5 Chapter 5: "Golden Lion Garden" and "Sun Mountain" (Seeking Chase Reading)

In the Frostwinter calendar year of 492 in August, in the Frostwinter Kingdom, every August is also known as the Month of Harvest, symbolizing the season of plenty.

By this time, the scorching weather would gradually fade away.

The crimson sky turned a faint red, with occasional breezes blowing.

At this moment, Milton Cheney was being assisted by maids to dress formally.

Underneath, he wore a long-sleeved robe that was wrapped around his arms and extended to his ankles, a regal garment that was the standard dress for the nobility of the Frostwinter Kingdom.

On the outside, he wore a long men's coat.

This coat, also known as a 'Roman Shirt', was made of extremely valuable silk.

Apart from deflecting sunlight, the long coat also played a role in preventing a rise in the temperature of the armor due to direct sunlight.

Thus, in wartime, the long coat would be worn over the armor.

Embroidered on the surface of the long coat was the golden lion crest representing the Wesley Family, the complex and magnificent crest added an unusual temperament to Milton Cheney.

Around the waist of the long coat was a sword belt, an extension of the coat designed for hanging a long sword.

Naturally, a silvery-white knight's sword hung by Milton Cheney's waist.

The knight's sword was a standard double-edged sword without a scabbard, with a total length of about ninety centimeters.

His shoes were nothing special, just like usual, Milton was wearing a pair of pointed shoes.

Pointed shoes refer to shoes with pointed tips.

With the assistance of the maid, Milton had his formal attire on.

Representing the face of the Wesley family on this Hunting Day, he naturally could not dress as casually as he always did.

Milton in formal attire was less casual than usual but emanated an aura of authority.

Seeing the maid blushing and withdrawing, Milton also got up and walked out.

William had been waiting for Milton outside the estate.

Unlike Milton's luxurious attire, William wore light armor, and a heavy sword hung from his waist.

Seeing Milton coming out, William shifted his gaze onto him, a hint of surprise and absentmindedness in his eyes.

"He's so similar, just like the old master from back then."

William's absentmindedness was just a moment, and he quickly recovered.

For just a moment, he seemed to see, in Milton, Earl Arthur from thirty years ago.

Dressed the same way, except back then, he was just a small guardsman following behind Earl Arthur.

"Please follow me, Young Master Vernon."

William unconsciously changed his form of address, then turned around and walked ahead of Milton.

The noble's horse-drawn carriage was outside the grand estate, quite a distance from the small estate where Milton resided.

And their destination, Sun Mountain, was not too far from here; it was less than a day's journey on a horse-drawn carriage along the main road.

Milton followed behind William with a relaxed expression.

Outside the estate was the Golden Lion Garden of the Wesley Family, and beyond that was the place where the carriage was parked.

Passing by the Golden Lion Garden, Milton looked around.

In Milton's memory, this place was not originally a garden.

This garden was built by his father Earl Arthur specifically for Milton's mother, Lando Fia.

But since the passing of Milton's mother Lando, it had rarely been visited by anyone other than gardeners and maids.

The Golden Lion Garden could definitely be considered a grand garden, surrounded by hundreds of marble columns forming a corridor, with two protruding square pavilions at the eastern and western ends, all extremely luxurious and exquisite.

Each marble column was adorned with fine hollow carvings.

Upon a closer look, it could be noticed that each carving was different from the other.

The garden was divided into four equal parts by a cross-shaped canal, at the center of which was a lion fountain, with twelve marble lions carved around the circular marble water pan.

The stone lions were majestic and commanding.

The stone lions were all personally carved with a sword by a Grand Knight.

The garden had both herb and vegetable gardens.

Some ornamental plants were pruned by the gardeners into the symbol of the golden lion emblem, and the garden was also home to a large assortment of flowers and trees, combining to create a vivid display of colors.

Even though he had quite a few memories of this garden, seeing it in person still left Milton Cheney somewhat awestruck.

Noticeably, Milton had slowed his steps, which prompted William to look over his way.

Seeing the expression in Milton's eyes, William mistakenly assumed that he was moved to melancholic reminiscence by the scenery, and undoubtedly thought of his deceased mother. He could only sigh in his heart.

For as long as William could remember, Miss Lander, Vernon's mother, had always doted extravagantly on her son.

She took care of him personally in nearly all matters, and one of the biggest reasons that Young Master Vernon preferred not to be attended to by the maids and servants was due to his late mother.

So, William subconsciously slowed his pace and did not intrude on Milton's musings.

Time passed, and even though William deliberately slowed down, they continued at a brisk pace and soon reached the spot where the carriage was parked.

Milton climbed into the carriage emblazoned with the golden lion emblem whilst William mounted his horse.

Most of the horses used to pull the Wesley family's carriage were Frostwinter Warhorses.

These horses were extremely swift and possessed exceptional stamina, easily capable of covering thousands of miles in a day.

"Whack!"

William cracked his whip, and the carriage set off.

Nobiliary carriages are exceedingly smooth, especially since they were traveling on well-kept roads. Milton, seated inside the carriage, couldn't even feel any bumps.

Though their pace was swift, Milton and William would likely reach the Sun Mountain range by dawn the following day.

The day of the hunt was simply the start of the event, being a few days late was also acceptable.

A banquet would be held before the hunt began, precisely at noon the next day, followed by a ball in the evening. They had more than enough time to make these events.

The official hunting competition would begin within the fifteen days after the start of the hunting day.

Therefore, Milton would have to leave the Far East Territory for at least those 15 days.

But with William as his personal guard, there was no need for him to worry about his security.

Within the Kingdom, a Grand Knight like William already ranked amongst the strongest individuals.

Apart from the rumored Epic Knights and wizards, no one could harm Milton under William's protection.

As for the Epic Knights and wizards, the chances of encountering them were slim.

There were only a few Epic Knights throughout the entire Kingdom, let alone wizards within the boundary of the Kingdom.

It was rare for wizards to have left the Wizard Continent and set foot in the desolate Subcontinent.

Even if there were any, it was unlikely they'd appear in the Frostwinter Kingdom, given that it wasn't considered a powerhouse in the Subcontinent.

As for the wizard apprentice who cursed Vernon, it might be chalked up to bad luck.

The wizard apprentice probably was passing through the area and that he happened to have a nasty temper.

Inside the carriage, there was prepared white bread and butter cheese at the ready for Milton to munch on whenever he was hungry.

If he could activate the Life Seed and become an Official Knight, then there would not be as many requirements for high-calorie food. At least on this journey, Milton didn't see William snacking much.

As the sun set, the carriage continued to roll through the night.

Grand Knights had excellent night vision, it was even could be said that they saw the night as if it was daytime.

The next day, as the three suns rose successively in the sky, casting brilliant rays of light onto the land below, Milton and William arrived in the Sun Mountain range.

Sun Mountain was part of the Dawnstar Territory and under the governance of the Marquis of Dawnstar.

However, only a small portion of the Dawnstar Territory was covered by it.

The ultimate destination for Milton's trip was the castle of Marquis Dawnstar, located in the Sun Mountain. The location of the banquet and ball would be inside this castle.

Once they reached the destination, William parked the carriage in the specialized horse yard for carriages, where the carriages of several other families had already been placed.

Milton glanced around; although he recognized some emblems of families carved on the carriages, this was solely due to the memories he had inherited. The only emblem he positively identified was that of the Carlos Family.

The Carlos Family was the family of Earl Garden, Melanie Carlos. Their family emblem was a wreath formed by lavender flowers.

Milton certainly wouldn't forget that, in the simulation, those who killed him were the subordinates of Earl Garden.

When Milton got down from the carriage, a long-skirted maid came forward to greet him.

There were quite a few maids in the horse yard, assigned by the Marquis of Dawnstar himself to guide the young nobles.

Milton then followed the maid, with William a half-step behind him, heading in the direction of the Marquis's castle.