【Photography ABO】White Rose

"So it's Mr. Carl, hello." Joseph nodded with a smile, and held the hand extended by the man. There was nothing wrong with the etiquette, "Thank you for raising such a good child, Aesop."

"You are being polite. Your majesty is beyond my expectation. You look really young. If it weren't for Aesop's close posture with you, I really wouldn't dare to guess that you are His Majesty De La Thornes."

"It's no wonder. After all, my appearance has never been revealed to foreign countries. Speaking of this, I suddenly have a question for you-you came here to pick us up, did you bring someone? If you brought someone, you will Please go back by yourself, I am visiting secretly this time, and I don’t plan to make any announcements.”

"of course not."

"That's good. I have arranged a carriage here in advance. Would you like to go together and catch up with Aesop on the way?"

"Okay."

"Then please."

Seeing that Joseph and his adoptive father finished talking in a few words, and the atmosphere was relaxed and happy on the surface, Aesop secretly breathed a sigh of relief.But it wasn't until the three got into the carriage that Aesop realized that the test he was going to face today was far more than that simple.

In order to show his respect for his "father-in-law", Joseph specifically signaled Aesop to leave the seat between the two of them vacant for Aesop's adoptive father.This made Aesop, who couldn't sit next to Joseph, nervous, not to mention that soon, his adoptive father threw out such a subtle sentence:

"Aesop, are you in heat today? You smell like His Majesty De La Thornes. You seem to have a good relationship with His Majesty?"

Hearing this sentence in Aesop's ears, it was tantamount to questioning him: Are you in love with this king?Why not fulfill the task entrusted to you by the royal family?His heart couldn't help tightening, and Aesop carefully considered the words on his lips, but before he could say anything, he heard Joseph's voice: "Yes, we are very affectionate now. He is in estrus today, and we only made out before we got off the boat." , I laughed."

There was a brief silence in the carriage.After a while, the adoptive father replied with a smile: "Your Majesty, the British will not put such a thing on the table."

"Really? As a Frenchman, I don't think it matters." Joseph laughed.

The atmosphere in the car was a bit wrong. Aesop heard the conversation between the two, and felt that his heart was hanging: if they quarreled in the car, it would be troublesome.Fortunately, the situation that Aesop was worried about did not happen. Next, his adoptive father twitched the corners of his mouth with a smirk: "Sorry, let's skip this question. Your Majesty, I came here on my own initiative because of the entrustment of the royal family." Give me a task to invite you. Since you are here in person, the British royal family has prepared a sumptuous dinner for you, and I hope you will appreciate it."

Joseph didn't answer his invitation directly, but paused and glanced at Aesop: "What about my queen?"

Joseph's attitude seemed particularly sharp today.Aesop's adoptive father was choked by him, and then said: "Aesop came here mainly to visit relatives, I will take him home to have a look at night, and sit with his mother to talk about the old days, just pick him up tomorrow .Actually, I'm fine, but his mother really misses him."

"Understood." Joseph quickly agreed, "The child marries far away, and the marriage is sweet. Soon, only the husband is left in his mind, but he ignores how reluctant parents are. Aesop, I heard today's arrangement Is it? Go home with your father at night, don't miss me, just separate for one night. "

"Ah... oh." Aesop nodded hurriedly, but his reaction was still half a beat behind.In fact, he was already stunned by what Joseph said: How did this man manage to make every sentence ambiguous, forcing it to the theme of "Aesop and I are very happy and loving, you don't have to sit here sour"?Aesop thought that he had basically figured out Joseph's path, but from this point of view, it seemed that Joseph still had a lot to learn.

As for the deflated adoptive father, Aesop was surprised to find that he didn't feel sympathy.Probably because he thinks this person should suffer a bit... Aesop thought.

In the next few hours, the long journey was wasted by the seemingly calm chatter of the three of them.Joseph still spoke with this attitude, and at the end of the chat, Aesop began to wonder if Joseph had eaten gunpowder before coming.Aesop's adoptive father could only make amends for laughing, and he had nothing to do with this foreign king. This made Aesop feel the revenge of seeing his adoptive father suffer before he faced the cruel test of his adoptive father's interrogation. fun of.

But the happy time is always short.In the evening, they drove to London, and Aesop and Joseph were also facing parting.Before getting out of the car, Joseph walked up to Aesop, bent down and gave him a hug, and said softly, "I'm leaving, don't miss me, we can meet tomorrow morning."

Aesop nodded vigorously.Then he watched Joseph get out of the car and into another carriage parked not far away.

"Let's go Aesop, don't look at it." Behind him, the familiar voice of the adoptive father sounded.The voice was astonishingly cold, and Aesop's heart tightened. He turned his head and saw a cloudy face behind him.

Rain is coming.

Aesop felt a chill in his heart.He lowered his eyes and said "hmm".

The carriage started again, and it didn't take long for them to return to Aesop's home after March.The adoptive father got out of the car and strode straight to the hall of the mansion, asking the servant to help him take off his coat and hang it up.Aesop followed closely behind. When he reached the entrance, he stopped and waited for his adoptive father to finish changing his clothes. As a result, his adoptive father turned around and told him, "You, follow me to the room."

Aesop had to follow his adoptive father upstairs.After entering the room, the adoptive father turned around and locked the door, and then sat down on the chair. He was not even in the mood to arrange a seat for Aesop, but just glanced at Aesop sullenly: "Give me an explanation."

Sure enough, what should come will always come.Now that things have happened, Aesop's mood is much calmer.He asked calmly, "Explain what?"

"Ask knowingly!" The adoptive father slapped his hand on the table and made a heavy muffled sound, "Okay, you are really fascinated by that French king, and you speak in the same tone as that guy. I'm asking You, have you done what the royal family of England entrusted to you?"

He was panting heavily, his voice trembling, obviously from extreme anger.But the angrier he got, the calmer Aesop became. He said in a calm tone that wasn't too big or too small, "You deliberately separated us tonight, not just to ask me these questions, did you? What's the royal family's arrangement? "

"Ha, you've learned how to talk to me. It seems that I don't need to ask you anymore. Sure enough, you are fascinated by that king." Aesop's adoptive father smiled angrily, "I won't tell you about the arrangement in the palace. Yes, I will only tell you what the royal family has arranged for you."

"What arrangement?" Aesop instinctively felt something was wrong.

"Actually, the royal family had already guessed your betrayal, so they called you back; I just reconfirmed the meeting today." The adoptive father stood up and walked half a circle around Aesop, "Can you guess who it is? Did you report it?"

"Who?" Although Aesop firmly believed that it was impossible for Naibu to confess him, at this moment, Naibu's face inevitably appeared in his mind.

"I guess you're remembering someone? You guessed half right." The adoptive father smiled lowly, "You're thinking about the mercenary who sneaked into the French palace, right? I'm sorry to tell you: he did not betray you, But the problem is that his identity is too complicated. You may not know it, but he is a duchess-to-be."

At that moment, Aesop suddenly recalled the faint scent of roses that did not belong to him on Naib's body.It turns out that the owner of that smell is... Aesop understood in an instant.

"His partner is a duke who was also lurking in France as an insider. The two of them escaped together on the day the assassination failed. The mercenary was injured. The duke was naturally very angry, so he learned the reason for the failed assassination through some channels. , and then reported it to the royal family. And then, you received that letter from home. Irony, right? You are so good that you let that mercenary protect you. That guy has done a lot of things for Britain. But your Efforts are useless, accidents are always more than you imagine."

Sure enough.Aesop sighed helplessly, he did make great efforts, but at this point, he still lost.Over there, his adoptive father rummaged in the drawer for a while, and then found two bottles of inhibitors and threw them to him: "Here, inhibitors, I will use them when I go back, don't stick them on the old king as soon as he is in heat, I don't mind it." Ugly. Now listen carefully, and I will tell you what the royal family has arranged for you."

"...you tell me."

"It's actually very simple. Looking at the two of you now, the king has completely let go of his guard against you, right? This opportunity is very good." The adoptive father smiled at him, "The royal family has only one request for you: kill De La Thorne Sis II. The deadline is at the end of next month."

...one more month.Aesop took a deep breath: "What if I fail to kill it?"

"If you know your mistakes and don't correct them, the crime will be aggravated. At that time, the royal family will find a way to get you back to the country and you will be imprisoned for life; if it is more serious, you will be dealt with directly there." The adoptive father made a gesture of wiping his neck.

"How should I put it... To some extent, it is expected." Aesop said to himself.His adoptive father came to him, and at this moment, the man returned to his hypocritical and loving father.He patted Aesop on the shoulder: "Child, you worked hard. It's just an alpha, you will find a better one sooner or later. Why do you have to hang yourself on the tree of the old king? You are a smart boy, I believe you can Think about this—whether it's for the country, or for the glory of our family, you're going to kill that king."

When the adoptive father spit out the words "the glory of our family", Aesop's somewhat confused brain suddenly sobered up.At that moment, he felt that he had never seen things so clearly—was his father for the country?No, he is just for the "glory" of his own promotion; then what is Britain doing for it, for justice?No, they are just trying to embezzle the interests of France.

Everyone is selfish.Every country is selfish.So, why should he selflessly sacrifice his lover's life for this selfish world?

"Okay, I understand." Aesop nodded calmly.At this moment, the man with a loving smile in his eyes is no longer his adoptive father, but just a stranger who is only interested in his own interests. "I know I was wrong, I will work hard for the country." He said, "So, can you tell me what is the arrangement in the palace? I am curious."

"I figured it out so quickly? Well, it doesn't matter, it doesn't hurt to tell you anyway." The adoptive father looked at him with a strange look, "The royal family really can't take the old king's life in the UK. If something happens, it will cause trouble." That's why the king had the courage to come here. But he probably didn't expect this: we can't kill him directly, but we can put slow poison in his food and water. Tonight's poison was on the edge of the dinner plate, presumably He won't find out, will he?"

Facing the adoptive father's raised mouth strangely, Aesop broke out in a cold sweat.He nodded and said, "Well, the royal family really has a good plan", while taking two steps back calmly, "Is there anything else to explain, father? If not, I will step back first."

"No more. Remember to take the inhibitor." The adoptive father waved at him.So Aesop exited the room and stepped down the stairs step by step.He tried to keep his pace as slow and steady as possible, but he knew how fast his heart was beating, and knew that his palms were full of cold sweat.

To tell Joseph all this...!He knew that he might have known it too late, but the sooner he found Joseph, the less likely Joseph would be poisoned.Joseph gave him love, career, and courage, but he has never been able to do anything for Joseph.And now, it was time for him to help Joseph!

But before leaving the gate of the mansion, he must be calm, calm...

He walked out of the house step by step and walked towards the gate. During these few steps, he even took an inhibitor once to stabilize his body.He met a maid in front of the gate. The maid had just returned from shopping in the market. When she saw him, she greeted him and asked Master Aesop what happened when he went out so late.Then the maid saw his once gentle and cowardly young master looking at her with a calm and resolute look. His expression was nothing like the Aesop Carl she had never seen before: "I'll go out and buy something."

Then Aesop passed her by.The maid was stunned, a little surprised in her heart how the young master had become like this after being married to France for a few months, but she didn't think about it any more.

On the other side, Aesop turned a street corner, he finally couldn't bear it anymore, and started running towards the palace.

TBC