I Am Louis XIV

Suddenly, there was a whirlwind, the murderer was jerked away from Gemma, he was pushed against the wall, and just as he was about to shout, a cold short sword was pressed against his neck, and he dealt with a weak man. He was as brave as Samson (biblical Hercules) when he was facing a woman, but he was as cowardly as a child when he was facing a man as strong as him and armed with weapons, and he immediately shut up .

The visitor turned to the back and spoke a few words in French with someone who was walking in. The light of the candle shone in. Under the dark red light, the murderer saw a lovable and hateful face—Orleans in France The Duke, whose servants behind him held candles for him, was only wearing a cloak, with a linen robe peeping out from under the hem, and sandals.

"Who are you?" asked the Duke, looking sternly at him. He was dressed like the Catalans he had seen, black trousers and a white shirt, and a pair of hooded tops. The hat, the hat has been half off his head, making him look very embarrassed: "Assassin?"

The murderer caught a glimpse of the Duke moving his lips, and shifted his gaze to the attendant who was holding him back. He was afraid that the Duke's next words would be his execution, so he yelled in a panic, saying that he was the attendant of Senator Tamalite, There were many who could attest to his innocence, and he dared not harbor any malice against the duke.

At this time, a Catalan entourage behind the duke also came forward and said that he really knew this person.

The Duke felt a little confused. Gemma's location was really remote, so even if she yelled, no one might be able to hear her, and it was far away from the Duke's room. However, there was Prince Theodric's kitten beside the Duke, as a vampire. , he is extremely sensitive to the smell of death and blood. If they are still in a chapel or in a place full of turmoil, Theoderic has to distinguish carefully, but this place already belongs to the Catalans, as France in Canada As the agent of Tyronia, there are undercurrents around the Duke, but such disgusting things should not happen.

Hearing that it was Gemma, the Duke was even more strange... Anyway, Gemma is the kind of person who doesn't even mean death, so the Duke casually said that he wanted to take her to France. It's just empathy for a man who doesn't think he or anyone else can get anything out of this poor girl - and Father Clarice doesn't care too much...

Of course, someone will solve the duke's confusion. When the duke's Catalan entourage asked him why he wanted to do something to Gemma, he argued that he was just here for fun... also gave money, got it Agreed, as far as the strangle marks he left on Gemma's neck, it's a "way to play". The young entourage even blushed a little when he heard this. He turned to look at the Duke, undecided.

The duke laughed, and his French guard immediately turned the dagger upside down, and struck the murderer so hard in the face that he fell to the ground, and then gave him two more feet--on the lower abdomen, with severe pain. Let the man's eyes roll up until the whites of the eyes can be seen, he squealed like a pig that has been abused.

"Full of lies," said the French guard contemptuously, "do you think we haven't seen dead people?"

Of course they have seen it, and after having a wizard, some of the wizard's research on mortals was also secretly introduced into that underground research institute. The Duke of Orleans could tell at a glance that the wound on Gemma's neck was a fatal wound, not flirting. "What did Gemma hinder you?" The Duke seemed to be asking questions, but also seemed to be thinking about it. He looked at Gemma, who was sitting there panting blankly, as if he didn't know what happened. what's the matter.

He looked at the man again, the guard understood, lifted the handle of the dagger, and slammed the man's face a few times, causing his teeth to fly off, so that although he could answer questions in a low voice, don't expect to shout Shouting brought people over.

The Duke pulled his cloak, touched his finger, took off a diamond ring and threw it in front of the other party: "This ring is worth about eight hundred livres," he said, "I will give you two choices, or you say To be honest, I want you to leave with the ring, or..." He slightly possessed himself: "Either you die as an assassin, and I will seek the answer from another person who is willing to hold the ring." He shook Shaking his head: "I don't think you are a person who can grasp the secrets. What you know should be known to others."

The Duke's Catalan entourage moved, and the two French guards held down the dagger calmly, but the young man hesitated for a moment, and did not make a sound to stop the man, or ask the Duke what his intentions were. ——In just these few seconds, the guard controlling the murderer simply chopped off one of the murderer’s fingers, and the murderer passed out from the pain, and was awakened again—after waking up, he didn’t dare to prevaricate He didn't dare to lie to tease the Duke, he said something vaguely...in Spanish, maybe he thought Gemma couldn't understand Spanish, Catalans always have their own language.

The duke understood, and he was even a little bit dumbfounded...but the idiots in the world can always be as stupid as you expected, this is what his elder brother and the king said, but this kind of deceitful behavior will actually lead to a person like Tamalit For an important person like a member of parliament, it can only be said that the heroic wisdom of the ancestors may not be inherited by the descendants. He made a gesture: "Okay," he said, "I will fulfill my promise, and you can go with the reward."

The Catalan entourage beside him understood it, and his black eyes widened suddenly. He almost thought it was a scam or a frame-up, but this person was indeed an entourage of the MP, even if he was not a confidant. He is also the one who is always by his side.

And he didn't think the Duke of Orleans would do this. The latter is indeed a Frenchman, but he is not as arrogant and ruthless as those Frenchmen mentioned by his parents and elders. On the battlefield, he didn't use any despicable methods against the enemy, so he was known to be a man of noble character.

The murderer tightly grasped the ring, and quickly slipped away along the darkness under the corner of the wall. The Catalan attendant was dazed for a while, and without warning, he handed the candlestick to the French guard beside him, and quickly followed up.

"Let him go," said the duke. "And you, Gemma, are you going to sleep in the corridor outside my room?"

Gemma seemed to have calmed down. She didn't seem to understand the Duke's actions, but she was also used to accepting all injustices, so she just shook her head.

"Your Highness, she may only have this place to stay." The guard said.

The duke understood what he meant. In this era of strict stratification, he could pity Gemma and give her a place in the castle, but he could not satisfy his own sympathy by humiliating others.

"No one will come any more," the guard added.

The Duke nodded slightly, and they turned to leave, but left Gemma with a dagger and a candle. Gemma waited behind this little light, as if waiting for some important result. She waited, and a few minutes later, the Duke's Catalan entourage came back. His face was distorted, and his body was full of bloody smell. Since the murderer had already been beaten to death by the Duke's guards, it was not necessary to kill him. Difficult, he walked up to Gemma, hardly daring to look at her face.

He also despised this girl, hated the shame she brought to her father and brother, and even hated her ruthlessness towards her blood relatives, but what he didn't expect was that the root cause of all this was in Councilor Tamalite... …Although he has also heard that this congressman has mediocre qualifications, can’t compare with his ancestors at all, but is so ambitious and cherishes feathers——but he can do such a thing... How could he... Gemma’s father And brother died for him, for Catalonia!

Someone might insist that, anyway, Gemma must be guilty of doing something like possessed by a demon, but it certainly wasn't this young man.

He stood in front of Gemma, and Gemma was sitting on the ground, but he looked like he was prostrate in front of the girl—he bent down, let go of his fingers, and let the ring roll down in front of Gemma: "You... ..." He said dryly, "You go," he said, "Get out of here... get away... don't, don't come back."

After speaking, he ran away without looking back as if being chased by a group of ferocious bison.

Gemma looked at the ring, and she remembered when she was a child, looking through the dark door into the brightly lit living room, where sat her father, brother, and...

She now has a dagger, a diamond ring, and a candle.

———————

Senator Tamalit is waiting.

It would not take much effort to kill such a lowly girl, and it would not cause any disturbances. He was not worried about any accidents at all. Even if there were, he believed that his clever follower would know how to prevaricate. It can't be wasted. Before going to bed, he ordered a glass of mulled wine and a girl to help him sleep.

Fortunately, in Catalonia, the custom of wandering girls and famous women running with the army is still maintained. His entourage arranged for him a beautiful girl, and according to his instructions, let her take a bath first to see if there is any trace on her body. "Marseille disease", in the room next to him, the water was rippling and steaming, Tamalit was content, sitting in his favorite chair, looking at the candlelight and imagining to his heart's content.

Then someone came in.

He waved his hands lazily: "Come in," he said, "Let me take a good look at you."

The person who came brought a burst of fragrant breath containing water vapor, her footsteps were light, and she barely made a sound, but she didn't go directly to the congressman, but walked behind him and put a small hand on his shoulder superior. The congressman was a little upset, his noble shoulders were not something anyone could touch, let alone a famous lady? He was about to scold her when he felt a chill on his neck.

Did she put her hand on his neck? He thought, a burst of anger welled up spontaneously, he was about to jump up and give her a fist, but his body relaxed uncontrollably, scorching hot liquid flowed out from between his neck and legs, he opened his mouth wide , but only a hissing sound.

Then the man turned and he saw her face clearly.

Gemma looked at the congressman's face seriously, oh, yes, she remembered, this person is the person who appears most often in her family, and is also the most honorable person, her father and elder brother respect him and trust him... It probably did not occur to them that he was a more formidable enemy than the Spaniards, and more cruel.

The congressman finally saw Gemma's face clearly at the last moment, but before he could react, he fell into chaos and didn't know anything.

Gemma pulled out the dagger stuck in the MP's neck. As a woman, she is not as strong as a man, and her speed may not be as fast as them, but she is definitely better than Tamalite MP in one thing - she has personally killed Many people, except for her younger siblings, many of the people who were killed later were strong men—after all, not every time she could rely on silence and disguise to get by.

The first time she was almost killed the other way around, but the second time, the third time... She was able to survive not only because of her body, but also because of her experience and mind.

She took a deep breath, the strong smell of blood would make ordinary people sick, but she could only feel relief, endless relief - she sat on the bed and rested for a while, and when she turned her head, she saw a face Looking at the mirror on the bed, it seemed that the congressman was planning to have a good time. She stood up and opened her robe to the mirror—the mirror from Lorraine was smoother and brighter than the Venetian mirror, allowing her to see herself clearly even if the room was dimly lit.

She saw her own face, a young and rough face, then a neck that was cut open by an ugly scar, and then a body that was even more unsightly than the neck. She had "Marseille's disease" more than once, Unable to afford expensive medicines, the wandering girls used traditional methods to treat her—that is, cut off the sores, and then used a branding iron to stop the bleeding and remove the toxins. Her body looked like a dice covered with dots.

—————

Father Claris awoke the next morning with a strange throbbing in his heart which he attributed to the assassination the duke had encountered while hunting, but as long as the duke of France did not leave Catalonia, this Not the first time nor the last.

He said his morning prayers, and then, as usual, went to the small hall outside the suite to have breakfast.

In the small hall stood Gemma.

The priest was taken aback. He didn't understand why Gemma was standing here. Although he forgave the sinner on behalf of God and taught her how to atone, he would not get close to her and have mercy on her, so Gemma was not called. It is impossible to come up to him.

Is there something urgent? From the duke?

As he thought, Gemma handed him a torn piece of parchment.

The priest couldn't wait to take it and looked down. He saw that there was only one line of short words on it.

"Do you know what Senator Tamalit did to my father, my brother, my family?"

The priest's heart sank suddenly, maybe only for a moment, he couldn't control his expression, but it was enough for Gemma.

The dagger she had hidden under the parchment had stabbed accurately.