clang clang clang...
The dull death knell came from the church in the center of Huayu City.
In the church, the coffin of the Duke of St. Hilde was opened again for members of the Morrison family to mourn.
When the ceremony was over, everyone left the church with a heavy heart.
The dead are gone, but the living must move on.
Colin and Vera packed up their moods and arrived at the Fort Swallowtail under the leadership of Earl Morrison.
The Morrison family's castle is located in the southeast corner of Huayu City, covering an area of more than 800 acres. The main body is made of solid granite, and the outer wall is made of precious white glazed rock. From a distance, it looks like a white jade castle.
Inside the castle are all kinds of gorgeous courtyards and row upon row of buildings, of course, the signature of the Morrison family - tulips.
From the most common white, red, and yellow tulips to the rarest and most precious black tulips, you can find them here.
Colorful tulips decorate the Papillon Fort gorgeously, creating a scene full of vitality.
Ke Lin couldn't help but took a deep breath, and his nose was immediately filled with the fresh and elegant fragrance of flowers... Huh
Why is there still a smell of blood
Colin frowned and turned to look at Vera.
But she didn't seem to notice anything unusual, and she was still intoxicated in this sea of flowers.
The Logue knight behind him did not respond, and Earl Morrison was still enthusiastically introducing information about these tulips.
Colin sniffed it carefully again, and found that it was not an illusion just now, and there was indeed a faint smell of blood in the castle.
This smell may be able to hide it from others, but it cannot escape the nose of the blood race.
what happened
Could it be that tulips, like blood roses, need to be cultivated with blood
Colin suppressed his doubts temporarily, and followed Earl Morrison to the inner courtyard of the castle.
After setting up the guards and servants, Colin and Vera took a comfortable hot bath first.
When they were fully dressed, Monton, the butler of the Morrison family, had been waiting outside the door for a long time.
"Master Viscount, the dinner party is ready."
"Okay, please lead the way."
Following the butler Monton, Colin led Vera through the long corridor to the banquet hall.
Hundreds of fresh and fragrant scented candles illuminated the elegant and gorgeous hall. However, the atmosphere of the banquet was not enthusiastic, after all, everyone had just observed a moment of silence for the Duke of St. Hilde.
The Morrison family didn't even set up a band, so tonight's banquet is destined to be a little more deserted and solemn.
When Vera walked in holding Colin's arm, everyone's eyes were on the Viscount and his wife.
Colin was wearing a burgundy viscount dress, with a black tulip from the servants of the Morrison family pinned to his chest, which matched Vera's black shoulder-length dress beside him.
Vera's attire tonight was not too grand, and she didn't have too many decorations on her body. Her golden hair was casually draped over her shoulders, and her snow-white and slender feet stepped on a pair of silver high-heeled sandals. .
Earl Morrison greeted them quickly, greeted the Colins warmly, and introduced several important figures of the Morrison family to them.
It has to be said that the Morrison family does have a fanatical preference for the daughters of the St. Hilde family. Colin has already greeted several wives from the St. Hilde family.
However, these wives are basically collateral members of the St. Hilde family. Although their seniority is higher than that of Vera, in terms of status, they must be far inferior to prostitutes like Vera.
The only exception is the old count's wife, Grace St. Hilde.
After counting, this Mrs. Grace is still the aunt of the Duke of St. Hilde, so Vera still calls her aunt.
During the rebellion of the northern lords last year, the old earl was stabbed to death by Kahn Sudor in public because he refused to betray the Duke of St. Hilde. Go to Winterfell and seek an explanation from Duke St. Hilde for her husband's death.
As a result, the Duke of St. Hilde came to Huayu City in person, attended the funeral of the old earl, and became one of the four pallbearers.
Such courtesy, many people think that the Duke of St. Hilde feels ashamed of the old earl.
But others believe that the reason why the Duke of St. Hilde put on such a low profile is entirely because of Mrs. Grace.
In short, if there is one family that is least likely to betray the St. Hilde family in the current chaos, it must be the Morrison family.
This family has been deeply entangled with the St. Hilde family. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are the offshoots of the St. Hilde family in Huayu City.
Therefore, marriage is still useful, but the premise is that there must be enough connections.
As long as you can make the wives of important members of the other party's family members all be members of your own family, then this kind of bond will definitely exceed the limitation of interests.
This is also the reason why Colin dared to accept Earl Morrison's invitation to enter Huayu City. Anyone could be wooed by the San Theon family, but this Morrison family could not.
"Because time is too tight, I didn't catch up with your wedding, and I don't have any presents to offer, so I have to give you this bracelet that has accompanied me for most of my life."
Mrs. Grace took Vera's hand with a smile, and tied a string of gold wheat ear bracelets on her hand.
"Thank you, aunt!" Vera blushed.
The meaning of wheat ears in Glorious Empire is "many children", so it is quite appropriate to give them to newly married couples.
Moreover, according to custom, a bride usually needs something handed down from her mother or her elders to get married, but the Duchess has been dead for many years, and Vera's biological mother has always been a mystery. At this time, Mrs. Grace's gift just made up for Vera's sorry.
Mrs. Grace patted Vera's hand with a smile, signaling that she was welcome, and then her expression became serious:
"I'm sorry about your father's death. But I want to know more, how did he die?"
Vera recounted the situation at the wedding, and added her own speculation about the Duke's death.
"A forbidden curse similar to the petrified eye?" Mrs. Grace thought for a while, nodded and said, "You guessed right, the one that can kill a paladin must be a forbidden curse! And it is very likely that the person who shot it was the holy seat." That gentleman from the En family."
"I don't think so." Earl Morrison shook his head and said, "Releasing the forbidden spell requires paying the price of life, but this gentleman has been planning for so many years to seize the northern border, and he is about to succeed. How could he be willing to do so at this time? Exchange your own life for that of the Duke of Saint Hilde?"
"I think so too." Bachelor Dawn also nodded in agreement with Earl Morrison's remarks, "If the San Theon family is at an extreme disadvantage, then Mister Ji may still make such a desperate counterattack. But now the situation in the north..."
Bachelor Dawn didn't continue, but everyone knew that the current situation in the northern border should give the San Theon family a slight upper hand.
Mrs. Grace coughed twice, attracting everyone's attention, and then sighed: "Perhaps, the price of this forbidden spell is not borne by Mr. Ji."
Maester Dawn asked curiously, "Oh? Dear Mrs. Grace, do you know something?"
"Just before the dinner, I just received a message—" Mrs. Grace's face was solemn, "Falcon Falling City has been burned to ashes a few days ago!"
"What?"
Everyone was immediately stunned by the news.
Except Colin.
Of course he knew the news a long time ago, but he never said it.
So, of course, this news from Mrs. Grace would not surprise him, but Colin discovered another very interesting thing—
Earl Morrison had just found out about the news.
From this point of view, this Mrs. Grace is probably the real owner of the Phoenix Butterfly Castle.
(end of this chapter)