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When Sirius ascended the throne for one year, Hill became Count Balotelli for nearly a year.Now he is an official in the Department of Law. Due to his age, his position is not high, but he has real power, and he also has a seat in the Imperial Council. Reese's closest ministers, even the Attorney General, would smile when they spoke to him.

The green dragon xiong had disappeared from everyone's sight, and returned to Longdao quietly, and A-Dong also completely entered the dormant period, but she did not leave with xiong, but stayed in the palace of Yaxia City , sleeping in the form of a dragon in the palace that Cerest specially rebuilt for her.

Seres's road to power was smooth. Since he controlled the giant dragon and wiped out the rebels, Sires has gained the reputation of the Dragon's Familiar. Don't dare to make things difficult for him.

And Sirius was not in a hurry to do anything, at least on the surface, he just completed the basic daily routine of an emperor step by step, and the only shortcoming was that he favored young courtiers a little.But in view of the age of the new emperor himself, and those young courtiers who are favored and trusted are not too many, and they are all descendants of noble families, the ministers in charge can only sigh in private, feeling that they are also The youth I once had.

However, Hill, who has been assisting Sires in many things, knows that Sires transferred many government orders that could have been implemented openly and aboveboard to private, deliberately avoiding the attention of ministers, and through some inconspicuous officials. And unknown spies, infiltrating their will into the foundation of the empire bit by bit.

Compared with the overly gentle and forbearing political strategy, Sirius is simply bold in the military.Shortly after ascending the throne, Sirius issued a counterattack order to the Blue Dragon Legion and Shining Legion stationed on the frontier, allowing them to cross the border and "pursue" the enemy, even if they "chased" into the enemy's territory.

At the same time, Sirius divided the Royal Knights in Asshai into two.Part of it was merged with the Asshai Garrison Army and reorganized into the Royal Guards. The original members of the Knights were reorganized into battalions, and more noble children were admitted to receive relevant training as apprentice knights in the Knights Battalion.The other part of the Royal Knights who were separated were mainly officers. They have been sent to various provinces and counties across the country since the date of the split, and selected outstanding soldiers from the local garrisons to form the Yalong Legion named after the empire.

Since Seres only issued a few decrees, and then delegated the corresponding powers to those legion marshals and corresponding generals who had already been gearing up and even sharpened their swords—at least it seemed like this, which made some ministers, even though they had no interest in the decrees. dissatisfied, but it is also difficult to prevent the warriors from using this decree to flex their muscles.

The Shining Legion in the northern border is fairly stable, but by taking advantage of the decree and the opportunity of the Lordaene Alliance to sit down and negotiate, they opened up a business zone at the border that the Shining Legion is responsible for stationing.The blue dragon army in the northwest had long been impatient with the boring days of watching refugees in the castle. The day after receiving the order, they opened the gate of Yaji City and sent troops to occupy a large area of ​​land west of the Ulamara Mountains. .

On the first anniversary of Sires' accession to the throne, the Blue Dragon Legion had already established a civilian autonomous region on the west side of Yaji City under the hint and instruction of Sires, to accommodate refugees from all over Oz and open up arable land in the autonomous region. Build towns, and in a few years it is very likely that the autonomous region will be upgraded to a dependent country.

The half regiment of cavalry sent by the Duke of Grant to support the imperial capital had already returned to Yaji, and Joey was also sent back to Yaji City with the half regiment of cavalry by Sirius under the pretext that he should start learning a deeper level of chivalry, so that father and son were reunited.

Joey, who felt that he was trusted by Sirius, didn't want to go to Yaji City to be ruled by his father, but he couldn't stand Sirius' sincere lobbying and entrusted him with an unknown task, so Joey finally returned to Yaji City. He also took away several "confidantes" arranged by Siris. These people have now held important positions in the autonomous region of Oz, and they will report the situation there to Sires in the imperial capital anytime and anywhere.

Hill couldn't tell Joey what he was worried about, so he could only remind him to be more careful when seeing him off, and tried not to let the guards of the Grant family leave his side when he arrived in Yaji City.But looking at Joey's perfunctory look, Hill knew that even if he told the truth, Joey would never take it to heart or even believe it.

—Would this walk be a farewell?

Hill could only sigh, hoping that Duke Grant could find a wife for Joey as soon as possible and leave descendants.

However, before the bad news came from the northwest, the death knell rang in the city of Yasha first.

On the second Midsummer's Day after Seres ascended the throne, De Rossi, who was on tour, finally returned to the imperial capital and attended the annual Midsummer's Dinner held by the palace.

But at the dinner, De Rossi delivered a rather weird speech. At first glance, it sounded like he was praising Sirius for his calm performance after he ascended the throne, but after a careful taste, he felt that the meaning was too sad. Especially at the end, when everyone heard that De Rossi ended with the words "I can finally go to see my ancestors with peace of mind", the nobles present invariably had an ominous premonition.

In the early morning of the next day, when the heavy and long bell rang from the palace, the nobles suddenly realized that their premonition had come true.

After all, De Rossi obeyed the last instruction left by Emperor Borgia. In the early morning of the second day of Midsummer Festival, he ended his life with a rope, leaving only a will explaining the reason.

When the death knell rang, the entire city of Yashai was also shrouded in an atmosphere of grief and indignation.Although all the rebels who besieged the city were killed that day, and the silver armor knights who caused the rebellion were also killed by the Magic Association, De Rossi's suicide made the entire Yalong Empire, especially the nobles, realize once again that this incident It will become an indelible disgrace in the history of the Yalong Empire, it will be recorded in the annals of the Yalong Empire, and it will be remembered and vigilant by future generations.

So, just as Siris was preparing for De Rossi's funeral, the ministers of the Military and Political Office had already proposed a proposal that the existing military system of the empire should be substantially rectified to prevent similar tragedies from happening again. Si accepted the proposal, but did not give any response. He turned his head and continued to be busy with De Rossi's funeral, as if he was so absorbed in the funeral that he had no time to attend to him.

At this time, Hill's mood was worse than anyone in Bixia City.

On the night before De Rossi hanged himself, Hill foresaw what happened from his father who returned to the imperial capital with De Rossi.But the reason why Angor told Hill about this in advance was not to make him prepare for the upcoming national funeral, but to tell him that he would serve as De Rossi's gravekeeper, and he would guard the grave for the rest of his life. The cemetery will never return to the imperial capital.

When Hill first heard the news, he didn't feel too shocked. Considering the relationship between his father and De Rossi, as well as his position, such a result may be a kind of happy ending.But then, Hill noticed that his father's expression was a little too cold, and his eyes were full of nostalgia, as if he was going to say goodbye soon and would never see him again.

Hilton tensed up, and tentatively said that he would visit his father in the cemetery, but Angel just smiled and didn't answer. Instead, he told Hill not to reveal the matter of his guarding the grave. Said that he was in poor health and went to the countryside to recuperate.

That night, Angel did not live in the Balotelli family's mansion. After looking at Hill's child who was not yet one year old with the same nostalgic eyes as he looked at Hill, he went to the palace through the secret passage.

Hill couldn't find any flaws in Angel's words, but he always felt uneasy and couldn't sleep soundly all night.

The next day, the news of De Rossi's suicide came, and Hill immediately left the mansion and went to the palace to find his father in the name of visiting Sirius.But he saw Sirius but not Angor, and his uneasiness suddenly became more and more serious. Hill no longer cared about all kinds of taboos, and asked Sirius to meet Angel.

Sirius obviously hesitated for a moment, but quickly stood up and led Hill into De Rossi's bedroom.

At this time, De Rossi has been put into a special coffin provided by the Magic Association that can delay the decay of the corpse. Since the Yalong royal family does not believe in the Holy See, the coffin is parked in the main hall of the bedroom and will not be released until the funeral officially begins. Carried to the official place of the funeral, and then transferred to the cemetery for burial.

Sirius did not stop in front of De Rossi's coffin, and led Hill straight into the bedroom behind the main hall.

As soon as Hill entered the bedroom, he saw a familiar figure lying on the gorgeous four-poster bed, dressed in the same costume as De Rossi in the coffin, but his eyes were closed, as if he was in a deep sleep.

Hill couldn't help being stunned, wondering how his father would sleep on De Rossi's bed in such a dress at this time, and the next moment he noticed that the person on the bed was not breathing, and the skin on his face was bloodless .

Hilton was stunned for a moment, then quickly walked to the bedside, reaching out to reach out to Angor's breath.

"You don't need to try." Sirius stood at the door, and said indifferently, "Your Excellency Balotelli took the poison after putting the emperor into the coffin this morning, and now...no matter what you do, it's too late."

Hill withdrew his hand in a daze, and turned to look at Sirius, "Did you...did you know that something like this would happen?"

Sirius didn't answer, and continued on his own: "According to the last wish of my father and Your Excellency Balotelli, I will transfer your Excellency into the coffin before my father's burial, and be buried with my father in the cemetery... "

"Why didn't you stop?!" Hill interrupted Sirius' statement and asked angrily.

"Your Excellency Balotelli has never asked me for anything. This is the first and only time that I have to let him do what he wants." Sirius said with downcast eyes, "You know? Sir, in my childhood I always envied you. You have a father who loves you very much, he loves you more than the whole world, but whatever you want, he will always find a way to get you."

Hill couldn't help being stunned, wondering why Sirius suddenly said this.

"When I knew that my mother was once Balotelli's fiancée, I even wished that I was his child, so that he would love me as much as he loves you." Sirius shook his head mockingly , "Unfortunately, the queen mother is loyal to the emperor, just like His Excellency Balotelli."

"His Majesty!"

"Mr. Hill, even if you can't understand, even if you hate me because of it, I will never regret what I'm going to do." Sirius said lightly, "I can't give you a proper funeral, but I will definitely It will fulfill his wish and let him stay with his father forever... and this is also the last wish of the father."

Hill turned his head and stared blankly at his father who had been asleep on the bed, and many things came to his mind involuntarily.

At this moment, Hill suddenly understood why his grandfather died suddenly. It was indeed Angel's doing, and the purpose was to allow him to inherit the title of Earl of the Balotelli family.Obviously, Angel had foreseen the coming of this day at that time, and made the decision to follow De Rossi, so he took the risk of killing his father, let the title fall on him smoothly, and then passed it on to him all the time. Hill wants to get it.

—Your father loves you very much.

Thinking of Sirius' evaluation, Hill couldn't help but smiled wryly, held Angel's already stiff hand, and slowly knelt down beside the bed.

——Father, if you loved me a little more, would you choose to stay?

Hill closed his eyes, letting the tears run down his cheeks.

Hill didn't know how he left the palace and returned to Balotelli's mansion.When he came back to his senses, he was already standing in his father's favorite greenhouse.

It is midsummer now, and many potted plants in the greenhouse have been moved out, making it look quite deserted.But in the corner of the greenhouse, my father's easel still stands alone, with a blank canvas on it, but it has been stretched on it for too long, and it is obviously unusable.

Hill has long seen that his father doesn't care about his paintings at all, and he doesn't really like painting very much. He just uses this so-called hobby as a cover to make people ignore his existence and ignore him. whereabouts.

——In the future, my father will no longer have to waste time smearing these things.

Hill laughed at himself, sat down on the recliner that his father often hangs around, looked at the familiar scenery in the conservatory, and suddenly thought of his child who had never been held by him since he was born.

He doesn't love this child, let alone love him like a father loves himself.

To make matters worse, so did the child's mother.

When she found that the child she gave birth to had neither the blood power of Chimera nor the talent in magic, and even looked more like Balotelli than Chimera, Lizzie completely threw the little guy to the nanny , only when he is in a good mood will he go over and take a look to make sure he is still alive.

Hill had tried to be nice to the kid, but whenever he saw the kid, he thought of Keech, whom he hadn't seen since Sirius came to the throne.At this moment, when he knew that his father had left him and would never see him again, all he could think of in his grief was not to hug his child or visit his mother, he just wanted to hug Keech, or, hugged by him.

He missed Keech, dearly.

He didn't want to be with his lover after death like his father did, he wanted him now, now, right now, right now.

Hill was thinking like this, but he knew clearly that he was just delusional.