Bai Lan looked at the familiar restaurant in front of her, feeling like she was retreating.
It's not that he's not hungry, it's not that he doesn't want to come. On the contrary, he has to stay in this restaurant all day today. It was just some small "mistakes" in the past that made it difficult for him to suppress the feeling of withdrawal in his heart.
"Licht, should I go in?"
Troubled and confused, Bai Lan turned to the people around her for help.
"What are you talking about? Master and the others are about to go in."
Looking at Bailan's face, Licht naturally understood why he was distressed. However, she did not answer directly, but gave a metaphorical reminder. She addressed Bai Lan with more respect than usual.
"Don't mention him!"
It was okay that Licht didn't mention "Master", but when he mentioned it, Bai Lan became annoyed.
The master Licht mentioned was his father.
It's not that there is any deep hatred between him and his father, but part of the predicament he encountered is due to his father, or Bai Lan's family background.
Bai Lan is only fourteen years old and is the leader of the number one orchestra in the royal capital. Although his own talent plays a large role in this, it is unrealistic to say that it is just that - there are many people in the world who are not recognized for their talents. It does not mean that you will be able to achieve corresponding achievements because of your ability, not to mention Bai Lan is still very young.
Another part of the reason is Bai Lan’s origin:
Bailan's surname is Willett. His father, Duke Willett, is now the chief general of the kingdom. His power in the army is second only to King Carion and his first heir. Moreover, this title is hereditary. !
According to the kingdom's historical records, the ancestors of the Willett family and the first king of the kingdom co-founded this country. The two were brothers and sisters, so the descendants, including Bai Lan's father, could enjoy such high honors from generation to generation.
Maybe there really is a genetic factor. Even though the members of Willit's family can enjoy the glory and wealth that ordinary people can't touch in their entire life without much effort, they still don't indulge in it. The heads of each generation are the kingdom's military and military personnel. The leader in the field of combat skills has considerable prestige in the army.
Logically speaking, every ruler should not be able to tolerate such a family?
This has to mention the family motto of the Willett family.
There are many specific regulations, so I won’t go into details one by one. You only need to take a look at one of the rare and noble ones:
Restraint is a virtue...
Willit's family motto ensures the personal qualities and cognition of every member of the family. Coupled with their frequent marriages to the royal family, this family has endured for a long time.
Ellens arranged for Ryan to join the army. In addition to tempering his temperament, he also wanted his son to make friends with members of the Willett family. Ellens came here like this back then, so he was able to get to his current position smoothly.
The topic turned back to Bai Lan. He was a special case of the Willit family.
Although she also has considerable talents in combat skills and strategy, Bai Lan has been more fond of dancing and music since she was a child, and has invested a lot of energy in this area. She even chose Licht, who is extremely talented in dancing, as her daughter. He is his personal attendant and treats her as a teacher and a sister.
Bai Lan's unconventional behavior will naturally be noticed by his father, Duke Willett. Affected by the overall environment of the royal capital, although Duke Willett, a "warrior", was dissatisfied with this, he was not too prejudiced. Bai Lan is the youngest child in the family, and his two older brothers are equally talented, so in the end, he just let Bai Lan do it on his own.
However, Duke Willett didn't show much favor to Bai Lan. After secretly helping him establish an orchestra, he never took care of his youngest son, who even moved out of the mansion in order to better learn music and dance. Bai Lan, who was rebellious at a young age, would not mention her life experience lightly from now on.
As time went by, only people in the aristocratic circle remembered Bai Lan's origins, while more people knew Bai Lan as the leader of the orchestra.
This is proof of Bai Lan's hard work, and also where his current distress lies.
When she received the invitation to the engagement party, Bai Lan was not too surprised. Instead, she had thoughts like "It's just as I expected" and was happy that An and Miku could be together.
However, before he could be happy for long, Duke Willett sent someone over and asked him to attend an extremely important banquet.
Bai Lan didn't react at the first moment. After questioning, he learned that it was also the engagement party that his father was planning to take him to.
Duke Willett attached great importance to this. Not only did he bring his eldest son with him, he also sent someone to call back his younger son who was quite accomplished in music and dancing, so that he could have more topics to talk about.
This was not the first time Bai Lan had encountered something like this. Although she was a little unhappy about how her father looked down on her, Bai Lan was never ambiguous on important matters. Just like the last celebration ball held in the palace, the reason why he disappeared from the sight of the theater troupe and others was because he went to socialize with Duke Willett.
But this time it was not that simple. He and his father received invitations at the same time!
To be honest, at An and Miku's engagement party, Bai Lan hoped that she could go to congratulate them as the band leader and their friend. But if he went to the banquet with his father, he would be identified as the youngest son of Duke Willet.
There is actually no conflict between these two identities, but the bad thing is that Bai Lan never mentioned it to the theater troupe.
'If I'm discovered at this moment, will they think I'm hiding it from them on purpose? '
No matter what, Bai Lan was in a difficult situation, and the result was an escape mentality.
"Licht, how about we go back?" Bai Lan said in a self-deprecating tone.
"It's already here, why do you still say that? Didn't you agree before that you would send blessings in person?" Licht's tone seemed to be coaxing a child, "Look, the eldest young master is waving to you. If you don't Go ahead, I’m afraid the master will be angry.”
"Normally, aren't you supposed to comfort me? Why is it in this tone?"
Bai Lan glanced at Licht in annoyance.
The smile on Licht's face continued: "Because you are just complaining, the decision has been made from the beginning, right?"
"Huh-huh, let's go."
Without dwelling on the topic, Bai Lan stepped forward and quickly approached his father. His eldest brother winked at him, and Bai Lan made a face in return. Then he put on the demeanor that a son of Duke Willit should have, and followed his father side by side with his eldest brother.
Entering the restaurant, Bai Lan first saw An and Miku standing at the stairs.
An was talking to a relatively young man and woman in front of him. When he noticed Bai Lan and his group walking in, An waved and the man and woman ran upstairs as if they were relieved.
When they ran upstairs, An withdrew her gaze and looked this way.
"Welcome, it must be..." An took a few steps forward and quickly glanced at the invitation handed to the waiter in the restaurant by the servant, "Duke Willett, I have long admired you."
While speaking, An glanced behind Duke Willett, and the uneasy Bai Lan happened to meet his eyes.
'What's wrong, he will definitely ask me why I'm following you! After my father answered, they were bound to misunderstand! '
Bai Lan wanted to cry but had no tears, and was extremely anxious.
However, the next second, An calmly withdrew his gaze, did not ask any questions, chatted normally with Duke Willit for a while, and then invited them upstairs. During this period, he didn't even have extra eye contact with Bai Lan. The same goes for Miku.
This made Bai Lan even more frustrated, thinking that they must be angry to behave like this.
He excused himself to go to the bathroom and waited until his father and eldest brother went upstairs first, then ran to An and Miku.
"I, I didn't mean to hide it..."
Bai Lan's first words made An and Miku stunned at the same time.
Miku first realized what Bai Lan was talking about, and immediately couldn't laugh or cry: "Are you talking about your identity? Teacher Hutto has already told us."
"ah?"
Bai Lan froze in place for a moment. She couldn't even remember how she was pulled upstairs by Lixi.
"Are you sure they don't have any aristocratic background?"
Duke Willett's question brought Bailan back to her senses. This question is not for Bai Lan, but more like an unconscious question amid doubts. Bai Lan's eldest brother was also lost in thought.
Bai Lan asked strangely: "Father, why do you say that?"
"His etiquette is more decent than that of members of the royal family. It doesn't look like he developed it overnight. If it is not created by a specific environment, it would be difficult to have such a temperament." Duke Willett replied while thinking, "Is it because of the rumors from outside? Rumors about..."
Bai Lan felt uncomfortable with his father's tone, so he interrupted: "What does this mean?"
"...No, it's nothing." Duke Willett put the question behind him and said to the people around him, "Let's enjoy tonight's banquet first."
The rumor was so ridiculous that Duke Willett himself didn't believe it, which made him not want to mention it in front of his family.
'With such a big age difference, how can they be the same person! '
