture is full of elegance and slenderness.
Xia Zuoyi stepped on a pair of small black boots.
He looked down at the little white robe he was wearing. The robe was decorated with delicate golden wavy lace, polished single-breasted gold buttons, and the neckline and cuffs were all inlaid with gem buttons that showed a low profile and inconspicuousness.
On the Western Continent, lords show respect for the royal family by wearing expensive clothes.
Before entering the royal city, Judit personally put the badge representing the thorn rose of Desinia on Xia Zoe's chest.
Shazoe is one of the rare count lords in Gadayat who owns two cities.
As soon as he stepped into the royal hall, he received a lot of eyes, both openly and secretly.
Buzz Ridges was at the forefront.
A solemn black robe made his aura even more sharp and compelling.
Almost more than half of the lords surrounded him, and the rest stood aside or talked to each other with clear boundaries.
Xia Zoe was only followed by Valk.
He found a place to stand and whispered: "The lord needs to mourning for the king for three days before returning to the territory."
"Three days later, the new king will also take the throne. Which clergy of the church will hold the new king's coronation?"
He doesn't know much about this.
Valk: "The highest-ranking cleric in the royal city is Bishop Bolton."
"It could be him, but it's also possible that the bishop's proxy presided over the coronation of the new king."
The highest authority in the Holy See is the Pope, followed by the Cardinals, Archbishops, Archbishops, Bishops, Deputy Bishops, Priests, Deacons, and Deputy Deacons.
Bishops above the level of bishops include bishops, who can be appointed and assigned by the Pope to serve as managers in church temples in various countries.
The bishop's agent, etc. perform their respective duties and cooperate with each other to help.
While the two were talking, Buzz Ridges brought someone over.
"I heard that the Earl of Desinia bought all the slaves of Trak from the Nagabi Chamber of Commerce. I don't know how they are used now?"
Xia Zuoyi turned his head and said lightly, "It's okay, but it shouldn't bother the Duke."
Buzz Ridges: "I only understand that the Earl has to manage two cities at a young age."
Xia Zuoyi: "It doesn't matter, after all, I also understand that the Duke has to manage the finances of the entire royal city at such a young age."
"… "
The corners of Buzz Ridges' mouth twitched uncontrollably.
The lord who followed him was watching the show on the face, but now he pursed his lips slightly strangely, and stared at Xia Zuoyi in surprise.
Buzz Ridges said nothing with a sullen face.
A middle-aged man dressed as an aristocrat behind him spoke suddenly.
But against Valk.
"Why don't you come to the house first when you go back to Wangcheng? Do you want me to invite you?"
Valk lowered his head slightly, called his father, and then said: "Since I have been given to Lord Desinia by His Majesty the King, it is natural to put the Lord Lord first."
"Don't worry, I'll go home to see you and my brother after the dinner party..."
The middle-aged man who followed Buzz Ridges was Walker's father, Harry William.
He is a marquis.
Beside Harry William stood a young man with a face that was somewhat similar to Valk. His temperament was a little gloomy, and he turned a blind eye to Xia Zoe and Valk the whole time.
He is Valk's older brother, Keith William.
But he didn't say a word or a word to Valk until he left with Buzz Ridges and others.
The only son of the old King Duke hosted the dinner.
The next day, it was the official ceremony of mourning for the old King Duke in the church.
The dinner is over.
Valk sent Xia Zoe back to the residence where he was resting in the royal city, and turned to leave after seeing Judit leading the little Count into the door.
When he returned to his original home, only the housekeeper came out to greet him.
The housekeeper said: "Master Valk, the Marquis and Master Keith are talking about things in the study."
"The Marquis said that if you come back, you can go directly to the room to rest."
He took off the armor he was wearing for Valk, and placed it one by one on the iron frame next to him. The sword he was wearing was also taken off and hung on the wall.
Valk nodded and said flatly, "I see."
He then walked slowly back to his former room.
Probably because the servants had cleaned up in advance, the room that had not lived in for a long time was not too dirty, and the things were still in their original positions without any change.
Walker walked around the house, lying on his back on the bed with a slightly bored expression, with his arms and legs crossed.
After a while.
He turned his head to look out the window as if remembering something, and a wicked smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Valk's room is on the far left of the third floor, and his father Harry's study is in the middle of the second floor.
The wall outside the window is built very wide, so that a person can stand on his side without falling off easily.
If he turned out the window in his room, he could safely reach the window sill outside Harry William's study by grabbing the protrusions and fences on the wall.
When Valk was in his teens, he thought it was fun, and he did a lot of jumping out of the window.
Moreover, at the beginning, I could hear his father and his elder brother talking about how Valk Wilhelm was disobedient to discipline, and spent all day in the company of lowly commoners. s things…
Since that day, Valk has alienated the commoners, trying to learn what it takes to be a good knight.
When he finally did better than his elder brother Keith, what he got was an attitude that his father didn't care much about, and an even stranger alienation from his elder brother...
Walker thought, then he'd better be himself.
However, the "good" habit of jumping from the windowsill has not disappeared.
Walker got up from the bed and got out of the window, and climbed down the second floor lightly and quickly, with his feet on the edge of the window outside Harry William's study, and his back against the wall.
The two were still talking about things.
They were talking about the arrangements for the mourning ceremony in the church tomorrow and the martial law situation in the royal city.
Valk felt uninterested after listening to it for a while.
When he was about to go back, he suddenly heard Keith say: "Father, since you have chosen to stand on the side of the Duke, when are you going to tell Valk..."
Valk frowned and wondered, what did he tell him
Harry William: "I think he's loyal to that Desinia."
"If he came home as soon as he arrived in Wangcheng, I might consider telling him about it, but now..."
Harry William paused and continued: "The Duke's plan is to control all the lords, and after killing the members of the royal family, threaten them to only support the Duke to ascend to the throne."
"But the Duke does not want to leave Desinia alive."
"Since Valk is with Desinia, he can't reveal the slightest bit to him..."
Valk's eyes widened in shock, his heart throbbed violently, he stood unsteadily, and his hand clinging to the wall almost loosened and fell, fortunately, he finally caught the crack in the wall in time.
And there was a thin layer of cold sweat on his back.
Harry William and Keith William did not notice the situation outside the window and continued to talk about it.
Harry: "Tomorrow I will find a reason to ban Valk from going out. You are responsible for watching over him at home. It will be over until the third day of mourning for the late king."
"Yes, I understand, Father." Keith William said.
After the two of them left the study, and when the lights in the study went out and the room was completely quiet, Valk slowly relaxed his fingers and legs that had become stiff.
He closed his eyes, exhaled quietly, and then returned to his room calmly.
Immediately afterwards, Valk took advantage of the darkening of the night, afraid of making a sound to wake others up, even discarded his armor, and quietly returned to Xia Zoe's resting place in the royal city with only his sword.