Compared to the Jerónimus Monastery, which is in full swing, the Convent of Our Lady of Prayer, located not far from the center of the gate of St. George's Castle, looks a little remote and old, the façade of the monastery has been somewhat blackened, and although it has been renovated many years ago, the mottled marks of the fire on the façade are still visible.

It is said that the fire destroyed many of the precious documents and belongings of the monastery, but miraculously, when people later examined it, it was found that the only thing that remained intact was a standing prayer statue of the Virgin Mary standing right behind the outer wall.

This miraculous fact made the convent of prayer a sacred place for a time, and many people came from other places to witness the miracle and touch the stones on the wall where the icon had been sheltered.

Because of this, the Convent of Our Lady of Prayer was once quite prosperous, but Thiegaux did not come to this convent today to pray and give tribute.

Soon after arriving in Lisbon, Thiego showed an unusual devotion, patronizing all the churches and convents of men and women in Lisbon, and even passing by some of the shrines in the squares, he would pray respectfully, so that he always gave the impression that he was indeed a very religious and faithful person.

He had been to the Convent of Our Lady of Prayer before, but he did not show any difference at the time other than the tribute money, and the devotional manner he had always shown was such that it would not be surprising to see him come back to the convent.

Thiego's purpose was achieved, and when he entered the convent, he was only casually greeted by the presence of this pious businessman, who was famous for his fondness for visiting churches and donating money to the convent.

Passing through the slightly dark corridors, Thiegor walked deeper into the convent led by a nun, who bowed her head in the same way that the nuns would fold their veils to cover their faces when they saw him.

Leading the way was an old nun, who was no less than a young woman, who never looked back, and only stopped when she came to a door that looked much larger than the others. 、

"Go in on your own, but remember, don't take too long." The old nun nodded slightly, and then stood to the side of the door with a blank face.

Tiego licked his lips secretly, although this was not the first time he had seen the former princess of Castile, but today he had a more important mission than ever, which made him feel a little dry.

Still, he tried to calm himself down, and then gently stepped back the door and walked inside.

Lisbon is already a little cold in September, and the wind blows to the shore with a dampness that is difficult to hide, which is why almost all the houses in Lisbon are made of stone, because wooden buildings cannot withstand the erosion of the sea breeze for a long time.

The room was not dark, the fireplace was lit brightly, and although a few cold breezes still blew in from the open windows, the whole room was very warm.

A woman in a long black dress sat with her back to Tygo in a chair not far from the fireplace, which was slightly concave from the rest of the room, like the hot pond that the Gothic ancestors had dug in their houses around a fireplace when they were still entrenched in the north.

"You're really on time." The woman did not look back but seemed to know who was coming, her shoulders seemed to move slightly, and when Tygo walked behind her, she saw her stroking a cat lying in her arms with her hand.

The cat shrugged up at the sight of Tiego, its mouth slightly open, and warned the outsider who had intruded on its territory with a low and threatening chirp.

"They are always like this, they show their teeth and claws when they see strangers, thinking that this is how the enemy will attack them, but in fact they are more afraid of themselves." The woman moved her skirt-wrapped leg and threw the cat out of her arms, before she slowly stood up and turned to look at Tiego.

This is a very ordinary-looking woman, if it weren't for the simple-looking dress on her body, but in fact the exquisite fabric and delicate workmanship set off her unusual status, from her appearance alone, no one would have thought that this woman was once the rightful heir to the throne of Castile.

Juana, the only daughter of Enrique IV, the former king of Castile.

More than twenty years ago in Castilla, there was a great event that shook the entire court and shook the country.

It was Enrique IV, who suffered a crushing defeat after a rivalry with his half-sister, the future Queen Isabella, who was under great pressure to annul the succession to the throne of his only daughter, Juana.

This is because there was evidence at the time that Juana was not Enrique's biological daughter, and that Enrique himself was not only incompetent, but may even be more interested in men, because this was always around him with a group of good-looking young people.

As a result of the abolition of the daughter's succession, when Enrique died, his sister Isabella, with the support of her husband King Ferdinand of Aragon, publicly declared her succession to the Castilian throne, which led to a war of succession between Juana, supported by Portugal, and Castilla, supported by Aragon.

The result of the war was that the defeated Juana withdrew from the contest.

"I refused Isabella's offer that I marry her son, who was only one year old at the time, and would rather go into the convent than obey the woman's orders." The former princess, dressed in black, walked down the steps to the higher ground, and she motioned for Tiego to come with her to a window, looking at the faintly visible dock in the distance and the blue of the sea and sky in the distance, Juana groaned for a while, and then looked back at Tiego.

"Tell me what news you brought me this time."

Tiego bowed slightly to the woman in front of him, and after meeting her indifferent eyes, he bowed his head respectfully again.

The question of whether Juana was Enrique's biological son has been unquestionable with Enrique's death, although before his death Enrique reversed his previous statement and insisted that Juana was his biological daughter, but people only regarded this as Enrique's last revolt and accusation against Isabella, who took everything from him.

However, perhaps because of his Castilian status, even though he had to enter the convent, when faced with this woman with a peculiar background, Tiego could not help but feel uneasy from the bottom of his heart.

"Your Highness......"

"I'm not a princess now," Juana said calmly, as if she didn't care much about her current situation, "If you were my father's former retainer or their descendant, I would have liked to hear you call me that, but I knew from the time you first asked to see me that you were not one of their people, in fact, I think there is nothing left of such an old courtier, after all, to everyone that woman is now the queen of Castile, so it is enough to say what you mean." ”

"Lord Dean," said Tiego a little helplessly, "I have suggested to you that someone is willing to help you out of the predicament you are in. ”

"My predicament," Juana looked around, "I think I'm doing well now, you probably don't know what happened to me when I was forced to convince myself in the convent at the beginning, I had to live in a very small room, it was so cold in winter that I would wake up without a few more quilts, and I ate disgusting food that I had never eaten before, and as for the nuns in the convent, they were told not to talk to me, and even my maid ran away because she couldn't stand the poverty, Do you know why? Because there were people who hoped that I would not be able to bear the suffering and escape from the monastery, and I knew that if I stepped out of the gate of that monastery, what awaited me could be a merciless killing, so I endured it during that time, and insisted on telling myself not to run away from there, even if I suffered a lot. ”

Tiego listened silently, he knew a lot about this woman, after all, the blood debate that shook the government and the opposition involved too many people, and then it developed into a battle for the throne.

However, hearing these stories from others and narrating them by Juana herself as a person are two very different feelings.

"I'm living a good life now, I've become the abbot of this monastery, I've got plenty of food, and in fact maybe my enemies think I'm no longer a threat, I can even come and go freely, you know, I've spent a lot of time in St. George's court for the last ten years, even if Portugal has a new king, but my life here will only be much better than before, do you think I'm in trouble now? Or do you think it should disturb my peaceful life? ”

Juana asked in a somewhat reproachful and slightly sarcastic tone.

"That's what I'm about to tell you, Lord Dean, that your situation may be much better now than before, but don't you really care about your reputation and your father's reputation, and your rights as the rightful heir to the throne? Your father, King Enrique, whose reputation as king has been tarnished by false legends, and you have been greatly hurt, now is a chance to restore your father's rightful reputation and reassert your status as the rightful heir of Castile. ”

Tiego's words seemed to have finally touched Juana, and although it was only a fleeting moment, the traces of excitement were already visible on her face.

"A chance?" Juana asked with some hesitation and some expectation.

She had lost much hope over the years, from the beginning of her desire to be loyal to her former ministers to save her from her ordeal, and then to re-establish the banner of orthodoxy, to her complete and utter disappointment, Juana no longer believed that anyone was willing to help her, or even that anyone remembered her.

But not long ago, the sudden appearance of this Castilian seemed to give her hope that had been completely lost a glimmer of hope.

"Are you talking about your Roman master? What's his name, Alexandre Giuliante Gombray? Juana asked cautiously, telling herself that she had to be careful, who knows if it was the terrible woman who, after all these years, suddenly remembered her own intrigues, "Why did he help me, you know, I have been thinking since you first revealed this to me, the surname Gombray does look like a Castilian, but I can guarantee that I have never heard of this man or his family, so tell me why this man should help me?" ”

"My lord, my master has another name, and I'm sure you've heard of his last name, Giore Mordillo."

"Modillo?" Juana was still a little surprised at first, but gradually she seemed to slowly turn over something that had been forgotten for too long from her dusty memory: "Oh, Modillo, I have heard this surname, but this man must be a foreigner who frequents the court, and I remember that my father seemed to trust this man very much. ”

"You remember right, you are talking about Count Mordillo of Naples, who was a Neapolitan diplomat in Castile, who was a loyal friend of your father, and my master, Giorgio Modillo, is the nephew of the Count, and his mother is the sister of Count Modiglo, now Countess of Cosenza, Giorgio Anne Cosenza."

Tiego introduced Juana to him, and he saw that the look on her face suddenly became strange.

"You're saying he's the son of George Anne Mordillo?" Juana seemed to deliberately correct Madame Georges-Anne's surname, and after seeing Tiergo nodding slightly, a strange smile slowly appeared on her face, "Tell me, how old is your master?" ”

"I'm sorry ma'am, what do you mean?" Tiego asked a little strangely, he had been wondering why Alexander had asked him to meet the out-of-tempered princess, after all, Enrique's status as a daughter was too taboo for the Castilians.

"Tell me his age and what he looks like." Juana asked with a strange expression, and when she heard Tiego's description, the strange look on her face that had not gone was even more obvious, "This is wonderful, Modillo, George Anne, and that George......"

Juana muttered softly to herself, as if she had forgotten about Tiergo in front of her, and after a while she began to laugh, at first small, and then her laughter grew hysterical.

"Hahaha...... It's so funny...... This is God's biggest joke...... Hahaha......"

Tiego was a little frightened, he took a step forward and tried to persuade Juana, who seemed to be a little out of order, but he had just taken a step forward, and Juana, who was laughing, suddenly stopped, she stood with her head straight up, and said in a majestic tone that Tiego was unfamiliar with: "Don't come near me, you are only a merchant, and I am the orthodox crown prince of Castilla!" ”

Tiego was taken aback, he looked at the woman in front of him who had suddenly become strange and somewhat terrifying, and then he realized that even though it was still the woman in the black dress, the woman in front of him now showed a majesty that he had not had before.

"Tell me the news he told you to bring me." Juana looked at Tiego with a solemn expression, "But before that, swear to the icon in my hand that everything you say is true, otherwise you will fall into hell forever and will not be liberated." ”

Tiego's body trembled slightly, he did not expect the princess to ask him to make such a terrible vow, although he thought that he was telling the truth, but when his fingers touched the cross held by Juana, sweat broke out from his head due to nervousness and fear.

"I swear that everything I say comes from the advice of my master, Alexandre Giulian Cambrai, Count of Monttina, without any lies." Tyego whispered an oath, and he noticed that the cross in front of him seemed to tremble slightly as he finished speaking, but then it was firmly in the hands of its owner.

"Tell me, what did you bring me?" Juana asked in a very slow tone, as if afraid that a little louder voice would wake her up from a dream she had been having.

"My lord has asked me to tell you that no amount of slander or slander can obscure the rights of a truly noble bloodline, and that even the throne that has been occupied will one day regain its true master." Tiego said as he carefully observed the expression on the face of the former princess in front of him, and when he saw that Juana closed her eyes slightly when she heard this, and when she opened them again, her eyes were already flashing with a hint of hazy water, Tiego bowed his head respectfully and saluted, and continued, "My lord, please don't worry, he will come to visit you at an appropriate time, and he only hopes that at that time you will not refuse to meet him, let alone your responsibilities as the true heir to the throne of Castilla." That's it, I swear to God, that's what my master wants me to bring you all the news. ”

"Yes, that's what he said," Juana whispered, she slowly put away the cross that was on Tiego's hand, and held it tightly to her chest as if she were holding some treasure, and then she began to pace slowly around the room, and after a moment she stopped to look at Tiego, "Do you know when he will come to see me?" ”

"I'm sorry Your Highness, I don't know much about this, but I can assure you that my master never makes empty promises, so he will definitely come to see you, and allow me to venture to speculate that this time should not be too long," said Tiego, straightening up slightly, revealing a proud look, "for according to my master, he is ready for everything. ”