The imperial palace’s carriage team starting from the imperial palace was a magnificent sight to behold . The crowds on either side of the road scattered flower petals . Truth be told, the crowd didn’t have a deep impression of Vera . The citizens didn’t view the succession of the throne as a very important event . There just happened to be all sorts of negative criticisms of Queen Vera from the beginning, which left the people, particularly younger people, distrustful of her . After the last attack, where Vera didn’t panic and handled it appropriately, people began to change their opinion of her .

It was safe to a.s.sume the previous criticisms were deliberately fabricated . Plenty of claims previously made about Queen Vera were groundless . She never had the energy to deal with the rumours, but she grew mindful of them to a degree . She, consequently, began to reduce their impact . She also apprehended those who disseminated false rumours, which improved the environment and status quo considerably . For that reason, the citizens were eager to see the Queen .

Despite Queen Vera waving at her citizens with a smile, her attention wasn’t on enjoying the vanity and pride she could derive from them . She was preoccupied with contemplating how to harmonise her relations.h.i.+p with the church . The church was bound to be infuriated with her as a result of her actions at the coronation ceremony . Additionally, if the church gained too much influence, they’d become a threat to her rule . Hence, she considered striking while the iron was hot .

The youngster sped up to reach to close the distance between Queen Vera’s carriage and him . He quietly spoke out to Queen Vera: “Your Majesty, are you worried about something?”

Queen Vera continued waving to the people with a smile as she responded, “As a Queen there is, indeed, too much to handle . Even so, it’s nothing major in comparison to the danger we’re in right now . In saying that, I do need to form a team of tacticians or something similar . The things I’ll need to be busy with in the future will be things I should do as the Queen; therefore, there’s no need to consider it suffering . ”

“That sounds tough, Your Majesty . It is fine, though, as I will be there to protect you . ”

“Shouldn’t you be protecting the four sisters right now, though? Your current job is to protect the sisters . If the four sisters get hurt today, we can forget thinking about the future . ”

“That is true…”

The youngster grumpily retreated back to the side of the horse carriage behind Queen Vera’s . He vigilantly watched the people around . Somebody could charge over at any moment, and it was just as probable for a sniper to fire a shot from the darkness somewhere . Nona poked her head out to wave at the crowd, an action that was dangerous regardless of the tight guard formation . If there were a.s.sa.s.sins, she’d fall first .

Vera pulled Nona by her shoulder and sighed: “If I were you, I’d get back in here . That’s too dangerous, don’t you think? Nona, as your sister, I must remind you that, if there are a.s.sa.s.sins around right now, you’d be the easiest to pick off . You’re essentially asking them to attack you . ”

“What are you talking about? Aren’t there guards? Since Miss Ying and the youngster are here, why do I have to be careful?”

“You’re a bodyguard’s nightmare,” commented Vera, with a sigh .

Liu Yue sat at the window on the other side . She gazed outside with her chin resting on her hand: “This is quite the grand scene . I must admit I’ve never seen such a scene before besides at Hilles City . Dad has never held such an event .   I suppose it would be similar if Dad did hold event similar to this . It sure is nice . ”

Vera shook her head: “Dad won’t do that . Dad doesn’t like these sorts of occasions . I a.s.sume he considers it detrimental to the people and a waste of money . ”

Liu Yue shut the window and faced back to her sisters: “That sounds like Dad . Sister Freya organised all of the events we’ve conducted . I really want to experience it in the North for once . We might feel more invested into it . I must admit that, although there are lots of people and we’re in a foreign country, I’m not happy in the least . How about we have a chat? Let’s talk about… Oh, right, do you remember the youngster’s name?”

Nona , clueless, t.i.tled her head: “The youngster’s name? I don’t think he ever told us . ”

“I don’t recall, either . ” Daisy, too, shook her head even though she had interacted with the youngster a fair bit because she’d ask him to fence with her whenever she was free .

Liu Yue s.h.i.+fted her attention to her eldest sister: “Vera, do you remember?”

Liu Yue thought Vera might remember as the latter had a terrific memory . Unfortunately, Vera shook her head: “I honestly can’t remember . Compared to Dad, his existence is much less significant . He didn’t do anything particularly n.o.ble for us during the last attack, either, so you can’t hold it against me . ”

That was when the youngster looked at the four sisters’ carriage with a helpless smile: “When you’re discussing such an upsetting topic, can you shut the windows so that I don’t hear?”

Nona asked Liu Yue, “So, do you remember, Liu Yue?”

“Mm…”

His name was Larya Polites . He mentioned it when he met her father for the first time . Liu Yue remembered it . Though she was just curious at the time, she never had the chance to address him by his name again . She supported her face in her hand . She glanced over to the youngster, who didn’t care, on his horse . She softly laughed: “I’ve forgotten, as well . What was it again? Something… Something Polites?”

“It’s Larya…”

The youngster sighed then tugged the reins . He refocused his attention on his surroundings . He focused all of his attention on Liu Yue when she spoke . As a bodyguard, he was supposed to focus his attention on his surroundings . He, himself, was surprised he was swayed . He was disappointed with himself, but he was still somewhat happy to know that she remembered his surname .

The carriage slowly made a turn . They prepared to cross a section between two tall buildings, which was also the riskiest part of the route . There were more people on both sides than ideally . If they were caught front and rear in a pincer attack, they’d be in a pinch . So accordingly, the guard team switched their formation . They refocused the majority of the team in the front and rear to ensure that, even if they were caught in a pincer attack, they had sufficient combat power to eliminate the obstacles .

Queen Vera shut the carriage window . She sat back inside . With a smile, she commented, “Oh… This place . How could they attack from here? It’s true it’s an ideal location for an attack, but it’s far too obvious . ”