Chapter 322：

The welcome ceremony of the expeditionary force continued until the afternoon. Emperor Bartley Griffin rewarded the generals who made great achievements in battle. Some won higher titles, some gained more fiefdoms, and some gained more wealth.

Then everyone returned to the palace together, and Batley set up a feast for all the courtiers and generals.

Along with his mentor and seniors, Kevin once again had a feast. This time it was not the emperor's daily family banquet, but a delicious meal prepared by a famous chef in the imperial capital.

That night, the emperor and his ministers dispersed happily, and it seemed that everyone at the banquet was satisfied.

Kevin drank some wine with the adults, which was a bit irritating for someone like him who doesn't drink often. After returning that night, he went to his room and fell asleep soundly.

Kevin rubbed his sleepy eyes, feeling the discomfort of a ninja hangover, and came to the study of his mentor Aldridge.

The scene inside surprised him. Apart from the teacher Aldridge and the senior Mond, there were three other people—one of them was His Royal Highness the Second Prince Antonio Griffin who returned triumphantly yesterday.

At this time, the prince was dressed in ordinary noble clothes, wrapped in a cloak with a hood, probably in order not to be recognized on the way here.

The other two people stood behind Antonio, a man and a woman. The man was the royal guard Ambolov whom Senior Mond had brought him to see a few days ago. The woman was unknown, but she was very beautiful. She might be a court lady. It's like the first prince I met that day was followed by a female officer.

It looked like they had been chatting in the study for a long time.

Kevin was not prepared at all, and suddenly became nervous, stuttering and not knowing how to start.

Ambolov winked at him as if to see his joke, and Antonio looked him up and down with interest.

"Kevin, come over and say hello to His Royal Highness, you saw him yesterday."

Aldridge finally came to the students to rescue.

Kevin hurriedly bowed to Antonio, "Hello, Your Royal Highness."

Turning to the captain of the guard again: "Master Amborov, hello."

A smile appeared on Antonio's face, which made Kevin feel refreshed immediately.

"You are the teacher's new student, you are indeed very young."

In fact, the prince is only four or five years older than Kevin.

Kevin said shyly, "Thanks to Teacher Aldridge for not giving up."

Antonio came over and patted him on the shoulder, "Study well with the teacher! You are really lucky, Mr. Aldridge has confiscated students for many years."

The prince's actions reminded Kevin of Antonio's father, Emperor Bartley Griffin, and their tone and actions were exactly the same.

Antonio carefully asked about Kevin's recent life and study, and Kevin answered one by one. He felt that today's prince is like a big brother next door, not the awe-inspiring and inviolable look yesterday. It seems that His Highness is not a difficult person to get along with in private life.

"Teacher, look..." Antonio stood up and put on his hood, as if he was about to leave. Amborov and the suspected court lady behind him also stood up.

"Well, it's almost time, let's go there." Aldridge picked up the stick, "Mond, you don't have to go this time, stay at home with Kevin, and entertain me if someone comes."

Kevin understood, it seemed that the teacher was going out with the second prince.

Mond responded: "Good teacher, you all take care."

Kevin followed the senior to send Aldrich and his party out of the gate, and heard Mond talking to himself: "It seems that the teacher is not optimistic about the current situation."

A few minutes later, a carriage left the area of ​​the Bachelor's Tower, and the four people including Antonio were sitting in the carriage.

Ambolov, who was sitting opposite the prince, said, "Your Highness Antonio, do you still insist on your original proposition?"

Antonio didn't respond, but frowned slightly, not knowing what he was thinking.

Aldridge made a gesture of silence: "I'll talk about it later when I get to the place."

Carroll, who was sitting beside him, whispered, "Yes, we should discuss it with all the masters."

The carriage was very fast, and it galloped out of the city wall of the imperial capital, and came to a building along the avenue. The building is also surrounded by a not-so-short city wall, on which there are soldiers patrolling and guarding.

In addition to the city guards stationed in the imperial capital, the Gabela royal family also has a standing military force with a population of no less than 50,000. This is their residence in the imperial capital—City North Camp.

The carriage approached the entrance of the barracks, the coachman showed his token and the guards immediately let it go. They recognized that it was the carriage of the second prince Antonio, and there was nothing wrong with him entering and leaving this place as he served in the army.

When they came to a building in the center of the barracks, the four got out of the carriage, and the young red-haired general—Siegfried Ephesus was already standing there waiting for them. There are already many sentry posts in the barracks, but this place is even more heavily guarded.

"His Royal Highness Antonio, Lord Aldrich, everyone has already arrived." Ziegfei said after saluting to the prince.

Antonio nodded: "Let's go in." He walked towards the building followed by others.

They came to an open conference room with a huge round table, and 9 people were already sitting around the table. They were all dressed in black robes, and when they saw the prince and his party coming in, they all got up and saluted.

Antonio looked around the crowd, "Only nine members of the group of ten came? Master Barnett still hasn't come back?"

One of the elders among the nine replied, "Forgive me, Your Highness. Barnett has not returned from his trip to Northwest Bay."

Antonio walked to the main seat and sat down. Aldrich, Siegfried, and Ambolov also sat down on either side of him, and Carol stood behind him.

The prince continued to ask: "I remember he went to the Northwest Gulf last year."

The same old man replied: "Yes, I came back once during His Highness's expedition, but left again a few days later."

"What? Didn't the original plan go well?"

The old man said: "It seems so. The latest news is that the lords there were divided into two factions and fought. Unfortunately, the faction supported by Barnett lost. Fortunately, we retreated safely. As for Barnett himself, we haven't got his whereabouts yet. As you know, Your Highness, Barnett has always been proud of himself and will never give up if he fails to achieve his goals. Moreover, he personally planned the plan for the Northwest Gulf, and he must be lurking somewhere. A place to wait for the next opportunity. And..."

Speaking of this, the old man coughed in embarrassment, "He has always been a loner, and he doesn't know the other members of the ten-member group when he does anything, and occasionally he doesn't contact us for several months."

Antonio nodded, he knew that Barnett was a "lone wolf".