In Britain, the Noble Phantasm: Divine Key

“Isn’t this the obvious thing to do?” Anaen smiled and placed Artoria’s arm in the crook of his arm.

Artoria lowered her head slightly, a sweet feeling rising in her heart.

But then she suddenly remembered Guinevere's figure, and unconsciously looked down at it, pursed her lips, and a hint of frustration appeared in her blue eyes.

"Huh? You are... Lily!?" Kai was also startled by Artoria's appearance and almost thought he had mistaken her for someone else.

He looked Artoria over carefully and couldn't help but exclaim, "Very good, Lily. Believe me, you are definitely the most dazzling jewel tonight."

"Brother, you're exaggerating," Artoria said, troubled.

"Hehe, I'm not joking." Kai chuckled and climbed into the carriage. "Alright, hurry up and get on, the banquet is about to begin."

Anaen first helped Artoria up the carriage by the arm, and then he climbed up himself.

"drive!"

With a flick of his whip, Kai sent the carriage fading into the distance along the wide street amidst a series of crisp thuds.

......

......

Inside the magnificent palace, dozens of richly dressed nobles were gathered in the hall, forming small circles and chatting amongst themselves.

These people were all seasoned veterans who attended hundreds of banquets every year, and they were already extremely familiar with such scenes. However, today's banquet gave them a slightly different feeling.

"Gentlemen, I don't know if you've noticed, but almost everyone here today is a nobleman of earldom or higher," a marquis said with a smile, holding a glass of red wine.

The others exchanged glances and smiled knowingly at each other.

With their keen senses, how could they not have noticed this?

Generally speaking, so many nobles are only invited when the host needs to announce something very important.

This aroused the curiosity of many people: what exactly did this princess want to do by making such a grand spectacle?

Chapter Sixty-Three: Morgan, what does this mean?

An exquisite and luxurious carriage drove from afar and eventually came to a stop outside the palace.

The carriage door slowly opened, and Anaen helped Artoria down from the carriage.

"I'll have to trouble you to wait here for a while, Kai," Yanan said to Kai. It was the rule of the banquet that guests could not bring anyone other than their female companions.

"It's alright, teachers, you can go ahead without worry. If anything happens, I'll rush in immediately," Kai said.

Anan smiled helplessly, led Artoria forward, handed the invitation to the guard at the door, and then stepped onto the red carpet and entered the palace.

Bright magic lamps hung from the palace ceiling, and the luxurious and elegant decorations were no less than those of the royal palace. Exquisite delicacies were everywhere, and the air was filled with tempting aromas. Well-dressed nobles chatted in small groups, and the atmosphere of high society was everywhere.

"Ugh, there are so many people..." Artoria's body tensed up, making her appear even more restrained.

In fact, she had already attended a large banquet with hundreds of people before when she was in Lucanmons. However, those banquets were more like a carnival and celebration, just like a regular family dinner. There were no rules at all, and even the Duke of Lucan put aside his status and warmly mingled with everyone.

But this party is clearly different. The people gathered here are mostly Camelot's top nobles, at least counts. Naturally, Artoria feels very uncomfortable in front of these people.

In such a setting, any mistake will be magnified infinitely.

Artoria had never attended a banquet of this caliber before, and her biggest worry was that she might do something inappropriate that would embarrass her teacher in front of these nobles.

In that case, she would truly feel ashamed.

“Relax, Lily. When you inherit the throne, you’ll be facing situations like this all the time,” Yanan chuckled.

"Yes, my king!" Although she said that, Artoria held Anahn's arms even tighter.

There was nothing Yanan could do about it. At this moment, Artoria was like a newcomer attending a company annual meeting for the first time, in a state of extreme nervousness. She could only wait for herself to gradually adapt to the occasion before she could relax.

At this moment, he could only be thankful that he also had the blood of a dragon in his veins; otherwise, if Artoria had been holding him like this, his hand would have been ruined.

“How boring. It’s just a bunch of people eating and drinking together,” Nidhogg muttered. “The gods used to like to hold banquets when they had something to do. Even when Thor got drunk and started smashing things with his hammer, those guys still enjoyed it. I really don’t understand what the point is.”

"The significance of a banquet lies not in the eating and drinking, but in a means of socializing," Yanan said calmly.

“I don’t think these uncivilized monkeys have anything worth associating with,” Nidhogg said dismissively.

Yanan shook his head helplessly. Although Nidhogg's views on humans had changed a lot over this period of time, it was only limited to those around him, such as the Knights, Artoria, Lancelot, and others.

As for the others, in her eyes they were no different from uncivilized monkeys.

At this moment, the other nobles suddenly noticed that two unfamiliar faces seemed to have entered the banquet. However, when they noticed the silver armor and the distinctive black hair and eyes, a strong look of astonishment appeared in their eyes.

"Huh? That's... Arthur!?"

"No way, Morgan actually invited him too?"

"What exactly does Morgan mean by this?"

Many nobles frowned slightly, a sense of unease creeping into their hearts.

Morgan's ambition for the throne is common knowledge, and at this time she actually invited the new king as well. If you say there's nothing fishy going on, no one would believe it even if you beat them to death!

Fortunately, Camelot had Merlin's binding magic array, otherwise they might already be considering leaving early.

Given Morgan's crazy personality, who knows what she might do!

However, some nobles secretly cheered, believing that as long as Morgan and the new king fought, the latter's chances of ascending the throne would increase many times over!

After all, Morgan is the eldest daughter of the late king and the successor of the "Island Power." If she is determined to cause trouble, even the new king will have a huge headache.

If we add Feuerius, who has absolute power, then it will almost completely eliminate any possibility of the other party ascending the throne!

Thinking of this, a delighted smile involuntarily appeared on their lips. If it weren't for the inappropriate occasion, they would have burst into laughter.

Yanan took in everyone's expressions, a meaningful smile curving his lips, and walked forward with Artoria as if nothing had happened.

"I really didn't expect it, Your Majesty, that you would actually attend this banquet."

A tall man in a tuxedo walked over, accompanied by a melancholic-looking red-haired man.

"This is a great opportunity for me to expand my network. If I were to give it up, wouldn't I be a fool? What do you say, Duke Marco?" Yanan said with a smile.

Duke Marco was slightly taken aback, then laughed loudly: "As expected of His Majesty, a man who can lead three hundred cavalrymen to charge into an army of eight thousand should indeed have such extraordinary courage."

Arnan's eyes narrowed slightly. He had initially announced that there were 300 cavalry against 20,000 troops, but the Duke of Cornwall had actually mentioned 8,000.

This indicates that the other side has basically grasped the truth about the Battle of the Great Plains.

"Old fox..." he cursed inwardly, but maintained a calm smile on his face: "You flatter me."

Although Duke Marco appeared to be a bold and unrestrained man, he was actually quite shrewd. He deliberately mentioned eight thousand to see how Anan would react.

To his surprise, Yanan remained completely calm.

This made him let out a long sigh in his heart, feeling both sad and happy.

The sadness stemmed from the pressure Yanan's maturity and composure. As the saying goes, serving a ruler is like serving a tiger; for a subject like him, a monarch who never showed his emotions was a disaster.

He was happy because he had placed his bet on Yanan from the very beginning. The higher the quality Yanan showed, the greater the chance of him ascending the throne, and the more benefits he would receive in the future.

“By the way, I haven’t yet thanked you for sending Tristan to escort me, Duke Marco,” Yanan said with a smile.

"It's nothing," Duke Marco said with a hearty wave of his hand.

“How could this be a small matter?” Yanan laughed. “I have recently discovered a silver mine in Ghana, but the exact reserves have not yet been determined. I wonder if Duke Marco would be interested?”

Duke Marco narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze lingering on Yanan's face for a moment, before a smile appeared on his old face: "Your Majesty is truly generous."

“There are gains and losses, and if you can’t give anything, you can’t get anything,” Yanan said.

"Haha!" Duke Marco laughed twice and nodded in satisfaction. "In that case, I shall accept the offer."

Even for a nobleman like him, the value of a silver mine was certainly "precious," but what truly satisfied him was the attitude shown by Yanan.

Understanding how to exchange benefits and not being stingy with selfishness are very important qualities for a monarch.

To gain a foothold in this upper class and win the support of others, you must offer tangible benefits; otherwise, no one will pay any attention to you, no matter how eloquently you speak.

There are no permanent friends, only permanent interests. This is a universal truth, regardless of the era.

“Excuse me, Duke Marco, may I ask you a question?” Artoria suddenly spoke up.

“Of course, beautiful lady, it is a gentleman’s duty to help a young woman with her questions,” Duke Marco said with a smile.

"Um, I don't understand, why was Tristan able to come in with you?" Artoria asked, puzzled. "Wasn't it said that each invitee could only bring one female companion to the party?"

Duke Marco was slightly taken aback, then burst into laughter: "Young lady, each invitee may indeed only bring one companion, but there is no restriction that it must be a female companion. You must have heard this from those who have never attended a banquet before, haha, I sometimes hear such things too."

"Is...is that so?" Artoria forced a stiff smile. "I'm sorry, I was just ignorant."

Merlin, you bastard!!

She gritted her teeth inwardly, deciding that when she got back, she would use Excalibur to tear Merlin to pieces!

Then, through Duke Marco's introduction, Anan met many other great nobles, and with other nobles constantly joining him, the number of nobles surrounding him reached almost two-fifths of all the nobles present, making him the focus of the entire event.

The other nobles watched this scene with some looking slightly hesitant, while others grew even paler.

A nobleman with a slightly wealthy appearance stood in the corner, looking at Anan, who was surrounded by the crowd, his face ashen.

He is the Earl of Hughes, the elder brother of the finance minister. Over the past ten years, the two brothers have secretly amassed countless riches by taking advantage of their positions. If this were discovered, beheading would be the least of their worries!

A few days ago, he heard that a new king had appeared. Fearing that his scheme would be exposed, he secretly sent assassins to kill the new king, but none of them returned.

Now that the new king has returned to the capital with a great victory, he thought the other side would face many obstacles, but he did not expect that so many nobles would stand on the other side.

Now he could only pray that Morgan le Fay and Feuerius would cause enough trouble for the new king to prevent him from ascending the throne.

Chapter 64 Feather Crossing the Dust + Jizo's Soul 3/62

Anaen chatted with the nobles around him in a harmonious atmosphere. Artoria, who was standing next to him, gradually got used to the atmosphere. Although she still held back and dared not speak, she no longer clung to Anaen's arm as tightly as before.

"I've long heard that His Majesty's Knights are incredibly brave and invincible, each one possessing the courage of ten thousand men. I wonder where His Majesty has recruited so many talented individuals?" a count asked with a smile.

The other nobles all turned their gazes toward him, curious as to where this new king had found such a terrifying legion in just three short months since he first rose to prominence.

Prior to this, they had never heard of the existence of such a legion in Britain.

“Although it sounds a bit boastful, these people were not people I deliberately sought out,” Yanan said with a smile. “After the king selection ceremony, a group of knights did not leave immediately, but stayed in Tyrell, intending to swear allegiance to me. Because their sincerity moved me, I gave them this opportunity.”

Many nobles were suddenly shocked. Did this mean that this knightly order was trained by the new king himself?

Duke Marco's eyes flickered slightly: "I wonder what their strength was like back then?"