I Am Louis XIV

Ever since he knew the existence of the inner world, Louis has imagined the appearance of the inner world more than once. After all, for him, werewolves, vampires and wizards were all fantasy things, they did not exist in this world, but Who would not be captured by their unique charm, let alone another world that only belongs to these non-human beings.

The accident happened in Dunkirk, a port city, but it made the following things have a convenient way. When "Louis XIV" was lying on his sickbed to receive the envoy from England, the Lord Protector, Louis— Of course, now he is the Duke of Colonna, this title can't help but make him startled, but Marie Mancini told him that this is only the title of the other world, there is no king in the other world, but there is an upper house and a lower house. Almost all the seats in the House of Representatives were occupied by the first few major wizard families. They had the power to enshrine someone as a nobleman. Although the gentleman from the Colonna family was an outsider, there was the Colonna family behind him. Although the Colonna family was from Rome Gao Men has always maintained a close relationship with the inner world, especially the referee, so he has the title of a duke without even being in the inner world.

Speaking of which, if it wasn't for Andre Vesalius who had nowhere to go, destroyed his family and abandoned his business because he offended the church, his descendants wouldn't have to bow down to the Mancini family to be a potions teacher. Luo Vesalius would not have such a tragic fate.

Just as Louis guessed, the class solidification and disparity between the upper and lower classes caused by the closed environment of the inner world is probably more terrible than that of the outer world. At least there are many officers in his army who come from craftsmen or peasant families Woolen cloth.

So on a foggy morning, a group of people came to the pier of Dunkirk, where the British warships were moored. Under the dim light, they towered before people like mountains in the night, already There are early sailors cleaning the deck, checking the cables and sails, and dumping the toilet bucket-the ship that came to meet them was a light brig with snow-white sails, like a swallow, except that after being allowed to dock at the pier, it accepted The British officer was wearing a red coat and brown shoulder straps, and he was not much different from the officers of the New Model Army, except for his exposed face and Hands—rough and dark, indicating that his time at sea would not be shorter than the latter's time on land, he asked those who were leaving Dunkirk at this critical moment to raise their hoods, one by one vigilantly look over.

If they didn't have the permit of Cardinal Mazarin and a small box of heavy gold louis, maybe they wouldn't be able to leave. After all, this moment is too sensitive. Not long after the king was assassinated, even though the assassin was killed on the spot, the king's army could Martial law was imposed throughout Dunkirk, and there were even some unpleasant clashes with the British.

The first thing the British officer saw was a beautiful lady who was in bloom. She smiled at the officer, and he couldn't help but smile back, "May I ask your name?" His tone was not as good as people thought. so harsh.

"Milady Kidd."

"It's an English surname."

"My husband is an Englishman." Milady smiled softly, "Sir."

"Are you going back to England?"

"No, I'm going to take my brothers and sisters to Italy," said Milady. "My sister is married to a Count of Naples. We're going to visit and see..." She looked sideways with a little sadness Looking back: "She found a good doctor for my brother, hoping to cure his fever."

"Is it a disease?" the officer asked cautiously.

"Of course not," Milady said. "It's just a persistent low-grade fever. The doctors say that he has too much bile, but there is no effective medical method for the time being."

The officer walked away from Milady with some reluctance, and looked at Louis, Mary, and Vesalius with sharp eyes. In his eyes, Louis was a weak young man, and Mary was just a cute young man. Although the young girl has a beautiful face, she is completely incomparable with her sister in terms of charm. There is also Mr. Vesalius, who is obviously their doctor. The box he was carrying was also opened for inspection, and there were medicine bottles in it. and bloodletting knives, hooks and needles, etc.

The officer guessed that the family might be near Dunkirk, an ordinary but fortunate family with a few beautiful daughters, which is common, and that they have been promoted through marriage, and perhaps one of their daughters has The favor of the nobles in the French court is why they can get a handwritten letter from Mr. Bishop. In any case, they don’t look like spies, and they are not going to England, but to Italy, so the suspicion is a little less .

After thinking about it for a while, he finally let these people go. The two-masted ship, which is more petite and cute than a warship, lowered the gangplank, let Louis and his party board the ship, and then retreated quickly, passing through the gap between the big ships, and headed towards the Atlantic Ocean. .

It wasn't until the white shadow of the ship disappeared between the sky and the earth that the officer thought of a question that puzzled him, that is, if you want to go to Italy, isn't the shortest way to go through France? Maybe she was worried that her husband's identity would make her journey more difficult, so after muttering a few words, he put this matter in the corner of his memory, and if there were no accidents, he would not think of it again this matter.

————

"Are you a witch too?" Mary couldn't help asking as soon as the ship left the port.

"That's right, Miss Mancini." Milady frivolously fiddled with her curly hair. The light-colored curly hair like moonlight gave her a convincing charm. As expected, when Mr. Bishop tried to persuade him with her previous "merits" in order to let him keep Milady, he had speculated that when Mr. Bishop met Milady, she was eleven years old. At the age of two, she spent several years in prison, and she became the secret agent of Bishop Richelieu. When she did her first job for the bishop, it was 34 years, and now it is 58 years, that is, 25 years ago. That is to say, she is at least forty years old, but she still looks like a beautiful woman in her twenties. In this era, there are not so many means and methods to keep people young forever, but There is magic.

Moreover, Bishop Mazaran would not really completely hand over Louis to Mary Mancini.

"Don't mind me too much," Milady said with a smile, "I'm just an outsider, worse than Mr. Vesalius, I haven't even been in the other world - I know I'm a witch or the Bishop told me of."

"Then why did he let you come?"

"Monsieur duke needs someone to serve, Mademoiselle Mancini," said Milady, and she came up to Louis and took his arm, and Louis realized that Milady's strength was really great, not inferior to A man, "like now," said Milady, "don't you realize that His Highness needs to rest?"

Louis really needed to rest. He was exhausted from the short journey. The poison and curse of the wizard seemed to be constantly digging out his energy. He did it under the service of Milady. After a simple wash, she fell asleep. Mary watched from the side, unwilling to admit that when it comes to serving people, Milady is careful and powerful. Even if she is only a woman, she can take care of everything around Louis. of. As for Mary, although she stays with the Queen Mother as a maid, maids also have classes and division of labor. Although she does not have a title, she has an uncle who is an important minister. Or it might just be the Queen Mother's bordered Bible and rosary.

Letting her take care of Louis...it was too much.

In the end, Milady begged Mary gently to leave Louis' cabin, because it was absolutely inappropriate for her to stay here as an unmarried woman, but Vesalius could stay as a doctor, and Mary had nothing to say about it. , worth leaving resentfully, Vesalius stood aside and watched the whole process, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, obviously, Milady was sent to the king's side, not only as a maid, but also as a destroyer .

After all, after the king came to the inner world, he faced a dangerous and unfamiliar environment, was cursed and poisonous, and if it was Mary Mancini who took care of him meticulously by his side, the king would definitely reciprocate subconsciously. Equal affection and trust, so that if the king can return to the watch world, then his marriage will become a thorny issue.

Louis was drowsy and awake on the boat, and suddenly one day, he woke up, because the slight swaying that he was almost used to suddenly disappeared, even if the boat was moored at the dock, it would not happen. They are now like It's in the Louvre in Paris, on solid land.

"Are we there yet?" he asked quietly.

"It should be." Milady said, and a few minutes later, Mary walked in and fed a bottle of potion to Louis. Louis' body was obviously lighter, but she had to leave again because Louis needed to change. , underwear and trousers are no different from the world of watches, but the coat that Vesalius brought was a thick velvet robe, and then a sleeveless fur cloak. The hair on the cloak was fine and black. Fur—it didn't look like squirrel, or fox, or sea otter, anyway.

The cloak is hooded—and magical, because when the king puts it on, he feels warm, as if he is in the sun, and then the jewelry he wears doesn't look like his, Vivian. Surrey and Milady also put on robes.

Louis kept wondering where the other world was, or rather, where the Mancini family was in the other world, but as soon as he left the cabin, he knew right away—it was an island.

A huge island.

Undoubtedly, with the advancement of science, there are more and more places where human footprints and eyes can reach, and the increasingly sophisticated detection methods will always make those hidden places invisible , Compared with land, islands scattered in the ocean are obviously safer. It is understandable why the world is so embarrassing. Even land sometimes cannot carry too many people, let alone islands.

And it is very common for the inner world to maintain a long-term frozen state, not to mention magic, even if there is no magic, there are many islands that are primitive and closed.

A medium-sized island can accommodate about 50,000 people. If counting from the time of Merlin (that is, the time of King Arthur, 500 A.D.), wizards have entered the inner world for a thousand years. It has become a considerable number, and more and more wizards from the outside world are joining in. It is no wonder that the big families of those wizards don't care about wizards like Varo Vesalius, and even treat them as tools and livestock. If the base number is large enough, even if only selected from the original population of the big family, there must be quite a lot of outstanding people. In this case, the collateral branches of the Mancini family will definitely hate Vesalli even more, because he invisibly snatched An important post is gone.

As for the cornerstone of the wizards... From Mr. Bishop and Mary's narration, Louis already knew that it was similar to the city wall of the inner world, used to separate the outside world from the inner world, and wizards needed credentials to enter the inner world, or Leave, but mortals cannot enter the inner world anyway.

"Then," said Milady, "it's not the Church that wizards fear."

"You can think of wizards as armies with muskets and cannon, and mortals as savages with only sticks and stones," said Louis. When the ratio is equal, the barbarians can only flee, but when the barbarians overwhelmingly crowd the army, even artillery and muskets are powerless, because they are limited after all.”

"Oh," said Milady: I ​​see. "

She stared at Mary closely with her always shining eyes, watching her every move. They were standing in front of a tall city wall that seemed to connect the sky and the earth. It was the cornerstone that wizards called —— Huge white square bricks with dull blue or black scars. As soon as Mary approached, pictures of people with different expressions, identities, genders and ages appeared on these bricks. Faces, their eyes were at first closed tightly, then suddenly opened and rolled around.

"Wizard!" a woman's face called first.

"Wizard!" cried a child's face, his voice sharp as a dagger.

"Wizard!" cried an old man, his voice hoarse and confused.

"Wizard! Wizard! Wizard!" they shouted together, and the city walls shook.

Mary stretched out a hand and plunged directly into the wall, and then she turned and looked at Louis with worry in her eyes, "Then you will see a passage," she said, "and then go forward, but in the passage, There will be guards of infernal corpses and ghosts, although as a wizard, they will not hurt you," she emphasized the word wizard, "you have to walk seventy-seven steps to walk out of the corridor, and at the end of the corridor, there is Two manticores and their masters watch out for whoever comes and goes."

"Can't you go with us?" Milady asked.

"No," Vesalius said, "Even if we hold each other's hands tightly, we cannot see, hear or feel each other." He knew this, and he firmly held the coat of arms from the Colonna family in his hand , as a wizard who fled from the Mancini family, Varo Vesalius' original pass has been revoked by the Mancini family, and he does not want to attract the attention of the Mancini family again. Fortunately, the Colonna family in Rome is very generous. —Maybe it’s because the reward given by Mr. Bishop is extremely generous—the position of an archbishop and two monasteries. The real estate and deeds in the other world are more important than anything else.

And it is extremely strange that the appearance of the youngest son of Colonna is somewhat similar to that of the king, and although he was confirmed as a wizard, due to the power of the Colonna family, he did not even leave Rome, but lived in a remote but comfortable place. A place to have fun with your own wizard mentor.

"I'll wait for you." Mary came back and kissed Louis on the face: "Seventy-seven steps, don't forget."

Varo Vesalius hesitated for a while before coming to the king, and gave him a few bottles of potions and a silver dagger: "These are used to drive away the ghosts, Your Highness, if anything happens, don't worry, Mary and I will turn back immediately—the key is not to be afraid, those things are like hyenas, and human fear will arouse their tyrannical hearts."

Next to enter the walls was Milady, who also entered the inner world for the first time, and the king could see that she was extremely excited, and the intensity of her emotions overwhelmed her fear-no doubt, anyone who has not experienced it herself , will be afraid of those terrible heads, and have to walk alone through the dark corridor full of monsters...

Then came Louis, and Vesalius would wait outside until three seventy-seven steps later, when he was sure that the king had arrived safely, he would not enter the corridor.

Do you want to say fear?

Louis would not succumb to those distorted faces, the black corridor scorched by red flames, and the blue-gray corpse and translucent soul. There are countless scenes that people who have experienced this era have never heard, seen or even understood. This kind of scene may make an ordinary mortal think that he has gone to hell alive, but to him, it is more like a realistic illusion. game.

In other words, he may also have fear, but just like Milady, it is more anger.

Maybe you still remember that before Louis entered the corridor, he saw faces of different expressions and ages on the white stone bricks. If these are the cornerstones that Mary mentioned, then that is to say, these The people who were made into the cornerstone even included children of a few years old. If it was just one or two, he could explain that maybe some children were born evil, but he saw more than a dozen of these immature and hideous faces at a glance.

And in the corridor, among the swaying corpses and ghosts, the proportion of women and children is not low.

This shows what?

The law of the inner world, or the power of power, is probably more threatening and cruel than the outer world. At least the harshest sentence that Louis can give to the Duchess of Longueville is to expel her from the court. In the future, she can also be pardoned like the Duchess of Montpensier, and her son can inherit the title of Duke of Longueville, and will not be deprived of the territory or thrown into prison, let alone executed.

Plus more achieved.