Chapter 503: Intervention 2
TL: Rui88
With a loud scraping sound, the heavy door made of fir was slowly pushed open. Two guards stood on the left and right before the two door panels, which were carved with intricate and exquisite patterns. Light from outside shot into the once pitch-black treasury, instantly illuminating a path of shining golden light upon the floor paved with precious marbled stone.
A man led four attendants, walking slowly along the golden path into the treasury.
The man was tall and wore a magnificent velvet robe. His long, brown, curly hair fell naturally down his back. His eyes were bright and deep, and his features revealed a heroic air. He wore a solemn expression as he walked very deliberately along the light into the depths of the treasury.
“It’s too dark,” the man said, gesturing to the guards behind him. “Light some candles.”
The two rearmost guards immediately went left and right respectively. Using the residual light from the doorway, they each lit a row of candles that had long been placed there.
The entire treasury was instantly brightened, revealing its true appearance.
Countless precious vessels, chests of ancient currency, and various weapons and armor that were clearly the work of master craftsmen filled the enormous room. The walls on all four sides were also hung with valuable paintings.
But the man had not the slightest interest in these treasures, any one of which was priceless. He walked straight along the central axis of the treasury until he reached the far wall.
Before that wall was a rectangular table about two meters long and one meter wide. On the table rested an object, covered tightly with a red silk cloth.The man reached out with his right hand, took a corner of the silk cloth, and slowly lifted it. A frighteningly cold glint burst forth. Beneath the cloth was a golden sword stand, upon which an ancient-looking longsword rested quietly.
The man gripped the hilt and held the ancient longsword up before his eyes.
“My ancestors used this very sword to establish the current Duchy of Eton.”
The man, or rather, the ruler of the Duchy of Eton, Grand Duke Ettiot Cabre, spoke these words to himself.
“Now, I will use it once again to protect the people of Eton.”
He gripped the longsword and swung it before him, and a streak of light appeared in mid-air.
“Holy Sword…Hieronymus, please grant us your strength once more.”
Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded from behind him.
“Your Majesty, has the situation truly reached such a dangerous point?”
The voice was gentle and soft, yet it carried an unconcealable worry.
Grand Duke Cabre turned around and looked at his beautiful wife, Grand Duchess Helen, who had once been hailed as the Pearl of Horn Bay.
He frowned and asked, “Helen, what are you doing here?”
His wife replied, “I knew you were not asleep, so I could not sleep either. I saw you get up just now, so I followed you.”
“Alas!” Cabre sighed. “I’m sorry for making you worry.”
Helen came before him. “What are you saying? You are my husband. If you have something on your mind, how could I possibly be at peace?”
Cabre waved over an attendant, who held out a scabbard into which he sheathed the ancient longsword.
The young Grand Duke said worriedly, “The Church’s army is already approaching Hydra. I estimate they will appear beneath Hydra’s walls in less than a week.”
Helen asked doubtfully, “But won’t our army be transferred back from the Horn Bay Alliance soon?”
Her husband, in order not to worry her, always put on a confident front. If a trustworthy person had not told her the real situation today, and if she had not seen the large-scale exodus of people fleeing the city with her own eyes during a trip in disguise, she would never have known that the situation had taken such a sharp turn for the worse.
Alas, men.
Cabre spread his hands helplessly and said, “It will take time for them to return. Gareth wrote that the Horn Bay Alliance initially refused to let them go and would not provide the supplies they needed for the journey back. In the end, Gareth had to find a way to procure a batch of supplies himself before they could leave.”
The once-mighty New Protestant allied army, formed to crusade against the Church and the inland nations, was on the verge of collapse because of the Crusader Army’s unscrupulous “armed passage” through the northern neutral nations.
“Your Majesty!” Helen’s eyes filled with tears. Her husband’s anxiety, now that he had completely dropped his facade, made her heart ache. “If it comes to it, let’s not fight the Church. The new sect, the old sect, let’s not care about any of it. Let Eton just quietly maintain its neutrality.”
“Oh, my dear, you are too naive,” Cabre said. “The destruction of neutral nations like Yeb is happening right before our eyes. The Church will do anything to annihilate the coastal ‘heretics’ as quickly as possible.”
Of course, Eton’s national strength could not be compared to that of small states like Yeb, so it was not impossible for Eton to maintain a so-called armed neutrality. However, the Grand Duke had other reasons why he could not remain neutral.
“To take a step back, even if the Church were to accept Eton’s neutrality, what would happen to you and Finnie? The Church has had its eyes on you two sisters for a long time, and after that incident at Fort Ness, they already know Finnie’s true situation. If the Church’s condition for allowing Eton’s neutrality was for me to hand over you and Finnie, do you think I could agree to such a condition?”
Helen and her sister Finnie, as spellcasters, were thorns in the Church’s side. The initial cause of the war was the great divergence between the Church and the coastal nations regarding the hunting of witches. When the disagreement was not obvious or had just begun to emerge, the Church could still choose to forbear, taking into account their status as part of a nation’s ruling class. But now things had changed. The Church, having already torn off all pretenses and officially started a war, would absolutely not turn a blind eye to a witch of such status and influence.
“Your Majesty.” Her husband’s words moved Helen deeply, and her eyes instantly welled up with tears.
“Don’t worry, Helen, I’m here,” Cabre said, patting his chest and once again displaying the confident appearance he had shown his wife before. “No one can do anything to you and Finnie.”
The Grand Duke raised the longsword named “Hieronymus” and said, “The power of my ancestors will protect me. I will use it to kill any enemy who dares to invade.”
But then his tone changed. “However, you must promise me that you will take Finnie and leave Hydra for a while. Go south. I have already selected a guard for you. After Hydra becomes safe again, you can…”
“No!” Before the Grand Duke could finish, Helen covered her husband’s mouth and refused him resolutely.
“You can send Finnie away, but I must remain by your side.”
Grand Duke Cabre tried to persuade her further. “Alas, don’t be so impulsive…”
“Don’t worry!” Helen said, looking into her husband’s eyes, trying to sound as lighthearted as possible:
“Someone can help us overcome this crisis.”