Those were the happiest times for Gertrude. It was not the feeling of speaking freely that made her extremely happy, but the tangible feeling of doing something and changing something that made her live again.
Palatinate had just inherited the family business and encountered a bad harvest year. He was unwilling to increase rents for farmers and did not want to gain wealth by raising tax rates. This was the most troublesome time. In aristocratic education, there are only three sources of their wealth: war, tax collection and rent collection.
Although he was suspected of evading the problem, Pfalz, who could not think of a way to get the best of both worlds, devoted himself to Gertrude's career and gained real happiness.
Many of Gertrude's arguments that could scare the nobles to death were exchanged with the Palatinate. In other words, the Palatinate grew up under the influence of her arguments. It can even be called her "successful transformation" of the first nobility.
Moreover, under Gertrude's education, the academic level of the Palatinate was far higher than that of half of the college students. Combined with his status, with the help of the Palatinate, Gertrude's promotion of science could be said to be twice the result with half the effort.
As Gertrude promoted the so-called "science" more and more widely, not only the nobles, but also the Holy See, who felt a faint sense of crisis, also focused on this place.
When Gertrude demonstrated the wonderful chemical changes, she criticized the tricks used by the Holy See for so-called miracles. She was completely regarded as a thorn in the side and a thorn in the bone by the Holy See, and there were even more big and small nobles behind it. Then, it is a well-known thing.
The Vatican sent people to arrest Gertrude, using the name of dealing with heretics. The informant was Viscount Braine, Miss Gertrude's father.
Viscount Braine seemed to have seen the devil, his facial features were distorted with fear, and he announced to everyone: "She is not my daughter! She is possessed by the devil! Poor my little Gertrude, she was so She has a cute and obedient character. Ever since that devil came, she has been against me everywhere, talking about the nobles everywhere, and slandering the Holy See secretly. This must be some devil running out and coming to our Canno, thinking To destroy divine grace and offend God so that we, the people of Cannor, can no longer be favored by God.”
Gertrude seemed to have anticipated the possible unfortunate outcome, and kept all the letters written to her by the Palatinate over the years with her loyal maid. Seeing that the situation was not good, the maid took the letters and defected to the Palatinate. .
The Palatinate wanted to save Gertrude, but this time they were not fighting against a father who imprisoned his daughter, but against the Holy See, which had a separate territory, was self-sufficient, and even had its own army.
The Palatinate had never led an army and did not know how to confront the Holy See. Several of his knights strongly opposed a formal war with the Holy See. Under their fierce opposition, the Palatinate did not know what to do. The failure to make a timely decision prevented the Palatinate from having time to rescue Gertrude.
The Holy See placed Gertrude's rack in the middle of the square, surrounded by a circle of Holy See troops and civilians watching outside. Some of those civilians had been favored by Gertrude, and some had discussed academic issues with Gertrude in college. At this moment, they all showed sympathetic and anxious expressions, but no one dared to step forward to compete with the majesty of the Holy See. Gertrude looked at the faces of the onlookers one by one. They all turned their faces away unconsciously when they met her eyes. Gertrude didn't know what she was feeling. Disappointed? Or did you know this? She was in too much pain to think about this.
The people of the Holy See said that heretics would be executed by burning at the stake, but they did not foolishly wait for the fire. They gave Gertrude poison long before the execution. These poisons made people's internal organs extremely painful. If she hadn't been tightly tied to the rack with ropes, Gertrude would have been writhing in pain.
She couldn't open her eyes in pain.
The Palatinate has finally arrived.
Just like the time when he rescued her from her father's cellar, she couldn't see his appearance clearly, but as soon as she smelled the scent of his arms, she recognized that this was the person she loved deeply.
Gertrude felt like she had come back to her senses. At that moment, she seemed not to feel any pain, and she could even use the muscles on her face to bring out a slightly sweet smile.
"Rhine, it hurts so much."
Palatinate cried, and his tears hit Gertrude's face, cold and cold.
Gertrude's hands were tied, and she could not touch her lover. She could only gently rub her lover with her cheek, like a kitten pleasing its owner.
"Rhine, I'm sorry, I have to tell you truthfully. I had the chance to escape, but I didn't. Because of Viscount Brian's remarks, I thought he really thought that I was possessed by a demon. Although this is not a choice I can make. But because of guilt, I didn't run away. But after I was caught, I realized that it was all a lie and a pretext he pulled out. Rhine, I can't go on with you anymore. Don't be sad. Don't you always think that I know a lot, like a child sent by God? I just went back, don't be sad, don't do stupid things, promise me."
The flashback is over.
As soon as Gertrude finished speaking, she vomited a large mouthful of blood, with blood clots in it, staining the Palatinate's clothes. Gertrude bumped her head against the Palatinate's chest, trying to get him to move away and not stain him with blood.
Palatinate hugged Gertrude and cried out.
Personnel from the nearby Holy See came up and forcibly took away the Palatinate. The knights and troops of the Palatinate were stopped outside by the Holy See's troops. Palatinate could only be forcibly pulled away by the people from the Holy See, and watched helplessly as Gertrude vomited out a pile of blood, and finally closed her eyes with a pale face.
The executioners of the Holy See stepped forward and lit the pile of firewood placed at Gertrude's feet. Palatinate struggled desperately, but could not break away from the people who imprisoned him. He fainted due to excessive emotion. The last picture left in his eyes was Gertrude's figure in the flames. That was him. I have seen the most desperate scene in my life.
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It was not easy for Rhine to tell all these things. Only he knows that both people in the story are dead.
Although Hill did not know that the Rhine was not the Palatinate, in his eyes, the cruelty of his telling this story was even deeper than the former.
Hill showed some sadness on his face and mourned: "Miss Blaine is a young lady with outstanding ideas and courage to fight."
Rhine lowered his eyes and said: "She would be very happy if she could hear your praise. She really hopes to leave a mark in this world and bring something different to this era. It's a pity that the good things she hopes for, For those in power, it means touching the cheese on their plate. They, those with vested interests, are the first to be unwilling to agree. And the people who are willing to agree with her point of view are some unarmed people, even if they watch her being executed , and didn’t dare to stretch out a hand to save him.”
Hill suddenly smiled and said: "Count Palatinate, you have to know that not all nobles desire to remain unchanged."
Rhine moved slightly and looked at the Duke, who had just recovered from a serious illness. His expression was firm, and it was obvious that what he was going to say next was not casual, but carefully thought out.
Hill said: "I think everything Miss Blaine said is wonderful. Everyone has the right and opportunity to have a better life. A person does not decide everything because of his origin, nor will he be judged by anyone who is superior to him. Seize your fate and be crushed in the palm of your hand like a poor little insect.”
Rhine heard what he meant, but did not dare to confirm it hastily. Instead, he said in a roundabout way: "If you inherit the throne, you will directly obtain the so-called best life. Being born in you is not a problem, but being higher than you." People like you do not exist in the territory of the Fran dynasty. If you are worried about the Holy See, then we will simply discuss the Holy See and there is no need to praise Gertrude's kind innocence."
Hill laughed, and then sighed: "I know you don't believe me. Needless to say, Earl, you are a person of superior intelligence. Even an ordinary person will not believe me easily. Hill Derek, a successor The number one prince, it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t like the Holy See, he still doesn’t like the current monarchy and wants to change these two things together.”
Hill smiled, but after speaking, he stared at Rhine closely to observe his reaction.
They were both smart people who knew when to hold back and when to be open and honest.
But being honest always carries a bit of risk, especially with such a crazy goal.
Hill did not have the ultimate goal of confessing to Rhine from the beginning. It was Rhine's story that moved him and gave him a little hope. Hill can still have some ideas to find allies to overthrow the Holy See, but it is even more difficult to find allies to overthrow the monarchy. He is afraid that the ones he finds are those who want to overthrow King George and then sit on the throne himself.
Hill felt that Rhine was not like this kind of guy. It was difficult for him to come up with one, two, three, four or five reasons for his judgment. He could only say that it was intuition, and his intuition had always been very effective. Just as his instincts told him to come to Blandings Castle when life was at stake, now he not only survived, but was peddling his political ideals in front of the most likely ally he could have.
Rhine was silent for a long time and said: "If this is your true wish, Rhine-Palatinate is willing to serve you."
Hill looked at the calm and determined face of the person in front of him, and suddenly felt that his seemingly illusory ideal had taken the most critical step.
Hill temporarily stayed in Kannor. He sent a letter of safety to the royal capital. Because there was no one available around him, he asked the knights of the Rhine to deliver the letter.
Rhine chose Hillier. Among other things, Hillier's strength is one of the best in the Knights. When he is willing to devote his loyalty, there is no better person to complete the task than him.
As usual, Rhine explained the situation of the mission and gave Hillier a chance to choose. Whether to go or not, the choice was in Hillier's hands.
Hillier knew the weight of this choice. He could choose not to send this letter, but if he chose to send it, he could not betray it. Rhine could accept that his mission failed and his life was saved despite losing the letter, but Rhine would not accept his surrender to the enemy.
But for a knight, if he really decides who to be loyal to, loyalty is the highest compliment. If you cannot complete the task, you can only restore your reputation by giving your life, so accepting the task is undoubtedly a dangerous choice, and this danger is not affected by the Earl's generosity.
Even so, Hillier chose to accept the task. It was for reputation, he told himself. But when he was riding on the horse, he felt extremely happy in his heart, and the feeling of loyalty was not as stupid as he imagined.