Bucharest.

In the spring of 1477, when the last expedition launched by Mehmed II ended in failure in front of the city, the whole of Europe was completely immersed in rejoicing and the joy of being freed from the clutches.

It was the failure of this expedition that forced the great Ottoman monarch, who had already prepared his march into the heart of Europe, to suspend his ambitious plans, and the Sultan and his army descended from under the city of Bucharest, leaving behind only a mess and countless tombs that could not be taken away.

But even then, Mehmed II did not realize that this would be the last battle of his life, he still had a lot of energy and endless ambition, and the Sultan's eyes were not stopped by a fortress in this small country in southeastern Europe, and his attention was still on Vienna, which seemed not far away, and the beautiful cities of Western Europe, which seemed to be far away.

Bucharest was only a minor pause in his great conquest, and no one could stop the crescent banner from fluttering across the vast land of Europe, and the pagans in those places that had not yet been conquered could only be said to have escaped the punishment of the great sultan for the time being.

Muhammad was convinced of this, and he had this confidence because the Ottoman Empire had the most powerful army of its time.

The most advanced military guards, the fierce and brave Sipahi cavalry, the tribal army ready to be drawn into the battlefield as the main force, and the armies of many conquered vassal states, these powerful armies are enough to ensure that the Sultan will soon launch another expedition, and Bucharest will not be spared!

So everyone thinks so, and even the Bucharestans, who have won a great victory, are ecstatic and at the same time there are people who are clearly aware that this victory is only short-lived, and once the Ottomans return, it will mean the beginning of the real catastrophe, because by then the Sultan must have enough certainty to completely destroy the fortress city.

For this, there is even a saying that has been handed down in Bucharest: "Looking to the east, Bucharest is ready for battle." ”

But no one could have imagined that an unexpected accident that no one could avoid would save Bucharest.

After returning to Constantinople, Mehmed II, who had been actively preparing for another expedition to the west, suddenly fell ill, and for several years in a row, the sultan's health deteriorated, and finally four years after the defeat in Bucharest, the great monarch of the Ottoman Empire died.

The expedition was halted, and more than a decade had passed since Bayezid finally succeeded in defeating his brother and sitting on the throne of sultanate with the Ottoman civil war, and then made time to plan another expedition.

In more than ten years, Bucharest has transformed from a strong fortress into a magnificent city, just as the Bucharest people said, "Look to the east, Bucharest is ready to fight", the city has never stopped being vigilant against foreign races from the east, and is always ready to meet the terrible invaders.

Now the city is alive again, just as countless people from all over Europe volunteered to fight the Ottoman invasion, and after a decade, Bucharest is once again in the spotlight.

And this time, it was because of the appearance of a Greek princess.

The fall of the Eastern Roman Empire is the most shocking event in decades, and even though decades have passed, it still makes Europeans shudder when it is mentioned.

As time passed, the original enthusiasm for rebuilding the empire faded, and the fall of Greece made the remnants of Eastern Rome lose hope, until the legend of the Greek princess re-emerged.

The story of the Greek princess has never stopped in recent decades, from the beginning of the woman who often came forward to claim to be the princess, to the man who came forward to claim to be the descendant of the princess, people's expectations have become less and less, and the rumors of the past have become more and more suspicious, and some people have even begun to question whether the legend was false from the beginning.

But now the story of the princess has been brought up again, and the princess has finally appeared.

Sofia Alexandra Valleologo, a name that has been mentioned more and more over time.

And associated with this name, there are many well-known big people, King Ladislas II of Bohemia and Hungary, Grand Duke Tsepes of Wallachia, and many nobles, and now, to add a Rova of Northern Bosnia? Marquis.

Compared to others who had already arrived in Bucharest early on, Rova? The messenger arrived late, so when he asked about the princess, the news was even more mixed.

According to rumors, the Greek princess, known as the "Silent Princess", seemed to be a mute girl, and the news surprised the messenger at first and then felt that it was not so difficult to accept.

Everyone knew that the Greek princess was just a puppet, and no one cared whether such a girl was really a descendant of a noble emperor or simply a peasant girl from some poor country, what people cared about was what this "princess" could bring them.

For the Greek remnants, of course, they wanted to exert influence by bringing out a princess, and they needed such a banner, and they needed an idol that would boost their morale so that they could gather enough troops to hope for a re-establishment of the country.

For people such as Ladislas II or Grand Duke Cepes of Wallachia, they also needed someone with charisma.

Bayezid II was no less ambitious than his father, on the contrary, the sultan was more calm and more planned, and while he was in a hurry to secure the conquered lands in Bungan, he pushed the frontiers of his empire towards the heart of Europe step by step, in a way that was not in a hurry but was irresistible, so that the Ottoman forward was like a solid nail wedged into all corners of the southeastern continent of Europe, so that the Europeans, although they knew the Sultan's intentions, were helpless against his encroachment.

At the same time, the emissaries sent by Bayezid roamed the courts of Europe everywhere, stirring up all kinds of contradictions again and again, from Bosnia and Croatia in the Balkans to Wallachia and Moldova, and further afield to the Grand Duchy of Rochia, the emissaries of the Sultan faithfully carried out their duties and turned the whole of Southeastern Europe upside down.

It is precisely because of this that when the rumors about the Greek princess reappeared, the great nobles invariably chose to "believe".

At this time, they needed such a person who could make them a banner, whether she was a princess or a peasant girl, this girl who suddenly appeared was the last princess of the Palaiologos dynasty of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Rowa? The messenger was a monk, and like most Orthodox monks, this man always wore a black cloak robe all year round, and a very strong rope was tied around his waist, which made the clothes appear convenient and blocked the cold wind that poured in, but if necessary, this rope could also be used as a terrible weapon of murder, and in fact there were not many people who were strangled by this inconspicuous rope.

There were already many people coming to Bucharest, most of them Bohemians and Hungarians, which caught the attention of the monk, who had heard many rumors that the Greek princess seemed to be close to Ladislas II, and that the princess was said to be a good friend of the Queen of Bohemia, although these news were not necessarily true, but looking at the bohemians on the streets, the monk still felt that he should report the news to his master as soon as possible.

Rowa? The decision to send an emissary to Bucharest was, of course, due to the visit of the previous Knight of Djilas, but the real reason was because he feared that someone would compete with him for the title of King of Bosnia.

Following Djilas's hints, if Rois? If they refuse their invitation, then the nobles who gather in Bucharest may choose to support one of his opponents, and although the Kosternić family, who are now trying to compete with him for the Bosnian crown, should not be afraid, but if the Kostniki family really have the support of the big nobles, things may change.

Rowa? The Kostnik family can not be taken into account, but the influence of the Grand Duke of Wallachia and even the Hungarian king must not be ignored.

Now seeing what was happening in Bucharest, the friar was more induced by the idea that the Greek princess might have the support of the Hungarian king, and he wrote in detail what he had seen and heard in a secret letter sent back to Northern Bosnia, in which the monk made a seemingly tempting suggestion to his master: "Perhaps you may consider marrying this princess, although it seems a bit ridiculous now, since no one knows who this princess really is. But if a marriage contract can get you a crown and a lot of support, it will undoubtedly be the most cost-effective. ”

The monk thought that his suggestion was novel, at least before the princess actually appeared in the eyes of the people, and that such a slightly risky but somewhat successful way was a very beneficial solution, but he did not expect that there were many people who thought the same way as him.

It really didn't matter who the princess was, all they needed was her call and influence, and almost everyone had this calculation.

With a "poof", some dull hitting sound came from a humanoid target in front of him that kept shaking, and before the smoke and dust splashed on the target dispersed, another heavy blow smashed on it.

"If you want to kill yourself on the battlefield, use it harder." A man's voice came from behind her, and Sophia, who was holding a heavy wooden sword wrapped in hemp rope, turned to look at the man in short armor behind her.

"Prepare, impact, defend, dodge, you must learn to defend yourself and not only look at the enemy, the only way to prove victory is if the enemy dies and you survive, otherwise everything is in vain." The man walked over and took the wooden sword from Sophia's hand gently, and after weighing it, he suddenly raised it and slashed towards the target in front of him, and at the same time, his feet moved flexibly, often when the target was still shaking after being hit, he had moved to another position and continued to cut down, and for a while the humanoid target was slashed and shook from side to side.

Sophia watched silently, her eyes fixed on the man's footsteps, while her free hands unconsciously mimicked his gestures and made small movements.

"Bang", again, the humanoid target was slammed backwards, but this time the man did not move his steps again, but continued to strike again. With the sound of wood breaking, the target finally couldn't withstand the continuous blows, and broke away from the root with a click.

The man threw away the half-cut wooden sword that was also broken in his hand, and only the hemp rope could not connect to the shaking half-cut of the sword, and then raised his sleeve and stepped on the beads of sweat that came out of his forehead.

Sophia raised her hand, first at her chest, then on her forehead.

"Yes Sophia, I have something on my mind," the man nodded at Sophia, "You probably can't imagine how many people are playing your mind now, and now we have to deal with not only the Ottomans, but also a group of greedy guys on our own side." ”

Looking at the man in front of her, Sophia smiled, but before she could "speak" again, a maid hurriedly walked over: "Your Highness, Her Majesty the Queen is here." ”

There was a hint of displeasure in the man's eyes, but it quickly disappeared, and he solemnly packed up his clothes, and when he buttoned the last button, a woman in full costume had already walked through the front room into the courtyard accompanied by the maids.

Queen of Bohemia and Hungary, Joyna of Naples looked at the two men standing in the courtyard, her eyebrows twitched slightly.

Although the man's heart was unhappy, and his face was a little gloomy, he still bowed to the queen, but the queen's attitude seemed to be more indifferent, except for a perfunctory nod, all her attention was on Sophia.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to retire." The man saluted again, knowing that the queen didn't really like him very much, and if it weren't for her husband's need to cooperate with him, perhaps the queen wouldn't allow Sophia to associate with him.

"Duke, I hope you will consider bringing something for the young lady on your next visit, not these," said the queen, looking at the weapons around the courtyard, "please take this as a queen's advice." ”

"Do as you say," the man bowed again, but as he looked up to leave, he saw Sophia smiling at him.

"Why are you fiddling with those weapons again?" Looking at the back of the man leaving, the queen asked with some reproach, her eyes fell on Sophia's head, looking at her strange French style of completely coiling her hair on the top of her head, the queen touched those thick strands of hair slightly, "If I let me know who made you look like this, I will punish her for shearing wool for the rest of her life, but when it comes to it, those sheep look more pleasing to the eye than you look like now." ”

Sophia watched the queen silently stretch out her hands but stopped, until the queen reluctantly held her in her arms, and then she folded her arms and hugged the queen's back.

"God, be lighter, I really don't know where a girl gets so much strength," the queen struggled hard, her pair of rather majestic breasts were squeezed hard by Sophia's equally majestic breasts to show that she couldn't breathe, and then the queen stretched out her hand and patted the top of Sophia's head gently, "I didn't expect it to grow taller again." ”

Sophia had a smile in her eyes, she liked it.

Sophia, 14 years old.

A 14-year-old girl is growing up, whether it is body shape or appearance, the girl who is rapidly changing from immaturity to youth is almost the same every day.

The body, which was already healthier than other girls, has become fuller and full of youthful vitality, and the height that was dwarfed by other women before is also rapidly standing up.

The immature childishness is quietly fading, revealing a trace of charm that is more seductive than that of her peers, and it is quietly creeping up her eyebrows.

At the age of 14, it is a moment of transformation from a child to a girl, and for Sophia, this year has also been the most changed in her 14 years so far.

As the most favored maid by the queen's side in the last year, Sophia has been favored by the queen boundlessly, and this favor has made even her own children secretly jealous.

And according to the queen, she saw in Sophia what she looked like when she was young.

"You don't need to learn how to use those swords, because I promised Nashan that I would protect you," the queen gave Sophia her arm to hold her arms around, "and those armors of yours should be put away as well, for there are tens of thousands of men in armor in Bucharest who are now ready to serve you." ”

The queen said and stopped, she tilted her head slightly to look at Sophia, but her eyes flashed with surprise: "Who would have thought that you would be like this now, I will never forget what you were like when you first came to Prague, although you looked energetic at that time, but I can see that you are like a little beast with a wounded head, but now you are completely different, believe me Sophia is now you are entitled to anything you want, including anyone, of course." ”

The queen sighed slightly, she did not know what fate her husband's decision would bring to the girl in front of her.

The queen is very obsessed with Nashan.

This obsession not only made her keep Nashan by her side, but also gave him the important position of captain of the guard, and even his daughter was extremely fond of him.

It's just that the queen never thought that things would change, and the source of all this was caused by her taking Sofia from the Prague court to Hungary before.

When Ladislas II heard that Sophia was coincidentally involved in the legend of a Greek princess, the king immediately realized that this was a rare opportunity, and with his deliberate encouragement, rumors about Greek princesses spread and spread more and more.

And now they are in Bucharest, and what awaits Sophia will be a completely different future.

A man came out of the castle and saw him, and an attendant waiting by the roadside immediately met him and draped him in a thick coat.

"My lord, the queen came back early today," the attendant said as he shrugged his shoulders as he followed the man, "I can see that the queen is a little unhappy to see me waiting for you here, and it seems that she does not like you." ”

"I don't like her either." The man said coldly, "This queen has taken good care of our little princess, but this is not a good thing, you must know that the Greek princess belongs to us and should not be a decoration in the Prague court." ”

"My lord, Ruva of Bosnia? The Marquis sent a monk. The attendant handed a letter to his master.

The man took the letter and tore open the wax seal, and the beginning of the letter jumped into view: "Honorable Grand Duke Cepes of Wallachia, I take my master Roy? Salute to you in the name of the Marquis......"