The Witcher: Lord of the Empire

Dandelion's ballad echoed throughout The Rosebud, touching the hearts of every listener.

"I heard that you are still alive, which makes me very disappointed~"

"I also survived, but not because of you~"

A naughty girl took off the bard's hat and put it on her head. The girls scrambled for it with her giggles, but the bard seemed to wake up from his sleep.

He suddenly jumped up from the ground and looked at a girl. His voice was no longer melancholy but filled with strength.

"Have we never been happy together? Look at me, my sir~"

"Now I will burn all your memories, and you will have to travel alone in the future~"

"You can care about your sword and stupid hair, and I will burn all your memories~"

The sudden rise of his voice startled the girl, while Dandelion began to play his lute skillfully, moving nimbly through the crowd, receiving applause.

Lann and his group entered quietly and found a place to sit, without being immediately attended to.

House looked a little strange, and muttered to Lann: "This bard is singing... about Lord Geralt? Do they have a grudge? But why did I hear that they seem to be very good friends?"

Lann replied indifferently: "Even couples fight, but don't they make up quickly? Their way of getting along can be similar."

House looked even stranger after hearing this.

At this moment, Dandelion finished his song, and after a bow, the atmosphere in the room relaxed again.

Lann walked up to the bard.

Although he was not wearing armor, the bodyguards accompanying him did not go unnoticed by Dandelion.

“I am looking for Dandelion, the famous bard, poet and writer.”

The bard, surrounded by women, took a sip of wine and asked with a smile: "That Dandelion... did he owe you money, or offend any lady around you?"

Lann shook his head with a smile. "No."

"Then, I am Dandelion." Dandelion raised his glass to Lann and drank it all. “Nice to meet you, sir...”

"Lann, Lann Lannister, Earl of Cintra."

“Lann, your eyes remind me of a friend. Was he the one who sent you?”

Lann nodded and said: “You mean Geralt? He's a formidable warrior.”

Dandelion smiled with satisfaction, as if Lann was praising him.

Lann continued: "I've fought him a few times. He's a good opponent."

Dandelion suddenly straightened up and, looking at Lann's companions, said: "No, no, the friend I'm talking about is not this Geralt. You may have heard my attitude towards him from my song just now. I want to hit him on the head with the lute."

Lann couldn't help laughing out loud.

Shani couldn't help jumping in after hearing Dandelion's words, and shouted: "Dandelion, Lord Lannister is from Cintra. The Geralt you keep mentioning was there to help him before... For the love of God, put down that bottle of wine, they're not holding me against my will!"

Dandelion misunderstood again. The combination of a group of expressionless men with a girl really makes people imagine bad things.

"Princess Cirilla of Cintra is Geralt's surprise child. I believe you must have heard him mention it." Lann explained with a smile. "Geralt and I met because of this, and he helped me a lot. We are also very good friends. You can trust me completely."

Dandelion sighed in relief and relaxed. With Shani's confirmation and the information he had received, he finally felt at ease.

"With those lion eyes and golden hair, you must be the Lion of Cintra. I've heard ballads about you. To be honest, they're not very well written. If you'd met me sooner, your fame would be much greater." The bard smiled and said: "A friend of a friend is my friend. So, my friend, why do you seek me?"

Lann did not hide it and said directly: "A group of Redanian soldiers attacked me on the ship in the Delta. They were employed by a sorcerer named Rience. I was told that you knew information about him, so I turned to you."

Dandelion straightened up: "Rience? Did he find you too?"

Lann nodded.

The bard lowered his head and muttered: "It must be Dijkstra who asked you to come, that damn intelligence chief. I thought it was Geralt who asked you to come to me for help."

After grumbling a bit, Dandelion spoke frankly: "I have written several ballads about Geralt, about his battles, our adventures, and also about him and Yennefer. I don't know if you know her."

Lann nodded. "The sorceress who can turn the White Wolf into a little white dog."

The bard gave a thumbs up to praise Lann's accurate summary. "I often sing those ballads during my travels, and once, it got me into trouble..."

...

A few months ago.

The capital of Cintra had long since fallen, and the Battle of Sodden Hill, in which thirteen sorcerers were killed, had shocked the north.

Dandelion and his apprentice were holding a concert beneath the great oak tree of Bleobheris, which had attracted hundreds of visitors. Known as the Seat of Friendship, this place is a refuge for travelers and a meeting point for adventurers. The druids tend the oak, welcoming all visitors.

The bard finished a song and repeated the refrain on his lute.

Everyone was intoxicated by the lingering sound of the lute and the song, and no one spoke.

Until the rustling of the great oak's leaves, moved by the wind, broke the silence. As if on cue, the deafening applause of the audience resounded in the clearing.

The bard stood up and bowed gracefully to the audience.

"Thank you, Master Dandelion." A man with a bright blue cloak with gold edges on his shoulders stood up from the crowd. His voice was not loud but very deep. "I, Radcliffe of Oxenfurt, would like to express my gratitude and praise for your magnificent abilities. I believe everyone present will agree with my point of view."

The crowd began to applaud, and some raised their hands in respect to the bard. Women, moved by the music, cried softly and wiped away their tears with whatever they had at hand.

As the performance ended, the previous bustle filled the air again. The merchants whispered as they pushed a large barrel of beer under the oak tree. While Dandelion was focused on smiling at a beautiful elf with big eyes.

Dandelion's apprentice put down his lute and picked up a small box to collect money, hoping that the listeners would express their appreciation appropriately. However, assessing the cheers around him, he put down the box and picked up a large barrel.

This behavior made Dandelion take his eyes away from the elf beauty, and he admired the apprentice's cleverness.

"Master!" Someone in the crowd suddenly shouted. "You haven't finished your story yet, tell us what happened next!"

"Your song doesn't mention names, but we all know that the character in your song can only be the famous Geralt of Rivia, and the sorceress who ignited the fire of love with him is the equally famous Yennefer. As for the surprise child, the child who is linked to the fate of the witcher and bound by an oath at birth is Cirilla, the princess of Cintra who unfortunately lost her kingdom. Is that right?"

Dandelion smiled mysteriously. "Everyone, the plot in my ballad can happen anywhere, and the emotions in the song can also be experienced by anyone, regardless of the specific characters."

A girl screamed: "Master, we all know that this song is about the witcher Geralt! Keep singing! Please tell us what happened next? Did the witcher and the sorceress Yennefer finally find each other? Are they still in love? Did they get happiness? We really want to know!"

A dwarf suddenly stood up. He was the leader of a group of dwarf soldiers, and he began to reprimand the screaming girls, annoyed by the noise.

"Enough! Princesses, sorceresses, fate, love, these are all nonsense, poetic fictions, just to make the story more beautiful and touching."

After that, the dwarf turned to Dandelion again. “Forgive my rudeness, great poet. But your descriptions of the wars of Sodden and Mahakam were magnificent, as was the fall of Cintra under the iron hooves of Nilfgaard, the pillages and the massacres. It was worth paying for such a ballad! It is the feeling of a warrior.”

"It isn't true!" A knight in the audience shouted loudly. "Cintra has not been destroyed. As far as I know, the lion knight whose ballads are widely circulated returned to Cintra to stabilize the situation and resist Nilfgaard. He is now known as the 'Lion of Cintra'!"

 

"Huh? Then I have to ask this delusional knight who can't control his tongue. "The dwarf leader widened his eyes. "I respect the Lion Knight. I have his Gwent commemorative card in my hand, but as far as I know, he was killed by the Nilfgaardians in Toussaint. How can he return to Cintra to stabilize the situation?"

"Are you saying I'm lying? Insulting the honor and dignity of a knight?" The knight blushed and jumped up. "Everyone on the northern border knows that the Lion Knight has appeared again. How could a man like him be killed by the Nilfgaardians? If you don't even know this, I don't think you've ever been on the battlefield!"

“Shut your mouth full of rotten sores, I fought on the front line in Sodden supporting Mahakam!”

The dispute grew, humans and dwarves raised their voices, on the verge of drawing their swords.

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