色戒无删除版

After the ceremony, Ulysses and Isaiah prepared to leave for the Blackwell territory. William also volunteered to join them as he refused to stay in the capital any longer or to return home. He reasoned out that it was his way of gaining experience.

Ulysses had no other choice but to bring him along. Linius, who had recently become a general, needed to remain in the capital to oversee and finalize the rehabilitation of the city while waiting for the king\'s order. Naturally Ezio was left and remained by Cygnus\'s side.

"When are we following the duke?" Nina asked once when she decided to visit the manor.

"We?" Cygnus asked followed by a loud laugh. "There is no we. You will stay here as my contact in the capital and you will inform me of anything that will be happening in this place from now on."

Nina was about to protest but the master\'s stare made her shut her mouth. She was not keen on staying in one place for so long but she couldn\'t disobey the master. All she could do was nod in acquiescence.

"I understand. I\'ll be sure to inform you of everything!" She promised with an obviously strained voice.

"I will also be leaving Sir Astrophos to look after Vain." He then looked at the mage who had been silent since they arrived at the room.

Astrophos gave the man a nod and didn\'t bother to speak. They\'ve gotten used to how silent the other has become ever since the incident happened. They didn\'t bother him and just let him be because he would recover eventually.

"Oh and Nina, please look after my Vergessen," Cygnus remembered, so he gave an additional task to the woman. "If you do well, I might reward you when I return."

At the mention of a reward, Nina\'s eyes brightened and the dispirited woman became full of energy. If there\'s a reward she would definitely do her best to fulfill the master\'s wishes. It was rare for him to give her such compensation so she would do anything to grab the opportunity.

Now that he had assigned the relevant works he had in mind, all he needed to do was prepare for the journey. He wanted to use a gate but later on changed his mind and wanted to do it the traditional way. Maybe he would find something interesting again during the journey.

He visited Vergessen once more to make sure that the business was functioning well and because he was still a member of the tower, he also went there to check the progress of their reconstruction. The king also invited him to a meal one day together with Linius. They were ushered to the garden where an array of food was prepared for them.

"Please take a seat and make yourselves comfortable." The king gave them a warm smile as he gestured to the nearest empty seat to his right.

Linius took the first seat while Cygnus took the one beside him. Together with them on the table was someone that Cygnus didn\'t know. He was a new person and must be someone of high status if he could freely speak with the king.

"Congratulations on your promotion General Linius," the man gave Linius a warm smile to which the general returned with a nod.

"Thank you, Sir Acasia," he curtly replied.

Cygnus observed the cold interaction and couldn\'t help but think that the two had a conflict with each other. He then looked at the man in front of them with curiosity which the other party noticed. The man had the most normal brown and caramel eyes which exudes friendliness and even his words sounded so gentle to the ear but despite that Cygnus could still tell that he was hiding something.

"Ah, you must be Rigel, General Linius\'s younger brother, the treasure of the Ginehart household," he was smiling as he said those words but there was something unsettling behind those warm gaze.

"Yes, may I know the name of the king\'s honored guest?" Cygnus also smiled with his own version of warmness.

"Ah, yes I apologize for not introducing myself. I am Acasia Veltran, the current president of our kingdom\'s Hero Association. It is nice to meet you, young mage." The man slightly inclined his head after the introduction.

"Oh, Hero Association!" Cygnus exclaimed in surprise.

He didn\'t expect that he would directly meet the president of the association without effort. The grin on his face couldn\'t be wider and Linius noticed his excitement. If he could slap the man, he would have done it a long time ago.

Acasia laughed at the young man\'s expression. "Yes, have you hear of it?"

"Of course! That association is one of the pillars of the kingdom, together with the Magic Tower and the Royal Family! Sadly the tower has fallen and significantly lost its power." His voice softened by the end of his statement as he started to play with the food on his plate.

The president was a bit taken aback by Cygnus\'s statement but frowned when he saw the dejected look on the other\'s face. He heard that the youngest son of Duke Ginehart became the disciple of the Magus Maximus and yet at the end, he needed to fight his master just to stop him from commiting more sins. It was a difficult decision to make and yet he still did it.

"That\'s because they became greedy with power. Don\'t worry the tower will eventually recover," Acasia offered his sincerity.

"Yes, I am also looking forward to it too." Cygnus\'s head shot up and nodded towards the president.

After that, they started to eat in silence and when they were finished, the king finally spoke. He looked at the three of them for a full minute before he told them the reason why he invited them.

"Thank you for coming and the reason why I invited you all is simple. I want to appreciate Rigel for what you did back during the incident with the Magic Tower. As for General Linius, I am giving you your first mission as a general." He raised his hand and waved it forward.

His secretary who was waiting on the side walked towards them with a tray in his hand. On top of the tray was an unopened envelope. The secretary stopped beside the general and handed him the letter.

Linius picked up the letter and opened it. He silently read the contents of it before bowing towards the king. Cygnus, who was curious, took the letter from his brother\'s hand and silently read it.

"Oh, an exploration! That sounds interesting!" Cygnus looked at Linius with an unnatural spark in his eyes which the general took as something not good. "And you will be going together with the heroes from the Hero Association."

The king nodded at the young man\'s words. It was precisely why he invited the president of the association so that they could talk about this cooperation. Even though he got excited about it, Cygnus was not about to remain in there and listen to their boring conversation so the king assigned one of the maids to tour him around the palace.

Cygnus and the maid walked around the palace and he was having a very informative time. Ari on the other hand was busy with listening in on the conversation between the king, the president of the association and Linius while simultaneously drawing a rough lay-out of the palace based on the places that Cygnus visited. They were about to return to where the king was when they unluckily bumped into the Crown Prince.

Eizen Syentia was someone who loves attention and was arrogant because of his position. He was considered skilled in the area of battle but a little bit behind when it comes to tactics. In short he is just a brute who doesn\'t know how to strategize to win a fight. That\'s where Lindon Ginehart came in and became the Crown Prince\'s adviser slash friend.