In the 18th century, the Rose family took the initiative to return the power entrusted to them by the people, ending their rule over the Legrand Empire. In order to more completely express the end of the royal power and the royal family, after handing back the power, the Rose family withdrew from the royal palace that was originally drafted by the parliament to be reserved for the Rose family, and donated it to the newly established democratic government as the highest institution of power.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

After half a month of discussion, the parliament and the people gave their response.

The newly established democratic government rejected the generous gift from the Rose family, “It is a monument that belongs to the Rose family, the greatest family in the history of Legrand, and no one is qualified to live in it except the Rose family.” The parliament announced the establishment of a special fund to provide all the costs of maintaining the palace——this was a decision unanimously agreed by the people to express their gratitude to the Rose family for their efforts over the years.

In the end, the Rose family donated the palace to the entire country, and it became the highest museum in Legrand. The parliament passed the “Rose Palace Protection Act”, which permanently determined the protection of the palace in the form of law.

From 1712 to the present, the Legrand government and the Legrand people have always strictly fulfilled this promise.

How to use modern science and technology to protect this extraordinary palace without destroying the ancient palace itself was a very complicated problem. The Legrand government set up a special protection department to study it. The methods of protecting the Rose Palace were constantly innovated and promoted to become a model for Legrand cultural relics protection.

Thus the palace had been well protected and remained as glorious as ever after hundreds of years.

It was now the closing time of the Rose Palace, and the palace had gone quiet again.

The King and the Devil walked together on the long corridor with columns. The roses in the palace were still as lush as the King remembered. In fact, in Legrand, no matter what the financial conditions of the family were, there would always be a rose planted in the household. In the words of the Bressi people:

“If you go to Legrand and find that there is no rose at the door of the house, then do not doubt that this family is definitely not from Legrand.”

There was no Legrandian who did not love the rose. If there was, then he was not a Legrandian.

“That’s where my uncle taught me swordsmanship.”

The King stood before the railing of the veranda, looking at an open space in the palace courtyard.

If anyone had the greatest influence on the King, it would definitely be the Duke of Buckingham. He was the only one in the King’s long life who played a father-like role.

In the era of legend, the King was the authority of kingship. The moment he was born into the world, he was the King of the World, and he took on the responsibility of protecting the people from the very first moment. The knights who followed him protected him as a subject would their monarch, not as a father would for his children. In the fifteenth century, when he was reborn in Legrand, his real father William III died prematurely, and his mother Eleanor was locked in the Black Tower because of the torture of occult arts.

During those years when his soul was still shattered, alternating between sanity and madness, only the Duke of Buckingham accompanied him.

At that time, he spent less time awake and more time insane. When he was mired in insanity, no one except the Duke of Buckingham dared to approach him. He had also heard the whispers of the attendants in the palace. They did not understand why the Duke of Buckingham had guarded a madman for so many years.

“I asked him why he didn’t become the King of Legrand himself. He could do better than a madman, right?”

The King said.

The Devil listened quietly, for once not making any sarcastic remarks——though this didn’t mean his hostility towards humans had diminished with the passage of time.

At that time, the Duke of Buckingham squatted down, looked at him levelly, and said gently:

I could answer this question with many reasons, but if you want to hear the truest answer, then I will answer you——because in my heart, you are also my child.

Years later, the King understood that answer.

The Duke of Buckingham was his uncle and his father.

In this world, fathers always hope to leave the best things to their child. If the child does not have the ability to hold onto it, then the father would be the most loyal knight to defend what belonged to his child. When the father grows old and the child he protects has grown up, he could finally hand over the best things to his grown child.

No father would rob his child of something that belongs to him.

“He would be very happy to see Legrand today.”

The King said softly, as if he was asking the Devil, or perhaps himself.

“Yes, he would be happy.”

The Devil replied.

The King smiled and continued to move forward. The wind filled the corridor, and it was vaguely like a familiar old man walking beside him. So long as he turned his head, he could talk to that person freely and discuss various issues.

The King did not turn his head but walked forward with the Devil.

——I’m proud of you.

It seemed like someone was saying this in his ear.

I’m proud of you too.

The King replied in his heart.

In the main hall of the Rose Palace, where the imperial meetings were once held, the main hall was empty. The throne stood at the end of the red carpet, and time stood still here. To the right were the musical instruments used by the Royal Orchestra from the 15th to the 18th century.

The protective measures in the museum were useless against the King and the Devil. The Devil picked up a golden harp, plucked it several times, and played a short piece. He looked at the King with a slight smile.

“You were so ruthless when you refused me back then, my dear Majesty.”

The Devil played the melody when the King had just returned to Legrand and was met with an assassination attempt, and the Devil drove a carriage of bones to welcome him back to hell.

The Devil was just joking as usual, but saw the King suddenly reaching out and taking down a violin. In the sixteenth century, the King could still observe the human world. This instrument, which was born in the sixteenth century, was something that the King once learned out of interest. For him and the Devil, time became the most meaningless thing.

The violin and the bow were meticulously cared for and the bow was just rosinated. The King tried the sound and adjusted the knob to correct the strings.

Under the semicircular dome, a melody poured out from the strings, starting with the short section that the Devil just played casually. The King played it exactly as it was. It was a strange and cold movement, a movement belonging to hell. On that cold night long ago, the Devil, who had been waiting for a long time, drove his carriage and was full of joy to welcome his monarch back to hell.

He sat beside the sleeping monarch, playing tunes that lured the soul to fall, promising him eternal life and all that hell could offer.

Now, in the empty palace, the King played the melody back then for the Devil.

Amidst the gorgeous strings of musical notes, the bronze candlesticks lit up one after another, and the candlelight illuminated the entire palace brilliantly like a flowing river of stars. When the melody ended on the last high note, the palace had completely returned to its original glory in the light of the candlelights.

The stars of light shone brightly, and everything seemed to have never changed.

“I want to see you sitting on that throne again.”

The Devil took the violin from the King and put it back on its stand.

The magnificent palace looked even more empty under the brilliant candlelight.

The throne was at the end of the candlelight, majestic and lonely.

The King walked slowly towards the throne. In the flickering candlelight, all the musical instruments suddenly started playing on their own, so grand and magnificent. The majestic music echoed under the painted dome carved with roses, and it was as grand as if the era of armor and war, knights and kings had returned to the world.

When the King sat down on the familiar throne, the music reached its crescendo.

The Devil held a crown and walked up the steps under the throne.

That was the crown that the King once wore. Don’t know when the Devil took it away from the museum, but the fake left behind by his magic could not be identified by humans even if they exhausted all scientific methods.

The King watched him.

He placed the crown gently on the King’s head.

In the palace that had withdrawn from the stage of history, the only Devil in the world once again crowned the monarch who had become a thing of the past.

The Devil knelt down on one knee and kissed the King’s hand that wore the bone ring. The King laid his hand on the Devil’s shoulder, just as he had done in the beginning, and made the Devil his knight.

There was no need for a king in the human world. The King only belonged to his Devil.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

“You are my eternal monarch.” The Devil stood up, leaned one hand on the throne, and touched the King’s face with the other as he whispered. It was both a declaration of loyalty and possession.

The King raised his chin slightly, and the candlelight was as brilliant as ever.

“Hello, my knight.”

——Above the throne, under the glory, there is only you and me.

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