After being imprisoned by Swain, Pete was finally able to understand how Duke Edward felt when he was imprisoned here.

As an important prison for political prisoners, the environment here is not bad, and the conditions are similar to ordinary B&Bs outside, which is quite comfortable. However, after all, it is cut off from the outside world, and for Pete, it is impossible to know the information of the outside world, which is a very boring thing.

Of course, despite the lack of information from the outside world, Pete was never lonely, and Swain imprisoned his former colleagues with him, and in this prison, the former cabinet was almost half gathered.

The former prime minister was frustrated by his time in prison with nothing to do, but on this day, he welcomed a different kind of visitor.

Pete looked at the Duke of Pesa in front of him, his expression was slightly strange.

"Shalu, I didn't expect you to come. The corners of Pete's mouth twitched tightly, and he was a little uncertain about the Duke of Pesa's intentions, "I hope you didn't bring me bad news." ”

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, this is what I have brought you. The Duke of Pesa took a newspaper from his bosom, "I guess you haven't heard from outside for a long time. ”

"I'm not Prime Minister anymore, you don't have to call me that anymore. Pete took the newspaper from the Duke of Pesa and glanced at the headlines, "It's the news of the bank collapse again?" ”

"Yes—" said the Duke of Pesa, as he lowered his head and said in a sighing tone, "There is no news of the arrest and imprisonment of the former cabinet ministers, and the storm is a little too strangely calm. ”

The Duke of Pesa's words made Pete think.

"So, as far as you know, is there anything particularly noteworthy?"

The Duke of Pesa shook his head with a smile. "Ha, Count Pete, I'm just a crane in the clouds. ”

Pete looked deeply at the Duke of Pesa for a long time before he spoke: "So, you came today, is there anything else besides bringing me this newspaper?"

He stared closely at the Duke of Pesa's rugged face, as if trying to see the hidden expression in the thick hair of the other man.

"There's nothing special. "If there is one thing to say, it is that Wood's son Karl has resigned as the Prime Minister's Principal Private Secretary. ”

"Carl?" Pete was slightly stunned, he really hadn't thought of Carl's matter before, but when Duke Pesa said this, he also felt normal, "Carl is my assistant, and now he has the heart to advance and retreat with me, so it's not strange." By the way, where is Rudolph?"

"Marshal Rudolph was on the train and was coming to Dévid day and night, and heard that it was almost midnight fort. ”

"Midnight Castle......" Pete muttered the word, "Midnight Castle......"

He rubbed his temples, and a feeling of exhaustion hit his mind.

"So, what about the situation at the front?"

"Before Marshal Rudolph left the front, Kogas accepted his persuasion to surrender, and Port Bies lost its support and foreign aid, and the south was largely pacified. However, the situation in León is not good, and several remnants of the Leon royal family have fled to Kogas for refuge, and then presumably to Deweide. ”

"However, in the current situation, the empire has no way to help them. Pete let out a long sigh, "With such internal instability, how can we help Leon recover the country? Not to mention that Hadrian is also watching from the sidelines...... Your Royal Highness the Princess, this is sending the empire to the precipice!"

"On this matter," interrupted Pete as the Duke of Pesa interrupted, "perhaps you don't know that Count Jericho has already had a private meeting with Minister Hadrian on behalf of Her Royal Highness. ”

"Privately...... Pitt suddenly had a bad feeling, since it was a private meeting, then the Foreign Ministry could not intervene, so that no one could stop Swain, "What is the result? What do you know?"

"I don't know the exact emotion. Duke Pesa smiled bitterly, "It's just that there are some rumors from the Tiamat Palace, and the Minister of the Situation Pomeles was very angry when he left the Tiamat Palace, and it is obvious that the results of the talks did not satisfy him, and even said ...... He was provoked and insulted in a manner inconsistent with diplomatic etiquette. ”

Pete clenched the newspaper in his hand, and when the Duke of Pesa said this, he had a vague suspicion, because it was too much in line with Swain's style.

"Damn, he doesn't want to open another front in Silesia! Even when His Majesty Nikolai is alive, he can only maintain the war in one direction in Silesia, and if he fights on two fronts, what will Jericho do to win!"

He shouted as if the Duke of Pesa was now in front of him as Swain.

"Why are these young people so self-righteous? Where do they get their confidence, do they know what they're doing?"

The Duke of Pesa bowed his head and did not speak.

"What about Her Highness the Princess, how did she react?"

The Duke of Pesa shrugged his shoulders. "As you know, Her Highness Catalina now has complete trust in Count Jericho. Of course, this is not ununderstandable, after all, it is a young man......"

Pete remembered when Swain had entrusted him with a gift to Katarina, and all the confusion stemmed from the pistol.

"Damn!" Pete threw the newspaper in his hand on the ground, "who else can advise Her Royal Highness the princess, who else can stop this war, who else can save this empire!"

"Perhaps......" the Duke of Pesa tried to reassure the former prime minister who had lost his temper, "perhaps things will get better when Marshal Rudolph arrives in Germany." ”

"And what are we going to do with Hadrian? If Jericho really threatens Pomeles with war, we can't take it back. ”

Pete paced anxiously back and forth in his cell, pondering a solution.

"This kind of thing is already very noteworthy, you should have told me in the first place!" Pete, in distress, couldn't help but lose his temper at Duke Pesa, but as soon as he said it, he immediately realized that he shouldn't have said it, "I'm sorry, I'm ...... I'm not in a good mood these days. ”

"I can understand that. The Duke of Pesa nodded and looked at Pete with some sympathy, "If there's anything I can do to help, I'll do my best." ”

Pete pondered, and finally, the figure that came to his mind was the one he least wanted to think of.

"Thresy Daxda. ”

"What?"

Pete took a deep breath, then his gaze steady. "Shalu, you have always been a very good person, and we are all willing to believe in you. You have a very good relationship with anyone, but you are not a person who sees the wind and protects yourself, you have your own principles, and I know this very well. ”

He grabbed Duke Pesa's hand and said earnestly, "Now, I will entrust you with the future of the empire." Listen, Seresy Daxda of the third lesson of the old Ministry of the Interior, maybe he can have a way. The Ministry of the Interior was accustomed to doing shady things under Beria, and perhaps, the only thing we can rely on now is this means of breaking the rules. ”

The Duke of Pesa stared at Pete very seriously, and there was no doubt in his eyes. "Are you sure?, no matter what means are used, if such a man were to bring down Count Jericho, it would probably not be a good thing for the Empire. ”

"Sharu, the internal decay can always be managed slowly, but once the external form is destroyed, then there is no possibility of resurrection of the empire. "I know it's not necessarily the right choice, but it's my only choice right now." ”

He picked up the newspaper, then took out a pen on his head and quickly wrote a string of words on the newspaper.

"He had come to us for help and promised that he could take down Jericho, and I was hesitating, but now I don't have time to hesitate. Pete handed the newspaper to Pesa, "Take this, the people in this prison still have some influence, everything can only be entrusted to you, Seresi may not be reliable, I hope you can try to save some." Also, if possible, find a way to help Ernest. ”

The Duke of Pesa solemnly took the crumpled newspaper. "Rest assured, I will do my best to protect the Empire. ”

Pete nodded in relief. "Then please. ”

——————————————————

After leaving the prison, the Duke of Pesa immediately got into the carriage, and instead of letting his car drive home, he told the coachman to go to the Grand Chapel of Garons.

And in his car, there was another passenger.

Karl looked at the Duke of Pesa in silence, not only from the silence of his voice, but also from the dull lifelessness of his body.

"Very lucky. The Duke of Pesa held up the newspaper in his hand, "Pete trusts me. ”

Carl nodded, not saying more.

"Actually, it might be more appropriate for you to do this, right?" Although Karl didn't mean to say much, the Duke of Pesa still chatted with him with great interest, "You are his chief private secretary after all." ”

Karl shook his head. "Jericho is already checking on me. ”

There are no superfluous words, but for such a smart man as the Duke of Pesa, this is clearly enough.

"But, in that case, Jericho is likely to be suspicious of me, isn't it? ”

"You can rest assured of this. Karl took the newspaper from the Duke of Pesa's hand and stuffed it into his pocket.

"I hope so. The Duke of Pesa shrugged.

Despite the Duke of Pesa's efforts to find a topic along the way, Karl was too silent, his mouth was like a nailed plank, and no matter what the Duke of Pesa said, Karl never said a few words.

The carriage gradually drove out of Deweide, and as they were about to reach the Great Chapel of Garons, they first drove into a small forest.

Although the trees were sparse, the tall trees blocked the sunlight, making the light inside the carriage dim for a moment.

Duke Pesa sighed for no reason.

Karl glanced at him, but still didn't speak.

"That's pretty much it, where my wife and daughter died seven years ago. There was a deep sadness in his eyes, but there was no falsehood in that feeling, "Alas, it's been seven years......"

Karl still did not speak, and lowered his head, no longer looking at the expression of the Duke of Pesa.

The Duke of Pesa didn't bother with Karl either, he seemed to be just talking to himself, not talking to Karl.

"How long has it been since I've felt this kind of sadness? Wearing a mask all day long, facing others with a false smile, and even forgetting my own feelings, should I say that I am sarcastic, or should I say that I deserve it?"

There were a few birdsongs in the forest, and between the indistinguishable light and shadow, the line between black and white seemed to be confused.

"I'm sorry......" Duke Pesa muttered, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes.

And in the woods, all that answered him was the song of birds.