The lone dhow slowly approached land, the sailors dropped anchor, and the ship anchored in a ruined fishing port that had long been abandoned.

The three horses were led out of the cabin and stepped on the planks to land, where their attendants took off their blindfolds, saddled them, and loaded their bags, while the three knights next to them were also packing their bags.

Ready, the men of the ship watched the three knights disappear into the dust, and watched them disappear at the end of the road.

The leading knight was tall, dressed in a black tweed coat with a towering hood covering his face, followed closely by two able-bodied retinues.

By the evening, they had gone far inland and settled in an idyllic town.

Along the way, the tall knight in the lead never lifted his hood, and as soon as he arrived at the hotel, he entered the room, leaving all the chores to the two servants.

After three days and nights of trekking, the group finally saw the huge outline of a fortress city, which was Fort Midknight, the capital of the Duchy of Valstad.

They went to the countryside on the outskirts of the city, where it was evident that after the coup d'état had been in a tense atmosphere, with warning signs and patrols of the police and gendarmes on the roads, the knights stayed away from the main road, crossed the ridge paths, evaded the investigation several times, and finally reached Fort Midknight without danger.

The two men bowed down to the man in black and said goodbye, and they turned on their horses and returned to the southern part of the peninsula to resume their lives.

The man in black with a hood tied his horse, hid his bags in a pile of weeds by the roadside, and then strode alone in the direction of the city gate.

It was an extraordinary time, and the guards at the city gate were extremely vigilant, asking for the identification of everyone who entered the city, carefully checking everyone's face, and comparing it with the wanted notices posted on the notice board outside the city.

The tall man in black walked towards the crowd and happened to witness a dispute, a fruit seller and a customer were fighting, the man in black hid behind the crowd watching the excitement, she tightened her hood and tugged her scarf upward, revealing only a pair of deep silver-gray eyes, secretly observing the numerous bulletin boards.

The so-called notice board is several huge wooden boards, which are densely plastered with wanted notices, as many as hundreds.

Most of the wanted people were loyal to the free trade alliance forces in the south of the principality, from admirals to city-state masters, from pirate captains to mercenary leaders, all of whom were accused of "rebelling against the party of the princess".

The man in black walked to the largest notice board, on which were posted the wanted notices of several traitorous criminals, and the top one was prominently marked in bold letters:

"The main culprit of the coup: Princess Salantos Midnet, the illegitimate daughter of the Duke, the heinous murderer of relatives, whose crimes included plotting to kill two princes and the Duke, attempting to stage a coup d'état to become a duchess, tried by the Chancellor and sentenced to death. If an informed person provides information to assist in the arrest of the main culprit, a reward of 100,000 gold guilders may be paid. ”

The head of the princess in uniform was marked with red paint with ten dazzling crosses, and next to it was marked in striking red letters: "The main culprit has been killed by the Duchy Commissioner, and the bounty is void." ”

The princess's wanted warrant was stained with rotten eggs and rotten leaves, giving off an unpleasant, rotten smell of food.

The two wanted warrants for the main culprits next to them are the princess's husband: "Langford Onassis, Count of Santa Casralia, president of the Free Trade League", and the princess's teacher, "President of the National Military Academy, Chief Military Adviser of the Golden Lake Palace, Field Marshal Simon Gallieni".

The Man in Black paused near the notice board and walked away quickly, skirting the gates and walking beneath the towering walls until she stopped in a deserted corner.

She threw her sharp hook with great force, fastening it firmly to the battlements, then grabbed the rope and climbed up the wall with her feet, her hands and feet as strong as a bull.

The guards on the wall did not notice that a black shadow had quietly passed by them, moving as swiftly as a cat, and jumping softly from the city wall to one of the eaves in the city, and the mortal body could never withstand the force of this height.

The Man in Black seemed to know the city well, and after a brief observation, she jumped and shuttled through the ancient rooftops of Fort Midknight with astonishing agility, avoiding the patrols that filled the streets, and arrived at the Golden Lake Palace, the heart of the fortified city, in just one hour.

The man in black hid in the woods outside the fence of the Golden Lake Palace, and easily found the entrance to the drainage system of the Golden Lake Palace.

She pulled out a huge black iron key, opened the rusty iron fence door, and went to the dark world alone, deep into the huge underground labyrinth.

She seemed to be able to see the road without the help of light, a pair of silver-gray eyes shone in the darkness, and found an iron door in a piece of rotten mud, which was an ancient and hidden secret passage, leading directly to the interior of the Golden Lake Palace, and the man in black took out the rusty key, opened the heavy iron door, and disappeared into the depths of this dark and lengthy tunnel.

At this time, in the sanatorium of the Golden Lake Palace, Duke Easter Midknight was lying quietly on his hospital bed, his skin was charred and blackened, some muscle tissue was exposed, and pus oozed from it, giving off the smell of decay. He had been unconscious for a week, and had not reacted except for the occasional lapse of open lips and the occasional spasm.

"Oh, don't go, Miss Irene...... I failed you...... If I were given another chance, I would never leave the hut, and I would never ......," the Duke murmured.

"I'm talking in my dreams again."

"What is His Majesty the Duke talking about?" A cabinet minister asked, covering his face with a handkerchief.

Prince West-Midknight covered his nose in a pained gesture and shook his head:

"My poor brother, apparently, is in a nightmare, suffering both physically and mentally, I can't bear to look at it anymore, let's go."

After the prince and his ministers left, the doctor applied medicine to the duke, and the nurse pried open his mouth and fed him nutritious gruel.

"The prince has an order, everyone leaves this room, His Majesty the Duke needs to recuperate quietly!" An officer pushed open the door and commanded.

"But...... Your Majesty he...... Your life is in danger at any time! ”

"Shut up! This is the order of His Majesty the Prince, he is the next Duke, you just have to obey the order! ”

The doctors and nurses looked at each other, sighed and left, leaving the Duke alone on his sickbed, quietly waiting for death to come.

A moment later, there were two muffled noises outside the door, and the man in black stepped over the bodies of the two guards, and she walked into the hospital room and gently closed the door.

She took off her hood and scarf, revealing her true face, which was the rumored princess in military costume who had long since died.