He's in Love with the Devil.

Chapter 33: The King's Black Wings

October, 1432. The harbor of Kossoa.

Cold winds from the Abyssal Straits whipped through the rocky buildings high and low. This was the location of the headquarters of the Brotherhood, the core of the Cinque Ports Alliance. The city is the wealthiest on the southeastern coast of Rogaland, with the finest harbor in the entire empire, the largest number of sailing ships, and the shrewdest merchants.

From day to night, merchant ships of every color and canvas come and go, and gold flows through this web of ships.

Like the Cinque Ports themselves, the city of Kossoa holds a special political place in the Rogaland Empire.

It is the largest autonomous city in the Rogaland.

Today, the biggest harbor of Kossoa was blocked, and ordinary merchant ships could only berth elsewhere. The patriarch of the Gurus family, who sat in the city of Kossoa, personally waited at the harbor. The Cinque Ports Alliance was centered around five southeastern coastal commercial cities, and each city had its own invisible controlling family.

The most powerful family in Kossoa was the Gurus.

The Gurus patriarch was also the president of the Brotherhood.

"They have arrived."

The bright red carpet stretched from the mooring deck to the shore, and the gray-haired Gurus, his eyes slightly closed, leaned on a sunken wooden cane inlaid with many precious stones. With his trademark hawk's nose, nicknamed "Eagle Beak," he was as fearsome as an eagle on the hunt at the mall.

The secretary behind him gently reminded the tough old man.

He opens his eyes.

Four large ships of great splendor and magnificence slowly sailed into the harbor, each one like a small fortress floating on the sea. If an early clearance hadn't already been carried out, the harbor would surely have become crowded at this point. But even so, their appearance still caused the entire harbor to shine brilliantly.

The four ships maintained a certain degree of tacit understanding with each other, arriving at the harbor at almost the same time. As they lined up, a certain sharpness seemed to curl up in the air.

The pedals were lowered.

From the ship with the spider's web insignia stepped the voluptuous lady wrapped in a black dress, from the ship with the circling serpent stepped the middle-aged gentleman with the ordinary face, from the ship with the flamingo's wings stepped the feminine man with his hair tied up in a bunch at the back of his head. The last boat was the youngest, with brown hair and brown eyes, and was a bit more discreet than the others.

"Welcome, gentlemen."

Patriarch Gurus smiled slowly, though the smile was not kissable, but rather somber.

The harbor bells were rung.

It was clear to everyone that the Five Harbors Alliance, an emergency fraternity, had begun.

The headquarters of the Five Harbors Alliance.

In the luxurious hall, the patriarchs of the families that were representative of the entire Five Ports Alliance were seated at the long table with their respective deacons. The meeting was held as usual, first discussing the business volume of each port, as well as the internal and external disputes of the alliance during this period of time. The Five Ports Alliance was formed in the eleventh century, and after three centuries of development, they had drawn a wide net along the southeastern coast.

In 1312, at the height of the Confederation, the Council of Rogaland passed the Regulations of the Confederation of Ports, which gave the Confederation legal jurisdiction, autonomy of the Herring Market, and most importantly, self-governance.

Today's Brotherhood is a microcosm of the autonomy of the Cinque Ports Alliance.

The meeting continued to move forward, but there was always an air of anxiety in the air. The participants were the heads of the most important business families, and they all knew in their hearts why today's meeting was being held, but none of them were willing to be the first to stir up the conversation.

Patriarch Gross swept his gaze over his allies and was disappointed to see that even the youngest, Patriarch Dawson, looked like he was smiling and not doing anything.

Finally, Gurus, as president of the Brotherhood, coughed softly.

"I think all of you are well aware of the true purpose of today."

It was finally said.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts.

"The Grue family has defected to the king." Gurus said indifferently, "They have chosen to turn their backs on the purpose of the Chamber Alliance, betraying our supreme right to freedom. All of you here, since you were willing to rush here, thought you were all worrying about one thing at the same time - what the King will do to us."

He didn't say it outright, but everyone sitting at this long table knew what they had done some time ago.

Smuggling the Gulundi heavy cavalry, carrying armaments for Archduke Grice, and transporting the Pope's envoys...... These things were enough for the king to be enraged.

"The old gentleman has something to say."

Black dress lady Ying Ying spoke, she looks charming like any ball in the socialite, but who really think this famous "poisonous spider" as a socialite, then I am afraid that the end will not be too good.

"The king forgave the nobles of the New King's Party after they paid a large ransom and the Gru family paid their loyalty."

"Isn't that good?" Poison Spider smiled, "We can also deliver money for that little king ah, if he wants it, the Deakin family is even able to build a genuine gold carriage for him. Old sir, you wouldn't want to clash with His Majesty again, would you?"

Her voice was soft, but her words hid a knife.

"If you really think that building a gold carriage is enough to make the king close his greedy pockets, then I have nothing to say." Patriarch Gurose's demeanor remained unchanged, "Allow me to remind you all that the King has long had the intention of bringing back the Harbor Restriction Ordinance. What do you think we will have to pay to get the King to forgive us this time? Autonomy? Legal jurisdiction? Surrendering all the freedoms we are supposed to have, as the Grue family has done?"

The air suddenly tightened.

Everyone's faces did not look good.

The League of the Five Ports was known as the "Uncrowned Kings of Commerce and the Seas", something they were proud of, and at its height, in the mid-14th century, the naval fleet they provided to the Crown had repeatedly defeated the Bolesi expeditionary force, and at that time, all of the armistice agreements between Rogaland and the outside world would be sent to the League for advice.... [1]

Since Wilhelm III, this has begun to change.

The Cinque Ports League's privilege of holding covers for the King and Queen was withdrawn from the Cinque Ports League under William III, the baronetcy of the League of the Cinque Ports League Leader was no longer conferred, and the Harbor Restriction Ordinance[2] would have been passed if not for the untimely death of William III. That would have been the end of the line for the core families of the Cinque Ports League.

The reason why they chose Archduke Grice in the "Change of the Roses" was not only because of the bargaining chips that the Archduke made public, but also because the five families were trying to save themselves with all their might.

However, they lost their bet.

Things became more dangerous.

The king's "forgetfulness" did not mean that nothing had happened, but meant a more terrible crisis. It meant that the king probably didn't want to reconcile with them at all, but intended to sink the ship of the Cinque Ports Alliance completely.

Don't look at the arrival of all the people tried to be brilliant, but that was just to not reveal their anxiety.

"Are you willing to accept the restrictive regulations? Are you willing to surrender our rightful legal jurisdiction and autonomy? We have spent hundreds of years faithfully providing the crown with our fleet at every turn, helping the crown to fight across the seas time and time again, and without us what will he do to build the castles of the north, what will he do to wage war against the Blesi?!" Gurus roared lowly, his voice holding a terrible rage.

"Are you willing?"

Most of the faces in the conference room were bright and dark.

The youngest, Patriarch Dawson, swept his gaze over the faces of the others, and unsurprisingly saw the greed and unwillingness on their faces - profit was the most terrifying devil in this world, and it was able to drive the vast majority of people crazy.

Patriarch Dawson sighed softly in his heart.

He suddenly stood up, and Patriarch Gurus looked at him grimly, "Is Patriarch Dawson trying to express any high opinion?"

Patriarch Dawson smiled and owed everyone a bow without fail, "Where did I come up with any high opinions, compared to all of you, I'm just a brat. I just remembered something urgent, please allow me to take my leave first."

"As I recall, the Brotherhood does not compel its members not to leave early, does it?"

He smiled and said softly.

The meeting room fell silent, and Gurose's face was so grim that it could have dripped.

Patriarch Dawson, however, bowed again as if he hadn't seen him, and left with his deacons.

"Does anyone else wish to withdraw?" Patriarch Gross asked coldly.

Whispers and eyes flickered.

In the end, no one left anymore.

Gurus broke into a smile, "Then let us continue."

The candle flame flickered.

..................

"That damn old bone."

Walking down the dock, the deacon behind Patriarch Dawson cursed under his breath.

"He certainly didn't dare expect forgiveness from the king-that fool's bastard son is still in the royal prison. He's trying to drag everyone down with him when he himself has no way out. Are the others brainless?"

The deacon was referring to Gurose's bastard son who had sent men to rob a merchant ship earlier and ended up robbing the royal family.

Even though it was already common knowledge that the Five Harbors Alliance was engaged in piracy at the same time, to openly rob onto the royal family's accompanying merchant ships was a typical case of not wanting to die. But hell knows why Gurus valued that bastard son of his so much, even going so far as to be the first to join the ranks of the Glades for it.

"They're not brainless."

Matriarch Dawson said lightly.

"It's just that the stakes are high enough."

How many people in this world are so caught up in the glory of the old days that they forget to see the scythe of death that is about to fall? Small chambers of commerce were growing, free ships were thriving, the monopoly of the Five Harbors Alliance was being provoked, and the profits of commerce were becoming greater and greater.

Or perhaps it was not that they could not see it, but that they could not give up the privileges they had occupied for so long.

"What do we do?"

The young Dawn patriarch tilted his head, the sea breeze ruffling his face with damp and fishy odors, "Go poke around and see what the King's commissioners have done."

For some reason, he always felt that the king was doing more than just a political reckoning of those who betrayed him this time. What exactly was the king trying to do? Was the Dawn family really going to kneel before the Rosebud crest like the Gru family?

Their king was becoming more fearsome and unfathomable than ever, and the ancient glory of the Rosebud family seemed to be slowly reviving.

He had a choice to make.

--Before the National Council convened.

..................

The King's commissioners are running up and down in the winter snow.

They were uniformly clad in black cloaks, and their investigations were more detailed than ever. I don't know when, but gradually rumors began to spread among the people.

It was said that the king was very angry with the new king's party this time, and planned to conduct an unprecedented purge after collecting evidence. And there are people who are more sensitive to talk about it, they do not expect the king to be able to plan for the interests of these civilians, but they can take advantage of the king's big cleanup ah.

The king's original hatred of the territory of the nobles did what "good things" all reported, and then take advantage of the king's opportunity to purge their enemies, so as to change a county governor.

This kind of story quickly spread like the flu, and by the time the nobles of the territory realized that it was bad, they could not restrain themselves. The commoners, who were usually oppressed, always took advantage of the dark night to sneak into the tavern where the Gru family's wagons were parked, to report the evil deeds of the local officials to the king's commissioners and to voice their discontent.

As long as the commissioners were paid a small amount of money for their labor, the commissioners would be happy to help them record these things in the account book as well.

The local officials wanted to stop this, and in the name of security, they expelled civilians who approached the commissioners' taverns.

But the commissioners, who were as greedy as the king himself, found out about this and simply lived in the wagons, which accepted feedback from the civilians as they went along. On the curtains of the Gru family's carriage was by now emblazoned not the Gru family's logo, but the royal Rosebud logo.

The officials did not dare to block the carriage that symbolized the will of the king himself, and could only watch it happen.

As a result, the king's commissioners were also called the king's "Black Wings", meaning that they were like the shadow of the king's power.

However, what neither the commoners nor the local nobles could have imagined was that when the commoners who took advantage of the darkness left, the commissioners immediately handed over the collected coins to the members of the Gru family, who acted as supervisors, and they recorded them in a clear and uniform manner.

In fact, the rumor that the king's anger could be used for the benefit of the commoners was spread by the king himself.

The king knew exactly what reputation he had among the people, and of course, he knew even more about the natural wariness and distrust of the commoners towards the government. It was only by this means that they could be reassured to report.

And these were exactly what the king himself needed most at this time.

The commissioners who had taken charge of the matter admired the king's wisdom. As the main executors of the investigation, they had witnessed how the representatives of the people were silent in the square, but were very vocal in the evening's "report".

The king got what he wanted and made a fortune out of it.

As for the Gru family ......

Thanks to the wisdom of their patriarch, they were lucky to have pledged their allegiance so early. They had no desire whatsoever to face the reckoning of a king who had the valor and blood of William III and the cunning of a viper. Believe them, it was never going to be pretty.

I hear their former comrades in arms, the Cinque Ports League, are still quiet to this day?

The men of the Gru family sincerely hoped that it would be better for them to be obstinate, so that the king's attention would no longer be on them, and they would have one less competitor who could perform well in front of the king.

It was better for others to go to hell than to go to hell themselves, wasn't it?

With this in mind, the Gelu family became more and more diligent in finding those "talents" for the king.

Not to mention, they really found some.

A few days later, the king met the "talents" he wanted.

--In the prison of Metzl Castle.

Author's Notes:

[1] After the battles of Dover and Trafalgar in 1216, Henry III had so decided that any truce between England at home and abroad would be sent to the League for advice. Although it was only for advice, it was a good indication of its status. When Edward I conquered Wales, he also received crucial assistance from the League.

[2] Indeed, in 1229, the English Crown had issued the Judgment of Port Doom