Alexander was somewhat surprised to meet his father, the Count of Cosenza.

The Count was much older than he had imagined, and his blonde hair, which was the same as that of Josha, had now turned grayish-white, and his face was covered with deep wrinkles, and looked a little shriveled.

But it didn't matter, to Alexander's surprise, one of the count's arms was almost elbow-length, and when he saw his daughter stand up, the two empty sleeves swayed back and forth.

"My father used to fight against the infidels," Keisel whispered, "and both of his arms were lost in battle with the Ottomans." ”

Alexander nodded silently, although he was not really an Eastern Roman who fled to Europe from Crete or anywhere, but he also knew that since the fall of Constantinople, the Ottomans had tried more than once to destroy the power of the thousand-year-old empire to invade Europe, but after a few attempts, they soon found that the horror of the rise of the Crescent Empire made the Europeans actually burst out with rare fighting spirit, so that although they still won several victories, if they wanted to succeed in one fell swoop, But it's not that easy.

I think the Count of Cosenza was wounded in those battles.

"It is seldom for her to invite guests back," said the Count to Alexander, who saluted him, "but she does not have many friends, and I sometimes wonder if she is too proud, for a girl of her age must be indulging in pleasures." ”

"Miss Countess is very clever," said Alexander, who replied with some incomprehension, and looked at the father who doted on his daughter, and he thought of George Anne, and thought of the lady who might still be indulging in flirting with young men, and Alexander felt that the count was a little pathetic, and what made him even more laughable was that in the future he would have to call the woman mother, "My lord, it is my honor to come to your domain." ”

"No, no, there is nothing to be honored here, Cosenza is a very poor place," the count wagged his empty sleeve indifferently, as if waving his hand, "you will not find anything of interest here except a whole bunch of stones, so if you are not courting my daughter, then you will get nothing here." ”

Alexander opened his mouth to look at Kaisel next to him, and when he saw the brother with a mocking smile, he could only say as carefully as he could: "My lord, you may have misunderstood, I came here for some other things, in fact, I am very interested in your hunting grounds here, as far as I know, Kosenza has the largest hunting grounds in the whole south. ”

"And the herds of mountain antelopes, you have to see how they run, especially when you climb the slopes, it's a spectacle." The Count, who had been a little tired, seemed to be in his spirits at once, and he kept asking his son to testify for him, "Tell him what the chaises had done, Kesel." ”

"They've climbed up the steep slope up here," Keisel said, gesturing to the top of his head, referring to the steep cliff that connects to the castle behind him, and more than one, though some of them were unlucky enough to fall, but you should have seen so many mountain antelopes jumping up the slope together. ”

"Yes, he will go and see tomorrow, by the way, young man, who are you?"

Seeing that the earl, who had enthusiastically introduced the specialties of his territory, suddenly looked at him in confusion, Alexander helplessly found that this earl had either injured his brain during the previous war, or he had already suffered from Alzheimer's.

"Don't worry, father is a little confused now," Keisel whispered, "let me take you to rest first, and Josha will accompany him." ”

Seeing that Josha, who had already walked behind the Count and gently rubbed his shoulders for him, Alexander knew that it would be inconvenient to stay, and he followed Kaisel out of the hall and into the depths of the castle.

Because one side of the castle is almost integrated with the mountain, from time to time you can see the completely bare mountain wall, especially when walking up a hanging corridor, which is almost half embedded in the mountain and looks very dim, except for the arched window on the breastwork on the other side, the sunlight reflects on the ground.

Kesel's pace slowed slowly, and he looked back at Alexander, as if with a little curiosity, and then he suddenly asked, "Are you George Anne's mistress?" ”

Alexander looked at Kaisel in surprise, although he knew that the eldest son of the count did not seem to have a good relationship with George Anne, but his unscrupulous talk about his stepmother still made Alexander feel a little incredible.

"You don't have to look so surprised, we all know what that woman is doing out there, except for my father," Keisel smiled disapprovingly, "he wasn't too bad when she married my father." So he was able to get the woman to add me a sister very quickly, but soon after he was born, he began to get confused from time to time, and now he often forgot who some unfamiliar people were, and sometimes even had to think carefully to recognize the people around him. So saying, Keisel motioned for Alexander to follow him on, "and then she began to look for a lover, and she was away for longer and longer, even staying with her brother. ”

"I think you're mistaken, I don't know Lady George Anne well, I'm a friend of Miss Josa," Alexander could only explain, thinking that George Anne's stepson would be her mistress, and Alexander didn't know how to describe the mother anymore, "I'm just interested in the hunting grounds here." ”

"Like hunting?" Kessel walked to a door and stopped, and asked as he pushed the door open casually, "Then take a good rest, we will hold a banquet for your arrival in the evening, and tomorrow I will personally take you to see the hunting grounds of Cosenza." ”

Looking at Kaisel as he walked away, Alexander slowly walked to the window, where the castle had been built to defend against the Saracens was so strong and well thought out that the windowsill was a large slope that caused a lot of trouble for those trying to climb from the outside.

In the clearing below, Ulius was busy packing his things, but they had no luggage, but the Moors felt that it would not be obvious that he was a servant who was doing his duty.

And under the pretext of doing some other things before, Mahimo who came up now is chatting with a maid, and seeing the maid's smile and shame, it is estimated that it will only be a matter of time before Mahimo gets her into bed.

Alexander turned back to his chair and sat down, pondering his current situation.

In fact, there is a big reason for deciding to leave Naples, that is, Alexander does not know if Modillo will send someone to San Sebaron to prove his identity after knowing his identity as a "nephew".

And there is a question that always lingers in his mind.

It's that he doesn't know who killed Kunto.

Although Alfonso was the most suspicious, Kunto's advice that he must go to the priest before he died made the pressure make the pressure Shanda feel that the possibility of the priest being the main messenger behind it became very small.

This made him dare not reveal his identity rashly.

So, what if you start with the Countess.

Knowing that George Anne was staying at the Modillo house, Alexander decided to meet his "mother", and although he was somewhat surprised by what he saw later, the idea of approaching the countess first did not change.

Although Madame Georgiaanne did not return to Cosenza with her daughter this time, he had now successfully entered the Count's house.

From the day he decided to use the identity of Modillo, Alexander knew that sooner or later he would face all kinds of crises, and that time was to save himself and Sophia from the predicament, and now why?

Perhaps the present situation was predestined from the moment he decided to get out of St. Sebalon, and the restlessness in his heart made Alexander know that he could not accept the fate of spending his life in that monastery, so why not take the risk.

As soon as there was two knocks on the door, Massimo immediately pushed the door and walked away, he looked very excited, and when he saw Alexander's inquiring eyes, he immediately walked up a few steps to the chair.

"My lord, I've got a lot of interesting news." "You might not imagine that the whole castle seems to know all the things about the countess, and even the groom can tell two paragraphs." ”

"Groom," Alexander smiled helplessly, he had no illusions about the reputation of this 'mother', "maybe only the Count himself does not know. ”

"It is interesting to note that the Count considered his wife to be a loyal man, and it is said that in his early years he had to fight duels with other nobles for her honor, but he did so because he had no hands left." Assemo scoffed, "But despite her bad reputation as a mother, the people liked Miss Countess, and many thought she was not only generous and kind, but also wise, and although the Count's ex-wives left him a total of seven children, the favorite was Miss Tsusha." ”

"It seems that you have not wasted your time," Alexander smiled, he thought that Massimo was a wonderful man sometimes, for example, although he had not told him all the time, but the monk already knew what to do, and compared to him, Ulliu, "tell me what else you have heard, I can see that you have more important news that you have not told me." ”

"Indeed, my lord," said Massimo, sitting beside Alexander, leaning forward and lowering his voice, "I have heard that Miss Quessah's brother Kesel is very opposed to her associating with Prince Alfred, the duke's son, and he seems to prefer her to marry an earl of Taranto. ”

"Oh?" Alexander was a little surprised, the intimacy between Keisel and Jossa made him think that the brother and sister should have a deep relationship, but now after listening to the monk's words, Alexander felt that things may not be as simple as they seem, maybe Kaisel did like this sister very much, but compared with the benefits that can be obtained from marriage, it is difficult to say which is more important to him.

"And one more thing," Massimo said like an actor who likes to shake his burden out of his burden, and every time he saw the audience show surprise, he smiled happily, and when he saw that Alexander was interested, he stretched his chair forward, and his nose almost touched Alexander's ear and whispered: "There is a man named Boleri, who is said to be an abandoned baby, who has been a servant in the castle since childhood, and now he is the head of the stables of the count's house, and is in charge of almost all the horses in the count's lands, and I think this man may be the one you should meet him." ”

Seeing Massimo's meaningful appearance, Alexander thought for a moment and asked, "Tell me, who is he?" ”

"It is said that he was the illegitimate son of the Countess and the servants of some castle," said Massimo with a smile, "at least the Countess has been very good with this man since she was a child, and the Countess has been very good to him." ”

"Yes." Alexander wanted to rub his head, but by this time he was already a little numb to having such an old mother, and he even began to wonder how the countess's dissolute life could possibly have any feelings for an illegitimate child who had been born to a child many years ago, and if she didn't care that she had such a child, then Alexander's plan to try to gain the countess's trust and support first, and then get closer to Modillo, could be completely frustrated.

"Is Miss Countess good with this Boleri?" Alexander casually asked, he was not even sure if he would be closer to Josa if he knew that he was her "brother", after all, she already had at least six legitimate siblings, and now that she knew that another one had popped up, then even if there was an extra one, she probably wouldn't feel so special.

"It is said that she is very close to that man," Massimo originally wanted to hint at it with some kind of 'you know' demeanor, but seeing that Alexander's face was not very good, he hurriedly said, "She should treat him as a brother." ”

"Who else?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm asking who else is the illegitimate son of this family, tell me together."

"It seems like there isn't."

"So this is the Earl's family?" Alexander muttered to himself.

"Like, yes......"

Seeing that Alexander didn't seem to be in a good mood, the monk, who was still a little frowning, cautiously said hello and quietly left.

"It's a really special family," Alexander said back to the window and looked out, Uliu was no longer below, looking at the people coming and going in the castle, Alexander pondered about his trip to Cosenza.

Although he had just arrived, it could be seen that the Kaisel did not seem to like him, probably because of the news that Mashimo had heard, and if Kaisel really wanted Jissa to marry a certain Count of Taranto, then of course he did not want to see a young man suddenly appear next to his sister.

As for the Countess's affair, although it is likely to affect George Anne's so-called feelings for him, Alexander felt that things were not very bad after a little thought.

Despite the Countess's bohemianism, Alexander could see that she was genuinely fond of Josa.

She herself can fall into debauchery with many men, but she protects her daughter so closely that even if a man shows the slightest attention to Jisha, she will ruthlessly drive him away.

"Looks like we have to start with Miss Count." Alexander pondered to himself.

Judging from the current situation, even if he discloses his so-called identity, if he wants to get the full support of the countess, he must first gain the favor of the countess.

There was a soft knock on the door again, and Ulliu appeared in the doorway, his neatly folded garment.

"Master, what coat are you going to wear to dinner tonight?" Ulius asked humbly.

Alexander looked at the Moors with amusement, because they all knew that he actually only had a decent coat.

"Leave the clothes alone," Alexander waved his hand, "go and prepare something for me, the sooner the better." ”

"Please tell the master." The Moors stroked their chests again and bowed.

"Some gadgets, but not sloppy, I'm going to use them soon." As he spoke, Alexander looked in the direction of the tower where he was said to be living.