Louis XIV was an ordinary man, but like any ordinary person, he had a thirst for power and money, and he did not consider himself a villain, nor did he consider himself a saint. When he was born at the Château de Saint-Germain-les-Leon on the outskirts of Paris, he did not immediately recognize his identity from the unfamiliar language and vague figures, and even for a while he thought he was a girl, because his swaddling clothes were lace and he wore a lace hat.

And when he finally understood that he was not a girl, but a boy, he was carried by his father to the minister, and in French, Louis pronounced clearly and was the first word he understood, and the prince in French, although the same as in English, was usually called His Royal Highness, "v" The French pronunciation at the beginning was incomprehensible to him in any way, until at last a cardinal gentleman, better known as Richelieu, came before them and saluted the king, and Louis's eyes widened with the familiar little yarella.

Although he was not very interested in real history before, he at least knew that the cardinal was a proof of cardinals, and that a cardinal would only salute so humbly to two people, His Excellency the Pope of Rome and the other ...... It can only be a king.

He remembered that he had raised his head vigorously to see the emaciated and pale man, Louis had never imagined that his father would be so illustrious - Louis XIII was not a man of luxury in private, and perhaps for this reason he was not compatible with his mother, Marie Medici from Florence, Italy, and in his spare time, he always wore a plain black coat, white leggings, and a shirt with large lapels, and looked not much different from the nobles who came and went in the castle.

And he was quite amiable to men, and Louis was very gentle to women, Louis meant to take care of his two nurses, the Marquise de Sévia and the Marquise de Ransezzi, and to Louis's mother, though not close, but also polite.

It's a pity that Louis XIII spent very little time with Louis Jr., Louis XIII and his wife Anne of Austria had no children for twenty-three years, and Louis died when he was five years old because he fell into the water on horseback - Louis remembered that he was taken to a gloomy room filled with a strange scent, his father lying on his bed, a scarlet blue morning robe over his loose linen shirt, and he had seen Mazaran and several ministers around his bed, Mazaran was even sobbing quietly, and the nurse was holding him close to the king, and the king's cold lips touched his forehead and cheeks, and then he was taken out.

After about a while, Mazaran came out of the room, stroked his head, and said, "Cry, child, the king is dead." “

Then he heard— Some say that the queen mother, Marie Medici, cursed her son on her deathbed in a way peculiar to Italian witches, because Louis XIII did not side with her in the political struggle with Richelieu, but also expelled her from Paris, deprived her of her property and annuity, and finally died a miserable death in the desolation of Angge, while others say that the king was indeed cursed, but the curse did come not from his mother, but from his wife, because Louis XIII's queen Anne was born in Habsburg, and the Habsburgs of Austria were France's eternal enemiesThey said it was tangible, and even how Louis XIII was dragged off his horse by a huge swamp monster was vividly depicted, as if they were watching from the sidelines.

There are also those who insist that the king's death may be related to his younger brother, Gaston, Duke of Orleans, who was the second heir to the throne when Louis XIII had no son, and people called him the eldest brother, but since Louis XIII had Louis, and then Philippe, Gaston had only one daughter, and he was not eligible to run for the throne - he could not be without resentment, and Louis XIII had always been very defensive against him.

In 1632, against the king's wishes, he made a secret marriage contract with Marie Lorraine, sister of the Duke of Lorraine, and Louis XIII sent troops, and the Duke fled to Flanders, where he suddenly became interested in the works of the Bosch School, and even while in exile he collected many paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and according to those who had seen them, the person who could paint them was not the devil, but also the devil-possessed - There are hollow minds, flying eyeballs, burning castles, long-legged fish, and half-monster, half-human "things......

In 1642, Henry, Marquis of Sanmars, assassinated Richelieu at his instigation, he was accused but finally exonerated safely, and because he had been forgiven by the king and Richelieu in his previous two rebellions, it was rumored that the Duke of Orleans had made an alliance with the devil, and those works of the Bosch school were his contracts with the devil, with the help of which he confused the king and the cardinal.

The death of the king was therefore naturally attributed to the jealousy of the Duke of Orleans, and Louis XIII was also a skilful rider, and his horses were so good that it was impossible for him to fall on such a small mound.

Before Louis danced face to face with the werewolves, he thought that these were people's imagination or intimidation of the church, even if he began to watch Mass and fast with Queen Mother Anne, and met countless priests and ascetics, but he really did not think that these might be true.

The devil is real, the werewolf is real, the witch is real, and he hasn't been able to see it yet...... All kinds of non-human creatures.

Louie thought he had something to say.

At the end of the night, he tossed and turned, and at dawn he barely felt a little sleepy when he heard Bishop Mazaran gently push the door away, and who knew that only a moment later, a small body squeezed in again—Louis moved under the pillow, holding the hand of the dagger, and asked quietly: "Philip, how did you come here?

"Henriette is coming," said Philip, "I hate her." ”

"She's your cousin. Louis said, "You have to be polite to her." ”

"She's a pig. ”

"You shouldn't be so rude, even to a lady. Louie said, yawning as he felt his pajamas be pulled.

"Look at my hat. Philip said.

Louis opened his eyes in pain: "It's beautiful, what?"

Philippe watched Louis in the dark, he was only two years younger than Louis, he was eight years old, he was a boy of course, but the Queen Mother and the maids always liked to dress him up in a flowery and eye-catching way, and the skullcap he wore was unmistakable in silver satin and dark gold embroidery even in the dimly lit room, and his hair was carefully curled by the tongs and draped over his shoulders under the layers of lace, and because of his rosy cheeks and blue round eyes, it was hard to think that this was Louis's brother and not his sister。

Louis also always wore a long skirt that mopped the floor, wore a lace hat, and stepped on small satin shoes as a child, but when he was able to express his wishes, his mother and Richelieu performed a simple "suspender" ceremony for him, and in the presence of the princes and ministers, he changed his skirt and put on leggings, and appeared in front of everyone with a new look.

At that time, he was not yet six years old, and generally speaking, aristocratic boys in France would perform this ceremony between the ages of six and eight, but neither Mazaran nor the Queen Mother mentioned the intention of holding a "slingpants" ceremony for Philippe again - boys in this era were not considered adults, only adult men were eligible to wear trousers, so boys wore long skirts like girls, and once this ceremony was held, it showed that he was already a man - That is, from the day he changed into trousers, Philip was eligible to compete with him for the throne.

"My mother always said that I was the cutest little girl she had, Brother Wang. Philip said, "What about you, do you think I am?

Louis was completely sleepy, and he held his brother's hand, and an indecipherable emotion welled up in his heart, making it extremely difficult for him to say the words that followed: "Philip, you must remember my words. ”

"What?"

"You are of course the loveliest, but the loveliest person, and also the bravest. ”

"The cutest and bravest?"

"Yes, my brother, the two are not in conflict, you will be the loveliest and the bravest. Louis paused for a moment, and the room fell into a chilling silence, he was close to his brother, his brother, not his sister, an eight-year-old boy should have established the correct sense of gender, he held Philippe's hand harder and harder, maybe Bishop Mazaran and the Queen Mother just wanted to avoid a brotherly rivalry, which would cause more turmoil, but he couldn't look at Philip, even if not Philip, just an ordinary boy, who was deliberately led down a rough and painful path— He didn't know much about this history, and maybe it would be useless to understand it, after all, there were no witches and werewolves in what he had read, but he had heard about the tragedy of Philip, the future Duke of Orleans—if Philip had been an adult, had a mature mind, and could make his own choices, he would not interfere, but Philip was only eight years old now.

Philip's biggest mistake may have been to be his brother, but he should not be held responsible.

"I will ask Mr. Bishop and Mother to perform the 'suspenders' ceremony for you," said Louis, "maybe not so soon, but you have to believe me, you are my brother, and you will have to do this ceremony." ”

Philip looked at him in the dark, and the eyes of children were always bright, even in the faintest light, they were like a pair of twinkling stars.

"I believe in you. Philip whispered, "I believe in you, brother." ”