Chapter 59: Birthday Invitation
Chapter 59 Birthday Invitation
The weather in July is very hot, in the evening of this day, the small city of Butua ended the hustle and bustle of the day, the residents one after another finished the work in hand, either hurrying home to eat, or in groups of three to five in the tavern to drink some beer chilled with cool water.
At the western gate, the guards look up from time to time to see the setting sun, hoping that she will go down soon so that they can close the gate and change the guards.
That’s when they saw a carriage slowly approaching Butua from the west, with a guard of several horsemen around it.
On weekdays, there are few people entering the city at this moment, the guards opened their eyes wide and carefully watched the gradually approaching carriage, and slowly saw its full appearance, only to see that there was a flag sticking out of the top, on which there was a picture of a flying dragon with teeth and claws.
The small captain of the guards recognized the clan crest on the flag, “It’s the carriage of the Greiman clan.”
He immediately ordered the nearest soldier, “Quickly, ride my horse to inform Lord Angelo that the Gleiman family has come.”
The soldier received the order and immediately ran into the inner side of the city gate to look for his horse, and a moment later, he heard a sound of hooves gradually moving away.
The squad leader went forward to stop the carriage and asked loudly, “May I ask which lord of the Arda Territory is inside?”
After the driver stabilized the horse, the door of the car opened and down stepped an old man with a white beard and kind eyes, who smiled and said, “I am Baron Wakely Ford, the Chief Seal of the Arda Territory, and have come to pay a visit to your lord, Earl Garnard, and to deliver my lord’s invitation to his birthday banquet.”
The junior captain said respectfully, “So it is the Baron, let me accompany you to the lord’s residence.”
Old Ford agreed and stepped into the carriage, and the driver spurred the horses to follow the junior captain as he slowly drove into town.
……
In front of the gates of Lord Butua’s House, four men stood to greet Chief Ford. At the forefront was Viscount Angelo, the Chief Seal of Baildin, followed by Viscount Ebout, Baron Amos, and Baron Blau in that order.
Old Ford got out of the car and greeted them one by one, and after all of them exchanged pleasantries, they entered the lord’s mansion.
Just after entering the hall, the butler of the lord’s mansion, Miles, greeted them, “Please wait a moment, please, dinner is being prepared, it will take some time.”
The crowd then sat down in the hall and waited, Old Ford explained the purpose of his visit, “July 20th is the birthday of Lord Earl Paul Gleiman, and I, the Chief Sealer, have been sent to invite his blood-sworn brother, Earl Myron Garnard, to attend the birthday banquet.”
The four nobles did not answer after hearing this, and after a period of silence, Viscount Ebbutt, a middle-aged man who could associate the sight of his stomach with a keg, spoke up, “We will offer birthday gifts to send them over, as for Lord Garnard ……”
“Of course Lord Ganade will go!” Chief Angelo suddenly interjected in a high voice, a man with a lean figure and a glittering eye.
He ignored the fleeting dissatisfaction in Baron Blau’s eyes and the slightly puzzled gazes of the other two, and continued, “I’m sure that Lord Earl must be very happy to receive an invitation from the Blood Oath Brothers!”
Chief Steward Ford said with a smile, “That’s for sure, even though it’s so close, but both of them haven’t seen each other for a few years, right?”
“Alas!” Chief Steward Angelo shook his head and sighed, “A few months ago at old Lord Gleeman’s funeral, they could have met. Unluckily, Lord Garnard was unwell at the time, so we didn’t let him go over there for the sake of his health, after all, the atmosphere at the funeral was not suitable for the sick, so I had to make a trip over there instead of the Earl.”
Chief Steward Ford nodded his head in understanding, “This time they can have a good gathering. So, where is Lord Earl?”
“Oh, the Earl-sama will be coming over soon.”
As he was saying this, he heard Steward Myles shout loudly, “Earl Garnard has arrived-” Into the hall came a slightly chubby blonde boy, in his early to mid sixteenth year, about the same height as Paul; he was Myron Garnard, the Lord of Bairdine and Paul’s blood sworn brother.
Chief Steward Ford scrambled to rise in greeting, and Myron gestured for him to be excused as he walked to the first seat and sat down, then took the invitation that the Chief Steward handed to him with both hands.
“Mr. Baron, it has been a long time since I have seen you.” The Lord of Bairdine said as such, opened the invitation and read it carefully, revealing a very happy expression, then turned to Chief Steward Angelo and asked, “Uncle Angelo, can I go to Paul’s birthday party?”
Angelo immediately stood up and said, “Of course, my lord, even if one is busy with studies and work, it is only right to celebrate one’s blood sworn brother’s birthday.”
“Since you don’t have any objections, he and I haven’t seen each other for a long time, why don’t we set off with Baroness-san tomorrow.”
Chief Ford also chimed in, “I think that’s good, it’s always easier to travel together.” Even if Myron hadn’t said anything, he would have brought it up.
That big-bellied Viscount Ebout was just about to speak up when Angelo jumped in and said, “Of course, that way the Earl-sama can still stay at his friend’s place for a few more days.”
Old Ford secretly breathed a sigh of relief, it looked like the trip had gone very well, and his stomach had already prepared a bunch of reasons to ask Myron to leave with him tomorrow.
The butler came over to inform that dinner was ready, all of them came to the dining room to eat, Myron kept pestering Old Ford to tell him about Alda’s elimination of the pirates, causing Old Ford to laugh bitterly.
During the meal, Ford asked why, in addition to Chief Angelo, the other bannermen of Garnard had gathered in Bujatu.
The answer he got was that the troops under the direct command of the Lord’s House had already gone to the south under the command of Baron Andrew, the only bannerman familiar with the military in Baildene, to join the banner of the Grand Princess Catherine to crush the rebels, so they brought their own private soldiers over to protect the safety of their lord and maintain the security of the capital.
As for the royal commissioners stationed in Bairdine, the people said that they had gone south with Baron Andrew, but should be back again soon.
……
After dinner, Old Ford was put to rest in his guest room, and the four bannermen of Garnard bade farewell to Myron to return to their own lodgings.
However after leaving the lord’s house they all went to Angelo’s house.
“Are you mad? Angelo! You just let that boy leave our grasp?” In a secret room, Abbot furiously grilled Angelo.
“Hmph!” Angelo gave him a look like an idiot, “What could I do? Should I not let that kid go celebrate his brother’s birthday in front of Ford? The old man can tell at a glance that something’s not right.”
Aibut gritted his teeth and looked at Ankiro, “In case something happens at that time, you have to …… take full responsibility.”
Angelo was furious: “We are grasshoppers on a rope, no one can run away if something goes wrong. Now the rumors have already appeared in the community, saying that we are going to be unfavorable to Myron Garnard, as well as the old Garnard matter, let him go out and walk around just to clear our suspicions.”
Abbott was not convinced, and argued violently with Angelo.
The two remaining men looked at each other in disbelief; they could not intervene in the quarrel between the two viscounts.
(End of chapter)