Chapter 183: Princess Pavetta and the price problem

With the messenger's voice falling, a strong Skellige man with a dark face, luxurious clothing, and a hooked nose walked into the banquet hall first.

This Skellige man who looked like a sailor was the current King of the Skellige Islands, King Eist Tuirseach.

Following him were several young people in their twenties or thirties, all children from major Skellige lord families. Geralt saw Dandelion following behind this group at a glance.

After entering the banquet hall, this dark-skinned King led the young people under his command and bowed quite politely to the beautiful Queen who was talking to the two witchers.

And Queen Calanthe, who had just had a fierce expression and seemed to want to get angry, saw this King enter the banquet hall, so she couldn't care about bargaining with the two witchers anymore, pointed to the two seats beside her, and said in a low voice with gritted teeth:

"Sit over, witcher, we will talk about our employment problem later."

Geralt heard this, and to avoid Geralt of Rivia being too stubborn, he immediately pulled him to sit in the two seats beside the Queen.

However, in order not to affect the development of this matter related to Geralt of Rivia's destiny, he still left the position adjacent to the Queen to Geralt of Rivia, preparing to be a spectator who could check for omissions and fill in the gaps at any time.

Soon, King Eist Tuirseach came to Queen Calanthe. He first bowed quite politely to the beautiful Queen with the Skellige young people behind him, and then his gaze fell involuntarily on Geralt of Rivia and Geralt sitting beside the Queen.

This King from Skellige had started pursuing Queen Calanthe many years ago. The two had a close relationship and were friends for many years. The Kingdom of Cintra could have such a strong strength, and their important ally, the Skellige Islands, contributed a lot.

Looking at Geralt of Rivia sitting close to the woman he liked, King Eist had a straight temper of Skellige tradition and asked directly:

"Calanthe, who is this white-haired noble beside you? Why don't I know him?"

And because this matter was related to her daughter's destiny, Calanthe didn't want to involve too many people, nor did she want to offend her ally because of the marriage contract set by her dead husband for her daughter in advance, so she just smiled reluctantly, looked at King Eist with soft eyes, and said:

"This is Ravix of Fourhorn, he is a distinguished guest I invited."

Seeing that King Eist's expression was a bit wrong, Calanthe immediately changed the subject and said softly:

"Hard journey, Eist. Are these the Skellige talents who are ready to propose marriage following behind you?"

King Eist looked at Geralt of Rivia with a slightly provocative gaze, as if a male bear initiating a challenge to compete for a mate. And Geralt of Rivia's companion, Geralt, who looked handsome and like a teenager, was also regarded by him as a suitor for the princess, and he didn't pay too much attention to it.

Facing the Queen's question, King Eist's expression was slightly proud and said:

"Yes, Calanthe, these young guys behind me are all brave and good at fighting, all of them are the best sailors and captains. In order to marry Princess Pavetta, they are not afraid to challenge anyone."

With King Eist's introduction, the Skellige young people behind him all bowed to Queen Calanthe quite respectfully, and then bravely boasted about their past achievements to the Queen, hoping to get Calanthe's favor and marry the Princess of Cintra.

And the most conspicuous one among them, named Crach an Craite, was strong and powerful, with red hair, and had the title of bravery of the Sea Boar. He was the nephew of the current King Eist and the heir to the Tuirseach clan. At the same time, he was also the person most qualified to become a marriage object among this batch of Skellige young people.

The young people who came to participate in this betrothal banquet all knew very clearly that Princess Pavetta's betrothal banquet this time, in addition to choosing a qualified husband for the princess, the most important reason was to win over allies and consolidate the status of the Kingdom of Cintra through political marriage.

And these young people from Skellige were the best choices.

However, although Skellige was the firmest ally of Cintra, it was not the only choice. After these young people finished introducing themselves, many nobles from other places soon arrived in the banquet hall.

For example, Prince Windham of Aedirn, the three sons of the great noble Lord Strepp, and other children of nobles from Cintra's vassal states, they were all competitors in this princess selection meeting.

For these nobles of vassal states, if they could marry the Princess of Cintra and ascend to the throne of Cintra, it would be like serfs turning over to sing, instantly turning over to become masters.

And with the arrival of these people, the banquet officially began. King Eist had no time to ask about Geralt of Rivia's identity and could only take the young people of the Skellige Islands back to their seats and start enjoying the banquet.

With the start of the banquet, Dandelion immediately became excited. As a bard, what he liked most was this feeling of being surrounded by various nobles.

As long as he could perform beautiful poems that left a deep impression on people in such occasions, he could quickly spread his reputation and increase his popularity.

However, this time, he met several peers, two bards named Dugg and Dreg Podu, who also participated in this banquet. One used a flute and the other used a harmonica. The songs they performed were also quite beautiful, and they cooperated with each other, which was better than the monotonous lute, making the nobles participating in this banquet very like it.

And just when Dandelion wanted to use his poetry to recover a game, a baron named Aelbert stood up. This baron had a nickname called "Gogota." He was a vassal of the Cintra royal family and was very good at imitating the calls of various animals. With flexible eloquence, he soon made everyone at the banquet laugh out loud through his performance.

When the banquet guests were attracted by the performances of the bards, Queen Calanthe was still talking to Geralt of Rivia, and the content of the conversation was probably still whether the witcher should act according to the King's orders.

Unfortunately, although Queen Calanthe was both beautiful and majestic, she was facing the stubborn Geralt of Rivia. The famous White Wolf firmly believed that he was not an assassin, nor a mercenary, and it was impossible to make him submit to nobles by relying on money and power.

And Queen Calanthe believed that she was the employer who hired the witcher, and everything should be based on the employer's interests, and the so-called witcher principles did not exist at all. Any principle had a price, and the reason why they chose not to do it was just because the price given by the employer was not enough.

Geralt listened from the side and felt it was quite interesting.

Unfortunately, the two discussed until the end, and Queen Calanthe still won. She used a combination of threats and pleas to make Geralt of Rivia promise that in this banquet, he must ensure that Cintra and Skellige could successfully form an alliance, rather than being destroyed by some unexpected events.

After all, whether for Queen Calanthe or the citizens of the Kingdom of Cintra, only by maintaining a close alliance with the Skellige Islands could they ensure their status and power in the Northern Kingdoms and prevent their country from falling into war and turmoil due to weakened strength.

And facing this kind of problem related to people's safety, our White Wolf Geralt of Rivia still chose to submit.

Regarding this, Geralt didn't have too many views. The Master-level task he received from Geralt of Rivia was not to ensure anyone's safety or kill anyone, but just to assist Geralt of Rivia in letting this banquet proceed smoothly.

This was a very vague but easy-to-complete task. In short, as long as Geralt of Rivia was satisfied with Geralt's performance after the banquet ended, his task would be completed.

And with the end of the conversation between Geralt of Rivia and Queen Calanthe, the atmosphere of the banquet gradually reached a climax.

The nobles who had drunk quite a lot of wine, the baron nicknamed "Gogota," suddenly stood out from his seat and started to boo Queen Calanthe, saying:

"Respected Queen Majesty, the banquet has been held for a while, should we invite the protagonist of this banquet, our beautiful Pavetta, to appear?"

"For the beauty of the Princess of Cintra, we have all heard of it for a long time."

With the speech of this baron, whether it was the straightforward Skellige nobles or those princes of vassal states, all followed suit. After all, although attending the banquet was interesting, their biggest purpose this time was to obtain Princess Pavetta's favor and become the King of Cintra. No one was not looking forward to seeing this young and beautiful princess.

Facing the booing of everyone at the banquet, Queen Calanthe first glared at the leading Baron Gogota, then had to stand up to maintain order, and shouted to the palace steward behind her:

"Go and invite Princess Pavetta out, tell her that the guests have been waiting anxiously."

Then, Queen Calanthe smiled and said to the guests at the banquet:

"Distinguished guests, please don't be anxious, my daughter is relatively shy. In order to face all the excellent suitors, she hopes to face everyone with the most perfect posture, please wait a moment."

It can only be said that it is worthy of being Queen Calanthe who has seen the world. Just a few words calmed everyone's emotions, and her loyal pursuer, King Eist, also immediately stopped the booing of the Skellige young people, and the scene suddenly returned to the joy just now.

After a few minutes, under the loud announcement of the palace steward, the entire banquet hall became quiet. All the guests looked at the stairs, and the expectation in their eyes seemed to be visible.

Soon, a beautiful girl walked down the stairs with the help of a maid.

Light gray long hair was braided into two braids and hung on her waist. She wore a silver-blue long dress with a gold chain belt. Her skin was white, her figure was exquisite, and her face was extremely beautiful. Under everyone's gaze, there was even a slight blush on her cheeks.

As soon as this Princess Pavetta appeared, it immediately made everyone present couldn't help but sigh, what a beautiful princess.

And under Queen Calanthe's special arrangement, the maids surrounded the princess and walked down the stairs, sitting at an empty seat between Dugg and Eist, which was a table closest to the Skellige young people at the position below the throne.

Obviously, in the heart of this Queen Calanthe, she also hoped that her daughter could choose the Skellige young people for marriage.

Seeing everyone's eyes condensed on her beautiful daughter, Queen Calanthe said to Geralt of Rivia with some pride:

"I must reiterate that your task this time is to ensure that Cintra and Skellige form an alliance, exclude all difficulties, and achieve this goal. This is for the welfare of all the citizens of Cintra."

Geralt of Rivia was silent for a few seconds, then looked at the Queen who had always shown strength, and asked back:

"Ensure these? Is it possible that your own will, Queen, is not enough to ensure the smooth progress of this matter?"

Queen Calanthe heard this, her expression was very complex, and she said in a not-so-confident voice:

"The situation may change. By then, even if it is my will, it may not be able to guarantee the smooth progress of things."

Geralt of Rivia heard this and was immediately surprised. You know, currently, in the entire Kingdom of Cintra, Queen Calanthe's order is absolute. Even the noble council cannot fight against the prestige of this Queen.

So he asked curiously:

"Your Majesty the Queen, what exactly can be stronger than your will?"

Hearing Geralt of Rivia's question, the matter reached a critical juncture, and Queen Calanthe no longer concealed it. She looked at Geralt of Rivia, then looked at Geralt who had been silent, just drinking and eating, and then spat out a word with a complex expression.

"Destiny."

After hearing this word, Geralt of Rivia couldn't help but laugh. He didn't expect to hear this word from the Queen's mouth.

Fighting against destiny that was stronger than the royal will, this commission seemed impossible to complete. As a Child of Destiny born because of destiny, Geralt of Rivia respected destiny more than anyone else, and even feared destiny somewhat.

And Queen Calanthe saw that Geralt of Rivia also had a complex expression, immediately restrained her expression, pretended to be indifferent, and said:

"It is precisely because this task is extremely difficult that I invited you, the famous White Wolf Geralt of Rivia, to solve this problem from far away."

"You should know my reputation. As long as you can help me complete this commission, any of your requirements can be satisfied."

Geralt of Rivia heard this and considered for a long time, then looked at Geralt beside him. If he was not confident enough alone, but listening to Yennefer's suggestion, he called Geralt, this powerful junior, then with the strength of the two of them, as long as it was not a particularly outrageous problem, they should be able to solve it.

Thus, Geralt of Rivia looked at Queen Calanthe and nodded, agreeing to fight against the so-called destiny with her and ensure the smooth alliance between Cintra and Skellige.

However, perhaps the two of them didn't feel it, but the conversation between the Queen and Geralt of Rivia had been long enough. Many nobles had long noticed this side and were intentionally or unintentionally looking at them, even whispering and discussing the relationship between the Queen and Geralt of Rivia.

This made King Eist, who had always been pursuing Queen Calanthe, even angry. However, hindered by Princess Pavetta sitting beside him, he endured his anger and didn't break out, but those fierce eyes kept staring at Geralt of Rivia sitting beside the Queen, as if he might stand up and teach him a lesson at any time.

However, with the climax of the banquet atmosphere, people chatted more and more speculatively, drinking fine wine, eating delicious food, bards sang their poems loudly, musicians played cheerful songs, Skellige young people drank happily, sang songs that were not in tune, and talked about various interesting things that happened when they robbed other countries.

And Geralt saw that Geralt of Rivia and Queen Calanthe had reached a consensus, so he crossed Geralt of Rivia and asked the Queen softly:

"Your Majesty the Queen, you can let Geralt of Rivia stand by at any time here. Why don't you let me go to Princess Pavetta to protect her safety."

Queen Calanthe heard this and frowned, but considering her daughter's situation, she soon made a decision and said to Geralt:

"Your name is Geralt, right, young man."

"Go, protect my daughter well, and don't let suspicious people approach her." ===== CHAPTER 184 =====

"Go, protect my daughter well, and do not let any suspicious people get near her."