Chapter 10 The Prince's Banquet 2

  The kingdom of Wangguo faces the sea on three sides, with only its southern border adjoining a neighboring country. The lord of the south is Windsor's maternal grandfather, who brought Windsor back to the south from the capital ten years ago after his father's death. His mother remained in the palace, ostensibly to mourn the late king and queen, but in reality, she was being held as a hostage, enduring the coldness and warmth of human relationships within the palace until Windsor grew strong enough to return to the capital and rescue her. In recent years, the calls among ministers to establish Windsor as the crown prince have grown louder, causing the king to become increasingly wary of Windsor, who had no choice but to temporarily settle his mother in the capital. Windsor's maternal grandfather has been seething with hatred for the king for ten years, dedicating himself to nurturing Windsor and constantly thinking of avenging his enemy.

  The richness of the southern land made neighboring countries drool, and the border almost had friction every day. It has been two years since such a large-scale invasion of the southern land. Due to the frequent wars, most residents of the southern land are straightforward and unpretentious, and the soldiers of the southern land are brave in battle. Windsor was trained by his uncle and had been on countless battlefields, and with age, his abilities became more and more prominent. Every time he went to war, the black devils would flee without a fight, and over time, Windsor gained a reputation as the "War God" - "Ares".

  Three days ago, a large army of 100,000 blacks gathered at the southern border. Last night, the black general sent three colonels to lead 2,000 soldiers in a surprise attack on Tona Town, a city on the southern border. The newly appointed commander of the garrison in Tona Town was arrogant and self-willed, and he arbitrarily mobilized the defending troops to pursue and kill the defeated black soldiers, leaving Tona Town unguarded and empty. The black soldiers who were hiding nearby easily took over Tona Town, burning, killing, looting, and committing all sorts of atrocities within the city. In just one night, the once prosperous town of Tona was reduced to a desolate ruin.

  The encounter in Tona Town caused panic among the people of Nandih, and on the second day, timid residents packed their bags to seek refuge with relatives in Wangcheng. However, as soon as they left their homes, they were pushed towards the city gate by the crowded flow of people on the streets. In the afternoon, around 2-3 o'clock, a steady stream of people continued to surge towards the city gate, and the murmurs of the crowd swirled like waves, crashing against everyone present.

  A loud, clear military bugle call on the city gate calmed down the noisy crowd. They were like a frozen picture in a movie, with everyone staring at the city gate with wide eyes. Mischievous children were tightly covered by their mothers' hands, and the silent streets were filled with people quietly waiting for their god.

  The city gate opened, and Windsor, who was rushing over, saw this scene. Without pride or pause, he didn't slow down at all, now he just wanted to hurry up to Airlie Castle. The people automatically divided into two teams to give way to the Duke of Windsor, and after Windsor's army passed by, they gathered together again to discuss the Duke of Windsor enthusiastically.

  "The Duke of Windsor is back, we don't have to be afraid of the blacks anymore, let them go to hell! Haha"

  "Yes, yes, you didn't see how majestic the Duke of Windsor was just now. He's in such a hurry to leave, he must be going to think of ways to deal with the black devils."

  This is what men say, and women just become like this.

  "I feel like I've been captured by him."

  "Are you saying that the Duke of Windsor has taken you captive? Take a look at the fat on your waist first, is the duke going to take you away to eat meat? Hahaha!"

  In short, Windsor's return has comforted the precarious hearts of the people, and for now, there won't be any internal problems in the south, they can focus on dealing with the invaders.

  In the evening, Lucas's family, dressed up, stopped in front of the palace gate by carriage. According to the palace etiquette, they had to get off and walk into the prince's banquet hall on the red carpet.

  Mr. Lucas got off the carriage and rushed to Lydia's side, seeing that she was about to get down, he hastily stretched out his hand to support her. Behind him, a stunning beauty emerged, with a face similar to Charlotte's by 70 or 80 percent, but with a completely different temperament. If one were to describe them using flowers, Charlotte would be a dazzling rose, while this beauty would be a fresh and natural lily. The beauty wore a pure white fitted dress that accentuated her slender figure, with snow-white long gloves on her hands, which were awkwardly clasped together.

  The nobles at the entrance, who had seen a lot and knew a lot, couldn't help but admire her beauty. Several young men lingered at the palace gate, wanting to take another look at Cinderella. Finally, Katie came down, hummed coldly, glanced at Cinderella with disdain, and walked in hand in hand with Lydia. Lucas followed behind Lydia for a few steps, turned his head to see that Cinderella was still standing at the entrance without moving, and then went back to pull Cinderella to follow Lydia and the others.

  The banquet is about to begin, and the palace has gathered all the important figures of the capital, each with their own relationships. The prince has not yet arrived, but they are already eagerly chatting, the wide hall is brightly lit, the elegant music makes people feel relaxed, everywhere is a gathering of nobles laughing and talking, handsome servants and maids holding plates come and go.

  As soon as they entered the palace, Lucas went to discuss recent business with his partners, Lydia took Kitty to a corner where the ladies were resting, and Cinderella was left standing alone in the least crowded corner of the palace entrance. For the first time attending such a banquet, Cinderella felt very unaccustomed, and she stood stupidly, feeling embarrassed because no one recognized her. Fortunately, there was a table full of desserts and fruit wine nearby, Cinderella looked around and found that almost no one noticed her, so she relaxed and started tasting the desserts on the table.

  At the banquet, people were chatting enthusiastically, Cinderella was bored and swallowed her fifth piece of cake. Suddenly, all the lights in the hall went out, the beautiful music stopped abruptly, Cinderella was startled, and the half-swallowed cake got stuck in her throat. Her face turned bright red as she fumbled around in the darkness for a cup, not knowing what it was. She picked it up and poured its contents into her mouth, finally dislodging the cake. Cinderella let out a sigh of relief. At this moment, a beam of light shone down, and Cinderella gazed resentfully at the culprit standing in the center of the light.

  On the spiral staircase, a man overlooks the entire hall, as if he is overlooking the whole world. Seeing him, people can't help but believe that some are born to be kings.

  Softly lit, the only light in this dark world, Rochester smiled. In the corner, Cinderella covered her wildly beating chest.

  "Today I will invite the most elegant lady on the scene to dance a dance, and I hope the gentlemen will not be jealous."

  Someone in the audience couldn't help but chuckle, and Cinderella was also moved by the prince's humor. She smiled slightly, like a spring breeze blowing down a pool of flower petals, unfortunately no one saw it.

  "Well then, let's start dinner, wishing us a wonderful night."

  The prince's words fell, the lights came on, and the music started again. People ended their conversations and flocked to the central dance floor. Young noblewomen in elegant attire, accompanied by men, glided across the floor with graceful steps.

  Ever since she saw the prince, Cinderella couldn't stop drinking, but the more she drank, the more uncomfortable she felt, her heart racing so fast, touching her cheek was scorching hot, was she sick?

  Cinderella had been standing in the corner for so long that someone finally noticed her. The man was the grandson of a minister, and he always got what he wanted by relying on his family background. He had been eyeing Cinderella from outside the palace gates for a while, but initially hesitated because she came out of Lucas's carriage. However, after seeing how the Lucas family treated her, he couldn't help but feel itchy and wanted to tease the beauty. Cinderella was already drunk, not realizing that fruit wine could also get her intoxicated. Her hands were weakly propping up the table, barely preventing her from sliding onto the floor. In a daze, she felt someone embracing her - a tall but not strong man with hard ribs that made Cinderella feel some pain. She tried to push him away, wanting to break free from his arms, but originally, she didn't have much strength, and after drinking, it was even more useless. The man's interest was piqued instead, and Cinderella felt the hot air sprayed on her face, followed by a pair of cold lips with stubble that began to nibble and bite her neck. A wave of humiliation surged up Cinderella's head, and she didn't have time to think about anything else. She reached for the glass cup on the table and smashed it towards the man's head buried in her shoulder.

  "Ah!"

  A sudden, sharp cry of surprise interrupted the joyful crowd in the ballroom, and the musicians forgot to play. The scene was silent for a moment, but as people realized that something interesting was happening, they all rushed over to see what it was.