I Am Louis XIV

Mary wanted to retort that this was not necessarily the case, but she immediately remembered the reason why Louis stayed in the other world - a sour smell surged in her throat. She kept telling herself that Louis stayed in the other world for her. But she also knew that uncovering the beautiful illusion-the reason why Louis disguised himself as a wizard and entered the other world was because he was cursed. Without the Mancini family's secret medicine, he would inevitably face death. Mancini For their own selfish interests and greed, the family forged the news of the king's death so that he had to stay here and changed from a king to a wizard.

Louis is now the Grand Duke of Gayola. As his leader and protector, the traces of the Mancini family are like fine sand in the wind, leaving no trace. Half of it is his ambition that he can never give up, and the other half is not. What about the hatred for the Mancini family?

She recalled how her father and cousins ​​had cursed her—they cursed her, saying that she had betrayed her family and that the love of blood would never last.

Nonsense, she thought, she was in Louis' arms now, his arms were so strong, and his embrace was so warm. One of their sons was already an adult, and the other was still in her belly, but he would also be a child to be reckoned with in the future. A big shot to look down upon.

"Okay, Mary," Louis pushed her gently: "I just came back, and I'm not very clean. You still have the child with you." He said, "I'm going to take a bath, how about you go check on the dinner?" "He took a step back, and Mary realized that he looked tired and dusty, and there was a cold aura lingering on his body that could not be ignored - most of the wizards in the lowland areas were dark wizards. As the Bourbon of the other world, Philippe Li VII will definitely not let Louis and the wizards face the mortal army. Their enemies can only be the devils that even the wizards are afraid of. Even if they die, the power of the curse is still very impressive.

The bathing Louis mentioned was of course not just bathing. The wizards inherited the tradition of bathing from the Romans and Celts. Because there were many curses that needed to be dispelled by cleansing the body and soul, Mary took the hand from the maid. The verbena came, whipping the body gently, and then walked through the long corridor, went down the stairs, and went to the kitchen on the ground floor.

The kitchen was in full swing, swans, quails, and partridges were stewing on the stove, bacon and sausages were hanging from the stove, pigeons were being put into pies, the cook was vigorously stirring the fish, and oysters were being scooped out piece by piece, along with lemongrass. Boiled into soup, thyme juice is thrown into heated wine, rosemary is sprinkled over mashed potatoes...

"Is this a potato?"

"Yes, ma'am." The maid replied respectfully - but in Mary's impression... No, there are potatoes in Gaiola. This kind of plant wizard is earlier than mortals know... Is that so? She suddenly didn't She was sure, but then someone asked her if there was sage or basil in the cheese, and she immediately forgot about the potatoes and tasted the cheese instead.

The strong smell of the cheese and herbs had not disappeared. She sat at the table with Louis. There were a variety of dishes on the table. "This is really rare..." she said almost subconsciously, but stopped quickly. As long as he is not on an expedition, Louis always dines with her and the children. Sometimes they even have breakfast together. What is she complaining about? Even Louis cast a strange look - "Nothing," Mary said uneasily: "How many days have I not seen you?"

"Including today, it's seven days," Louis said.

"I feel like several years have passed." Mary said, "Maybe this is the wild imagination of pregnant people."

"Winter is coming next," Louis said. "The war in the lowlands has come to an end for the time being. Mary, I will not leave Gaiola during this period. Luciano will be back soon. Then we can be together." After a few months, maybe I can watch the baby being born."

"That would be great," Mary said weakly, "I hope so too."

In the next few months, Louis fulfilled his promise, and Luciano came back. He was already a young and beautiful boy. Unexpectedly, he looked very much like his father. They lived a peaceful and comfortable life, and every day The days are almost fixed, and such days always make people forget the passage of time. Before the coming of spring, Mary and Louis' second son was born. Louis had made an agreement with Philip VII that he would also have a son. The title of a duke, but Philip VII could not give him a commensurate territory. In the outside world, he could not bear the surname Bourbon, because Louis Dieudonné Bourbon should be a dead man, unless Louis is willing. Let his son become his brother's illegitimate son - no, Louis doesn't want to, not to mention that this child is also a wizard.

"I will give him a new territory." Louis said, and Mary also knew that this was not a lie, because as the French army captured the Flanders region, the other world that the Flanders dark wizards invaded for themselves also It became Louis's possession, "Is it Halepur?" Mary asked casually.

To her surprise, Louis paused suddenly: "No, it's a place in the Antilles."

"Why not Halepur?" Mary didn't understand why she said that at all. She only felt that her eyes were blurred, and a wave of emotions that were so hot that they were about to boil rushed out of her heart. Her body was shaking and confused. I was puzzled and felt great pain and sorrow at the same time: "Why not Halepur?! Who did you give it to?"

"It's not me," said Louis, "it's His Majesty the King, who made an alliance with the Serbian werewolves, and he exchanged it for the werewolves."

"Is it Breland?"

"It's Breland," Louis replied. He was even more confused than Mary. He could only guess that Mary might have learned about Breland from other people. After all, werewolves are also creatures from the other world: "What's the matter? "

"How could you do this!?" Mary murmured: "How could you betray me and deceive me!"

"What's wrong with you?" Louis' voice came from far away: "What happened? Who is controlling you?"

"It's you, Your Majesty." Mary said, "Who else is there besides you?"

"But I am not His Majesty the King, I am just the Grand Duke Caiola." Mary's familiar voice replied: "Since sixty years ago, I have not been Louis XIV, but the wizard Louis Dieudonné Bourbon. .”

The hazy fog dissipated, and Mary found herself dressed in black, holding an umbrella of the same color, standing side by side with Louis outside a magnificent Gothic cathedral. There were many people and carriages coming and going, but under the wizard Under the spell, they cannot see or hear them. Mary could tell at a glance that this church was the Saint-Denis Cathedral, the exclusive resting place of the French royal family. A chill ran down her spine and she couldn't help but grab the people around her, "Who are we seeing off?"

"Who else?" said Louis: "My brother, Philip VII, His Majesty the King of France."

Mary looked around in horror, and then at Louis. She found that his hair had strands of silver, and there were ominous fine lines at the corners of his eyes and lips. She held his hand tightly, and his hand The bones are hard, but the skin has begun to loosen. Ah, she thought, Louis is already over eighty years old. The wizard's lifespan and youth are longer than those of ordinary people, but Louis has been fatally cursed several times, so that he is only slightly older than ordinary people. A little better, but no... Mary groaned, she, Mancini, and Gayola have countless potions masters, they can extend Louis' life and drive away the god of death for him... She thought this way, but she could not control her sadness. stand up.

As if suddenly, Louis weakened. She and several of her and Louis' children were surrounding the bed. Compared to everyone who was extremely sad, she and Louis were the two calmest ones, perhaps because of the Because of the veil, she could never see Louis' face clearly. When he stretched out his hand, she immediately grasped it tightly.

"What do you want?" she heard herself ask. "Do you want a priest to administer the last sacraments to you?"

"No, I am a wizard, a servant of the devil," Louis replied humorously: "I am destined not to go to heaven. And I feel that I have nothing to regret, nothing to complain about, or regrets in this life. place."

"Yes, my majesty," Mary answered naturally. She seemed to have remembered that Louis had taken back the throne, but not of France, but of Naples, and with it, he had conquered the entire Italy and several powerful people. He did what no king could do, but unfortunately he still couldn't get back his original name - he could only call his brothers cousins, instead of Louis XIV and Philip VII. : "You are already as perfect as a saint."

"I'm very happy to have you with me in the last moment," Louis said. "Whether it's Merlin or God, I'm going to see them."

"Go," said Mary. "Your Majesty, I will follow you."

"I love you, Mary."

"I love you, Your Majesty." Mary said, "and always more than you." She was very happy that Louis did not reject her. She felt that the hand she held was slowly losing strength: "My love It once troubled you, Louis," she murmured: "Now I hope it will remove your crisis..." She stood up and took off her veil, but she could still see nothing clearly: "You will not die. ," she said: "Because you are not the Louis I love." She raised her head: "Although everything is so to my liking, it is precisely because...because of this, I know that it is all false, you He doesn’t know Louis, and he doesn’t know me.”

The people around her - their eldest son Luciano, their daughter, their second son and their youngest son... their friends, relatives... Louis' loyal ministers and attendants... they suddenly started to make a noise, and their words were like tiny words. The silk thread was wrapped around Mary's ears, but Mary just smiled. She dropped the poison bottle prepared by the maid for her, raised the dagger, and slit her own throat.

——————

Louis suddenly jumped up from the bed, and Bontang who was accompanying him was alarmed. He jumped up like a ferret who was always vigilant. While calling the guards, he held the candlestick and musket - the candlestick had It is more useful than daggers and daggers at times. The tip used to insert the candle is as sharp as a big needle. The bifurcated candle holder can play a blocking role. However, when the attendants and priests run in, They didn't notice anything strange.

"His Majesty?"

"I had a nightmare," Louis said. He looked at the priest and Vesalius, the last one who ran in: "No, wait," he denied again: "I'm not sure, Vesalius, I do "I had a very strange and real dream, Vesalius," he called again: "I..." After a pause, "Can I know what's going on with Mary right away?"

"Okay," Vesalius said, "but I need some help."

"Go and help him." The king said to the two priests: "Bon Tang, serve me and get up."

Then the people on the entire ship started to move, and the forecastle and stern towers were brightly lit. Soon, messengers came from other ships to inquire about the situation. The Duke of Orleans and the Dauphin Little Louis even ran over in person. They found that the king Suddenly fell into an unspeakable state of weakness, but Louis insisted that he was fine, but... he seemed to have spent hundreds of years in a dream, and almost died in the dream. "In the end, Mary suddenly ... She suddenly cut her own throat, and before that, she thought that I was not me... just a fantasy of hers..." Then he was suddenly thrown out of the dream. At this time, Louis did not dare to think about what would happen if He really died in a dream... Can he still wake up? Tired, old, weak, with no regrets... He seemed to have been able to finish his life, if it weren't for Mary... and him, this was not his first life...

Louis did not continue speaking, but his look could tell everything. The Duke of Orleans and the Dauphin looked at each other, sat down next to the king, and held his hand. Bontang brought a heavy blanket for the king, and Louis put it on It wrapped around my body and I immediately felt much better.

In another room, Vesalius and the priests only looked uglier than the king.

Something happened to Mary Mancini.