Prince Otto stepped into the gloomy bedroom, the window covered with a thick woolen cloth, which was the doctor's order that evil substances would enter the room, and the priests lit the steaming spices, which were usually believed to ward off sickness, and of course the bells in the cathedral indicated that prayers were in progress.

"Whew, ahem, damn it." King Henry was lying on the sickbed, and he could only linger between the sickbeds, his thin body buried in the darkness, but his eyes were bright.

"Don't worry, I've sent someone to a more distant kingdom, and I'm sure I'll be able to find a famous doctor." Prince Otto immediately comforted his father.

"Hey, it's so tormenting, my chest feels like hot iron poured into it." King Henry said with a frown.

"I can only pray daily to the Lord that I will be able to alleviate your suffering." Prince Otto knelt beside Henry and said sincerely.

"In addition to being called by the Lord's grace, my greatest concern is your succession, and I must let you ascend to the throne smoothly." King Henry struggled to lift up, his hands holding Prince Otto's hand, his eyes fixed on the son he deared.

"You have declared me the heir, so you don't have to worry anymore, let's recuperate in peace!" Prince Otto reassured.

"No, I didn't intend to be a king and bear the burden of the throne, it was the will of the Lord that made me sit on the throne, but I know very well that you are a person who is fit to wear the crown, and it will be the luck of the kingdom, so, so, ahem." King Henry's pale face flushed with excitement, and he said with all his might.

"Don't worry." Prince Otto hurriedly patted Henry on the back, hoping to alleviate the king's pain.

"Originally, according to Carolingian tradition, you must be elected king by the Council of Nobles after my death." King Henry relented. Lying back on the soft cushions, he said to his son.

"That's right, you've convinced the Duke and the Church." Prince Otto nodded and said to King Henry.

"Hehe, it was when I was alive and they had to follow the king's orders. But once I'm dead, this secret covenant has no effect. King Henry said with a smile.

"Are you going to?" Prince Otto's expression became solemn, and it looked like King Henry was planning a big event.

King Henry did not speak, he just looked at his son, Prince Otto's lips were already bearded, and his contours were as resolute as a real man, like the grandeur of a real Germanic aristocratic man.

"This plan needs reliable people to execute and show their strength, do you have the right people for this?" King Henry asked Prince Otto.

"Do you mean military power?" Prince Otto asked curiously.

"It's not just military power. It is also necessary to have a rich treasury and imagination. King Henry said to Prince Otto.

"Archbishop of Mainz?"

"No, the Archbishop of Mainz is not the right person." King Henry shook his head and rejected Prince Otto's proposal, and the Archbishop of Mainz was not a good candidate, or even a figure to watch out for.

"Oh yes, recently Duke Mason disappeared in the Duchy of Bavaria, and I sent Duke Mason's sister-in-law, Duke Mecklenburg, in the name of the royal family, to show his loyalty to the royal family." Prince Otto soon realized his father's intentions. The king did not want the old forces to be entrenched in a new dynasty.

"The Emerging Frontier Waiter? Kindness. Not bad. King Henry's eyes lit up and he nodded in satisfaction, there is no better way to fight against the old nobles than to introduce a new check and balance.

"It just so happened that regarding the disposition of the land of Duke Mason, the nobles of Mason submitted it to the royal family. We may be able to take the opportunity to buy the Duke of Mecklenburg. Prince Otto thought for a moment, and his heart moved, and he remembered an offer submitted by the nobles of Mason.

A few months later, the Duke of Bavaria and the Duke of Mecklenburg received orders from the king, respectively, to the Duke of Bavaria. Giving Eberhard the right of succession to the Duke of Franconia satisfied the Duke of Bavaria's attempt for land, and finally allowed the old Duke to settle down and agree to live in peace with the Duchy of Mecklenburg.

As a childless Duke of Mason, after the death of Duke Mason, according to the legal principles of inheritance law, Duke Mason's nephew, that is, Arrode's eldest son, William, became the ruler of the Duchy of Mason. But William was still in his infancy, and at this time the regent with the right to rule was extremely important, and the Mason nobles thought that Princess Josie of the Herman family should be the regent of course, but there were also voices that there should be a male regent.

When both opinions were put before the king, King Henry supported Arold as regent of the Duchy of Mason, becoming the de facto ruler of the Duchy of Mason, and Arold became the supreme ruler of the Duchy of Mecklenburg and Mason.

In the morning chamber, Arold gathered his confidants to a meeting on the matter, and when they heard that Arold's son William had become the Duke of Mason, the courtiers were excited, but then there was a controversy about the choice of regent, because the royal family had sent the proposals of the Mason nobles.

"These Mason nobles are really unreasonable, if it weren't for us leading our troops against the Duke of Bavaria, if it weren't for us quelling the riots in the Duchy of Mason and restoring order to the Duchy of Mason, they would have gone into exile long ago." The Earl of Yves exclaimed angrily, exasperated at the ingratitude of the Mason nobles.

"Well, the nobles of Mason just want my wife to be regent, after all, they are convinced by the prestige of the Herman family." Arold didn't care, the nobles of this era were like this, preferring to believe in the old and declining families rather than the new nobles, even if Arold brought them a lot of benefits.

"Then you say, Arrod, are you going to accept the royal appointment?" Yves asked Arrod.

"If I accept the royal appointment, how can I give an account to Princess Josie? After all, the Duchy of Mason is her homeland, taking away her wife's homeland? Arrod tapped his fingers on the wooden table, and in his heart he hoped to accept the Duchy of Mason and make it his direct territory, knowing that the Duchy of Mason developed much earlier than Mecklenburg, and its culture and economy were much stronger than that of Mecklenburg, and if it was included in the bag, it would provide strong support for eastward expansion.

"Women, it's just a man's subordinate, why should you consider her thoughts, of course this doesn't mean to offend Princess Josie, it's just that you shouldn't listen to men in national affairs?" Yves said disapprovingly, his ideas are actually very in line with this era, but Arold's soul comes from the later generations, the era of women's independence.

"I'll make a decision after discussing it with my wife." Arold stood up, he didn't want this to become a rift between husband and wife, and it was at this moment that Brother Elvet, who had been silent, spoke.

"Lord Duke, there is one thing I want to report to you." Brother Elvet said to Arold.

"Oh, what's the matter?" Arold asked.

"Actually, before you returned from the expedition, Mason's nobles had already come to visit Her Royal Highness." Brother Elvet said.

"Oh? Is there such a thing? Arrod sat down slowly, intending to listen carefully.

"The nobles of Mason have brought a lot of gifts, of course, as the living immediate family of Duke Mason, there is no problem for Princess Josie to accept the gifts, however, I think Her Royal Highness should have known and known that the nobles of Mason nominated her as regent." Brother Elvet looked at Arrod cautiously, then stammered.

"But I haven't heard her say it?" Arrod's heart was slightly surprised, Princess Josie didn't reveal the news at all, but Arold himself thought that he and the princess were the best couple to talk about.

"Perhaps, Her Royal Highness the Princess hasn't figured out how to reject the Mason nobles, so she didn't tell you!" Dylan. Matt looked at Arrod, who was unhappy, and hurriedly said.

"Harvey, what about you, why doesn't your intelligence network have any news?" Arold looked at Harvey, the leader of the spies, who was sitting next to him.

"Don't worry, I've taken control of those Mason nobles' activity locations, and if there is anything detrimental to security, my people will immediately catch them." Harvey stroked his red hair and reported to Arrode.

"There must be a misunderstanding here, my wife may be deceived, but she will never betray me." Arold said to the courtiers, also trying to convince himself.

"That's right, Arrod, don't be suspicious, Princess Josie is our family, remember the time when she was still pregnant, and she desperately defended Mecklenburg? Like Josephine, she was a brave woman who cared for her family. Yves said with a big grin.

"Yes, I shouldn't have doubted her. Harvey grabbed the Mason nobles and tortured them to find out who was trying to deceive Princess Josie. Arrode's face softened, but at the same time he gave Harvey a stern order.

"Yes, Lord Duke." Harvey quickly stood up, her eyes swept over Arrod, but she quickly bowed like a courtier.

The efficiency of the Brotherhood of Blood Drops is extremely high, outside the hotel located in the northeast corner of the business district, soon a team of people with wooden cards of Blood Drops quietly surrounded, a member who took off the wooden card stepped forward and knocked on the door, the yawning maid opened the door with sleepy eyes, the door just opened a gap, and was stomped open by the members of the Blood Drops, and then the sound of leather boots stepping on the wooden ladder sounded one after another.

"Hmm, what's going on? Do you know who I am? A Mason nobleman, dressed in a white shirt and still in his head after an all-night drink, was dragged out of his bed by a member of the Brotherhood of Blooddrops.

"Someone jumped out of the window." At this moment, the sound of falling to the ground sounded, and I saw another agile young Mason nobleman, jumping out of the window of the hotel.

"Chase, don't let him run." The members of the Brotherhood of Blood Drops drew their short swords at their waists and rushed into the alley in pursuit. (To be continued......)