I Will Be The Crowned King

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The inner city of Clovis, Franz Mansion.

As usual, Sophia Franz woke up from her sleep when the little maid Angelica opened the curtains to let the sun shine into the room.

Get up from the bed, sit expressionlessly in front of the dressing table, let Angelica and the other three maids wash and dress up for herself, quietly watching herself in the mirror gradually change from blurred to clear, simple to simple exquisite.

The movements of the maids are very gentle and careful, as if they are not serving but creating; every strand of hair and every skin of the girl is a canvas, a blank, a creation that requires careful brushwork and bold innovation.

When the maids dispersed, the drowsy Sophia disappeared in the clear and bright mirror, and the brand-new Franz eldest daughter returned again, like the roses in bloom in the enamel-colored flask, combining solemnity and beauty for one.

It's just that in those soul-stirring pupils, there is no trace of expression, just a walking sculpture and a talking vase.

vase……

Looking at the diamond crown that Angelica carefully put on her, the corner of the girl's mouth evoked a self-deprecating arc.

"Boom, boom, boom."

With a small but clear knock on the door, Archbishop Luther Franz appeared outside the door.

Different from the usual seemingly casual but somewhat depressing attire, he specially changed into a large and gorgeous bishop's robe, and put on a crown inlaid with various gems, gilded and plated with silver, and a "Ring of Order" in his hand. verse, an ornate oak staff topped with a diamond-carved Ring of Order.

At first glance, it seems to be the bishop of the dark age who came out of the oil painting.

"How are the preparations?"

Looking at her daughter, who was already pale even when she was described as "gorgeous", Archbishop Luther said softly, "It's getting late, we should set off."

Sophia stood up slowly, but instead of looking at her father immediately, she suddenly grabbed Angelica's hand.

"Miss……"

"I am sorry."

Before waiting for the panicked little maid to react, Sophia said without warning and looked at her quietly: "I actually know, you have never betrayed or spied on me for my father, and you have always been loyal to me. , did a lot of things that a maid should not do at all."

"To me... you are not a maid, but more like a little sister who grew up."

"So I'm sorry, my sister not only needs to be taken care of by my sister, but also suspected you at one time, vented all her complaints and self-blame on you, and made you bear too much."

"And when I finally realized how... shameless I was, I found that I couldn't give you any compensation." Sophia laughed at herself:

"So I have to apologize, even if it doesn't change anything; and I promise I'll never do that to you again; Angelica is my sweetest sister, and if anyone didn't realize it, I would Let him regret it for the rest of his life."

"Miss……"

Looking at the little maid who was already crying, the girl gently wiped her tears, and tucked the handkerchief into her palm: "Promise me, will you wait for me to come back?"

Angelica didn't speak, she pressed the handkerchief to her chest with the corners of her mouth tightly pressed, and nodded vigorously.

Sophia looked at herself in the mirror, her gentle smile became cold again, and she slowly turned to face her father:

"Come on, Father...the Archbishop."

Luther nodded slightly, stepped back half a step to let the door open, and pointed his ornate cane to the stairs: "The carriage is ready, you can go first, I'll be there later."

"Lord Governor of Ice Dragon Fjord."

………………

Although she had already been prepared, when Sophia and her father finally arrived at the Osteria Palace, they were still shocked by the scene in front of them.

Not only did the Osteria Palace, which was never displayed to the public in the past, open its doors, the surrounding area was decorated with new decorations; flowers of countless colors can still decorate the entire palace in this late autumn season, which is slightly colder. The bitter north wind adds a touch of fragrance.

On the stone steps on both sides, honor guards dressed in red and black dresses stood on the left and right of the red carpet, extending all the way to the main hall of the palace. Looking from a distance, Sophia even saw the military band preparing and the artillery manning the salute.

"The ring of order is on...Is this the award ceremony of the colony governor, or the coronation ceremony of the new king?" Sophia couldn't help but said:

"Can I still look forward to dinner dances and fireworks?"

"Considering that this is a ceremony held at the palace, there are about a few hundred distinguished guests today, and more than half of them are here to join in the fun, so you are right." Archbishop Luther said calmly:

"A masquerade ball, a feast of eighty-eight dishes, hymn recitations, the 'Magic Opera Troupe' that arrived in Clovis City after a tour in Xiaolong City not long ago... Anything you can think of will be available today."

"So how much did the Franz family spend for today's ceremony?"

"...I can only say that it is a well-deserved luxury, dear daughter."

After a slight pause, Luther Franz glanced at the "flowers" that were about to freeze to death in the distance:

"Don't put too much burden on your heart. These are all for the honor of the family and part of the royal family's face; a proper display of abundant financial resources can increase the confidence of the domestic nobles in winning the war and combat the arrogance of the enemy."

"More importantly, even doubling the cost of today and even the preparations is a very small number compared to the money the family wasted on your brother - I mean very."

The Archbishop, who sighed, deliberately emphasized.

The corners of Sophia's mouth trembled slightly, and she almost couldn't hold back her laughter.

Not long ago, Ludwig Franz, who had rejected the genius plan of "joining the vast land and launching a surprise attack on the empire from the south", was re-arranged with a lot of complaints and the reorganized Southern Legion. to the main battlefield of the Western Front.

However, out of dislike for the archbishop's own son, the army still placed him on a very remote front, relying on the mountains to garrison several temporary fortresses, with the task of protecting the frontier supply lines and covering the flanks of the main army.

Obviously, they didn't dare to send Ludwig to die, but they didn't want to give him any chance of meritorious service at all.

But if Ludwig was so easy to bow his head, he would not have accepted the Southern Legion to go to the Elven Kingdom of Iser.

Since his boss refused to give him a chance, Ludwig mobilized all the resources he could get, and prepared to open up the situation from the flank that was ignored by everyone, and launch a round of attacks that could reverse the current situation of "the opposite side sit-in".

Not surprisingly, he is probably in a hidden mountain headquarters, making a mysterious plan to excite himself to the point of...

With a little ill-intentioned speculation about her brother, the girl entered the palace side by side with her father.

As the archbishop, Luther Franz had the right to meet the king directly without prior notice; as an "ordinary noble woman", the girl had to go to the grand waiting room according to tradition to wait for the summons.

But when Sophia was temporarily separated from her father and walked along the familiar corridor towards the garden, she was stopped by a familiar figure.

"Viscount Bogner?"

"Long time no see, Miss Sophia." The middle-aged man who stopped in the middle of the corridor smiled slightly, put his right hand holding the pipe behind his back, and bowed to the girl:

"Or... should I call you His Excellency Governor Franz?"

"You're still joking as always." Sophia didn't take it seriously, and while she raised her skirt and returned the salute, she couldn't help but ask curiously:

"At this time, you should usually be in the smoking room of the Privy Council or some coffee shop. How can you come to the palace?"

"If on the day of such an important ceremony, I, a member of the Privy Council, still drinks coffee and smokes a pipe in a corner where no one is around, I'm afraid I won't be impeached by the Speaker tomorrow, haha."

"You are really humble. If the speaker dares to impeach the leader of the 'liberal' faction in the parliament, I am afraid that tomorrow he will not be far from stepping down."

"No no no... It's not so, the Privy Council is still the world of their conservatives; those of us who advocate new things, etc., can at most make a little noise in the ears of the deaf."

The old gentleman's expression was very casual: "Of course, this is definitely not the reason why I stopped the Governor of the Colony here - at the will of His Majesty Carlos, please wait in the royal lounge, which is the Tulip Hall, before the ceremony officially begins... please Come with me."

After speaking, he turned around and led the way for the surprised girl.

As a royal lounge, the Tulip Hall is quite remote, but it is directly connected to the bedroom through several hidden corridors, and the waiting hall is connected to the main hall. Even in the royal family, apart from the king himself and his immediate family, it is rarely open to others— - Not to mention an outsider like yourself.

But when Bogner handed a note to the guard outside the door and pushed open the door, the girl finally understood something: "Carlo... Your Majesty?!"

"Sophia."

Carlos II, who was only wearing a coat, sat on the sofa by the fireplace, holding a newspaper in his hand, and smiled at the girl: "Sit down, it's still a while before the ceremony officially starts."

He glanced at Viscount Bogner next to him, and the old gentleman who understood it bowed and saluted, took a few steps back and left.

Looking at the closed door, Sophia, who was a little nervous, curtseyed, and carefully sat in a position where she could see the other party when they raised their heads, and at the same time would not be directly looked at.

"Want something to drink?"

"No, thank you."

"Really, I just got a good batch of Hantu coffee beans recently... Ah, sorry, I forgot that Ludwig came back from Hantu before. You're probably tired of Hantu coffee."

"..."

"Sorry, no kidding."

Carlos put down the newspaper in his hand, and his expression finally became serious: "Dear Sophia, do you understand why I called you here at this time?"

"I don't know, but it's definitely not for tasting Hantu coffee." The girl narrowed her eyes slightly:

"So I boldly guess that what Your Majesty wants to talk about is probably about the New World Colony—more precisely, it has something to do with a certain army colonel."

"You still call me Carlos, anyway, there are no outsiders here." Carlos smiled bitterly and waved at the girl:

"It doesn't mean anything else, but when you hear the honorific title from your mouth, it always feels particularly ironic; just like every time she uses this title, it must be how I made her angry."

This "she" should be Her Majesty the Queen... Sophia nodded slightly:

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Carlos looked at him for a while, and sighed helplessly.

"Since you understand, then I don't need to say more." He pointed to the newspaper on the table:

"In order not to overly stimulate domestic sentiment, news about the colonies has been suppressed so far, and the reason must be clear to you - the war with the Empire is not over yet, and Clovis can't devote too many resources to the isolation. On the colony facing the sea."

"But paper can't hold fire, no matter how much you suppress the news, at the end of the year, the whole world will know about the rebellion of the imperial colonies, and the garrison corps annihilated Bernard Morwes and his army under Sail City. this news."

"Even in the most conservative way, it's not hard for me to imagine the terrifying frenzy that would ensue - countless Clovises would desperately support the colonies, and the Emperor Herrid would mobilize unimaginable armies. , to regain his lost dignity."

"And this irrational fanaticism is the same as the current war between Clovis and the empire. Except for the waste of materials and precious lives, there will be no return; compared to the empire, Clovis did not continue to invest in another bottomless pit. capital."

"So..." Sophia finally got serious:

"What do you want me to do?"

"This award ceremony is a very good opportunity to make a statement." Carlos entered the topic:

"I want you to mention as much as you can about the...independence of the Ice Dragon Fjord Colony when you are awarded, and how Clovis and the Royal Family respect the colony's right to self-government; but at the same time, be firm about the Ice Dragon Fjord. An integral part of Clovis, the Unicorn King will never fall from Moby Dick."

"Not only that~www.readwn.com~ You must...don't let the garrison commander stationed at Beluga Harbor know that Clovis will not send any support troops, and let him believe that as long as he insists Stay, reinforcements will come sooner or later."

Carlos's expression became more and more cold: "Tell him that Clovis will not pursue him to transfer troops without authorization and intervene in the rebellion of the imperial colonies."

"Even quite on the contrary, the Privy Council will also exempt the colonies from taxation for the coming year, and the proceeds may be distributed to Ansen Bach and all the officers according to rank and rank, as an encouragement and reward to them; Three years ago, they were transferred to Clovis City for debriefing and promotion."

"As for the equipment issue that he has been emphasizing, I have already instructed several military factories controlled by the royal family to fully open up the arms trade to the colonies."

"All in all, regardless of the cost and consequences, let him defend the colony and attract the attention of the empire as much as possible!"

Taking a deep breath, Carlos II looked at the girl whose face gradually became cold and calm, and said, "So dear Sophia, help me, okay?"

"Help me, defeat that mighty empire!"