At this time, the coffin of the Duke of Buckingham rested in St Wyth’s Cathedral.

The funeral would be held in four days. Before that, representatives from various states and counties had already rushed to the Rose Palace from all over the land. The Duke of Buckingham was practically the last symbol of the empire of the last era, and his funeral was far more meaningful than all his contemporaries.

General Johan stood by his father’s coffin during the days awaiting the arrival of the funeral attendants.

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This was probably the time when General Johan spent the most time with the Duke of Buckingham. When he was young, the Duke of Buckingham led his troops to many expeditions, and when he grew up, he took over the task of stationing troops on the battlefield from his father. Accompanying the Duke of Buckingham with General Johan were his old friends.

First mate Charles also rushed to Metzl Castle on the day of the King’s return. He entered the palace to meet the King and handed a sword to the King.

“This was the sword he used back then.”

Charles looked at the long sword inlaid with rubies on the hilt with some reminiscence.

“At that time he left it on the ship, and now it is returned to its original owner.”

When the young Duke of Buckingham left the Walway Pirates, he asked if they needed some material support. At that time, the pirates on the ship drove him off the ship, clamoring that they would always have opportunities to rob the nobles. But, after the Duke of Buckingham left, they found the sword he had left in the room where he lived.

This sword should be a gift from the duke’s father, Charles the Lion, when he became a knight.

When the Duke of Buckingham bequeathed the sword that meant so much to him to the Walway pirates, the Walway pirates recognized him as one of their brothers.

“Let it accompany him,” Charles said, smiling.

When a knight with status was buried, descendants would use his sword as a funerary object. That was a symbol of his faithful fulfillment as a knight, fighting bravely, guarding the land and protecting the weak. But everything that belonged to the Duke of Buckingham was turned into bloodstained earth, and neither his armor nor the sword he carried at the time remained.

Charles knew this, and he came this time to bring the Duke’s sword.

According to the normal practice of the Holy See, it should be the Archbishop of St. Wyth Cathedral who presided over the entire ceremony of the Duke of Buckingham’s funeral. He was the head of the bishops of the entire Legrand area.

But the Archbishop of St. Wyth, who was supposed to be one of the most important figures at the funeral, was instead forgotten by the King.

Perhaps, it should not be called forgotten.

Rather, the King did not intend to involve Archbishop St. Wyth in this funeral.

“Father Anil has arrived.”

The Master of the Households reported to the King.

………………

Father Anil was waiting outside the Rose Palace to be received by the King.

He reached out and gently drew the cross on his chest, and whispered passages from the holy book in his heart.

At the invitation of the King, he came to Metzl Castle, the capital of Legrand, under the protection of several Iron Rose knights——or “wardens” as was likely more appropriate.

“Abbot.”

The young Father Remy looked at his mentor worriedly, and from time to time glanced at the swords on the waists of several Iron Rose knights in front of them, hesitating to speak.

Logically, as an ordinary abbot in a remote place, it should be an honor to be summoned by the King. But……

Father Remy couldn’t help but think of the story that had been spreading more and more these days——

It was said that the rebellion in the Northland was provoked by the Holy Court, and the death of the Duke of Buckingham was directly related to the Holy Court, which made the young king furious like never before. The always ruthless and tyrannical monarch was determined to set off a bloody war of vengeance for his uncle, and this vengeance would be directed at all the clergy in Legrand.

Those who talked of this privately regarded it as an after-dinner conversation topic, but Father Remy could not help being particularly alarmed.

He was different from ordinary priests. Before leaving the Holy Court with Father Anil, he also came into contact with some powers in the Holy Court and knew some things that ordinary people did not know.

Father Remy felt that the death of the Duke of Buckingham might really have something to do with the Holy Court.

If the Duke of Buckingham really died at the hands of the Holy Court, then the King, who had a habit of doing shocking or outrageous things, was likely to launch a bloody revenge campaign on the Holy Court forces in Legrand.

At this time, Abbot Anil received the King’s invitation, and it was difficult for Father Remy to control himself from not thinking more.

After persuading him to no avail, Father Remy worried that his mentor would come to the murderous palace alone, so he followed Father Anil here as well. Along the way, he clearly felt the coldness and hostility from the Iron Rose knights——this made him even more uneasy.

In the eyes of Father Remy, the magnificent and majestic Rose Palace was a huge execution ground.

“It’s all right, child.”

Father Anil opened his eyes, and he gently comforted his student.

Father Anil raised his head and looked at the huge cross on the top of St. Wyth’s Cathedral in the distance, as if he could see through it to another country on the west bank of the Abyss Strait, as well as the Holy Court that was decorated with crosses.

The news from Bressi and the Holy Court came day by day, the war in the Northland subsided day by day, and the pain in Abbot Anil’s heart grew day by day.

Sure enough, the Holy Court intervened in the rebellion in the Northland. In the name of the Holy Lord, countless lives were drawn into the vortex of war.

And war only brought hatred.

Rumors of the Jing’s imminent bloody vengeance against all the clergy unsettled Abbot Anil.

Among the clergy, there may be some people who were indeed the dark chess pieces of the Holy Court, but there were also more people who had nothing to do with the rebels. They were just some pious young people, but now they must bear this hatred because of what the Holy Court and the Pope had done.

And now, the torrent of hatred had swept over them.

The pain caused by war was difficult to erase, even if the victory was won in the end, the trauma was still extremely heavy. The free towns of Legrand, which directly bordered Newcastle and Balboa, suffered a brutal massacre during the rebellion. In fact, many people in the rebel army simply obeyed the orders of their lord.

The family of both sides, the elder brothers, died in this war, and many families were broken in just two months.

After happiness had become an illusion, people needed a target to divert the hatred.

The reason why the rumor spread so quickly was inseparable from this kind of pain and hatred.

Abbot Anil had a premonition of this scene when the war just started. And these days, he began to feel the change of people’s attitude towards the monastery: people did not accept their help to rebuild their homes, the poor refused their alms, and the number of people who went to pray began to decrease…..

The young priests in the monastery slowly hung their heads before the repulsion, not knowing what they had done wrong.

What were they doing wrong?

Didn’t they hold compassion in their hearts?

“But……”

Father Remy’s heart was bitter, and he wanted to say something else.

“Holy Lord above.”

Abbot Anil tapped lightly on his chest several times, and shook his head lightly to stop his words.

It was not that he didn’t know the danger of coming to the Rose Palace at this time, but he couldn’t avoid it just because of the possibility of danger. Those young pious people shouldn’t die when they are innocent. He wanted to say some things to the King, and wanted to make his pleas with the King. If this was really a path to meeting with death, then please start with him first.

This was their sin, and he had no regrets.

The Master of the Households came out of the palace.

He asked Father Anil to go in alone.

………………

The palace, the King’s study.

The King was going through all the records of the funeral rites.

A large part of the importance of the Holy Court’s status in the secular world came from the intermediary status of their clergy. In the concept of the Holy Court, believers were far away from the Kingdom of God, and bishops and priests held the key to the “gate of the Kingdom of God”. Funerals were an obvious manifestation of this status, and the core point of view was the “purgatory theory”.

But not everyone recognized this intermediary role of the clergy.

It was precisely because some theologians have held different opinions for a long time, the Holy See specially made a formal regulation at the Whitsunday Sanctuary in 1411: Purgatory was a place of exile and suffering, where the soul would be purified by the fires of purgatory until salvation was complete after the death of a person until before the “Doomsday Judgment”.

The King also heard rumors that he would raise a bloodbath in all the monasteries and churches, and to some extent, he also secretly facilitated the spread of these rumors.

However, the King did not intend to really do that.

One reason:

As early as a thousand years, people’s daily life had been integrated with faith. It could be said that belief had become an indispensable aspect of life. If one wanted to eliminate it directly, it would only have an impact on the existing system, and it might even cause the existing system to collapse.

The King did not deny that this belief had already become part of today’s Legrand.

His goal was not the faith itself, but the Holy Court as a belief institution.

After returning to Legrand, the King received some information about Bressi’s kingdom:

At the coronation of Prince Charles, he fulfilled the “Gift of Clemo V” by handing over to the Pope the secular dominion of the whole of the Lowlands and the western part of the kingdom.

But the Holy Court’s actions were not all smooth sailing. If it was only limited to this, they would not encounter much resistance, but if they wanted to truly gain control over the secular political economy, they would inevitably have some conflicts with the old local interests.

The Holy Court’s energy was spent on Bressi, and this was Legrand’s opportunity.

He wanted to build Legrand’s own church.

The Master of the Households knocked on the door.

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“Come in.”

The King closed the file in his hand, which was a record of the 1411 Whitsunday Council.

In this record, a priest protested the Pope’s interpretation of the “Confessions”. He denied the “purgatory theory” and the key concept of “the gate of the Kingdom of God”.

The priest, called:

Anil.

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In the fireplace, the burning firewood made crackling sounds, and emitted a warm yellow fire light that casted a halo on the person at the door. The phantom figure that appeared in front of the King when the bard plucked his strings was no longer blurred.

The best queen of Kriya, the Queen Dowager of Legrand.

His mother.

For more than ten years, the Duke of Buckingham kept a secret that could not be revealed. He guarded the mad queen in order to protect the Kong, as well as protect the queen dowager herself…..He was only waiting for the mad queen to become lucid, and able to be the King’s mother.

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This was the last gift left to him by the Duke of Buckingham.

He did everything he could for the King.

The King was sitting on the ground with his head raised upwards. For a moment, he couldn’t tell whether everything was an illusion or reality. Bitter and breathless…..all the complicated and unspeakable emotions came like a surging tide.

Queen Eleanor with black hair and green eyes walked over, tears streaming down her thin face.

She half knelt down before the King, stretched out her hands and embraced him in her arms. She had lost the whole world, and now she had it all again, her child, her little Pureland.

Fate was too cruel to them.

Eleanor pressed her forehead against the King’s silver hair, and her hands that once picked up the bloodstained lance and sharpened a piece of iron into a sharp blade trembled at this moment. Her lips trembled, and she couldn’t say a word for a long time. When looking at the King in the Rose Palace, Eleanor once thought about what she would say when she saw her child.

She thought of so many things, but now she couldn’t say a word.

Fate was too unfair to this family.

Her child should have been the most noble and respected king in the world, but he was sitting on the ground by the desk, holding the letter, and was so filled with sorrow that he was just a child who had lost too much.

“My child, my little Pureland…..” Eleanor finally spoke, choking with sobs. She hugged him tightly and whispered, “I am here, I am here.”

Therefore, there was no need to suppress the sadness anymore, someone would wipe away your tears when you cry, hug you tightly, and prevent you from being attacked by the cold wind.

“He’s gone.”

The King said hoarsely.

Gone forever and never coming back.

His tears finally fell down.

A hug that was warm enough, a pair of trembling hands, a mother who was lost and found again…..After so many years, after struggling to survive in hatred and coldness, someone finally taught him how to let his tears flow when he was so filled with sorrow. At this moment, he was the same as all children who had lost their loved ones.

A pair of hands gently patted his back, as gentle as in those vague memories.

Queen Eleanor, her black hair falling over the King’s silver, held her child tightly.

Like holding a newborn baby, she hummed a familiar lullaby in a low and hoarse voice in the warm fireplace light. She once hummed this lullaby to lull the young King who wanted to see his father to sleep, and now she hummed this lullaby again, hoping to soothe the sadness in her child’s heart.

The night covered the land, and the crows flew up in surprise.

All partings, all encounters, all sorrows…..would pass through the long night.

…………

Southeast of Legrand, the port of Koszoya.

Today’s Captain Hawkins was quieter than ever before, and the young sailors on the ship toast secretly to celebrate not having to suffer torment from their neurotic captain, but some older pirates were silent.

Captain Hawkins, wearing a black slanted hat, sat alone on the railing of the bow deck, the back of his figure looking like he was about to commit suicide by jumping into the sea. He was holding a wine bottle in his hand and was throwing his head back, trying to pour some more down his throat. After shaking it a few times, two drops of wine fell into Captain Hawkins’ mouth. With a “tsk”, he threw the bottle into the sea.

The Witch shrouded in a black dress looked at the captain who was rarely quiet without the first mate, and didn’t bother him.

Gulu, gulu.

A small wooden barrel rolled to the Witch’s feet and bounced slightly upward.

The Witch understood that it was Jenny who wanted to talk to her.

The contract she signed with Jenny was different from others, and she was the only one who could communicate directly with Jenny.

The Witch stretched out her hand and pressed it against the railing.

Jenny’s voice sounded in her mind: “Griselda, Griselda…..that bastard who almost burned my sail back then…..Duke Buckingham, can’t he come again?”

The Witch was slightly taken aback. Jenny had always been like a little girl, she didn’t expect that Jenny would feel this keenly.

“Just like William?”

The Witch looked up at Captain Hawkins who was drinking alone, and responded in a low voice.

The sails on the ship suddenly drooped listlessly, and no longer floated upwards.

The wind blew all night at sea, and Captain Hawkins sat on the rail and drank all night. When the eastern sky became lit by dawn, he stood up unsteadily on the railing, staggered from the railing and fell into the sea with a “plop”, splashing water high.

The pirates who came to clean the deck in the morning happened to see this and thought their captain had gone crazy again, jumping into the sea to wash his brain again.

The Witch smiled wryly and ordered for Captain Hawkins to be quickly picked up from the sea.

………………

Rose Palace.

The sun had just risen, and the light fell on the spiers of the magnificent palace and castle. The King and Queen Dowager Eleanor stood together in the stone pavilion where the Duke of Buckingham rested when he took a walk with the King.

Winter had receded, and in the Rose Palace where the temperature was higher than outside, roses had begun to bloom again. The rose vines coiled around the stone pavilion had already begun to be decorated a little bit by new green buds. Wearing a scarlet cloak, the King stretched out his hand to hold on to the railing. He had already suppressed his emotions again.

Queen Eleanor looked at her child.

Time passed quickly, and in the years she wasn’t involved, her child had grown up to be as strong as his father.

Always remembering his responsibility as a monarch, and restraining himself from drowning in sorrow.

“Time flies, you’ve grown up.”

Queen Eleanor revealed a complicated smile.

According to the original secret spell, the King’s soul existed in two worlds at the same time. But the baptism of the Holy Court made the King’s soul carry the breath of the Holy Spirit, and coupled with the various illusions she saw at that time, this made her mistakenly believe that the secret spell failed and the King was replaced by the Holy Spirit.

Would her child have an easier and happier life if she hadn’t been crazy for so many years?

She failed to fulfill the responsibilities of a mother, she failed to shield her child from the wind and rain.

The King sensed the remorse hidden in the queen mother’s voice.

He turned his head and looked at his mother.

“No.” The King gave her a gentle hug. “You saved me, many times.”

In the last letter left by the Duke of Buckingham, he told the King the reason why Queen Eleanor had been insane for so many years——she had witnessed her child die time and time again in front of her own eyes.

When he saw this, the King understood everything.

When he was “Zhu Chi”, he would have nightmares again and again, but after waking up, he would forget what happened in the dream, leaving only a feeling of powerlessness and rage behind. When the Holy Court used the secret method of baptism to carry out an assassination, he got the answer from the Devil: that was the power of the secret method of baptism.

Yesterday he remembered everything.

All nightmares had the same content…..He would be in various dangers, and he faced death again and again.

“You saved me.”

The King repeated it again.

“Again and again.”

In those nightmares, he felt so weak and powerless, he felt that the whole world wanted to kill him, he was a person who was out of place and not tolerated by the world. But every time, there would be a voice, and a figure would hold him firmly in the darkness.

It was because of that voice and those hands that he didn’t lose himself in the constant cycle of nightmares and struggled to survive again and again.

Before, he forgot. Before, he didn’t know what it was.

Now he knew.

The one who protected him again and again in his dreams…..was his mother who was in pain and suffering under madness because of losing him.

In her painful illusions, she saw her child face danger time and time again, so she reached out her hand again and again trying to hold him. From a world apart, from such a long distance, her love traveled through time and space, like the wings of a goshawk, protecting her chick and allowing him to grow up safely.

The King finally understood why he wanted to survive by all means.

Because he was not hated by the world, he was also loved by someone.

He must come back, he must come back to Legrand.

Here was his family, this was his country, his land.

“Are you going back to Kriya?” The King asked his mother. “I met a bard. They still miss you. They will be glad to know that you are still alive.”

Eleanor straightened the King’s collar. She looked at her son, who she hadn’t been able to get a close look at yesterday. His blue eyes were the same as William III’s. His thoughtfulness was also exactly the same as his father’s. They were both not good at expressing themselves, nor good at dealing with soft emotions.

The queen mother understood that the King wanted to distract her from her guilt.

She shook her head: “I can’t go back now. In the eyes of the world, I have already died of illness. If I appear rashly, it will cause them trouble. Moreover, I will defend your kingdom in the shadows. You are the only monarch of Legrand.”

Her voice was gentle but firm.

The Master of the Households stopped at a distance from the mother and child who finally met. He looked at the former mistress of the palace, his eyes slightly moist, and he murmured in a low voice: “How wonderful.”

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How wonderful, that at least not everyone had left.

“Come over.”

The King sensed his steward’s arrival.

The Master of the Households was here to report on the preparations for the Duke of Buckingham’s funeral.

It would be a funeral, and it would be a declaration of war.

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Longsword, gauntlet, defender.

The King drew his sword and put it on General Johan’s shoulder.

“In the name of Rose, you shall be my defender from now on.”

He gazed into General Johan’s eyes and announced.

General Johan knocked on his heart: “For the glory of Rose!”

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Behind the King, the Iron Rose knights were watching this scene. They drew out their long swords and held them up high: “For the glory of Rose!”

Dignity, glory, vows.

This was the knight!

The King mounted his horse, and General Johan rode at his side, just as the Duke of Buckingham had done when William III rode out to war.

The standing triumphant marched forward again.

The welcoming crowd cheered as the iron torrent passed through on the red carpet laid out inside the city gate. People on both sides threw flowers on the triumphant knights.

The return of Balboa and Newcastle to Legrand territory was an extraordinary victory.

When the news of the death of the Duke of Buckingham, the imperial lion, came back to the country, everyone was sorrowful and despairing, but immediately afterwards the King declared to the people with his victory: following Henry the Mad King, Charles the Lion King, and William III, Legrand once again had a monarch strong and powerful enough to guard the nation.

He had grown enough to take over the heavy responsibilities entrusted to him by his father and uncle and lead the people to victory.

After a thousand years of division and disintegration, all the Legrand people who longed for the previous prosperity were eager to see the unification of the empire under the Rose flag. Balboa and Newcastle were like a prologue, and they were currently witnessing the dawn of hope.

The citizens of Metzl Castle put on the red clothes symbolizing the Rose, and flooded the streets to meet the triumphant king and his knights, extending a warm welcome to the victorious knights. In the streets, people built huge and elaborate fake castles, and painted theater actors sang in the castles odes to generations of outstanding kings recorded in Legrandian history.

These plays were the congratulations of Castle Metzl to her sovereign, as well as the pleas of the people:

They pleaded with the King to continue leading his knights to guard the nation.

When the King and his knights arrived at the center of the castle city, some little boys and girls wearing rose garlands ran out of the crowd, their cheeks painted red. These boys and girls took off the wreaths on their heads and presented them to the brave knights. The King also bent down to receive this innocent and childlike gift from a little girl.

After laying the wreaths, the little girls and boys held hands and sang, leading the way for the King and his knights:

“Long live, flower of the world, brave Legrandian knights!”

A chronicler witnessed the scene where the King took the rose garland from the girl, and he wrote this down excitedly: “The excellent, strong and steadfast king, the loyal defender, the fearless knights, and the people who love them deeply…..such a Legrand, such a Rose family, who can say that we cannot witness the arrival of glory?

After a long period of disintegration, there will be a great and glorious unity.”

The whole city offered her gifts and cheers to the King and his knights.

Wearing a double-breasted coat, first mate Charles stood in the crowd. He watched the King walk into the Rose Palace surrounded by people, and General Johan accompanied him. Charles was slightly reassured. He raised his head and watched the play in the fake castles, which happened to be at the scene where William III commanded the thirty-six nations to bow their heads.

“Is the Rose family all like this? William.”

Charles asked softly.

Tenacious and silent, and no matter how heavy the burden was, they always walked forward step by step with a straight spine, making people feel that they were omnipotent. It wasn’t until the moment they died that people suddenly understood that they were also mortals and would die. William was like this, and so was the Duke of Buckingham.

They would always let people see only their power and strength, from beginning to end, like a knife, a sword, and a shield.

Charles’ voice was drowned in the cheers.

When he received the news of the Duke of Buckingham’s death, Charles was unable to put aside his worries after all, and rushed back from the southeast coast to assist General Johan in dealing with Legrand’s internal affairs. Before leaving, he asked Captain Hawkins if he wanted to come back too.

To at least, attend the Duke of Buckingham’s funeral.

Charles didn’t say this, but Hawkins must have understood.

The slightly cold sea breeze was blowing, and the ghost ship “Jenny” was gently rising and falling with the tide. Captain Hawkins, who was always flippant with a slanted hat, was sitting on the railing, shaking his wine flask: “I won’t go back, you can’t believe a single word the nobles say…..I’ll continue to be a laborer for him here.”

None of the words of the nobles could be believed. The one who once said he would step on the deck of the pirate ship died in the flames of war before seeing his old friends again.

Charles pulled up his collar, and he followed the crowd to the palace.

………………

After completing the entire triumphant procession, the King came to the residence of the Duke of Buckingham.

The residence of the Duke of Buckingham was very close to the Rose Palace. It was given to the Duke of Buckingham by William III. The emblem of the Rose family was engraved on the main entrance of the mansion. But after walking in, one could feel that, as a duke’s mansion, its interior layout was a bit too shabby.

The sudden death of William III caused Legrand to fall into chaos. At that time, the Duke of Buckingham used almost all of his wealth to support the royal family’s expenses. But the Duke never mentioned it to him. After he became an adult, the Duke burned all those certificates of indebtedness.

When the King had just become lucid and wanted to collect 20,000 pounds to pay his cousin’s ransom, he once asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer about the Duke’s income. The answer he got at that time surprised him.

For so many years, the Duke of Buckingham, like an ascetic, did not value material pleasure. His only hobby was probably collecting weapons and armor.

The King walked along a long corridor where many armors were displayed.

He looked at a set of armors. These armors were not antiques, and even most of them were in quite dilapidated shape. General Johan told him in a low voice that some of these armors belonged to the Duke himself, and more were left by his soldiers. After every battle, the Duke of Buckingham always tried his best to collect the armor of his dead knights.

“He looks at these armors a lot.”

General Johan looked at the blood-stained armor.

The King looked around, as if he saw the white-haired old man walking alone through this corridor——he put his armors and the armors of the knights who sacrificed their lives together, was it because he felt that they would still accompany him in this way?

“He was always a good general.”

The King whispered.

That was why there were so many people who would charge into battle with him without hesitation when he drew his sword, why there were still so many people who forgot their fear on the battlefield and continued to fight on after his death, just to let his coffin step on the land he wanted to reclaim for Legrand.

They came to the end of the corridor, which was the Duke of Buckingham’s study.

“I put the things on the desk.” General Johan looked at the King. “Every time he goes out, he would write a letter to me. If he failed to come back, it was to be given to you. If he came back, to just burn the letter. That’s the only thing I didn’t do that he asked me to do…..I’ve kept them all. I thought you’d want to see them all.”

“Thanks.”

The King put his hand on the doorknob, took a deep breath, and slowly pushed open the extremely heavy door.

Candles were burning in the study, the fireplace was also still burning as well, and many manuscripts were displayed on the floor-to-ceiling bookcase. The desk was placed by the window, and a chair with worn-out armrests was slightly pulled away from the desk. On the back of the chair was the red cloak gifted by the King to the Duke of Buckingham.

Everything looked as if the owner of the study had just left for a while and would be back soon.

The King looked at everything in the room quietly for a long time, then closed the door and walked in alone.

He looked around the study, walked to the desk, reached out and picked up the neat stack of letters.

Opening the first letter, the familiar strong and powerful handwriting came into view:

“Your Majesty:

Please allow me to apologize to you, when you read this letter, I will no longer able to walk on with you…..”

His vision suddenly became blurred, and the King slid down slowly against the desk, a stinging sensation surged up into his eyes, and he could no longer hold back.

The cold truth had never been so strong——

In the future, the Duke of Buckingham would no longer accompany him to deal with those tedious political affairs…..No one would read all the letters first and sort out the important ones for him. No one would ever say to him, go out with me for a walk.

In the overwhelming sense of coldness, the King raised his hands to cover his face, and he gasped in a low voice.

From now on, who else would give him a fatherly hug?

There was a thick stack of letters, each of which represented a battle of the Duke of Buckingham. After William III died of illness, what was left for the Duke of Buckingham was not only his infant nephew, but also a turbulent, war-torn Legrand…..Over the years, the Duke had been like this, with one battle after another, not knowing whether be would survive in the end or not, defended the Rose family’s territory.

Every time he went off into battle, he was ready to die on the battlefield.

The King read the letters.

In each letter, the Duke of Buckingham wrote a detailed analysis of the changes in the domestic situation after his death, from which nobleman’s character to what action which vassal state might take, who was loyal to the royal family…..

If he died in battle, the King could follow his advice to stabilize the political situation. If he won, the King would not know what kind of mindset his uncle had while preparing to go into battle.

So many letters, so many battles in which survival or death was unknown.

Everyone was afraid of the flames of war where human lives were worthless, and no matter how outstanding a knight was, it was possible to die in any unexpected incident in the war. What kind of person could prepare himself to die in battle time and time again?

He was indeed worthy and deserving of the title of the imperial lion.

The King read them one by one, as if seeing a chaotic political situation gradually calming down in the face of the Duke of Buckingham’s determination, and seeing himself growing up gradually through the years.

The tone in the Duke of Buckingham’s letters remained gentle but firm throughout.

He was a ruthless general, a brave and fearless knight, and a gentle uncle.

Finally, only the last letter remained, longer than all the previous ones.

“…..I’m very sorry, Your Majesty, for making you bear the entire fate of Legrand from birth.”

This letter was written before the settling of the Northland rebellion. At that time, he had already woken up from his madness, and the Rose family’s crazy gamble had won in the end. The Duke of Buckingham had never mentioned this matter in his previous letters, when he was still under the torment of madness. The Duke did not want to make him bear any more responsibility.

In the last letter, the Duke of Buckingham told him all about his and William’s choice back then.

“There is one last thing I couldn’t tell you before. I hope this will make you happy, my dear child.” The Duke of Buckingham’s tone finally revealed some lightness, as if a heavy stone that had weighed on his heart for a long time had finally been moved away, “About your mother…..”

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The door was gently pushed open.

The King looked up, realizing that the Duke of Buckingham had left him one last gift.

In front of the door, a woman with long black hair and green eyes looked at him with tears in her eyes, trying her best to show a smile.

TN: the tears are finally falling out, feeling like the aftermath is even sadder than the scene when the duke died 😢😭

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“She was Kriya’s best queen.”

The King repeated the words, and he raised his head, his eyes falling on the flames dancing in the hearth.

“Of course she was.”

The bard smiled with delight.

“Thank you,” said the King softly.

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

The bard bowed deeply: “This is what we should do, and the people of Kriya are willing to aid you.”

He backed away gently, leaving room for the King to be alone.

………………

February was soon to pass.

The bard was ordered by the King to sing an ancient ballad in the Northland. It was the ballad when the Rose family ruled the Northland. The soft ballad was used as the entry point to contrast with the harsh rule of the state royal family. The King used this method cleverly to divert the hatred of the people of the Northland and awaken the connection between the Northland and the Rose family.

The second step in the propaganda offensive was to reveal the system implemented by the Rose family when they ruled the Northland.

During that period, the Rose family treated the Northland equally, and the people of the Northland and Legrand enjoyed the same treatment.

On one side was the harsh labor feudal system, on the other side was pardon and equal preferential treatment.

As long as one was not a fool, it was not difficult to make the corresponding choice.

The sporadic and scattered rebels put down their weapons, and the turmoil in the Northland completely subsided. At this time, the King received an unexpected surprise: Under the leadership of a former mid-level rebel officer named “Wood”, a group of free people who had participated in the rebel movement jointly signed a letter to the King, requesting the King to remove them from the rule of the royal family of the state.

After reading the joint petition, the King looked up at the young officer who was standing in front of him a little nervously.

Officer Wood was in his early twenties, with a typical Northland red face. He was very tall, and his gray-blue eyes carried the vigor of a young man. He was somewhat similar to General Ayton, whose head was beheaded by the King some time ago. He was also of an ordinary farmer background, and he climbed up to the position of a middle-level officer in the army by relying on his courage and strength.

“I heard that you have given General Edmund a lot of trouble.”

The King closed the petition and looked at the officer before him.

“You came to see me in person, are you not worried?”

He was referring to when General Edmund was assisting Earl Henry in attacking Balboa, this young officer had predicted their marching route and set up an ambush in the valley. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were too small in number and Ingres’ soldiers were especially adapted to the mountainous terrain, then who knew what the outcome of that battle might be.

However, at that time, the young officer still managed to lead his elite troops to escape.

“Since Earl Henry could still be commissioned to command such a large army, then I don’t think I have anything to worry about.” Wood replied.

Earl Henry once chose the New Royalist Party in the “Rose Crisis”, and also attacked many Royalist Party castles. Even people like Earl Henry could be reused by the King in this counter-insurgency campaign. This was the source of Officer Wood’s daring this time——he felt that King Legrand was not as violent and bloody as the rumors say.

“You have a candid character.”

The King smiled slightly.

Officer Wood bowed to express his sincerity: “I think that you would rather hear some truths than grandiose speeches. Or could it be that you would reject the surrender of your subjects after repentance? Your Majesty.”

“Of course not.” The King pressed his fingertips together, “Who would refuse a young and talented general?”

“General?” Officer Wood caught the information in the King’s words, and his red face became redder with excitement, “You mean…..”

“When you had the courage to step in here, this already became yours.”

The King smiled.

He handed a letter of appointment to Officer Wood.

The King was originally planning to choose such a person in the first place.

After all the royal members of Balboa and Newcastle had been purged by the King, there became a power vacuum here. The formation of a new local government must take into account many things. There was no doubt that the vast majority of candidates for the two new governments must be members who had the Rose royal family’s trust, as this place here must be under the close control of the King.

However, the King did not intend to appoint only Legrandians to govern these places. Whether it was due to their familiarity with the specific local conditions or their acceptance by the Northlanders, that would not be a good idea.

It would be easy to cause turmoil to break out again in the land that was finally recovered.

In the process of Balboa and Newcastle’s complete integration with Legrand, the King must use some softer means to appease the local people.

He needed a Northlander for an important position.

This Northlander needed to be smart enough, possess a certain influence, and not be born within the noble class.

Officer Wood met those criteria, if not more.

Officer Wood was born as a peasant. Appointing him as one of the consuls would allow farmers in the Northland to see the hope of improving their status and rights. He was originally a member of the rebel army, but he became of use to the King which would allow those who participated in the rebellion to no longer be afraid. And to a certain extent, this could also dilute the impact of some of the King’s previous tough measures. Officer Wood could only have power and status with the support of the King, and the relationship of interests would prevent him from rebelling as easily as the local nobles.

And Officer Wood’s joint petition also reflected his political acumen.

He was the smart man the King needed.

“I hope you won’t disappoint me.”

The King said to Officer Wood, who knelt on one knee and swore the oath of allegiance.

“Of course, I looked up when I entered the city.” Officer Wood replied, he paused, and asked earnestly, “This might be a little presumptuous of me but may I ask…..will you make the Northland better? Will it be like in the song that is sung, peaceful and beautiful?”

“Yes, it will.”

The King answered.

Officer Wood raised his fist and knocked on his heart: “Then I’m reassured.”

He took his leave, finally with the weight off his mind.

Unbeknownst to Officer Wood, his last, somewhat impolite question got him past the final test by the King. The King didn’t dislike people who were ambitious and eager to gain power. But someone who was ambitious and wanted to make his hometown better would be even more suitable for that position.

Officer Wood left Bomari Castle with the good news, and the King began to issue a series of formal orders:

Legrand took back the rights that had been given to the royal family of Balboa and Newcastle. From then on, the royal family of Legrand directly ruled the two places, and Balboa and Newcastle were changed from country to county. The new county officials were appointed by the King himself.

All military castle deacons in both places were reappointed.

The fiefdom judicial courts of the two places were abolished, and the King established local fixed courts.

Balboa and Newcastle would have the right to freely elect city representatives to participate in the Legrand Imperial Council.

……

This series of decrees were called “Northern Old Regulations”, which meant that it did not establish a new system in the Northland, but restored its former rights when it was ruled by the Rose family.

When the governments of Balboa and Newcastle started to be formed, the conscription duration had already ended, and the King dismissed the assembled troops one after another, leaving only the Iron Rose Cavalry and the knights who would be rewarded.

End of February 1433.

The thick snow began to melt, the melted snow and ice converged into rivers, and new shoots began to sprout.

The King left behind the former subordinate of the Duke of Buckingham——the lieutenant-general to guard Bomari Castle, while he himself led the Iron Rose Cavalry and set off to return to the rose palace.

The lieutenant-general stood on the wall of Bomari Castle, watching the King lead the Iron Rose Cavalry away, and looked up at the tall tower in the center of the castle.

“Winter is over.”

………………

Metzl Castle.

The news of the victory in the war in the North had been sent back to Legrand some time ago.

Everyone in the capital rejoiced. The victory of this war was beyond the people’s imagination, and the chroniclers did not hesitate to praise the King’s achievements in  tones of admiration. Today, the King would return in triumph, so a group of nobles, the mayor, all members of the city council, and hundreds of guild members waited quietly outside the city gate.

At the head of this group of people was General Johan.

In just a few months, General Johan became more steady and mature, even a bit stern. When some old nobles saw him, they almost thought they were seeing the young Duke of Buckingham. At this time, he was standing in front of the procession, sitting upright on his horse. But somewhat puzzlingly, General Johan was wearing a pair of iron gauntlets.

This did not seem to be in accordance with etiquette.

But no one dared to ask General Johan.

“Here there come! His Majesty is back!”

The crowd who had been looking forward to this moment suddenly broke out into noise.

Smoke and dust rose on the horizon, and the returning triumphant knights galloped in the bright sun. They held high the scarlet banners as they left, and the hundreds of Rose royal banners unfolded like a boiling sea of blood. Compared with when they left, the auras of these knights became even more intimidating.

From a long distance, one could feel the momentum that could overcome all obstacles.

Indomitable and indestructible.

The crowd was silent at first, and then cheered louder than before, and the cheers were full of pride——this was their King of Legrand! This was Legrand’s army! Their knights!

Legrand’s pride!

The triumphant cavalry gradually approached, and General Johan, who had been standing still, suddenly rode forward. General Johan’s disrespectful behavior caused the others to look at each other in blank dismay, and then they saw the knight at the head of the returning cavalry raise his whip, and the entire Iron Rose Cavalry stopped in unison.

The sound of galloping horses faded suddenly, and it seemed that there were only two horses and two knights looking at each other left in the world.

The King watched quietly as General Johan rode his horse over.

In front of the King, General Johan dismounted.

The King also dismounted. General Johan looked more like a young lion than he had ever remembered.

“I’m very sorry.”

The King whispered. The others were too far from them. Here stood only a pair of brothers, not a king and his general. The King didn’t say why he was sorry, but they both knew why.

“You don’t have to feel guilty.” General Johan stared into the King’s eyes. “He had already made such preparations. He left some things behind. I think you might want to take a look when you go back.”

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

The King did not speak.

General Johan gave the King a hug and whispered, “He’s always been proud of you.”

Letting go of the King, General Johan took a step back, knelt down on one knee, raised his fist and struck his heart:

“I have prepared my long sword and iron gloves, Your Majesty, please allow me to be your defender!”

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The black iron door was slowly closed, and the alchemists who turned into skeleton warriors continued to slumber in the darkness.

“I thought you would wake them up?” The Devil watched the King order to seal the basement of the tower tightly, and curiously asked, “After all, the Holy Court has already begun to establish the Kingdom of God.”

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

“No, not yet.”

The King answered calmly.

That army sleeping in the ground was a powerful sword hidden by mortals, it would be a cavalry, a sharp dagger that stabbed at the Holy Court and at the gods. Only when it was secretive enough and unexpected enough could it play an important role at the most appropriate and critical moment.

When to use it, the King already had a rough judgment in his mind.

But that time was not now.

After the Devil took his leave, the King did not leave the tower directly.

He walked up the black stone steps step by step. The windows of the tower were open and the wind poured in, bringing in the low and echoing sound of the evening bell, which vibrated the eardrums. The King climbed to the top of the tower, and from the highest point of the castle looked down on the city that belonged to him.

The Devil also told him another thing.

Among the castles of the Rose family, some castles were actually designed by alchemists, and Bomari Castle was one of them. After the talented alchemists formed an alliance with the dragon slayers, they spent a lot of effort constructing their castles.

The castle itself was a huge runic formation.

The spiers that the King saw were some important nodes in this formation. At this time, the King looked down from the highest point, and found that the streets of the entire castle followed a strange rule. The streets, large and small, were laid on the same surface, which was a magnificent picture made up of geometric figures.

That was why the Devil advised the King that it was better not to destroy the castle itself if possible.

However, after the Battle of God’s Punishment, the Rose family lost the Bomari Castle in the near disintegration of the empire, and the rebels who later occupied it obviously didn’t know this.

Believing themselves clever, they made quite a few changes to the castle in an attempt to make it more powerful.

In order for Bomari Castle to exert its due strength, they needed to make a series of repairs and restorations. In this regard, the King had a good candidate——Mr. James, who had become a military weaponist madman.

The end of the evening bell gradually faded among the mountains, and the King returned to the castle’s council hall.

General Sheehan had been waiting for a while.

After a whole day of cleaning, Legrand had completely taken control of Bomari Castle.

The reckoning had begun.

A few days later, two messengers arrived at Bomari Castle.

They were from Balboa State.

They brought news that the King wanted.

After the fall of Balboa Castle, General Edmund of the Ingres State faithfully carried out the King’s order, and the brave Ingres army thoroughly purged the royal family of the Balboa State to ensure that no member of the royal family of Balboa would survive. On that day, blood stained the stone slabs of the Balboa Palace.

The royal family of Newcastle was treated in the same way as the royal family of Balboa.

The rebels tasted the bitter fruit of defeat.

The purge of the royal families of the two states brought a little controversy to the King——because the members of the royal family of Balboa who died at the sword of the Ingres cavalry included male, female, young and old.

The King’s orders were extraordinarily cruel and held no mercy.

“Our critics will be having a carnival again.”

Before giving the order, the King had said to General Sheehan with a smile.

“I would have new eyes for them if they could quell this war by themselves.” General Sheehan replied angrily.

The King shook his head without comment.

What would happen next in the Northland would be an unprecedented reckoning. Balboa and Newcastle have lived under the rule of their respective states for too long. If Legrand wanted to rebuild a new order here, then the King must guarantee that no rebellious royal blood remained in this world.

Slaughter was only the first step in the purge.

When people in the Northland were debating about the killing of all the royal families of the two states, the King’s officials listed everything that the two royal families of the Balboa State and Newcastle State had done to exploit and oppress the people of the Northland over the years. It was organized into the “Document of Admonishment”, and sent with a large number of people to spread it all over the Northland.

In the “Document of Admonishment”, the officials of the King’s treasury conducted a rigorous argument, refuting the previous remarks used by the rebel alliance to encourage the rebellion:

——It was not Legrand that truly caused the poverty of Balboa State and Newcastle State, but the greed of the royal families. When the people of the Northland were suffering from hunger and cold, ones such as the King of Newcastle, Lantoft the Red Beard lived in a resplendent and magnificent palace, and his personal property was equivalent to the tax revenue of the entire state for three years.

It had to be said that after the King’s officials had been tormented by the King several times, their ability to debate had soared, and their argumentative ability was now impeccable.

The officials wrapped in black cloaks spoke impassionedly, as if they had become one of the Northlanders, and tearfully accused Lantoft and others about the exploitation and oppression.

But this part of the accusation was indeed not false.

Take Newcastle, for example.

After the King recaptured Bomari Castle, he immediately organized personnel to review the Newcastle financial files kept in Bomari Castle. The poverty and backwardness of the Northland were inseparable from the rule of Newcastle State.

The economic system of Newcastle State under the rule of the Lantoft family was dominated by the ancient feudal system. The land area under the feudal system varied from large to small. Some large fiefs have an area of several thousand acres, while small fiefs were only hundreds or even tens of acres. Among the fiefs registered in the “Hundred Household District Case File” of the Newcastle State, almost all the large fiefs with more than 1,000 acres belonged to the Lantoft family and their loyalists.

While the fixed land rent and land tax in kind have been generally implemented in Legrand, the state of Newcastle was still implementing the labor land tax of the last century. In the state under labor land tax, peasants were only nominally holders of free papers, but in fact there was no big difference from being serfs.

The fiefs had its own independent judicial court, and even because it was an independent state, it was difficult for people controlled by the fief to directly travel across the state to request the ruling of the Legrand royal court.

Harsh climate, ancient institutions…..The Northland indeed had a barbaric and poor atmosphere.

The King found what he wanted from the thick files:

——He found out about the system implemented when the Rose family ruled the Northland.

Victory in a war was only the first step in recovery. After the military victory, the King must also awaken the hearts of the people to return to Legrand.

This was also an invisible war.

After the “Document of Admonishment” spread, the King’s officials stood ready and started a second propaganda offensive.

In this propaganda offensive, bards played an important role.

A bard was received by the King.

At the conferment ceremony before the King’s battle with the Gulundi heavy cavalry, this bard plucked the strings of his harp in the square and sang the ancient ballads of Legrand. The King sent someone to pick him up from Benz City. No one was more familiar with the great legends and the ancient epics than the bards.

That was an ancient memory passed down in the strings.

“I hope you can sing about the former tranquility, peace and beauty of the Northland.” In the fire-lit hall, the King said to the bard, “Is there such a song?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” The bard had gray temples, and he was wearing a pair of long leather shoes that were worn out from walking too much, and his face was wrinkled. But he had bright green eyes, “I’d love to sing those ballads…..”

As he spoke, he plucked the strings, looking for the tune in his memory.

The tune was melodious, like a piece of snow drifting down.

“What do you need?” the King asked gently, listening to the melody that reminded people of snow, hearth fire and deer hunting.

“I don’t need anything, Your Majesty.” The bard looked at the King with his bright green eyes. “In fact, I have a song I wrote myself, and I would like you to listen to it. If possible, this would be my greatest reward!”

“Please, sing away.”

The bard carefully tuned the strings, his expression became extremely focused and pious, and he hummed in a low voice.

“Tell me, tell me, people of Kriya

Who led you up the hill

Who led you to pick up the lances

——She is the young queen with the black hair

……”

The melody was low, and the bard’s voice was slightly hoarse. This was the song he was most familiar with. He sang it from the mountains in the south of Legrand to the snow-capped mountains in the north. Wherever he went, he spread this song that people didn’t know of. The melody was beautiful and sad.

He sang of a young queen.

A young queen with black hair and green eyes, she picked up the lance from the puddle of blood and led the people to defeat the invading enemies, so the people wove thorns into a crown and put it on her head.

The young queen met the young monarch at the age of seventeen. They met in the mountains with flaming maple leaves in Kriya, and they fell in love in the midst of blood and fire. In the end, the young monarch broke through the seven obstacles set by the people of Kriya for his queen, just like all the knights in fairy tales who want to win the love of their sweetheart. So the people of Kriya joyfully delivered their queen into the hands of that young man.

They played buoyant melodies and sang cheerful songs for the queen.

Those songs were still passed down from generation to generation in the Kriya city-state.

In the melody of the harp, the fire swayed, and there seemed to be red mountains all around. Under the maple leaf forest, the young monarch plucked the strings, and the young queen’s dress was blazing.

The bard finished singing and stopped plucking the strings, but the blurry figures still flickered before the King’s eyes.

The King looked at their blurred faces, and heard the faint melody of a lullaby in a trance.

It was as if there had been hands gently stroking his cheeks, as if someone had hugged him while he was still a baby. They sat by the bright fire, patted his back gently, and softly coaxed him to sleep…..so gentle, so warm, he was surrounded by love.

“Who is she?”

The King asked in a low voice.

“Queen Eleanor, our queen forever.”

The bard saluted the King, and he had the green eyes that were characteristic of the Kriyans.

Queen Eleanor.

The name touched a chord in the King’s heart.

That was…..

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

His mother.

“She…..” The King’s voice was very low, he stared at the ground, “What kind of person was she?”

“She was Kriya’s best queen.” The bard looked at the young king, and found the shadow of their beloved queen on the King’s face, “If you go to Kriya, you can see her statue. The best bard in the world comes from Kriya, and the people of Kriya love her very much.”

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The countless pointed towers of Bomari Castle pierced the sky, and the dust on the ancient rose patterns engraved on the towers were wiped off, reappearing once again under the sky.

The soldiers of General Vulture and Lantoft almost all died in the internal strife yesterday. General Sheehan led his troops to conduct a comprehensive cleaning and search of the castle. While the King saw the “treasure” in the general’s carriage.

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

It was a box made of unknown metallic material.

It was said that many of Lantoft’s soldiers died in order to unearth this chest.

The Marquis of Chavos State reported to the King what he had discovered. The box was taken out by Lantoft from the tower in the middle of the castle, but there seemed to be a strange curse on that tower. All those soldiers who participated in the excavation would all die within three days. If Lantoft hadn’t used the lives of his men to fill that tower, it was still unknown whether yesterday’s infighting would have been as successful.

On the night of the internal strife, the Marquis and General Vulture snatched the box from Lantoft’s own soldiers.

The whole body of the box was dark gold, but it gave people an unusually luxurious feel. On the dark gold box, there were countless budding roses engraved, and on the front of the box was a relief mountain ridge, with hideous and weird patterns etched on it——that was a giant dragon entrenched on the mountain ridge and roses were coiled around the bones of the dragon. When one sees this box for the first time, one would think of ancient and absurd legends, the breath of ancient times rushing towards your face.

With just one glance, one could tell that it definitely had a vital connection with the Rose family.

“Have you heard, this is a treasure that can make angels descend and aid you.”

The King walked around the heavy box, raised his head, and looked at the Marquis with a smile.

The old Marquis smiled wryly: “General Aldo and Lantoft are still young and reckless, and have the capital to squander time and energy. An old man like me only wants to be able to hunt and take a walk on my fief.”

“The Marquis’ fief seems to be near a dense forest and snowfield? I have heard people say that the scenery of the snowfield is quite peculiar.” The King reached out and tapped lightly on the box, making a dull sound.

“The snowfield is like that all year round. If Your Majesty is willing to pay a visit, it will be the honor of Chavos State.”

The old Marquis chose his words carefully. The young king before him was not a man to be trifled with. The Marquis was a little unsure whether or not the purpose of the King’s question was to take advantage of the situation and wipe out the Chavos State. One must know that the current Legrand’s could be called an irresistible force.

The King glanced at the old Marquis: “Is it too hot in this room?”

“Legrand regained Bomari and restored the long-lost Bomari to its old glory, even dispelling the severe winter cold as well.” The old Marquis replied with a smile, and he raised his hand to wipe his forehead, “You see, even an old bag of old bones like myself has started sweating.”

The King had a half-smile on his face, and he withdrew his hand: “Newcastle and Balboa will become the new county towns of Legrand, and the stability of the Northland snowfields will depend on Chavos.”

The old Marquis bowed: “Please rest assured, Your Majesty, Chavos State is at your service.”

After retreating from the luxurious hall, the old Marquis stood outside, shivering when the wind blew past. At this moment, his back was covered with cold sweat, the King was clearly giving Chavos State a warning just now. The King’s seemingly casual words already contained enough shocking news.

This time the two most powerful states in the Rebel Alliance would cease to exist from now on.

The Legrand Empire would no longer have the State of Newcastle, nor the State of Balboa, and would be replaced by the County of Balboa and the County of Newcastle. The old Marquis couldn’t help but think of the military castle built by the Rose royal family in the Northland. At that time, the castle was directly named “Newcastle”.

This couldn’t help but make people have some conjectures:

Had Legrand already been determined to recover its lost territory and put it fully under the rule of the King?

The old Marquis took a deep breath, and the cold air filled his lungs. He seemed to see a chariot, a steel chariot slowly moving forward, and all obstacles would be crushed to pieces in its path. The chariot was being driven with dreadful methods by the young king, the iron-handed and domineering monarch.

Going forward, where was Chavos State’s future now?

In the main hall.

Thick black fog poured out from the corners of the room like a tide, and the Devil in a black dress suit stepped out with a red rose pinned to his collar. He bowed gracefully to the King: “Good day, my dear Majesty.”

“Is this the treasure you mentioned?”

The King knocked on the box with his fingers and asked.

Lantorft and General Vulture had obtained this heavy chest successively, but when the King walked around it he found that the chest seemed to be in one piece, with no keyhole on it, as if the chest had been built like this since the first day of its casting and there was no plan to open it again.

The Devil approached: “Of course not, it’s just a key to open the treasure, Your Majesty.”

“Key?”

“Perhaps you can take it and go to the high tower where it was unearthed. Then use the ring of the Rose family to open it and the real treasure.” The Devil didn’t answer directly, he looked down at the dragon bones engraved on the dark golden box and seemed to be thinking about something, “A little request, when you open it, could you allow me to watch?”

The King looked at the Devil, who still had that masked smile on his face.

He withdrew his gaze, nodded slightly, and agreed to the Devil’s request.

“Then, let’s go there in a more convenient way.” The Devil said briskly. He snapped his fingers, and the nightmare carriage rolled out of the black mist. The Devil further explained, “Please believe me, Your Majesty, the thing you will open may not be suitable for ordinary people to see…..Of course, your Iron Rose Cavalry is probably not included in this range.”

With Mela the stupid crow as a bet, the King’s Iron Rose Cavalry was simply a group of fanatics brainwashed by His Majesty. Nothing builds the bond of trust and loyalty between monarch and his knights more than going through life and death together…..

Ai! It was a pity that this didn’t seem to be able to apply to the relationship between him and His Majesty.

Thinking of this, the Devil half-jokingly said in a complaining tone: “My dear Majesty, you are so fair and just, so could I implore you to place some trust in your loyal hell knight?”

“If that certain knight is not full of lies, and made of intrigue and cunning,” answered the King.

The Devil spread his hands helplessly.

This was really difficult.

The nightmare carriage carried the heavy box and the King, passing through the hard black stone walls easily. The King noticed that the Devil seemed to be very familiar with Bomari Castle, and as he drove the King through the ancient castle, he hummed an unknown tune softly.

The melody in that minor key was odd, full of a kind of gloom and ornate beauty.

The King listened quietly, and soon, the nightmare carriage stopped in front of the high tower in the center of the castle. General Sheehan had sent the Iron Rose Cavalry to take over all the high towers in the city. The Devil solicitously raised the curtain of the carriage for the King, and stretched out his hand to help the King down.

The King looked up at the tower.

Unlike other castles, all Rose family castles were designed and built without churches. In fact, almost all the churches in Legrand’s royal castles were built after the “Battle of God’s Punishment” when the power of the Holy Court expanded. Bomari Castle was no exception.

The tall tower in front of the King was the tallest tower in the entire castle.

The steeple towers above the black stone, with slender and sharp edges and lines, gave the impression that it was the horns of a dragon raised high. Behind it were mountains rolling and stretching on the horizon, surrounded by other high and low towers. The skylight fell on the black rock, and even the light was absorbed by it.

No wonder the Marquis of Chavos State believed this was a “cursed place”, it really didn’t look like a human creation.

So cold, so gorgeous.

The Devil carried the heavy box and led the King over.

The tower had two basements, and the box was excavated from the lowest basement. In the basement, they could still see the traces left by the previous excavations, as well as smell the faint scent of blood lingering still.

In the middle of the basement, there was a dark room that had been cleared out and the soil removed. In the middle of the dark room was a stone platform with complex reliefs. The Devil placed the box on the stone platform, and then bowed slightly, indicating that the King could open it up now.

The King stepped forward and stuck the rose ring on his hand to the box.

The Devil straightened up and stared at the following scene.

At the moment when the King’s rose ring was pressed to the box, the red color of the rose on the ring seemed to rush like a river in an instant, burning to the rosebuds on the iron box, followed by the sound of metal gears turning within the box. There should be countless fine gears, all rotating in an orderly manner, and the sound of friction they made playing like melodious music.

Scarlet flowed from the ring to each dark gold rosebud, as if the magic of time was fading, and all the rosebuds on the box revived at the same time, regaining life once again. When the last bud was stained with blood, the melody of the gears reached a crescendo.

It was a trick that even the best magician in the world could not outdo.

All the roses were in full bloom at the same moment, and the bright red roses seemed to form an ocean, submerging the dragon bones on the mountain ridge.

At the moment when the roses were in full bloom, the stone platform turned, and dust began to fall from the walls of the entire underground dark room. Dull vibrations traveled from under the feet. Amid the sound of boulders rubbing against each other, the wall facing the King slowly rose. A long passage was revealed.

As expected…..

The Devil sighed inwardly.

He had just opened the black umbrella to cover the King from the dust falling from overhead.

Air poured into the passage that had been dusty for too long, and as the air flowed in, candles lit up on both sides of the passage. There were black iron candlesticks inserted on the walls of the passage. Don’t know how the candles were made but they kept their original shape for such a long time. Those candles ignited automatically, as if the inexorable heroic spirits illuminated the way forward for the King.

“Your Majesty.”

The Devil and the King stopped at the entrance of the passage, and he bowed slightly.

“Please prepare yourself.”

He seemed to know what was hidden behind the passage, and believed that he should not step side by side inside with the King——what laid ahead belonged only to the Rose family.

The King glanced at him, and stepped into the passage.

The Devil straightened up and watched the King’s back melt into the warm firelight. The flames swayed slightly, as if rejoicing.

The Devil smiled slightly and followed.

………………

At the end of the passage was a black iron door, engraved with dense magic runes, which were exactly the same as the magic runes in the Rose Palace. The King vaguely felt that behind the iron door, there was a piece of ancient history hidden.

He reached out and touched the rose ring to the black iron door.

The door swung open.

A strong air current gushed out from inside, and the King’s robes were whipped by the wind. The sound of the wind was like galloping horses, like the shouts from heroic souls, like a dead army being revived.

The King’s pupils were illuminated by the cold light, and in the huge space behind the iron door, pale stone pillars stood vertically, as if propping up another hidden space. Just as the truth of the Rose Palace was revealed in front of the King that time, now, the age of ancient legends had traveled across time and space to appear in this world again.

In front of the King, in the underground space, was an army.

An army that seemed as if only the most insane bard could imagine up. The combination of heavy armor and pale skeletons formed a terrifying army that would only exist in nightmares. The armor of the ancient Gulundi heavy cavalry was ferocious enough, but in front of these armors, there seemed to be a gulf of difference between a beast and a hound. All the armors were engraved with complex and exquisite magical runes, and light flowed through the runic formations, illuminating the entire space.

The King looked up at these armors.

Skeletons, cavalry, armor, magic runes…..

All this was obviously so terrifying, but it only made the King feel so warm.

Where did this warmth come from?

The Devil behind him sighed softly: “Sure enough, the Rose family has managed to preserve it.”

The King turned to look at him, and the Devil stopped smiling. He also stared at the sleeping skeleton army, and said in a low voice, “Or I should say, the Rose family are dragon slayers, as well as guardians.”

“Remember the ghost ships owned by those pirates?” The Devil twirled the black umbrella in his hand, and he spoke as if he had experienced everything himself, “This was the power left by the people of the Age of Legends for later generations.”

The “ghost ships” owned by the Walway pirates were actually relics of ancient alchemy. At that time, the King learned that in the Age of Legends when the Holy Court had not yet expanded, alchemists had not disappeared from the earth, and half-living alchemic magic ships traveled back and forth across the Abyss Strait.

What kind of era was the Age of Legends?

There were dragon slayers, and there were half-living ships…..was it magnificent and romantic like fairy tales come to life?

“The alchemists of the Age of Legends tried to surpass the taboo.”

The Devil said.

In the Age of Legends, some mortals gained power from the gods. But the limitations of mortals themselves were too great, and their power was very limited. So some people tried to use knowledge and wisdom to make these powers play a greater role. Those people were the alchemists at that time.

It was they who built the half-living ships that the Walway pirates contracted with today.

The alchemists of that era were allies of the dragon slayers, and together they fought against the gods and all extraordinary powers.

At the end of the Age of Legends, the first “Millennium Kingdom” came, and the Kingdom of God, Hell, and the mortal world were all swept into the flames of war. The first frontal resistance of mortals failed, so the Age of Legends completely turned into the stuff of myths, the Code spanned the world, and alchemists withdrew from the stage of history.

Originally, the most powerful among the mortal rebels was not the dragon slayer represented by the Rose family, but the alchemist. But the power of alchemists originated from the gods, and they did not expect that their power could be easily stripped away by the gods, so they became the first batch of mortal rebels who died in the flames of war.

Since then, there had been no alchemist to walk the earth.

“The power of these armors comes from their own souls, not the gods.”

The Devil held up the umbrella and said flatly.

In that failure, the alchemists finally understood where they had gone wrong. The power bestowed by the gods was a Pandora’s box full of lies. This batch of armor was a part of the last fruits of alchemy produced by them that still remained.

They had cast themselves into the armor, and at the end of refining these armors, they threw themselves into the furnace and turned into skeleton warriors who directed the armors.

This was the fire of civilization left by the mortal rebels of the Age of Legend.

Those alchemists who failed proved to be just as powerful at the last moment of fate, and they were worthy of being called heroes. They were refined by crimson fire and turned into skeleton warriors, just to make the road of resistance for future warriors to go more smoothly.

“They chose the Rose family.”

The King said softly.

He walked forward slowly, and stopped before the first armored skeleton warrior.

In front of it, there was a stone pillar placed by the later generation, with a brief introduction engraved on it. The alchemist who turned into this skeleton warrior was named “Al Alfa”. The Rose family carved this monumental stone pillar for him.

“I am willing to entrust myself to the dragon slayer, I am willing to be transformed into a sharp sword in the hands of humans, I am willing to sleep forever in the eternal night for mortals, until I wake up and die in battle again.”

These were his last words.

The Devil watched the King read the inscriptions on the stone pillars.

Mortals were truly strange, they were so insignificant and their lives were so short. A single breath taken by a god was the lifespan of a mortal. They were like ants, and would be reduced to ashes with just a light crush of the foot. But why was it that such ants could struggle to stand up again and again from the ashes?

The King walked past the stone pillars.

The war of resistance had been burning since a long time ago, and it had never stopped.

The King finally understood why Bomari Castle was called the “Pearl in the Crown”, and why Henry the Mad King, Charles the Lion King, William III, and the Duke of Buckingham worked hard all their lives to regain this lost territory.

Therefore, in the previous era, there were some people who trusted the Rose family so much that they entrusted everything to the Rose family, and even engraved the Rose family’s emblem on their armor.

“When the day has come that we are needed most, please revive us.”

“Can it be that I am now considered a knight of the Rose family?”

“If possible, in the next war, let us stand side by side again.”

……

Words after words.

What an era it was.

The proud geniuses made a vow that would not change for a thousand years.

So, some people slept forever in the night, turning themselves into swords, and a family stood on the earth, passing on the vow from generation to generation.

After turning into skeleton warriors, the alchemists no longer have their own will, they have completely become swords for people to use, and the Rose family had never used this sword for themselves. This was power left for the mortals, and only to be used to end the war. The Rose family had proved that they have lived up to the trust of their original allies with their persistence for thousands of years.

No one broke their vow.

What kind of a long road was this?

From doomsday to a prosperous age, from darkness to light, so many people used their own bones and blood to fill up the gaps for the future generation, just for the sake of a vague hope.

So foolish, so stubborn.

The King stood before the last stone pillar.

This was the youngest alchemist among all the skeleton warriors, and her lover was a knight of the Rose family. The one to engrave the tombstone for her was her fiancé who had exchanged rings with her.

“Dear Vino:

When I am sleeping, please play a Rose melody in front of my armor. I will sleep in the dark until I wake up in a world without you…..Yes, I know that when I wake up, you will no longer be by my side, but I will be fighting for our world.

As long as there is still a rose blooming in that world, I will be able to feel your existence.

We used to have fights, and like most alchemists I used to distrust you all.

As you know, the dragon slayer was synonymous with pride, intrigue, and unscrupulousness in our eyes back then. It can’t be helped, Vino, you dragon slayers are too proud, never willing to explain anything. Now, I have to be honest, you are right——there is no fairness in this war, and we have to do whatever it takes.

But I am very happy that the dragon slayer and the alchemist finally solved the misunderstanding and finally fought side by side.

You guys must be surprised, all the alchemists have engraved the rose flower on our armor…..It is very beautiful, and we are willing to accept it.

Vino, please don’t feel alone, I am with you.

——Love you, from Hisay”

Below this text, there was another text, which was left by the knight of the Rose family:

“Because you love me, I’m never alone.”

Overcoming the gap between one’s beliefs and methods, at the end of that era, people who could not understand each other finally stood side by side. They took the rose as a symbol and engraved a vow that spanned life and death.

The King closed his eyes.

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

A proud and silent family, a family that endured everything, a family that stood like a rock in the long river of time…..Did his ancestors feel extra warm when he guarded this castle?

They were dragonslayers and guardians.

The heroic souls were by his side in the long night, and even if all the warriors died until he was the last one left, he would never be alone.

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