Viscount Herva walked slowly on the steps of the castle of Arrijoe, walking very carefully, as if he were measuring the ground under his feet rather than walking.

Sometimes he would stop and frown, as if to remember something, and then go on, and sometimes he would look up and look somewhere, as if searching for something that had been blurred in his memory.

Castle Alijoe was both familiar and alien to Helva, he hadn't been back for so many years that he had forgotten many things, but when he re-entered the castle, memories of the past flooded back into his mind.

Alexander's figure flashed not far away, and Herva looked up at the same time, and at the same time a strange feeling floated in his heart.

Alexander was the key person who helped him retake Zagreb, or if it wasn't for Alexander, he wouldn't be where he is now, but Herva knew in his heart that his relationship with Alexander was obviously not as good as outsiders thought it would be, or that they had only cooperated with each other from the beginning, and now that he had got what he needed, it was time for him to pay him.

But he still didn't know what Alexander wanted, and that was why he was even more apprehensive.

The cherishing of what was lost was more real than the pain of regain, and Herva couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose what he had again after so many years of suffering, and he thought that he might really go crazy.

Alexander walked over, and after bowing slightly to Helva, he walked slowly around the castle with Helva.

This is the 4th day back in Zagreb, 2 days ago the castle on the right bank finally announced its surrender, in fact they also had to surrender, although there were still some troops in the castle, but because almost all the nobles of status went to the monastery of Alijoe, the few minor nobles who remained in the castle were simply unable to command and influence those officers.

There are not many people Alexander brought into Zagreb with him, although he has the trump card of Helva, but he is not too careless, especially since those great nobles of Zagreb dared to plot the murder of Duke Signacci, he did not believe that those people would still care about Helva, so when he decided to take advantage of the Holy Cyril brothers and you day to completely eradicate those great nobles, he was also ready to take the opportunity to take the city.

So while he was defending the monastery with his men, the huntsmen who had entered Zagreb with him also quietly surrounded the castle of Alijoe.

It can only be said that people in this era seem to be generally unfamiliar with covert warfare, and perhaps do not think that a few people can play a role, so Zagreb is unaware of the huntsmen and Bosnians who have infiltrated in disguise.

For the suddenly besieged Arijoe Castle, what really made them busy was the appearance of those nobles later, and the army that was blocked in the castle and could not come out had to fight hard with the enemy on the street not far from the castle, but the enemy relied on the convenience of the street and the sharpness of firearms to make them difficult to move in The situation gave them a headache for a while.

Then there was the appearance of those nobles, and looking at those people, Alijoe finally chose to surrender, and the right bank did not hold out for more than 2 days.

But perhaps because Alexander's attack was so successful, many people, including Helva, couldn't help but have a strange idea in their hearts, that is, who conquered the city?

Seeing Helva's silence, Alexander knew very well what he was thinking.

In fact, this is not unusual, and another person would think the same way.

"Viscount, I may not be able to attend your coronation as scheduled," Alexander said with a smile to Helva, "and forgive me for not being able to remind you that the current situation does not allow you much time to prepare for a grand coronation." ”

Helva nodded with a gloomy face, which was one of the reasons why he couldn't get better even though he had finally recaptured Zagreb.

The situation at the end of the Ottoman army was alarming, and Helva found that instead of glory and cheers, what awaited him, the Duke of Zagreb, was a mess.

After only one day of the initial joy of changing the dynasty, one troublesome thing after another followed, among which he did not expect the appearance of an Ottoman.

That person was probably a secret messenger sent by the Sultan who was spreading all the news in the city, but the scene of that person swaggering in the castle without any scruples surprised Alexander a little.

Although the sense of secrecy in this era is very weak, such a secret envoy who appears openly without scruples still opened his eyes.

And the news brought by the secret envoy is no secret for a long time.

The conditions that had been spread in the streets and alleys as early as when he first entered Zagreb were indeed not fake, and Herva was also facing the difficult choice faced by the previous big nobles, but before it was almost the entire big aristocracy in Zagreb, and now he himself is facing this dilemma.

"The Sultan wants Zagreb to openly support his conquest of Bucharest." Helva looked at Alexander, "What do you think I should do?" ”

"You are the master of the city, and you will soon be crowned."

Alexander was not satisfied with Helva's answer, although he did not want this man to help him make the decision, but he also knew in his heart that he would not be able to stand here without this man, and it would be a joke to say that he was crowned, and now he had recaptured Zagreb as he wished, but only then did he realize that he was actually facing a greater problem and dilemma than when he was in exile.

"What am I supposed to do, am I going to be the first Duke of Zagreb to be crowned just to sign a surrender?"

Helva's words made Alexander smile slightly, and he couldn't help but think of a certain future king, the unlucky guy who had only ten minutes before and after the coronation and the signing of the abdication, so that the unlucky king said a rather sad sentence to the crowd: "Give me more time, let me be the king for another ten minutes." ”

"You won't be a short-lived duke."

Alexander's voice was low, but it immediately caught Helva's attention, and the viscount's gaze instantly sharpened, and he stared at Alexander with a pair of eyes full of fiery expression.

"Tell me what to do, I promised you that you would repay you, and now I am willing to promise you more, as long as you can help me."

Looking at the viscount's excited expression, Alexander nodded and turned back: "In fact, this is also the reward I want to offer you, I hope you can resist the Ottomans." ”

"What?"

Herva looked at Alexander in amazement, his confused gaze couldn't help but go up and down for a while, as if he didn't understand the meaning of the other party's words.

"You helped me just to resist the Ottomans?"

"I'm not that great," Alexander smiled, seeing Hurva's more puzzled look, Alexander thought for a moment and decided to say something useful to him in order to convince him, "Viscount, do you think the Ottomans would be content with just conquering a Bucharest?" ”

"Of course not, they are going to conquer all the countries here, if possible, probably the Vatican or even the whole of Europe," said the Ottoman Herva a with a little emotion, "and even the Ottoman conspiracy behind my father's death, because as far as I know, the murderers of my father were in collusion with the Ottomans a long time ago. ”

"You're right, the Ottomans are going to conquer everyone, and even if you choose to compromise with them this time, you will be able to ensure that you will not be completely annexed by them in the future," Alexander nodded in agreement, noticing that Herva seemed to be discouraged even though he had just looked excited, and that his demeanor had become uncertain before, "Tell me what is your greatest wish in life?" ”

"Take back what belongs to me." Herva said with some excitement, and then looked around a little blankly, for he was still familiar with everything and many things here, and then he was faced with the difficult choice of giving it all to someone else.

"You don't need to be sad, you've got what you need." Alexander ignored Helva's seemingly sad expression, and instead gestured to invite him to walk towards a platform slightly higher.

It was a small plateau built on the slopes of the mountains, not high and a steep slope outside the walls, and the open view made it a good artillery position, with two glowing cannon muzzles facing the city below.

"My lord, I would like to take the liberty of asking you, who is the Duke of Zagreb?"

Helva looked at Alexander in astonishment, he was a little annoyed and almost exploded in anger, but Alexander's serious appearance made him have to force himself to suppress his anger.

"Are you going to insult me, my father Signaci was the former Duke of Zagreb, and I am the sole legal heir of the Duke of Zagreb."

"In fact, anyone who sits on the ducal throne can be a duke of Zagreb."

As soon as Alexander's words came out, Herva couldn't help but be furious!

His hand was habitually clasped to his waist, but he immediately realized that he was not carrying a sword with him, and his eyes quickly looked around, and when he saw that there was no one else except for a few retinues in the distance, and there were obviously many more hunters than him, the viscount's face could not help but become ugly.

"Don't get me wrong, if I were going to do it against you, I would have done it a long time ago." Alexander walked past Herva to the end of the terrace, leaned slightly and looked down, "Viscount, I mean to tell you that the throne in Zagreb doesn't mean anything, and if you compromise and surrender to the Ottomans, then even if they still allow you to sit on that throne, you will only be a puppet." ”

Herva slowly relaxed himself, and he looked at Alexander suspiciously, not understanding why he was saying this to himself.

It was obviously foolish for Herva to be an enemy of the Ottomans, although his men kept attacking the Ottomans when he was in exile, but when he was about to become a duke, he would no longer do such stupid things that would obviously infuriate the behemoth, but now Alexander seemed to be encouraging him to confront the Ottomans head-on, which made him wonder what the man's intentions were.

Alexander ignored the slightly indifferent look on the viscount's face, he just continued: "When you fled, all you wanted was to return to the city, and now your wish has been granted, but the Ottomans will soon arrive, I think you know very well that if you choose to compromise, what awaits you is nothing more than the title of a ten-minute king in history, and of course your duke's crown must be worn longer than ten minutes." ”

Alexander then explained to Herva the origin of the "King of Ten Minutes", and when he saw that the viscount's face had turned gray because of his ugly look, he said with a solemn expression: "So are you going to be a hero to be a Zagreb or just a signatory of a surrender?" ”

"Do you want me to fight against the Ottomans, but do you know how terrible the Sultan's army is?" Herva stared at Alexander strangely, "I don't know what you want to do, or if you want to be a hero yourself, but you know that you are looking for death." ”

"I don't want to be this hero either."

Alexander said helplessly to himself, of course he knew how terrible the Ottoman army was, and much more than the man in front of him, but he had to find a way to find some trouble for the Ottomans to delay their march, thinking that if they really let them surround Bucharest, and he didn't have time to take Sophia away from there, it might be really tragic, after all, the end of Joan of Arc in history was not good, but even if she was not burned to death by the British, with the treacherous situation of the French court at that time, That country girl from the French countryside will definitely not be able to fight those nobles who eat people and do not spit out bones, and in the end her end will not be much better than in history.

What Alexander had to do was to bring Sophia out of the vortex of right and wrong in Bucharest, and all this was premised on preventing the Ottomans from besieging Bucharest prematurely.

"Viscount, I know that your army cannot compete with the Ottomans, and indeed no one can compete with theirs, the Ottomans have the most powerful army of this era, their new army has much more firepower than any other army, and their cavalry is now sharp, even the original Mongol iron cavalry."

Herva asked with an ugly face: "In that case, why do you still ......?"

"But don't forget, they are strangers after all," Alexander looked back at the shadows of the mountains in the distance in the light mist, "You have always wanted to become a duke, and now you are about to become a duke and you are facing the loss of Zagreb and your dignity, I know that it is a painful thing for you, but it is not important compared to the previous exile. ”

"Not important?!" Helva finally couldn't take it anymore, he walked back and forth on the edge of the mesa angrily, clasping his hands together, "Do you know what I was thinking about every day at that time, I even thought that as long as I could become a duke again, I could make a pact with the devil, I couldn't tolerate someone else wearing my duke's crown, let alone a murderer sitting on the throne that my father sat on when he was alive, but now I was threatened by the Ottomans when I was about to succeed, and you are here to tell me that none of this matters?" ”

Looking at the excited Helva, Alexander shook his head disappreciatively, his seemingly relaxed look irritated the viscount even more, he stared at Alexander's face fiercely, and a trace of anger flashed in his eyes.

"I am flattered by your hostility, it would be better if you could do this to the Ottomans," Alexander said, with a straight look on his face, "Viscount, the throne that is important to you is really just a chair that does not make sense, what you want has been obtained, and after the coronation you will be the rightful Duke of Zagreb, and then you can command your army against the Ottomans." ”

"But how is this possible, knowing that even your army can take this city so easily."

Herva said in frustration, he didn't notice Alexander's cheeks twitching slightly when he heard this, and he didn't hear Alexander's secret curse in his heart: "What do you mean even my army, it seems that my army is stupid." ”

"Viscount, don't forget what I just said, the Ottomans are foreigners," Alexander looked up at the city in the distance, "You can fortify the wilderness and not let the Ottomans get a single grain, you can organize an army to fight the Ottomans in this mountain range, attack every lone Ottoman, rob their convoys, intercept the orders and information they send out, and ambush those Ottoman dignitaries who may be nobles." You used to be a fugitive nobleman living in the jungle with your followers, but now you are the Duke of Zagreb, so that you can legally command any nobleman, soldier and farmer, and you can even leave the city and live in the jungle, but it is no longer a camp for fugitives but your palace, and you are still the undisputed Duke of Zagreb, which is the true meaning of what I just asked you. ”

Herva looked at Alexander in a daze, he didn't know how to digest it for a while, but Alexander didn't give him a moment and continued: "The Ottomans will occupy the city, but they will not be able to occupy the entire territory of Zagreb, and soon they will find that everyone here may be civilians or soldiers, and soon they will be exhausted from being harassed, and they will become extremely brutal because they have fallen into the Stead, and this brutality will make your people hate the infidels even more." And you will become a hero for resisting the Ottomans, think about it, when everyone chooses to be silent, your roar can wake up the cowardly, not only Croatia but also Bosnia, those nobles will see you as their leader, the people will see you as their savior, how far away do you think the crown of Bosnia will be from you at that time? Maybe you can build a dynasty with just one hand. ”

Herva stared blankly at Alexander, not knowing if he had had suffered a stroke, for he felt as if his body was completely unconscious from the numbness, and when he finally recovered from the tremor that made his heart palpitate and was ready to speak, he heard Alexander standing on the edge of the mesa again.

"Viscount, look at the city," Alexander asked, looking back at the city below, "this is Zagreb, and you are its duke." ”