"The Stuart family emerged from the Glorious War, but in more detail, it was the handover of illegitimate children."
Yawei opened the thick book. This unknown book recorded the history of the Stuart family. The paper was yellowed and the handwriting was inconsistent. It seemed that it was written by different narrators from different eras.
"At that time, the Gallicans launched an undeclared war, attacked the south and surrounded the Stuart Castle, which was guarded by Michael Stuart at the time."
The legend of the Stuart family began at that moment.
"The old earl was old and died of illness in the castle after many battles. But before his death, he handed over the title to his son, Nevis Stuart... The following story is like everyone's
As you know, the Stuart family made great progress all the way and defeated powerful enemies one after another."
It seemed like dust was pouring out of history. Yawei coughed a few times and continued to tell the dusty story in this somewhat quiet atmosphere.
The cold wind blew outside the window, and the fire in the fireplace burned quietly. The firelight illuminated the audience. This was a very suitable atmosphere for storytelling.
"But like many stories, it will never be smooth sailing. In fact, after Nevis succeeded as the Earl of Stuart, the Stuart family ushered in an enemy."
"Baskerville?"
Lorenzo leaned on the sofa, and he suddenly remembered this family. They were also a noble family in the south, but they were lost in the history of the Glorious War and only appeared in history books.
What other bad blood existed between Baskerville and Stuart?
"Yes, this is a very distant story. Even the books in the library will not record it. Of course, I also hope that you will not reveal anything to the outside world."
Yawei said with a hint of warning that usually the history within a big family is inconsistent with that of the outside world. If you dig out all their books, you will find many ulterior secrets and scandals.
"This has to start with Earl Mitchell. The Stuart family was not prosperous. In Earl Mitchell's generation, he was the only Stuart, and he never married.
There were no descendants, and according to the Law of Succession most of his assets would pass after his death to his only nephew, Mardel Baskerville."
"I guess that distant nephew will treat the old count as his biological father."
Lorenzo laughed as he spoke, as if he was mocking this hypocritical aristocratic system. Marriage is the best way to form an alliance. Therefore, the nobles of Inverg are more or less related. Once the old count dies,
, the Stuart family will disappear into history, and he will become the biggest beneficiary.
"Indeed, he had been by the old count's side during his lifetime, but something unexpected happened. According to records, when Gaulnaro besieged the castle, he led the knights to flee, abandoning the people in the territory and returning.
There is the old count."
Yawei's cloudy eyes reflected the words of history, scolding Mader for his behavior.
"He thought that when the old earl died, he would get everything, but the old earl inherited the title to his son, Navis, before his death."
"Wait a minute, didn't he never marry?"
Lorenzo interrupted, in that case, who is this heir who suddenly popped up?
"Can you please be patient?"
Yawei was very unhappy with Lorenzo interrupting him.
"This is indeed a doubt, but Count Navis has the inheritance letter and will signed by the old count. His name is on the genealogy, and there are many other proofs. The old count even wrote a book about the origin of Navis.
letter."
That's a really casual and serious letter.
"The letter said that Nevis Stuart was the child he had with his maid."
"Is this an illegitimate child?"
Lorenzo remembered that illegitimate children had no right to inherit.
"Not really. He married the maid at the end of his life to clear her name... although their marriage lasted less than a day."
Every time Yawei saw this, he couldn't help but feel that the old count was a ruthless person, not the kind of ruthless person who calculated everything, but the kind of ruthless person who didn't care about anything, and didn't care about the reputation after his death.
"So Count Navis became the legal heir, and kicked away Mader, the original heir to the property."
"He would not give up so easily. After learning the reason, Mardel said that Donas was a fake. He was not the old count's child at all, not even an illegitimate child."
Yahweh spoke of the long-standing strife.
"He said that he had seen Navis in the territory. He was just a ridiculous servant, and his father was an ordinary farmer."
"This is a fraud, a ridiculous commoner usurping the status of a noble."
Turning over one page after another, the old book recounted the past through the mouth of Yawei. Lorenzo and Seleucid both remained silent and listened quietly.
"This incident caused a great impact. If it were true, Navis would be hanged, but people from the territory said that he was the earl's child. Even the priest came out to testify. He said that he was the one who presided over the rush.
wedding."
This was an unsolvable problem. Mardel was no longer in the castle at that time. Only those who were awarded knew clearly what happened, but it was obvious that they would not be kind to the escaped Mardel.
"So who's lying?"
Seleu suddenly said that as the heir of Stuart, she had heard this story many times, and she knew that it was full of doubts.
"Who knows? That was more than a hundred years ago."
Yawei shook his head. The people involved were so dead that they couldn't even find their graves.
"In short, among those civilians... to be precise, they are nobles. They were all promoted by Count Donas. With their testimony, this matter was settled."
"But Madel did not give up so easily. The two fought for a long time. After all, once the war was over and the territory was recovered, it would be considerable wealth. At that time, in addition to the false name of the earl and the armor left by the old earl, Count Navis had
There is nothing outside, the only territory is in the occupied area, let alone wealth."
"Faced with the Baskerville forces, he was unable to resist at all, so he wisely joined the army and traveled in the southern theater, and then accumulated strength bit by bit during the war."
It was a really difficult time, and you can feel the smell of gunpowder smoke just by hearing it.
"At that time, Navis's promotion of so many civilians in one fell swoop caused a lot of controversy. Although it was only the lowest noble, it was also a leap in class. But in order to boost morale, the Queen acquiesced to all this and then revised the law.
."
"No one cares about those people. They are just like Navis. They have nothing but the false name of nobles."
Yawei couldn't help but glance at Seliu. The girl didn't look at him, but just stared at the flames in the fireplace quietly. The firelight was reflected in her eyes, beautiful and magnificent.
He said in a strange way.
"But sometimes... people need a kind of recognition, even if it is a false name."
Everyone longs to be recognized by others.
Use others to seek affirmation to offset self-doubt, greedily seek this thing, affirm your own existence through others, and make yourself believe through others, then those impossible things will become possible, even if it is
A farmer can also be a red knight galloping on the battlefield, and a homeless beggar can be a Stuart duchess.
No matter what it is, as long as another person recognizes your existence, it may be a great motivation, like a beam of light in the dark night, making you stretch out your unyielding hand.
It's just recognition.
"What follows is what everyone often says. A group of nobles who had nothing got everything they wanted in the war. Because of the war, they were closely connected. The scale even attracted the attention of the Queen.
, in order to consolidate her rule, the Queen broke up the group and sent it to different battlefields. As everyone knows, this caused the Stuart group to expand like a virus, covering all territories and industries in Inverg.
"
People whom no one cared about at first came to the center of the stage. Yawei’s voice was very soft, but his words made people’s blood boil.
"Expansion brings conflicts of interest, such as Baskerville. Because they are both located in the south, coupled with old grievances, the disputes between the two have always existed, and in the end they turned into irreconcilable hatred, and all this
It ends with the rise of Stuart and the complete defeat of Baskerville."
"So they died and we survived and continue to this day."
The book turned to a new page, and Yawei's voice became heavier.
"Next is about the curse. It was originally said by some Baskerville remnants. They cursed everyone in the Stuart group, and the hounds would hunt them endlessly."
"So is the so-called hound really here?"
Finally getting to the point, Lorenzo asked.
"I don't know, but the only thing I know is that the Stuart family has always been sparsely populated, and in recent years, members of the group have been dying, and one family after another has died... In fact, this is quite normal, after all, there is no
Man can exist for a long time until these letters come."
Yawei said and looked at the letter on the low table.
"First, one person saw the strange hound, then someone saw it in their dream, and then more people had the same reaction."
"Everyone unanimously remembered the ancient curse and asked us for help."
Lorenzo silently picked up the letters. They were letters from different families. The only thing they had in common was that they all came from the Stuart territory and were members of the group.
"hound……"
According to the content of the letter, everyone's descriptions of the hound were surprisingly consistent. It exuded an ominous hound, was hidden in the darkness, and could only hear the low growl that longed for flesh and blood.
They wander in the shadows, unable to escape, following them like shadows.
"Did any of them actually come into contact with it?"
Lorenzo judged that this was not an illusion. There was no absolutely consistent illusion, let alone illusions exerted in different places at the same time.
"Not yet. The only clearer example is that he inspected the garden at night and saw huge footprints."
Yahweh replied.
"Does that mean there's no real chance of confronting the hound?"
"No, but I don't rule out that it won't happen next."
Yawei said.
"At first, everyone didn't care about this, thinking it was just a hallucination, but in the following days, the frequency of hounds appearing became more and more frequent."
He handed Lorenzo another letter, which described the strange feeling in detail.
"He did not see the hound directly, but he said that he could feel that when a person is alone, he will have the feeling of being stared at by a wild beast, as if there is some kind of wild beast hiding in the darkness, biting him off the moment he turns around.
neck."
This was a report from a member. Lorenzo frowned and had no clue.
"To be honest, I'm not a good detective, I'm just a cunning liar."
Lorenzo shook his head.
"Deception cannot deceive illusions..."
"Are you giving up?"
Seleu suddenly said, the detective obviously didn't know how to proceed.
"I just don't know where to start, this kind of ethereal thing..."
Lorenzo felt a little troubled.
"How many members are there?"
he asked.
Yawei opened the book again and found the answer on the front pages.
"According to records, Navis promoted more than 200 people at that time."
"Two hundred? That much?"
Lorenzo was confused, and he began to understand why this matter was quite controversial at the time.
"Actually, there are none of these. Many died in the battle at that time, and many died in the subsequent Glorious War. When the Stuart family officially counted, there were only six people left alive, and now these continuing families
There are only thirty-two left."
"Although there are only these thirty-two left, they still have considerable power after hundreds of years of accumulation."
Listening to Yawei's description, Lorenzo gained a new understanding of the Stuart group.
The Stuart emblem is this, sixty-one sharp swords intertwined into round shields. Although some of them have been broken, thirty-two sword blades still exist, fulfilling the oath made a hundred years ago.
"Should I check these thirty-two people one by one? This is not very realistic."
Lorenzo directly overturned his idea. These people were distributed throughout the land of Inverg. It would take him several months just to visit them one by one, let alone investigate the case.
"Actually, you don't need to think about that. There is a subject to be investigated here."
Seleu suddenly said, she looked at Lorenzo and pointed at herself.
"As Stuart's master, I am the main target of the curse, but so far, I have not seen the so-called 'hound'."
"If the so-called curse is true, then it will definitely appear, right."
Seleu asked.
There is no need to go anywhere, Seliu is the best target, and the hound will definitely come if it exists.
Listening to Seleu's analysis, Lorenzo nodded in approval. Now his tendency to doubt is the demon. In his opinion, if anything goes beyond common sense, it is right to put the pot on the demon's head first.
"So I ask you to stay here for a few more days, Mr. Lorenzo Holmes."
While Lorenzo was still pondering, Seleu suddenly said.
"Um...wait, what?"
Lorenzo was at a loss for a moment.
"Aren't you a witcher? If the hound really comes to find me, why bother killing it?"
Seleu looked at Lorenzo and then threw out a bunch of keys.