The sun was setting, and the magnificent sunlight pouring in from the window painted the room with a faint gold, and Aloxia sat in her chair and looked at the square sunlight lattices shining on the ground in front of her, she had been sitting like this for a long time, and the food next to her was already cold, but she didn't move.

Alosia never thought she would end up like this, or she should, after all, the moment she didn't tell anyone about Morco's whereabouts, she had already planted the seeds for the situation she was in now.

However, Alosia was not so alarmed, her heart was actually numb, and when she saw Sophia, who was looking at her with expressionless eyes, she knew that she had lost Sophia's friendship.

The Archduchess of Wallachia is indeed very bad-tempered, but she still cares about her friends, and if you get along for a long time, you will be surprised to find that Sophia has a naïve heart that is rare for a noblewoman, she can suddenly get angry because of one thing, but then she will smile because of another thing, which may be in the eyes of some people without a city, but for Aloxia it is a sign of true friendship.

But now that everything is over, Sophia is not angry with her, but this is even more serious, she knows that in Sophia's heart, her friend no longer exists.

The door opened, and a Wallachian official walked in.

Perhaps in order to accommodate the emotions of the Wallachian aristocracy, who had previously been hostile, Sofia ordered the Cathedral Incident to be heard by Wallachian officials, which certainly appeased the Wallachians somewhat, but also made the matter more sensitive.

After all, there had been rumors earlier that Wallachian nobles were involved, and now that the Croats were suddenly involved, the Wallachian officials involved in the trial wanted to prove their innocence, and they hoped that the matter would be cleared up and rid of possible suspicions.

At the same time, some cautious Wallachian nobles offered Sophia that the Greeks should be involved in the whole interrogation, and that it would be better for the Romantesian duke to testify, so that everyone could be reassured.

It can be said that the Croatians who appeared out of nowhere, it seems that it can really be said that they are satisfied in all aspects.

The officer walked up to Aloxia and looked at her carefully, and seeing that she seemed completely unmoved, he coughed a little and then looked back at the other two people who were following him, the Greek and Alexandrian men that the Wallachians had asked to send.

"Mademoiselle Count, you will be judged," said the official in a somewhat awkward tone, saying that according to Wallachian tradition, such attempts to murder the monarch would only be dealt with in a cruel way, even if the other party was a foreign noble, and the cruel methods used by Vlad III to the foreign nobles who offended him were even regarded as a disguised punishment by their own monarch by the envoys of other countries who heard that they were going to Wallachia, but now they had to carry out a so-called sentence in addition to the trial, Although everyone has almost guessed the verdict: "If you think you are innocent, this is your last chance." ”

Aloxia finally moved, she looked up at the Wallachian with blank eyes, and then at the other two.

"How's Omo?" Alosia asked suddenly, she remembered that when the Wallachians tried to stop her when the Wallachians tried to stop her, but were easily subdued by the Wallachian guards, and now that she thought that her retinue might have been taken care of, then Omo must have been in a bad situation." ”

"We don't count this," the official looked down at Alosia, "Miss Countess, you should know what it is to try to murder Your Highness, so you have no other way now than to say everything and ask for His Highness's forgiveness, maybe you are still sober that you are the niece of the King of Croatia, then I tell you that it is completely useless, this is Wallachia, and your fate is in our hands." ”

Alosia listened in a daze, she knew that she could understand every word this person said, but these words could never form something useful in her mind, she just asked herself again and again how she could become like this, and why she was so stupid to cover up for Morco in the first place.

"Tell me, who instructed you to do this, don't say it's yourself, you have neither the guts nor the ability to do such a big thing, murdering the Grand Duke's family, it's terrible."

The Wallachian asked patiently, and at the same time his feet impatiently touched the ground on his toes, and when he saw the expressionless stiffness of Aloxia's face, he suddenly raised his hand, which really frightened Aloxia, and she held her hand in front of her eyes in fear and waited for the slap to fall.

"This will not work," reminded one of the huntsmen standing nearby, and the officer shook his head at the indifferent gaze cast by the Wallachian, "Miss Countess is a nobleman, and she is also the niece of the King of Croatia, so we need to maintain a certain respect for her." ”

The officer's words lit up the eyes of the Wallachians, who were beginning to look dissatisfied with being stopped, and he turned his head to look at Alosia condescendingly, and asked patiently in an almost seductive tone: "Tell me Miss Count, did you come to Bucharest on the orders of King Helva?" ”

"Yes, I'm here to ......," Aloxia replied, but couldn't finish.

"So was that Molko also sent an envoy to Bucharet on the orders of King Helva?"

"Yes, but then......" she was interrupted again.

"And as far as we know, Morco pursued you, and even now he still thinks of you as the pure angel he wants to guard, doesn't he?"

"I don't know about this, I haven't seen him in a long time!" Alosia began to feel frightened, and although she didn't know what this person wanted her to say, she vaguely sensed that something big might happen if she continued like this, so she raised her voice and stood up from her chair.

"But the first thing he did when he got back to Bucharest was to come to you, didn't he?" Wallachian's face darkened, "So I wonder why he trusted you so much, you must know that he has long been rumored to have taken refuge in our enemies, but now he is not at all worried that you will denounce him, and you have indeed lived up to his trust in you, even in the end he did such a terrible thing and you have been keeping it a secret for him, can you explain what it is, Miss Count?!" ”

The Wallachian stared at Alosia, who was already speechless with fright, and at her trembling lips, which could not make a sound, the official continued: "Then how do you make me believe your words, how can I believe that you have never been in contact before, do not forget that you are the niece of King Helva, and he is a knight whom the king trusts very much. ”

Aloxia stared blankly at the Wallachian, already vaguely aware that this person seemed to have been hinting at her that the events of the cathedral had something to do with something larger than theirs, and that this person was probably her uncle Helva.

Alosia was really frightened this time, even if she didn't know much about the tricks in the court, she also knew what terrible consequences would be if this matter involved Helva.

She tried to defend herself, but before she could speak, the Wallachian, who saw her expression becoming flustered, could not wait to continue: "I know that you have tried to cover up the crimes of certain people, but it is in vain, no matter how noble his position is, no matter how noble he is, he must bear the revenge and the wrath of the Wallachians for the crime of assassinating the Grand Duke's family, and the only thing you can do now is to tell your relationship with those people, and perhaps in this way you can get the forgiveness and mercy of the Grand Duke." ”

Aloxia stood there stunned, she didn't know what to do at all, the coldness that came up from the bottom of her heart made her hands and feet almost unconscious, and the chaotic feeling of sometimes impatience and sometimes complete numbness made her feel like she wanted to scream but didn't know who to vent to.

"We have a self-confession for you." Seeing that it was almost over, the Wallachian impatiently waved his hand to the entourage following behind, "You can sign and confess your guilt on it, after all, you did all this." ”

According to his original intention, he could have completely ignored the woman to force the woman to sign the confession, or simply signed for her, after all, this kind of thing was just a formality, and the outcome had already been decided, but the Duke of Rometesia stubbornly insisted on going through this formality, and he even proposed a public trial of this incident, which made many Wallachians feel both superfluous and incomprehensible.

Alosia took the confession blankly, and she was slightly relieved to see that there was no Herva's name on it, but then she was surprised to find that the confession actually mentioned the original Chipes rebellion.

About Eloxia's sudden participation in the rebellion of the Black Army attacking Sophia's palace after the victory, Aloxia had heard about it, and she still remembered the unusual interest shown by Helva after hearing the news, Aloxia did not know that it was from that time that Helva already had her own mind, after all, no one wanted to be someone else's puppet, even if she had received Alexander's help, but after hearing about Chefes's move, Helva still felt that she could understand Chefpes's choice.

Now Alosia unexpectedly found that this self-confession did not involve her uncle as she was forced to ask just now, but it was inexplicably connected with the rebellion of Chipes, and she didn't know whether it was good or bad for a while, so she looked at the other side a little blankly.

"This is the best we can come up with for you, Miss Count," said the huntress officer, a foreigner with a strange voice, but good-looking, and well-dressed, that is, more of a nobleman than a soldier compared to most Wallachians or Croats, "We hope this will end this way, so that we may have the opportunity to ask for forgiveness for you in front of His Highness the Grand Duke, but we all know that this is not the case, However, since your uncle, King Helva of Croatia, is involved, it is best to solve it this way. ”

"But my uncle was not involved in any conspiracy at all!" Alosia was a little excited, she knew that there could be no ambiguity in this matter, otherwise even if the Wallachians were willing to settle the trouble between the two countries that might be caused by the plot of assassination, in the end everything would still point to her uncle Helva.

"Miss Count, you may have been here too long to know what is going on outside," the officer said, turning to look at the Wallachians, and after receiving his consent, he said to Alocia, "Now it is rumored throughout Wallachia that your uncle sent that Morco to assassinate Her Highness Sophia, and the nobles of Wallachia have even asked for troops to send troops to North Bosnia more than once. The war is already on the verge of breaking out, miss, so do you think there is any point in your denial? You have to understand that we are helping you, so now we just need to admit that all this is related to Chipes in order to get this storm over, but that does not hide the fact that your uncle has something to do with all this, and if you don't even admit it, then we will have to implicate your uncle in a public trial. ”

Alosia looked at this person blankly, although this Roman seemed to have a much better attitude, but his every word made Alosia chill all over, she knew that she must not involve her uncle in a public trial, otherwise the consequences would be too terrible, but even if she verbally admitted that this matter had something to do with Helva, she found it difficult to accept.

"Mademoiselle, you have nothing to lose now," said the officer in a slow, deep voice, "you must be responsible for what you have done, and we all know that it is impossible to prove whether you were really involved in this conspiracy or not, so your only way out is to do what we say, and admit what is written on it, so that neither you nor your uncle will be in trouble, or perhaps a war will break out at any moment." ”

Alosia shook her head immediately, she didn't expect that she would face such a choice, and the almost suffocating oppression made her feel as if she was about to lose her breath.

"I promise you, I'll admit that it's all about that Chipes, so what will you do with me?" Alosa asked suddenly, looking at the men with her fists clenched, waiting for them to judge her.

"It's not for us to decide, in fact it's up to Her Highness Sophia," said the Wallachian official with a blank face, "remember what you promised us, Miss Countess, your fate is certainly decided by His Royal Highness the Grand Duke, and it is also in your own hands." ”

After saying that, a few people stopped paying attention to Aloxia and turned to leave the room.

When the door closed, they seemed to hear the cries of a woman breaking down from inside.

As the Wallachians say, the people of Bucharest are waiting for this pending trial.

This was the first major event since Sofia's accession to the throne, and it involved Herva, the monarch of a neighboring country, which caused great concern, and even the envoys of various countries who had originally come to participate in the baptismal ceremony stayed in Bucharest, hoping that this trial would judge what kind of attitude Wallachia might take towards its neighbors in the future.

Tensions on the border have intensified, and Helva, who has returned to Zagreb, has sent emissaries to Bucharest, but his military campaign has been launched more quickly, and an army has begun to move to the eastern border.

The Wallachians were furious, and at this moment both the native nobles and the remnants of Greece were looking at the western frontier and were more concerned about the upcoming trial in Bucharest.

Omo did not lose his freedom, and although he was warned not to leave Bucharest, the Wallachians did not imprison him, so when the envoy led by the Croatian archbishop arrived, he immediately went out of the city to meet him.

It was only when he saw that his brother Kulash was also with the archbishop, that Omo was surprised and couldn't help but secretly worry about the safety of the two brothers.

In contrast to Omo's fears, Kulash was so calm that he even left the archbishop to visit the Wallachian magnates as soon as he entered the city, and dragged his brother to a tavern to drink Bucharest's peculiar white wine.

There was a lot of noise in the tavern, and many people were talking about the events of the cathedral, and listening to those who, though in different tones, seemed to be filled with righteous indignation, and shouted that the criminals who tried to murder His Highness the Grand Duke should be punished by car execution, the expression on Omo's face changed from time to time, and the hand holding the cup trembled slightly.

"The wine still tastes the same as it did at the beginning," Kulash slammed his lips and complimented, and seeing that the brother sitting next to him was in a low mood, he patted Omo on the shoulder, "Don't be too anxious, there are some things that can't be rushed." ”

"Aloxia is imprisoned in the castle, and though I haven't heard of her crimes, she may be punished after the trial," Omo said, taking a sip from his cup, and gasping for breath, "I sometimes wonder why I can't save her, I really want to put on my armor and pick up a spear and rush into the castle, maybe that's stupid, but I really can't stand it." ”

Kulash looked at his brother, who was talking non-stop but didn't seem to realize what he was talking about, and drank the wine from the glass in one gulp, until Omo suddenly stood up and seemed to say something out loud, and then he grabbed his brother's shoulder and forced him to sit down.

"Listen, I don't want you to lose your life because of a woman," Kulash waved his hand to interrupt him when he saw Omo seem to be arguing, "That's it, I'm here to bring you back, as for the count," Kulash paused, as if wondering what to say, and finally he shook his head helplessly, "The Wallachians will definitely not let her go casually, this is not her business alone, I don't know what the Archduchess Sophia Alexandra thinks, but you should know that she is not so easy to talk to, Do you remember the first time we met her, when I knew she was a nuisance, and now I think I was right. ”

As he spoke, Kulash stroked his beard and shrugged his shoulders.

Omo scratched at his hair in frustration, he didn't know how to describe the emotions inside, Aloxia had been disappointed by the revelation of his dealings with Morko after his arrest, but he couldn't let go of his concern for her.

Now that Kulash has arrived, Omo is accustomed to pinning his hopes on his brother, who is almost omnipotent.

Kulash frowned slightly and looked at Omo who was looking at him with a look of hope, he knew it was important to Omo, but the difficulty of this matter also gave him a headache.

"Maybe it's not impossible," Kulash said after thinking for a long time, and when he saw his brother's look of joy, he waved his hand to signal him not to be so happy yet, "You should know that there is only one person who can make that grand duke change his mind, and if you can convince him, maybe things will turn around." ”

Listening to Kulash's words, Omo's originally happy face immediately showed disappointment, he looked at his brother first lowered his head and grabbed his hair, and then raised his head and glanced at Kuraš: "It's useless, do you know that the attitude of the Duke of Rometesia is even firmer than that of Archduke Sophia, he has publicly stated that he will never allow anyone to endanger his family, and some people even say that if it weren't for his principality being too far away, maybe he would have taken the initiative to send troops to Croatia." ”

Kulash listened to his brother's words with a frown, and although he had known in advance that the matter was serious, it seemed that the situation might be more dire than he had heard, so that he thought that it might be better to send Omo away from Bubucharest sooner, after all, he might have done something stupid when the judgment came.

Kulash always thought that Omo, not him, was the hope of the family, and now looked at his younger brother who was trapped in love, and then thought about the complicated and ambiguous relationship that Alosya might have with the man named Morko, Kurash couldn't help but regret that he had let Omo and Alosia's affairs go unchecked.

"That woman is not worthy of you to do this for her, the matter of her and that Morco has even reached Zagreb, and now she has become the laughing stock of all the nobles, do you think she still has a reputation in this way, and no one will say anything about you if you get rid of her now."

Kulash tried to convince his brother, but in exchange for Omo's stubbornness not to listen to his advice, Kulash's face crossed his face with a hint of worry when he heard Omo say that he would publicly protest against the Wallachian captivity of Alosia on Judgment Day.

What made him feel worse was that Omo had never disobeyed him, but this time he did not hesitate to reject his kindness, and completely deaf to his suggestion to leave Bucharest as soon as possible.

Kulash felt a slight panic, but at the same time glad that he had insisted on coming with the archbishop after hearing the news.

Several figures appeared in the doorway, and the voices of the people who were talking loudly suddenly became quieter, which caught Kurash's attention, and when he saw several soldiers in conspicuous military uniforms walking in, Kurashi's eyes quickly scanned over them.

Then he noticed the men walking in their direction after making rounds for a while.

"Knight Kulash," said Scheer, to Kulash, who was sitting at the table with wine in his mouth, "His Royal Highness the Duke has invited you to the castle. ”