Skeleton King

Intentionally or unintentionally, His Majesty Ludwig IV and Estuary delayed the date of their official meeting.

The more they learned about each other, the more it became clear that what they were about to have was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

On the way Ace entered the Pansy Palace and went to the palace where His Majesty Ludwig IV was, he met many people.The important ministers of the Pansy Empire had just left the conference hall, and were still discussing state affairs while walking on the road.

The two empires will continue to send knights to the small plane, the factories of the empire will work overtime to build weapons, and food from various places will also need to be mobilized.Ever since more and more people knew about the small plane, these important ministers of the empire have been busy without touching the ground.

Especially now that the power struggle between His Majesty Ludwig IV and Prince Siben has come to an end, the empire seems to be able to usher in peace for a long time.Many people tried their best to show their faces in front of His Majesty Ludwig IV.

"There won't be any more wars in the Prin Canyon battlefield in recent years, and the food stored there can be sent to the small plane."

"What if the Knights of the Finger Empire take advantage of the gap? You can't ask the people in the east to be as moral as we are, and to understand the overall situation." In fact, it is the Pansy Empire that is even more eyeing on the land on the other side of the Purin Canyon.

Although these important ministers knew that the situation in the small plane was severe, and the people in the small plane had a sworn hatred with them, but the small plane was too strange and far away for them.There are quite a few people, just like Magic Island did to the Twin Cities before, wanting to take advantage of the emptiness of the Finger Empire before attacking the small position, and first conquer the Finger Empire.

However, His Majesty Ludwig IV has the same attitude as Prince Nishiben when it comes to dealing with the small plane—the Pansy Empire will never do anything to hold back after the alliance led by Magic Island and the small plane start a full-scale war .

In this way, the little thoughts of the ministers can only die down.

……

"Magic Island has left a few magic scrolls in the Prin Mountains. If the Knights of the Finger Empire attack, our magicians will use the magic scrolls to erect the 'wall'. The 'wall' is about 3 feet high and can last for [-] years. Non-holy rank powerhouses cannot pass. At that time, no matter whether our knights are in the small plane or anywhere, we will be able to rush back, and we will have enough time to deal with it. Of course, there are such magic scrolls in the Finger Empire."

"Can you discuss with the Duke of Green to transfer the grain in the eastern plains of Louisiana province? We can buy it at the market price. I just don't know if the erosion of the land caused by the skeleton army's invasion of the eastern plains of Louisiana province has eased. Killed, there are only a few big granaries in the empire, and only one of them was destroyed by these dead people."

Hearing someone talking about the Duke of Green and the eastern plains of Louisiana, Ace looked back.As a result, the minister, who was still filled with righteous indignation at the skeleton army just now, immediately noticed Ace's gaze and met him.

The other party seemed to be frightened, and quickly moved his eyes away.

Now, people in the Pansy Empire only know that Ace is a Star University scholar, and no one knows that he is also a necromancer. Otherwise, they would not dare to say this with a big fanfare when they see Ace is there.

Not only is Ace a little curious about how the Pansy Empire will deal with the small plane, but the ministers of the Pansy Empire are only a lot more curious about Ace than he is.

After all, Ace is the center of gossip in the imperial capital recently.

It is also very likely that they will be their future masters.

Ace smiled at them, and followed his attendants to see His Majesty Ludwig IV.

……

The palace of His Majesty Ludwig IV is deep in the Pansy Palace.This was originally the place where Prince Xiben "supported" his father, but after the death of Prince Xiben, His Majesty Ludwig IV had no intention of moving out of here.

He still lives here.

The Pansy Palace was originally the most beautiful, but too many unfortunate things happened in the palace these days, and there were many black decorations in the palace.Soon after the death of Prince Nishimoto, Queen Celia also returned to the dead after months of suffering from illness.

Such a pampered wife has been sick for several months, and her confidantes were sent away from the palace in order to send the Prince of Aachen away, and she couldn't even find a maid who was willing to find a scholar to treat her illness.

Queen Celia finally survived until His Majesty Ludwig IV came out, and sought a scholar to treat her illness, but the medicine was useless.If fate gave Queen Celia a lucky gift, it must be at the end of her life. The news of His Majesty Ludwig IV's illegitimate child had not yet reached the palace. It will still fall on her youngest son.

His Majesty Ludwig IV saw her off for the last time.

She begged him: "Let Fenfur go home."

His Majesty Ludwig IV experienced the coup d'état of Prince Xiben, and his breath became even colder. He has not learned to be gentle for many years, "Fenfur has her way to go. Her fate has already Arranged by the stars, we have no way to change it."

Queen Celia shook her head slowly. She will never forget Princess Fenfur's quiet departure from the Pansy Palace, and Her Majesty Ludwig IV's decree that she should not return to the imperial capital forever.

That is the source of all misfortune.

The long illness made her temples stained with hoarfrost, and her soft and smooth blond hair became dull. Brown spots appeared on her face due to illness, and her lips were pale, like withered flowers.In the past two years, she has experienced family decline one after another. Her daughter was expelled from her husband's family and hunted down, and her son's whereabouts are also unknown. The favor of her husband that she once hoped for has become irrelevant now. She is still the queen of the Pansy Empire. The most noble woman in the empire is also the most miserable woman in the empire.

Queen Celia's dim blue eyes were full of despair.

It was a mother's last memory, reluctance, and concern for her beloved daughter.

Once upon a time, Princess Fenful spent countless long nights with her in this cold palace, and she was her most intimate little padded jacket.

She poured all the dreams of her girlhood into her, hoping that she could get the most perfect love, but raised her to be innocent and ignorant of the world.

The flowers she raised in the greenhouse now have to go through the bleak wind and rain outside, but they will never again have the most suitable spring water, nourishment, and soil.

"I will spread the news to every province in the empire that the Pansy family will restore the status of Princess Fenfur, as long as she wants, she can come back. The gates of the Pansy Empire's imperial capital will always be open to her. "Probably because of pity, the last sympathy for this woman who is about to return to the world of death, His Majesty Ludwig IV finally issued a decree according to Queen Celia's wish.

Queen Celia did not understand until her death that His Majesty Ludwig IV's choice for Princess Fenfur was not out of the anger of his father or the king, but the future he saw of Princess Fenfur.

That naive and charming little princess is on a road of no return.

"Thank you." The last breath hanging in her heart was relieved, Queen Celia only felt weak all over, and the deep exhaustion had completely overwhelmed her.

She thought, if she was given another chance, would she still marry His Majesty Ludwig IV?

Marry this most powerful man in the entire empire, marry this man who has never loved her, and is not even willing to perfuse her, marry this man who indirectly destroys her family and blood relatives, marry this man who gave their daughter a home Lu, the man she wants to say thank you to...

Queen Celia did not know.

She really doesn't know.

She married His Majesty Ludwig IV not only for love, her family needed this support so that they could get rid of their names as nouveau riche and truly enter the upper class of the empire.Although her father and elder brother are dead, her son will eventually become the most honorable person in the empire. The Jowett family has not completely disappeared, they will make a comeback, and they will stand taller than before!

……

There are many attendants outside the palace of His Majesty Ludwig IV, all of them have cold eyes and sharp swords.

Ace walked into the palace alone without paying attention.

His Majesty Ludwig IV originally turned his back to Ace, standing on the edge of the bookshelf looking for a certain book.Suddenly, he turned around as if feeling something in his heart, and saw Ace, "You're here."

"Your Majesty." Ace bowed slightly.

"A long time ago, I wanted to see you very much." His Majesty Ludwig IV said, "I was very happy to have you at that time."

He examined Ace's face, looking for traces of him or Mrs. Caroline on Ace - Ace inherited the pansy family's black hair, green eyes, and facial features that resembled Mrs. Caroline, but Ace's eyebrows Two points more perseverance.

Mrs. Caroline is also resolute, but she puts away her thorns so that ordinary people can't see them.

Ace only looks like Mrs. Caroline best with a smile that is not a smile. They all have the charm that seduces people's hearts without knowing it.It's just that Mrs. Caroline is more outgoing, and Ace is the opposite. He is the least social.

Ace listened silently.

All His Majesty Ludwig IV needs is a listener.Apart from Ace, he couldn't find anyone else in this plane to listen to the story between Mrs. Caroline and him.

……

"Later I found out about Caroline and Heinrich Richter from the Attlee family. I went to the magic island, but didn't see him. The owner of the magic island promised me that Heinrich Richter Hitt sent Sykes to the Pansy Palace. He came to see me and paid homage to Caroline." His Majesty Ludwig IV said: "I sent the Knights to the small plane.

I allow Sykes to join the Knights of the Royal Guards, so that he can justly stay in Pansy Palace.At that time, I didn't intend to hand over the Royal Knights of the Guards to him, it was just his own ability.

Sometimes I feel that Caroline's existence is a fantasy, not real, just a dream.Only when I see Sykes, can I see the traces she left on this plane.

I wanted to bring you to the palace at that time. "

His Majesty Ludwig IV looked at Ace with hatred in his eyes, and he didn't even bother to hide it.

Ace stood opposite His Majesty Ludwig IV, still calm.Ace's calmness is not only shown, but his heart has never been rippled by His Majesty Ludwig IV's attitude.

This made His Majesty Ludwig IV think of Mrs. Caroline again.She would actually cry, laugh, be happy, and feel sad because of his words, but those emotions just surfaced on her face, and her true heart was never touched by him.

"I was thinking at that time, did Caroline know that you were my child? She must have known. But why didn't she tell me?" His Majesty Ludwig IV said: "Obviously I can provide you with A better life. I can hire the best swordsmanship teacher for you. If you want to learn magic, the mages in the palace can also accept you as a student. You are so beautiful, and all the girls in the imperial capital will like you.

You don't have to live carefully in Bad Soden Manor, and you don't even dare to break through the fourth level.You don't have to read so many big books every day to become a scholar who can't get married or win a title.You can show your excellence openly, and make all your peers admire you, envy you, and envy you! "

"I figured it out later. Caroline never liked me, not Viscount Neumann. Long ago, when Heinrich Richter went to Magic Island to break through the Juggernaut, she gave her heart Closed. She waited for him the rest of her life." It was extremely painful for His Majesty Ludwig IV to admit this fact.

"She can fall in love with many men and become their lover, but she will never get married, she must remain free." His Majesty Ludwig IV said: "Although at that time everyone thought that Heinrich Richter will not come back, but if she gets married and Heinrich Richter comes back, what will she do?

So she will never marry!

It's just that I didn't understand it at the time.I proposed to her and she refused.I forcibly imprisoned her in the palace, and would not let her go.She finally agreed to be my lover, as long as I don't get married, she will always be with me.At that time, I already guessed that she didn't love me anymore, all her enthusiasm for me was fake, but she was willing to be enthusiastic, and she used this kind of worldly affection to relieve the loneliness in her soul.But after getting her promise, I still think I am the happiest person in this plane. "

His Majesty Ludwig IV looked into Ace's eyes as if wishing he had never appeared, "At this moment, Caroline found out that she was pregnant and she had you. I didn't understand what she was thinking at that time What, if I knew she was pregnant, I would have married her. I would not let my child be bastard. At that time, I was already the king of the Pansy Empire, and Caroline could not resist me, Ed The Li family can't resist me either.

She came up with a coup at that time.Instead of marrying me, marrying this person who is impossible to divorce her, it is better to marry Viscount Neumann.If Heinrich Richter came back, she and Viscount Neumann could still divorce.

They found a notary who was married to them by scholars from Myron University, making their marriage sacred and legal.I will never forgive the scholars of Myron University. At that time, apart from him, there was no other scholar in the imperial capital who could marry them.At that time, after all, I had just ascended the throne. If I took away the wives of my subjects, I would be punished morally, and the situation would immediately become critical.

Even if I wanted to...

Shall I chain her to the bed?So she can't go anywhere?

I can not.

So I didn't know the truth until she died. "

His Majesty Ludwig IV looked at Ace, his feelings for Ace were extremely contradictory, "I could never get her heart. But I could have gotten her."

At that time, he always felt that love would fall in love with each other, and that Caroline would fall in love with him.

Later, after learning about the curse of the pansy family, he thought that Caroline had feelings for him, just like a love for a water glass that is often used.He has been humbled into the dust, but he has lost even such an opportunity.

Ace is the best proof that they were together, and the culprit that made them separate.

His Majesty Ludwig IV couldn't say that he loved Ace more, or hated more, so he didn't bring Ace to the Pansy Palace.

Every time he sees Ace, he thinks about what he has lost.

So he was actually more afraid of meeting Ace than anyone else.

Was it really because of Viscount Neumann that Mrs. Caroline refused to let Ace break through the fourth level of fighting spirit before she died?Viscount Neumann had already guessed about Ace's real life experience.

She gave His Majesty Ludwig IV the opportunity to choose for His Majesty Ludwig IV. If he did not want an illegitimate child to become a stain on his reputation, this child could not exist, because even Ai Ace himself doesn't know who his father is, and Ace will obey Mrs. Caroline's words and not break through the fourth level when he was young.

Even Lady Caroline's casual tenderness made His Majesty Ludwig IV unable to forget her.

……

"13 years ago, Mrs. Caroline gave me the right to choose." His Majesty Ludwig IV said: "Now that 13 years have passed, I will give you the opportunity to choose. Ace, would you like to choose?" Put on the surname of Cooser, and show your pansy vigor in front of others?"

Ace couldn't help but admire Mrs. Caroline's charm.After so many years, she is still the most beautiful cinnabar mole in the heart of His Majesty Ludwig IV.

Ace believed that even without the curse of the Last Astrologer of the Plane, Lady Caroline could still captivate people.

Ace bowed again, "Thank you, Ace Neumann, Your Majesty."

Ace's answer was within His Majesty Ludwig IV's expectations, but also beyond his expectations, "This is your answer? I heard that you have no close relationship with Viscount Neumann, why don't you want to go back to The Koose family?"

"Viscount Neumann may be mediocre in the eyes of the people in the capital. He is not a high-level swordsman, and he has no power or wealth. If he hadn't married the red rose that was popular in the capital, not many people in the capital would remember him. "Ace smiled lightly and said: "But when I was young and weak, it was he who sheltered me from the wind and rain, provided me with food, clothing, housing and transportation, and he personally enlightened me and taught me swordsmanship until I left Bad Soden Manor , He just married his step-wife, and he didn't give anyone a chance to bully me.

He is not a good father.

But he has done everything a good father should do. "

"Can't even the inheritance of this empire tempt you?" His Majesty Ludwig IV asked.

There is undeniable confidence in Ace's smile, "If I want it, whether it's power, wealth, or empire, I can get it with my own hands. You know, I have such strength."

……

dead world.Evernight City.

"So you gave up becoming the prince of the Pansy Empire?" Nou asked.

Ace returned to Eternal Night City from the imperial capital of the Pansy Empire, and he still had time to sleep back in the cage with his family Nuoou before departure, "Otherwise? Change the name to Ace Cooser? I It doesn't sound good at all."

"If you don't want to change it, don't change it." Nuo Ou didn't mean to persuade Ace.

Ace said, "I'm just a little sorry."

Nuo Ou was puzzled, "Huh?"

"I was a little jealous when you gave your allegiance to Siben Koauser." Time has passed, and Ace, as the winner, can also be frank about his feelings at that time.

Nuo Ou looked at him with a smile, "If you don't mind at all, I'm going to be angry."

……

Sykes and Silver Dragon Alice led the hundreds of knights outside Eternal Night City to the port of Nice first, because Ace and Nou could not take the cross-plane teleportation formation, so they could set off later than them.

Ace and Nou left the Santo's Mansion.Ace explained something to Angela and was about to leave when General Arnold suddenly appeared, "I want to have a private chat with His Highness."

Angela tactfully left.

Nuo'ou pointed to the street outside the Lord's Mansion of Eternal Night City, "I'll go and have a look."

Ever since Wanguku came back, Ace and General Arnold haven't seen each other alone.Ace originally wanted to talk to General Arnold, but Noou was always unconscious. He was really worried, so he locked himself in the laboratory for a few days to develop the star medicine.Later, Ace had to deal with the Green family, the Twin Cities and the Dead Realm, and had to meet His Majesty Ludwig IV, so he delayed the matter.

"Is something wrong?" Ace asked.

In Wanguku Ace did feel that something was wrong with General Arnold.Especially after Angela told him that General Arnold knew that Angelica was in the Sea of ​​Dead Souls, this feeling of something was getting worse.

Does General Arnold have a magic mirror that can see every corner of the dead world?

Ace didn't ask General Arnold because he figured it out himself.General Arnold could not have betrayed him.

In the world of the dead, even the Lich Ingersoll and the Lich Ingrid who are closer to Ace, Ace will keep their hands on them.Angelica always does things quietly, and controls the situation quietly, so Ace puts Angelika in the city that never sleeps with Art, and asks Art to restrain her.

Everyone has his secrets, and General Arnold doesn't want to tell them.

After experiencing the incident with Nuoou, Ace decided to give more trust to the people around him.If even General Arnold can't be trusted among his subordinates, then no one can really be trusted.

General Arnold cut to the chase: "I want to sign a magic contract with Your Highness."

Ace was slightly taken aback, "Why did you suddenly have this idea?"

Ace doesn't like to use contracts to control people.

Back then on the coast of the Netherlands, Daniel asked Ace to make a contract with Carl Caesar, but Ace refused.He abhors the use of coercive means to control the will of others.

After Ace became a necromancer, except for the weakly binding contract set by Daniel on the little Daniel, only Bill signed a contract with Ace with many holy ranks of Magic Island.Even the city contract, which is particularly popular in the dead world - the undead creatures sign a contract with the city, the city provides them with shelter, and they work for the city - Eternal Night City does not have such rules.

Ace's contract with Bill is the toughest.Bill hadn't succeeded in provoking his relationship with Nou under Ace's nose, but he also sat back and watched the tragedy on the eastern plains of the Louisiana province.

Because of this, Ace disliked magic contracts more and more.

Magic contracts will hinder the growth of people and monsters. For example, if the master does not break through to level 9, the strength of the monster can only be maintained at the peak of level 8 forever. Unless the master is contracting the monster, the monster is at level 9, so it will not be affected.

And the magic contract is irreversible.

Unless the object of the contract breaks through and becomes an existence beyond the holy rank, he will be controlled by the contract for life.There will be exceptions, the owner of the contract is also an existence beyond the holy rank, and this contract will not be broken.

General Arnold said: "Your Highness has gone to the small plane. If something happens, we are beyond our reach, but Your Highness can summon your servants through a magic contract. Like Little Daniel. Like me."

Ace was a little hesitant. General Arnold's strength is indeed one of the few in the Dead Realm, but the proportion of holy ranks in the small plane is far higher than theirs. It is difficult for General Arnold to help them if he really goes to the small plane. busy.

But it hurts too much to say that.

Ace also didn't think he would ask General Arnold to do anything because of the contract, he asked, "Have you thought about it?"

General Arnold knelt on one knee in front of Ace. His face was covered by the immortal dark armor, so that others could not see his expression clearly. He said in a low voice, "I have spent thousands of years thinking about this problem. I will I will always be loyal to His Highness, even death cannot stop me."