Chapter 605 - You Didn’t See This Coming, Did You? (2/2)

But in Martin’s eyes, Roland was just pretending to be cool, which further convinced him of his conclusion.

“How can my man be a devil?” Stephanie scoffed.

Hearing that, Roland smiled at her.

It was just Roland’s simple, normal, and even more or less insincere response to Stephanie’s defense.

But in such a special situation, certain people might construe the smile as something else. Martin was even more convinced that Roland was scared.

He waved his hand back, and his butler walked close with a scroll of paper in his hand.

Martin opened the scroll and showed it around to all the participants of the party. It was the painting of a male who was 80% similar to Roland. Considering that there were few portraits in this world that looked identical to real persons, it was safe to conclude that the guy on the painting was Roland, according to common sense.

However, Roland and Stephanie knew that the guy in the painting wasn’t him.

After showing off the painting for about a minute, Martin threw it to Roland.

Roland grabbed it and examined it a while longer.

Similar!

The guy was really similar to himself.

“Why are you showing me this painting?” asked Stephanie.

“Your Highness, the person in the painting is named Rod Jonnell, a local noble in Coldspring County and a Mage.”

All the nobles whispered to each other, wondering why this guy named Rod Jonnell looked so similar to Roland, who was with the princess.

Stephanie was very surprised. Had she not known that Roland was a Golden Son, she would’ve really thought that Roland was this Rod Jonnell.

“So what?” Stephanie snapped, pretending that she was unhappy. “Whether his name is Roland or Jonnell, does it really matter? Does it have anything to do with you?” “What if this Viscount Jonnell is a nefarious murderer?”

Everybody became curious, and Stephanie covered her mouth and cried, “Is it true? How can Roland be a murderer?”

“It’s true.” Martin looked at Roland and announced angrily, “This man killed his parents, raped a neighbor girl whom he grew up with, and burnt the girl’s family alive. Then, he disappeared from Coldspring County. We didn’t expect him to change his name and come to the capital.”

Stephanie happened to have just drunk a mouthful of wine from the cup she refilled. She almost spurted the wine out when she heard that, but thanks to the years of noble etiquette training, she managed to swallow the wine back.

“Are you so brutal?” the First Princess asked Roland in surprise.

Roland hummed a response. He didn’t know what was going on or what to do. He wasn’t an actor anyway.

However, in many people’s eyes, that was a reaction born of guilt.

Martin burst into laughter. “Your Highness, he is exactly a brutal devil. He must’ve been up to something when he approached you, so…”

He stepped forward and protected Stephanie behind him. “Your Highness, please back off and let the Guild of Warriors take care of this devil.”

Roland didn’t even know how to respond.

At this moment, he had more or less realized Grantham’s ruse.

It was actually very simple. Its purpose was to publicly humiliate Martin right in front of the future queen, so that people would lose respect for him.

However powerful Martin was, the members of the Guild of Warriors would try to kick him out of office for the sake of their guild’s image in the queen’s eyes. But Roland was curious about one thing. While Martin wasn’t smart, he shouldn’t have bought such intelligence so easily.

Was the person who gave him the intelligence someone he trusted?

Roland felt that his blood was freezing as he thought about that.

Grantham claimed that he didn’t have any advantage, but he was apparently on the winning side, considering that Martin’s trusted subordinate had switched to his side.

He was only using this opportunity to further cut Martin down to size.

Even without Roland’s help and the great opportunity, Grantham would still surpass Martin very soon with his capabilities.

It was true that Roland was used as a gun.

However, thinking about the Meteorite Minerals that would soon be given to him, Roland was quite happy working as a gun.

He heaved a sigh, stood up, and looked at Martin. “You’re truly smart.” “Of course!” Taking Roland’s word as an admission of guilt, Martin couldn’t be happier. “The Guild of Warriors has the best intelligence system. It’s very easy for us to find out the evils you’ve done.”

After that, he turned around and looked at Stephanie, obviously craving her approval. Stephanie smiled like a shining star.

Amazed by her smile, Martin failed to move his eyes away until a long time later. He shouted, “Guards, catch this man and send him to the Inquisition of the Holy Realm. A devil should be purged by light.”

Roland sighed. “Martin, there’s something I want to ask you. Who gave you this intelligence?”

“Grantham, the deputy chairman that I trust most. He’s a Legendary Warrior,” declared Martin rather proudly.

Shoot!

Roland felt that he had really underestimated Grantham.