Chapter 25: My master is waiting for you

At noon, the sunlight was like a dull knife, barely passing through the airtight canopy.

And below, a winding path passed through the dense forest, leading straight to the distance.

That was the only way to Fruit Basket Village.

A carriage stopped by the road; its body was meticulously carved from high-quality oak, smooth as a mirror, reflecting the faint golden light under the sunset.

The roof was covered with soft purple velvet curtains, the edges embroidered with complex silver thread, and the horses pulling the carriage were two black steeds with shiny hair.

Viscount Karen Hughes was lying on the front room of this carriage, boredly throwing the red fruit in his hand into the air, letting it fall, and catching it again, repeating this.

At this moment, he was wearing a well-tailored black suit and a delicate silver tie; if one didn't consider his overly broad shoulders and casual movements, he really looked like a noble gentleman.

And near the carriage, there were several mounted guards, vigilantly observing the surrounding environment to protect the Viscount's safety.

Of course, they knew very well that this was just for show; after all, everyone knew that the lord was the strongest in the entire territory.

*Tread, tread, tread. *

Just then, a series of rapid hoofbeats came from afar. The guards instantly raised their long spears vigilantly until they saw the identity of the person coming and then lowered their vigilance.

"Lord, Sir Knight Solin is back," the guard reported.

"Finally here, I was almost strangled to death by this tie!"

Karen was overjoyed to hear this; he bit the red fruit in his hand to pieces, swallowed it without even spitting out the pit.

"My lord, that Highness has already agreed to your request for a meeting at the time of the sun's decline," Sir Solin, who had rushed over, jumped off his horse and said respectfully.

"Agreed so readily, it seems the probability really has to increase quite a bit..." Karen thought thoughtfully.

"The time of the sun's decline is almost here too. You all prepare, we will set off immediately."

Karen stretched his waist with his hands crossed, then jumped from the front room of the carriage to the ground.

This carriage, which was all show and no substance, was not prepared by him for himself, but one of the dowries brought by his wife, Danielle, from the Martha family.

If that Highness's identity was true, this luxurious carriage would be the simple vehicle to take him from the village to Black Wolf Castle.

After all, letting the heir of a superpower live in a dilapidated village in his own territory for a long time sounded too ugly; even he, who had never valued noble etiquette, felt he really should be expelled from the nobility.

Of course, all this was based on the premise that the other party was really the first person to return from the Eastern Continent in hundreds of years, and his status was likely the heir of a superpower kingdom that ruled the entire Eastern Continent.

If it were fake... Karen's eyes gradually became dangerous, and a cold murderous intent bloomed from his body, making the surrounding soldiers feel a tingling sensation on their scalps.

Then he could only let him experience the pain of watching himself being gnawed by wolves one bite at a time.

"Awoo!"

Karen took a deep breath, and then a sound similar to a wolf howl came from his mouth.

*Awoo! *

A moment later, a miserable wolf howl came from the distance of the dense forest on the right side of the road.

*Bang, bang, bang! *

Accompanied by a series of crisp sounds of branches breaking and the heavy breathing of some large creature, a behemoth slowly walked out of the dark dense forest and stepped into everyone's field of vision.

That was a fierce black wolf with a shoulder height of over two meters and a body length of five or six meters; the head wolf that had lunged at Xia Mingyu in the past was not even half its size.

Its muscles were knotted, and its pitch-black fur shone with a cold luster in the dim light; one could imagine how terrifying it was when it shuttled through the dense forest to hunt.

And in its wolf mouth full of fangs, it was still tightly biting the corpse of another gray wild wolf, and fishy blood spilled all over the ground.

The size of that wild wolf was also clearly a circle larger than an ordinary wild wolf, but in front of this giant wolf, it was completely reduced to food for gluttony.

For some reason, facing this giant beast with a fierce aura, the guards and Sir Solin didn't have any panic.

"Black Tail, didn't I tell you to just relax in the dense forest, don't hunt?" Karen frowned.

"We are going to have an audience with a big shot. If you dirty that person's eyes, just wait to be severely disciplined by me!"

This giant beast was his mount as a knight—the hegemon of Wolf Howl Forest, the Black Abyss Wolf.

Initially, it was by relying on this magical beast mount that he was able to kill several Transcendent Knights one against many, casting a great achievement and winning the title of "Howling Wolf."

*Awoo! *

Sensing the unkindness in his master's tone, Black Tail bit the head of the wolf corpse in its mouth to pieces, then swallowed and chewed it up in large mouthfuls.

*Chomp, chomp. *

Accompanied by a sound of chewing that made one's scalp tingle, soon that wolf corpse was left with only a dry, broken skin.

Immediately after, Black Tail began to lick its fur like a house cat, and only after there were no more bloodstains on its huge body did it wag its tail and come to Karen, sticking out its tongue to please him.

"Sigh, you are clearly a head wolf, how can you be like a dog!"

Looking at his partner's pleasing appearance, Karen's anger vanished instantly, and he shrugged helplessly.

Black Tail continued to wag its tail as if it hadn't heard, a flash of human-like contempt passing through its dark green wolf pupils.

Is being a wolf good?

Exposed to wind and sun, no one to take care of when sick; how can it be as good as being a "dog," living in a castle every day with special servants to serve?

"Let's go."

Karen jumped up and leaped onto the back of the Black Abyss Wolf.

Then, the group moved toward the direction of Fruit Basket Village...

Time of the sun's decline.

The sunlight was no longer as intense as at noon, but became gentle.

The golden sunlight flowed down from the azure sky like melted honey, dyeing the fields into a piece of gold, and the distant emerald fruit forest trembled slightly in the breeze, like a watercolor painting soaked in water.

Karen's group arrived at the entrance of Fruit Basket Village on time.

For nobles, being late is impolite, but arriving early for an audience is also a kind of impoliteness.

"Welcome to your arrival, Viscount Hughes."

The girl in the blue dress lifted her skirt and bowed slightly to salute.

"You are..."

Looking at the beautiful girl who seemed to be meticulously carved by the gods in the sunlight, a hint of amazement flashed in Karen's eyes.

Although he was used to seeing beauties, even his wife Danielle herself was a famous beauty in the south of the kingdom.

But the girl in front of him indeed had a kind of extraordinary, stunning feeling; even Danielle had to be slightly inferior.

But soon Karen's eyes became calm again.

If he were eighteen and met such a beautiful girl, he might go all out to pursue her, but now, at thirty-two, fearing having to pay the "public grain" every day, he only felt his waist ache.

"I am the Highness's maid, Anliya. My master is already waiting for you, please go to have an audience with him immediately."

The girl's expression was calm, as if the person in front of her was not the lord who held the power of life and death over everyone in the entire territory, but just an ordinary guest coming to visit.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 26 =====

(End of chapter)