Quedlinburg was the royal palace of the Kingdom of East Francia, and King Henry was lying in the palace like an old lion struggling to save his lost life. Henry coughed as he recalled his life's exploits, as a king elected through Carolingian tradition. The first half of his life was a lucky choice, but Henry was by no means a monarch who lay down and enjoyed the fruits of victory, he conquered the old king who was unwilling to abdicate by force, seized the territory of Lorraine from the king of West Francia, balanced the power of the clan dukes with stratagem, and even the terrible Magyars were leveled by him.

"You need to rest Father." Prince Otto entered, he walked to the wooden bed, and first greeted the cross hanging at the head of the bed, but he also knew that even the personal blessing of the Archbishop of Mainz did not work, and it seemed that Henry was terminally ill.

"Oh, my favorite son, the next king." Henry, pale on the sickbed, stretched out his arm and beckoned to Prince Otto, his arm was covered with scratches, which were the bloodletting therapy given to the king by the doctor.

"Have the dukes agreed to vote in favor of my succession?" Prince Otto asked Henry.

"I will hold a meeting to confirm that the Duke of Swabia is on your side, and for that I acknowledge some of his privileges. But Duke Franconia is a greedy fellow, and we must find a way to satisfy his greed so that he is on your side. Henry, with his long experience in governance, carefully analyzed Prince Otto.

"The Duke of Bavaria, though, will be an obstacle." Prince Otto said to his father.

"Don't you have a friend? Let him solve it, now is the time to test his loyalty and worth, isn't it? Henry smiled, a hint of rosy on his face, referring to Prince Otto's friend. Arrod, Duke of Mecklenburg.

"But I don't have enough ways to trade, whether it's territory or money, Arold is above me." Prince Otto shook his head with a wry smile.

"What does he want?" Henry asked curiously.

"The currency of the whole kingdom was made in Mecklenburg." Prince Otto said to his father.

"Oh, does he have the strength?" Henry asked in surprise.

"Perhaps, Arold is the only nobleman I can't see through." Prince Otto said.

"Give it to him, and the king has the advantage of being able to make promises to others." Henry said with a smile.

"The dukes of those tribes may not buy it. What if I become a king and I can't do it? Prince Otto held his forehead, he hated to be perfunctory with promises of holes.

"Ha, my son, you are about to become a king, you need to get used to these things, and that's how kings act." Henry said to his son.

After crossing several territories, Arold and his party finally arrived in the land of the Duchy of Saxony, with dense forests and abundant rivers, but Arold saw it in the eastern Saxony territory. Several castles are under construction or under construction.

"Boom~~~." When Arold looked out of the carriage window at the spires of the castles, the roar of horses' hooves came from the path, and the well-trained Mecklenburg soldiers were immediately alerted, for this was a large cavalry force.

"Stop moving forward, defensive posture." Ron stepped forward, drew his sword, and formed a squad of armed soldiers and Teutonic knights, who focused on protecting Arrod's chariot.

In front of Arold's convoy appeared a unit of Saxon cavalry. They wore peaked iron helmets, chain mail and smocks of the coat of arms of the Duchy of Saxony. In his left hand, he held a vulture-bottom shield, and there were more than forty horsemen in total.

"Stop, it's the Duke of Mecklenburg's car." Ron held his sword and reined in front of the convoy, fearless even in the face of more than forty cavalry, he shouted loudly.

"We were sent by His Majesty the King to greet the Duke." The cavalry led by him hurriedly said to Ron.

It was only when they heard that the king had sent them that they were relieved. There were often robbers and bandits spying on the convoy along the way, and if it weren't for the caution of Ron and others, it was unknown what might have happened, but even if the Saxons reported the name of the king, Ron still didn't dare to be careless. Until following the cavalry and seeing the lively town.

"Why did His Majesty build so many castles?" Sitting in the carriage, Arold asked the Saxon cavalry who were on his side.

"Oh, Lord Duke, that's because when His Majesty first ascended the throne, we often faced challenges from the Slavs, and for this reason His Majesty ordered the construction of numerous castles to prevent the Slavs from invading the west." The Saxon cavalry said respectfully to Arrod.

"I don't think these castles are just for defense, right?" Arold looked at the castles that stood in the perilous passes, with horse farms outside them, where the Saxon cavalry usually camped and trained, not simply to defend against the enemy, but to be a strong military fortress.

"Oh, I don't know, I'm just an errand boy." The cavalry smiled at Arold, showing a mouthful of snow-white teeth, and then kicked his mount hard with the spur in his heel and rushed forward.

Surrounded by mountains, humid climate and fertile fields, and more importantly, the people here are full of security, believing that Henry is a strong leader who will lead them from foreign invasions, but now the hearts of the people are clouded because the man known as the Handleless Sword is suffering from illness.

"Woohoo." The Saxon flag fluttered on the watchtower of the fortress, and the soldier saw a convoy of people with the flag of the Duke of Mecklenburg slowly approaching the castle on the mountain road at the foot of the mountain.

"Look, that's the King's Castle." Princess Josie looked up at the castle overhead, and the castle in the clouds was as dreamlike unreal, especially the walls painted with white lime shining in the sunlight.

"God, I can't believe my eyes, is that where the king lives?" However, Princess Josie's good mood was immediately struck by a clamour, and Lena's adoptive parents shouted loudly, making everyone laugh, and the Saxon cavalry leading the way turned their heads and talked to each other.

"Hey, shut up, or I'll sew your mouth up when I'm inside." Ron angrily walked up to Lena's adoptive parents and said to them threateningly.

"Oh, yes, yes." The old man quickly shrunk his neck, he was afraid that this angry nobleman would really do that.

(To be continued.) )