It snowed heavily.
The Duke of Buckingham stood outside the gates of Metzl Castle in his scarlet cloak, watching the king's carriage go away. The wind blew his white hair and his back was as straight as a sword.
The king's carriage rolled over the white snow on the road, and the flag of the rose king of the motorcade was as scarlet as blood and fiery as fire.
General John, the son of the Duke of Buckingham, stood behind him. The young general had doubts and disapproval on his face. He couldn't help asking his father: "Why didn't you dissuade Your Majesty? Can't you replace it with someone else?"
The Duke of Buckingham glanced at his son.
"Because he is the king."
he answered.
Just like that time when the king went to the Moon River Fortress to negotiate, this time he still watched the king go to a dangerous situation with his own eyes. The most important of the king's powers is to guard his country. The king is the country's shield and the country's sword.
This is the responsibility of the king, and no one else can replace it.
He used to watch his brother lead the soldiers in this way again and again, and now he has become his nephew.
General John was stunned for a moment. The Duke of Buckingham has always been strict with him, but the tone of this sentence was low and contained too many things.
The old duke raised his head, and the icy blue pupils printed the trajectory of the snowflakes: "When my brother was crowned, I threw the armor and long gloves on the ground of the banquet hall of the palace, swearing to challenge anyone who dared not support the king. At that time. Brother Wang is still very young, and I am only one year older than you are now."
General John bowed his head slightly, listening.
He knew that his father was William III's "defender"[1], and General John had more than once pieced together the thrilling ceremony from other people's mouths.
The coronation of William III was held in the turmoil. The nobles who participated in the state at the banquet of the ceremony were ill-conceived. Under the splendor, there was a turbulent undercurrent.
At the reception banquet, the young Duke of Buckingham, as the king's "defender", stepped into the banquet hall on a horse that was also clad in iron armor in the splendid candlelight. He was surrounded by no other knights, and he alone was the army of William III.
The horse's hooves tread on the icy rock, as powerful as a drum of war.
The young duke took off his iron glove, threw it to the ground, and swore to challenge all those who did not support the king.
In the usual coronation ceremony, this link is just a political performance, but when William III was coronated, it was extraordinary. Legrand was revived, eyeing the thirty-six states, and the war was brewing in murderous intent. So the political performance of the past has become a vicious battle.
The iron glove collided with the rock to make a crisp sound, and the warriors of various countries responded.
They drew their swords, and took this opportunity to swear to the death of the majesty of King Legrand.
It was a battle of glory, a battle of dignity, and a battle of life and death.
The Duke of Buckingham takes on any challenged foe alone.
General John heard from everyone how brave his father was when he was young, and he fought battle after battle with those equally famous knights, and all the candles of the Rose Palace were lit for him that night. , The young duke in the collision between the armor and the long sword is the well-deserved sword of the empire.
When the knight who challenged the kingdom of Anger had his throat slit and fell from his horse, the Duke of Buckingham's armor was already covered in blood. He reined in his horse in one hand, held his sword in the other, and threw the iron glove to the ground one last time.
This time, no one dared to pick up the blood-stained glove.
Never dared to challenge the Duke of Buckingham again.
- He successfully defended the glory of the king.
All noble ladies and ladies applauded today's most dazzling knight, and all knights bowed their heads to pay tribute to him. The new monarch stepped down from the throne, raised a gilded goblet high, and toasted with his brother, his defender.
It's a life-and-death contract.
From the time William III stepped on the throne until his death. While William III was alive, the Duke of Buckingham fought with him and defended his territory. After William III's death, the Duke of Buckingham guarded his son for more than ten years, until a new monarch grew up.
General John grew up hearing these honors from his father.
But he rarely listened to his father himself.
"Your Majesty asked you to form a new army for him." The Duke of Buckingham turned his head. "Do you know why I didn't let you serve as His Majesty's defender?"
"do not know."
"Because you didn't know what a king was then," said the Duke of Buckingham lightly. "Now, do you understand?"
General John subconsciously glanced at the direction in which the King's convoy was leaving. He clenched the reins and let out a long breath: "Understood."
The Duke of Buckingham patted his son's shoulder lightly: "One day, you will also take off your gloves and fight for Your Majesty."
"For Rose's glory."
General John raised his fist, tapped his heart, and swore an oath.
…
Angel State.
As a state subordinate to Legrand, Angel's palace is far inferior to the Rose Palace. To be honest, it is not even as good as the castle of the rich earl of Legrand. But in barren Ingres, this is already the best building.
There are mountains all over, virgin forests stretch, and swamps are like lakes. Day after day, year after year, Anger people are trapped in such a sinister environment.
However, this year's Anger people's winter was much better than usual.
This must be attributed to the king of Legrand.
The Legrand royal family set an example and conducted commercial exchanges with them first. Merchants came from all over again, and commercial towns appeared on the border of Anger after a long absence. Affected by the cold snap, their food reserves this winter were pitiful, and they thought that hunger would become a big problem this winter.
But the king solved it.
Affected by the blockade of the southeast port, the agricultural products that could not be exported to the outside world were guaranteed by the Legrand royal family. The southeast got cheap grain, and the manor owner was able to recover some of the losses so that all the grain would not rot in the warehouse.
Even though it was the coldest winter, the Angel people lived more comfortably than ever before.
King Angel's cousin, General Edmund hurriedly walked into King Angel's study.
He was originally sent to the Metzl Castle, the capital of Legrand, to attend the meeting, and later, as an important member of the contacts between Ingres and Legrand, he was responsible for the exchanges between the two parties.
The king of Anger State, Monte Leverin, was holding a dark-yellow secret letter in his hand, frowning tightly.
After General Edmund had greeted him, he handed the letter to Edmund.
"This! I object..." After reading the letter, General Edmund raised his head sharply and looked at his cousin in astonishment. "Those guys have never been kind to Angel, and their words are completely unbelievable."
Monte interrupted him by raising his hand: "I know."
"What do you mean?"
Monte took the secret letter to Angel back from Edmund's hand, "We made two bets on him, the first time we won, the second time, we also won. But this One time is too important to be cautious. So... I want to know what you think of His Majesty Pullan."
General Edmund's expression became serious: "A true emperor."
"Are you sure? He can be called a tyrant, and he has been criticized more recently." Monte asked calmly.
"Yes." General Edmund replied firmly. "The world mistook him for a defeated dog, but the lion's fangs will eventually show up and bite the enemy's throat."
"A true emperor."
Monte repeated it, suddenly arrogant.
"Then take another gamble!"
He put the secret letter on the candle, and he already had a choice in his heart. Asking Edmund was just to seek confirmation. Tongues of flame danced, swallowing the letter from the other side of the Abyss Strait.
Monte watched the letter turn to ashes, as if seeing the flames of war burning on the ground.
He felt that the undercurrents that had shrouded both sides of the Abyss Strait for hundreds of years had begun to stir.
The raging tide of blood and fire will eventually sweep the whole world. In the surging waves, strong and prosperous such as Legrand, Blasey, and Saint Court are the characters who are qualified to confront each other and fight desperately. These protagonists set off a vortex in the world, and a small country like them is destined to be surrounded by the vortex.
To survive, Angel, like Kathani, must make their own choices.
A big gamble.
Ingres bets on Legrand!
…
Cossoa.
Charles led the people to arrange everything quickly.
The largest port city on the southeast coast has now become a hell on earth with corpses crisscrossing the city, crows hovering over the city, and the death knell is forbidden to sound.
Thanks to the architects with cleanliness some time ago who led a team to carry out some preliminary clean-up work, after the outbreak of the Black Death in the city of Cossoa, the epidemic was not as severe 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 Kossoa is limited, and it is not convenient for them to appear directly in front of people's eyes, so they just turn into crows and follow around the pirates of Volway and the rose riders to ensure that these are more important to the king. of people no longer suffer injuries.
The rest of the townspeople were not so lucky.
Every day, the soldiers of the Rose Cavalry gathered to incinerate nearly a thousand corpses, and the entire prosperous city quickly quieted down in just a few days. Thanks to the secret help of plague doctors, the Black Death has not yet spread to other cities.
If this is not resolved, it is only a matter of time before the Black Death spreads to other cities.
At this time, the king made a decision that shocked everyone—
He left the palace to come to Kossoa for the "Sacred Touch of the Sovereign"[2].
He came to face the challenge of death together with his subjects.
With the efforts of Charles, Sheehan, Hawkins and others, the news spread throughout Kossoa in just one day. In these days, the people of this city have witnessed so many deaths that they almost collapsed in despair. In this case, the king's decision became a blazing sun that suddenly jumped out of the gloom.
"His Majesty has never abandoned his people."
Charles, with the temperament of a professor, gave an inspiring speech. He stood in the wind in a black coat, his voice was clear, steady and powerful. He made the king's soldiers patrol day and night, made the royal navy the first line of defense in the face of the plague at sea, and paid close attention to the king one by one.
"Your Majesty's soldiers are here, we are here at His Majesty's will, His Majesty defends his people!"
The soldiers of the Rose Cavalry raised their hands, clenched their fists together and tapped their hearts.
"For Legrand! For the king!"
They roared in unison.
Someone finally couldn't help crying on the spot. Tears of joy, guilt, and regret flowed on the faces of people who were facing the plague. The Holy Court did not care for them, the priests could not save them, the heaven abandoned them, and at such times, the king they complained about left the safe palace.
It was the king who faced their misery with them, and their calamity with them.
For the first time, all orders were executed like never before. The isolation of the iron cavalry in the city has been supported, and people no longer try to break through the city gate, try to escape the city, and no longer try to take advantage of the night to smuggle boats. There are brave people who spontaneously joined the cleaning and consolidation team.
The soldiers of the Rose Cavalry will no longer be attacked by rotten eggs that fly out of nowhere. Some people even trace the rose pattern on their armor and engrave it on their door, thinking that they can get the blessing of some kings. .
After Charles discovered this, he immediately selected one of the plague doctors from the tense number, and he turned into a crow to patrol. If he saw a patient with a rose pattern, he would rescue it.
The rose pattern became the holy symbol of the Black Death, and for the first time it was above the Holy Cross.
People waited eagerly, waiting for the arrival of the king.
Charles and the others are preparing closely for this.
Now that the king has taken the risk to come in person, the king can't risk it in vain, and this will be the best political show ever. They want the majesty and splendor of the king to be engraved on this city from now on, and they want the rose to bloom before the shadow of death.
In the early morning of winter, Charles, General Sheen, Captain Hawkins and others gathered at the city gate.
King, here we come.
The author has something to say: [1] In Medieval England, the "defenders" of the king existed in 1327, probably originally under the Mammion family. Set in 1377, at the king's coronation, the defenders would throw their gloves to the ground in the banquet hall, swearing an oath to challenge anyone who dared not stand for the king. If no one picks up the metal gloves thrown on the ground, it means that no one dares to challenge, and finally the new king raises the gilded wine glass to toast to the defenders.
[2] Medieval "monarch touch" was believed to have the ability to cure disease. Appeared in the period of Edward the Confessor, perfected in the period of Henry Tudor, at the beginning it was to cure lymph nodes, and then the scope was expanded.