Chapter 418: Chapter 418: 416 Banquet (Part 2)_1

“Teacher, may I ask you for a dance?”

Princess Judy stood timidly in front of Colin with her hands behind her back, her face tinged with shyness as she asked.

Colin secretly rolled his eyes, of course he knew that this whimsical imperial princess was pretending to be shy, he just didn’t know what she was plotting this time.

It was already past dinner time, the attendants had cleaned up the dining table, and the orchestra had begun to play soothing dance music, all waiting for the host of tonight’s party to lead the first dance.

Colin originally wanted to dance the first dance with Isa, but now that Princess Judy had taken the initiative to invite him, as a gentleman, he could not refuse.

And Queen Isa would not be angry with Princess Judy, she even handed Colin’s hand over to Judy with a smile.

Colin held Princess Judy’s hand, looking at the little girl in a white princess dress, only then realizing that she was starting to resemble a young woman.

Her skin was like snow, her features were finely carved, the golden hair was scattered on her fair shoulders, the silk dress outlined a delicate body, her slender legs were exposed under the skirt, gleaming with a moist sheen, full of vitality.

Her bright face revealed two shallow dimples, and her eyes as beautiful as a lake were full of smiles.

“Teacher, you seem reluctant to dance the first dance with me!”

“Not at all.”

Colin composed himself, led Princess Judy to stand in the middle of the hall, and then pulled her into his arms, starting to rotate to the beat of the music.

Clap!

The delicate crystal shoes stomped heavily on the marble floor, making an inharmonious noise.

Having narrowly escaped being stepped on, Colin shook his head speechlessly, and said, “You can’t get my feet, just dance properly.”

Princess Judy pouted in disbelief, but she also knew that she had no way of stepping on a high-rank knight.

She turned her bright big eyes and suddenly whispered:

“Teacher, I have discovered a secret about my brother, do you want to hear it?”

Colin lowered his head to look at the little girl, who was within reach, and laughed, “You didn’t discover his thing with Kathy, did you?”

“Eh? Teacher, you knew this already!”

“Mm.”

Princess Judy fell silent for a while, then asked, “But how can you allow this to happen, Teacher? My brother is the first heir to the throne, while Kathy is a half-elf and also a maid!”

“What’s the rush? Your brother isn’t going to marry Kathy, just let him experience the taste of love.”

“But… what if they have a baby, then what!”

“Just an illegitimate child, your father has a whole bunch of those.”

“But my father’s lovers are all human nobles!” Princess Judy said anxiously, “Teacher, you don’t know, the royal bloodline cannot be passed on to foreign races!”

“Is there such a rule?” Colin asked in confusion.

“Yes!” Princess Judy nodded seriously, “Gana, the first emperor himself, declared that the bloodline of St. Lorenzo must not be passed on to foreign races!”

“Why?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“How would I know why?”

Colin furrowed his brows, lost in thought.

This is actually a strange rule, as other Holy Knight families can intermarry with other races.

For example, the St. Hilde family has repeatedly married noble daughters to trolls, and even Vera almost married a half-elf prince, so why can’t the royal St. Lorenzo family intermarry with foreign races, even to the point of not being able to have illegitimate children?

Bloodline?

Isn’t the bloodline of the St. Lorenzo family also that of the Holy Knights?

Seeing Colin silent, Princess Judy grew anxious and shouted, “Teacher!”

Colin came back to his senses, but still didn’t seem too bothered. He casually replied, “What’s the rush? They should just take contraceptive measures.”

This era actually already had measures for contraception, such as certain animal intestines, or certain specific potions.

In short, if they didn’t want a ‘love child’ between Prince Harrison and Kathy, it wouldn’t be a difficult task.

“Really? There are contraceptive measures?” Princess Judy asked curiously with her bright, wide eyes blinking.

“Children shouldn’t ask too many questions.” Colin didn’t elaborate further. He planned to have a word with Harrison later to make him be careful about this, or he’d have to deal with real trouble.

Princess Judy humphed lightly, and asked further, “So, with contraceptive measures, my brother would be able to be with Kathy?”

“As long as they don’t marry, of course they can do as they please.” Colin answered casually.

“Alright, I understand.” Princess Judy nodded her head, and didn’t speak anymore.

As the dance ended and Colin slowly led the little lady to a stop, he suddenly said, “Was it Harrison who sent you to test me?”

Princess Judy’s body shuddered slightly. Lowering her head to avoid Colin’s gaze, she said insincerely, “Of course not.”

With a faint smile, Colin let go of the girl’s hand and let her scamper off. He didn’t probe more into the matter.

Just as he was about to find Prince Harrison, Queen Isa approached him.

Colin grabbed Isa’s hand and was about to explain when he saw Isa had already handed him a letter. She lowered her voice and said,

“Letter from Winterfell City, just received.”

Colin hurriedly accepted and opened the letter. Then his face changed abruptly.

Upon seeing this, Isa asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”

Colin handed the letter to her. As Isa took it, she saw that it contained just a simple phrase—

Situation has changed in the Westland, return immediately!

And there was no signature or seal.

Apparently realizing Isa’s confusion, Colin explained in a low voice, “This is Archbishop Agani’s handwriting.”

Isa nodded and asked, “What could have happened in the Westland? Could it be that something’s gone wrong with the army sent to wage war on the orcs?”

“I’m afraid so.” Colin’s heart felt heavy.

When he was in Dragon City, he had known about the Westlands dispatching an expeditionary force to the orc territory. At that time, both the royal family and the Prime Minister were quite confident about this expedition and did not send troops to support.

But now it had become problematic.

The orcs on the western side of the Sky Breaking Mountain Range are a significant threat to the Illumination Empire, especially when they manage to unify and successfully establish the Orc Empire.

Although Vera and Marquis Garcia hadn’t sent word, Colin knew that Archbishop Agani would never joke about something like this. The Church’s news delivery was certainly faster than any Lord’s.

Therefore, Colin knew he could not stay in Silver Moon City too long.

Queen Isa also realized this and asked, “Should we abandon the plan for the East?”

After thinking for a moment, Colin gritted his teeth and said, “No! We have prepared for this for a long time, how can we give up when we are so close?

Moreover, I’ve said before that we need to settle our accounts with the St. Prowse Family!”

Isa frowned, trying to dissuade him, “But if the Orcs are about to invade, the timing might not be right…”

“No matter. We’ll make it quick!” Colin decisively made up his mind, “Moreover, the Orc invasion might serve as an excellent pretext to mislead the East.”

“But we’ve been pretending to be idle to lure the East into action. If we show urgency now, the East will certainly suspect something.”

Colin was in thought for a moment, then his eyes landed on Prince Harrison leading Kathy onto the dance floor. He smiled and said,

“I’ve found a way.”