On the night of January 5, 1704, in the south of the Valsta Peninsula, in the city of San Casrella.

In the bedroom of the giant mansion, Earl Langford Onassis is shirtless, lying on a magnificent bed reading the newspaper.

Princess Salantos Midknight, Countess, sat at the dresser, looking preoccupied.

In the mirror, the Countess was fair-skinned, with a high nose and deep eyes, silver-gray eyes that shone in the light of the fireplace, and her long, iron-gray thick hair was loosely spread over the shoulders of incense.

She wore a soft flannel nightgown embroidered with a delicate family crest, the night owl, the cuffs rolled up high, revealing her fair arms, and a pair of steady, powerful hands playing with small objects, occasionally caressing her abdomen.

A few weeks ago, the Countess found that her menstrual period had stopped, and she was often nauseous and vomiting for no apparent reason.

At that time, the Earl's personal physician, Baron Charles, came to the Countess's palace overnight to diagnose the Countess, and after the examination, the experienced old doctor smiled, announced that the Countess was pregnant, and offered his sincere blessings.

Langford Onassis, Earl of Santa Casrella, was in his sixties, and he was delighted to have a new son at such an age. He remained unmarried when he was young, and it was not until his twilight years that he relied on marriage to marry a noble princess.

Although he had many children in the early days, those children were born to him by his mistress, and by virtue of the origin of those children, he could not rightfully inherit the title of earl.

In terms of wealth, Langford Onassis has surpassed the whole continent and is as rich as the country.

In terms of status, he obtained the hereditary title of Count of Santa Casrea through marriage, and sat on a large fiefdom in the southern part of the peninsula.

In terms of military prowess, he is the founder of the Free Trade Alliance, and the mercenary legions that once allegiance to the Free Trade Alliance and the powerful fleet of the Chamber of Commerce continue to be under his command, and these private armies are scattered in the southern part of the Valsta Peninsula, and their overall strength is second only to those on the mainland.

He already had everything he desired, and all he cared about was how to preserve his legacy, how to perpetuate his wealth and status.

Now, an heir of noble blood has become his most urgent demand.

The child born to the princess will undoubtedly become his rightful heir, and this child will inherit the title and fief of the Count of Santa Casrea, so that the Onassis family will firmly establish themselves among the great nobles of the peninsula, and enjoy eternal glory and wealth for generations to come.

To the Earl of Langford, the boy was too important to be lost.

You must let her wild and arrogant lady endure her temperament, keep the fetus, and wait for her to give birth to the child safely, and then she will ride a horse or practice a sword, whatever she wants to go out and go crazy.

Princess Salantos loved to dance with knives and guns, and under the persuasion of her husband, she reluctantly pressed her active nature for the sake of the child in her womb, and reluctantly lived a mediocre, noble woman's life.

It had been weeks since she had been away from her training and polo games, and she had spent her days recuperating in the mansion like an ordinary noblewoman, and the servants treated her like a critically ill patient, a life that was boring to her.

Today is another boring day.

In addition to enjoying the meal, she can only pass the time by learning to tailor, and when night falls, she sits at the dressing table and tries her best to have some fun.

She arranged the jewelry boxes, lipsticks, eyeliners, brushes and other knick-knacks on the table in various arrays, and she imagined the formation of the battlefield in her mind, imagining the crackling of the firewood burning in the fireplace as the sound of artillery fire, and muttering command slogans in her mouth, like a child playing with toy soldiers.

(People must think I'm naïve), she thought with a wry smile.

"Honey, rest early, staying up late is not good for the fetus." The Earl of Langford put down the newspaper and whispered to his wife at the dresser.

"You really look like my personal maid in Jinhu Palace, take care of this and that, endlessly! I haven't been out all day, I'm bored to death! The Countess grumbled with displeasure on her face, and with the force of her fingers, she broke a sturdy eyebrow pencil into three pieces.

The Earl just smiled and said to himself: (What a wayward princess.) He shook his head helplessly, picked up the newspaper and continued reading.

Suddenly, there was a barking of dogs outside, followed by the shouting of many servants:

"There's an intruder! Hold it! Don't move! ”

The Countess was alert, she stood up and looked out the window, where the dark courtyard was full of flickering torches.

"Bang! Boom! Boom! With a few muffled sounds, the yard became noisier.

The countess had a stern expression, she had been on the battlefield, and the voice was all too familiar to her.

"Husband, listen, there are gunshots!"

"I hear you, don't panic, dear. I guess the thief gang was discovered by the guards, after you became pregnant, I doubled the number of guards, just a few thieves, and it will end soon. ”

The Countess was still looking out the window, and despite her dressing gown and bare feet, she maintained the alertness characteristic of a soldier.

"Husband, I'm sure it's not a thief. There are so many intruders that they're coming for us, and you're about to put on your dressing gown, and it's too late to get to the locker room. ”

As she spoke, she pulled off the hem of her dressing gown so that her legs could move, and then ripped the seams on the neckline and sleeves as well, freeing her shoulders and arms.

In the face of the crisis, the countess did not show any fear, but was a little excited, and the instinctive wildness that had been suppressed for a long time burst out, and she moved the muscles and bones of her whole body, her spine and knuckles gurgled, and a pair of sharp silver-gray eyes exuded a fierce and powerful gaze.

At this moment, the door of the bedroom was suddenly pushed open, and the couple were startled, and the earl's personal valet, Old Will, staggered in and almost fell.

Old Will saw that the countess by the window was disheveled, and hurriedly apologized: "Master, madam! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's urgent! It's too late to knock on the door! ”

The Earl of Langford glared at the old servant with a hint of irritation in panic.

The Countess said unhurriedly: "It's okay, Mr. Will, I will have to be taken care of by you when I give birth in the future, there is nothing to avoid, don't worry, something happened, say it slowly." ”

Old Will trembled and said, "A group of well-armed thugs has attacked, at least more than a hundred people!" I've lost contact with the captain of the guard, and the guards are fighting the thugs in the lobby on the first floor! The housekeeper can't be found, and now it's just me and a few maids left upstairs, what can I do! The old servant was so anxious that his eyes were red and he was at a loss.

"Oh my God, who? How can it be...... Extremely daring! The Earl of Langford said angrily, hurriedly putting on his dressing gown.

"Very well, Mr. Will. You didn't run away alone, and you thought about telling us, you did a good job, stand down, and run away with those maids. You are not the target of the mob, and they should not pursue you. ”

Old Will trembled, plucked up his courage and said, "No...... We swear to protect the Lord and the Lady to the death! We're going to ......"

The Countess interrupted him impatiently: "Will, you can't help anything, listen to me, leave the battle to the guards, take the maids upstairs, and go quickly!" ”

The Earl of Langford felt a lot more relieved when he saw the resolute expression of his wife, and he felt that he was so flustered as a man, and he seemed very shameless.

He waved his hand at Old Will, "You heard what my wife said, let's go." ”

Looking at Old Will's staggering back, Earl Langford turned to his wife and said, "My dear, I believe the guards can hold it, you don't have to worry about it......"

Halfway through his words, the Count saw his wife smash the mezzanine of the cabinet with a candlestick, and drew a frightening heavy cavalry saber from it.

The Countess lovingly held the heavy blade of the sword, as if she had seen an old friend whom she had not seen for a long time, and smiled like a flower.

She flipped her wrist and practiced a few tricks in a row, which was what the princess of military uniform, Salantos Midknight, should look like, the night owl of the Midnight family was a ferocious bird, she had long been fed up with the tailor's handiwork, and steel and gunpowder were more reassuring to her.

"You hid your weapons in our bedroom? Feed! Watch out for our kids, be small! There was some reproach in the earl's tone, more helplessness.

"Don't blame you, husband, I'm used to keeping my sword with me, and I secretly hid this guy in the cabinet last week when you were out of the house, you see, isn't this coming in handy."

"You think the guards can't stop this mob?"

"If an invader dares to attack the Earl's Palace, he must have come prepared, and we must prepare for the worst.

Look at the torches outside, the invaders have surrounded the courtyard, they should let the servants go, but we can't, as soon as we go out, we will die, we must find a place to hold on, and hold out until the reinforcements arrive, only in this way can we live. ”

At this time, the gunshots and shouts downstairs were clearer, mixed with the screams of the wounded.

"Listen to the voice, they should go up to the second floor, husband, we have to hurry upstairs, I think about it, go to the attic, quick!"

Without waiting for the earl to reply, she clutched her saber in one hand and took her husband in the other hand and walked towards the door.

The two counts, dressed in dressing gowns and barefoot, strode out of the bedroom and ran towards the stairs.