A hoarse cry suddenly came from the bedroom, and Prato, who was standing in the corridor, shuddered with fright, listening to the painful screams inside, Prato walked around like ants on a hot pan, and that anxious look made many Wallachian nobles who heard the news look strange and look strange.

Prato also noticed that it seemed easy for others to mistake him for the child's father, and he couldn't help but be startled by the thought, but he was also worried about whether Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess would be able to give birth smoothly.

Prato now has all his belongings in the Balkans, when he first arrived in Bucharest, in order to make it easier to stand on his feet, Alexander dressed him up as a big businessman who not only had a lot of money, but also had a lot of hands and eyes, at that time Prato was just acting, although sometimes he had fantasized that one day he could really become such a disguised character, but he never thought that this fantasy would really come true, and so soon.

Prato was now rich and powerful, and his business throughout the Balkans allowed him to serve Alexander, relying on the power of the trade alliances that gradually penetrated his tentacles into the land, and he made a lot of money.

However, Prato is well aware that he can rely on Alexandria, who can have today, is also Sofia.

As Alexander's agent in the Balkans, the more power Sofia has, the easier it will be for Prato to make a fortune, and whether Sofia's position in Wallachia is stable will not only affect his business, but may even determine whether he can enjoy the good life brought by wealth in peace.

So in this regard, Prato cares no less about whether Sophia can give birth smoothly than Alexander.

There was another scream, and although he couldn't hear what was being shouted because he couldn't speak, the painful exclamation still frightened Prato into a cold sweat on his head.

The door opened, and the male and female servants hurried in and out, and the people in the corridor were relaxed and tense at the sound of the sound coming from inside.

The door was closed again, leaving only a group of aristocrats looking at each other outside.

Suddenly, there was a flurry of shouting in the room, and the people outside seemed to hear someone shouting, someone running, and some seemed to have knocked something down and made a small noise.

For a moment, under the leadership of the Patriarch, people couldn't help but gather around the bedroom door.

The voices inside were even louder, and there seemed to be someone else screaming the same except for Sophia's screams of pain.

Then, with a cheer from who I don't know, the people outside seemed to hear a series of shouts coming from inside: "Born! Raw! ”

Hearing the sound inside, the people waiting outside suddenly let out a low chatter, and at this time, no matter what kind of thoughts they had, everyone showed a look of joy, and the patriarch had already raised the large staff of the gilded cross in his hand, ready to chant and pray for the prince or princess who had been born.

But at this moment, there was a sudden scream in the room, and then it seemed that many people followed suit.

The hearts of the people outside suddenly lifted, and they looked at each other in shock, not knowing what was happening.

The room was still busy, and there were even people who seemed to be making noise, and after a while, when the people were already a little uneasy, and some nobles began to ask the patriarch if they should knock on the door to see what was going on, suddenly, the door was pushed open, and Alexander stepped out of it!

He grasped the handles of the two doors with both hands, and the expression on his face was peculiar, as if something strange had happened, but his eyes only glanced at the nobles who were immediately gathered around, and then looked at Patriarch Bucharet standing at the front.

"I've given birth, I've got a son!" Alexander exclaimed to the Patriarch, and while everyone was exclamating at the news, Alexander ignored them and continued, "I have a daughter, so the Patriarch asks you to make a double Mass of blessings for my children." ”

After speaking, before the people at the door could understand, Alexander had already closed the door again with a "bang".

Outside the door, everyone was stunned for a while, and then someone reacted and asked puzzledly: "The Duke does have a daughter, but why did he let the Patriarch pray for his daughter at this time?" ”

Hearing the man's words, people couldn't help but look at him, but then someone exclaimed in surprise: "The duke is talking about His Royal Highness's children, twins?!" ”

The words of the first person to react stunned the people around them, and then a series of cries of surprise immediately resounded in the entire corridor.

On 27 March 1500, Sofia Alessandra Valleoho, Grand Duchess of Wallachia, gave birth to twin twins with the Summer Palace in Bucharest.

In the bedroom, the steaming water seems to be able to take a sauna in the room, Sophia, who has lost her strength, is lazily lying on the pillow, her hair is soaked with sweat and scattered on her forehead, and her mouth opens from time to time when she is panting, which is a bit like a goldfish starved of water.

Sophia was so tired, she never thought that giving birth to a child would be so painful and laborious, and the terrible thing was that she actually gave birth to two in a row, which made her feel more difficult than running non-stop in full armor.

However, her spirit was still very good, a pair of eyes were always firmly fixed on Alexander standing on the side and the two children he was holding, looking at Alexander holding the children with a smile on his face, Sophia let out a dissatisfied snort, and then she suddenly grabbed the pillow and smashed it.

Seeing that Alexander immediately turned sideways to protect the children, blocking the pillow with her back, Sophia was even more unhappy, and she turned her head to the side as if she didn't want to see him again.

Alexander laughed, knowing that Sophia was obviously jealous, so he sat down with the children in his arms, and then carefully placed the children next to her.

"This is our child, and all of a sudden we have a son and a daughter, don't you be happy?"

Alexander smiled and whispered in Sophia's ear, smiling at the sight that she seemed to be finally unable to resist looking back at the children.

Looking at the two wrinkled babies, Sophia frowned a little disgusted, and then stretched out her finger full of curiosity to try to poke one of the children's cheeks.

This immediately frightened everyone in the room, and several gasps sounded at the same time, and everyone's hearts couldn't help but flash the scene of Sophia, who had broken free from her arms because of the pain in labor just now, and broke a servant's collarbone with a straight punch.

Fortunately, Alexander, who had been prepared, immediately reached out and grabbed Sophia's hand, and then he took advantage of the situation to gently put Sophia's hand on his cheek.

"You're too tired now, you need to rest," Alexander said, pecking Sophia's palm, "close your eyes and sleep well, and when you wake up, you'll have to nurse the children." ”

Sophia was stunned when she heard this, and then suddenly she was about to tear open her collar.

Alexander quickly stopped her, and waved back to the servants who were standing a little farther away.

The servants left the room one after another, and when there were finally only two of them, Alexander looked at Sophia, who finally showed a tired look on her face, he touched her forehead, and then whispered: "Sleep well, I will be by your side, I promise that when you wake up and open your eyes, the first thing you will see is me." ”

Sophia purred from her mouth, and she raised her hand as if to indicate something, but finally she couldn't resist the exhaustion and closed her eyes, and after a while she let out a soft snoring sound.

Seeing that Sophia was asleep, Alexander picked up the child and looked at the pair of children, who seemed to be unable to tell who was against whom, and a burst of excitement made him almost cry out for joy.

He carried the baby to another room connected to the bedroom, where three able-bodied nurses were already waiting, originally to prepare for the emergency if Sophia had difficulty giving birth and could not breastfeed herself, but now it seemed that this preparation was really useful.

Seeing the two women immediately lift their shirts to breastfeed their two children, Alexander couldn't help but smile again.

Sophia's body is very healthy, which leads to the child in her belly is also healthy, which is originally a good thing, but in this way, she will inevitably suffer some sins when she gives birth, not to mention that no one thought that it was actually a pair of twins at that time, after seeing a child born, another one actually popped up, which really scared the people next to her.

Alexander looked at his children with a smile, and he was so happy that he didn't even pay attention to the two women, until there was a soft knock on the door to the hallway, and Schell cautiously walked in.

"Sir, the Patriarch and many people outside want to see you." Scheer said first, then rubbed his hands and said with some nervousness and excitement, "My lord, allow me to congratulate you, and in the name of all the Wallachian and Croatian hunting guards, and the Bosnian hunting guards, I ask for your permission to pay our allegiance to the prince and princess. ”

Seeing that Schell was a little apprehensive, Alexander thought about it for a moment, and then nodded happily.

Under the terms of the Entente, the recruited Balkan hunters were to serve in Alexander's army for ten years, after which they could choose to continue serving him or break the contract and return home.

Alexander's suspicion was that a group of Balkans like Scheer would remain in his service, but most would choose to return home.

Before that, Wallachia would fulfill the contract with Alexander every year in the form of exporting troops, and when the first ten years expired, his army had already completed the replacement of the old and the new with the continuous replenishment of new recruits in the previous years, which could effectively prevent the quality of the army from declining as the veterans retired.

In this day and age, maintaining a well-trained army is crucial.

But that's not all, for Alexander, Balkan farmers were recruited because they were cheap, but there was a more important reason for him to make this choice.

Every year the Balkans who retired from the army were to be put to good use by the lessons they had learned in Alexander's army, and during this long decade Alexander had enough time to train and educate them into obedient soldiers influenced by his ideas and ideas.

Then these people will return to their homeland, some of them may continue to be farmers, others will enter the armies of Wallachia, Croatia, and even Serbia and Hungary.

Alexander believed that many of these people would become his agents in the Balkans and the countries of Eastern Europe, and that they would become his agents in those countries.

Like Schell now, the hunters who swore allegiance to his children would be his children's most loyal supporters, even when they returned to the Balkans at the end of their service.

Thinking of this, Alexander couldn't help but smile a little proudly, and then he remembered that the Wallachian nobles were still waiting for news from him.

"Go and invite the Patriarch and the court elders." Alexander commanded.

As a Balkan state with deep ties to Hungary, Wallachia retains more or less the customs of the pre-Hun conquest in the early years, as evidenced by the presbytery with typical tribal state traces, which gradually changed over a long period of time under the influence of the Eastern Roman Senate until it finally evolved into a plausible and eccentric system.

Most of these elders were descendants of the early royal side branches, and although they had lost the opportunity to compete for the throne of Wallachia, they had become the elders of the court with a great deal of voice.

One of these rights is that in addition to the Chief Priest of the Bucharest Cathedral, now the Patriarch of Bucharest, these people have the right to recognize the newborn as a legitimate member of the royal family.

Not long after Schell went out, a group of people led him into the room, and at this time the two children who had eaten and drunk well began to feel sleepy, and in the warm and comfortable arms of the nurse, the two newborn babies lay there like two pink flesh worms, and let a group of gray-haired, or orange-skinned old men admire curiously and excitedly.

Wallachia had been on the throne since the Impalation of Vlad III, and although his son Tsepes was once so close to the throne of the Grand Duke, he was not able to do so.

This was a terrible thing for the Wallachians, as the result of the throne being left empty for too long would not only cause internal turmoil, but would also be coveted by other monarchs.

And the obvious coveting of the throne of the Grand Duke of Wallachia by King Ladislas II of Bohemia and Hungary was already known to almost everyone.

Therefore, when Sophia inherited the title of Grand Duke of Wallachia, the first thought of the Wallachian nobles was to ask her to give birth to the heir of the Duchy as soon as possible to reassure the people, which is why even though Alexander knew what Alexander was doing in Sophia's room all day during that time, no one objected.

The Wallachians may have been wary of Alexander, but they were glad that he could impregnate the Grand Duchess at an early age.

The elders looked at the two sleeping children and whispered about them, and Alexander noticed that some of them did not seem to be very enthusiastic, or even somewhat cold, but he did not care.

He wasn't worried that any of these people would suddenly come out and deny his children's identity, because he knew they wouldn't dare!

Bodpade, as an advisor to the Grand Duchess, was a subtle influence on the Wallachian court, while Georgilirouou was directly appointed by Sofia as the defense officer of Bucharest.

Whether it was the court or the army, Bucharest today was in the hands of Sophia's Greeks.

The discussion soon ended, and everyone looked at the highest-ranking of the elders, and their eyes were on the Bucharest Patriarch.

Under the gaze of the crowd, the Patriarch walked up to the two children, looked down at the sleeping twin siblings, and then tilted the tail of the large cross in his hand, and tapped them faintly not far above the heads of the two babies.

The Patriarch's tone was a little weak, but he refused to be supported by a priest next to him, but kept whispering the meaning of the Creed: "I affirm that there is only one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and I confess that life comes with God's creation and gifts, as I see now, and I expect that the resurrection of the dead, and the life to come, will also pass on this righteousness." ”

The Patriarch recited the verse earnestly, and when he paused to lightly make a cross with his hand, everyone in the room whispered in response to the prayer.

Alexander was also praying, and at this moment he didn't know if he was praying for the safety of his children's lives, but he knew that as his children, their lives were destined to be ordinary.

An elder approached, and as custom he took the whip and a stick from the servant beside him, and after whispering to Alexander, the elder pressed the two objects over each other, and pressed them lightly against the twin siblings, while muttering something in a dialect that few people could understand.

"The whip makes you like a shepherd to rule over the people of this country, and the stick makes you stand up a boundary monument in this land to prove your rights."

The Patriarch whispered the words of the Elder for Alexander, and when the ancient ritual was finally over, the Patriarch seemed to see a satisfied smile on Alexander's face.

"According to the canon, it is necessary to baptize the newborn on this day, a month from now," said the somewhat weary patriarch, handing the heavy cross to the man next to him, and then said to Alexander, "I will baptize them myself, and it will be the greatest event since the victory at the Battle of Bucharest." ”

Alexander nodded with a smile, at this time he felt that the weak old man in front of him was really cute.

"Then Your Highness," the Patriarch asked after a moment's thought, "have you and Your Highness Sophia agreed what to call your children?" ”

Hearing the Patriarch's inquiry, Alexander looked back at his children, and then a slight smile crossed his lips.

"It's been thought of," said Alexander with a smile, "the boy's name is Auguste Alexandru, and the girl's name is Catherine Alexandra." ”