In the evening, anxious knocking sounds were heard deep in the palace. Vladimir, dressed in plain clothes, stood outside the door of Queen Denis's office. Waiter Frost opened the door unhurriedly and glanced at the acquaintance in front of him.
"General Vladimir, what's the matter? The queen is resting."
"Urgent, important."
Vladimir replied with a straight face.
"Okay, you wait here for a moment, I will inform the queen."
After the female attendant finished speaking, she closed the door.
After a while, the tired voice of Queen Denis came from the room——
"come in."
Walking into the house, a chill immediately came from all around. The Queen's office is always colder than other rooms. Vladimir has long been accustomed to this. There were no unnecessary pleasantries or polite nonsense. Vladimir went straight to the topic.
——
"Queen, your father Rod Lawn's army has approached the city. In three days, an army from the north will appear under the city of Kislev."
"I know……"
The queen answered simply, with almost no emotion.
Vladimir couldn't help but wonder, are all Frost Witches really so cold and insensitive? This is not like the Dennis he knew, who was so full of fighting spirit. But now, fatigue is like a shadow, written on Dennis' face.
, lingering.
"Dear Queen, we have always been harmonious and have very similar views on many things. I am here today not only to inform you about this matter. I also have another purpose, which is to hear your opinion on this matter?"
Vladimir asked straight to the point. He didn't like to talk in circles, unless he had to be polite in some social situations of nobles. On weekdays, Vladimir's character was to say one thing and another. He knew that the queen
This is also true.
"Vladimir, the reason why you came to me proves that you already have the answer in your heart and have your own judgment, right? Otherwise, there is no need for you to come to me and ask me. If you don't agree at all in your heart
If my father Rod said that, you would not appear here, but would continue to stand on the city wall with your soldiers."
Dennis revealed the psychology of the old general Vladimir with one word. Vladimir had to accept it. Indeed, the queen was right. However, he had sworn allegiance to Pavel... Without the order of the tsar, how could he support it?
Rhodes, let the northern army enter the city smoothly?
Vladimir is conflicted in his heart, and this conflict is precisely because he values honor and oaths... If it were someone else, he would follow whoever has interests. But Vladimir can't do it.
In his heart, he really hoped to open the door and let the Northern Army enter the city and end this chaos. But he once swore an oath to Tsar Pavel. How important the oath is. It is the bottom line of life. Vladimir knew that he could not break the oath. This was
A creed in life that he has always adhered to.
"Okay... I admit... I have the same idea as you. I don't want to see Mrs. Kislev commit suicide and fight with each other again. If you open the city gate and let the Northern Army directly enter the city to negotiate with the Tsar, you can indeed avoid a crisis.
A bloody storm."
Vladimir looked ugly——
"However, I am the commander-in-chief of the Kislev city defense army. I hold an important position and cannot let the king's enemies into the city..."
"Enemies of the King? Is it more important to be the enemies of the king or the enemies of the state?"
Dennis asked aggressively. Although he is a whole generation younger than Vladimir, he is no less good at handling things than these middle-aged people.
"Queen, what do you mean?"
"Don't you understand what I mean? There is no one else here. We don't need to hide anything."
Dennis' face was pale, but his eyes were still sharp.
"Pavel has made everyone angry. He raped the wives of nobles and confiscated the nobles' property at will. Now, the nobles and lords across the country are dissatisfied with him. The condemnation has turned into actual actions, and even I can't control it."
"My father came not only to negotiate with the Tsar, but also to stabilize the situation and stabilize Kislev to avoid causing greater chaos. The enemy of the king - Rod. My father. And
Enemy of the country - Pavel. Who is less important and who is more important? You should have the answer in your mind, right?"
After Dennis finished speaking, the room fell into silence. For a long time, Vladimir did not say anything or speak. He just sat there, silent and thinking.
"I know your mentality, Vladimir. In fact, you and I don't want to see Kislev fall into turmoil again. Everything my father did was also for this purpose. But Tsar Pavel
That's not the case. He set off a storm in the fragile kingdom. If it is not controlled, this storm will destroy the entire kingdom. This time, you can prevent the northern army from entering the city, so what will be the result? "
Dennis stared at Vladimir and spoke sharply——
"The result is that the northern army cannot enter the city."
"My father had no intention of attacking the city! He didn't even bring siege weapons. Just because the northern army can't enter the city, it doesn't mean that there won't be other armies to attack the city. The noble lords in the south are recruiting troops. They don't have a standing army anywhere.
You can only rely on recruiting mercenaries. You know mercenaries. They only care about money. They follow whoever gives more money. There is no discipline and bottom line. Once mercenaries run rampant in Kislev, you know the consequences.
Even we can't control it. By then, the throne may just be a naked number of gold coins."
Denise continued. Her words were like a torrent, hitting Vladimir's psychological defense again and again. The key is that every sentence hit the point. It caught Vladimir off guard.
"So, for such a king, are you going to let Kislev bleed like a river?"
Dennis pressed.
"Of course not..." Vladimir returned, "But I once swore an oath to be loyal to Pavel..."
"Vladimir, you are very loyal. But sometimes loyalty depends on the situation. Is it loyalty or foolish loyalty? Remember when the Snow Queen Katarina was in power, right?"
Dennis sat there and talked about the past. That experience could be said to be the darkest period in her life, but it was also an important period for her to grow and learn. She didn't want to recall it, but sometimes she had to recall it.
"of course I remember……"
Vladimir answered.
"Back then, Kislev was in a stalemate between north and south for two full years. Do you know what finally defeated the Snow Queen?"
Dennis asked pretending to be mysterious.
Vladimir could only respond in silence.
"What finally defeated the Snow Queen was not the northern coalition forces. It was the people's hearts. After the Ice Queen's mask of being a vampire was torn, a large number of knights took refuge in my father. This was the root cause of the collapse of the southern army. Those elite knights
, they all swore allegiance to Catalina in the beginning, but when they learned that their queen was a vampire and saw what she did, most of the knights turned their backs. Can you say that they broke their oaths?"
Dennis continued -
"Of course, in a narrow sense, they did betray their oath. They betrayed the Snow Queen. But, in a broad sense, they did not betray. They once swore an oath and swore allegiance to this country, and Catalina represents the
She is the supreme ruler of Sirif, so the knights choose to be loyal to her. But if one day, even the queen herself betrays her country, then why should the knights continue to be loyal to her?"
After a long conversation, Vladimir fell. In other words, the troubles he had been having were finally solved. Yes, loyalty is to this kingdom, not to a specific person. The king represents the country and the people,
If even the king himself betrays, then the oaths once made should also change owners.
"abalone……"
Before leaving, Vladimir turned around and wanted to ask the queen if she knew the current situation of his son Boris. But he swallowed the words as he spoke. He saw the queen's pale and tired face...