I Am Louis XIV

The Duke of Luxembourg is destined not to receive the Duke of Orleans.

Although there are wizards' ravens that can be used, ravens, like all birds, can fly at night, but the flying speed cannot exceed people's common sense. There are also wizards who told Louis XIV that in the ancient alchemy There is a mirror that allows people to communicate freely - but this kind of mirror is just like the mirror in fairy tales. Both parties must be wizards, but one cannot be a mortal.

There is another method that Mary showed to the king. The wizard can use the eyes of the raven to project what it sees into the crystal ball, and mortals can also watch from the sidelines, but this method can be said to be condescending. Louis XIV was not even willing to impose it on his trusted ministers, let alone his younger brother, the extremely loyal Duke of Orleans? What's more, when the Duke of Orleans arrives in Catalonia, there may not be one or two credible priests around the Catalan nobles. In view of the inextricable and subtle connection between priests and wizards, if they discover that they have a pair of eyes, By watching them constantly, would they think it was a conspiracy?

Prince Theodric also promised that the "cat boy" he gave to the king could convey some stronger emotional messages. If the duke was attacked, the cat boy could at least guarantee to take him away and tell him where they were. at.

And because, although the Duke of Orleans is cautious enough in politics and on the battlefield, when getting along with his brother, he may be the only one who will not be stabbed or dazed by the Sun King's light. He and his brother It was agreed that he would return to Versailles by sea, before the Feast of the Assumption, so that he could witness his nephew's wedding in time - but he did not go according to the agreed time, but one day early.

This is because the ship the Duke was going to take arrived in Barcelona two days in advance. According to the captain, they encountered Ottoman Turkish pirates when they were approaching the Gulf of Tunis. Like the British, the Ottoman Turkish navy was also based on pirates and sailors. As the main force or the vanguard, these businessmen were about to be robbed because they happened to have a new ship and escaped quickly. Therefore, they did not go to Malta according to the planned route, but returned directly to Barcelona.

Another nephew of the Duke of Orleans was in Naples. After hearing what the businessman said, he immediately asked him to tell him more about the pirates. In addition, he was eager to return home, so his scheduled departure date was changed from the original August 1st. It was changed to July 31st.

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The Duke stuffed the cat in his pocket and boarded the three-masted ship with his attendants. At the same time, a black-green raven was flying over the mountains and into the city of Barcelona.

But it failed to find its owner. The wizard had already boarded the boat with the Duke. The raven called twice at the window and took a few uneasy steps. Just when it was about to fly back to find its owner, the window suddenly opened. , stretched out a hand from the darkness, pinched the raven's neck accurately, and with a strong force, the poor bird tilted its head and died.

"The wizards will find out," said a voice.

"So what if they are discovered? They have already set sail." The owner of the hand said.

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The ship the Duke of Orleans took was called the "Escudo", which is simple and straightforward - the Spanish gold coin was called the "Escudo", and for a long time, it was used as the common currency of Europe until Louis X After moving the world financial center of the Netherlands to Paris, it was gradually replaced by King Louis.

The "Escudo" is a sizable three-masted galley, with towering sails and as white as snow. Because it is a new ship, it exudes a moving aroma of wood and gum. The sailors are all capable, and the captain Experienced and French, with nothing to blame anywhere, they respectfully welcomed the Duke and his party on board the ship, and placed the Duke in the best cabin, which is what people often say. stern room.

This is a large room that can accommodate dozens of people and can also be divided into bedrooms and living rooms. However, although the windows are opened for ventilation and spices are burning, there still seems to be a lingering smell of tobacco and alcohol. This is because the stern room usually belongs to the captain, but during the day, it is used as a restaurant. Even if not everyone is qualified to dine here, there are several batches before and after, and tobacco, The smell of rum and bacon is the easiest to penetrate the wood.

The Duke didn't care about this. On the battlefield, he had slept in tents, woods and swamps, and had seen the muddy ground melted by flesh and blood. What was a little smell of tobacco? He stared at the decoration on the wall panel with interest. The "Escudo" was not a pirate ship, but there must be weapons such as machetes and short guns hanging on the wall panel in the captain's cabin. "Can these weapons be used?" asked the Duke.

The captain glanced at the musket, "You can use daggers, you can use knives, but sir, the musket is old-fashioned and cannot be fired immediately. The flint, gunpowder, and projectiles are all in the drawer below." If it had been anyone else, he wouldn't have said that. , the reason why he only hung old-fashioned muskets was to prevent his sailors from clashing with him here, so he would have sharp weapons readily available.

The Duke nodded: "Although the ancient things may not be usable, they look beautiful."

The captain hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should take off the ivory-handled pistol and give it to the Duke, but who was this, the richest and most powerful man in France! Everyone bowed to him except the king. Would he be interested in such a worthless (to a duke) trinket? It might be considered a humiliation, but after a moment of hesitation, the Duke had already walked inside.

A wooden door inlaid with iron bars separates the inner and outer areas. The captain's cabin has always been the place that is most likely to arouse people's imagination. In later generations, some old hotels will still call the best rooms the captain's cabin, but it is different from what people imagine. Different, any cabin, especially this kind of sea-going ship, cannot have too many burdens and decorations, because in a storm, anything in the room that is not fixed will become deadly bullets and knives, so it is not big in this In the cabin, there is only a small single bed, a hammock, and a wooden bucket - used for night defecation. This is the captain's prerogative. Ordinary crew members can only walk to the bow of the ship, where there is an extension A sharp mouth is used to place the prow statue and serve as a public toilet. There was a part of the deck that was an empty grate - with ropes hanging from it, and it was not uncommon for newbies to fall overboard because they had failed to hold on to the ropes as they stumbled up to solve personal problems.

The captain need not worry about this, someone will come to deal with the dirt in the barrel for him, even if he gives up the room to the Duke.

There is also a candlestick fixed to the bulkhead next to the small bed, with a candle fixed on it. The crew's large cabin uses kerosene lamps that may be knocked over or broken at any time. It is obviously not that safe, but it is cheap.

The captain also pushed open a small box under the cot like a trick, and took out things like flint, tinder, rum, dried dates, and dried meat.

"Don't you use matches?" asked the Duke.

"No," said the captain, "that's good, but it gets wet too easily." In addition to this small box, there are several large boxes, which should be the captain's collection - such as sugar, gold coins, spices and so on. Clothes, accessories, etc., but since the Duke of Orleans lives here, the captain does not think that he will take a fancy to these things, so he keeps them in the original room. Now there are several boxes piled on top of these boxes, containing the Duke's Clothes, cosmetics and weapons.

There is also a large, shiny mirror hanging behind the door, which the Duke uses to dress up every morning.

"It only takes one day and one night for us to return to France." The captain said, "The wind direction is just right."

The Duke breathed a sigh of relief: "Yes." He turned his head and saw the captain's long-awaited expression: "Well, you can go back to Versailles with me, and I will ask my attendant to arrange a place for you on the Queen's Road. window."

The captain was overjoyed and bowed repeatedly. He needed this, not just to see the crown prince and his bride up close, but because he could get a window under the Duke's arrangement, which undoubtedly proved that he had climbed up. This golden branch may become famous at any time. Next, he made up his mind to make the Duke happy during this short journey, so before the Duke went to bed, he was even offered a large bucket of hot bath water.

The Duke asked the attendant to open the window - this was also a privilege reserved only for the most distinguished people on the ship. The cabins of ordinary crew members were all below the deck. In order to avoid water intrusion, there were no portholes in the cabins. It was pitch black inside and the air was turbid.

Silver-blue moonlight poured in from the small window, and the sea breeze carried the moist fresh air across the Duke's skin above the water, blowing away the steam. The Duke shivered comfortably. From here, he could even see the distant scenery. Barcelona, ​​Barcelona is not like Paris. There are no street lights that are lit all night. Once night falls, there is only a black shadow, like a sleeping giant beast under the indigo sky.

Tiny water foam kept pouring into the room, and the water in the bathtub was undulating. The Duke inside was like a baby being rocked in his mother's arms. He closed his eyes slightly - it was July or August now, and he was in the south of the Mediterranean. On the other side, the temperature had risen to the point where the bath water could be kept warm for a long time. He asked the attendant to bring him a glass of wine. If there was no wine, rum would be fine - the captain's wine had been opened, and he I won't drink it. Although the captain declared with great enthusiasm and pride that this bottle of rum was his treasured white rum - the kind that was strong enough to be lit on fire.

"I wonder what brother is doing now." The Duke muttered. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that the candle lit before bathing had been shortened by a length of his thumb, but the attendant had not returned yet, so he called out twice in a low voice. The attendant who was supposed to be guarding the door did not respond.

He stood up from the tub, walked quietly to the bedside with bare feet, and extinguished the candle with a wet hand towel. The moonlight should be brighter in the darkness, but in fact it was just the opposite. The Duke leaned down, quietly opened the small box, poured the rum into the small wooden bucket used for defecation, and at the same time took out a tinder pistol from his coat hanging beside the bed - this kind of tinder pistol is similar to A combination of a tinderbox and a tinderbox, but better. Better than flint and matches.

At this time, he looked out the window again and saw a thick mist, as if it had fallen into milk.

The Duke stood motionless in the shadows, and the water in the bathtub exuded the last of its heat. Perhaps for this reason, a group of small black shadows that suddenly rushed in from the window failed to find their prey and jumped into the water - - They let out anxious and sharp screams, colliding with each other, mixed with a lot of weird crackling noises, and just when they were about to fly up from the bathtub again, they hit a raging fire head-on!

It was ignited rum - luckily the captain didn't brag too much. It was indeed a high degree of white rum, which might have been purified once. The Duke was almost sure of it after sniffing it. It burned in the air, like It was a bright curtain that allowed the Duke to see clearly what was coming.

A swarm of tiny moths.

Some of them were on fire, some were stained with water, but most of them could still vibrate their wings and drop dust-like scale powder, so dense that even the Duke, a mortal, could see it. The Duke almost screamed, but he subconsciously Holding back, he waved his wet long underwear and rushed towards the door.

Those scales fell on his body, and his skin suddenly felt a pain like being burned by charcoal. The Duke patted his long underwear behind him and knocked down several moths in succession - although he didn't know what they were, another moth was He picked up the empty wine bottle and knocked hard on the mirror behind the door!

A cold breath spurted out from the broken mirror, rolled towards the moth, mixed with scale powder, and flooded the entire room. Almost at the same time as the lens shattered, for some reason the room could not be opened. The door leaned forward - opened, and the Duke could be said to have fallen out of the room. Suddenly, his eardrums were about to be shot - there were countless small and sharp noises, like moths. The sound coming from the tub was countless times louder. As soon as the Duke lowered his head, he couldn't help vomiting. He tasted the smell of blood, and his ears and eyes were sticky. He crawled a few steps on the deck on his hands and knees. , saw his attendant.

The young boy fell in the middle of a pile of cables, still clutching the musket in one hand and the dagger in the other. Good boy, he was still resisting resolutely at the last moment. Where was his enemy? The Duke didn't see it. With a little light leaked from the mist - probably the kerosene lamp that was not extinguished, he saw that the attendant's face and hands were densely covered with moths.

The Duke couldn't understand how he saw it. Those moths were no different from the gray-black moths he usually saw. Their fingers were long and short, their bodies were fluffy, their wings were covered with white scales, and their abdomens were fatter than butterflies. It is expanding rapidly, showing a ruby-like color.