The moonlight fell from the window and fell on the pink tent, and Swain looked at the bright moon outside the window, and his heart was extremely peaceful. He gently stroked Sophia's smooth back, the girl's figure was very slender, and through the silky skin, Sven could feel the softness of Sophia's ribs.

Perhaps awakened by Swain's touch, or perhaps Sophia never fell asleep, the girl stood up, her long hair falling onto Swain's chest.

"What are you thinking?" The body temperature of the two people in the bed made Sophia not feel any cold from the night, on the contrary, she felt a little hot, and the affection she wanted to pour out in her heart was accumulated in her chest, just waiting for the opportunity to speak.

"Your birthday is November 10th, am I not mistaken?"

"If you're mistaken, I'll be angry. Sophia wrinkled her nose and feigned anger.

"When your birthday is over, we'll get married. ”

Sophia looked at her brother blankly, the excitement and joy in her heart made her unable to believe what she had just heard, and she was eager to listen to his brother's words. "Y-What did you say?"

"Didn't grandfather wish we could marry when he was dying? The Jericho family never married other nobles to avoid the exodus of the title of Earl of Midnight, and, after all these years, I am reluctant to let you marry someone else. Swain brushed away the long hair that hung in front of Sophia and gently scratched her pretty nose. At this time, Sven's expression showed a rare tenderness, although it was not much, but it was enough to make Sophia intoxicated.

She hugged her brother tightly, tears streaming down her face, the words she had always longed to hear. Although she trusts her brother very much, without this promise, she has always had some worries in her heart, especially after the matter of Artmis, this worry makes her unable to put her mind at ease.

"Hmm......" she cried with a little emotion, in response to Swain's promise, "I've been looking forward to it, looking forward to this day...... I'll be a good wife!"

"Wife or something, you don't look like it now. Sven rubbed Sophia's long hair, and ruffled the long, freshly washed, fragrant black hair again, "Look at the way you're crying now, it's clear that you're a child." ”

"Brother, you always like to treat me as a child," Sophia frowned at Swain and bit Swain's neck lightly as if threatening, "I'm only two years younger than my brother, if I want to say that I'm a child, isn't my brother too?"

"As long as you keep doing this," Swain's eyes half-closed, "all the time, all the time, just make me feel at peace." ”

"Brother...... Sophia looked at Swain affectionately and kissed her brother's cold lips, "I will always be with you, always, all the ......time"

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When he set off the next day, Baron Deniz followed Swain on his way, and this time, Swain needed to show off the Jericho family in the imperial capital. Although he stabbed Michel VII and eliminated the biggest traitor for the Empire, Viscount Jericho also made a great deal of military achievement. Although Swayn had planned this in order to give his father an official knighthood and thus avoid his claim to the title of Earl of Midnight, he did not want to see Viscount Jericho's enormous fame rise due to this exploit that would threaten his position as the head of the Jericho family.

In addition to Baron Deniz, many servants who had served the Jericho family for generations also followed the road, making the number of people going to Deweide much larger, more than double when Artemis and the others arrived. Artemis was slightly dissatisfied with this, she came to pick up the eldest princess back to the imperial capital, not to pick up Swain, Swain made this pomp and circumstance, as if he was the protagonist.

However, since the eldest princess didn't say anything about it, Artemis couldn't complain. At this time, the eldest princess was in a much lower mood than yesterday, and last night Attmis found her and informed the eldest princess that Her Majesty Nicholas I was seriously ill.

She set out with a bit of confusion and confusion, and although she had ambitions for the throne of Emperor, she did not want to take it from her grandfather, Nicholas I. She wants a legitimate inheritance, not a conspiracy to usurp the throne, after all, Nicholas I is a kind and kind grandfather in her heart, even Crown Prince Alexander, who has always been not liked by the emperor very much and is often scolded, has a deep affection for her father, not to mention Caterina, who has been loved by her grandfather since she was a child.

Princess Celestia returned to her room after boarding the ship, and was not in the mood to enjoy the view of the sea. Originally, she was very fond of the sea, and when she was in the port of Konue, she often looked at the sea, and the vast sea gave people the illusion of freedom, but now, when she looked at the sea, she would think of the events on the Vincent, and she would also think of Charlotte's tragic experience.

Charlotte also followed the eldest princess on the boat, and the eldest princess wanted to bring Charlotte back to Deweide and give her a safe and prosperous living environment, so that she could grow up healthy and safe. However, the expectations of the eldest princess are destined to be disappointed, even if she wants to go to the imperial capital, the most prosperous city in the empire, Charlotte did not show any expected smile, she stayed in the cabin with the eldest princess, and kept looking at the book that Swain handed her, the little girl has made great progress now, she has been able to draw a qualified alchemy magic array according to the book, and can manipulate the elements slightly, although she can't make something substantial, but for a beginner who has never been exposed to magic, this is already a great progress, without anyone to guide her, Charlotte is completely based on her own talent to explore。

As Swain said, Charlotte is extremely talented, and she also has the hard work and determination necessary to succeed, and while the combination of these elements may not necessarily ensure her success, it can at least increase her chances of success.

When he met Charlotte, Artemis had not yet noticed the magic fluctuations on the little girl's body, but the vigilant and sensitive Yang soon noticed. His magic level is actually inferior to his sister's, but years of training have cultivated a wealth of experience and a skilled use of magic power, so he can sense Charlotte's very faint magic power, and Artemis can't detect it.

Young stayed on deck, the Forest was a medium-sized battleship, not as big as the Vincent, but it was enough to carry the men to Germany. He walked to the bow of the ship, where Swain was standing at the bow and looking out to sea, and Sophia was by his side, holding Swain's arm tightly.

"Count Jericho," Jan stepped forward and said to Swain, "may I ask you a few questions?"

The Jericho siblings turned around, and Sophia frowned slightly, slightly dissatisfied with Yang Lai for disturbing them. "Is there anything wrong with you?" said Sven, "I remember, you owe me an answer, don't you?" ”

"The explanation you want, we will naturally give it to you when we return to Deweide. However, now that we have the responsibility of protecting Her Royal Highness the Princess, we must clarify a few things first. Yang was not deterred by Sven's faint threat, he straightened his back, held his head high, and said meticulously.

"Excuse me. ”

"Who is that little girl next to Her Royal Highness? As Her Highness's bodyguard, I need to know the specific identity of everyone who approaches Her Highness's side. ”

"The little girl's name is Charlotte, and she was an orphan we rescued on the run. Swain leaned against the railing, tilting his head back slightly, looking down at Yang, "Her parents died a few years ago, so she was adopted by her aunt's family. We were on the same boat as her adoptive parents' family on our way to Fort Midnight. Because I couldn't let Pritown know about our whereabouts, and her two cousins seemed to have something wrong, I killed them all. Her Royal Highness the Princess was very merciful and insisted on keeping the little girl, so she adopted her by her side, and it seemed that she was now planning to bring her back to Dewei to raise. ”

Yang glanced at Sophia beside Swain, he knew that he couldn't see anything in Swain, so he wanted to find clues from Sophia. However, to his surprise, even if Swain talked so plainly about killing someone else's family, this Miss Jericho did not show any disgust or surprise, and seemed to regard her brother's behavior as a very natural and normal thing, and did not regard these actions that ordinary people considered evil as mistakes. This made Yang wary of Sophia, if it was an ordinary person, he would be a little surprised to hear such a horrific thing, but the two brothers and sisters seemed to regard this evil behavior as a matter of course for eating and drinking, even Yang felt a little frightened by the hearts of the Jericho brothers and sisters.

"You killed her parents, but you said you saved her, you really can say it. Yang sneered, although he was not surprised by the cold-blooded brother and sister of Jericho, he still did a good job of hiding his thoughts.

"It was the eldest princess who saved her, I am not her benefactor, to be precise, she hates me to the bone now. ”

"And you keep such a person by your side?" Yang stared at Swain, his gaze as sharp as his sword, "aren't you afraid that this little girl will pose a threat to the safety of Her Royal Highness?"

"This is a matter between you and Lesson Thirteen, and now the obligation to protect the eldest princess is borne by you, and I don't take this responsibility anymore, do I?"

"Hmph, we'll keep a record of this, and if something goes wrong, it's not something you can do without taking responsibility. Yang really didn't have much to do with Swain now, but he didn't want to show weakness verbally, so he still dropped a sentence.

"Whatever you want. Swain didn't mean to say anything more to Yang, he took Sophia and walked towards the cabin.

Yang, who remained on the deck, kept watching the siblings enter the cabin with cold eyes. He didn't think that Swain would be the kind of person who would leave a hidden danger because of the words of the eldest princess, he must have some intention not to kill Charlotte, and even, he didn't completely believe what Swain said just now.

"Still so cunning, so arrogant. He whispered a comment to Swain, and now, he needed to check Charlotte's identity. Just now, due to the occasion, it was inconvenient for him to ask Charlotte directly about the magic on her, not to mention that this kind of question would be meaningless even if she asked Swain, this Charlotte appeared with the eldest princess on the way Swain fled with the eldest princess, and it must be inseparable from Sven, ask him directly, Yang doesn't think he will get the answer.

However, there are many ways to know something, and Yang is an expert in this area. Perhaps compared with the Ministry of the Interior, the Thirteenth Lesson has a much worse means in this regard, but this does not mean that the Thirteenth Lesson does not have experts in this area.

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When the eldest princess and her entourage had just embarked on the road back to Deweide, in the Tiamat Palace, after several days of careful treatment by the court physician, the emperor's condition improved slightly. Because of the timely treatment and the emperor's own willpower far beyond ordinary people, after a struggle with the disease, Nicholas I finally spoke again, although his voice was very low and not very clear, but this at least showed that the emperor was gradually improving.

Crown Prince Alexander could not always be by his father's side because he had to take the place of the emperor, so he let his two sons, the first prince Alexei and the fourth prince Paul, take turns to take care of Nicholas I.

As the eldest grandson of the emperor, Prince Alexei Alexander Ivan No. Gion-Godunov was treated differently from his brothers and sisters, and the emperor was much stricter with him than with his other grandchildren.

Prince Alexei is fifteen years old, a year younger than his eldest sister and the second oldest of Nicholas I's grandchildren. As the second in line to the throne of the empire, the pressure faced by the eldest prince is not only from his grandfather Nicholas I, but also from his father, Crown Prince Alexander, which also makes his character more cowardly than his father Alexander, and even among his siblings, he has to be pressed on the head by the strong eldest sister Katarina, coupled with the fact that he is bound by many rules as the eldest grandson of the emperor, he has been bound by the expectations of others since he was a child, and he is always forced to listen to the opinions of his elders, which leads to his submissive personality and rarely has his own opinions.

Alexander was also clearly aware of his son's personality, and in his opinion, Alexei was less assertive than his younger brother Paul, but he was also more calm and able to listen to the opinions of those around him, which he was very optimistic about. The crown prince's political views were different from those of his father, Nicholas I, who believed that the current Cyrian Empire had expanded to the limit, and that continued expansion would only lead to resentment and boycott from other countries, and that the pressure on the empire by the Hadrian and Mahdian empires in both directions in Silesia and the Badajoz Peninsula was the result of the hardline foreign policy pursued during the reign of Nicholas I.

And it was precisely because of these ideas that Nicholas I was very disgusted with Alexander. Although in his later years, the Marquis de Metternich, the foreign minister, was removed and the moderate Mencken was appointed as foreign secretary, but the impression of Nicholas I's power over the other countries in his life still made them very afraid of the behemoth of Cyrieur, and organized this siege network.

However, although Alexander advocated a moderate attitude towards foreign affairs, he did not change the emperor's usual policy after his regency. He knew that a drastic change in the current state policy would only provoke the collective opposition of the cabinet ministers, who were not yet emperors, nor did he have the prestige of Nicholas I, and it would be difficult to subdue them, especially with his younger brother Beria, who was eyeing the throne.

Therefore, he maintained the policy left by Nicholas I before he suffered a stroke, and often consulted his father when the emperor was able to speak, and the two princes also listened to their father's wishes when they accompanied their grandfather, and read the newspaper for Nicholas I, so that the emperor on the sickbed would know the current situation.

In the emperor's bedroom, the first prince Alexei was reading today's newspaper for his grandfather, and he read the news word by word according to the newspaper very carefully, reading meticulously, like a rigid teacher reading the text, reading exactly according to the textbook.

The emperor was a little drowsy when he heard it, Alexei's voice was in the period of voice change, his voice was not as magnetic as Yang, but a little rough, but he couldn't see the royal superiority, just like those ordinary boys. And Alexei's tone is not distinctive, that is, he reads it page by page of the newspaper, in great detail, and even boring things are read word for word, even a healthy person who is in good spirits will be sleepy when he listens to it.

Alexander walked into the room, still holding a small notebook, and it seemed that he had come to ask the Emperor for a question. Seeing his father coming, Alexei immediately stopped reading the newspaper in a dull manner, stood up and gave up his seat to his father.

The crown prince patted Alexei on the head, he just liked his son, although he was not clever, but he was very well-behaved, and everything was done down-to-earth, without any fancy.

"Father, are you feeling better?" said Alexander, who reached the bedside, pinched the quilt for the emperor, and whispered in his father's ear.

Say. The Emperor said briefly. Although he can speak now, his voice is still very hoarse and deep, and it is difficult to make clear the longer sentences, so what he says now is also concise and to the point, and he does not like to go around in circles.

Alexander also knew his father's current situation, he didn't talk any more nonsense, and got down to business: "Lesson 13 has received Karin, and they are on their way back to Deweide, and Count Jericho is also coming. We haven't canonized him yet, and this time he killed the traitor Michelle, so you see, how are we going to reward him?"

The Emperor closed his eyes and thought about it, and although it was not difficult for him to speak now, there was still no obstacle for him to think about the problem. After thinking for a while, he opened his eyes again and spat out a few words from his shriveled lips: "Let him be a duke, his father, and also a knighthood." ”

Crown Prince Alexander was slightly surprised by the favorable treatment of the Jericho family, and there were few new nobles in the reign of Nicholas I, whether they were promoted to the rank of duke or newly crowned nobles. The last new nobleman was the Earl of Hecate of the Thirteenth Lesson, who was promoted from an untitled baron to the position of Earl of Glamorgan, and in the Silesian War, there were also a group of new military nobles, such as the Weiting family, which was promoted from knight to baron, but this time it was directly promoted to Earl Midnight to duke, and it was the first new duke since the reign of Nicholas I, not to mention, this time the Jericho family got the title of not only a duke, but also a real noble title.

"Is that good?" Alexander hesitated slightly, the empire had suppressed the nobility for many years, and had succeeded in suppressing the power of the nobility to a minimum. After the failure of this southern rebellion, the last southern nobles will also be collectively deprived of their territories, and the empire will completely control the south, but at this time, it is so generous to the Jericho family that he really can't understand it.

"Do as I say!" said the Emperor in a hurry, then closed his eyes and ignored his son.