Palermo, compared to when she left a few years ago, Sofia did not feel that anything had changed in the city.

The same statue named Michelangelo that Alexander met on the street when he first entered the city, and the Palermo Cathedral, which was still connected by a sky gallery that spanned the buildings on both sides of the street, Sophia saw so much that they had seen before.

However, when entering the city of Palermo, Sofia was somewhat surprised.

For she found that the people of Palermo, in addition to cheering for their queen, gave her the same excited cheers.

The cries of "Long live His Royal Highness the Grand Duke" came from far and near, and many people were vying to see what this legendary female Grand Duke really looked like.

"It is said that this princess from the East was hidden in the bohemian juggling team in order to escape the Ottoman pursuit."

"It is said that the Grand Duchess was once in exile in Sicily."

"It is said that she was once exiled from Sicily and had to travel to the mainland."

"It is said ......"

All kinds of rumors made the Sicilians fascinated by what happened to the Grand Duchess.

They had heard that the Sicilian nobles had treated the poor exiled princess of the Eastern Empire badly, and had even driven her and her lover out of Sicily.

And now, the Bohemian girl, who had become the Grand Duchess of Wallachia, had returned as a conqueror, and the Sicilians were to be careful to serve the girl whom they had driven out of Sicily with flattery.

Sophia went back to the room she had with Alexander on the second floor of the Osborne house.

She was relieved that the room was mostly the same as before, with no major changes.

When you open the window, you can see the familiar street outside, and when you look out, Sophia even has the illusion that she has never left here, as long as she looks back at the door, Alexander, who has worked all day, may walk in through the door at any time.

Sophia sighed silently, she sat down and stroked the gorgeous silk lining of her dress, and at this moment she suddenly thought of Alexander.

Sophia, citing the desire to reminisce about Alexander's past here, refuses to move into the palace.

In fact, she had an inexplicable fear and disgust for the palace.

She could not forget the terrible encounter she had had been there, which made her instinctively disgusted with the Royal Palace of Palermo.

Osborne closed his tailor's shop early to entertain the Grand Duchess, and in fact he could not do much business under the watchful eye of a large group of Wallachian dragoons.

When Osborne knocked on the door and walked into the room, he saw Sophia looking out at the night on the street outside, and when she saw the tailor, Sophia made a slight inquiring look to him.

"The Queen wants to see you," Osborne looked downstairs, and was surprised that the Queen had come suddenly at this time, "she had come alone. ”

Sophia frowned, her eyebrows were a little thick and dark, but when she heard that Roman women seemed to have a custom of shaving their eyebrows, she thought about doing the same, but Alexander stopped her.

And she later found out that it seemed that shaving her eyebrows was not popular with everyone, at least not with Shosha, and Alexander didn't seem to approve of it.

Led into the room by Sophia's slightly critical lady-in-waiting, she first looked at the furnishings, then walked to a chair and looked at it, then placed a beautifully crafted box on the table, and sat down.

She noticed that Sophia didn't seem to be happy about her move, but Josha didn't care.

She pondered that this chair was probably the one Alexander used to sit in before, for she had noticed that Sophia's chair was facing the chair when she came in, and that it seemed to be the seat of the master of the room.

"I need your help Alexander, only you can do that."

Instead of wasting time, she just said what she meant.

"Huh?"

Sophia was a little surprised, she couldn't imagine that this arrogant sister could say such a thing, she always had the impression that Josha was always so obnoxious and self-righteous, as if she was the only one who knew and understood Alexander.

"I think you already know that Alexander declared himself Prince of Castile in Lisbon."

Jisha looked at Sophia, and when she saw that she immediately straightened her overly plump breasts after hearing this, she raised her eyebrows imperceptibly.

She always hated this wild girl who always showed off her two mountains, intentionally or unintentionally, but Alexander seemed to like it very much, which made Jisha sometimes feel that no matter how great a man is, he is inevitably superficial in some aspects.

"But as a friend, I advise you not to have any illusions," said Josha, who could guess Sophia's thoughts somewhat, with a smile, "Although the marriage of the future king of Castile to the Archduchess of Wallachia sounds like a good idea, it is a pity that the people of Castile will not accept an Orthodox queen." ”

A layer of anger appeared on Sophia's face, and her obvious demeanor made Jossa little surprised at how the Wallachians could surrender to such a woman who was so easily swayed by emotions.

"Barondi will be his only wife," said him, although his feelings were equally complicated, but Jossa quickly calmed down, "The situation is not very good for Alexander right now, Austria is likely to send troops to aid Ferdinand, so that they may directly threaten Alexander's principality." ”

Sophia listened in a daze, there were many things she didn't understand, but she still understood what Jisha meant.

"Huh?"

Hearing Sophia utter another utter that was completely similar to a single tone, Zhosa suddenly wondered if the moans she made when she and Alexander made love were slightly different.

"Someone has to contain the Austrians," Josha said her purpose, "Alexander needs time, and you are the only one who can contain the Austrians?" ”

Hearing Susha's words, Sophia couldn't help but show a smug look on her face for a moment, but soon she stared at Susha suspiciously, as if wondering if she was digging a hole for herself.

"The Bohemians can pose a threat to Emperor Maximian from the east, and I believe that he will not be at ease with King Ladislas either, and this needs your help," said Jisha and moved forward a little helplessly, "You must know that your father Nashan and my mother ......" Jisha made a helpless gesture, "He should be in the Bohemian palace now, I think maybe he can help us with something, don't forget that my mother is also Alexander's mother." ”

Susha's last words obviously worked, Sophia's originally gloating face instantly froze, she was in a daze at first, as if she wanted to sort out everyone's somewhat messy relationship, and then she suddenly let out a slightly hoarse "uh" and looked at Jisha.

"If Bohemia can act at this time, or even send troops directly, maybe it can pose a threat to the emperor, at least it can delay him." "And all you can do is try to make this happen." ”

Seeing that Sophia showed a puzzled look, as if she wanted her to be more clear, Jisha had no choice but to continue: "I was thinking, your son August is very cute. ”

Sophia's face immediately showed a look of wariness, and she stared at Josha with fierce eyes, as if she were going to turn into a terrible witch and snatch her child away.

"If your son August could be engaged to the daughter of Ladislas II, that would probably be a great idea, wouldn't it?"

Looking at Josha's smiling face, Sophia still looked cautious, but when she saw Josha open the box on the table and take out a map from it, her eyes couldn't help but attract those places.

"The marriage of the prince of Wallachia to the princess of Bohemia, I think even Alexander would approve of this proposal," said Jossa as she tapped on the map, "and the gift of this marriage, I think this place can be chosen." ”

Watching Josha's fingers sweep over the place marked Hungary on the map, Sophia couldn't help but let out a slightly excited "Ah~" moan.

"That's what it was called, no wonder I like this girl so much," looking at Sophia, who was flushed with excitement, Ji Sha scolded in her heart, but then she sighed secretly, "Brother, I have done everything I can, and the rest is up to you." ”

Europe is moving. Whether it's Italy or France, or Wallachia or Bohemia far east, as news spreads across Europe, more and more countries seem to be embroiled in a war that could affect all of Europe.

Maximian did not reply immediately after the letter sent by Ferdinand's messenger in the street, but engaged in a heated debate behind closed doors with his courtiers.

Maximian did not hesitate to help his in-laws, of course he didn't want anyone to shake the throne belonging to his grandson, after all, over the years, he had tried his best to gradually spread the influence of the Austrian duke's family to Europe by marriage, and he didn't want an illegitimate son who came out of nowhere to ruin his good deeds.

But the timing of the dispatch became a big disagreement between him and his ministers.

According to Maximian's thoughts, he should immediately take the opportunity to start a war in Italy at this time, because this would not only directly attack the Duchy of Rome-Thesia, but also take the opportunity to make conditions to Ferdinand to help him fight for Milan.

But most of his courtiers didn't think so.

Perhaps the emperor himself had spent too much time in Western Europe, and although he was constantly disturbed by threats from the Ottomans, Maximian apparently did not take the threat from the east very seriously compared to his courtiers.

If he wanted to, he would prefer to take on King Ladislas II of Bohemia, after all, he still thinks about the whole of Hungary.

Maximian's ministers wanted the emperor to devote more energy and attention to the East, believing that although the Ottomans had suffered a great loss in the battle of Bucharest, it was clear that this had not curtailed the Ottomans' ambitions, and they had even returned to Moldova the previous year, and after successfully forcing the Archduke Stefan of Moldova to finally claim the title of tribute, they marched north, aiming for Poland and Bohemia.

This caused great panic among the Austrians, who feared that the Ottomans might attack Austria from both the north and the south after conquering Poland and Bohemia, and they had to advise the emperor that Maximian would not easily get involved in disputes far away in the Iberian Peninsula at least until an agreement was reached with the Balkan states.

Wallachia played an important role in getting the Balkan countries to help hold back the Ottomans and to keep Austria safe from the incoming pagans.

The victory in Bucharest made both the Duchy of Wallachia and its Archduke famous, and now Wallachia was the banner of resistance against the infidels in the Balkans, making it imperative for the Austrians to deal with Wallachia if they wanted to create a buffer zone between themselves and the Ottomans.

"But that Sophia Alexandra is the lover of the Duke of Roman Thesia, and they even have twins, and the Grand Duchess does not even hide the idea of letting their children inherit Wallachia, so if she rashly invades Roman Thesia at this time, it may cause Wallachia to be dissatisfied."

There were many such advances, including some important ministers that Maximian could not afford to ignore, and when they heard that the emperor was preparing to wage war in Italy again, many nobles expressed concern and even dissatisfaction.

"The Ottomans could invade again at any time, is it wise to get involved in the dispute over the throne of Styria at this time?" The question was raised by many people, which made Maximian feel a rare resistance, although he later simply and forcefully announced that the alliance with Castile was a decision that had been made, but the two sides fell into a new entanglement over the question of when it was appropriate to send troops.

Maximian did not know that many of the nobles who opposed the sending of troops, or at least thought that time was up for debate, had more or less accepted the benefits of the Fugol family, and that the former court minister Kotschach had been the matchmaker.

At the same time, the movement in Bohemia also made Maximian, who had already prepared to send troops quickly, hesitate, and Ladislas II seemed to have become much more excited since he had a daughter, and he suddenly became active again because he had retreated slightly because of the defeat of the battle with Maximir in Hungary, and it is said that at the instigation of his queen, Ladislas II intended to regain half of Hungary occupied by the Austrians.

All these changes forced Maximian to seriously reconsider whether it was time to rush into the army, but while arguing with his ministers, Maximian did not sit idle, and while sending someone to Ferdinand to reply to the promise that he would send troops as soon as possible, he hinted that Ferdinand wanted him to support Austria's annexation of Milan in return, and he also began to have diplomatic mediation in the Vatican.

Old Rovere felt the urgency, and since the end of the Italian War, Old Rovere felt hope.

Just last year, he asked his son Constantine to lead troops directly into Milan, but he was driven out by the Austrians soon after, which made the relationship between the old Rovere and Maximian, who had defected to the Austrian side because of his enmity with France, instantly become extremely bad, and to his dismay, he found that Barentine, as a daughter and sister, was even less enthusiastic than Alexander, who was his son-in-law, when Constantine became the Duke of Milan.

Old Luo Weilei felt that this girl was really supported for nothing, although he knew that the actions of his father and son before made Barondi very cold, but he didn't feel that he had anything wrong, on the contrary, Barondi had changed a lot in his opinion, or she hadn't changed much, but in her opinion, it was obvious that the interests of her husband's family had surpassed that of Luo Weilei's family at this time.

However, he wrote to Barentia asking her to explicitly support Constantine, given that southern Italy, now controlled by Roman Thesia, was the most powerful power in the Apennines, and the elder Rovere was well aware of the enormous potential of trade alliances.

At this time, the elder Rovere couldn't help but wonder again whether he should let Constantine propose to Josa, so that the Rovere family could control almost half of Italy without much effort, and then claim Lombardy in the name of the Duke of Milan, and the old Rovere seemed to have seen the emergence of a unified Italian kingdom.

It's just that what he didn't expect was that when he just revealed this idea a little, the first one to stand up and strongly oppose it was actually Barendi.

And to his chagrin, Barondy not only objected to the business, but even wrote in a very stern tone in the letter: "If you can't promise to stop this idea, I will advise my husband to reconsider his relationship with the Rovelles." ”

Not only that, but perhaps fearing that Constantine himself would do something stupid, Barentine unceremoniously said in a letter to his brother: "Don't try to have such stupid fantasies, or you will find that not only will you not become the Duke of Milan, but you may even lose everything you have now." ”

Barondi's intimidation did frighten Constantine, and his thoughts, which had just been provoked by his father, immediately became honest, and because he was afraid that his father might insist on doing so because of his stubbornness, he wrote to dissuade old Rovere from provoking Barente to provoke him.

Old Rovere also apparently knew that it would be unwise to ruin everything in front of him for an unrealistic purpose, and he immediately wrote to Barondy assuring her that he would not let this happen again, and he reminded Barondy again that she should not forget her support for Konstantin.

"It's up to you whether the Roverley family can bounce back now, and I'm sure you should also understand what a strong family can do for yourself, and know that if your status was compatible with your husband's before, then now you can't help but consider whether you are fit to be a queen."

Old Rovier's letter made Barondi's mood, which had just been better, suddenly very bad, and she did have to seriously consider the matter of Konstantin, and the result of this consideration was that she could not help but admit that what her father said was not unreasonable.

It's just that it is obviously not an easy task to support Constantine as the Duke of Milan.

As soon as Maximian began to act, he showed his influence as Holy Roman Emperor, and although he was still troubled by the disobedient German city-states, he still ordered the troops stationed near the border area to march towards Lombardy.

In mid-March, one of the Austrians' strikers tentatively moved deeper in the direction of Milan.

This move of the Austrians aroused the alarm of the French army, and the French troops stationed in Genoa began to assemble towards Milan.

Half a year after the armistice, the skies over northern Italy were once again cloudy.