Imperial Crown

Nancy sat in front of the dressing table, caressed her belly, and sighed quietly.

She has been married to Raven for three years, but her stomach has not responded. Considering the frequency of her and Raven's marital life, this situation seems extremely abnormal.

In fact, as early as two years ago, Nancy began to try various ways to solve this problem, including but not limited to potions, spells, meals, etc., but she still could not improve.

Once, she even shamelessly took Raven with her to find Bucky, and each of them took blood to check whether there was anything wrong with their health.

The conclusion is comforting, but also more confusing.

There was nothing wrong with either of them.

In this day and age, if you are delayed in giving birth to a child, you will inevitably have someone poke your spine.

Of course, Nancy has long since learned not to care about other people's opinions, otherwise she would not have the title "Fire Rose".

But as Raven's wife, the delay in giving birth to an heir was a problem she couldn't get over.

So today, she found Bucky again.

In this era, alchemists were equivalent to general practitioners, and they were general practitioners who specialized in serving wealthy merchants and nobles.

Bucky has lived in Men'en City for decades and has served many wealthy businessmen and powerful people, including the part that gave birth to heirs.

Bucky tactfully suggested that both Nancy and Raven were in good health, and the Griffith family had never had difficulty in giving birth.

So there are no children so far, it is probably because Nancy, or to be precise, the women in the Fox family have a special physique.

This sentence reminded Nancy, and she suddenly thought that she had an aunt who also married young and did not give birth to her first child until she was 33 years old.

But because that aunt married too early, Nancy didn't know her very well, and she couldn't even remember which family she married into.

That's why I wanted to ask Gul'dan if it was really difficult for women in the Fox family to get pregnant. If so, was there any solution?

There was a knock on the door, and after receiving permission, Jenny walked in.

Nancy immediately asked: "Where is Gul'dan? Is he here?"

"...No, madam." Jenny whispered: "I have been to Master Guldan's house, but I didn't see anyone, and the furniture was already covered in dust."

"I also asked the neighbors around, and they said they haven't seen him since last spring."

Nancy frowned: "You mean... Gul'dan is missing?"

"Yes, madam." Jenny said, "But you don't have to worry too much, maybe the young master has his own ideas."

"No, he won't leave so easily..." Nancy shook her head.

She knew her brother's character.

Even if Gul'dan knew that his existence would bring a lot of trouble to the Griffith family, as long as Nancy or Raven didn't explicitly banish the guests, it was impossible for him to give up this stable life.

Thinking of this, Nancy asked: "Where is Raven now?"

"At this time, the master should be in the study..."

Before Jenny could finish speaking, Nancy stood up, held up her skirt and hurried to the study.

Jenny quickly followed behind.

Nancy walked very quickly, pushed open the study door and rushed in.

Although she didn’t know why the young lady was so anxious, Jenny instinctively felt that it was better not to disturb them, so she stood silently by the door.

In the room, Raven was working on a document. When he saw Nancy coming over, he smiled and said, "What's wrong with you? Are you so angry?"

Nancy did not answer Raven's question, but said: "I just asked Jenny to find Gul'dan and found that he has been missing for almost a year. Where has he gone?"

Raven was not surprised by Nancy's question. He spread his hands and said, "It's hard to say. After all, he is an adult. He is free to go wherever he wants. Maybe he feels that the life of a farmer is too hard after all. Go to other relatives."

Frowning her brows slightly, Nancy stared into Raven's eyes. She was not satisfied with the answer.

The Fox family has always had more boys than girls. After the fall of Fox Castle, the only person who could be called a relative was their aunt who married out of the province.

Even if Gul'dan wanted to leave, he would definitely ask for sufficient travel expenses, not just two gold coins.

"Raven, I am asking you a question seriously." Nancy crossed her arms on her chest: "Gul'dan is my brother after all, and I have the right to know his whereabouts."

"But I'm not his nanny." Raven sighed helplessly: "Besides, he is a third-level extraordinary and wants to leave, who can stop him?"

"Then why did he leave?"

"How could I possibly know this?"

Speaking of this, Nancy suddenly remembered that last spring, news of the empire's collapse came; it was also at that time that Gul'dan disappeared.

An unknown feeling came to my mind, and I blurted out:

"You killed Gul'dan?!"

When Nancy entered the door in a hurry, the door was not closed tightly, and the sound came from the gap, which made Jenny shiver.

But she couldn't move away, her features twisted together, and her fingers tightened on the hem of her skirt.

Jenny could hear the sadness in Nancy’s words, which made Jenny feel distressed.

On the other hand, Jenny hated Gul'dan again.

Gul'dan has never fulfilled his duties as an older brother and has always treated Nancy with a cold shoulder. Now the lady has finally lived a comfortable life and is married to the man she loves, but she still has to quarrel with her lover because of him.

Raven felt a little surprised at first, and then felt a little relieved.

This moment has come.

He knew that with Nancy's intelligence, Gul'dan's death could not be hidden from her.

Ever since Gul'dan's death, Raven had been thinking about how to face Nancy. He didn't want to deceive her on such a major issue, but he couldn't tell the truth.

He had to keep the truth hidden.

"I killed him? I should have killed him a long time ago!"

Taking a deep breath, Raven made an angry gesture, opened the drawer, and threw a letter in front of Nancy: "Look, what good things your good brother has done!"

Nancy picked up the envelope, and the wax on it had been cut off.

She pulled out the letter, and her face became paler as her eyes went down.

Although the signature was a pseudonym, Nancy recognized it as Gul'dan's handwriting at a glance.

He had a writing habit, that is, writing o in a weird shape, and at least traced it twice. Others could not learn that natural and messy state even if they wanted to learn.

This letter should have been written shortly after Gul'dan arrived in Eagle City, and was written to Nancy's aunt whom she had never met.

The front and back of the letter were long and boring greetings from the nobility.

The only useful information was in the middle part.

It mentioned the dilemma of Fox family women who had always had difficulty getting pregnant, and Gul'dan also specifically asked if there was any solution to help Nancy consolidate her position in Eagle City.

If it were just these contents, it would be nothing.

But the problem is that this is a secret letter.

It seems ordinary, but if you read it in a specific way and at regular intervals, another content will emerge.

Now, these words have been circled with a thin blue pen, and the content is very different when you read it again.

Gul'dan hopes that his aunt will tell him as soon as possible how Fox family women can get pregnant quickly.

He plans to lurk in Raven's territory and show a posture without ambition.

After Nancy gave birth to Raven's heir, she would kill Raven and make Nancy the open master of Eagle City.

Gul'dan himself would secretly control the entire Raven territory. As long as the time came, he would join forces with his aunt to take back the title belonging to the Fox family!

If successful, Gul'dan would give Raven's territory to the aunt's youngest son.

Nancy felt a little dizzy, and all kinds of emotions surged in her heart, making her heart beat faster and her fingers numb.

With a click, the letter fell to the ground.

Only by supporting her body with the desk could Nancy suppress her trembling hands.

She didn't expect that she and her husband kindly took in Gul'dan, but he had such a vicious mind, which made her feel a sting of betrayal.

And Raven, who really made the decision and took in Gul'dan, would probably be even more so.

Raven waved his hands, his tone filled with anger and dissatisfaction: "You saw what this damn Gul'dan did and what he wanted to do?"

"I intercepted this letter two years ago."

"I could have killed him a long time ago!"

"But why didn't I touch him? Why did I let him move around in my territory? Do I like others to plot against me and treat my kindness as stupidity?!"

The roar spread through the door to the corridor, stopping Denise and Vesdon who were originally looking for Raven to discuss something.

The door was half-closed, so people couldn't see what was going on inside. Vesdon didn't know the cause and effect, but he instinctively felt a little uneasy.

In Vesdon's impression, Raven always kept his emotions to himself. This was the first time he saw Raven lose his temper like this.

Denise sighed silently.

Nancy's voice suddenly came from the crack of the door.

"Raven, I... don't want to doubt you, nor do I force you."

"I am your wife, I bear the surname of Griffith, I belong to you!"

"Indeed, Gul'dan is a scum, a scum, and an ungrateful bastard."

"But I am from the Fox family after all, and I have the same blood as Gul'dan!"

"How can I face a husband whose hands are stained with the blood of my family?"

"Raven, I am also a living person, I also have a soul!"

"I have to ask, I can only ask, otherwise, do you want me to live with suspicion of my lover for the rest of my life?"

There was silence in the room.

Raven felt his heart being gripped by something, at this moment he finally knew how deep Nancy's love for him was, and he also felt the heaviness.

She almost cut open his chest and placed a heart in front of him.

Nancy's lips trembled slightly: "Did you kill Gul'dan?"

Getting up from behind the desk, Raven walked to Nancy, held her shoulders with both hands, and stared into her eyes:

"No"

Nancy's heart was relieved, and her facial expression changed several times. She buried her head in Raven's chest and hugged him tightly.

For a long time.

Under Raven's gentle gaze, Nancy raised her head: "...What are you thinking about?"

"I think it's a good thing that we talked about it this time." Raven said: "Otherwise, in the rest of our lives, we might quarrel about this matter ten thousand times."

Nancy held Raven's cheeks with both hands: "Fight ten thousand times, then we will reconcile ten thousand and one times."

The sky gradually dimmed, and the study gradually sank into darkness.

"Maybe we should write to my aunt and ask how she got pregnant." Nancy was still upset about this matter.

"Maybe it doesn't have to be so troublesome." Raven smiled and stroked Nancy's back with his fingers: "I have a more direct way."

Just then, a rough voice came: "Baron, Baron——"

Nancy immediately took the initiative to leave Raven's arms, and Raven began to tidy up his clothes, frowning and impatiently saying: "Come in!"

Hyena pushed the door open and saw the situation in the room. He felt quite embarrassed and lowered his head.

"You are my captain of the guards, not a street vendor. What are you doing?"

"The Baron is right." Hyena didn't dare to talk back at this time, and could only explain tactfully: "It's just that Simon and the others are back, and I took the initiative to think that you would be interested, so..."

"Simon is back?!" Raven's eyes lit up: "Tell him to come to see me immediately."

Hyena was about to take the order and leave, but Raven thought about it and said: "Forget it, they must be very tired after rushing back all the way. So, you go to Simon and get what I want."

"Then notify Eric to summon all officers above the battalion commander of the 1st and 2nd Legions of the Eagle Army to come to Eagle City for a meeting tomorrow morning!"

"Finally, notify Link to lead the team back to Eagle City immediately!"

...

A night passed quickly, and the next morning, 23 people above the battalion commander of the Eagle Army came to the meeting room of Eagle City.

These people are veterans who participated in the Battle of Bloody Highlands, and now they have become first-level extraordinary.

It is no exaggeration to say that even without soldiers, these people gathered together, they are enough to flatten most of the baronies and even viscounts.

These officers sat down one by one, but Raven did not come at the first time, which made them start to whisper and discuss what happened.

Some people speculated that the baron might want to go to the bloody highlands to train again.

Others speculated that this was a large-scale exercise training. After all, spring has come, and the soldiers who have been stuck in the camp for a winter need to come out and have fun.

The most outrageous guess is that the baron is ready to serve the country and take these two legions of Eagle Army to the northeast battlefield of the empire to support the front line.

After all, it has been heard recently that the empire is having a very difficult time supporting the northeastern border.

Majik City is in danger, and the empire's defense line has even retreated to the south of Blackwater Province and is about to reach Silverpine Province.

"Cough!" Eric coughed heavily, and the meeting room immediately became quiet.

Then, Raven walked in.

Behind him, Simon pushed a large wooden board.

On the wooden board was a newly drawn unfamiliar map.

…