"I don't know when Mr. Geralt was last in Cintra. In recent years, Cintra has undergone many changes. I can take you to see places you haven't been to before."
"The last time I came here was about ten years ago, when Pavetta was still here."
House was surprised and said: "Ah... have you actually seen Princess Pavetta?"
Swade patted House and said: "Don't let the topic go too far. There is a new place called 'Rose Garden' in Cintra in recent years. How about we take you there to see it?"
Geralt looked at the 'understanding' eyes of the two attendants, and then at the familiar money bag embroidered with vines and leaves but hesitated to speak.
"Then, let's go!"
...
Royal Palace of Cintra.
Ciri's expression was one of complete displeasure. Her butt hurt vaguely, but now she was forced to sit on the chair and couldn't move.
A few days ago, Mousesack and Ciri opened the portal back to Cintra, and met Queen Calanthe and her husband King Eist who had been waiting for a long time.
Let's review again, what is Queen Calanthe's nickname?... 'Lioness.' It was a metaphorical nickname, it didn't mean that Queen Calanthe was literally like a lioness.
In fact, she was much stronger than a lioness. Has anyone ever witnessed a lioness hunting? Ciri had done it.
It is certain that even years later, the people of the palace would not forget the terror dominated by Ciri's heartbreaking screams.
After teaching the fugitive Ciri a lesson, Calanthe endeavored to marry the young princess to princes from other kingdoms. This is not just about finding allies against Nilfgaard.
Queen Calanthe, who is prouder than a lioness, will never admit that her country will be defeated by Nilfgaard. But as an astute politician, she understood the concept of having multiple exits. As a grandmother, she prefers to find a way out for her granddaughter.
So, Calanthe ordered the court painter to paint a portrait of Ciri called 'Cirilla, Princess of Cintra'. She plans to send the painted portraits to other kingdoms.
However, Ciri's mood after receiving a beating was not beautiful; and sitting in a chair for hours did not improve her mood; and when she realized why she had been sitting there after receiving the beating... Ciri's expression... How should it be said...
It could be described as: a ten-year-old girl who is owed five million crowns.
The painter who portrayed Ciri captured her expression as is. After seeing the first version of 'Princess Cirilla of Cintra', the bold Queen Calanthe laughed mockingly at Ciri for an entire morning.
No one in the palace saw the painter again.
Now, the second painter was facing Princess Cirilla, who seemed to be owed ten million crowns, with a frown on her face.
90% of the content on the canvas in front of him has been completed: the magnificent palace is the background, the dignified and elegant dress is the embellishment, and the petite and cute figure has already been laid out on the paper. Only the princess's face was blank.
He couldn't do it, he just couldn't.
Mousesack was sitting to the side, chuckling as he watched the scene. Ever since he refused to use magic to heal Ciri's butt, she barely spoke to him.
Just then, a guard loudly announced from the door: "Earl Lannister has arrived!"
Ciri's eyes suddenly lit up.
Lann entered the door, dressed in a luxurious and tight-fitting royal court attire, holding a finely carved gift box that seemed to be a sword carrying box.
Ciri jumped up happily: "Lann!"
The gloomy painter was stunned for a moment, then suddenly became excited.
This is the smile, this is the smile!
Mousesack stood up cheerfully and said to the painter, the servants and the nuns in the house: "You have been busy for so long, please take a rest."
The servants nodded reverently, but the painter continued working with his head bowed.
Lann looked at Ciri's awkward walking posture and tried not to laugh too much. This was not the occasion to talk about why he walked like that.
"Did you get beaten?"
Ciri pouted.
"A gift." Lann held out the sword case.
Ciri wanted to jump for joy.
Opening the sword box, inside was the small stabbing sword that Lann had planned to give to Ciri. It was recast from the steel sword of the Cat School witcher, and the decorative crystal fragments embellished on it were the crystals that Lann had absorbed the magic power from.
No one ever considered a sword a suitable gift for a young lady. But Ciri was obviously not a 'lady' in the traditional sense. Facing this stabbing sword, she was fascinated, and joy almost overflowed from her eyes.
"I'm going to name it 'Swallow'!"
Ciri hugged her lovingly, while Lann looked on with a smile.
"Let me tell you, this sword turns out to be a steel sword used by a witcher. The crystal it has is..."
The story is not exciting, but it also made Ciri, who grew up in a boudoir, reveal a fascinating gleam in her eyes when she heard it. She couldn't help but jump up several times, grinning in pain but not daring to scream out for fear of interrupting Lann.
After the story was finished, Ciri excitedly pulled out the sword and stretched out her little finger to touch the sword curiously and timidly.
"Okay." Mousesack stepped forward and said: "Ciri, you must go tell your grandmother that you received the gift. I will tell His Majesty to allow you to have it with you, but you must promise not to take it out when no one is around, okay?"
"Yes!" Ciri held the sword in her arms and refused to let go.
Smiling and touching Ciri's head, Mousesack turned to Lann and said: "First I'll take you to meet the Queen and King. They knew you were coming to see Ciri and they asked me to take you to see them."
Lann nodded, and the two of them walked out of the room together.
After a while.
"It's done, 'Cirilla, Princess of Cintra'!" The painter shouted. "This is my best work!"
...
This was not the first time that the two had walked through the halls of the royal palace together. Occasionally, some commanders hurried past, discreetly greeting both of them. Lann and Mousesack returned the gesture.
"The situation doesn't look very promising, does it?" Lann asked cautiously.
Mousesack nodded solemnly: "The North has not encountered a war of this scale for a long time. The four great kingdoms despise Nilfgaard and do not want to send troops, or perhaps they would like to see Cintra, which subtly threatens their interests, weakened in the war."
"Fortunately, we still have reinforcements from Skellige."
Lann's face was solemn, time was really running out, and the Sword of Damocles hovering above his head was already shaking and about to fall.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. Anyway, the queen will never let you go to the battlefield." Mousesack shook his head with a smile and said to Lann: "Speaking of which, I have two good news for you."
"The first one: I asked my fellow druids in Toussaint, and they finally discovered the remains of Tomas Moreau's secret laboratory in the Sansretour River in the Valley of the Nine. At first, they wanted to continue exploring. Who knew that a portal suddenly opened and a large number of Drowners came out of it, so in the end they had to abandon the idea of continuing exploring."
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---