Section 259 of the past

"Auntie, has anyone been looking for you?" Ashruphat asked again after a deep groan.

"Yes. The old woman smiled wryly. "I've been forced to compromise because they think you're ...... It is very suitable to be the husband of Her Majesty the Queen. Those two girls are completely superfluous!"

"Force?" Ashrufat was a little surprised, it was hard to imagine that someone like Aunt Mary would give in lightly.

"There are many ways in this world to force a person to compromise. "Aunt Mary may have seen Ashrufat's astonishment. "Well, that's all I know. ”

"I'm ...... Why did you lose your memory?" Ashruphat finally asked.

"I don't know. I found you lying on the side of the road, covered in wounds and unconscious. ”

"I passed...... Have you seen the two of them?"

"Well, like I said, before you lost your memory, you were a dark mage, a mercenary, a shameless scoundrel. Aunt Mary, perhaps having exhausted all her strength, closed her mouth and turned her gaze back to the painting. In a sense, her expression at the moment is very similar to that of the male protagonist in the painting, who is also physically and mentally exhausted because of the heavy pressure on her back.

Eshurufat, who was beside her, had somehow stood up. Instead of going upstairs, he opened the door and walked out. Maybe he also needs to calm down and think carefully about the shocking news he just knew.

Aunt Mary's paintbrush dipped in the paint box, and then dotted Count Mikael's light blue eyes on the painting. It has been said that art requires a full range of physical, mental and emotional commitments. Aunt Mary's pen at this moment clearly illustrates this point. After drawing the eyes, Count Mikael's face quickly came to life, not so much a painting as a memory from the depths of his soul. The corners of the earl's mouth curled slightly, and the smile was mixed with an indescribable burden.

Perhaps instinctively trying to escape the pressures of reality in this way, Aunt Mary was so preoccupied with the painting that she had no idea when Ashrufat would return.

"It's ...... Count Mikael......? First husband?"

"Yes. Aunt Mary replied.

From a completely objective point of view, this Count Mikael and Aerufar are quite similar in size, but they are only body shapes, their face shapes and facial features are very different, and no one can be mistaken. In addition to this, Ashrufat had a large scar on the bridge of his nose, but Count Mikael's face was clean.

"He's the Border Lord, the Guardian of the White Keep?"

Aunt Mary nodded, not answering. The brush in her hand was coloring Count Mikael's face. Count Mikael's face is pale, but his expression is as resolute as a piece of iron. In the candlelight, Ashruphat saw a teardrop slip from the corner of Aunt Mary's eye.

"He's right in front of me...... Swallowed his last breath......"

The White Keep is a large fortress built by Gruney to defend against the invasion of the Chaos Legions. According to the history books, it was designed, built, and improved by the wilderness sage Garunas himself. Later, it was rebuilt many times. Over the years, the castle has become a key place in the fight against the Chaos invasion. And the most critical factor in the disaster caused by the last Chaos invasion was also because the enemy captured the White Fort by surprise with the help of a traitor. If that hadn't happened, the invasion would have been like all previous wars, and the Chaos Legion would have finally collapsed under the fortified city.

"Auntie, I want to know...... What happened?" Ashruphat remembered that the book said about the battle. During the siege, the Chaos Legion was attacked by the rear of Gruny's reinforcements, and was almost completely wiped out by the front and rear attacks. Several Chaos Lords were all slain on the battlefield. But at the same time as this glorious victory, the defender of the White Castle, the aunt's first husband, Count Mikael, also died a glorious death in the melee. That's all there is to it. As for what the battle was like, why the castle had not fallen and the defenders had died, and how Count Mikael had died, none of this has been mentioned. Historians don't care about the details, but people who have experienced it are different.

"What do you know about the White Castle?"

"I spent 10 years there. I've been living there ever since I married him...... I had the best time of my life there. Aunt Mary stopped her paintbrush. Count Mikael's face was half drawn, but she had no strength to paint it any longer. She stared at the painting, her mind already back to the past.

"It's a beautiful city...... A lot of people say it's a fortress, but I think it's a city. White Fort is large and is a well-organized and bustling city. It's so much better than my hometown. Although it is a border, the surrounding environment is beautiful...... Standing on the highest tower, the scenery ...... Hehe, in fact, ordinary people are not allowed to go up to that place, but I can quietly drink afternoon tea on it......"

“...... I'll never forget that day...... It was as if it had only been overnight, and the tension spread throughout the city. Everywhere there is talk about the war. Everyone is saying that one of the largest Chaos legions ever built is heading towards the White Keep. Mikael locked himself and a group of men in the council chamber and didn't come out for a whole day. My sisters and I were a little panicked...... Then that very night, Mikael came to us. He called all seven of us together and apologized to us. ”

"I never thought he would apologize to us solemnly. Because in my heart, he is such a humorous and personable man, and very proud, a real nobleman. I've never seen him apologize to anyone before. He is also the supreme ruler of the White Castle and our husband. But that day he actually apologized to us. He said that according to his husband's duty, he had to protect us, and the best way to protect us was to take us out of the White Castle and into a safer place. But he was not able to fulfill this duty, for in addition to being our husband, he was also the guard of the White Keep. This duty requires him to live and die with the city. ”

"You know? Co-exist and die! Yes, that's the word. Hearing this word, we understand how sinister the situation is. I was as naïve as a little girl. Well, how could I not be naïve? I lived with him for ten years, and during these ten years I lived like a dream. I'm his seventh wife, but we didn't have the same intrigues that anyone thought we would. My sisters are all very nice and take good care of me, just like real sisters. I still remember that moment when I panicked and didn't know what to do. He told me sternly that all non-combatants were to be evacuated, and if we were to go, he would let us go. But if we choose to stay, he can't guarantee our safety. ”

"But at that time, how could we leave? Even if we did it all over again, I wouldn't regret that decision. We all chose to stay. Hehe...... Although he said that he was his wife, he could not get any preferential treatment at that time. I took off my usual beautiful long skirt and joined the logistics unit to do all kinds of chores...... Everyone is separated, and my job is to take care of the sick and wounded...... It's all women. ”

"That was my first direct exposure to war. I really can't imagine it...... The places where I used to go out, the places where I used to walk, to go shopping, to ride horses, all changed all at once. The floor was covered with blood, rubble, and scraps of steel. Oh, and the reason why there are no corpses is because we dealt with it in a timely manner, because there is a legend that the wizards of Nurgle would use corpses to spread terrible diseases. So the bodies were buried and incinerated as soon as possible. ”

"The war went on for a long time, and as the war began, my work became busier and busier, often all day and all night without rest. The groans of the wounded...... Sometimes I can still hear those voices when I dream......"

"The war is getting fiercer by the day. Although I didn't go to the front line, at least I could hear the rumbling of cannonballs. Sometimes people tell me that our outer watchtower is lost. Sometimes people tell me that we have won a great victory by raiding out of the city. Message by message...... I don't know if it's because of who I am, but everyone often comforts me, cheers me on, and comforts me that the war is nothing, and we will win. We've always been the ones who won. The Chaos Legion has never captured the White Keep. ”

"In the beginning, I could see Mikael a lot, but then it became less and less. In the last time, I didn't even see him for more than ten days. It's not because I'm too busy – because no matter what, I try to find time to see him, it's that he's too busy. Even I feel that the situation at the front is not as good as everyone says. At last that day, we received news that someone had sent us an urgent report, and everyone took the wounded and hurried into the inner city...... Because the enemy has already breached the outer walls. The troops are doing their best to hold off the enemy, but I'm afraid they won't last long. ”

"I was one of the first to evacuate into the inner city with the wounded. But there are still many wounded people who can't move on their own. So immediately after entering, he rushed out again, wanting to bring another wounded into the city. I was stupid, but at that time, I just wanted to help him as best I could. It's a small thing, but as long as I can share a little burden with him, I'm willing to take risks. ”

"Many fortifications have been built in the outer city...... Those were originally built and could be activated as soon as a soldier entered. The first time I passed through it was an empty artillery position, and the second time I came there was a garrison. Two cannons, one on the left and one on the right, held the avenue. Quite a few people gathered there, all of them unarmed logisticians, thinking that artillery would protect them. Unfortunately, as I passed by that artillery position, I saw a terrible scene. A dozen or so monsters - I later learned they were called Eggs of Chaos - suddenly appeared at the end of the street. Rush this way. They have a body like a ball with many octopus-like tentacles on it...... I'll never forget that scene...... More than one monster has its tentacles impaled with slain friendly soldiers...... They were covered in blood, and they rushed over like that......"

"I was stupefied...... Chaos ensued. We used cannons and muskets to knock out most of the monsters...... But the rest broke through the defenses. Those monsters are simply not something that humans can stop. Once brandished by their tentacles, a man in armor can be sent flying fifty paces away...... I was swept away by the crowd. I don't even know what's going on...... By the time I had calmed down, I had fled to the edge of the inner city, the location of a platform...... Mingled with a large crowd of wounded, routed soldiers and women. A Chaos warrior is closing in on us, and it's a Chaos Lord...... A monster through and through! He only has the general outline of his body and takes on a human form, as if he crawled out of a nightmare! Later, someone told me that the Chaos Lord blessed by the evil god often becomes the one who is not human or ghost!"

The monster let out an angry roar, and in the distance, the sound of trumpets and shouts was earth-shattering. I knew that the Chaos Legion didn't use horns, so once I calmed down, I knew that our reinforcements must have arrived. This monster is now trapped in the city, and there is no way to move forward, and he can't retreat if he wants to retreat, so he is furious!"

"He lunged at us, wielding a terrifying killing blade in his hand. Just suddenly, all the five or six people in front of him were broken into pieces by him. That's right, it's crumbled. Blood splattered all over my face, and I just touched it. I don't know why, but I wasn't scared at all at that time. ”

"Then my Mikael came out of the way. Dressed in armor, he held his family's ancestral magic sword in one hand and a shield in the other, shouting loudly as he ran, challenging the monster. ”