Alexander smiled and looked at Sophia with some anger and held Catherine in her arms, her look was very clumsy, obviously she would not hold the child at all, and because she was afraid of hurting the little person in her arms, Sophia's body was stiff, and the straight and motionless look looked like a large doll.

Sophia is more curious about her children, maybe she is really not ready to be a mother, so she is not only inexperienced in how to greet children, but also impatient.

Although there are nannies and wet nurses, Alexander always insists on letting Sophia take care of the children by herself, this is because he knows that even the closest relatives need to constantly cultivate family affection, many parents in aristocratic families even care more about the servants around them than their children, and as children, there is no family affection at all except for thinking about inheriting the title as soon as possible, which is of course because of interests, but more because parents have not really greeted their children well from the beginning, and they throw their children to nannies. As a result, the relationship between children and nannies is much better than that of their biological parents.

Alexander didn't want to see such a thing happen to his children, which was obviously not conducive to family harmony, and Alexander did not expect his family to be as close as ordinary people, after all, the special environment of the aristocratic family was destined to have too many things mixed in, blindly deliberately maintaining the so-called intimacy, and in the end it was likely to become an almost deformed family relationship like the Borgia family.

Alexander didn't want his son to have any inexplicable feelings for his sister, let alone twins, and often the relationship itself was much closer than the other siblings, so he just needed to make the family more normal.

Sophia adjusted her arms slightly to see how Alexander was holding her son, and she learned to lower her arms slightly so that her daughter could lie down more comfortably.

August and Catherine, who are almost a month old.

The baptism ceremony was already being prepared, and the whole of Bucharest was busy with the day as if it were a holiday.

And seriously, this day was a great day not only for Bucharest, but also for Wallachia, for Alexander had already revealed to all Wallachians through the Patriarch that Archduke Sophia had decided to proclaim Auguste Alexander Valleo as prince on the day of baptism.

Although this news has not yet been officially announced, because it is the Patriarch himself, this is actually a decision, so this day is a big day for the entire Duchy of Wallachia, before the turmoil in Wallachia because there was no official heir is still fresh in people's minds, and even because of this, there have been several attempts by the Hungarians to take advantage of the opportunity to annex Wallachia.

Now, with the Crown Prince about to be born, the Wallachian lineage will be established, laying a solid foundation for the future stability of the country.

Alexander was training Sophia how to hold the child at baptism, otherwise if the nanny was to do it for her at such a moment, in the eyes of the nobles who watched the ceremony, there might be all kinds of unnecessary speculation and speculation.

It's just that Sophia is obviously very uncomfortable, looking at her daughter who began to kick and struggle in her arms because of discomfort, Sophia's face fell, she wanted to poke the villain in her arms with one hand to make her quieter, but seeing Alexander's nervous expression, she had to withdraw her hand, and then had to follow Alexander's appearance and shake her body slightly to make her daughter feel more comfortable.

Sophia saw the daughter in her arms showing a look that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry, her small lips opened slightly as if she was about to make a sound, and a pair of eyes that were already very bright kept looking at it, as if she was looking for something, and then suddenly she broke two eyebrows that could not be seen shaped, and her body stiffened slightly.

Then, a strange smell came out.

Apparently, Princess Catherine.

Sophia looked at the child in her arms in amazement, her body froze suddenly, and she could only look up at Alexander in a daze because she didn't know what to do.

"Oh, you should change her clothes at this time, forget it, I'll come," Alexander stopped helplessly and shook his head, handed his son to the nanny next to him, and reached out to take his daughter, "It can be seen that you are not ready to be a mother." ”

Sophia looked dismayed, and she walked to the corner of the room and tore open the thick curtain that covered a shelf, revealing a row of long swords lying across the wooden shelves below, and then somewhat ostentatiously grabbed one of the heavy swords and fiddled with Alexander.

"I know you and Nashan have learned a lot of this kind of thing, but raising a child is not as simple as playing with a sword," Alexander had a little headache, he knew that Nashan had a lot of strength, and Sophia probably inherited this inheritance from her father-in-law, but it was obvious that although Nashan was very successful in making this inheritance carry forward in his daughter, he did not teach Sophia what a mother should do.

"He's very good at women, but he can't educate his daughter." Just thinking about the matter between Nashan and Lady George Anne, Alexander was a little confused, and he even felt that this old man was a little unsophisticated.

Nashan had already been recalled, he had already returned to Wallachia from Prague more than a month earlier, and he thought that he should be able to return to Bucharests before the baptism, which was of course good news for Sophia, so she was so happy that she began to tease Alexander in the middle of the night, and then had to go to bed obediently after being taught a lesson by Alexander.

Alexander was also very happy about the return of Nashan, he knew that his time in Wallachia was running out, and according to the plan he and Barentia would marry in August, because the preparations for the wedding had to be very grand, and it could be said that this wedding was more about showing all parties the strength of the Duchy of Romagna-Tuscany itself and the alliance that was equally powerful, so everything had to be well prepared.

At the same time, before that, he also wants to let the few parties who are now fighting in Lombardy see his strength.

Schell knocked on the door outside, and then a maid reported that the treasurer was waiting outside to be summoned, Sophia frowned, she hated government affairs, those things she didn't understand would only give her a headache, before she had always left things to the ministers she trusted, but after Alexander came, she thought that the days should be easier were busy instead.

Every time Alexander summoned the ministers, she was asked to be with her, and on several occasions she was drowsy for sitting too long, and was scolded by Alexander, which made her even less inclined to attend those meetings.

Seeing Sophia push the crown that had been brought to him by the maid, Alexander shook his head with a smile and put it on for her with his own hands: "This is not good, you are the Grand Duke of Wallachia and not me, even if you are willing to give the throne to me, the Wallachians will not agree, and you are trying to be a good Grand Duke now, so that in the future August can inherit a formidable and powerful principality." ”

The Treasurer was a shrewd-looking old man, a nobleman who was said to have studied in Prague with great deference to Sophia, but when he saw Alexander, he did not hide his wariness and some obvious hostility.

"It seems that Your Highness has decided to replace the archon with you, the Duke?" As soon as the treasurer opened his mouth, there was a smell of gunpowder, and when he saw that Sofia did not react, he continued: "I do not think I can report to you anything about the property of the Wallachian treasury without the express authorization of His Highness, because it concerns ......."

"I think you've misunderstood, Treasurer," and seeing that Sophia seemed to finally understand the meaning of the Treasurer's words, Alexander interrupted him, "I have no interest in getting anything from the treasury of Wallachia, on the contrary, I want to show you this." ”

As he spoke, Alexander handed the treasurer a document he had prepared, knowing that this man was the representative of the group of Wallachians who were clearly opposed to him, who feared that Sophia would become his puppet, and that one day he would be dissatisfied with being an uncrowned king and simply annex Wallachia.

Alexander was not disgusted with these people, and as long as their allegiance remained to Sophia, he would tolerate their actions to a certain extent, but if they did not know how to advance or retreat, or even did something excessive, Alexander did not mind teaching them an unforgettable lesson.

The treasurer who took the document was at first a little dazed and a little wary, for he did not know what trick the duke was going to play again, and he was very repulsive to outsiders, the Wallachians, even the prince's father.

But when he opened the document and looked at it for a while, the treasurer's face showed a look of disbelief and joy.

But then he became vigilant again, and then asked tentatively: "Is it true that it is possible to give Wallachia a loan of 300,000 gold sobis in the name of Augustus and Catherine, and almost no interest, so what does it require us to pay?" ”

"No," Alexander waved his hand, "this money will be used as an investment for my children in the future of Wallachia, and in addition to the taxes due to them in their own domains, the future income will be derived from this money, so that both the country and themselves can get enough benefits, I believe that such a sum of money is very important to Wallachia now." ”

"Yes, it's so important," said the Treasurer, who had been worrying about money all day long, and now that he suddenly had such a large sum of money, he couldn't refuse, even if he thought that things might not be as simple as Alexander said, "This can do us a lot." ”

Looking at the attitude of the treasurer, Alexander couldn't help but smile secretly.

Wallachia is indeed rich in resources, but the people of this era did not know the value of those treasures, and the resources that could be exploited could not be exploited because of the backward craftsmanship of the Wallachians.

Now the money, provided by the Jews in the name of Sophia's children, has finally worked, which is really important for the Wallachians, who have just returned from war and are trying to recover their country as quickly as possible.

"And Baptism Day, I hope it's as grand as possible."

After saying this, a trace of helplessness flashed on the face of the treasurer looking at the document in his hand, Alexander smiled and continued: "Please rest assured, treasurer, these expenses will not come out of this money and you will not have to bear it, I will pay out of my own pocket to make the ceremony more grand, after all, this is a memorable day." ”

The Treasurer breathed a sigh of relief, he was really worried that the money that had just arrived would be spent, after all, with the current national strength, this huge amount of money, which was almost equivalent to a third of Wallachia's quarterly tax revenue, was really too useful.

Seeing that the look on the treasurer's face had improved slightly, Alexander chuckled disapprovingly.

Of course, he knew that a single grant would not impress these people, and they were very wary, or they were always afraid that something would happen that would happen to them, so even if they accepted the loan, they would not immediately dispel their vigilance against him.

But Alexander didn't care about that, his purpose wasn't even in front of him.

It's hard to imagine what would happen when a huge sum of money, almost a third of the quarterly tax revenues, was suddenly poured into Wallachia.

And then followed by the manipulation of the trade unions that infiltrated the Balkans, the money would certainly be able to play a much bigger role than the tax revenues.

And because the money was used entirely in the name of August and Catherine, naturally all the proceeds went to his children.

These lucrative gains would greatly reduce the tax expenses of the Grand Dukes, which of course would have pleased the Wallachians.

However, when will they discover that it is this kind of grand ducal family estate, which is completely dependent on taxes, that will gradually form a system completely detached from the treasury of Wallachia?

Maybe they'll find out eventually, but Alexander believes that by that time, this behemoth, completely controlled by the "Alexander family", will be enough to shake the very foundation of the country.

Alexander did not try to master Wallachia by influencing Sophia, as some might have guessed.

He wanted to "buy up" the country.

Money is easy to do, and after Alexander promised to pay out of pocket, the Wallachians became more enthusiastic about the Baptismal Day celebrations.

Flower gates have been erected in the streets, and Bucharest Cathedral has been renovated.

The marble pedestals of the two large bronze angel statues have been replaced by wooden frames of the same size in the ancient and famous Corolla Square, where two statues in the image of August and Catherine will be erected.

According to the idea of an exiled Greek artist who designed the statues, the gaze of the two angels would form a perfect triangle with another statue of the Virgin newly planted on the portico of the cathedral, and Sophia is clearly the prototype of this Madonna.

The celebration was held in such a grand way that more and more people poured into Bucharest with the arrival of Baptismal Day.

The Balkans were subtly changed by the fall of Bayezid II, with new kingdoms and new monarchs beginning to emerge in the land, and Bucharest and Zagreb were two of the most striking aspects of the contest.

Emissaries from a number of countries came to Bucharest under the pretext of baptizing the twins, but their real purpose was to find out what Wallachia, with its new monarch, would do towards its neighbors in the Balkans.

Alexander also knew the true intentions of these messengers, and he did not care much about them, he only hoped that this baptism would give his children the most glorious moment, so that he would not regret it after leaving.

Everyone is busy, and Alocia is no exception.

Because she was a close friend of Sofia, she also participated in the preparation of the baptism, and since she was the niece and messenger of the King of Croatia, the Wallachians treated her with even more respect.

This gave Aloxia a convenient opportunity to enter and exit the city for a variety of reasons, and it was also possible to bring more people into the city without a trace.

During this time, Alosia finally saw the scar on Morko's face.

It was a terrible and ugly hole, and although there was a layer of hard-looking black flesh covering the bones under his cheeks, it was as if two mouths were squirming when he spoke.

This made it difficult for Alocya to imagine what kind of weapon had left him with such a wound, and it was also difficult to imagine what kind of pain he had endured at that time.

"It was the musket," Morko explained, his cheeks twitching a few times, as if remembering the scar in the first place, "I was shot head-on, and it didn't hurt very much as if I had been punched head-on, and I saw two teeth that had been knocked off the horse as I fell off my horse, but then I felt that terrible pain, a feeling of wanting to fix myself." ”

Aloxia listened to Morco's words, she felt both terrible and a little distressed, Morco's previous mistakes and even crimes seemed to be no longer important at this moment, or after seeing the injuries on his face, Alosia wishfully thought that he had paid for what he had done before.

She hoped that Morko would return to Croatia this time so that she could have a chance to start her life again, but now she knew that this was not the case, but it was too late, and she believed Morko's words and put herself in a terrible desperate situation.

"Help me Aloxia, we will have a new life, that Kulash's brother is not worthy of you at all, and you think that uncle will really let you marry that little clerk, he will definitely find you a family that is good for him, who do you think will protect you at that time?"

Morko's words made Aloxia upset but secretly felt reasonable, and it was in this hesitation that she didn't know what her mind was, and Aloxia quietly brought him into the city according to Morko's instructions.

May 7, 1500, was the 40th day of Auguste and Catherine's birth.

The original one-month baptism date had to be postponed due to the increasing scale of the ceremony, and according to the Muslim's suggestion, May 7 coincided with the founding day of Bucharest recorded in the Orthodox calendar, and this important date was special enough for the Patriarch to recommend that the baptism day be chosen on this day.

In the early morning of May 7, a cool breeze blew in through the window, and Sophia, who had already woken up, rubbed her eyes, turned her head to look at Alexander, who was lying on the side, and her eyes immediately bent up to show a smile.

This is the first time that Sophia has woken up earlier than Alexander after giving birth, and every morning she wakes up to see Alexander busy coaxing the twins' backs, and last night because of the final preparations for today's baptism, Alexander did not return to the room until late at night to rest, and Sophia simply sent the two children to another room to be taken care of by the nanny in order to let him sleep well.

Alexander was a little upset at first, but perhaps because he didn't want to wake up the sleeping children, Alexander didn't take them back in the end, but as soon as he lay down he quickly fell asleep.

Sophia looked at Alexander in front of her half-lying on her stomach, her focused eyes made her look very serious, looking at the face that even the eyelashes were very clear, Sophia bent her eyes again and smiled.

Sophia feels that she is probably the happiest person now, if it weren't for the fact that Nashan hasn't come back until now, which makes her feel a little regretful, there is nothing else that dissatisfies her.

There was the sound of soft footsteps in the hallway, and then there was a knock on the door.

Sophia got up and put on her clothes and went down to the door, first opened a crack in the door and signaled to the maid standing outside not to be loud, and then immediately went out of the room sideways, closing the door at the same time.

"Your Highness, it's time for you and His Royal Highness the Duke to prepare."

The female official standing a little far away reminded that seeing Sophie's hair scattered and completely unawakened, the female official from the Prague court could only sigh secretly.

In fact, both the queen and the female officials have given up their plans to make Sophia a noblewoman, after all, it is really difficult to be a noblewoman for a girl who wields a big sword at every turn to chase and kill people.

Sophia immediately waved her hand to try to lower the female officer's voice, but with the knock of the door, Alexander's voice came from behind her: "I think we have slept well." ”

Sophia turned around and saw Alexander standing in the doorway, and as the two doors opened, the nannies who had come from the next room also walked out with the twins in their arms.

"Don't send the kids to another room next time," Alexander walked over and tucked Sophia's somewhat messy hair on her forehead, then lowered his head and whispered, "I hope to be with you anytime and anywhere during this time." ”

Sophia's heart skipped a beat, and she finally understood why Alexander was so obsessed with every time with his children, because as the day of baptism approached, it meant that the day of his departure was getting closer and closer.

This thought made Sophia's good mood disappear all at once, and she hugged Alexander tightly despite the person next to her, and stuck her head in his arms at the same time.

"Well, everybody, you don't look good, don't forget that today is one of the most important days in Auguste and Catherine's lives," Alexander said, bowing his head and kissing Sophia lightly, then turning to look at the children who were being held in the arms of the nannies and greeting each other with babbling that no one could understand, "Believe me, today will be a special day for them, and perhaps in the future when they inherit this land, Wallachia will have a new name." ”

Looking at Sophia, who looked puzzled by his words, Alexander whispered in her ear: "At that time, maybe this country will become the 'home of the Romans.'" ”