The Sin of Ludwigs

Baron Fred took out the letterhead from the envelope, unfolded it, read it, and then read it aloud:

"I am aware of your letter. Viscount Ludwig Francaimon Edmund, a trusted nobleman under the command of the Grand Duke of Württemberg, came to the New World on the orders of his monarch, and was later incorporated into Georgia's third hired The regiment, as Lieutenant-Colonel, was valiantly wounded in the attack on the town of Bamberg by a group of shameless horse thieves against the outlaws, and was honorably called by the Lord at the beginning of November. I am deeply sorry for this and have written to Futem The Duke of Fort and my king. The person you have seen is a liar pretending to be a viscount, hang him immediately, and do not let him continue to tarnish the reputation of the viscount."

Even though I didn't believe that the letter was really from the Duke's house, I couldn't help but hold my breath listening to the Baron read it, and yet hear it in so absurdly unbelievable French.

After Baron Fred finished reading the letter, he held it up to the candlelight and looked at the inscription at the end, then handed it back to the attendant and looked at me.

"This letter is real." The slight smile on his face under the firelight brought a hint of mystery. "I can still recognize the Duke's seal and family crest. You can take a look."

The attendant brought the letter to my eyes, and I glanced at the French text. It was true that what the baron had read was correct, and the signature was the governor's seal and the family crest of the Duke of Lane that Elvis had shown me.

A very ominous premonition arises spontaneously.

"I don't believe this letter is genuine. If it is, then the Duke must have been deceived."

"Ah, you're wrong, it's not what you said," the baron looked at me, "contrary to your guess, this is the Duke's true will."

"I don't understand you."

Ian snorted impatiently.

"It's really stupid—didn't you understand? That old man wants you to die, it's that simple."

"Your Highness has never seen me, why does he want me to die?" I just felt that I seemed to be facing the most incomprehensible thing in the world, "This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen!"

Lord Fred cleared his throat.

"Lord Ian, please let me explain—Mr. Edmund, you should know that your king, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Württemberg has signed a contract with England, and England will pay for the purchase of the mercenary army of Württemberg." Things, you also came to the New World because of the contract between these two countries."

"Of course I know about this kind of thing."

"Then hear me out--according to that agreement, your sovereign is to provide England with a certain number of regiments each year, including infantry and light cavalry, and the British government pays a considerable amount of subsidies every year from the date of the treaty, Until the termination of the treaty. In this treaty, every time the Grand Duke recruits a soldier, he shall be entitled to part of the recruitment fee; Expenses, the above three costs increase with the promotion of military rank. That is to say, every time your king sells one of his subjects, he can actually receive three sums of money——recruitment fee, healing fee, and death pension .”

The ominous premonition grew stronger, and I had no choice but to interrupt the baron's eloquent speech: "I know this kind of thing, since this is the will of the king, everyone naturally has to obey it, but such trivial details What does that have to do with me?"

"Oh, the Duke's letter is so obvious, don't you understand? The two Dukes of the old and new continents joined forces to grab as much money as possible from the mercenaries. Lieutenant Colonel Edmund came to the New World. a sum of money; he was wounded, it was another sum of money, and at last he was sadly dead, and of course England had to pay a pension--where is this large sum of money now? If Lieutenant-Colonel Edmund It happened again, how to deal with this money is still a trivial matter, how to avoid London asking whether there are more "special" situations like Lieutenant Colonel Edmund? Then things are very natural, even if Mr. Elvis Having truthfully reported your situation, His Royal Highness the Duke can only regretfully announce that Lieutenant Colonel Edmund has been summoned by the Lord, and let the two lords execute the duties of the sheriff to execute you."

My mind went blank for a moment, and I even stopped breathing.

My king sells his people, I naturally know about this matter, when I was in Ludwigsburg, I only knew that the financial revenue brought by this treaty was very large, which was large enough to support the court's ostentation and support for various parties. The generous rewards of Ludwigsburg nobles, but I never thought that under the alluring money that propped up Ludwigsburg's prosperity, there is such a suffocating stench, and that one day I will become such a criminal one of the victims.

"But, but, it's impossible, I'm a nobleman, I'm a nobleman with status!" Under the sudden blow, there was only a buzzing in my head, "The Duke doesn't know my identity, if he knows No, he won’t treat me like this! I am a nobleman, not a commoner, and my king will not allow such a thing to happen!”

My mind was extremely confused, and I was staggering and wanted to go out: "I'm going to see the Duke! He wouldn't treat a nobleman like this, I'm not that kind of inferior person!"

I must see the Duke of Lane - I cannot accept being put in such a horrible situation, losing the identity I depended on, and being slaughtered like this!

Ian easily blocked my way, raising his eyebrows at me condescendingly.

"Why, didn't you say that the happiness of a prince is the happiness of his subjects, even if they must die for it? Now you also sacrificed your prince for the happiness of his feast, and that is not Do you approve of it?"

I didn't want to hear his schadenfreude at all, and tried hard to push away his hand that stopped me: "I want to see the Duke! I want to meet him face to face! I am a nobleman with a title, he has no right to do this, my monarch will not agree of!"

"It's so naive," Ian completely sneered at my resistance, "do you think that Duke of Lane is a good guy? Let me tell you, even your so-called mercenary regiments are ordered to be abandoned in the jungle by him every year because of injuries." You don't know how many people are waiting to die; do you think your monarch doesn't know? He knows, but the more people die, the more people will be sent in the next year, and there will be more financial revenue, right?—— Even your half-brothers surnamed Frankemon have died, and the grand duke’s illegitimate son is even asking for a higher price, why do you think they will let you go?"

"Beatrix said that someone like me was ransomed by his family!"

Ian tilted his head lazily and thought for a while.

"Oh—you said the one in Scotland, it's just because of his matrilineal family that we still have to show some face."

"I'm also a nobleman! I'm different from those commoners!" I beat Ian, and finally broke down and cried under the extreme pressure. If Ian hadn't half hugged me, I might have collapsed on the ground: "You know , you know, when you wrote the letter, you already knew it would end like this, right! You lied to me from the beginning, you all lied to me, why did you treat me like this..."

The horrific future that has been clearly visible is already unfolding before my eyes. I can't imagine and dare not imagine what kind of future I will face if I lose my aristocratic status. From my birth to my youth, I have been used to living under its shelter. I have never Not even death frightened me more than thinking about the terrible possibility of losing my identity.

Elvis finally stood up, and he walked slowly in front of me. The burning fire in the fireplace behind him cast his shadow, enveloping me completely.

"It was your noble protector in North America who abandoned you, not me or Ian," he said, "if you hadn't chosen to betray, that letter would never have appeared in front of you, as I said it could Let you stay in Frigou Manor, I have given you a chance."

I looked up at him through blurry teary eyes.

"You clearly said that you would let me go, you promised many times—"

"I only said that the Higgs family would not detain a nobleman, and you are no longer a nobleman." He looked at me, "I never broke my promise."

"You have the blood of the Grand Duke of Württemberg, who signed the treaty that sent you here, and who chose a protector who will abandon you; power and duty should be equal, but some monarchs use The name of God has done as he pleases, and he has left his subjects in hopeless situations, where they are now, and it is your sovereign, your father, who left you here to pay for the sins of yours."

Ian, who hugged me from behind, smiled lowly, his fingers touched my teary cheek, and I could feel the vibration of joy coming from his chest.

"Poor little Edmund, now you know how scary this guy is, but it's too late, stay by our side obediently, if you take a step outside the protection of the Higgs family, you will be torn apart by the wolves outside -"

"Stop thinking about running away—"

"You'll never be able to escape—"

The similar voices of the two Haggis mingled together.

In front of me is Elvis, behind me is Ian; I've lost everything I owned, everything I held on to—

The whole world has nowhere to escape.

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ending!A double update, ah so cool~~~~

I looked back after I finished writing, and I remembered that a little cutie said that a dog that can bite people does not bark, so the elder brother is definitely more difficult to deal with than the younger brother. Facts have proved that this is true. Tut tut.

Tomorrow, I will see if I have time to finish the episode, and then prepare for the next one~ The next one is French style in the [-]th century