Calanthe said: "There are no sorcerers in Cintra, you know."
Eist nodded and put his hands around his lover's waist: "Mousesack is a druid, I know that."
Calanthe approached tiredly, leaning on Eist's chest and said: "My family has been tortured because of magic."
"My mother is like this, and so is my daughter Pavetta. I was the only one who escaped by chance because I chose the sword. The magic in our blood is not a power to me, it is a curse."
"You do not want to have children with me because you feel that the Elder Blood of the royal family of Cintra is incompatible with the fiery nature of the Skellige. The same reason why I don't want Lann and Ciri to be together."
"I have read many books left by my mother. I am worried that the combination of Ciri and Lann will strengthen the power of this magic again, which will bring more misfortunes."
"I don't want that power to grow, I don't even want it to continue, I just want it to disappear!"
Calanthe becomes weak when talking about her daughter who died young. Eist hugged his lover tightly and sighed in his heart. "My love?"
"I am here." Calanthe responded. "What Lann said actually makes sense. Write to your brother. A small navy is safer, and Cintra will bear the excess losses. I can no longer lose any of my relatives."
"Of course, my love."
Outside the palace.
Lann looked at the horizon in the distance. The sun was setting, and twilight had arrived. Meanwhile he whispered to himself: "Where have all my attendants gone?"
...
"How did you find us?" Swade and House looked at each other before asking their comrade who was holding an entire bottle of wine in front of him to quench his thirst.
"I went to the tavern, and the boss told me that the earl gave you a big bag of money." Ace drank the wine bottle and wiped his mouth. "Where else can you go if you have money?"
Ace, Swade, and House looked at each other, the corners of their mouths gradually rising.
"Mr. Geralt, what do you think of this place?"
The white wolf who was pinned to the ground picked up the person on top of him and put him down gently. He picked up a small mirror on the table amidst the laughter of the other person and looked at the 'Rose Seal' on his neck.
"I regret not visiting Cintra more often in the past few years."
The three attendants smiled with satisfaction. They felt that they had completed the earl's task perfectly.
"However." House suddenly said worriedly, "I don't know when the Earl will come back from the palace. If Ace can find us, the Earl will definitely be able to find us."
"If he finds us, he finds us. He likes this, remember?"
"Have you forgotten? Last time, because of the 'Rose Seal' incident, the earl got very angry and said he would never pay us again."
After being reminded by House, Ace and Swade woke up from a dream, and then their expressions became solemn. Their eyes gradually shifted and looked at the cloth bag embroidered with vines and leaves on the table.
"How about we spend all the money quickly now?"
"I don't think it's a good idea..."
Before he finished speaking, the door of their private room suddenly opened, and the noisy singing, whistles, cheers, and groans from outside flooded in.
A young man with a lion embroidered with gold thread on his chest walked in. His silk robe wrapped his slender and strong body like a sculpture. Behind him followed several girls at a distance, their eyes shining.
The three attendants quickly stood up and saluted: "My Lord the Earl!"
The three assistants shouted in their minds: 'Sure enough, he found us!'
Lann looked at Geralt who was pinned to the floor again and sneered and said to the three attendants: "You go out and find another room. I have something to tell Geralt."
The three nodded their heads, dragged the escorts to their side and walked out, easily releasing Geralt, who was pressed on the ground.
"Wait a minute." Lann tilted his head and motioned to the money bag on the table. "Take that with you."
The three attendants said happily: "Yes!"
The Wolf School witcher who once claimed to have no emotions is now lying on his back on the floor, squinting his eyes and smacking his mouth, as if thinking about it.
Geralt sighed: "You came at a bad time."
Lann sat next to Geralt, looking to pour wine for himself, but noticed the bottle was empty and set it aside in frustration. "I just came out of the palace."
"Did you tell Calanthe about me?"
"The queen has known you were coming for a long time."
Geralt nodded, sat up, and said with a mocking look on his face. "I assume she told you to keep Ciri away from me?"
Lann nodded. "The Queen always wants me to stay away from her granddaughter. She guards against me as if I were a wolf looking for prey."
Geralt lamented: "The Druid always advises me to take away the surprise child. He believes that resisting fate will only bring calamity and end up destroying the kingdom."
Geralt picked up the wine glass but found that there was no wine. He looked for the wine bottle but found that it had been thrown aside long ago.
The witcher whispered: "Fuck your fate."
Lann shook his head: "I didn't believe in fate before, until a year ago. After witnessing some things, I felt that even if we don't believe, we should have respect."
Geralt threw the empty wine glass aside: "Your queen is the opposite of you. In order to resist fate, she once sent eight people to kill me."
Lann was stunned. He didn't expect Calanthe to have done such a thing before. But it was certainly something she could do. "Sorry, Geralt."
"It has nothing to do with you. And those eight people need the apology more."
Lann opened the door and called out to the waiter, who brought in two bottles of Erveluce wine.
Geralt reached out to take it, the two of them clinked their glasses and took a long drink.
"When do you want to start learning swordsmanship and monster knowledge? Finish it early so that I can leave here early."
"Even if I finish early, your armor won't be ready that quickly. I consulted with the court artisans." Lann responded as he poured himself another glass of wine. "You armor is neither light nor heavy, the most suitable design is medium weight, but it is the most difficult. It requires the most time due to the complexity of the process, more than any common armor."
Geralt sipped his wine in a sullen mood.
"Although, I don't think a set of armor can keep you in Cintra." Lann looked into Geralt's eyes, green eyes meeting amber cat eyes. "But it's also not enough to make you come to Cintra in the first place, right?"
Geralt was silent for a while and said: "What are you trying to say, Lann?"
"You didn't come to Cintra for any so-called reward. No amount of money can affect your thoughts. You wanted to come from the beginning but you yourself were looking for excuses to stop yourself from going to Cintra."
"You have to wait until others give you a suitable reason. No. You are not resisting fate, nor are you resisting your destiny's child, Geralt. You are resisting yourself."
Geralt was silent, drank a glass of wine, then another glass, finally raised his head and emptied the bottle, and then grabbed Lann's wine. "You'll pay, right?"
"Not if you are drunk. I have something to talk to you about."
Geralt shook his head and said: "Now is not the time, Lann. This is not the time."
"Well, I just want you to protect Ciri in the future." Lann sighed. "Then let's talk about another commission."
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