kingdom of nations

Chapter 41 The Chosen One (Part )
"Yo hey!"

Longinus leaned his head to look down and saw a face paler than the crescent moon. He remembered that it was Prince Baldwin, who probably had never seen his face before.

He immediately shrank back. He didn't know what the situation was like in the tunnel, but if the prince suddenly shot him with a crossbow arrow, he was really afraid that the devil who led him down would laugh so hard that the whole hell would shake.

"That is Longinus," said Cesar, "my servant. I have him waiting here for us."

As if in response to his words, a rope with several knots was quickly dropped from above. Longinus climbed down from above like a big monkey. With the help of Cesar, he carried Baldwin on his back and climbed out again. After a few breaths, he climbed down again. Cesar did not refuse his kindness and lay on his back to get out of the shaft.

Baldwin was already wrapped in a blanket, drinking mulled wine. Cesar took a look and said, "You're really well prepared."

“As long as you’re willing to spend a few silver coins or even copper coins… no one will care whether you can get a full night’s sleep or not.” Longinus also took out a large stack of sticky grilled cheese. After the cheese was grilled, honey was poured on the melted layer. It was a simple dessert to make but a bit expensive. Like mulled wine, it was something that could replenish a lot of energy in a short period of time.

"Did Cesar... ask you to wait here?" Baldwin finally stopped shaking and asked vaguely while eating grilled cheese in big mouthfuls.

Longinus glanced at Cesar and said, "He told me to keep an eye on the Temple. He said those greedy guys probably won't give up so easily."

"How's things going at the temple?"

Longinus looked at Cesar again and said, "Go ahead."

"The king of Alasar has been assassinated."

Baldwin paused, looked at him, then turned to the tense Cesar. "Don't worry about me," he said, his tone so calm that it made Longinus' hair stand on end. "I can think, too, Cesar. When you felt blood under the crack in the door, I knew something big must have happened. They couldn't come to look after us. It might have been for a short time, but that was calculated by those people."

"I am the king's son. Who else could have come before me but the king?" Baldwin's eyes sparkled, but his words were as hard as nails breaking iron. Every word was like a hammer striking his enemies. "You are right. They are a bunch of maggots! They are crueler than Jephthah, greedier than Judas Iscariot, and more vicious than Jezebel! (Note 1) They are demons! They are excrement!"

"Please don't grieve too much," Longinus added hastily. "When I arrived, knights were already running out, shouting, 'The assassin has been beheaded, and the king is safe!' The scene was also orderly, with no crying."

He had been keeping his eyes on the temple, and when the building on the west side of the temple suddenly caught fire and erupted into a fierce noise, he immediately became alert.

He may not be as smart as his young master, but his understanding of those monks and priests is much deeper than the former. When they do things, once they make a decision, they will definitely be decisive and decisive, without hesitation, and will not leave anyone any way out!

In an instant, the torches were directed toward the stables. Longinus wondered if his young master's plan would succeed. What if they fainted? What if they failed to break through the water room wall? What if the tunnel entrances were completely blocked? Worst of all, what if they got stuck mid-route? He wasn't sure.

The only certainty was that if he were caught by those knights, he would certainly be considered an accomplice of the assassin.

So he did not hesitate any longer and immediately escaped along the path he had already spotted.

He ran to the shaft where he had agreed to meet Cesar. He had bought the closest small house to the shaft. The man took several other people to his neighbor's house, leaving only a girl to work for him. He had asked the girl to prepare the mulled wine and grilled cheese.

Praise Jesus Christ! His waiting was not in vain.

"I wonder if your father has opened the temple gate..." Cesar said immediately, "Longinus, hurry to the Temple Mount—Baldwin, take a token..."

He paused. They were only wearing a soaked linen robe and had swallowed the fish bladder potion. But Baldwin immediately took the dagger offered by Longinus and cut off a lock of hair. "Give this to my father."

"Take this and tell the king, no, go find Friar Heraclius and tell him we are here, and then ask him if the hunter is still guarding the rabbit hole. If not, ask him to make arrangements as soon as possible." Cesar looked at the sky. Venus had not risen yet and the dawn had not yet come. They still had time.

Longinus nodded and asked, "Do you want to go to my little hut to rest for a while?"

"No," Baldwin said. "We're right here."

It would take only the time to recite the Lord's Prayer five times to get from the shaft to the Temple Church, provided you avoid the tunnel dug by the devil.

Originally, Caesar wanted Longinus to go directly to Amalric I, but then he thought that the king must be heavily guarded at this time. Even if Longinus met him, he would not be willing to listen to his words and ask everyone to stay away. It would be better for him to secretly find Heraclius and then ask Heraclius to persuade the king.

I only wish Heraclius hadn't stayed with the king.

Heraclius was indeed not with the king.

The scene was extremely chaotic for a time - when Amalric I rushed out of the room covered in blood, shouting the name of Saint George, the servants on duty immediately screamed, and the news spread like ripples, and everyone was calling for their knights and followers.

Some hid in their rooms, some ran up the stairs, some rushed into the hall, and even more rushed towards the king. The worst part was that it was late at night, and some knights had forgotten to put on their cloaks in their haste. Others, upon seeing the unknown strangers, immediately drew their swords and fought with them...

Heraclius had just stopped the king's bleeding, but when he saw this scene, his face went numb. He immediately gave orders on behalf of the king, calling on all nobles including the Count of Tripoli and the Grand Duke of Antioch, as well as the Grand Master of the Knights Templar and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, and the High Priest of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, to gather dozens of the most loyal, strong and brave knights, and ordered them to shout "The king is safe, the assassin surrenders" while walking through every place with flags and torches.

Anyone discovered by them, if they could prove their identity, would be ordered back to their room. If they could not, they would be thrown into prison. If they dared to resist, they would be executed on the spot as accomplices of the assassin.

After finishing all these, Heraclius was about to report to Amalric I, but his heart suddenly tightened. He didn't care about anything else and immediately ran to the Temple Church. He ran into the gray-faced Grand Master of the Knights Templar. He had already discovered the six Knights Templar who were killed outside the church. They didn't even make any sound or movement.

The Grand Master called out, but there was no response from inside. He couldn't decide whether to open the door, so he turned back to ask the king.

Heraclius felt a darkness before his eyes, but fortunately, at this time, a servant brought Longinus.

Longinus quickly relayed Cesar's words to Heraclius, saying, "Both the black rabbit and the white rabbit are safe. I wonder if the hunter is still guarding the cave they were in."

"The hunter is greedy and arrogant, why would he bother with this effort?" Heraclius replied, "He has already gone back and is fast asleep on his pillow. This is a good opportunity to release the rabbit back to its burrow."

He quickly returned to Amalric I and told him the good news. Amalric I immediately stood up and wanted to go with him. Before Heraclius could dissuade him, Raymond firmly objected, "Or you can take me with you."

He was filled with passion, but he didn't notice the sudden change in Amalric's expression. "No," the king said coldly, "You stay here."

Raymond was stunned for a moment. He had always been Amalric I's most trusted right-hand man. The king had never disrespected and distrusted him like this, treating him like a traitor.

He stood there until Bohemond, Duke of Antioch, came leisurely with his arms folded. "Don't take it too seriously. Even a king would get carried away by his emotions if he encountered such disgusting things one after another."

Although he didn't like Bohemond very much, Raymond's expression improved slightly when he saw him trying to persuade him: "I'm just worried..."

"Oh, don't worry, don't worry. You're the last person we need to worry about here," Bohemond said with a smile. "If I were you, I wouldn't bother myself by going before Amalric I. Haven't you noticed one thing? He hates you."

"what?"

Bohemond approached Raymond and whispered, "Isn't it obvious? If Amalric I dies and Prince Baldwin also dies, then who will inherit the throne of Alasarus? Of course, it can only be you, the grandson of Baldwin II, the cousin of Amalric I, and the one closest to the throne!"

As soon as Amalric I saw Baldwin, he didn't care that he was not wearing a veil, and hugged him tightly in his arms, crying uncontrollably. Chirac saw this and felt an indescribable emotion surging in his chest - he walked quickly towards his student, and without bothering to ask him about the details of the previous incident, he discussed with him the things that were about to be prepared.

The Patriarch of Alaska had indeed returned to his residence, not far from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He stood at the window, gazing at the most sacred place, recalling the pleasure of cursing the king in front of countless people.

After a while, he returned to his desk and used a key to open a wooden box. Inside were three carefully written manuscripts. The first one was that Prince Baldwin was not dead but was not selected. The second one was that Prince Baldwin was dead (so it didn’t matter whether he was selected or not). The third one was that both King Amalric I and Prince Baldwin were dead.

Of course, no matter which one, he diligently and earnestly told the people that this was the wrath of God.

Yes, he admitted that Amalric I and other Crusaders were warriors of Christ, but they had also received the generous rewards promised by God. However, they were not satisfied with this, but instead developed arrogance and greed.

This city should belong to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Mortals have no right to usurp the throne, yet they have placed a crown on their heads...

Now, they should be afraid, because facts have proven that anyone who dares to offend God, no matter how prominent they are, will go to hell. Not only will they go to hell, but they will also have their eyebrows hooked by hooks and roast in the lake of fire until the end of the world, with maggots crawling around in their bodies, devouring their flesh...

He thought for a moment, then pulled out another stick of charcoal. Too lazy to ask a priest to scrape the parchment, he added a few threatening words to the blank space to keep the believers in line.

After revising the manuscript and locking the box again, the Patriarch went back to bed.

And where he could not see, Amalric I, holding Baldwin, Longinus holding Caesar, and Heraclius, entered the main hall of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre silently.

It's interesting to say that in order to deal a surprise blow to Amalric I, the patriarch made generous promises and bribed a group of priests. They had previously been against Thomas of the Gerard family, but Thomas successfully turned the tables with the help of Cesar's asceticism. They have not had a good time these days.

They worked for the Patriarch with all their heart, but they probably didn't expect that after the Patriarch achieved his goal, he would abandon them and not care about them anymore.

Now these priests have switched places with Gerard's Thomas. It will depend on whether Thomas is willing to let them do penance in the desert or atone for their sins in the army.

Anyway, by this time, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre had returned to Thomas's hands. He naturally agreed to Amalric I's request. "But how are you going to explain to the world that you took them out of the Temple Church?"

"You may see," Heraclius said, "that the beeswax on the doors of the Temple is intact."

"What will we say then?"

"Say that some devil or pagan servants wanted to disrupt the election ceremony and set fire outside the church. The merciful God saw it and picked up the two children and placed them in the arms of His only Son to protect them from harm." Heraclius spoke fluently, and it was obvious that he had thought of the story on the way.

Thomas was a little nervous. "Is the Temple Church on fire?"

"Before morning prayers."

Thomas opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"I will come to buy a thousand-year indulgence," said Amalric I.

Thomas was immediately delighted, clapped his hands, and exclaimed, "This is God's will, to turn people back from their wrong ways."

He happily opened the door of the hall himself and watched them put the two children away. "They..." He signaled with his eyes, "How are they?"

Heraclius was stunned. When a person is chosen, a burst of white light will burst out from his body. In terms of shape, the one that looks like thunder is "favored", and the one that looks like a river is "gifted". The longer the time and the brighter the light, the more blessings he will receive and the more powerful the saint he will be impressed by.

But by the time they met Baldwin and Cesar, they had been away from the temple for some time.

I don’t know whether they left after being chosen, or... If it was the latter, their selection ceremony would have failed.

"It doesn't matter anymore." Unexpectedly, the person who spoke this time was Amalric I. Thomas looked at the king, but was frightened by his dark eyes.

"How many people still know about this?"

"You, me, Thomas, and..." Heraclius looked at Longinus: "This knight."

Longinus felt as if he were still in that freezing shaft. "In the Holy City, the only person I swore an oath to was Cesar."

"He's not a knight yet."

"Because he is not a knight, sire, no one takes notice of me; you know, they all say I am a slave of slaves."

Amalric I gave a short laugh. "Anyone else?" He didn't look away. "Anyone."

Longinus closed his eyes, "Yes... Your Majesty."

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What exactly are “receiving grace” and “receiving”?

Cesar held Baldwin's hand, and after seeing Amalric I, Baldwin could no longer hold on and fainted. Cesar was also indescribably tired and dull. It was not until Heraclius gave them the antidote that they recovered a little.

But both Baldwin and Cesar were satisfied to be able to sit here together.

"Even if I'm not chosen," Baldwin said optimistically, "it doesn't matter. I can become a monk with you when the time comes. If they don't want me to be with you, I'll ask my father to build a new monastery for us."

"I think even if you are not chosen, you will not necessarily be abandoned." Cesar expressed his judgment, but he did not say the real intention of Amalric I. Baldwin may one day be able to glimpse the cruel reality, but if it is one day later, the better.

Baldwin turned to look at Cesar. His emerald eyes looked like obsidian in the dim light—a little light was slowly spreading from the center of the obsidian...

"God..." he trembled. "God bless you, Cesar..."

"No," Cesar said, gazing at the glowing Baldwin. "It's you."

Note 1: Judas Iscariot (one of Jesus’ twelve disciples who eventually betrayed Jesus out of greed), Jephthah (a cruel general who won a battle by sacrificing his daughter), Jezebel (a queen of Israel who encouraged her husband to engage in cruel persecution and killing).

(End of this chapter)