Although it was getting late, Sebastien Don Carpendi did not fall asleep, and he had a vague feeling that something big had happened.

In fact, from the time the news of the loss of Juana and the others came, people already knew that something had happened, but for some reason, he felt particularly strongly tonight.

Don Cappendi had a supper brought to him, and the servant would usually prepare for him two slices of mixed wheat bread and a half-smoked sausage, and a small bottle of wine, so that the warden could fall asleep soon after he had eaten his fill.

Today, however, the food has not changed, but Don Cappendi has a large bottle of wine prepared for him.

The warden sat in a chair by the window, from which he could see the prison gates, where he used to sit and inspect his territory during the day, and at night he liked to sit on his bed and drink alone while he had supper.

But today he had been glued to the door, and at the slightest disturbance he would wake up immediately.

As the night wore on, the servant had already taken a nap in the corner of the door, but Don Carpendi was still staring at the door.

Although it was getting late, his premonition was getting stronger and stronger.

He didn't know how many people felt the same way as him, and the fact that it had been three days without knowing the whereabouts of the fugitives was the worst of things.

And once this kind of thinking arises, it makes people naturally wonder what if the worst fears become a reality.

Juana is the rightful queen of Castile, and she already has children, so if she has any strengths and weaknesses, she and Philip's children will be the heirs of Castile and Aragon.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but for some people it is not what they want to see.

In addition, for a smaller number of people, there is another layer of thought about Juana's whereabouts.

That is, if she comes back unharmed, what will be the consequences?

No one knows how many people have such thoughts, after all, the idea is so terrible that even relatives and friends who are close to each other dare not talk about it openly.

This suspicion is even stronger in Madrid, but it does not include Don Cappendi.

When Alexander arranged for his men to find Juana's whereabouts, Don Carpendi, who had accepted the task, knew that there was no way out.

Don Carpendi had some speculation as to why the Duke of Rome Thesia had chosen him, but he did not specifically inquire about it.

Because he knew that the person who recommended him might not be willing to let the matter be celebrated in public.

"Juan Fernando Don Bandraz." Don Cappendi took a sip of wine and muttered to himself.

He knew that the mayor of Madrid should recommend him to the duke, but he felt a lot of pressure for this "value".

Don Banderaz must have made up his mind to follow the Duke to the end, and he even proved his loyalty to the Duke with the lives of the rebels.

And his recommendation of Don Carpendi was also a means of showing loyalty, because he not only knew that Don Carpendi was indeed very capable, but also knew that he could do things for the Duke at this time.

But in this way, Don Carpendi was not only forced to board the ship called the "Duke of Rome Thesia", but the ship did not have a chance to go down along the way.

Although he was unhappy with this forced action, he hated Don Banderaz for it, but Don Carpendi could not do it.

On the contrary, he was faintly excited in his heart, and the warden was not only not disgusted by the mayor of Madrid dragging him onto the boat, but even wanted to have a glass of wine to celebrate.

Faintly, there was a sudden sound of horses' hooves in the darkness, and the warden immediately stood up from his chair.

He walked a few steps to the window and looked at the door, and heard the sound of the horse's hoofs becoming more and more distinct, and then seemed to have stopped outside the prison, and at once he turned and went out, kicked the napping servant awake, and then told him to wake up his men.

And he himself walked briskly down the stairs towards the outside of the house.

When the warden came to the courtyard, the gate had been opened, and a group of people rushed in.

They were all hot, and the sweat on their heads splashed directly on the warden's face when they jumped off their horses against the people in front of them.

In the light of the torches, the warden saw the look on the face of the person he had sent, and he had already vaguely guessed something in his heart, but he still hurriedly asked, "How is it?" Did you find it? ”

"Found your Excellency." The leader of the search party replied in a sullen voice, and he quickly looked back at his companions behind him, and when he saw that they were all watching, he turned his head and whispered to the warden that "we found the man we were looking for in a village on the other side of the ferry, but it was ......"

As the leader whispered, Don Cappendi had a sluggish look on his face.

Although he had already guessed what the outcome would be, when he heard it with his own ears, he still felt as if he was in a dream.

It wasn't until the leader whispered a reminder that Don Carpendi suddenly remembered something and looked at the search party behind him, and when he found that the Gonzalo soldiers had not been found in the crowd, he immediately ordered his subordinates, who had already heard the voice: "Hurry up and prepare, I will go to the palace." ”

The men immediately got busy, some of them preparing horses and vehicles, others with weapons.

"Settle down all of you," the warden glanced at the chief, and when he saw what the man was about to say, he continued without waiting for the other man to speak, "I promised you that I would keep it, but now I don't want the news of this to get out, so you have to listen to my arrangement." ”

The leader, who had wanted to distinguish between them, nodded helplessly, knowing that Don Cappendi was the master in this prison, and if he didn't want to get into trouble or wanted to get what was promised, he could only do as he said.

The search party was taken away by Don Carpendi's men, and they were housed in a small separate building, strong enough with a thick iron fence to prevent them from escaping, but now Don Carpendi could no longer take care of them.

He knew that those soldiers would definitely report everything they found to Gonzalo, so if he didn't want to be robbed of his credit for nothing after his efforts, even if it was destined to be as fast as Gonzalo, he had to go to the Duke as soon as possible to report the matter.

And Don Carpendi knew that in addition to showing merit, it was more important to show his attitude to the Duke of Thesia.

Especially at times like these!

The clouds were so heavy that not a single star could be seen, and even at night you could feel the weight of the clouds in the sky.

Even though he bought the car and walked quickly, he still felt that the surroundings were hot and humid, a light flashed, and a faint thunder sounded from the sky, and Don Cappendi couldn't help but pull the collar of his robe.

It was somewhat dangerous to travel on such a night, so Don Carpendi brought with him his trusted men, as well as the manuscript he had painstakingly prepared to establish the country's security system.

This was certainly not the best time to introduce himself to the Duke of Thesia, but Don Carpendi was still trying his luck.

El Pardo Palace was also lit up tonight, and with the exception of Gonzalo and Don Bandraz, many people stayed in the palace without leaving.

So when someone found out that the warden was not present, they were somewhat surprised.

It was no secret that Don Carpendi had been summoned by the Duke alone, so some had speculated that the warden might be in charge.

But he didn't stay at El Pardo Palace at this time, which makes people wonder what happened.

Of these, with the exception of Gonzalo and Don Bandraz, the first three nobles to be summoned undoubtedly became the most prominent of the new Madrid nobles attached to Alexander.

This is not only because they have a lot of power in their own right, but also because they are obviously what the Duke values the most.

So when the duke and the two military and political chiefs were not present, the three nobles became the leaders of everyone, but they were obviously not related to each other, so a group of people divided into three circles gathered in the hall and whispered.

The room was hot and humid, but it didn't interfere with people's moods, and everyone looked at others with a bit of a strangeness in their eyes, as if there was some secret that everyone knew that could not be revealed.

The sound of hurried footsteps came from far down the hallway, and people's attention was immediately drawn to it.

Several sweaty soldiers appeared at the door of the hall, and when they saw the group of nobles in the hall, they couldn't help but slow down because of some surprise, but immediately a man walked towards them.

Someone recognized the man as Gonzalo's lieutenant, and the soldiers had only time to bend down before they could salute, and the man who had taken the lead had been grabbed by Gonzalo's lieutenant and walked through the twinkling nobles to the inner room.

Eyes burned, and they looked back at the soldiers who had remained at the door of the hall, but they had apparently been ordered, so they were led out of the hall by the guards who had arrived.

People couldn't help but whisper again, and the strange look in their eyes made the atmosphere in the room even more strange.

Possible outcomes are flashing through people's minds, and at the same time they are wondering how to face the eventuality.

"My lords, I think we should make a suggestion to the Duke at this time," the civil officer, Hoharbinagaros, suddenly raised his voice, and seeing that he had succeeded in attracting everyone's attention, the civil officer coughed and continued, "We should ask the Duke to announce his duty to the people of Madrid about his responsibility for the city." ”

"What responsibility do you mean?" Moradato, the tax collector, took a step forward and asked, "You must know that the duke is the monarch of Rome Thesia, not the Duke of Madrid, so is it not appropriate to declare the responsibility for Madrid?" ”

"Why is it inappropriate?" Hoharbinagaros didn't seem to expect to be retorted, and he looked at the tax collector with a slightly exaggerated expression of surprise: "Do you think that the Duke does not have the right to assume the responsibilities and obligations to Madrid?" ”

Hoharbinagaros's rhetorical question immediately caused a low exclamation from the people, and the nobles, who were already vaguely divided into two factions, looked at each other, and their eyes couldn't help but show a fighting spirit that seemed to be ready to argue with each other at any time.

"Of course not."

The president of the court, who had been watching from the sidelines, suddenly joined in, standing between the two and seemingly assuming the role of arbitrator, but his words had already proved to favor anyone.

"If the duke declares his so-called duty to Madrid, although it will make it easier for the duke to rule over Madrid, it will also imprison the duke in the city," said the president of the court, looking deeply at Hoharbinagaros, "It may be a good thing for some, but it will not do the duke himself any good." ”

The court's unceremonious rebuttal made Khoharbinagaros's face instantly look ugly, and the next words of the tax collector made everyone take a deep breath:

"Because it means that even if he is the ruler of Madrid, he still has to obey the orders of a certain Castilian monarch, but do not forget that the duke is the son of Enrique IV, and more importantly, he is a pure Castilian prince."

Hoharbinagarros's iron-gray face was unusually ugly, and he noticed that even the nobles who gathered around him showed hesitation, which made him vaguely feel that something was wrong.

Just as the civil magistrate was about to continue arguing a few words, the door to the inside suddenly opened.

Schell appeared at the door, he nodded slightly to the three nobles and motioned for them to enter, looking at the few people who rushed in and the door that was then closed, the people outside fell into a daze,

A dull thunderclap suddenly came, and the people who were talking in a low voice couldn't help but look out the window.

Lightning bolts cut through the dark sky in the night sky, and something terrible seemed to struggle on the vast dark clouds, as if to penetrate the clouds that seemed to be torn apart at any moment and landed on the earth.

There was another sound of footsteps, and the people were surprised to see the Madrid warden appear at the door.

Don Cappendi, apparently without the leisure to deal with the nobles who had gathered around to talk, made his way through the crowd to the door, and after speaking to the guards at the door, he stood there waiting for an answer.

After only a few moments, Schell came out with the guards, and as he invited Don Carpendy to enter, he looked at the nobles who were waiting outside, and then slammed the heavy door shut.

Don Cappendi walked through the small hallway into the room and saw the people already gathered in the room.

The room was very quiet, except for Alexander, everyone was standing, and they were silently watching him around Alexander, as if waiting for his decision.

Seeing Don Cappendi enter, the three nobles couldn't help but look at him.

But Don Carpendi did not respond, he walked a few steps up to Alexander, who was sitting in a semi-circle chair, and did not speak, but waited in silence.

"You already know?" Alexander asked, seeing Don Carpendi nodding, Alexander stretched out his hands and rubbed his face vigorously before he looked up at the people standing in front of him, "Can anyone tell me what this means?" ”

"Your Highness, the news brought back by the search party is already clear," Don Carpendi finally spoke, and he looked at Ouomoto, who was standing far away, "According to the report of the search team, the queen and her wife and the priest Tongomada took a shortcut after leaving the place called Heitan Village because they listened to the villagers, and as a result, their carriage got stuck in a mud ditch that had collapsed due to rain. ”

Although he had heard the report, Alexander looked at Uomoto.

Seeing the Duke looking over, Uomoto immediately took a step forward and replied: "Yes, Your Highness, as the Lord said, Her Majesty's carriage got stuck in a mud ditch, because the mud and sand around it were collapsing all the time, and they didn't have time to escape from the carriage at all, and then flooded the whole carriage until ......"

Uomoto said this, making a cross on his chest, and his face pale and stopped.

"What about the villagers? Tell me what they did? Alexander looked at Don Cappendi.

"They didn't do anything, to be exact," the warden thought for a moment and shook his head, "They just pointed the way, and then watched as the Queen's carriage sank into a muddy ditch and eventually drowned, which was ...... It can be seen from the traces of the corpses that they have no obvious wounds on their bodies, and they have been suffocated alive. ”

"This is murder," said Don Bandraz, and the eyes of the people immediately turned to him, "the villagers just watched them die, and then what were they going to do, wait until the rumors passed to dig up the wagons and rob the dead of their money?" ”

"This is indeed murder," Gonzalo nodded, "those people must be punished with the most severe punishment, the whole village is guilty, they will be hanged, and I am willing to personally supervise the execution." ”

Alexander nodded silently, knowing that if there was anyone in the room who regretted Juana's death, it would be Gonzalo.

As Isabella's heir, if Juana were a wise queen, Gonzalo would undoubtedly be her most powerful and reliable supporter, and even more so in her future rivalry with Ferdinand.

Unfortunately, Juana was like that, and this naturally disappointed him for Gonzalo.

Gonzalo de Córdoba was never a fool, he was loyal to Isabella only because she had the capital that would make him loyal, and once he could not see this capital in Juana, Gonzalo would not continue to be nostalgic.

Gonzalo finished speaking, and there was a strange silence in the room.

Uomoto looked at the big men inexplicably, and if it weren't for the fact that no one told him he could leave, he didn't want to stay in this room at all.

Now seeing that everyone suddenly fell silent, the musketeers couldn't help but look at them with curiosity.

There was a long silence, and a subtle atmosphere was brewing in the room.

The three nobles were also secretly looking at the two giants, and they were tempted to have one of them speak first, but they were soon disappointed.

Finally, as if realizing that the next words could only be said by himself, the president of the court took a step forward: "Your Highness, in addition to punishing the murderer, there are more important things to do now. ”

Alexander raised his head again, his gaze slowly swept over the few people in front of him, and then nodded lightly: "You say." ”

Outside the window, there was a little bit of dampness, but the room was still very hot.

Although they were already a little impatient, the nobles could only pass the time by chatting during the long wait.

Suddenly, two closed doors opened without warning.

Surrounded by a crowd of people, Alexander walked out of the room.

The nobles immediately swarmed up, but before they could speak, Don Banderaz stepped forward, holding in his hand a document written on fine parchment, and when he opened it, all eyes were involuntarily focused.

"God blessed Castile to create this godly kingdom......"

Don Banderaz began to read the words of the manifesto, and although he could not have carefully chosen the words because of the time constraints, the knowledge of the mayor of Madrid played an important role in this time.

“…… It is with great sadness that we announce to all that the rightful heir of Queen Isabella, the rightful heir of Queen Isabella and the rightful queen of Castile, has died in the tragic death of Juana of Aragon, the rightful heir of Queen Isabella......"

At this moment, there was a sudden exclamation in the hall, whether they had thought of it or not, but when they heard the news, everyone still exclaimed in disbelief.

"Queen Isabella's sudden death was like a thunderbolt, although the kingdom was shaken, but it did not shake the orthodoxy, but the death of Queen Juana put the throne of Castile in danger, hanging in the hands of outsiders, and it is not a lie for those who pretender the crown to steal the throne!" Don Banderaz suddenly read aloud, his voice drowning out the exclamations of the people, making everyone look at him in a daze.

"In view of the decline of Castile legitimacy and the change of kingdom succession, we declare that we recognize Giorgio Mordillo, Duke of Rome Thesia, Gombray, as the rightful prince of the Castilian royal family and the rightful heir to the throne, and thus establish their legitimacy, and hereby declare that God is witnessed!"

With De Bandraz's announcement, under the gaze of the nobles, the Big Five fell to their knees at the same time!

"Long live King of Castile!"

The cry resounded through the hall at this moment.

At the same time, there was thunder outside, and the wind suddenly rose~

The air is trembling, as if the sky is burning and a storm is coming!