By the time Alexander returned to Marino Palace, Sophia's condition had improved.

Originally, it was just a common cold, and after drinking a large bowl of hot ginger soup, and sweating several times in a row made Sophia soaked, her body became a lot easier.

Seeing Alexander, Sophia lifted the quilt and was about to jump off the bed, but Alexander, who had already guessed it, quickly pressed back to the bed.

Gently smoothing the strands of hair on Sophia's forehead, Alexander sat on the edge of the bed and took her in his arms.

"Let me see if you're obedient."

Hearing Alexander say this, Sophia stretched out her arm from under the quilt and pointed to an empty silver cup on the table next to her, and then a pained look appeared on her face.

Alexander smiled lightly, in fact, he had asked the maid before entering the room, and Sophia had indeed obediently drunk the remaining whole cup of hot ginger ale, but then in order to relieve the bitterness in her mouth, she ate a plate of various candied dried berries.

"It seems that I have a good appetite," Alexander smiled with satisfaction, he didn't care much if Sophia would gain weight from eating too many sweets, but was happy that she could eat, "but not too much, or your teeth will hurt." ”

Alexander commanded this, but he was a little depressed, Sophia was his wife, and according to the current custom, even if he immediately made her the mother of the child, he would not have to worry about any punishment.

But thinking about whether she would have a tooth trouble if she ate too many sweets, Alexander felt that he was not raising a wife, but a daughter.

"Sophia, I'll probably be away for a while......"

Alexander said as cautiously as he could.

But before he could finish speaking, Sophia, who had been nestled in his arms, stiffened, and then raised her head and looked at him with a look that made him a little frightened.

The meaning in her eyes is very clear, and it is clear that she will try it if you dare to throw it down.

"It's too cold, and you're still catching a cold, and I'm in a bit of a hurry to do this, I can't wait for you to get well, so you have to leave tomorrow," Alexander simply said in one breath, "So Nashan will take care of you during this time." ”

Although she was unhappy, Sophia also knew that Alexander really couldn't take her with her this time, but when she heard that Nashan would stay, she smiled happily at first, but then looked at Alexander with a trace of worry.

Sensing Sophia's concern, Alexander put his arms around her hard.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to open the roads to Rome and other places this time, and nothing will happen." Alexander deliberately comforted Sophia in a relaxed tone.

Of course, he wouldn't tell Sophia that he had decided to leave Nashan behind, firstly, to let Nashan find a chance to warm up with Joanna, and more importantly, to guard against the masked man.

Alexander would not forget the look that the man had cast at Sophia as he left, and the hatred in that look made him often startle even at night, and then he went outside Sophia's room to listen, and did not relax until he heard the girl's even breathing.

Nothing makes a person more persistent or crazy than hatred, and Alexander has a hunch that the masked man will not give up this hatred, and he must be somewhere patiently waiting for an opportunity, watching himself and Sophia closely.

Alexander believed that he would avenge the woman!

The snow was still falling, everywhere was white, and the whole world seemed to be covered with a clean white veil, and the reflection of the snow reflected the streets at night, and in the attic of a house across the street, a pair of eyes were glued to every window of the Marino Palace.

On several occasions, the gaze passed over the closed window of Sophia's room, and then to other places.

Without a mask, he had a very ordinary appearance, and such a person would not attract the attention of others until the last moment, but in this place where there was no one else, the undisguised hatred in his eyes made his face no longer so mediocre, but a little distorted.

"Where are you, where are you," the man whispered to himself, his eyes glued to each window, as if to see through the closed window, "Don't hide, let me see you." He kept whispering to himself, alertly searching for every chance he might find something.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he fixed on a window.

The curtain behind the window was originally very tightly blocked, but for some reason, it seemed that the light was lit up behind the curtain in the middle of the night, and as the figure flickered, the curtain lifted from the inside.

By the light in the window, the man saw a familiar figure.

His breathing immediately became rapid, and as the curtain fell again, everything behind the window was blocked, but he knew he had found his target.

Alexander's so-called preparation was to order Ulrius to reorganize the Agri who had remained outside the city.

Ever since Alexander entered the city of Rome, Ulrius had camped outside Rome with the Agrites.

Despite the sudden disturbance caused by the Bohemians being ordered to enter the city, the Agri remained outside the city on Alexander's orders.

Ulliu complained a little about this, he did not understand why the Caro could follow his master, but he could only wait outside the city, and from the letter sent by Alexander, it seemed that he had no intention of letting the Agri enter the city in the short term, except that he told Ulliu to urge him to strengthen his training at any time.

Then worse news came, and Alexander ordered the Agri to prepare to follow him.

And what made Ulliu unbearable was that this time Alexander still didn't plan to take him with him.

The Moors finally panicked.

Ulliu couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose the trust of his master, and although he wasn't a contracted slave, the Moors still couldn't imagine what it would be like to be without a master.

Eventually, he plucked up the courage to ask Alexander to travel with him, but Alexander refused.

"You'll have to stay with Sophia, she needs someone clever to watch over her, and of course watch her," Alexander said casually, "and I think you're in good hands." ”

Alexander's words made Ulliu's little black face almost frightened into a little white face, and he secretly looked at Alexander in fear, wondering if his master's words implied that he was coveting the beauty of his mistress.

Remembering that he had confessed to Alexander that he had loved the former mistress, the Moorish man's face was almost bloodless.

"I want you to protect Sophia," Alexander's expression suddenly became serious, "This time Nashan will stay with Sophia, but he can't stay by her side all the time, so I want you to protect her." ”

Ulliu looked at Alexander with some surprise, he rarely saw Alexander's expression so serious, which and the Moors immediately lost their thoughts, he bowed very seriously and said: "Please rest assured, I will definitely protect the mistress." ”

Alexander nodded slightly, although he was worried, but because Sophia was in good health, it was impossible for him to travel in this weather with Sophia, who had just recovered from illness.

So the only way to keep her in Rome was to strengthen the guards around her.

Because he was to travel in such weather, Caesar generously gave Alexander a sum of money in the name of the Council of Order to buy enough equipment for the winter trip.

Alexander immediately bought a large number of horse materials and a lot of thick horse clothing, and in order to prevent slipping, he also had a large number of wooden horse hooves specially made as preparation.

The day before leaving, Alexander stayed in Sophia's room for a long time.

He put his arms around Sophia and talked to her, and when Sophia finally fell asleep contentedly after listening to his promise that he would never leave her alone again, Alexander crept through the middle door to his room.

To his surprise, Nashan was waiting for him.

It's just that Nashan just looked around and looked at the door this time, but didn't say anything more.

But before leaving, he said to Alexander: "I don't like this room. ”

Despite his bad mood, Ulliu did his best to reorganize the Agri on Alexander's orders.

The Agri, dressed in winter clothes, seemed a little silly, and when they gathered in groups of three or five, they looked like a herd of bears that had broken their hibernation and came out to feed.

But the weapons in the hands of these people made them much more dangerous, and the blades that radiated a cold luster looked terrifying, especially after the battle in the Bruini Valley, these farmers who had only worked in the fields had changed unconsciously.

Standing in the icy snow, and matching this gloomy and cold weather, there was the kind of murderous aura that only soldiers who had seen blood exuded from these soldiers.

The first to bless Alexander was Cardinal Monteiro, whose sole purpose was to satisfy the Pope's family, who prayed at Caesar's request.

Caesar apparently didn't want too many people to know the purpose of Alexander's trip, or rather he didn't want too many Romans to know about the predicament they were facing, so the Blessed Mass was held in Monteiro's church.

When the Mass was over, Alexander did not return to Marino Palace, but quietly left the city of Rome with Carlo and a hundred Bohemians, and joined the Agrians who remained outside the city.

Ulliu stood on the steps of the Marino Palace with a sad face, he was wrapped in a very thick robe, the hem of which was very long, because there was a woolen shoulder in it, and it looked bulging, but even then he felt very cold.

"It's going to be a chore." The Moors muttered quietly, looking at their feet deep in the snow, and Ulliu could already imagine how bad the trip was.

By this time, he was a little glad that he hadn't been able to follow Alexander out.

The Moors were clearly not accustomed to the cold, which was rare even further north, and as for the Romans, except for the children who did not know what to worry about, they had already begun to have a headache about the cold that might follow.

The heavy snowfall finally stopped in the early morning of the fifth day, but the sky was still gloomy, and there was no warm sun emitting an icy light, and many streets could not see anything but a white snowy scene, and even some low-lying houses were already mostly covered with snow, because the doors were blocked, and people had to jump out of the windows.

The two priests struggled to walk in the snow, jumping upwards as if they were dancing with each step, and it didn't take long for them to start sweating and panting.

"God bless."

A priest tried to raise his voice a little louder, but he was obviously exhausted, so when he finished shouting the prayer with a slight hoarseness, Ulliu, who was standing on the steps, did not react for a moment.

"Where is your master, heretic!" Another priest asked irritably, accustomed to raising his hand to slap the silly-looking Moor in front of him, before he seemed to find himself holding a donation box in his hand: "Go and call your master, tell him that in the name of the Pope he needs to donate for the poor of Rome, and that he will receive a copy of the Atonement issued by the Pope's authority." ”

It was actually two people who came to ask for money, and it was only then that Ulliu, who fully understood the intention of these two people, glared at the two priests in front of him with some annoyance.

Because of Massimo, Uriu had no reverence for these people who opened their mouths and shut up to cheat and cheat in the name of the Pope, and even if it weren't Rome, he might have cleaned up these two guys who didn't look like serious priests at all.

"My master is not here, but I can introduce you," Ulliu paused deliberately, seeing the excitement in the eyes of the two priests, he was even more sure that these two men were with Massimo, "but I need to know the origin of the two of you, maybe my master still knows your bishop, and you must know that Cardinal Monteiro has blessed him just now." ”

The two priests froze for a moment with excitement on their faces, and they looked at the Marino Palace behind Ulliu with some fear, and after a little look at each other, the two turned around almost at the same time, one still shouting "God bless", and the other clung to the donation box that looked like it had been temporarily nailed up of wood, and disappeared into the thick snow like two rabbits that couldn't stop jumping, and disappeared around the corner of the street.

Uliu looked at their backs with a smile, and the hand hidden in his sleeve moved, and finally he couldn't help but pick up the snow on the ground and throw it over.

It was only when he looked up and saw the unwarm sun overhead that the Moorish face fell again.

"It's a good thing that I didn't follow my master to the north, otherwise I might not have seen next spring." Uliuu muttered again, and cautiously squeezed the slippery steps through the crack in the steaming side door.

Uliu didn't see in the shadows under the porch at the corner of the street in the distance, where the two crooks he had spotted were watching his every move.

As he disappeared through the door, the grumpy-looking 'priest' whispered to his companion, "Go and tell the Falcon that Gombray is indeed gone, and that only his woman is left in that house." ”