Act 6 Wizards, Dragons and Empires III
"Brando, do you remember that when we just returned to Tonigel, I asked you to keep our whereabouts secret and not to announce anything to the public, right?" In the smoke-filled room, Veronica finally opened the door first. mouth. Brando nodded, something was indeed going on, so Princess Griffin had to wait until Freya arrived at Wallentenburg before she could learn the news that they were well. The injured Nimesis and her party included The injured members of the Knights of the Broken Sword were also placed in Schavlund, the Kou Hua sisters went to Valhalla, and the activities of the few people in Metisa Hippamilla were mostly limited to the castle, although on weekdays There were also meetings with the servants in the castle and Ciel's apprentices, but in fact these people generally would not leave the castle except for festivals and celebrations. Antitina even issued strict orders, at least until the harvest festival. , the news should not be leaked.
As for the princess, although this was a bit unkind for a sister who was concerned about the safety of her younger brother, Veronica looked very solemn when she warned him, so he reluctantly agreed. He looked at the anxious look on Veronica's face and was slightly startled, wondering if the news had been leaked?
The problem can only lie with the Shepherd's Inn, but the owner of the inn is an old subordinate of the Copper Dragon, a veteran who has experienced the November War. His background is absolutely reliable and he is unlikely to be bribed. Either the young people of the Knights of the Broken Sword were seen by someone with intentions, but the chance is too small. Today's Gris is a commercial port, and a large part of the merchants traveling from north to south are Cruz people. Several young people The people here are really inconspicuous, not to mention they are not wearing military uniforms.
Brando thought for a moment and finally decided to wait for Veronica to speak.
Antitina stood behind him without interrupting. Her eyelashes were lowered, and there was an indistinct light flashing in her dark eyes, and she was also thinking about something. Smoke rings were rising inside the room, forming the shape of mountains or monsters. Marshal Mangrove smoked his pipe one after another. The dark red inside the pipe flashed. He held the pipe with one hand and rested his elbow on his knee. With one hand on his thigh and a coat draped around him, he stared at the sheepskin map on the table without raising his head, as if there was some treasure buried on it.
Veronica smiled bitterly and continued: "Do you want to know the reason?"
Brando shook his head: "I'm not used to inquiring into other people's secrets, but I know this is very necessary for you, and it's just a piece of cake for me, so I'm happy to do it."
"Thank you, Brando." Veronica nodded and looked at him with some appreciation.
At this time, Mangrove knocked his pipe on the side of the table and finally raised his head. He looked Brando up and down with his remaining left eye, but strangely, Brando did not see the Cruz man's usual arrogance in the deep-set but sharp eye, but instead It feels like a general is sizing up the soldiers.
"You are very well, monsieur count,
Didn't embarrass your grandfather. "Mangrove speaks authentic Bankel-accented Cruz language. He was born in the northern region of the Four Realms, and he carries the wild nature of the Cruz northerners. But this burly old soldier only commented like this, It was as if he raised his head just for such a meaningless sentence, and then he bit his pipe again without saying anything.
Brando was almost a little flattered, knowing that one year later in history, the other party would become the commander-in-chief of Cruz's army, succeeding his grandfather as the marshal of the coalition forces. His authority in the empire could be said to be only under the queen. The supreme being in the Temple of Flame is no more than an equal to him.
"Brando, actually we hope to keep Lenaret in your territory and not announce the news to the outside world." Veronica hesitated again and again, and finally said with some difficulty: "I mean, you It’s best to let the outside world think he’s dead, you know what I mean?”
Brando was stunned for a moment.
Palace struggle. This word seemed to come to his mind naturally, and a series of plots of conspiracy and disputes had been rehearsed in his mind several times in an instant. The first thing he thought of was that other successors in the empire might be making moves after the big explosion. After all, in the eyes of outsiders, it is unlikely that anyone could survive such an explosion. But in this case, shouldn't the news that the eldest son of the emperor be alive be announced as soon as possible? What is Veronica's plan?
Could it be that there is someone else supported by the military, and they want to imprison the Cruz emperor's eldest son in Toniguer forever? This idea was so dangerous that Brando broke out in a cold sweat, but it seemed to him that Lenaret's look was not the same. If so, the eldest son of the emperor should have been under house arrest at this moment.
He looked at the female regiment leader very suspiciously.
Veronica and Mangrove exchanged glances. The former looked very embarrassed, but the latter took off his pipe, blew out a smoke ring, and nodded firmly to her.
"We suspect that Her Majesty the Queen wants to kill his eldest son." The female regiment leader finally said.
"What!" Brando and Antitina shouted in unison.
The two looked at each other, as if they could see the shock in each other's eyes.
Antitina's eyes were filled with disbelief, and she instinctively suspected that this was a conspiracy. She almost stood blankly on the spot. But Brando himself was much calmer. He took a breath, forced himself to calm down and asked, "What's the reason?"
Brando's calmness made Veronica take a high look again, and she replied: "Sit down first, and I will slowly tell you the ins and outs of this." Brando nodded, leading Antitina to Sit down across from the sofa. Mangrove was still smoking his pipe, and Veronica pondered for a moment before continuing to talk about the beginning and story of the whole thing. "This matter starts with the political environment of the empire. Our situation is different from yours, Eruin. In the past thousand years, the main problem facing the empire has always been the dispute between imperial power and religious power." She said, her voice It was neither fast nor slow, and seemed very calm; her eyes were shining with a faint emerald luster behind a layer of smoke. She intertwined her fingers and placed them flat on her chest, but some of the facts she said did not sound obvious to Brando. So mysterious.
The Cruz people founded their country because of Gilt, the King of Flame. Just like the ancestor Ek was to Eruin, Gilt, one of the four sages, also left a belief for the Cruz people. He used this as his doctrine to found the Kingdom of Flame. After the death of Gilt in the temple, there was no such outstanding king among the Cruz people. In the subsequent history, the state and religion began to gradually separate, and from that moment on, the hidden danger of disputes between religious power and royal power was laid.
In the subsequent thousand years of history, the dispute between religious power and royal power has never ceased. Unfortunately, most of the leaders of the Temple of Fire are wise people, so the empire has never been divided due to this kind of struggle. However, the rise and fall of royal power and religious power seemed to form a historical pattern. In this great historical cháo, the empire gradually separated into several traditional forces. One was the representatives of the church's interests in the secular world. The Cecil family was the leader among them. Williams, who was killed by him, was from Among this family, it can be said bluntly that most of the Knights Templar and the Cardinals of the Temple of Fire come from these forces.
The second is the so-called imperialist faction. Although the empire maintains a high degree of centralization of government, two of the only three Grand Duchy Dominions are die-hard imperialists who maintain marriage relationships with the royal family. Among them, the Kirk family of the Mosaic Leaf Territory is the representative. , Archduke Kirk has been married to the royal family for generations, and almost all members have half of the blood of the Cruz royal family. They are so closely related to the Cruz royal family that they are almost indistinguishable from each other. Ina is from this family.
The third faction is the military force. The people of Cruz are martial, and the military nobles enjoy a very high status. The four army commanders of the empire are from three prominent northern noble families. The northern nobles are almost synonymous with military nobles in Cruz, because they have always been with the empire's main enemy - The Hazer people were at war, so there were many outstanding soldiers in the area north of Banker. In fact, most of the key generals in the army came from various families in the north, represented by the Ashrico, Nigel, and Nona families. Among the great noble families. The military aristocrats tend to favor the imperial faction, with the exception of the navy. Most of the imperial navy comes from the wealthy areas in the south. These rich children have generally attended church schools and received higher education, and are the staunchest supporters of the Temple of Fire.
The three sects are at odds with each other, as is the case internally and externally. But starting about a hundred and fifty years ago, after the death of the pious Leian, the religious power began to decline. A hundred years ago, the then supreme emperor of the empire under Prime Minister Niederwin With the help of the Queen, power was re-centralized under the crown, and it was supposed to be a new cycle; until the Silver Queen came to the throne, the Queen herself was a relatively rare emperor in the history of the empire - she hated her mother Ke The Gram family also lacked trust in the imperial faction, but also hated the clerical faction. She played power in the court and supported the now prominent Parut family to suppress the other two parties, but in fact she was not good at this. Beautiful, but Vara, the chief priest of the Flame Temple generation, saw the toughness and perversity in Her Majesty the Queen's character, and took the initiative to give in and compromise - but Constance offended almost all the nobles during her reign. Although he was very powerful, he did not end well in his later years. After Lenaret succeeded to the throne, he was quickly forgotten by the world, and it seems that he did not end well.
However, Her Majesty the Queen has created a miracle, that is, she has reigned for nearly forty years amidst the hatred of almost everyone, and during her forty-year reign, she has been dictatorial and almost destroyed the empire. The center of power became her sole voice.
The so-called Iron-Blooded Queen is not a wasted name after all.
"Your Majesty has gone crazy," Veronica sighed: "She ordered someone to draw a map of the entire continent in her room. She has bluntly stated in private more than once that her goal is to unify the entire Warnd. Cruz has recently We have been intensifying military expansion for the past ten years, and we very much suspect that His Majesty wants to use the opportunity of jihad to launch a full-scale war."
"Isn't this possible? Do you suspect that she will kill her son just because of this?" Brando shook his head, feeling that it was a bit fanciful.
"Of course not. With His Majesty's physical condition, he will be in power for at most two or three years, but he has to unify Warnd within two or three years. Brando, how possible do you think this is?"
"So you suspect that she will stay in love, but does her physical condition allow it?" Brando asked suspiciously. In his memory, the Silver Queen did abdicate two years later.
"Brando, I mean 'originally', but Your Majesty is getting younger day by day, and her health and energy are returning to the peak of her life. Your Majesty once had an adventure when she was young, Since then, her appearance has been fixed after the age of fifteen, but that only affected her appearance. This time, Your Majesty seems to be glowing with youth from the inside out."
Brando's first reaction was that this was impossible. In the world of Warnd, mortals would extend their lifespan after being exposed to the law. It is common for existences like sages to live for hundreds of years, but they have never been heard of. Some people can be rejuvenated. Even the Fountain of Youth can only change the appearance back to the appearance of youth, but reversing the process of life has violated the most basic laws.
Veronica smiled bitterly: "I knew you wouldn't believe it, but it's true. Mangrove won't lie to me. Lenaret is also the successor chosen by our military. On this issue, we It’s about sharing weal and woe.”
Brando was silent for a moment and then said: "So this is the reason why she doesn't want Lenaret to continue to exist in the empire?"
Veronica nodded and told a secret: "In exchange for the compromise of the Temple of Fire, His Majesty once secretly exchanged a verbal agreement with Vala, that is, the first person to succeed to the throne in fifteen years will be An heir. And fifteen years after the Year of Praying for Fire, there is still only one and a half years left."
"In this case, how can the Temple of Flame let her behave randomly?"
When the female regiment leader heard Brando talking about the temple, she couldn't help but feel a little emotional. She said: "It's not that simple, Brando. In fact, the reason why Vala chose to give in back then was because the Dragon Clan stood behind His Majesty."
"Dragon?" Brando was startled. This was the first time he heard this secret. He raised his head and looked at the two of them. Veronica looked helpless, and Mangrove just smoked his pipe one after another until the pipe When the dark red fire inside gradually dimmed, he put down the pipe, but then took out the box of tobacco from his coat, as if he was concentrating on his addiction and didn't care at all about the life and death of the empire. These two people didn't look like they were lying to him.
Veronica nodded: "We don't know the specific situation, but the Dragon Clan does owe His Majesty a favor, and it seems to be related to her obtaining immortality." She paused, and continued to answer with some embarrassment: "Although It's a bit offensive to talk about His Majesty's personal affairs like this, but I don't care about it now. Brando, in fact, before Your Majesty became what she is now, her character was not like this. Her previous character was gentle and demure. The most beloved princess in the empire can even be said to be a star of the royal family. Even the chief priest of the previous generation once favored her; but since that incident, her temperament has greatly changed. Changes, becoming tough, cold, and willful. Only few people know the truth about what happened during that period, but one thing is certain, that is, the Dragon Clan played a major role in it. "
"This happened forty years ago?" Brando asked.
"Yes, after that, in order to compensate her, the Dragon Clan secretly signed an agreement with the empire. The content of the agreement was only known to His Majesty the previous emperor. The only thing that can prove the existence of this agreement is that the Dragon Clan was involved in the whole process of Her Majesty the Queen's succession. Shadow, Your Majesty is the eldest daughter of the empire, but in fact according to Cruz's tradition, if one of the princes has the ability to inherit the throne, the eldest daughter is not qualified to become the emperor. But the late emperor seems to have acquiesced in your Majesty's existence. This At the time, the matter was considered minor or major, but it is said that the previous generation of chief priests also experienced the whole process, so we, the younger generation, cannot find anything wrong."
Brando thought for a moment and then asked: "So, could it be that the Dragon Clan has appeared again?"
Veronica showed an excited look, and even Mangrove stopped filling the tobacco. The one-eyed old soldier stopped and looked at him deeply. Brando understood that he had guessed correctly again, so he could boldly assume that the Dragon Clan must have put pressure on the Temple of Flame. Moreover, since Her Majesty the Queen has the ability to continue to be in power, there is no reason for the Temple to force her. Abdication, as for the verbal agreement, it was just an oral agreement after all.
Just like this.
Lenaret indeed had a reason to die.
Brando's brows gradually furrowed. He was thinking about whether this was an event that had already happened in history, or whether it was history that was changed because of his arrival. In "The Amber Sword", the Silver Queen abdicated two years later. , what happened in between, the players at that time had not reached the level where they could influence the royal family's decision, so no one should know the inside story, including him.
But there may be too much sex in it. It is possible that Her Majesty the Queen was also so crazy at that time, but was eventually stopped by the Temple of Fire, Veronica and others, and then history would re-travel, but what if it wasn't?
Yes, this is all just hypothetical.
He raised his head, looked at Veronica and asked, "What evidence do you have to prove all this?"
"Prince Raziel disappeared before I left the empire, and his sister disappeared with him," Veronica replied quietly, but the facts described were a bit creepy: "Your Majesty has always been concerned about This incident was quite indifferent, as if he was indifferent, which aroused Mangrove's alarm, so he asked me to take Lenaret out of the White Rose Garden under the pretext of giving him training."
Raziel is the fourth prince of the Cruz Empire. This incident seems to have happened in history, but he can no longer remember the final result, which shows that it was a small matter at the time. After all, there are many conspiracies in the royal family, and it is not strange for one or two heirs to die occasionally. As long as the person who dies is not the first-in-line heir, it usually does not attract too much attention, let alone just missing. But Brando felt a little strange and asked doubtfully: "How can your Majesty the Queen agree? She can't see it?"
Mangrove smoked his pipe and finally spoke: "The heir to the throne goes out for training. This is a consistent tradition of the empire. Even someone as noble as Her Majesty the Queen cannot stop it without justifiable reasons."
Veronica also nodded in agreement: "The core of this plan is that as long as Lenaret is not dead, Your Majesty will not openly and openly refuse to acknowledge the verbal agreement. As long as she still acknowledges the agreement, then Lenaret will He can be regarded as the most orthodox heir to the throne of the empire."
…
(ps: Someone’s birthday today, please update as soon as possible to celebrate. 5500 words. Happy birthday, Xiao Tia. Some cute people, I’m watching you silently. The second chapter will be posted at five o’clock. Someone in front of me A chapter written by Grayfin Naga comes from Shining Scales, thanks for the reminder.) (To be continued.)
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