Two mysterious men entered Duke Otto's mansion through the back door. They all lowered their heads and covered their heads and faces with wide hats. The person in front seemed normal, but the person behind him seemed to have no strength in his steps, as if he was about to fall down at any time.
Duke Otto glanced at them: "Are you 'people from the mountain'?"
The man walking in front nodded and turned his hat over. The face inside surprised Duke Otto: "Norbert? You're not on the mountain, why are you here in person?"
That person was none other than Norbert, the bandit leader who had kidnapped Ella and Gregory.
Norbert did not immediately answer Duke Otto's question, but looked around the room cautiously. Seeing this, Duke Otto said: "Don't worry, there is no one else here. But since you are so careful, you shouldn't come in person. There are wanted notices for you everywhere around here!"
"Prince Otto," Norbert said, "can you turn off the lights and speak?"
"That's fine, it's better to be careful."
Prince Otto went around the room and blew out all the candlesticks on the walls. He picked up the oil lamp on the table, found a place to sit down, and then covered the lampshade, and the whole room suddenly became dark.
Norbert took a step forward. As soon as Duke Otto heard the footsteps, he immediately shouted: "Norbert, don't come any closer. Just stand there and answer my words!"
Norbert knew that Duke Otto was on guard against assassination, and laughed: "Duke Otto, you are too cowardly."
"It's essential to be on guard against others." Duke Otto asked coldly, "Norbert, the matter that was entrusted to you has not been completed for so long. What do you want to do when you come down to see me now?"
Norbert didn't reply for a long time. Just when Duke Otto was suspicious, the man behind Norbert said: "Duke Otto, in order to better complete everything you entrust, we need some rewards."
"Reward? Isn't the gold coin I paid you enough?"
"Compared with Duke Otto's great reputation, this money is certainly not much."
Duke Otto frowned. It was obvious that these bandits were blackmailing him.
"How much do you want?"
"Duke Otto, we don't want money. We came here this time to ask for some other rewards."
Duke Otto's frown deepened: "Other rewards? What do you want?"
"It's nothing valuable. We just want some land. Of course, we will swear on the sword - our loyalty is to you, the rightful ruler of the Duchy of Anglia; as long as we live, your loyalty will be men; when you need us, we will fight your enemies to the bitter end."
"Do you want me to give you a fiefdom and turn you into a noble?" Duke Otto yelled angrily, "Norbert! Figure out your identity!"
"Duke Otto, in order to better protect your reputation, we hope you will consider it carefully."
"Do you think you can threaten me? Norbert, you'd better figure it out for me. You're just a bandit, and I'm a nobleman with Carolingian blood! You want to shake off the things I asked you to do?" Get out? Do you think people will believe you or me? Do you think you will die or I will die?"
"That's really a pity." The man behind Norbert said, "The consul of Alemany sent people up the mountain not long ago to make us nobles. We came first out of loyalty to you, Duke Otto. Looking for you. Since you refuse, then we can only accept the kindness of Archon Alemanni."
"Wait a minute... The Count of Île-de-France sent someone to find you? And he also asked you to become nobles?"
"After all, he is very interested in Duke Otto's affairs."
Duke Otto was slightly surprised and began to mutter to himself: "Has that guy noticed that something is wrong and is he ready to take action..."
But soon he burst into laughter.
"So what? He is interested in my affairs, so just tell him!"
Norbert was a little surprised: "Duke Otto, are you really not afraid that we will expose those things about you?"
"What am I afraid of? Is there anything that can be revealed about me? You want to accuse me? But what evidence do you have? You attacked several villages, what does it have to do with me? The Earl of Île-de-France is at his wits' end, so he pinned his hopes on On top of the confessions of several bandits!”
"Duke Otto, you misunderstood. We don't want to accuse you of attacking the village." The man behind Norbert replied coldly, "We want to accuse you of murdering the daughter of the Earl of Munster."
"The daughter of the Earl of Münster?" Duke Otto was stunned for a moment, "Who is that?"
"Not long ago, we robbed the Earl of Munster's daughter on the road and killed her and several of her followers."
Duke Otto slapped his chair and stood up: "You are so bold!"
"Isn't it Duke Otto who ordered this?"
"Nonsense! When did I ever instruct you to do such a thing?"
"The truth or falsehood of the matter is not important. What is important is whether others are willing to believe it - Duke Otto, you seem to keep saying this." The man behind Norbert laughed, "What do you think? Does the Count of Île-de-France want to believe that you ordered us to murder you?"
Duke Otto was so angry that he was trembling all over: "You guys are such mouthfuls! You said I instigated you. What evidence do you have? What evidence do you have!"
"Of course there is evidence. Because the body of that delicate noble lady has now been buried by us in your official residence."
"You are talking nonsense! My official residence is full of guards. How can you outsiders get in? How can you hide the body in my yard!"
"How can such a thing be accomplished, don't you, Duke Otto, know best?"
Duke Otto's heart skipped a beat. He roared louder to hide his inner fear: "What do you mean? What can I know? I know nothing!"
"Since outsiders can't enter, then just let the guards do this kind of thing. As long as there are high-level Aphrodite guardians, this is not difficult. Ah, by the way, Aphrodite above the natural level Rodite's protector is hard to find. But doesn't Cronus's protection have the effect of changing other people's protection types? Then it will be easy to find the right candidate. Also, as long as you can trick the guard into drinking more beforehand Order a drink, and when he wakes up, he will most likely forget what he did..."
The last paragraph comes from Ella’s baseless imagination. As long as you think about it for a moment, you will find that it is full of loopholes.
Duke Otto keenly discovered the problem. Although the man behind Norbert was chattering, Duke Otto changed his previous panic look and laughed out loud.
