Warhammer

Chapter 73: Husband and wife

It was impossible for Isabella to leave "alone" after her husband decided to stay. She and Rodrigo had no children. If she left in this case, she would only become a woman who abandoned her husband. The members of the Visconti would never trust her as an "outsider" if she did not continue the bloodline of the family.

It is not even certain that she and the prince have a son.

So when the prince said that, Isabella actually had only one choice.

The prince did not dare to look his wife in the eye. After he finished speaking, he turned around and arranged matters with his attendants. However, the princess, who was familiar with her husband, knew:

Although the prince seems busy, he is actually most concerned about her choice.

After he made the decision to resist to the end and coexist with the city, he also hoped that his wife would stay with him.

Even according to tradition, Isabella could not be considered an official member of the Visconti family before giving birth to the prince's bloodline...but the prince still wanted Isabella, the woman he loved so much, to stay.

He must have been determined to die at this moment, at least at the moment.

So he wanted his beloved wife, the woman he loved most, to be with him.

And a slight bitterness already welled up in Isabella's heart.

As smart as she was, she could naturally understand the prince's true meaning from his words and actions, which were somewhat awkward to him.

She has always known clearly that her "little husband" is a person with strong possessiveness and a strong desire to win. For example, the prince likes to gamble with others. If he loses once, he will definitely find ways to win it back - of course, under the premise of being as fair as possible, the victory or defeat will be decided by their respective strength and luck.

Before she came to the Black Castle, she had heard some dark rumors about the young prince whom she had only heard of but never seen.

For example, he likes mature women, attractive women who are older than himself...and many people who meet these two conditions often have another identity as "wives".

But as long as the prince shows his admiration and love for a woman, whether she is someone else's wife or not, he will eventually succeed. In some cases, these people will "quietly" lose their identity as "someone else's wife" - for example, the husband voluntarily withdraws; or the man encounters certain strange things and eventually leaves, or disappears quietly in the vast crowd.

Even Isabella herself, the so-called legendary story of "the prince breaking the nine tests set by her" and finally winning the beauty, also had some deep factors that were not known to outsiders.

The prince was determined to die, so he didn't want the woman he loved most, the wife and princess whom he regarded as a treasure, to fall into the arms of someone else one day in the future! Her beauty and wisdom would remain in the world to be admired and even played with by others after her king left!

He would rather take her with him to be buried in the last castle in the capital, and leave behind a touching story for the Visconti family and the Miragliano people.

Facing the enemy's attack, the prince and his wife fought to the last moment surrounded by loyalists, and then they threw themselves into the sea of ​​fire together and died heroically for their country...

It is both a heroic act of martyrdom and a love legend.

The posthumous reputation is already perfect.

But for Isabella, her husband had given up on living and deliberately used such words and actions to provoke her to stay.

If the prince really wanted Isabella to survive, he had many ways to do it. For example, he could just give an order to the guards and they would forcefully "tie" the princess to the escape team, or he could have a serious conversation with her and express his true feelings, hoping that she could survive...

In this way, even if Isabella left in the end and the prince died alone or was captured, she would not have to bear the stigma of abandoning her husband, and she would have the opportunity to unify Miragliano's forces and seek a counterattack.

But the prince's words "if you want to leave" made his wife understand his true thoughts.

He didn't want to die and leave his wife alone.

The prince's love is very possessive.

She knows her husband very well, just like a mother knows her child. Sometimes, apart from the COSPLAY elements, the prince really looks like a pair of siblings, mother and son in front of his older wife.

At this point, there is nothing more to say.

It doesn't matter whether Isabella chooses to escape or stands firmly with her husband until the last moment.

The woman felt a little bitter at the moment when she understood the situation, but she did not have any dissatisfaction or resentment.

This was her husband, her love.

When the Grand Master held their hands together and swore an oath in front of the goddess, at least in Isabella's heart, she and the prince were already one.

"If you don't leave, I won't go anywhere."

She raised her hand and gently rubbed the young prince's head. Her slender white fingers parted his hair and gently stroked his scalp.

The prince's body trembled almost visibly, but he still did not turn around to look at his wife. The couple were both smart people. In short, Isabella knew that the prince wanted her to stay and die together, and the prince knew that Isabella could guess his thoughts...

"I'll go to the city wall first."

His wife's hand caressing his head made the prince unable to help but recall those always beautiful and sweet scenes in the past, which formed a sharp contrast with the current situation with the enemy at the gates.

But he couldn't bear to think too much at this moment, for he was afraid that if he thought too much, he would regret it.

So he hurriedly said something and rushed to the outer wall with his servants to check the city defenses in order to avoid facing the guilt of his wife.

Rodrigo's mind was in a state of confusion, for he wanted to see his wife in military uniform - or in the most beautiful and gorgeous dress, to come to him as befitting the mistress of the castle, that is, the prince and princess, and to stand by him no matter what the situation.

I also thought that if Isabella chose to escape, she could at least survive, but then...

In short, he was very conflicted at the moment, and this conflict even diluted his determination to die heroically and leave a good name behind.

The young and energetic prince encountered setbacks for the first time, and was defeated miserably by losing all his family fortune. However, he gritted his teeth and chose to fight to the end. He could not accept his fate as a loser, and fled to other places in disgrace after losing everything.

At least if I die here, I can die as a hero...

The prince was thinking about things all the way and didn't even pay attention to military affairs. Naturally, he didn't notice that he met several groups of people who joined his team one after another along the way, but they were not servants of the Black Castle.

Instead, they were a force that retreated from the outer city into the Black Castle. Judging from their highly uniform attire, they all appeared to be powerful families in the city of Miragliano.

The prince went to the city wall to command the defense. Now the outside of the city has basically fallen into the hands of the enemy, and only the Black Castle is still under the control of the Tyrells. Naturally, he regarded the people who followed him as warriors who followed him to persist in resistance.

Chapter 74: Changes in Black Castle

"Your Highness is here."

The maid came and brought a little Xi for the princess.

Isabella, who was arranging her escape, was delighted when she heard this.

I wondered if my husband had changed his mind.

Rodrigo was young and energetic, and he had the responsibilities of his family and the king. It was understandable that he could not bear the stimulation and decided to die.

But in Isabella's opinion, the best option is to stay useful.

The enemy launched a surprise attack across Inara, fully prepared and with the strongest momentum. Miragliano was caught off guard. If he lost, he lost. He just needed to accumulate strength for another fight.

But he must not die here. If he did, the enemy would only need to make the letter public, and Visconti would be showered with infamy. Even if he restored his country in the future, Visconti, who had single-handedly initiated the war and issued such an unwise provocation, would lose his position in Miragliano forever...

Considering this step, Isabella immediately put down the affairs at hand and went to meet her husband with her entourage.

It's not too late to escape now. The enemy has not yet completed the encirclement of the Black Castle, and there is still some time before they launch a large-scale attack.

Moreover, as long as you enter the Black Castle's extensive escape passages, only the Visconti people who know the secrets of these life-saving routes can know which road leads to where and what secret mechanisms are along the way.

There are also some lane changes and false roads to guard against possible enemy pursuit.

As long as you escape into the secret passage before the enemy finds it, you will have a chance to escape!

However, when she walked across the corridor with her heart full of words of persuasion, the person she met was not her young husband, whose face might have been filled with confusion, hesitation, and embarrassment, but a young man she had never met before.

Isabella stopped and thought for a moment, then quickly figured out the origin of the badge on the other person's clothes.

A Field member.

This family briefly ascended the throne of prince in the early days of the country's recovery after the Great War. Even after stepping down, they did not suffer any liquidation. After the Visconti family came to power, they behaved quite submissively and became a prominent family in the principality.

Because the servants had previously reported that Field and another member of the Jon family had retreated into the Black Castle, it was reasonable for a Field to appear. The princess did not think much about it, guessing that the other party might have come with the prince, and she walked straight over.

He was followed by several followers, including one dressed as a servant of the Black Castle. Given all these factors, Isabella did not suspect anything at the time. She did not see the prince, so she stopped and asked softly:

"Where is your Royal Highness?"

She thought the other party was paving the way for the prince.

But at the same time, Isabella was also looking at the servant of the Black Castle subtly.

It's almost a habit.

Because the Visconti like to hide behind the scenes and control everything, the Black Castle is known as a huge spider's nest by outsiders. Every Visconti is an octopus spider, controlling all kinds of conspiracies and tricks with his claws.

In this case, Black Castle also took extreme measures to ensure its internal security. For example, the servants' attire, various passwords, and hints made it almost impossible for outsiders to sneak in. If they were not careful, problems might be exposed in terms of etiquette and code words.

"The prince is here..." The young man first saluted the princess with his hand on his chest, and then halfway through his words, Isabella suddenly felt an inexplicable throbbing.

“The button pattern is wrong!”

She noticed that the servant had made an obvious mistake in his attire, and for a senior servant who could wear a black robe and directly serve the prince's family master, this was a mistake that should not be made even in wartime.

And he did not come up to greet him first. For a servant whose only job was to serve Visconti, it was absolutely impossible for him to remain indifferent after seeing the two most noble masters.

Isabella turned and ran.

"Bang bang bang!"

A few close shots rang out and Isabella fell to the ground.

Several of her followers were unable to dodge or were beaten to death while trying to protect their mistress.

When Isabella fell, she subconsciously tried to tear off the necklace around her neck, but a white light flashed and her movement was stopped halfway.

One of the attackers lifted up his black robe, revealing the white robe underneath. He was a light mage.

He was sweating profusely at this moment. If he had not been prepared, he would not have been able to use time to freeze the princess in a split second.

The wizard then stepped forward and carefully took off the necklace, ring and other accessories hanging on the white goose neck of the princess who was "stopped in time". Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief and dispelled the magic.

The servant who had been prepared for a long time immediately stepped forward and grabbed the hands of the wife with the highest status in the principality and held her up.

"Field, you want to betray your country! Betray the prince?!"

Isabella, who already understood what was going on, angrily accused him. At this point, she knew clearly that the prince's idea of ​​"dying for his country and becoming a tragic hero" might have been dashed.

The man was shocked at first when the princess suddenly saw through him and ran away. He almost thought that the plan would fail. But now that the situation has been settled, he breathed a sigh of relief and sneered:

"Prince? Rodrigo Visconti?"

"He is not worthy of being in this position to lead the Miraglianos!"

"The Visconti have occupied the throne for too long. They are so greedy that they even allow a child who is not yet an adult to be promoted to the throne just because he is the only legitimate blood."

"This is Poggio's former country, Your Highness. Don't you have any complaints about it?"

Isabella snorted coldly at the Field youth's provocation and did not argue.

"How is my husband?"

There is nothing much to say at this point.

She hated herself for being too careless... The enemy attacked so quickly, she never thought that they would be able to find an insider in just a few days, or she should have thought of it earlier - the enemy army crossed the mountains to launch a surprise attack, they must have made complete preparations, and the insider must have been found long ago, not just after the enemy arrived at the city!

As for Isabella who tactfully gave in, the young man showed even more respect, "He is fine now. Your Highness, please follow us and we will see him."

"What did they promise? To let Field ascend the throne of prince again? I warn you, Tyrell, you are facing the enemy of our duchy..." Isabella changed from princess to prisoner in just a short encounter, but her demeanor remained the same. Even the attendant who had grabbed her let go after being scolded by the princess, allowing Isabella to act on her own.

As long as she doesn't run away, Field is willing to give her this respect.

"Then your highness, don't worry about it, and..." The young man sneered, "If we talk about betrayal, it was Rodrigo who betrayed us first!"

"Your Majesty is not the enemy of the Principality. Those greedy people who try to occupy it and distort our noble traditions are!"

He took a letter from his pocket and threw it on the ground.

"This is what your prince did! His good deeds have brought us a powerful king! Miragliano is burning, and it is all thanks to Rodrigo Visconti!"

Isabella ignored her ladylike etiquette, bent down, picked up the letter, quickly scanned the entire text, and felt a chill in her heart.

really.

The enemy has already taken advantage of the aggressive and humiliating letter that Rodrigo wrote to the Golden Palace.

Even though she was a wife who was willing to follow her husband to death, Isabella couldn't help but blame Rodrigo in her heart. The letter might not have had much effect when both sides were evenly matched, but once Tyrell's side fell into a disadvantage like now, the letter was equivalent to giving the enemy a more legitimate excuse, and all their actions could be attributed to the noble law of "revenge".

It will also divert people's resentment about the attack to the Visconti family. Overall, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

The content of this letter is exactly the copy of what Rodrigo wrote to the Lord of the Golden Palace. There is also a note below, which is not personal, but stated in an official tone that this war was caused by Rodrigo's humiliating letter. Although the legion came for revenge, they came mainly for the prince alone.

Requesting the recipient of this letter to help capture Rodrigo and transfer him to the United Kingdom, so that Miragliano will not suffer under the flames of war...

Isabella felt a chill in her heart when she saw this.

It's all over.

Chapter 75: Changes in Black Castle (Part 2)

On the other hand, the prince who was captured together with his wife by a sudden attack on a powerful family was not treated so well. He was tied up by servants, with his hands and feet bound, and was guarded by loyal soldiers.