Chapter 19

In the end, Aaron agreed to let Sophia go along with him to the Duke of Oliver's house as a guest.
Because Duke Oliver loved wine like his life depended on it, the Oliver ducal house was built on the side of the winery, and the reception was held at the ducal house next to the winery.
The winery was not located in the capital, so Sophia helped Aaron finish his backlog of government works a day early and the two of them left in a carriage that evening.
The two of them set out in a carriage that evening. The trip was not very elaborate, with only a few escorts on horseback and a low-profile carriage, so the people did not notice that the king was no longer in the palace.
"The company's main business is to provide a wide range of products and services to the market.
Sitting in the comfort of the carriage, Aaron lay on Sophia's soft lap, his face pressed against the small of her back, his eyes closed as he told her about Duke Oliver's past.
"My father felt so guilty that the rebels would target the Duke's family because of him that he received Duke Oliver to live at the palace for a few years and sent his brother away to be safely protected at his plea." Aaron hooked a small strand of her hair to play with, a bit of remembrance in his voice, "In fact, I have little impression of Duke Oliver's brother, always remembered only because Duke Oliver loved his brother very much."
Sophia's eyes curved and said softly, "Then they must have had a very good relationship."
Aaron smiled, did not respond to her question, continued: "When I was older, Duke Oliver moved out of the palace and lived in the residence next to the palace, which was specially granted to him by my father, also to better protect the security of the palace. Unexpectedly, the Witch Clan launched an attack on the Wolf Clan, and my father's brother launched a coup while Duke Oliver was leading his troops in the war."
"The former king died, and Duke Oliver, who lost his shelter, and the vassals who used to be loyal to the former king, had a bad time before you came back, right?"
It was clear that there was no sadness in Aaron's tone, but Sophia couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
"Yeah." Aaron sighed, "My father's cronies were all suppressed, at that time Duke Oliver was still leading the army, heard the news of the coup and immediately rushed back, on the way to save me who was being hunted, and has been following me until now."
"So no matter what others say, as long as he didn't admit himself that he was the one who wanted to kill me, I believe him."
As their conversation went on, it was suddenly interrupted by Nick who accompanied them out.
Nick knocked on the carriage door, pushed it open when he heard a response, and let the king and queen out; Duke Oliver's residence had arrived.
Sophia looked up, outside the carriage door was a huge castle with an ancient atmosphere, carefully built grass and trees winding around the castle, not far from the entrance there were actually a few racks of grapes.
It was getting dark, and there were already many carriages parked outside the door, so it seemed that most of the guests had already arrived.
Aaron jumped down from the carriage and held out his hand to her, Sophia naturally put her hand on his and was carried down by him.
''Baron Connor is really getting younger these days.''
''I'm flattered, I heard that you have recently acquired another ancient painting, I wonder when I can see it.''
''Look nah, Duke Oliver is in really good spirits.''
''Yes, I heard that the king will be here today too, so I want to be seen by the king more.''
There were dense murmurs all around, happy, flattering, shy and excited, all mixed into one.
Sophia pricked up her ears for a while and found that many people were talking about the king who was coming to the reception, and many ladies who wished to be liked by the king. She felt a little bit uncomfortable and turned her head to give Aaron a sweet smile.
Aaron felt that this scene was really a bit creepy, and hastily pulled her close to his arms, letting her know by his actions that he definitely did not have the heart to look at other women.
Duke Oliver, who had been guarding the entrance, saw their carriage and hurriedly brought his butler over.
"Your Majesty, thank you very much for coming to the reception." Duke Oliver bent down slightly and saluted, with joy on his face, but this joy made Aaron feel a little contrary.
"Uncle Oliver is very kind." Aaron reached out to support him, trying to smile even a little bit as he usually did when facing him, but couldn't.
He gave up forcing himself and his expression was light.
Duke Oliver didn't feel wrong either, and looking to the quiet Sophia on the side, he said with a smile, "Your Majesty, you and the King are very welcome, please come in, both of you."
Aaron put that bit of defiance in his heart, took Sophia's arm and followed the Duke into the mansion.
In the wide hall, the guests were gathered in twos and threes, and the tables were set with exquisite dishes and desserts, and glasses of wine were stacked high.
When the guests saw Aaron enter, they immediately saluted him, but Aaron raised his hand to stop them from doing so.
"Today is the Duke's banquet, I am also a guest, so there is no need to be so polite."
Duke Oliver arranged them to the most central place, where there was a circle of enclosed couches with a long table in the middle of the couches.
Soon the reception began, and servants in black vests came in with glasses of mellow wine to hand to each guest.
Nick had sneaked away with Aaron's orders to investigate the winery's tribute to the imperial wine when he first came in.
"I haven't seen Uncle Oliver in a long time, how's Uncle Oliver's health lately?" Aaron handed a stack of desserts to Sophia on the side and started chatting with the Duke.
The Duke, who had already started to put on weight, patted his big belly and said with a smile, "Let the king worry on, everything is fine with me, I can still eat an extra bowl of rice every day."
"Then I'm relieved." He picked up the wine glass and took a sip, secretly hooking Sophia's hand underneath.
Sophia lowered her eyes, kept a decent smile on her face, and ate with great elegance in small bites, but in fact, her eyes had been secretly observing the situation around her.
"Your Majesty, wait for me, I will personally go and get the bottle of good wine prepared for you, which is definitely not inferior to the wine in your cellar." Duke Oliver smiled mysteriously and left the banquet hall with his fat stomach.
Sophia leaned closer to Aaron and fed him a cookie affectionately.
"The atmosphere is not quite right, the people in the Duke's house seem to be overly tense, and some of the servants are not right, the pace and stature are not like ordinary servants, it feels like an army." Sophia said in a low voice, looking a little gloomy.
"From the analysis of their expressions and movements, they should be waiting for someone, or something to happen."
Sophia was studying psychology; she could analyze the psychology of these servants from the change of their faces.
Aaron's expression was also a bit heavy, he didn't want to believe that such a trusted duke would betray him, but he wouldn't take the risk, much less take Sophia with him.
He squeezed Sophia's hand, moved over and kissed her ear, and whispered, "Be careful later."
It didn't take long for the Duke to return, followed by a servant carrying a tray.
In the tray was a bottle of expensive looking red wine, the rosy red wine was wrapped in a crystal bottle, swirling in a dreamy color under the magnificent light.
The servant placed the tray on the table, carefully carried the handled wine, poured it into three crystal glasses, knelt respectfully beside Aaron, and handed him the glass of wine.
"Your Majesty, taste it, it was so hard for me to get it, and it was specially reserved for you." The Duke raised his glass and urged.
The taste of red wine was very aromatic and the mere aroma emitted was intoxicating, but Sophia was not in the mood to pay attention to this and stared nervously at Aaron, fearing that the wine might be poisonous.
Unexpectedly, Aaron took a sip very dryly, his expression was a bit intoxicated, and he praised, "It's really good wine."
The Duke's tense body relaxed for a moment and smiled, "Of course, how dare I lie to the King."
"Won't the queen try it?" The duke highly recommended, "It would be a regret not to try such a good wine."
Aaron stroked the smooth wine glass, a smile flickered on his lips as he took the rest of the wine in the glass into his mouth and kissed Sophia under her shocked gaze, picking her lips apart and ferrying the mouthful of wine into her mouth.
Sophia hurriedly pushed him away and coughed twice, feeling the way people looked at her change and her face couldn't help but shy away.
Aaron pressed her into his arms at her angry stare and gave the Duke an apologetic look.
"The queen is a light drinker; I'll take her to her room to rest a bit."
"I was ill-considered," the duke smiled knowingly and waved his hand to the servant, "Take the king and queen to the guest room and serve them well."
Aaron picked Sophia up, Sophia buried her face in Aaron's arms and quietly observed the Duke's expression through the gap, a hint of mockery surfaced on the Duke's face the moment Aaron turned around.
Closing the door, Sophia broke free from Aaron's arms and frowned as she checked the room over, and after it was clear, she grumbled, "You have a lot of nerve, knowing that the Duke's house is in danger, and still daring to drink the wine he gave you with such confidence."
"I'd only make him suspicious if I didn't drink it." Aaron closed the curtain tightly and pulled her to sit down, "Don't worry, I'm sure there's nothing in that wine."
"How can you be sure ......," Sophia asked insistently.
When she didn't finish her question, there was a knock on the door. Sophia reacted quickly, kicking her shoes off and quickly lying down on the bed, wrapping herself under the covers.
Aaron opened the door and the servant who had sent them up stood in the doorway with a tray and nodded to him.
"Your Majesty, I've brought the Queen a sobering medicine."
"Come in." Aaron waited for him to enter and locked the door behind him.
He patted the covers and called Sophia, who was pretending to be dizzy with her eyes closed, up, "Get up, it's my man."
The servant immediately knelt down and shouted respectfully, "Your Majesty."
Aaron nodded and held out his hand to him, "Have you brought something?"
The servant pulled out a small bottle from his pocket with a crimson liquid inside, and Sophia came over curiously.
"What is this?"
"It is the bottle of wine that was supposed to be given to the king." The servant lowered his head and whispered.
Sophia looked at the servant, and then at Aaron, and understood.
It turned out that Aaron had arranged long ago to place his own people in the Duke's house, so that he could change the faulty wine.