In the sweltering and humid cell, Modillo sat in a corner against the wall, staring at him.

The Sicilian climate was not friendly to the incarcerated people, and in such a small and unbreathable place, the smell of nausea and the stuffy smell made it seem like you would faint at any moment.

Mordillo's expression was calm, his clothes were still so clean, and it was clear that he had not suffered any sin when he was brought in, but even so, the semi-underground dungeon was still unbearable.

There was a small sound of footsteps, and as the cell door opened, a man walked in, accompanied by the guards.

The man was wearing a green robe with various crosses embroidered on the hem of the robe that reached to the ankles.

The man's hair was long, but it was well kept, all of it was buttoned up on top of his head like a round pot lid, and his forehead was covered by long bangs.

"Honorable ......"

"Governor Flomensa," Mordillo interrupted him without waiting for the guards' roll call, which was actually a rude gesture, but the Count didn't seem to care, he looked at the man standing at the door and said with a smile on his face, "Are you here to see your prisoner?" ”

The man, whom the Count called the Governor of Flomenza, looked at Mordillo in silence, as if he still did not believe that he had actually caught this man, so he took a few steps closer and looked closely at the Neapolitan nobleman who was now in prison by the light from the window above him.

"Count Mordillo, I have to admit that I was a little suspicious when they told me that you were here," the governor said slowly, as if after confirming that the other party was indeed the man he thought, "we know that you have done many things against Aragon, including your secret involvement in the Brotherhood that tried to overthrow the king in Aragon, and your nephew who instigated your nephew, the Cambrai who single-handedly planned the bloody night four years ago, These charges will be tried in public in court. ”

Modillo listened attentively, he wanted to know how much these people knew about him, or how many secrets he wanted to know that he still hadn't been discovered.

"Count, do you know why the king did not send another minister, but a governor to Sicily?" The Doge of Flomenza looked at the silent Modillo, "It is clear that the king thinks that Sicily is no longer enough for him to pay too much attention, and now the king is devoted all his energy to the war in Aragon that you provoked, and the whole of Aragon is arresting heretical witches everywhere, and as for Castile, the queen has even presided over several very important inquisitions herself in order to prove that her kingdom is blessed by Christ, and the number of people sentenced by these trials is already very large, This is all because of you and your heretical brotherhood, so if you can't give me a satisfactory answer, I will use the necessary means against you, despite your noble status. ”

"Why don't you think Camus is deliberately using a lie to justify himself?"

Undeterred by Viceroy Flomensa's words, Modillo stood up and patted the dust that was not present on his clothes, and then walked towards the Viceroy, which aroused the vigilance of the guards, but seeing the Count's gesture of reassurance, the Governor raised his hand to stop the guards who were dangling his spear against him.

The Count came very close to the governor and looked at the small-looking Aragonese and said, "I don't think what you said before is right, Governor, Ferdinand sent you to show that he attaches great importance to Sicily, because as the king of Aragon, he cannot go to Sicily to sit in charge himself, and a court minister obviously cannot completely replace him in the management of this large island, so he simply appoints a governor who can rule everything here, so that he can rest assured that everything in Sicily will be entrusted to a person he trusts, Then he can do what he wants without hesitation, such as annexing Naples. ”

For the first time, the Governor of Flomenza's condescending expression loosened, and he looked at Mordillo with some surprise, and after a while he suddenly waved his hand to the guards and his retinue to go out, and when the cell door was closed, the Governor asked in a low and hurried tone: "Tell me how you know this, how do you know that the king is going to annex Naples, and tell me if there are any of your comrades in Aragon and Sicily?" ”

Mordillo shook his head and ignored the governor, and he sat back in the corner where he had been sitting, looking up at the Aragonese staring down.

"Earl, you should know that I am helping you," the Governor said in a very low voice, "Listen, I have seen those torture instruments used in the interrogation of heretics, those things will make you feel painful, many people say a lot of terrible things because they can't bear that kind of pain, some people even know that lying may bring them greater guilt, but because they can't bear the pain, nonsense, Earl, do you think you can stand the pain of your whole body being pulled out of it, all the joints are pulled and dislocated, Every inch of skin on your body looks like it's going to be torn off, and you can still stand it with a capital M branded on you with red-hot letters, right here," the Governor said as he slowly reached out and carefully tapped his index finger on Modiglo's chest, and then his fingers slowly moved upwards until they finally rested on Modiglo's forehead, which didn't have many wrinkles, "Or here, an M that represents evil, I think even if you are finally free, if you are branded with such a mark, it will be enough to ruin you, Besides, do you really think you still have a chance to be free? ”

Mordilo looked at this man without saying a word, he had heard that this newly arrived governor of Sicily was a popular man around Ferdinand, and he was also the kind of clown who was trusted by Ferdinand rather than stealing a high position by pure bloodline or whiskers, and now it seems that this person is indeed very different from the previous palace ministers.

In fact, in the Aragon court, people have always had a certain mixed mood about the position of Sicilian court minister.

On the one hand, it is exciting to be able to become a national palace minister to rule the largest island in the Mediterranean instead of a king, not to mention the fact that almost all the outgoing palace ministers have made a lot of money, which is enviable. On the other hand, the position of Sicilian court minister was synonymous with an apparent disguised exile, and anyone who fell out of favor in the Aragonese court was sent far away to Sicily to face strange places and strange people.

And Florencea obviously did not belong to the unlucky babe who fell out of favor, on the contrary, he was trusted in front of the king, and it was precisely because of this that Ferdinand sent him to Sicily this time, and for the first time, Flomenza's position was no longer to rule Sicily in place of the king, but to have greater power, even a full governor like a vice-president.

"Governor, what do you want from me?" When Mordillo finally spoke, his shoulders slumped slightly as if he had given up, but then he immediately straightened his chest as if trying to maintain the last bit of dignity he had.

"I want to know who your companions are, we know that many people talk incessantly for fear of punishment, and some of them may indeed be innocent, but how to distinguish between truth and falsehood is our business, God does not look far away from a good person and does not spare a bad person, but you just have to say everything you know."

Or even if you don't know, you just have to say it?

Modillo noticed that Flomenza was looking at him intently, which made him feel the eagerness of the other man to know something from his mouth.

"What do you want me to say?" The Count asked once.

"Tell me about your connection with your brotherhood, and we know that there are people who are not satisfied with the union of the king with Castile, and this is also true in Castile, and you have served as ambassador to Castile, and now tell me who Count you have been in your time in Castile, who you have met, and with whom you have often partyed?"

Looking at Flomenza's slightly eager look, Modillo nodded slowly.

He felt that he had almost understood what the governor meant, and although it sounded a bit absurd, the Count suddenly felt that perhaps he was now in prison, but he was not necessarily in a desperate situation.

"I'll tell you, as long as you want to know." The Count glanced at the Doge, and at the same time began to wonder what this Ferdinand confidant, or rather, Ferdinand II himself wanted to know.

The news of the fall of Sicily by Count Mordillo had not yet been heard, so Alexander and Zhisa, who were far away in Billyselly, naturally did not know what kind of future their dear uncle was facing.

Although there is not much land, Billy Shelly is now busy with the harvest season, and with the arrival of autumn, the border to the south is getting busy.

The Queen Regent, although the Neapolitan court had now become a government in exile, still insisted on showing as much grace as possible, so the queen led her ministers on their annual autumn tour of Billy Shelly, and although the territory was too small to be carried out in a day, she symbolically set up an overnight camp in the wilderness.

The August night was already a little cool, and she stood at the door of the tent and looked at the few bonfires lit in the distance.

Alexander came over at an unknown time, he first stood side by side with Josha, then tilted his head slightly and whispered in her ear, "You did a good job." ”

She knew that he was talking about her speech to the local nobles during the day, and they were not in high spirits at the time, and even a little resistant.

This is understandable, although Alfonso is a bit of a bad lord, or simply useless, but he is the master of Billy Shelly after all.

But then the king came, and now Alfonso was dead, and then the queen suddenly became the owner of the territory, which made the local nobles of course nervous that the new owner of the territory had been changed.

It was at this time that she began her first rounds of territory.

In the face of the scruples of the lords, Tsusha showed the nobility and majesty of a noble woman, but these did not make the Billy Sheli people immediately dispel their scruples.

It wasn't until he announced that he would reduce local taxes, and even asked the Vatican to grant Billy Shelli the same rights as the Pontifical realm, that the locals became overjoyed, and some of them even shouted the slogan "Long live the queen".

Papal domains enjoy special treatment not found elsewhere, and being given such treatment is a reward from the Church for regions that have made significant contributions.

In addition to a drastic reduction in taxes paid to the lord, if you are lucky, you may be given the opportunity to reduce your tithes, which can be said to be a godsend for people everywhere.

The people of Billy Shelli were overjoyed that the queen could give them such a benefit, and even the anxiety caused by Alfonso's death faded considerably.

"You're a worthy queen," Alexander smiled at Josha, "but what really makes me proud is that you're my sister." ”

Josha's pretty eyes narrowed slightly, as if she was enjoying being caressed by a cat who was praising the moment, and then she opened her mouth and gently bit Alexander's hand that happened to be not far from her lips.

Alexander looked at Josa in surprise, he never thought that Josha would behave like a little girl, speaking of which he always felt that among the women he knew, whether it was her birth or temperament, Josha was like a real queen.

But now she looked like a little girl, and there seemed to be a faint layer of tiredness between her eyebrows, which made Alexander feel a little distressed.

"I'm thinking so much about myself that I forget what kind of difficulties you're going to face."

Alexander whispered in Josha's ear that the neighborhood was full of people, and he couldn't comfort and appreciate Josha in a more intimate way for everything he had done for him.

"You don't have to blame my brother, you know that everything I do is not just for you, but for the two of us, you probably can't imagine how excited I was when you taught me all those things about free trade zones, currency exchange, exchanges and other things, and I knew from then that I couldn't go back, I couldn't force myself to continue to be the young lady of the Count of Cosenza, I wanted to conquer the world like you," said this, and Tsusha's tone changed from excitement to a little wistful. But it would be even better if I could accomplish this great cause with you. ”

"Yes, my sister, I promised Sophia, maybe Barendi, and now I promise you that I will make this dream of yours come true."

"And what about Lucrechia?" "I remember you once said to me in your letter that you thought Lucrezia was like a spoiled child, who treated love as a fun toy and would change it whenever she got tired of it." ”

"Yes, that's what I said," Alexander smiled wryly, he regretted a little why he had nothing to talk about with Josha in the first place, and even shared his feelings and experiences with his sister whenever he was intimate with a girl, so Josha sometimes knew more about his love entanglements with other girls than he did, "But she is now the mother of my daughter, and I believe that she will not be the Lucrezia who likes to change toys now." ”

Jisha nodded slightly, and then continued to ask, "So what are you going to promise her?" ”

"Tuscany or Romagna, Lombardy or Sardinia, there are many places I can promise, and my ultimate goal is to conquer them, but these are not the most important things, because I know what Lucrezia needs most." Alexander said as he walked towards the tent with Josha, "The situation is indeed a little unfavorable for us, and when the Aragonese comes, Naples will really be in chaos, so I will settle the matter of Bologna before then, but just as I know what Lucrezia needs most, she also knows what I need." ”

"Indeed, she knows what you want," Josa nodded as if she was a little depressed, and then she smiled at Alexander, "I would like to say that I am a little jealous of that woman, but now I cannot but admit that she has a greater role than I do in that matter." ”

"No, I can only say that you have different importances, but don't forget that you are my only and unique sister." Alexander took Josha's face and kissed her on the forehead, "So remember my sister, what I will give you is a world completely different from everyone else." ”

The fighting in Romagna in August was at a stalemate.

Caesar was barricaded in the city of Ferrara, and although he had announced that he had decided to sacrifice Ferrara to the Pope, no one took this announcement seriously at such a time, except for the insignificant nobles in the city of Ferrara.

Although Montina's army blocked Caesar's Papal army, he had to dig trenches because he had no further orders, and Gompati, who was repairing the fortifications, was also at a loss for nothing, because he really couldn't really attack the Papal army.

The most leisurely of all, Busaco, who seems to have been in trouble, the occupier, who had been repeatedly neglected in Bologna, seemed to have suddenly become a good student with an open mind and eager to learn, so much so that he was constantly seen at the University of Bologna during this time.

But in Romagna, which seems to have suddenly become calm and war-free, the dark tide and competition have never stopped.

From Montina to Pisa, from Pisa to the Vatican, and from the Vatican to Montina, the envoys frequently traveled between these places, and whenever there was a little trouble, the troops on the front line would occasionally make all kinds of actions that seemed to be about to break out at any time.

This stalemate lasted until mid-August, when an order from the Countess de Montina to send someone to the front was broken, which had lasted for almost half a month.

"According to the Countess's decree," Gompati, standing in the sweltering tent and watching his officers, gave the order, "attack Ferrara!" ”