January 1, 1688. New Year’s Day.

It was a day that made the kingdom of Pole weep, and the entire royal capital, Hansha, was immersed in sorrow. The king, who was killed in the Christmas Eve attack a few days ago, and the founder of the Heather dynasty of the Pole kingdom, Duris I, was officially buried today.

The mourning procession lined up neatly on both sides of the street in front of the palace, and among these people, in addition to the soldiers and ministers, many people also spontaneously put on black veils and joined in the ranks of remembering the king.

This foreign king who ascended to the throne by invading and seizing power, the world's evaluation of him is full of controversy, but no one can deny that in the short 14 years of his reign, the national strength of the Pole Kingdom has risen rapidly, and he has gathered together a plate of scattered kingdom nobles in a very short period of time, creating an economic miracle that surpasses any previous era, the political situation of the kingdom has reached an unprecedented state of stability, and the military strength has increased by leaps and bounds. The two wars against the Orc Kingdom and the Kingdom of St. Olufe are even more talked about, and have become the enduring theme of later generations of bards.

"Ding--dang, dang, dang, dang......"

In a series of muffled jingle bells, a funeral procession dressed in black and a black horse meandered out of the palace with heavy steps. At the forefront are the new bishop of the kingdom, who is directly appointed by the royal family, and the six priests under the young bishop, who is only in his 30s. Seven clergy continued to sprinkle saints on both sides of the road, leading the mighty funeral procession forward.

This was followed by the coffin carried by eight high-ranking generals, including the captain of the guard, Sakoros, and the coffin of King Duris. Trailing behind was a phalanx of hundreds of spirit-sending people, all of whom were composed of knights, black robes, black helmets, black armor and black spears, silently following the king's coffin, with heavy steps with every step.

The bell towers of the palace and the church took turns ringing the mourning bells, and in a solemn silence, they saw off their king on his last journey.

And throughout the solemn funeral, Queen Catherine, the widow of King Duris, did not appear from beginning to end. The queen did not show up for two of the best reasons: first, she had not healed from the serious injuries she had sustained in the battle seven days earlier, and secondly, Princess Dieu, who was still unconscious, needed her mother's care more than the deceased king.

In the bedroom of Her Royal Highness the Princess, in addition to Di Yu, who was lying unconscious on the bed, there were two women sitting next to the bed.

On that day, Duris was indirectly injured by Sophia's "stigma", so any light-based healing magic did not work, and Sophia's magic attainment was helpless, no matter how high her magic attainment, she could only watch him die of salvation. Although this is a routine set by Christina, Sophia still can't let go of the sense of responsibility in her heart, Catherine lost her husband, and Diyu lost her father, and Sophia couldn't avoid this responsibility. So even after all her friends and subordinates left, Sophia remained in the palace and did what she could best.

After reaching out and probing Princess Dieucalyptus's forehead, and finding that there was nothing abnormal, Sophia frowned and expressed her doubts: "This is impossible! I have indeed cleared her body of all foreign magic and toxins, why haven't I woken up yet?"

"Of course she's not going to wake up now, because I drugged her. Empress Catherine said lightly.

"Why do you do that? those medicines are not good for her health! You will do double harm to her by doing this!" Sophia looked at the woman beside her, unable to believe that it was a mother who had done it.

"Because only by doing this can we paralyze the hearts of those inner demons and pull them out. Catherine stroked her daughter's hair, her eyes full of remorse and pity, "I know it will hurt Di Eucalyptus, but I also believe that if I can help her father, Di Eucalyptus will agree to me doing it." ”

"Who is the inner ghost, haven't you already found out? The dozen or so attendants, guards, and maids who were executed yesterday ......?"

"They're just minions! I don't believe that a few of them alone can have planted poisons and spells on Di Eucalyptus for so long under the noses of me and Duris. Over their heads, there must be an invisible black hand commanding. ”

"So what are you going to do? Can you find the black hand?"

"I can't do it. Catherine shook her head honestly, "I've been secretly investigating for the past few days, and I have never been able to find the slightest clue. The other party has been alerted. Almost everyone in my area is suspicious, and all I can do is find out who is really clean. Then I'm going to launch a purge in the palace to weed out all the people I've found to be okay, and then weeding out all the rest of the rest. ”

Hearing Catherine say this, Sophia couldn't help but tremble: "How can you do this? ”

Catherine smiled bitterly: "These bloody crimes, just bear these bloody crimes, Princess Sophia, your wings should not be tainted." ”

"What do you mean by that?"

"Don't you know? In fact, Duris had long expected that he would be assassinated, and he was not absolutely sure that he would survive this catastrophe, so ......" Catherine looked at Sophia and took a deep breath, "So, he left a testament, if he was not lucky, he would put you on the throne and take over the country." ”

"What? no, no, I can't ......" Sophia quickly shook her head and waved her hand, refusing.

"Of course, Duris also expects that you may not accept it. So he also left another edict: If you refuse to wear the crown, I will inherit the throne until Di Yu is old enough to be entrusted with important tasks. Catherine's face suddenly turned solemn, "If this is the case, the people of the Pole Kingdom will welcome a murderous queen after sending away a wise king." ”

"Catherine, you ......" Hearing such horrific words, Sophia tried to persuade Catherine, but when she came into contact with Catherine's gaze again, Sophia hesitated and swallowed back the positive words.

Maybe Catherine was stronger than ever, maybe her tears had dried in the first few days, but through the dry eyes of the woman who had lost her husband, Sophia saw an indescribable grief - not for her dead husband, but for herself who was about to sink into deep sin.

Eventually, the funeral ended at dusk. The coffin of King Duris was buried in the royal cemetery southwest of Hansar, where he became a neighbor of the former King of the Madanan Dynasty and Sophia's father, Valivy XI.

On the epitaph of King Duris, only two simple lines are inscribed:

"He wanted to open up a new world, so he had to bury himself with the old times. ”