Chapter 129: I Actually Know How to Ride a Horse

"Ahem, thanks to you. It's going quite well." Stewart, who had been holding his head high just a moment ago, hurriedly bowed and said cautiously—he knew his master would explain the situation to Yingling over the past two days. It seemed that when he went out today, the matter had been settled.

Yingling puffed on her pipe indifferently and said, "Tell me about it."

Stewart’s expression suddenly turned strange. Sly and cunning as he was, he suddenly felt something was amiss.

"Well... you had better ask Her Highness Oscryss," Stewart said with a smile.

Yingling nodded and said no more.

'Huh, so the "master" Stewart was talking about is Oscryss.'

[By the Serpent that Devours Dreams, I, your grandfather, was nearly fooled by this treacherous little girl.]

On the other side, Louis had already dialed Crowley's number.

After chatting for a while, Louis learned that Crowley had been busy with the Hammer of the War God today—it seemed to involve a mysterious incident in a small kingdom.

The place was called "Silent Harbor," and it involved the legend of an evil god; the matter was by no means smaller than what Count Crowley was dealing with.

Crowley knew that Louis was planning to join in the fun at the celebration and help the Stoggs with some errands, so he didn't mention much about it to Louis, fearing it would distract him.

His call today was mainly for another matter.

"By the way, Louis," Crowley said on the other end of the line, "the King's birthday celebration is the day after tomorrow, but Archie told me today that your passport and other information haven't been processed yet. Ahem, you're essentially an undocumented person... I've helped you handle some things, but your background and file are a bit special, so we need to go to St. Anthony's Cathedral in the 'Dunling District' tomorrow."

Hearing this, Louis understood what Crowley meant. An undocumented person attending the celebration might be a bit awkward. Especially during this period, it was easy for others to find fault. Moreover, "undocumented" didn't sound good, so Crowley intended to get Louis a prestigious title. Although it would have no real power, it would certainly be very respectable.

Louis didn't seem to care about real power; he cared about influence, so Crowley felt this was a good idea.

"That's about the situation, Louis. I'll come pick you up tomorrow."

"Alright, Count Crowley," Louis said.

"Just call me Crowley, brother Louis. Don't be so formal." Brother Crowley on the other end of the line seemed a bit unhappy.

"Ahem." Louis looked a bit embarrassed. "Alright, brother Crowley."

The Count was happy now.

"One more thing, Louis. I heard some special news today—a prince from a mysterious kingdom will attend the King's birthday banquet the day after tomorrow. I suspect this was arranged by the Evil Queen. She may have already persuaded His Majesty to set up a blind date for the princess."

"I don't know the specific details of the delegation yet; it seems to have been deliberately kept secret. But I am certain they will arrive at the port tomorrow."

According to Crowley, when he visited the King this afternoon, the King’s attitude toward summoning Louis had suddenly changed—he didn't seem to be in a hurry anymore.

This gave Crowley an ominous feeling.

Crowley said a lot on the phone. After analyzing it, Louis had a moment of realization.

He guessed that the prince from the mysterious kingdom was likely from the Black Dragon clan—the storybook had mentioned Black Dragon girls before, so it was highly probable.

Furthermore, they might have some secret collusion with Delphinia, which Francesco was likely unaware of.

The influence of him driving the Gundam today—after the King saw it, Delphinia feared he would ruin her plans. Thus, she intended to stir up some trouble. It wouldn't be surprising if the dragons made an appearance on the day of the competition.

Once the dragons stepped forward to participate in the duel, it would mean that a certain dragon clan—most likely the Black Dragons—had taken a stand with the Muggles. The significance of this was immense.

So, as long as the dragons entered the arena, even if Francesco felt some displeasure, he would eventually tacitly approve of his daughter's little schemes.

'Are you trying to steal my spotlight?'

'What's the meaning of this? Want me to practice driving for nothing? And you want me to skip the banquet?'

'In your dreams.'

Louis felt a bit annoyed.

At the end of the call, Crowley told Louis he would pick him up tomorrow morning.

"We will arrange a good status and title for you. I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning to head to the Cathedral and settle the... ahem, the visitation records. Well... the prince from the mysterious kingdom might also go to the Cathedral tomorrow to handle his entry procedures. I will stagger the timing—don't spread the word about this yet."

"Understood, Mr. Crowley."

After hanging up, Louis's expression turned strange.

He didn't have an identity among the Muggles yet, so was Crowley planning to arrange one for him—like the son of a duke or a prince of some kingdom?

But wouldn't that risk exposure?

Was Crowley planning a group scam in front of the King?

Shaking his head, Louis went to Oscryss's side.

When Stewart opened the door and Louis entered, he found the suite's living room quite lively.

A dozen magicians were there engaging in high-minded conversation, while Helen, Lilith, and their sisters were drinking tea and discussing the paintings of the great artist Barrows.

As for Oscryss, she was maintaining a poker face, carrying herself like a princess—there were outsiders present, and she had likely been putting on this act all day.

She seemed a bit excited about today's salon and charity auction. Oscryss was sitting there with a straight face, "indifferently" talking about how she had stolen the show today. When she saw Louis approaching, she deliberately tilted her head up and raised her voice just a notch.

Clearly, she didn't know yet that her two mothers were planning to sell her off.

Otherwise, her little face would surely have turned pale with fright.

Louis chuckled to himself.

Before Oscryss could boast much about her own glory, the dozen magicians on the other side saw Louis approach and rushed over, visibly nervous, to shake his hand and introduce themselves. Their respectful, worshipful, and apprehensive demeanor was exactly the same as when the many dignitaries had shaken hands with them earlier that day.

Louis, too, treated these magicians—who were themselves legends—with great respect, chatting with them as warmly as if they were old friends.

Oscryss, standing nearby, curled her lip, feeling a little jealous.

How come you all don't know quality when you see it!

I'm his teacher!

Why are you only fawning over my student while acting so haughty in front of me!

Is it just because he's a bit more capable than me...

"By the way, Mr. Louis," Bach said, "Tomorrow, Her Highness the Princess plans to attend... (he looked at his companions and asked) what was that Duke's name? Never mind, an autumn hunt hosted by some Duke. We will be attending as well..."

The magicians began talking about the hunt.

As for hunting, the ladies seemed to have been chatting about it for a while already. When the magicians mentioned it, Yingling looked disgusted.

However, Lilith was interested, interjecting that "I have a real talent for horseback riding; I'll get the hang of it after some practice," and then she secretly kicked Louis with her foot, implying they should practice tonight.

Yingling chuckled to herself—you silly girl, you'll see what kind of hunting goes on tomorrow.

In autumn, the nobles were keen on fox hunting!

"Louis, are you going?" Helen asked with anticipation. She had never been to a hunt before.

Louis glanced at Oscryss, who was already prepared to go out and roam again tomorrow, and found it somewhat amusing.

This Oscryss was acting a bit like a child who had run away from home and was throwing a tantrum at her parents.

But after coming back, she hadn't even entered the palace to pay her respects. Whether viewed from the perspective of parents or the King and Queen, the princess was in the wrong.

Not only did she come back secretly, but she was also high-profile, attending various banquets and privately lobbying nobles.

If this gossip spread, the nobles would surely think there was discord within the royal family—and that wouldn't sound good.

Presumably, Oscryss was also somewhat helpless, fearing that if she went straight home, she wouldn't be able to get out again.

However, while it might have been fine not to greet her parents on the first day, going out to play again tomorrow would be a different story—the King might very well be waiting for her at the hunting banquet.

Louis guessed that the King might bring the Queen to this banquet to dispel rumors of royal discord and restore the dignity of the royal family. Then, he would use the opportunity to bring his mischievous daughter, Oscryss, back to the court.

However, Louis felt this was a good thing.

First, Oscryss's high-profile appearances over the past two days meant that the ministers all knew the princess was back. The King wouldn't be able to secretly send the princess to the Black Dragons.

Second, if the King attended tomorrow, he would, in a sense, be supporting Oscryss, telling the ministers and nobles that in the heart of Igg (Francesco), he still loved his daughter very much.

In the eyes of the ministers and nobles, this meant the princess had status, which would help boost Oscryss's prestige—most nobles currently thought the King didn't treat his daughter as a daughter anymore, which was not good.

Of course, the main reason was that Louis really wanted to see the look on Oscryss's face when she was tricked back to the palace by her mother and got a spanking.

'Confined to the house is confined to the house; it's been so long since she's been home, it's time to stay for a few days. The child is pathetic enough, having always thought her mother was dead. I'm sure Francesco misses you to death.'

'And your little stepmother probably misses you too.'

'Do they show affection to each other? I'll ask Oscryss tomorrow night and I'll know. Hehehe.'