The Grand Duke's army was not large, as the Knight of Moleko said, the Duchy of Caniola had to dismiss the originally small army because it received orders from the Sultan, and according to the orders of Bayezid II, even Carl de Caniola, as the Grand Duke, had to submit helplessly, and he brought only a dozen retinues, and although they were armed, none of them wore armor.

Archduke Karl was very excited, and when he was still far away, he ordered the trumpeter who followed him to blow the horn incessantly, but he was obviously wary of the Montina army arriving with the princess's convoy, so he sent a personal entourage to meet his aunt and fiancée beforehand.

Archduke Karl did not welcome the arrival of Montina's army, and he hoped that these foreigners would leave the territory of the Duchy of Caniola as soon as possible, so when the entourage met Princess Caniola and later met Alexander, he first did his due courtesy, and then directly asked the Archduke when Montina's army would leave their country.

"We may need to be repaired," Alexander ignored the ugly look on his face, and instead asked the knight of Moleko to accompany the princess into the city, "My army will be repaired outside the city, and I hope to see the Grand Duke himself." ”

When Alexander was brought to the Grand Duke by his entourage, the Grand Duke Carl Co Caniola hesitated for a long time, but finally agreed to meet the Count, who had come from afar.

A nobleman from Rome with an army would always be in the spotlight, but what made Archduke Karl even more concerned was that he wanted to know why the foreign nobleman was traveling with his aunt and fiancée.

Archduke Carl Co Caniola was a young man of small stature and a rough face.

When he was on the horse, he looked at him head-on, except that he was a little shorter than the one next to him, and it didn't seem strange about it, but when he approached or dismounted, his apparently peculiar form was revealed.

Archduke Karl's back was high and his stubby neck was almost and completely sunk between his shoulders, making him look like an animal crouching on the ground and leaning forward.

And perhaps due to the effect of the hunchback, his legs also look a little strange, and they seem to be able to run between the legs in a semicircle.

When he saw Montina's army from afar, the Grand Duke looked surprised, and he looked back at his retinue a little strangely, and then looked carefully at Montina's army, which was slowly advancing along the road in the distance.

And when he saw Alexander, who was slowly coming out of the procession with Princess Caniola's carriage and riding in his direction, the Grand Duke immediately looked interested.

"Have you noticed that the soldiers of that army are wearing the same costumes," said the Grand Duke curiously to his entourage, "I don't know how much it will cost to do this, but don't you think it's strange?" ”

"Your Highness, there are bohemians among them," one of his men reminded the Grand Duke, "and they are not dressed in the same garments. ”

"But it's still strange, isn't it, these Roman nobles are weirdos," said the Archduke amusemently, until he saw Princess Caniola sitting in the carriage, looking at him from the thick open curtain.

The Grand Duke had obviously long been eager to meet his fiancée, so he could not wait for the carriage to stop, and when he bent from his horse to salute the two princesses in the carriage, his eyes had narrowed into a slit of excitement.

Then he straightened his waist, which was not easy to stand up, and looked over the carriage at Alexander on the other side.

"So you're the Count from Rome?" The Grand Duke looked at Alexander a little critically, "You are much younger than I thought. ”

"So what do you think it should look like?" Alexander asked.

"You should be older, as far as I know, your nobles are no longer interested in fighting the infidels, so you just watch our land being taken away by the Ottomans, and no one wants to help us."

"Your Highness, now I'm here."

In the face of this archduke who kept complaining as soon as they met, Alexander was indeed a little curious, from some news he heard along the way, he already had a general understanding of the current situation of the Principality of Caniola, it is obvious that compared with those large countries that can still make the Sultan have some scruples, the life of the Principality of Caniola is really not good, especially after offending Moldova because of the miscalculation of the situation last year, their life is even worse.

"Can I see your army?" The Grand Duke asked suddenly, and then, without waiting for Alexander's answer, he urged the horse over the carriage towards the ranks of the hunters in the distance.

Alexander turned his horse's head but did not follow, and watched from afar as the Grand Duke walked in front of the ranks of the hunters, and then jogged along the ranks as if they were in a parade.

"Idiot."

Alexander heard a low voice coming from a short distance, and then he saw the young Prince Gally looking with disdain at his future brother-in-law who was on his horse.

Archduke Karl was not slow, and soon ran back to the carriage, with an excited look on his face, and said to Alexander from a long distance: "Count, you have a very strange army, if it were not for the impossibility, I would even suspect that they are nobles, and I have never seen such a decent group of people in the courts of Moldova and Wallachia." ”

"The simplest requirement I can make of my army is decency," Alexander smiled at the Grand Duke, who seemed to be a little too excited, so much so that Princess Caniola had to be reminded before he remembered to invite the guests into the city.

"But your army can't go in," said the Grand Duke, as if with some regret, "you can take your captains and officers with you, and then I'll arrange for someone to find a camp for your army." ”

"I think the princess may have something to say to you about this." Alexander looked at Princess Caniola in the carriage with a cold expression, he didn't know if the princess was going to break her promise because she finally got there, but he didn't care about it, or how much he hoped that something would happen.

However, the princess obviously had no intention of doing so, and although she looked at Alexander with a little hostility, she finally nodded: "I think there are some things here that I may need to explain." ”

Archduke Karl seemed to listen to his aunt, and he nodded his head at once after a moment's pause, and then he eagerly got out of his horse with the help of his attendants, and climbed into the carriage of the two princesses.

It's just that when he was about to sit down next to Princess Co Marchidovi, Prince Gally, who had been beside him, let out a dissatisfied "snort".

"Little Carrie, I'm going to be your brother-in-law, now let me talk to my fiancée," said the Grand Duke as he leaned over to the prince, and then immediately turned his head and asked Princess Marchdovi this and that with enthusiasm.

Alexander watched this scene with interest, he noticed the unhappy look on Prince Gally's face, and also noticed that the Grand Duke seemed to be a little overly enthusiastic, which made him vaguely guess the intricacies inside the Duchy of Caniola.

The city of Ljubljana is surrounded by mountains and is divided into three different parts because of the huge lake in the middle of the city.

To Alexander's surprise, there were both Catholic and Orthodox churches in the city.

This intrigued Alexander, since the conflict between Orthodoxy and Catholicism had been going on for thousands of years, and the grievances between the two sides were much more complicated than those with the pagans.

And Ljubljana's situation is really not only rare, it can already be said to be a miracle.

As if to see Alexander's surprise, the Moleko knight came to Alexander's side and rode with him.

"Caniola is a place dominated by two churches," the knight's voice was somewhat helpless, "the original Duke of Marchiduovi had to convert to Catholicism because he was coerced by the Count of Cepes in Transylvania, and Caniola was still mostly a devout Orthodox Christian. ”

The knight's words made Alexander instantly clear a lot of things about the country, and it was clear that the marriage between the Grand Duke of Karl and the Princess Malchidovi was not only related to the integrity of the duchy, but also probably involved a compromise between two different local churches, and the young prince Carry's contempt for the Grand Duke should also be inseparable from this.

However, the knight had obviously not finished speaking, and looking at the houses looming across the lake in the distance, the knight Moleko shook his head and continued: "The Marchidovi family was the ruler of Caniola a few decades ago, when the king ordered the construction of those churches in Ljubljana. ”

Listening to the knight's somewhat resentful tone, Alexander nodded slightly, he could understand the knight's seemingly dissatisfied, although it may be more of a power struggle, but he didn't want to expose it.

It's just that Tzepes of Transylvania, hearing this name full of legends or bloody, cruel and mysterious, Alexander really can't face it calmly.

The legend of Transylvania is so famous that the story of the famous Count Dracula has fascinated countless people to explore the mysteries of vampires, and Transylvaya is the birthplace of this famous legend.

Just thinking that this legendary vampire count was actually involved, Alexander felt a little strange and curious.

Dracula, that's what people call the Transylvanian Count Tsepes, who was originally a nickname and has since become a vampire, and even aside from the absurd rumors, the story of the Count Tzepes himself is full of blood and brutality.

But that was obviously a few decades ago, and Alexander wasn't interested in what Transylvania was like now, he was only interested in finding Sophia as quickly as possible.

The palace of Ljubljana is as uncharacteristic as the city, or better so, as long as you stand on a slightly higher place, you can see through the palace at a glance, except for a few marble statues standing on a small gray wall, which seem to add a bit of grandeur to the building, the whole palace can be described as shabby.

Archduke Karl had already prepared for the arrival of his fiancée, so when they had just entered the courtyard of the palace, a strong smell of cooked meat had already wafted in front of them.

In the open space on the side of the palace courtyard, several large cauldrons of hot water were bubbling and blistering, and from time to time large pieces of beef tumbled up from the bottom of the water gave off a mouth-watering aroma.

"The fattest beef and chunks of honey, as well as elk and goat, trust me to have enough food here to make you not want to leave." Archduke Karl said as if to show off to Prince Gallie beside him, not noticing that his words made Princess Marchdovi, who was walking on the other side of him, look slightly different.

"Marchidovi also has a lot of cattle and sheep," said Prince Gally, somewhat unconvinced, and then, as if remembering something, he suddenly turned back to Alexander and asked, "What about Rome, does Rome have so many livestock?" ”

Hearing that he was suddenly asked, Alexander was a little surprised at first, then shook his head and smiled: "Yes, but not as many as here." ”

Seeing that Prince Galli seemed a little disappointed, Alexander continued: "But the Romans loved to eat fish, and they had whole smoked fish and chickens on their tables, and sometimes a goose was roasted at a banquet, and if it was a distinguished guest, a peacock was smoked with honey soaked in the leaves of saffron and stinging willow branches. ”

"Peacock?" Prince Gallie asked incredulously, and the people next to him seemed to be attracted by Alexander's words, and even Archduke Karl listened with some interest.

"As for fruits, a lot of people like to eat grapes and lemons."

"We have lemons here, too," said Archduke Karl at once, and at the same time he did not forget to smile at Princess Marchdovi, "I have prepared a lot of delicious lemons and apples for you, and I am sure that I will make you more appetizing with some fruit before your meal." ”

"That's true," Alexander was not dismayed by the Grand Duke's interruption, "but sometimes the flavor is more distinctive when lemon juice is poured over half-roasted beef, and then accompanied by a nice glass of wine." ”

"Oh, Earl, I'm a little hungry as you said," said the Grand Duke Karl, quickening his pace, but even then he did not forget to reach out and take the hand of Princess Marchdovi, "we will entertain my fiancée's family and guests from afar, and as for you and my aunt, I will see you off." ”

Princess Caniola, who had been silent since entering the palace, looked at her nephew but remained silent, but to Alexander's surprise, when he sat down, he found that Princess Caniola actually took the initiative to sit next to him.

Perhaps the seat was deliberately raised, and the Grand Duke looked no different from the others, first toasting and thanking God warmly for the arrival of his fiancée, and then welcoming every guest who arrived.

The Grand Duke kept drinking, and his entourage kept suggesting a glass under various pretenses, until the Grand Duke suddenly said to Alexander: "Count, I regret that the Ottomans are coming, so your men can only leave Caniola as soon as possible." ”

As Archduke Karl's words landed, the hall fell silent for a moment.

Everyone looked at Alexander, and Busako, who was sitting on the other side of Alexander, noticed the flesh-cutting knives that seemed to be caressing the Archduke's hands, intentionally or unintentionally.

"You have to go," Archduke Karl's face was gloomy at this time, "I don't know why you came to Cal Ola, I don't care about that, but you can't stay in my principality, it will cause trouble for Carla." ”

Alexander listened quietly at first, but when he was about to speak, he suddenly felt the corner of his clothes being secretly moved, and when he glanced to the side, he was surprised to see that it was Princess Alexandra Co Caniola who was dragging his clothes.