The long night will pass away, just as the dawn will come.

The flames that had burned all night were finally extinguished, but the original towering Byrne Cathedral was almost a charred remnant, and the ruins were all scorched earth, and only the charred statue of the Holy Cross was broken in the morning breeze and fell into the scattered ashes.

Although she had been prepared, Charlotte couldn't help but hold her breath when she walked into the ruins of the church.

The scorching smell in the air was disgusting and made her want to vomit, and the scorched earth and ruins under her feet seemed to be silently mocking her weakness, vase, powerlessness, as if those remnants were smiling faces mocking herself;

Under the scorched earth and rubble, the charred arms seemed to be holding her throat and asking her why she had not saved herself;

The statue of the Holy Cross, lying in the ashes, is looking down at him with righteousness, loudly scolding himself for failing to fulfill his duty to protect the faith.

Priests and nuns persecuted by heretic orders, archbishops who died unexpectedly, rebellious nobles who fell under the sword of knights, collapsed cathedrals......

Everything is loudly reprimanding themselves, reprimanding Charlotte Turin for failing to fulfill her responsibilities as the Count of Red Blood Castle, why she will disgrace the Turin family, and rely on the strength of outsiders to avoid losing face?!

Why, why can't you do all this well and not become the head of the Turin family on a par with the ancestors of the past?!

Charlotte's shoulders trembled slightly, and her resolute face left two slightly invisible tears... She now has an inexplicable urge to destroy everything she sees!

But in the end, she silently crouched down, lifted the fallen statue of the Holy Cross again, and struggled to fix it on the charred table, kneeling slowly, ignoring the dust on the ground and the hem of her skirt, and clasped her hands together in prayer.

Time seemed to stand still in this moment, slowing down before dawn.

At this moment, a sound of unhurried, evenly paced footsteps came from behind her, and the countess, who was breathing slightly, opened her eyes calmly, got up and looked back, and Charles, who looked as usual, was bowing to her meticulously.

"Count. ”

"Charles. Charlotte instantly returned to her original state and bowed slightly: "Did you find him?"

"We found Lord Loren in the altar of the cathedral... To be precise, he should have been discovered after Lusten and Wizard Ain. The butler nodded, he certainly knew who the Count was talking about.

"yes, how's it going?"

"Not too optimistic... His injuries were severe, and though there were no obvious fatal wounds, they were probably not immediately recoverable - all his armor was shattered, his fever was so high and so weak that it was hard to imagine what a terrible battle he had endured. ”

Charles's eyes were a little dim, and he sighed softly: "And until now, His Excellency Loren is still in a coma... There was no sign of waking up. ”

"What?!" exclaimed the Earl subconsciously.

"Ahh Don't worry, according to Miss Ariel and Wizard Ayn Rand, this is not the first time he's encountered this situation - it's just that his energy is very draining, and his body needs plenty of rest...... Well, that's right. Speaking of this, even Charles himself showed a somewhat strange expression.

Although he is not a skilled doctor, it is only a "loss of energy" after such a serious injury, and it is not the first time......

Loren Turin... Is he a human or a monster in human skin?

"Really?" Charlotte was visibly skeptical, too: "They... Is that really what you said?"

"There is no half-talk. Charles bowed slightly: "Although I am also a little skeptical, but these two have a top-notch understanding of wizards, and they are friends of His Excellency Loren... There shouldn't be a fake. ”

"Probably. Thinking of that Miss Ariel's attitude towards Loren, Charlotte couldn't help but shake her head: "Now that the matter of the Heresy Order has been resolved, the next thing is the problem in the Red Blood Castle." ”

"Red Blood Castle?" Charles frowned slightly.

"You don't agree?"

"Don't dare!"

"But you've shown it, stop pretending — that's not loyalty, Charles. The countess snorted softly: "If even you become an echo worm, then am I not really an earl who deserves to be overthrown, as those rebellious nobles say?"

"Of course not!" The butler hurriedly spoke: "I just feel that after the turmoil of the whole night last night, the people and nobles of the Red Blood Castle have reached the limit of what they can endure, and I am afraid it will be ...... to continue like this."

"Limit?" Charlotte interrupted him with a frown, "Do you think this will be the end of this matter if I don't keep a tight grip and pretend nothing happened?"

"At least we cover it up for the time being, so that the news of the destruction of Byrne Cathedral does not spread, it should not be ......"

"Impossible! The more this kind of thing is covered, the faster the news will be heard" Charlotte's face was solemn, and she glanced at the ruins around her: "A wizard can pretend to be asleep for a while, but our business has just begun." ”

"In order to sweep the whole city and have no time to recruit the fiefdom army, I have sent the only guards in my hand - as a result, the only news has already been lost by one-fifth, and the real number is definitely not too much;"

"Even if martial law is organized, there are still many people who see the destruction of the cathedral, and I am afraid that this matter will be known by tomorrow night, and all the Holy Cross believers in Byrne will know that the cathedral has been destroyed in our hands!"

"What will be the attitude of the priests of all Byrne, and what will be the attitude of the church in the imperial capital?"

Charles's face darkened and he bowed his head.

Charlotte's tone was tired, and there was a sense of inadequacy in her voice: "There are also denunciations from the Thirteen Earls of Byrne, and reproaches from the Heavenly Dome Palace... None of them can be dealt with at will. ”

"Not to mention that there is still a group of people waiting to see my jokes, to see that the Turin family, who have lost their duke title, will once again lose face and have no dignity in front of the whole empire, and that we will not even be able to stand on an equal footing with the duke families anymore!"

"At that point, what is left of the Duchy of Byrne, what is left of the Red Blood Castle, the House of Turin... And what's left?"

Speaking of this, Charlotte's expression added a hint of bitterness: "Maybe... This will be the time when I will finally be known as the Earl of Crimson Castle, and at that point, even the clan will have to find a guy from the side branch who can inherit the title. ”

"Absolutely not!"

Charles suddenly knelt on one knee, his trembling pupils and the countess's eyes: "In the name of the Holy Cross, I swear that you will always be the Lord of the Red Blood Castle, and this will never change!"

"Really?" Charlotte smiled tiredly, and also looked at her butler with a slight bow, "Then let's work together for this goal, Charles." ”

The calm-looking butler looked resolute: "So... Do you already have a plan?"

"It's just a preliminary idea, but... It's like I've already decided. The countess's face did not change, as if she had regained her former majesty:

"First of all, we must not sit idly by and let this matter be known to the Heavenly Dome Palace - let the Captain of the Euron Knights come back, I will write a letter for him to send to the Imperial Capital, and convey the original text of the betrayal of the Holy Cross by the Governor's Palace, which led to the destruction of the cathedral, to His Majesty the Emperor, and we must let the Heavenly Dome Palace give us an explanation!"

"And then... Notice to all Byrne, in my capacity as Earl of the Red Blood Castle, I would like to reconvene the Roundtable. Charlotte, whose face was calm, did not have any waves.

But Charles, who heard this, widened his eyes and shook violently: "Earl, you, should you be ......?"

"Putting pressure on the Heavenly Dome Palace? Otherwise, they will continue to humiliate us as ordinary courtiers, and even if I don't, won't anyone else have the intention of doing so?"

As if asking herself, and as if asking a rhetorical question, Charlotte said calmly but resolutely: "Only the Turin family can hold a round table, this is absolute... We must dispel the ambitions of others before they even think so!"