I Am Louis XIV

"Well, gentlemen," said the Duke of Orleans, "give me and my brother some time alone."

The three blood princes left quietly after hearing this. Before Louis could ask questions, the Duke said.

"I'm going to die, brother."

In one sentence, he completely suppressed the anger of Louis XIV with just one sentence. It can only be said that the Duke of Orleans is worthy of being the person who knows the Sun King best.

Yes, there are countless reasons that can be used to convince the king. For example, after Carlos III officially takes charge, the French and Spanish will definitely have a struggle for power; or, in other words, the inner world of Spain It is more stormy and foggy than they imagined; or in other words, the vampires will definitely not continue to side with Louis XIV this time. They are happy to enjoy it when Louis XIV's enemies are just mortals or priests. The joy of killing, drinking hot blood, but if they want to target their own kind, unless Louis XIV is the prince of the Sabbat or the Camarilla, only they have the power to order the vampires to kill each other.

No, the current situation is that if the Duke of Orleans reaches his promise with Prince Uriel, he will be the only descendant of Prince Uriel - even an agent. He can rule the entire Malkawi, and he can also be the future prince. The identity communicates and negotiates with the princes of other ethnic groups, or orders the Makavis to restore order in the darkness on behalf of Carlos III, expel werewolves, dark wizards, and anyone else who Louis XIV does not want to act recklessly in the country of his youngest son. Guy.

On the contrary, Bourbon is equivalent to standing on the opposite side of Mokawei. Maybe Mokawei will be ridiculed for being unable to retain the family's ancestral land, but if you look at Amon, you will know that the loss of the ancestral land will certainly make the blood clan grudge. , but it will not have any impact on their power. To be more precise, the impact will be more profound, because the vampires without ancestral land will be scattered in all directions, and some guys who don't like to be restrained will take the opportunity to do whatever they want.

Why are vampires more troublesome than wizards and werewolves? Even the church has to find ways to coexist peacefully with them? It is precisely because if the middle and low-level vampires lose control, or if their princes do not control them, they will develop a large number of descendants without restriction, which is the kind of deformed descendants that Count d'Artagnan once encountered. Inferior species, they are as irrational as wild beasts, they will never be satisfied no matter what, and they do not know how to prevent their prey from being transformed. As long as there is such an inferior species, a village can be completely destroyed overnight.

To say whether such a terrible nightmare has ever come to the world, yes, in the 11th to 12th centuries, when the Sabbat and the Camarilla held their first "holy war", the Sabbat released countless numbers of weapons without restriction. Thousands of inferior species, the panic and death they brought even forced the church, which had always avoided the matter, to admit the existence of vampires in 1484.

If the Mokavi lose their ancestral land and refuse to "protect" and "recognize" Spain, not only will their tribesmen become crazy, but blood tribes from other places will also flock in and wreak havoc in this unbalanced country. Prey - Although Louis XIV had an army of wizards and priests under his command, how could they resist such a bloody wave? This is something that even the Roman Church, which was most prosperous in the eleventh century, could not do.

It's a simple addition and subtraction. One plus one equals two, or even three or four; one minus one equals zero.

But the Duke of Orleans also knew that it was too difficult for his brother, Louis XIV, to remain calm and rational now that his relatives and friends were leaving one by one, not to mention that that person was none other than him. He could only be thankful that his brother was not a devout believer. The king might not give in before interests and threats, but he would give in before his life.

"What are you talking about?" Louis asked.

"Elepsy." The Duke of Orleans pointed to his head: "When I was in Lorraine, I fell off a horse once, and later in Catalonia, I also fell once, but at that time I thought it was just an illness. , and then, just over a year ago, while I was on tour in Orleans — I had a seizure."

Louis believed in his brother and he would not lie to him, but he was still unusually confused, "I didn't hear about it."

"I told the wizards, priests and doctors around me that I want to tell you this in person."

"Impossible, you are obviously very healthy." Louis whispered. He always felt that he was very lucky. Although his father and mother were obviously very close to each other, he and his brothers and their descendants still had good looks and good health. The emergence of genetic diseases, but one voice is also saying that epilepsy is indeed one of the common diseases in children born from consanguineous marriages, and the incidence of epilepsy is not limited to children.

"The wizards may have medicine to treat epilepsy," the Duke of Orleans saw Louis' eyes shining instantly, and could hardly bear to continue: "But Your Majesty, I don't just have epilepsy, according to them, my brain may also be There's something wrong." He didn't want to say that Uriel knew that his body was in big trouble as soon as he saw him. The vampires are very sensitive to the breath of human life. "My condition will continue to worsen. Maybe it's because of the Can't see, maybe can't hear, maybe quadriplegic...maybe..."

"do not talk!"

"Brother..." the Duke of Orleans said calmly: "Do you want me to accept that fate?"

"I don't want to," Louis gritted his teeth and said, "But I don't think this is the only way!"

"It doesn't matter, this won't happen overnight, I still have some time," the Duke of Orleans opened his hands and said in a tone that was almost rogue: "It's up to you."

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To the surprise of the people in Versailles, the Duke of Orleans returned to Versailles and soon started to leave for Blois. If he was alone, then some people might suspect that he was suspected by the king. This is normal. Many people Everyone was waiting for this day, but then the king announced that he was going to visit the Blois Valley, so some people couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

The Loire River meanders through the lower part of the Paris Basin, nourishing countless lands along the river. The Valois dynasty is rising from here, but when Louis XIV regarded it as the budding place of modern French medicine, , if people mention this again, the Valois Dynasty cannot be ranked first in the description column.

In the future, this place will become a medical center that can shake the whole world, with the latest equipment, the most advanced technology, the most exquisite research, and the most complete clinical data... Research institutes, hospitals and sanatoriums are like pearls on a string of beads along the Lu The Vaal River is scattered in the green valley.

Anyone who wants to be a doctor has a lifelong yearning, that is, to make a pilgrimage to the Loire Valley to see the rooms where their ancestors lived, the operating rooms and prescriptions used, and the scrawled notes left behind. A spark of wisdom.

But this happened later, even though Louis XIV has always valued medicine - the current medical technology and methods cannot even be described as modern. Even with the addition of wizards, apart from herbal medicine and surgery, doctors They are just a group of blind men groping in the dark. The only advantage is that with the help of the king, they will not be bound by religion.

But many studies cannot be carried out with their eyes, fingers or ears, such as the brain.

Hundreds of years later, people's brains are still beyond the reach of doctors. Now it is even more impossible to make the Duke of Orleans recover as the king requested, and there is even no guarantee that the epilepsy will not recur. As for the wizards...

"Your Majesty," Varro Vesalius said, "The Duke is not a wizard, and there is no medicine for this disease among wizards." The body of a wizard is inherently stronger and more perfect than that of a mortal. Even if there is incest, it rarely occurs. Genetic diseases or other diseases, so most of their medicines are used to detoxify, lift curses, and treat severe trauma... Of course, you can also use medicines that do not target the root cause or cure the disease, but are purely used to suppress it. Symptomatic drugs, the kind that the Duke said "treat" epilepsy, but...

"It's like some wet nurses mixing laudanum into the milk to prevent their children from crying." Vesalius said with a wry smile. He had no choice. He had known Louis XIV for many years, and his daughter still Louis gave birth to a son. It can be said that this was the first time Louis XIV exercised his prerogatives as king. It was unreasonable, but they did have nothing to do with the Duke's illness. Almost no one among the wizards suffered from epilepsy, and certainly not Someone will research potions and magic to cure it.

Louis turned his attention to the doctors. Little Lom took a deep breath and stood up. His father was the head doctor who developed protective clothing. Little Lom did not have his father's talent, but He is also a conscientious and good man. He has always been diligent and hardworking in his position. He is neither jealous of talents nor stubborn. He has won the trust of the king and the royal family. In fact, the Duke of Orleans had his first epileptic seizure. , it was he who came for diagnosis and treatment.

The king simply nodded.

"We... Your Majesty, we do have some understanding of epilepsy," he said cautiously: "We opened the heads of several patients who died due to epileptic attacks, and we did find some things that were different from ordinary people. Then, we synthesized Instead of the previous 'drilling method', Your Majesty, we can make holes in the skull, and then use crochet to destroy that part of the brain with different colors and textures, so that the patient can calm down and stop having attacks..."

Louis closed his eyes and said, "Stop talking." He knew that kind of treatment. It was simply a cover-up. It was like cutting off the hand when there was a wound on the finger that could not be healed - only the brain was damaged. In the end, if the patient is lucky enough, he will just become extra docile and obedient, and he will indeed seem to be "cured".

The doctors and wizards watched the king curse very rudely and stretched out his hands to hold his head. The Duke of Orleans next to him had a calm face and a smile, as if what was happening now had nothing to do with him. .

"Will you continue?" said the Duke.

"Go on," Louis said, "I don't believe it - we have the most powerful and wealthy country in the world, and you are my only brother. Even if you go to hell, I will bring you back!"

"I'm so happy, brother," whispered the Duke, "but I'm afraid your efforts will be in vain."

Louis XIV never returned to Versailles. He handed over some government affairs to the crown prince Louis, and only asked him to send the most urgent and important matters to the Castle of Blois. He accompanied the Duke of Orleans in the beautiful scenery. While recuperating in the river valley, he sent secret messages to Spain, Italy and Poland to seek a cure for epilepsy, but he also thought - the Duke said that it was not just epilepsy, wizards and vampires said that the Duke's fire of life was beating ominously. ——The fire of life of a person who has run out of oil is weak, and the fire of life of a healthy person is strong, but both are stable. The Duke's fire of life is so volatile, indicating that he is in a state of health and During the period of weakness, just like when a kerosene lamp burns to the last bit of grease, the flame will become suddenly larger and smaller.

When the time entered the tenth month, the Duke of Orleans suddenly invited the king to his apartment: "There is something important that I want to ask you to see." he said.

Louis XIV didn't realize what the Duke was going to do at all. He watched in confusion as his younger brother walked to the window, opened the heavy curtains, and pushed open the window. Below was the golden river. He paused for several seconds. When the Duke seemed like When he fell to the ground as if struck by lightning, he yelled and rushed over to hold his brother in his arms.

A grand mal seizure of epilepsy can be quite frightening.

The Duke of Orleans' body suddenly stood up, and his arms and legs turned back instead. His eyes turned upward, and the black part completely disappeared from his eyelids. He let out intermittent shouts like a wild beast in his throat, which opened wide. At the limit, he even tore the corner of his mouth, and then his neck leaned forward weirdly - at this time, the doctor had already ran over and stuffed a wooden stick wrapped in silk into the Duke's mouth to prevent him from biting off the tip of his tongue.

Someone came to help Louis, but Louis held the Duke's hand and refused to let go. "Please leave, Your Majesty," the doctor shouted, sweating profusely: "The Duke will hurt you!"

The next moment, Louis was kicked hard on the shin by the Duke of Orleans. With the help of others, he stepped aside slightly and held the Duke's hand without letting go. He was held tightly.

Four attendants assisted the doctor at the same time to ensure that the Duke would not hurt himself during the attack. Louis looked at his brother desperately. The Duke had never been so embarrassed. He had always been delicate and beautiful, but now, His hair was disheveled and his face was distorted. His limbs and body were like a slaughtered eel, tightening and straightening suddenly. He convulsed for dozens of seconds, or perhaps for centuries. His shirt was soaked with sweat and tears, and he was pale. The skin slowly turns an ugly gray-purple color...

The doctor removed the stick and pink foam came out of the Duke's mouth and nose.

What finally made Louis collapse was the unpleasant smell he smelled - "Your Majesty," the doctor said calmly: "Incontinence is very common after a major attack."

"Okay!" He shouted in panic: "Okay, I promise you, brother, I promise you!"