"Brando, do you remember when we first returned to Tónigel, I asked you to keep our whereabouts a secret and not announce it to the public?" In the smoke-filled room, it was Veronica who spoke first. Brando nodded. There was indeed something going on, so Princess Gryphine had to wait until Freya arrived at Vallenden Castle to hear the news of their safety. The injured Maynild and her party, including the wounded of the Folded Sword Knights, were also placed in Schafflund. Ko Hua and her sister went to Valhalla, and Metisha and Hipamira's activities were mostly limited to the castle. Although they usually met with the servants and apprentices in the castle, in fact, these people generally did not leave the castle except for festivals and celebrations. Amandina had also given strict orders that at least until the harvest festival, the news should not be leaked.
As for the princess, although it was a little unreasonable for a sister who cared about the safety of her brother, when Veronica warned him, her expression was very serious, so he reluctantly agreed. He looked at the anxious expression on Veronica's face and was slightly stunned. Could it be that the news was leaked?
Then the problem could only be with the Shepherd's Hostel, but the owner of the hostel was an old subordinate of the Copper Dragon, a veteran who had experienced the November War. His background was absolutely reliable, and it was unlikely that he would be bribed. The other possibility was that the young people of the Folded Sword Knights were seen by someone, but the probability was too small. Today's Gryphine was a commercial port, and a large part of the merchants who came and went from the south to the north were Cruz people. These few young people were too inconspicuous, not to mention they were not wearing military uniforms.
Brando thought for a moment, and finally decided to wait for Veronica to speak.
Amandina stood behind him and did not interrupt. Her eyelashes drooped, and her dark eyes flashed with a faint light. She seemed to be thinking about something. Rings of smoke were rising in the room, forming the shapes of mountains or monsters. Marshal Mangrove was smoking from his pipe, which flashed dark red. He held it in one hand, his elbow on his knee, and his other hand on his thigh. He was wearing an overcoat, and without raising his head, he stared at the sheepskin map on the low table, as if some treasure were hidden there.
Veronica smiled bitterly and continued, "Do you want to know why?"
Brando shook his head. "I'm not used to prying into other people's secrets, but I know this is very important to you, and it's just a small matter to me, so I'm willing to help."
"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 used his remaining left eye to look at Brando, but strangely, Brando did not see the usual arrogance of the Cruz people in the deep-set but very sharp eye. Instead, it gave off the feeling of a general sizing up a soldier.
"You did well, Count Mangrove. You did not disgrace your grandfather." Mangrove spoke in an authentic Cruz dialect. He was born in the Wild North of the Four Territories, and he carried the wildness of the Northerners in Cruz. However, this burly old soldier only gave a brief comment, as if he had only looked up for this random comment. He then bit on his pipe and did not say anything else.
Brando was almost a little flattered. One must know that in a year's time, Mangrove would become the commander of Cruz's army and succeed his grandfather as the marshal of the coalition forces. His authority in the empire could be said to be second only to the queen, and the supreme of the Holy Cathedral of Fire was only on equal footing with him.
"Brando, in fact, we hope to let Lenarette continue to stay in your territory and not announce this news to the public." Veronica hesitated again and again, and finally said with some difficulty, "I mean, you'd better let the outside world think that he's dead, do you understand what I mean?"
Brando was stunned.
Palace struggle. This word seemed to come naturally to his mind, and a series of plots of intrigue and disputes had been rehearsed in his mind several times in an instant. The first thing he thought of was that after the big explosion, the other heirs of the empire might be ready to make a move. After all, in the eyes of outsiders, it was unlikely that anyone could survive such an explosion. But in that case, shouldn't the news that the eldest prince was still alive be announced as soon as possible? What was Veronica's plan?
Could it be that the military was supporting someone else, so they wanted to imprison the eldest prince of Cruz in Tónigel forever? This idea was too dangerous, and Brando was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat. However, in his view, Lenarette's expression did not seem to be the case. If that was the case, the eldest prince would probably be under house arrest by now.
He looked at the female legion commander suspiciously.
Veronica and Mangrove exchanged glances. The former looked very troubled, but the latter took off his pipe, blew out a smoke ring, and nodded firmly at her.
"We suspect that Her Majesty wants to kill his eldest son." The female legion commander finally spoke.
"What!" Brando and Amandina exclaimed in unison.
The two of them looked at each other and seemed to see the shock in each other's eyes.
Amandina's eyes were filled with disbelief, and she instinctively suspected that this was a conspiracy. She was almost stunned on the spot. But Brando himself was much calmer. He took a small breath and forced himself to calm down. "What's the reason?"
"Sit down first, I'll tell you what happened." Brendel nodded and led Amandina to the sofa across from him. Veronica was impressed by his calmness. "Sit down first, and I'll tell you what happened." Brendel nodded and led Amandina to the sofa. Mangrove was still smoking his pipe, and Veronica paused for a moment before she continued to tell the story of the whole incident. "This matter started from the political environment of the Empire. Our situation is different from Erouine's. For the past thousand years, the main problem that the Empire has faced has always been the dispute between the royal and religious authority." Her voice was calm and steady as she spoke. Her eyes shone with a faint green luster behind a layer of smoke. She crossed her fingers and placed them flat in front of her chest, but the truth that she spoke of did not seem to be that mysterious to Brando.
The people of Cruz were founded because of the Flame King, Gretel. Just like how the late King Erik was to Erouine, Gretel, one of the Four Wise Ones, also left behind a belief for the people of Cruz. He used this belief as the basis for the founding of the Holy Cathedral of Fire. After Gretel's death, the people of Cruz never had such an outstanding king. And in the history of the Empire, politics and religion began to gradually separate. From that moment on, the hidden danger of the dispute between the royal and religious authority was buried.
In the following thousand years of history, the dispute between the royal and religious authority never stopped. Unfortunately, most of the rulers of the Holy Cathedral of Fire were wise and farsighted, so the Empire never fell into a state of disintegration because of this dispute. However, the rise and fall of the royal and religious authority seemed to form a historical pattern. In the tide of history, the Empire gradually separated into several traditional forces. The first was the representatives of the Church in the secular world. The Cecil Family was one of the leading representatives of the Church. William, who was killed by him, was from this family. It could be said that the Templar Knight Order and the Cardinals of the Holy Cathedral of Fire came from these forces.
The second was the so-called royal faction. Although the Empire maintained a high degree of centralization, out of the three Grand Dukes' autonomous territories, two of them maintained marriage relations with the royal family. Among them, the Kirke Family of Flower Leaf was the representative. The Kirke Family had been married to the royal family for generations. Almost all of the family members had half of the royal bloodline of Cruz flowing in their veins. They were so closely related to the royal family that there was almost no distinction between each other. Brando met Vahina in the Loop of Trade Winds was from this family.
The third faction was the military. The people of Cruz revered martial arts, and the military nobles enjoyed a very high status. The four generals of the Empire were from three prominent northern noble families. The northern nobles were almost synonymous with the military nobles in Cruz. Because of the frequent battles with the main enemy of the Empire, the Hazel people, the region north of Bankel produced many outstanding soldiers. In fact, most of the backbone of the military came from the northern noble families represented by Ashric, Nigel, and the Nonna family. The military nobles leaned towards the royal faction, but the navy was an exception. Most of the navy of the Empire came from the rich areas in the south. These rich children generally went to church schools and received a higher education. They were the staunchest supporters of the Holy Cathedral of Fire.
But about 150 years ago, since the death of Reian the Pious, the religious power began to decline. A hundred years ago, the supreme of the Empire re-centralised power under the crown with the help of Prime Minister Nidevan. After that, it was supposed to be a new cycle; until the Silver Empress ascended the throne. The Empress herself was a relatively rare Empress in the history of the Empire. She hated the Kirk family, where her mother was from. She also lacked trust in the royal faction, but she also hated the religious power. She played politics in the court and supported the now prominent Palut family to suppress the other two parties. But in fact, she did not play it well. It was just that the current Archbishop of the Holy Cathedral of Fire, Valla, saw the toughness and firmness in Her Majesty's character and took the initiative to compromise. But Constance had offended almost all the noble forces during her reign. In the end, she did not have a good ending in her later years. After Lenarette succeeded the throne, she was soon forgotten by the world and did not seem to have a good ending.
However, Her Majesty the Empress had created a miracle. That was, she had been on the throne for almost forty years under the hatred of almost everyone. During the forty years of her reign, she had made all the decisions arbitrarily and almost turned the center of power of the Empire into her own words.
The so-called Iron Empress was, after all, not an undeserved reputation.
"Her Majesty has gone mad." Veronica sighed. "She ordered people to draw a map of the entire continent in her room. More than once in private, she has bluntly said that her goal is to unify the entire Wohnde. Cruz has been expanding his army intensively for the past ten years. We suspect that Her Majesty wants to use the Holy War as an opportunity to launch an all-out war."
"That's impossible. You suspect that she will kill her son because of this?" Brando shook his head, feeling that it was a bit far-fetched.
"Of course not. Originally, with Her Majesty's physical condition, she would only be in power for two or three years at most. But to unify Wohnde in two or three years, Brando, how likely do you think it is?"
"So you suspect that she will not go, but her physical condition will allow it?" Brando asked suspiciously. In his memory, the Empress of Silver would indeed abdicate in two years.
"Brando, I said 'originally', but Her Majesty is becoming younger day by day. Her health and energy are recovering to the prime of her life. Her Majesty once had a fortuitous encounter when she was young. Since then, her appearance has been fixed at the age of fifteen. But that only affected her appearance. This time, Her Majesty seems to be radiating youth from the inside out. "
Brando's first reaction was that it was impossible. In Wohnde, mortals who came into contact with the laws of nature would have their lifespans extended. It was common for beings like the Sages to live for hundreds of years, but he had never heard of anyone being able to rejuvenate their youth. Even the Spring of Youth only changed one's appearance back to one's youthful appearance. Reversing the process of life was already against the most basic laws of nature.
Veronica smiled bitterly, "I knew you wouldn't believe it, but it's true. Mangrove wouldn't lie to me. Lenarette is also the heir chosen by our military. We share honor and disgrace on this issue."
Brando was silent for a moment, then said, "So this is the reason why she doesn't want Lenarette to continue to exist in the Empire?"
Veronica nodded and revealed a secret: "In exchange for the compromise of the Holy Cathedral of Fire, His Majesty once secretly exchanged a verbal agreement with Valla, that is, after fifteen years, the throne will be passed on to the first successor. And fifteen years after the Year of Fire, there is only a year and a half left from now. "
"In that case, how can the Holy Cathedral of Fire let her do as she pleases?"
When the female army commander heard Brando mention the Holy Cathedral, she couldn't help but feel a little emotional. She said, "It's not that simple, Brando. In fact, the reason why Valla chose to retreat back then was because Her Majesty had the dragon clan behind her."
"The dragon clan?" Brando was startled. It was the first time he had heard of this secret. He looked up at the two of them. Veronica looked helpless. Mangrove just smoked the pipe one breath after another until the dark red flame in the pipe gradually dimmed. He put down the pipe, but then took out the box of tobacco from his coat, as if he was so absorbed in his addiction that he didn't care about the life and death of the Empire at all. These two people didn't look like they were lying to him.
Veronica nodded, "We don't know the details, but the dragon clan does owe Her Majesty a favor. It seems to have something to do with her obtaining her ageless appearance back then." She paused and continued with some embarrassment, "Although it is offensive to talk about Her Majesty's personal privacy like this, we can't care so much now. Brando, before Her Majesty became what she is today, her temperament was not like this. She used to be gentle and demure, and was the most beloved princess in the Empire. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she was even the star of the royal family. Even the previous Archbishop used to favor her. But after that incident, her temperament changed greatly. She became tough, cold, and opinionated. Very few people know the truth about what happened, but one thing is certain: the dragon clan played a major role in it. "
"This happened forty years ago?" Brando asked.
"Yes. After that, the dragon clan signed a secret agreement with the Empire to compensate her. The content of the agreement was only known to the previous Emperor, and the only thing that can prove the existence of this agreement is that the dragon clan was involved in the succession of Her Majesty the Empress. Her Majesty is the eldest daughter of the Empire, but in fact, according to Cruz's tradition, if one of the princes is capable of inheriting the throne, the eldest daughter is not qualified to be the Empress. However, the late Emperor seemed to have acquiesced to Your Majesty's existence. This matter was neither small nor big at that time. However, it is said that the previous Archbishop also experienced this matter, so we, the younger generation, can't find any fault. "
Brando thought for a moment and asked, "So, could it be that the dragon clan has appeared again?"
Veronica's eyes were full of praise, and even Mangrove stopped packing the tobacco. The one-eyed old soldier stopped and looked at him deeply. Brando knew that he had guessed correctly again. Then he could boldly assume that the dragon clan must have put pressure on the Holy Cathedral of Fire. Moreover, since Her Majesty the Empress had the ability to continue in power, the Holy Cathedral had no reason to force her to abdicate. As for the verbal agreement, after all, it was only a verbal agreement.
It was just that.
Lenarette did have a reason to die.
Brando's brows gradually furrowed. He was thinking about whether this had happened in the original history, or whether it had been changed because of his arrival. In The Amber Sword, the Silver Empress abdicated two years later. What happened in between? At that time, the players had not reached the level where they could influence the decisions of the royal family, so no one should know the inside story, including him.
But there were too many possibilities. It was possible that Her Majesty the Empress at that time was also so crazy, but in the end, she was stopped by the Holy Cathedral of Fire, Veronica, and others, and then history resumed. But what if it wasn't?
Yes, all of this was still just a hypothesis.
He raised his head, looked at Veronica, and asked, "What evidence do you have to prove all this?"
"Before I left the Empire, Prince Lazer went missing, and his sister went missing with him," Veronica replied quietly, but the facts she described were somewhat creepy, "Her Majesty has always been quite indifferent to this matter, as if she didn't care, which alerted Mangrove, so he took Lenarette out of the White Rose Garden under the guise of taking him to experience the world."
Lazer was the fourth prince of the Cruz Empire. It seemed that this had happened in history, but he could not remember the final outcome, which meant that it was a small matter at the time. After all, the royal family was full of intrigue, and it was not surprising that one or two heirs died occasionally. As long as the one who died was not the first in line, it generally would not attract too much attention, let alone just a disappearance. But Brando felt a little strange, and asked doubtfully, "How could Her Majesty the Empress agree to it? Can't she see it?"
Mangrove tapped his pipe and finally said, "It is a tradition of the Empire for the heir to the throne to go out to experience the world. Even Her Majesty the Empress can't stop it without a valid reason."
Veronica also nodded in agreement, "The core of this plan is that as long as Lenarette is not dead, Her Majesty can't openly deny the verbal agreement. As long as she still acknowledges the agreement, then Lenarette can be considered the most legitimate heir to the throne of the Empire."
…
(PS: Today is someone's birthday, let's celebrate it early. 5500 words, happy birthday little Tia. I'm watching you silently. The second chapter is posted at five o 'clock. The previous chapter was written by the Grey Fin Naga. Thanks for the reminder.)
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