It was snowing heavily.

The Duke of Buckingham stood outside the gate of Metzl Castle in a scarlet cloak, watching the King’s carriage drive off. His white hair was blown back by the wind, and his back was as straight as a sword.

The King’s carriage rolled over the snow on the road, and the procession’s Royal Rose banner was as scarlet as blood and as fierce as fire.

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The son of the Duke of Buckingham, General Johan stood behind him. The young general had doubts and disapproval on his face. He couldn’t help asking his father: “Why don’t you dissuade His Majesty? It’s dangerous for him to go to Koszoya! Can’t someone else go?”

The Duke of Buckingham glanced at his son.

“Because he is the king.”

He answered.

Just like the time when the King went to Moon River Fortress to negotiate, this time he still watched the King go off to a dangerous situation with his own eyes. The most important duty of a king was to guard his country. The king was the shield of the country and the sword of the country.

This was the responsibility of the king, and no one else could do it in his place.

He used to watch his elder brother lead the soldiers to go out like this again and again, and now it had become his nephew.

General Johan was stunned for a moment. The Duke of Buckingham was always strict with him, but his tone when uttering these words was low and contained too many things.

The old duke raised his head, the falling snowflakes reflected in his ice-blue pupils: “When the King was crowned, I threw my gauntlet on the ground of the banquet hall of the palace, and vowed to challenge anyone who dared not support the King. At that time my royal brother was still very young, and I was only one year older than you now.”

General Johan bowed his head slightly, listening.

He knew that his father was William III’s “defender”[1], and General Johan had imagined that thrilling ceremony through the stories told through other people’s mouths more than once.

The coronation of William III was held in turmoil. At the banquet of the ceremony, the nobles of vassal states who participated were full of their own motives, and there was a raging undercurrent under the splendor.

At the reception banquet, the young Duke of Buckingham, as the king’s “defender”, rode into the banquet hall on a warhorse that was also covered with iron armor that shone under the brilliant candlelight. There were no other knights around him, he alone was William III’s mighty army.

The warhorse’s hooves stepped on the cold stone ground of the hall, the sound echoing as powerful as a war drum.

The young duke took off his gauntlet, threw it on the ground, and swore to challenge anyone who did not support the king.

In the usual coronation ceremony, this link was just a political performance, but when William III was crowned, it took on an extraordinary meaning. Legrand was revived, eyeing the thirty-six states covetously, and the flames of war were brewing. So what used to be a political show had become a vicious battle.

The iron gloves collided with the stone floor and made a crisp sound, and warriors from various countries came out in response.

They drew their swords, and took this opportunity of justice to swear to the death that the King of Legrand’s majesty would be ashamed.

It was a battle of glory, a battle of dignity, and a battle of life and death.

The Duke of Buckingham alone took on all challenging foes.

General Johan heard from everyone about his father’s bravery since he was young. He fought one dual after another with those equally famed knights without fear, and all the candles in the Rose Palace were lit for him that night. In the collision of armor and longsword, the young duke earned the well-deserved title as the sharpest sword of the empire.

When the challenging knight of Ingres State had his throat slit and fell off his horse, the Duke of Buckingham’s armor was already covered in blood. He reined in his horse with one hand, held his sword in the other, and threw his gauntlet to the ground for the last time.

This time, no one dared to pick up the blood-stained glove.

No longer did they dare to challenge the Duke of Buckingham.

——He successfully defended the king’s honor.

All the noble ladies applauded the most dazzling knight today, and all the knights bowed their heads to pay respects to him. The new king stepped down from his throne, raised his gilded goblet high, and toasted his brother, his defender.

It was a life and death contract.

From the time William III stepped on the throne until his death. When William III was alive, the Duke of Buckingham fought with him and held the land for him. After the death of William III, the Duke of Buckingham guarded his son for more than ten years until the new king grew up.

General Johan grew up listening to the glories of his father.

But he rarely heard his father talk about it himself.

“His Majesty asked you to form a new army for him.” The Duke of Buckingham turned his horse’s head, “Do you know why I didn’t let you be His Majesty’s defender?”

“I have no idea.”

“Because you didn’t know what a king was at that time.” The Duke of Buckingham said flatly, “Now, do you understand?”

General Johan subconsciously glanced at the direction in which the King’s convoy had left. He held the reins tightly and let out a long breath: “I understand.”

The Duke of Buckingham patted his son’s shoulder lightly: “One day, you will take off your glove and fight for His Majesty.”

“For the glory of the Rose.”

General Johan raised his fist and beat his heart, searing the oath in a low voice.

…………

Ingres State.

As a vassal state subordinate to Legrand, Ingres’ palace was far inferior to the Rose Palace. To be honest, it was even inferior to the castles of the rich nobles of Legrand. But in the barren Ingres, this was already the best building.

There were high mountains, ancient forests, and swamps like lakes. Day after day, year after year, the Ingres people were trapped in such a dangerous environment.

However, this year’s winter in Ingres was much better than usual.

This must be attributed to Legrand’s king.

The Legrand royal family played an exemplary role and conducted business exchanges with them first. Merchants flocked from all over again, and a commercial town appeared on the border of Ingres after a long absence. Affected by the cold current, their food reserves this winter were pitifully small. They originally thought that hunger would become a big problem this winter.

But the King solved it.

Affected by the blockade of the ports in the southeast, the Legrand royal family came forward to be a guarantee for Ingres for the agricultural products that could not be exported. Ingres and the landowners in the southeast came to an agreement that both sides were satisfied with. Ingres obtained cheap grain, and the landowners were able to prevent all the grain from rotting in the warehouse, managing to recover part of the loss.

Even though it was the coldest winter, the Ingres people lived more comfortably than ever before.

The King of Ingres’ cousin, General Edmund, hurried into their king’s study.

He was originally sent to Metzl Castle, the capital of Legrand, to attend a meeting, and later, as an important member of the diplomatic relationship between Ingres and Legrand, he was in charge of the exchanges between the two parties.

The King of Ingres, Monteux Llewellyn, was frowning hard as he held a dark yellow parchment letter in his hand.

After General Edmund finished his greetings, he handed the letter to Edmund.

“This! I object…..” General Edmund looked up suddenly after reading the letter, and stared at his cousin in astonishment. “Those people have never had any good intentions towards Ingres. Their words are completely not to be believed.”

Monteux raised his hand and interrupted him: “I know.”

“Then Your Majesty’s intention…..?”

Monteux withdrew the letter that had been secretly delivered to Ingres from Edmund’s hand, “We twice put our bets on him, the first time we won, and the second time, we also won. But this matter is too important to not be cautious. So…..I want to know what you think of His Majesty Pureland.”

General Edmund looked serious: “A true monarch.”

“Are you sure? He has been called a tyrant, and he has been criticized a lot recently.” Monteux asked calmly.

“Yes.” General Edmund replied decisively, “The world mistook him for a defeated dog, but the fangs of a lion will eventually show and bite the enemy’s throat.”

“A true monarch.”

Monteux repeated thoughtfully, suddenly full of heroic spirit.

“Then we shall take another gamble!”

He put the secret letter over the candle flame, he had actually already made a choice in his heart, asking Edmund was just to seek affirmation. The tongues of flame jumped, devouring the letter sent from the other side of the Abyss Strait.

Monteux watched the letter turn into ashes, as if he could see the flames of war burning on the earth.

He felt that the undercurrent that had shrouded both sides of the Abyss Strait for hundreds of years had begun to roil and stir.

The tide of blood and fire would eventually sweep the entire world. In the turbulent waves, powerful characters like Legrand, Bressi, and the Holy Court were qualified to confront each other and fight to the death. These main characters set off a vortex in the world, and a small country like them was destined to be engulfed by the vortex.

To survive, Ingres, like Qatani, must make its own choices.

In this grand gamble.

Ingres has placed its bet on Legrand!

………………

Koszoya.

Charles led his people to quickly arrange everything.

The largest port city on the southeast coast had now turned into a hell on earth, with corpses strewn across the city, crows hovering over the city, and the death knell silent after being forbidden to ring.

Thanks to Mr. Architect who had an obsession with cleanliness leading a team to carry out some preliminary cleaning work some time ago. After the Black Death broke out in the city of Koszoya, the epidemic was not as serious as those cities that Charles had witnessed with his own eyes.

But only in comparison.

The number of plague doctors left by the Devil in Koszoya was limited, and it was not convenient for them to appear directly in front of people, so they just turned into crows and followed the Walway pirates and the Iron Rose Cavalry to ensure that these people who were more important to the King did not suffer casualties.

The townspeople were not so lucky.

Every day, the soldiers of Iron Rose Cavalry gathered and incinerated close to a thousand corpses, and the entire bustling city quickly fell silent within a few days. Thanks to the secret help of plague doctors, the Black Death had not yet spread to other cities.

If this was not resolved, it would only be a matter of time before the Black Death spread to other cities.

At this time, the King made a decision that shocked everyone——

He left the palace and was going to come to Koszoya to hold the “Sacred Ceremony of the Monarch’s Touch”[2].

He came to face death’s challenge with his subjects.

With the efforts of Charles, Sheehan, Hawkins and others, the news spread throughout Koszoya in just one day. During the past few days, the people in this city have witnessed too many deaths, and they were almost to the point of collapsing in despair. Under such circumstances, the King’s decision was like a blazing sun that suddenly jumped out of the gloom.

“His Majesty has never abandoned his people.”

Charles, with his professorial air, gave an inspiring speech. He stood in the wind wearing a black coat, his voice clear, steady and powerful. He spoke of the King sending his soldiers to patrol day and night, and the royal navy serving as the first line of defense against the plague at sea, and spoke of the King’s close attention to the situation here.

“His Majesty’s soldiers are here, we are here according to His Majesty’s will, and His Majesty is defending his people!”

The soldiers of the Iron Rose Cavalry raised their hands together, making fists and beating their hearts together.

“For Legrand! For the King!”

They bellowed in unison.

Someone finally couldn’t help busting into sobs on the spot, tears of joy, guilt, and regret flowed on the faces of the people who were facing the plague. The Holy Court didn’t care about them, the priests couldn’t save them, and heaven abandoned them. At this time, it was the King they complained about who left the safety of his palace.

It was the King who met the suffering with them and faced the disaster with them.

For the first time, all orders were carried out like never before. The isolation areas imposed by the Iron Rose Cavalry in the city were now given support, and the people no longer tried to break through the city gate, no longer tried to escape the city, and no longer tried to take a private boat in the dark. Some brave people even spontaneously joined the cleaning team.

The soldiers of the Iron Rose Cavalry were no longer attacked by rotten vegetables, leaves, and rotten eggs flying out of nowhere. Some people even traced the rose emblem on their armors and engraved it on the door of their own house, believing that this way they receive some of the King’s protection.

After Charles discovered this, he immediately selected one of the plague doctors to turn into a crow to patrol. If it saw a patient with a rose emblem, he would rescue it.

The rose emblem became the holy talisman amidst the Black Death, surpassing the Holy Cross for the first time.

People waited eagerly, waiting for the King’s arrival.

Charles and the others were also closely preparing for the arrival.

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Now that the King had taken the risk to come in person, they could not let the King take the risk in vain, and this would be the greatest political show ever. They wanted the majesty and glory of the King to be engraved on this city from now on, and they wanted the rose to be in full bloom in front of death’s shadow.

On a cold winter morning, Charles, General Sheehan, Captain Hawkins and others gathered at the city gate.

The King, has arrived.

AN: [1] In Medieval England, the “defenders” of the King existed in 1327, probably originally belonging to the Marmion family. Becoming official in 1377, at the King’s coronation, the defender would throw his glove on the ground in the banquet hall and swear to challenge anyone who dared not support the king. If no one picked up the gauntlet thrown on the ground, it meant that no one dared to challenge, and finally the new king raised the gold-plated wine goblet and toasted the defender.

[2] The medieval “monarch’s touch” was believed to have healing powers. Appeared in the period of Edward the Confessor and perfected in the period of Tudor Henry. At the beginning, it was used to cure lymphatic tuberculosis, and then the scope expanded.

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