Chapter 22: If you want to wear the crown, you must bear the weight
1956 Words
The gray main tower of the castle was clearly visible in silhouette against the waning evening sun.
The king stood still in the shadows, the breeze gently ruffling his silver hair, the warm yellow haze unable to soften his pale blue eyes. He stood in the shadow of the trees on the hill, observing the battlefield not far away.
The Change of the Roses had affected half of Rogaland.
The so-called "Rosy Change" was the recent split between the "Iron Rose" and the "White Rose", which was named by a court poet with a romantic spirit. As beautiful as it sounds, it brought about a bloody war.
It was a bloody flower that bloomed in the land of Rogaland.
With the Rose Palace at its center, divisions and rivalries gradually spread outward, reaching the more powerful counties - those with important castles. The lords of the castles were compelled to make their position known by erecting distinctive banners on their main towers.
The king's prediction was not wrong, however.
The war was indeed conducted with restraint.
Both sides fought around important castles.
Each castle was a key military point, and the towering castles were the most important fortifications and integrated military weapons. Encircling and counter-encircling, raiding and counter-raiding, while trying to avoid direct head-on conflict, lengthened the duration of the war.
Right now it is a siege.
The king did not avoid battle on this journey.
He had to witness the wars of this era, whether it was the education Pulan itself received, or the knowledge Zhu Chi had gained in his previous life, it was all just a story from someone else's mouth. The only way to truly understand the wars of this era was to witness them and experience them for himself, so that he could not stand on the condescension of those who came after him and make wrong judgments.
War does not allow for mistakes.
"Your Majesty, the battle horn for the siege is about to be blown, are you interested in coming forward to watch it further?" The devil silently appeared behind the king and thoughtfully asked, "Of course, don't worry, they won't be able to spot you, much less harm you."
The king turned his head slightly sideways, scrutinizing the devil.
The devil extends his hand in an inviting gesture, "Don't misunderstand, Your Majesty. I am merely curious about you."
He didn't say what he was curious about and waited for the king to make a decision.
At that moment the horn blew.
A banner painted with white roses was planted on the main tower of this castle they were passing.
The soldiers who surrounded the castle had bright red smocks over their armor, and the commander was a middle-aged knight, whom the king did not know, but who, judging from his temperament and insignia, should have belonged to the old men of the Duke of Buckingham.
The commander gave the order to attack.
"God save the king!"
The soldiers shouted, and the battle flag was raised high.
The king gazed at them for a moment and accepted the devil's invitation.
The devil was indeed skillful, he whistled softly and a nightmare horse silently detached itself from the white bone carriage and ran meekly to the king. The devil reached out and flicked his hand, and a golden saddle was added to the nightmare, and the king rolled over and sat on the nightmare. The devil patted Nightmare's neck and held the reins.
"Well, let's get going."
He said briskly.
As the sun was about to set, at the turn of dusk, the Devil took the Nightmare by the hand and led the King as if he were a cloud of shadows, blending into the battlefield silently.
Just like that day when the Nightmare Wagon was able to ignore the giant trees in the Kono Forest, today the Devil took the King with him like he was traveling through a space that overlapped reality. The king could smell the bloody odor of the battlefield, could clearly see the sharp swords, and could clearly hear the sound of metal clashing.
But no one around them could spot them, and the flying arrows on the battlefield could not touch them.
The king watched the battle from the ground.
The first thing that was needed was to capture the outer battlefield of the castle. Stone throwers were pressed into action, and boulders were thrown upwards to smash holes in the strong towers. No doubt the soldiers who were hidden in the towers shooting had all been reduced to mush. The number of stone throwers was not large, just to interrupt the rain of arrows that kept flying out from the archery holes.
With the cover of the stone throwers, the soldiers pushed forward and filled up the ditch under the castle quickly. The commanders of the tower guard quickly realized this, and with a deliberate reminder from the devil, the king saw the castle guard pouring boiling oil down from above. Some of the soldiers filling the ditch at the bottom dodged out of the way, while others howled and fell to the ground in agony.
The king sat bolt upright in his nightmare.
He did not avert his eyes and watched the scene calmly.
The king observed the battlefield, analyzing the soldiers' general fighting prowess, while the devil observed the king.
Many people don't understand the truth that "if you want to wear the crown, you must bear the weight". Many people crave for great power, but can they really bear what that power brings?
A general must watch his soldiers die, a judge must be responsible for every life he judges, what about a king?
The king is the backbone of the country, even if it is blood, it is sin, good and bad ...... all the things that ordinary people will have a bad conscience and can't face, he must take it without changing his color, and without showing weakness.
The battle proceeded to the most brutal part.
The commander, who was the first to take the lead, drove his horse to reach the bottom of the drawbridge, and hissed and commanded the soldiers to set up a high ladder. One by one, the soldiers hurriedly stepped on the ladder and climbed up to the tower. The enemies on guard let out cries and fought with them. Soldiers were constantly falling from the high towers.
The king was just below the drawbridge, he tilted his head and watched the soldiers fall, his fingers moved slightly without lifting them.
He knew clearly that he could not touch them, nor could he save them.
But he did not lower his head, his icy blue pupils reflecting each soldier's falling figure.
The drawbridge was lowered, and the commander leapt his horse and charged in with his long waiting cavalry. The defending enemies retreated deeper into the castle, unwillingly and fearfully.
The battle was decided, and the next step was victory.
"Shall we share the victory with them? Your Majesty." The devil asked.
"No need."
Nightmare walked to the edge of the battlefield, by now it was twilight.
The king suddenly jumped down from the nightmare, and the devil gave a gasp of surprise to see him pick up a blood-stained longbow from the ground. Immediately after, the king pulled out an arrow that had been stuck in one of his soldiers, hitched it to the bowstring, and turned to the gray tower and drew the bow full.
He let go.
The blood-stained iron arrow broke through the air, and the next moment the cord that held the banner of the white rose was shot through, and the banner crumpled out of the air.
The White Rose Banner fell into the tumbling flames of battle, and the king said, "Go."
"Your Majesty, if you are king, you must be robed in blood."
The devil let out a ghostly sigh.
..................
The sworn knights that the king had left with him had been waiting for a while and were relieved to see the king return unharmed. They rode in a well-disguised carriage and passed by the edge of the battlefield silently.
They would be traveling to Carnarvon.
There, the king would join Angel's army.
Yes.
With a letter, the king got the Angell state to agree to his demands.
He borrowed the sharp knife.
As per the king's request, Angell's army did not pass through the spacious avenue, but chose a more rugged and hidden mountain road, but this was not too difficult a request for the Angells who lived in the mountainous region.
Suddenly, the king remembered something.
He asked the driving devil, "Will you participate in the human war?"
"That depends on how you define it, Your Majesty." The devil seemed to have thought of something, "Ah, one or two hungry ghouls sneaking a few bites of a corpse will certainly do, you can't expect those guys to keep any morals, can you? But ...... with that damned knife on his head, I don't think any of those guys have the guts to get directly involved in the war."
What exactly is "that damn knife", the devil did not explain.
The king knocked on the car window, his face for some reason steeply cold down.
"Forget about the fighting and get to Carnarvon at full speed."
The king ordered.
The carriage turned into a light smoke and swept over the hills.
..................
Southeast coast of Rogaland, a harbor belonging to the Five Ports Alliance.
A ship that had crossed the Abyssal Strait was quietly docked here.
At this time of the year, the Abyssal Channel was shrouded in monsoon winds, and it was windy from Rogaland to the east, but other ships coming to Rogaland would have to face violent winds and waves. This ship, however, seemed to be unaffected by the wind and waves, and it broke through them as if they were flat.
It was a very beautiful ship, flying a snow-white flag on which was painted the holy cross. The sailors on board were silent.
The head of the harbor waited respectfully.
The white treads were let down, and a man in a bright red tunic and a red shawl stepped slowly down, and his costume indicated his identity-the Cardinal.
As a member of such a high-powered Holy Court, he unavoidably appeared younger, and underneath his square cap was a gentle face that made the heart grow fonder. His brown hair, slightly lighter in color, was ruffled by the breeze, and his features were sober and slightly soft - if anyone had met the Pope face to face, they would have noticed that the young Cardinal's brow bore some resemblance to that one.
Of course, no one dared to say this out loud.
The young cardinal looked out over the land of Rogaland, held up the golden cross on his chest, and whispered, "May the Holy Lord bless Rogaland."
"May the Holy Lord bless Rogaland."
The chief echoed.
The young cardinal smiled slightly, and he had a small case with him.
In the era where states were divided and kingdoms conquered each other, there was still such an invisible kingdom, which had no walls and no national boundaries, but it covered both sides of the Abyssal Strait, overriding the castle towers, and its sound ran through the seasons amidst the reverberations of the bronze bells.
That is--
The Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God is everywhere, and any heart with a holy sound is the realm of God.
That's where the young cardinal comes in. He is not just a cardinal.
He is a papal envoy.
--He had come to crown the new king of Rogaland for the Pope.
- Writer
