Temple Sword

Chapter 186 The Too Heavy Secret

1323, Month of St. John (June)
Visegrad, Hungary

This year's spring was long and short, and when it was over, the son of the King of Hungary had put his little head down and fell asleep forever.

Elizabeth's heart seemed to be ripped out alive, but the iron queen showed no sign of weakness in the face of her dead second child.

Charlie, however, was unrecognizable long ago, his skin was gray, his face was elongated and sunken, and his eyes were set in dark sockets.

The king who only a few months ago thought he was living in the greatest and greatest age was now a pale ghost, the brave and never-say-die Charlie Robert was a faint shadow .

Grief took hold of his body and soul like a terminal illness, and everyone understood his pain because the king had been suffering from the same disease for so many years, but at the same time, no one could heal his pain.

What will the future of the Anju family look like?Will a dynasty rise and fall under his rule, and then start the next troubled world?

No one misses the old days, and most people remember well the torment the kingdom endured during the Interregnum.

In those years, their homeland was on the brink of destruction, the nobles divided themselves, betrayed their sovereign at will, served as petty kings in the provinces, and the central government ceased to exist.

The oligarchs had their own armies and could wage wars and seize territories with impunity, as the claimants to the throne were preoccupied with their own strife.

The burning of churches and the desecration of holy places are so common that even the house of God is no longer a haven of refuge.Robbers and hooligans intercept travelers and use the most absurd excuses to make them pay money, making travel life-threatening.

Foreign trade stopped, and the neighboring countries began to look at it, wanting to see when the kingdom of Saint Stephen would completely collapse and be blown into history by the wind of time.

Charles Anjou lived through that bloody decade, and marched against headwinds that most people would not be able to bear, and he didn't want his kingdom to see a dark age like that again.

Thinking back to his young years when he was full of wars and seizing power, he himself never understood where his determination and strength to never give up came from.

What is certain, though, is that he had ambitious plans at the age of 13 and he has been working towards his goals.

Every decision he makes, every battle he wins, every new law he enacts is in the service of his great purpose in life, and it is as if he is patiently building a new gigantic castle, brick by brick. a brick.

However, all his efforts will be for nothing if there is no heir to carry on his will.Without a rightful heir, the castle he built would have no bricks, only mortar, and it would fall apart, burying everyone underneath.

If Kaman succeeds as king, he will never be accepted by some nobles, because no matter how powerful he is, he is only an illegitimate child, an embryo conceived in sin, unworthy of the crown's favor.

Of course, there will be nobles supporting him, and then the kingdom will usher in a new civil war.At that time, the nobles could split into as many factions as they wanted, and many of them would invite propagandists for the throne from outsiders.

Even the Kingdom of Hungary in its fragmented state is a reward enough to tempt ambitious people, even if the cost is the lives of thousands of people, they will not hesitate.The lords of the big families will abandon their dignity and become a player in this despicable game.

If the value of fragmented Hungary was so high, Charles could not imagine how many people would covet his kingdom after his death.

But no matter how painful he was, the ruler who had been on the road since he was a child did not stop his footsteps. After a short mourning, he left the lonely bedroom and his dark thoughts at night.

On the fifth day of St. John's month (June), shortly after the funeral of little Charles, the King set off for Timisoara, where he still had much business to attend to.

Only this time he did not travel on his strong steed as usual, but hid himself in the carriage so that no one could pry.

The heavy crimson velvet curtains blocked out the cheerful summer sun, and Charlie, who usually scanned the kingdom with keen eyes, had no intention of admiring the scenery now.

No sooner had they set out than the King bade Antal Barto ride with him in the carriage, and let him tie the horse to Simeon's horse.The Knight of the Lilies thought that Charles wanted to speak to him about something important, but for the first few hours of the journey the King said nothing.

Then, as if waking up from a deep sleep, Charlie said in a dull and distant voice:
"I've always been preparing for war, since I was a kid. I don't know how to win sometimes, but at the end of the day, no one can stop me.

They never wanted me to be king of Hungary, and I had them crown me three times.I couldn't quite beat Mate Chuck alive, so I conquered all of his territories after his death.

But now... for the first time, I feel helpless... I don't know how to deal with this fate... and how to win... It is not afraid of the sword, it is not afraid of my [-] army, even if I open the treasury, donate land, minerals, Castles and villages don't help either...

At the urging of the priests, I restored the rights of the church, but my youngest son died, and it seemed that I had finally found an enemy that I could not defeat. "

Antal, who was sitting across from him, didn't know what to say, and could only squirm awkwardly on the upholstered seat.

Why did he invite me in?The knight pondered a little depressed, just because my child died too?What does he want me to say to him?It just made us both feel worse...

"Aren't you going to say anything?" asked the king.

The knight cleared his throat, "I don't know what to say, Your Majesty, it's hard for me to use words to ease your pain..."

"Tell me, do you think I'm a nice guy?" Charlie asked Antal an unexpected question.

The knight didn't want to stay in the carriage anymore, the question made him very uncomfortable, but he had to say something.

"You are the king of this kingdom." Antar finally replied.

The king frowned bitterly, and let out a soft hum that was half a smile.

"I'm 35 years old and I feel like I'm aging all over me, I've been married four times and I still don't have a legitimate son who can inherit my throne," Charlie said. A horrific thought kept going through my head. A horrific, but reasonable thought, that I might be cursed."

"Don't think so, Your Majesty!" Antal tried to calm Charlie down, but it didn't work.

"You have known me since I was a teenager," continued the King, "you have witnessed my rise, and have known many of my horrific crimes, or carried them out at my behest...

The blood that was shed during my reign could fill the dry seabed, and not just any blood, but...you know..."

Of course Antal understood, he understood very well.As a young knight, it pained him most that he had to slaughter his own people while his ancestors protected their faith and kingdom from foreign enemies.

But he also knew that all of this was an unavoidable evil, as Charlie once said that the golden lily would only sprout in place if the field was watered with blood, and he was right.

Perhaps he was referring to Laszlo?He remembered how in Zagreb he brutally asked me to kill my childhood friend?
"I have turned a kingdom against one another," said the king darkly. "I have set brother against father... If I am cursed for this, then I may not be wronged."

"They were killing each other before you, and you did what you had to do," said the Lily Knight. "Look how prosperous this kingdom has become under your rule,
You built an empire, and if it weren't for you, the fratricide would have continued, but now that's all changed.Brothers fought side by side, sons followed in their father's footsteps, and it's all because of you. "

Charlie didn't seem to have heard what Antar said just now, "Maybe God punished me because I killed Andre..." He said to himself, "The last blood of Alpad..."

Antal looked up at the king in horror.

"What are you talking about, Sire?" he asked in surprise. "King Andrew died of natural causes."

"Of course," Charlie coughed feebly, "I almost forgot... By the way, did you know that my grandmother passed away recently?"

"I heard, Your Majesty," Antal nodded, hoping to divert the conversation in another direction, "Please forgive me."

"Maria, old queen of Naples, daughter of Stephen V, sister of Laszlo IV of the Cumans," murmured the king, as if he were the only one in the carriage, "she is more beautiful than almost anyone around her." People live long lives, and some even say she may never die.

But she's seen too many ups and downs to live with the burden.Her son took the poison on the road, but died of illness before reaching his destination.

Then the task of poisoning fell on her grandson, and I was too young to get close to Andrei, but I became a tool for this assassination..."

Antar sat in the dark compartment in confusion, he didn't know what to do, he wanted to cover his ears with his hands and stop listening to what the king was saying.

He has always considered himself a curious person who likes to get to the bottom of things and find out the truth of things.But he also understands that there are some truths that he doesn't want to know.

All that Charlie confessed to Antal in order to alleviate the pain in his soul was so heavy and gloomy that the knight felt a strange fear that he had never felt before, and suddenly he realized how dangerous and sensitive he was hearing. .

Antal didn't want to understand the power game between the kings at all, and he didn't want to know how the blood of the last Arpad died, and by whom he left this world.

In the 22 years since Andre's death, the voice of suspicion has never stopped. People say that Andre's death on the way to capture Charlie Robert is very strange. Why did he die suddenly in his prime?
But it was one thing to hear whispers, and quite another to be forced to listen to a king's confession.

In the end, he made the most correct decision.Antal tapped the roof of the carriage three times heavily with his hand, making the carriage come to a slow stop.

"What are you doing?" Charlie asked in surprise. "Are you leaving me alone in there?"

"You are tired, Your Majesty," Antar said calmly, "please rest, don't worry, I will ride by your side, nothing will disturb until we reach Timisoara safely your turn."

With a dejected nod, the king allowed the knight to go, and Antar took the reins from Simon with a sigh of relief, and rode the horse for the rest of the journey.

Yet no matter how hard he tried to calm down, his grip on the reins never let go.

(End of this chapter)