Groom's Troubles Goblin's Melancholy

The night is getting darker.

The servants of the entire Duke's castle searched Charleston Castle up and down, but they couldn't find the Duke's precious son Ricky.

Di Lan was so anxious that he couldn't sit still.

He decided to go to the barracks to gather the knight guards himself, even if he wanted to turn the entire Leighton city upside down, he still wanted to find his precious son.

He walked out of the gate to get on his horse, but he heard the sound of hooves.

A cab stopped in front of the Duke's carriage.

The people in the car got down, and Di Lan took a closer look. It was Nord wearing a mask, holding a listless child with closed eyes in his arms.

Dilan hurried over.

"Don't worry, he just fell asleep after crying."

"How is this going?"

"I saw him crying for his father on the way to the tavern."

After nightfall, Nord walked on the wet stone road in a daze, and found that he really didn't have any sense of belonging to this city.He decided to go to the tavern to join the adjutant and the others, but on the way, he saw a child dressed as an aristocrat crying by the side of the road.

"What's the matter with you, boy?" Nord asked carefully and softly.

"Dad... woo... Dad..." The child squatted on the ground with his knees hugged, sobbing pitifully.

"Did you get separated from Dad?"

"The marks on the wheels... are gone... woo woo..."

"What? Have you been thrown from the car? It's too inhuman." Nord hurried forward to check if the child was injured, but he didn't find any injuries except for some bread crumbs around his mouth. trace.

"Daddy won't leave Ricky!" the kid pursed.

"Then how did you get here?" Nord was confused by the child.

"I followed the marks of the wheels and kept walking... woo woo..." The child began to cry again.

Looking at the messy ruts on the ground where the child pointed, Nord finally understood.This child must be a naughty boy who sneaked out from some rich family.There are not many nobles who are eligible to meet the queen, as long as you know the surname, you can find the child's home.

"What's your father's name?"

The child rubbed his big red eyes from crying, and said softly, "My father is Duke Dilan..."

Nord's heart skipped a beat, and then he thought about it again. This is actually not surprising at all. With Di Lan's romantic nature, it is impossible for him to be lonely after a few years.Didn't he himself put aside the past and find his true self at sea?

"He said his father was Duke Dylan, so I brought him here."

"Thank you very much! Thank you for finding the way." Di Lan seemed to be pointing.

"Just ask someone." Nord replied calmly.

"Come in and have a rest."

"It's nothing, don't bother me." Nord turned around to leave, and then said back: "Children of this age are playful and naughty, please take care of them." After finishing speaking, he really got into the carriage and left.

Holding the child in her arms, Di Lan finally let go of the big stone in her heart.

But he looked up at the departing carriage, and his heart hung again because of seeing Nord.

The next day, Nord and his adjutant had a simple breakfast at the hotel. It was simple, but it was a delicacy compared to the constant boiled meat and cold bean soup on board.Just be thankful for hard bread without worms.

While they were savoring this rare taste with relish, the hotel boy brought Nord a large bouquet of fresh bluebells.

Nord took the flowers, silently pulled out the card on it, glanced at it and put it aside.

"Is it because I have been away from land for too long, and it is still popular to send flowers to men?" the adjutant asked curiously, "Who is so enthusiastic?".

"Duke," Nord replied curtly.

The adjutant's face immediately became serious, "What? It's that pervert. Is this a threat or something?"

"He just apologized for the offense to me in the palace, and thanked me for finding his son." Nord explained as lightly as possible.

"Hmph, who knows what his intentions are." The adjutant spat in disdain, and patted Nord's shoulder again. "Don't worry, I will help you if there is anything."

Nord nodded absently, with mixed emotions.He hastily stuffed the rest of his breakfast into his mouth and concluded the matter.

"It's okay, I don't think we will see each other in private."

Nord soon found himself jumping to conclusions, however.

In just a few days, Dilan sent several invitation letters to Nord, either for a banquet or a hunting party.

His excuses for evasion had been exhausted.

"Do these nobles have nothing else to do besides eating and having fun?" The adjutant angrily glanced at the pile of beautifully printed invitations on the table.

"That's the truth." Nord picked up the latest letter and looked at it carefully, and then took another pen and paper to write a reply letter.

"Why do you care about him? So what if he's a duke? Shouldn't it be up to us?" The adjutant looked unhappy.

Nord smiled, "That's what I said, but if the refusal is too obvious and it's troublesome, you should be there to perfuse him. Anyway, we will go our own way when we get to sea." He seemed to be speaking to himself.

Nord and the adjutant took a cab to the Duke's Charleston Castle together.

After notifying the gatekeeper, the carriage drove straight in.When you get off the car, you will see a polite butler waiting in front of the door.

Just as the two were about to enter the door generously, the butler said with a distressed face: "Please wait a moment, Mr. Lieutenant General. Today is the private banquet of His Excellency the Duke, and no companions are required."

Nord was stunned, glanced at the adjutant following behind, and then said: "I haven't returned to land for a long time, and I even forgot the rules."

The uninvited adjutant raised his eyebrows, stopped the taxi that was about to drive away, and said, "Why don't we go back."

"There's no need for that," Di Lan suddenly walked up from the inside and greeted cheerfully, "Come in!" Then he waved his hand to signal the housekeeper to leave.

Unexpectedly, the Duke would go out to greet him in person, and the adjutant was quite surprised.But without saying much, he and Nord followed Dylan into the living room.

There is also a guest who has arrived in the living room, Earl Sol.

"Our guests are all here." Di Lan said with a smile.

Nord's heart sank at the moment, the invitation letter subtly mentioned that Earl Saul, whom Nord also knew, was invited, but unexpectedly only the two of them were invited.He secretly rejoiced that the adjutant had the cheek to follow along.

Compared with Dilan's kindness, Nord seemed quite indifferent.

After a lunch that only heard the sound of glasses, plates, knives and forks, Dilan ordered the butler to take out a pair of finely carved ivory backgammon, which was the treasure that he bought to please his lover Trass.

Hey, this is a rare treasure, the adjutant whistled in his heart.

"As expected of a duke, he is willing to take out the artwork to play with."

Dilan just smiled, then looked at Nord.

Nord glanced at it and said he couldn't play.

The adjutant who often played backgammon with Nord on the ship and was often killed by him took a deep look at Nord, and then cooperated with his rhetoric as if nothing had happened.

Dilan said again, let's play bridge then.

"But what's the best way to bet? I have a lot of money, so it's boring." Dilan looked at Nuode and said, "How about a chip for a kiss?"

"Your Excellency the Duke!" Sol jumped up immediately, glaring at him angrily.

The adjutant didn't say anything, but his face was also frighteningly dark.

"Don't be so stingy, or how about the person who wins the most can ask the person who loses the most a kiss." Di Lan winked his eyes pretending to be relaxed.

Nord expresses no interest in playing poker and asks Dylan if he can take the children for a walk.After getting Dilan's approval, he followed the butler and left to find Ricky.Originally the adjutant wanted to go with him, but he still couldn't resist the temptation of ivory backgammon, so he stayed to play against the Duke while Sol watched the battle.

Nord followed the butler to the room transformed into a game for children, and was immediately shrouded in an illusion that seemed to be a world away.

In fact, the furnishings of the room have not changed too much, but the once charming atmosphere has long since disappeared.The biggest difference is probably that all the paintings on the walls have been replaced by portraits of Truss.

As if being watched by the eyes of the person in the painting, Nord felt extremely guilty, and just wanted to get out of this place quickly.

Luckily Ricky was very cooperative, seeing it was Nord and obediently following him, apparently remembering who he was.The two walked aimlessly in the garden.

Ricky is very curious about Nord wearing a mask, and has been pestering him to talk.Nord also accompanied him in his rambling ramblings with a good temper.

"You have a really good relationship with your father."

"Really?" Ricky tilted his head.

"Among the official children, everyone is superficially respectful to their father because of the relationship of inheritance. Few people can be so close to their father as to call them dad."

Ricky looked at Nord blushing slightly, "Don't laugh at me."

"I'm not kidding you."

Dad is the name of a common man, so little Ricky naturally didn't know it until he was told by the serious Earl Sol that it was against the rules.

"My father insisted that I call him my own way. He said that I must not forget my origin, and he would not let me be ashamed of it."

Nord was slightly surprised and nodded.

"Besides, I'm not Dad's real son."

"What?" Nord gasped involuntarily.

The child lowered his head and said, "My father is not the Duke, but the man in the painting hanging in the room just now."

"What? Impossible!" Nord blurted out in surprise, and then felt very embarrassed.

"Hehe," Ricky rubbed his nose, "I also think how such a beautiful man could be my father, I don't look like him at all."

"That's not what I meant, please don't get me wrong. Just a little surprised." Nord didn't know how to hide his panic from the child.

"Dad said my father is his closest friend...but he said you are his best friend too, let me get closer to you." Ricky raised his head and smiled shyly at Nord.

Nord didn't listen to what was said later, and just kept echoing what the child said just now in his mind.But no matter how much he chewed on the aftertaste, there was only one meaning in the words-Ricky was his son.But no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't recall that he had sex with a woman.

Although he is very precocious, he has only had physical relationships with men from beginning to end.

Nord couldn't figure it out no matter how he thought about it, he just stared blankly at Ricky and couldn't speak. The more he looked at the child's appearance, the more he felt that he was somewhat similar to himself.Then I felt that it was not like it at all, more like Dilan.His mind was in turmoil.

"Mr. Lieutenant General, why are you so pale?"

It took Nord a while to come back to his senses, "I'm fine... tell me about your mother."

"I don't have a mother," Ricky said with a sad expression. "My father said she went to a faraway place. I know that's just a lie to the children. She's dead."

Nord didn't know how to comfort the precocious child.

Ricky also became silent, and after a while, when Nord felt a little strange, the child suddenly bent down and fell to his knees on the grass.

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