Henry the Bird Catcher stood in the courtyard of the castle, his brow furrowed, although he was wearing a large hat made of white mink fur, which looked extremely luxurious, but no one could know the anxiety in his heart, his extremely clever son, Otto, was actually obsessed with the Slavic noble woman, it is said that the Slavic woman was pregnant, if she was born, she would be Henry's grandson, although she was a Slavic nobleman, but the child left by a defeated and captured woman, and there was no strong family backing, It was unlikely that he would inherit the throne in the future, but Otto seemed to be very fond of the Slavic woman, much to Henry's great distress.

"What the hell is going on with this kid? Obviously so smart, I have high hopes. Henry stretched out his hand to pluck a pink rose, but the thorns on the stem and leaves of the rose accidentally pierced his finger, and Henry's brow furrowed slightly, looking at the red blood oozing from his finger.

"Your Majesty, there is an emissary from the Duchy of Mason." At this moment, a royal herald attendant came from the direction of the cloister, and when he saw Henry standing in the courtyard, he hurriedly stepped forward to report.

"Duchy of Mason?" Henry thought it was strange, and he turned away and did not understand why the envoy of the Duchy of Mason had returned, but it was the duty of the monarch to receive the envoys of the vassals, and he ordered the herald to bring them over.

"Venerable Lord of the Franks, His Majesty Henry, our Lord." When the envoy saw Henry, who was dressed in white mink trim, and the brilliant golden crown on Henry's head, he immediately recognized that it was Henry, the king of East Francia, the birdcatcher, and hurriedly knelt down on one knee and saluted.

"You are Duke Mason's emissary. Say, what's the news for the Duke? Henry, the bird catcher, looked at the envoy of the Duchy of Mason in front of him and asked curiously.

"Yes, Your Majesty, our Duke Able, has gathered the forces of all the vassals of the Duchy of Mason to attack the territory of the Danish king Banuk, and the Duke thinks that the northerners have been raging for too long, and they should be exterminated in one fell swoop to relieve the long-standing scourge." The messenger said respectfully to the king, Henry the Bird Catcher.

"Oh, it's a shame that Duke Mason has decided to do something to the Vikings." Henry nodded slightly and said approvingly. Not long ago, the Viking warriors sacked the domains of his vassals. This incident made Henry extremely angry in his heart, but he could only break his teeth and swallow it into his stomach under internal and external troubles, but he didn't expect Duke Mason to have the courage to provoke the berserkers.

"Yes, Duke Mason knows that His Majesty has long been dissatisfied with the predatory Viking warriors. Therefore, it is hoped that His Majesty will be able to attack his territory from the west. The two armies converged in Shireisug County. Annihilate the Danish king's army in one fell swoop, and never suffer from it. The messenger said to Henry the Birdcatcher.

"Let me send troops too?" Henry stroked his beard, his brow furrowed. A pair of eyes narrowed, thinking in his heart how much benefit he could gain if he sent troops.

"Yes, that's what the Duke said himself." The messenger said cautiously.

"Understood, the attendant takes the messenger to the guest room, raises the fireplace to warm the room, and asks the servant in the kitchen to bring delicious food." Henry the Bird Catcher was not in a hurry to answer, and asked the attendant to take the messenger to the castle guest room and settle down, but the messenger received no reply and had to follow the attendant out of the courtyard.

Henry pondered the news from the Duchy of Mason, returned from the courtyard to the main tower of the castle, without greeting anyone along the way, at this time the rumors of the Duchy of Franconia and the Duchy of Bavaria joining forces intensified, Henry was very jealous of the alliance of these two dukes, which was a heavy threat to his royal power, even if he had been painstakingly operating for so long, carefully maneuvering between the powerful dukes, and compromising to buy time to make the Duchy of Saxony the pillar of the royal family, but now the Duke of Saxony is dead, Henry also felt that his body was getting weaker and weaker recently, and he really didn't know how long he would be able to support it, and the variables suddenly increased.

"Why didn't you see my father in the courtyard today?" When Prince Otto passed by the courtyard, Henry would walk in the courtyard at this time, but Prince Otto did not see his father at this time.

"Oh, just now the envoy of the Duke of Mason came, and after receiving the envoy of the Duke of Mason, His Majesty returned to the tower with a heavy heart." At this time, the court priest of the royal family of Saxony came over and said to Prince Otto.

"Got it." Prince Otto nodded slightly to the court priest and then walked down the corridor back to the tower, knowing where his father would go whenever he had something on his mind.

"Huhu~~~~." The wind blew through the tower, and the flag of the royal family of Saxony planted on the top floor of the tower was moved by the wind of the hunt, and Henry the Bird Catcher stood on the top floor of the tower, and his attendant stood at the entrance of the wooden ladder with him, and at this time the sound of ascending came from the wooden ladder, and the attendant quickly turned his head to look down, and saw Prince Otto climbing up the wooden ladder.

"Your Royal Highness." The attendant hurriedly stretched out his hand to pull Prince Otto up, bowed to him, and saluted.

"Yes, it's okay." Prince Otto nodded, lifted his hat, and walked towards Henry the Birdcatcher.

"From here you can see our whole territory, how small." Henry didn't turn around and knew that it was his son Prince Otto who came, and Prince Otto followed Henry's gaze and looked over, only to see a lush forest and river, and the spire of another castle could be faintly seen in the past, which was the castle in the other dukedoms, in fact, the territories of the nobles were originally intertwined, and it was common for other family castles to appear even in a piece of territory, I don't know why Henry the Bird Catcher is so sensitive today.

"Father, I heard that Duke Mason's messenger is coming?" Prince Otto asked.

"Yes, they're attacking Viking territory and want us to join." Henry said to his heir with his hand on the battlement.

"And what is your decision, Father?" Prince Otto raised his eyebrows when he heard this, the Viking warriors have been attacking the Saxon royal family's territory near the North Sea for many years, and sometimes intruding along inland rivers, although it will not cause a heavy blow to the kingdom, but it is also like a maggot on the tarsal bone to give the royal family a headache, and now it should be a good thing that there is finally a duke who resists.

"I don't know, Viking warriors aren't that easy to mess with, what if they lose? The Vikings have a better chance of invading our territory, knowing how much money we have paid for all these years of peace. Henry pointed to the distant territory and said loudly to his heir.

"But Father, it is not wise to blindly retreat." Prince Otto immediately put forward the opposite opinion, arguing that the era of retreat and forbearance had passed, and even the weaker Duchy of Mason in the kingdom had dared to think that the Viking warriors would declare war, so why should the royal family back down.

"Do you think the Masons can win this war?" Henry glanced at his heir, Henry the bird catcher was by no means an ambitious king, but his congenital conditions forced him to shrink his claws, and sometimes people's habitual thinking made him not realize his true strength, but the young Prince Otto was more vigorous.

"It's hard to say, don't forget the power of Duke Mason's vassal, Count of Mecklenburg." Prince Otto said to Henry.

"Which wise one? There are rumors of him everywhere, and it seems that the count paid a lot of money to the bards. King Henry smiled slightly, he didn't think that Arold was in vain, after all, it was not easy to make these familiar feats at such an age, but Henry the Bird Catcher was a real king, and he needed to think about more.

"I've heard that the Duke of Bavaria has been very busy lately, contacting other dukes everywhere, and it seems that there is a conspiracy against the royal family." Prince Otto stopped discussing Arrod and instead brought up the Duke of Bavaria, the rival of the royal family, the cunning duke.

"Hmph, when did he stop plotting against us?" Henry the Bird Catcher sneered, and the wind blew the hair under the golden crown like the hair of a male lion, which was not worth mentioning in the roar of the lion king.

"Let's fight, father, the royal family hasn't let those with bad intentions hear the drums of war for a long time, and blind weakness will only be exchanged for bullying." Prince Otto's eyes were wrinkled, and he clenched his fists and said to Henry the Birdcatcher.

"Hehe, okay, but this time you will be the commander in my place and go and deal with those hateful northern barbarians." Henry the Bird Catcher looked at the aggressive heir, and he felt that it was time for Prince Otto to go to war to sharpen himself, and finally agreed to Prince Otto's request.

The next day, the Duke of Mason's envoy received the good news that the royal family had agreed to send troops, and he happily accepted the reply written by the court priest of Saxony, as well as the promise of Henry the Bird Catcher, and immediately galloped in the direction of the Duke of Mason, standing on the gatehouse and watching the back of the Mason envoy in the distance, Prince Otto had a faint smile on his face.

"Count Mecklenburg, at last I will fight alongside you, let me see if you are a worthy companion." Prince Otto's hands rested on the cold battlements, and he said softly to himself.

"Ga~~~~." Suddenly, out of nowhere, from the sky outside the castle wall there was an eagle, which spread its wings and flew high, and its mouth made a screaming sound that made the people guarding the city wall look up involuntarily.

"Eagle?" Prince Otto also raised his head, he put his hand on his eyebrow to block out the harsh sun, and looked at the free-flying eagle, and the smile on his face grew stronger. (To be continued......)