Grand Duke Carl Caniola arched and took a step, holding a letter in his hand and looking down.

Next to him, a minister looked at his expression carefully. The grand duke's temper had become increasingly irritable and increasingly unpredictable, especially as the news that the Ottoman army was about to arrive in Bosnia, he became more likely to get angry.

"So, our friend is not idle in Bosnia," Karl whispered to himself after reading the letter, then looked up at the servant next to him. "Are our people ready?"

The servant nodded immediately: "Yes, your highness, our people can set out at any time."

"Oh, that's good," Grand Duke Carl's face improved slightly, and he looked down at the letter in his hand. "Our friend from Rome seems to have done something in Bosnia recently, but this is obviously not enough, so I have to urge him."

The minister listened silently, and he knew that this was not the time for him to speak, so he could just listen quietly.

Sure enough, the Grand Duke did not pause and continued to say on his own: "But there is something to do before that."

Carl said, looking at a house on the other side of the palace, where the two princesses lived, where his aunt and fiancée were, and what annoyed him was that it seemed to have become the independent kingdom of the Marchidouwei.

The Marcidovi occupied the house, including his aunt Princess Cagnola. Although they did not say anything explicitly, they refused to enter the house. They not only protected their princess and princes well, but also vaguely wanted to confront him, the grand duke.

"We have to let them know that they are the master of this palace," Grand Duke Carl muttered in a low voice. He accelerated his pace and hurriedly walked there. The servants behind him could only keep up as soon as possible.

Princess Alisandra Cocagnola sat on a chair in the room. Although the chair was rough and not very comfortable, she didn't care about it. She was now concerned about their current situation.

Although the Roman count helped them get out of the predicament for the time being, their situation in Caniola has not changed much.

As the count left, although they moved into the house as the Grand Duke ordered and had temporarily peace, the princess felt that the situation of her people was still worrying when she thought of facing her nephew in the end.

Prince Galli couldn't count on it. He was a young man who had never experienced anything even though he was young. Now, except for his enthusiastic hunting, he was about to forget what had just happened. At least in his opinion, since he had already embarrassed Carl so much, the matter was over.

Although her cousin, Princess Marchidouvi, who has the same name as her, can see the situation clearly, she is not a person who can discuss such things.

They are all too young, and the princess feels that some of them are alone now, but there is no way to do so.

Princess Caniola didn't believe that the Grand Guild of Carl let go of the previous thing that embarrassed him so easily. Although she was not very clear about what agreement he reached with the Earl later, although the Earl left, the Grand Duke did not touch them immediately. This was at least a good thing, but she didn't know how long this situation could last.

The news of the visit of the grand prince made the princess tremble slightly. While she ordered someone to inform her cousin, she sent her men to find Prince Jiali.

Then she walked out of the door alone and looked at the grand duke who was already standing on the second step.

Most of the houses in Caniola are made of stone and wood, even the palace of the Grand Duke is the same.

Therefore, the houses here are completely different from those of Italian palaces with large and gentle steps. The steps here are narrow and steep, purely for the convenience of up and down, and do not have much artistic quality, so they are not suitable for the owner to stand on top to welcome guests.

If it is a guest, it will be even more inappropriate, as it will give people a feeling of being aggressive uninvited.

Seeing Grand Duke Carl's appearance, Princess Caniola couldn't help but feel a little tightened. She tried her best to make her look calm. At the end of the first step a few steps away from her nephew, she stopped, then looked down at Carl who was looking at her with her head tilted.

Because of his hunchback, Carl was originally much shorter than an ordinary person. When he stood on the steps below, he could only try to raise his head to look at his aunt.

However, the Grand Duke didn't seem to care about this. He had a smile on his face. It was impossible to tell at all that they had been so nervous that they almost fought desperately.

"Dear aunt, I'm here to tell you what the Earl Montina has been doing recently," Carl handed the letter to the princess indifferently. "My friend in Bosnia has news about him, and it seems that he is very active."

The princess took the letter in confusion, and her expression changed slightly when she saw the content on it.

"My dear aunt," the smile on the grand duke's face gradually became a little malicious. "I know you and your cousin, my respected future father-in-law have been secretly colluding with the Bosnians. Marcidovi hopes to gain independence through their help, and you want your husband to become the ruler of Kagnola, but I have friends there, so you can't hide those tricks from me."

The princess wanted to make herself look calmer, but her hand holding the letter paper tightly betrayed her emotions. The content in the letter made her heart worried. When she thought that her family's long-term plan might be disappointed, the princess couldn't help but feel upset.

"Aunt, you probably think I will never notice those supporters in Bosnia. When you heard that the Earl Montina entered Bosnia, you thought it was a good opportunity, so you wrote to let those people start to stir up trouble in Bosnia," Karl said without hesitation and snatched the letter from the princess and read the contents of the above. "Look, just less than 4 days after the Earl left, several attacks on the Ottomans appeared in the north, the biggest of which was the Roei Marquis, I don't know how you hooked up with him, but I know that person, he is a naive, funny and stupid Bosnian, and there are other things. Some locals have also begun to attack the Ottomans. I think these people must have been instigated by some people, and this should be the credit of you and my Marcedovi father-in-law."

Carl kept talking nonstop. Seeing that the princess's face became increasingly ugly, he simply stepped up the steps and forced the princess to retreat.

"You are not as kind as you seem, at least not kind to the Earl Montina," the Grand Duke sarcastically mercilessly. "When you hear that the Earl is going to Bosnia, you are taking the opportunity to make your friends take action. Once the Ottomans are angry, at least they will find that a foreign army has entered Bosnia. They will blame the count for all their crimes, and you and your friends can easily get benefits."

The princess's words made the princess's face clear and dark. She wanted to keep herself calm as much as possible, but the aggressive prince did not give her any chance to breathe.

"Then aunt, why do you do this? Don't tell me that you want to help your poor cousin," Carl said, glancing at the Princess Marchidovi who came to the door and looked at them. "Let me think about it, you and your husband are planning to become the prime minister of the principality, and Marchidovi, you also hope to hold it in your hands so that when you collude with the Bosnians, you can use Marchidovi as a bargaining chip to bargain with them, right?"

Princess Caniola's face turned gloomy. She turned her head to look at Princess Marcidovi, who was standing at the door in amazement, and then turned to stare at Carl in front of her.

"You should be happy because the count you sent did a good thing for us all," Princess Caniola's voice was gloomy. "Those priests, they can be targets for the Sultan to vent their anger."

"ah!"

A scream came from Princess Marchidouvi's mouth, and she looked at her cousin whom she had always trusted.

"Shut up," Princess Caniola shouted at her cousin with indescribable disgust in her eyes. "Why do you think I support you traitors? Your grandfather was already a traitor when he was converted. I live in the same house with you and I endure you to follow those damn rituals every day. What do you think this is for?"

"But you said that it was to help Marciduowei gain independence, but you actually wanted to exchange conditions with Marciduowei with others." Princess Marciduowei retorted angrily.

"What's this compared to your grandfather? I'm already kind enough compared to the things he did when he took the throne of the Grand Duke from our family."

Grand Duke Carl looked at the two women in front of him with a malicious smile on his face and quarreled with each other. He weighed the letter in his hand, and then said coldly: "Okay, let's calm down now, don't forget that you are in my palace."

Carl said as he walked through the two women and walked into the door hunched over.

Behind them, the two women glared at each other, but walked in with Carl.

Carl sat down comfortably, but soon he frowned and moved his body to let his bulging back leave the scattered back of the chair behind him.

"Now let's talk about the Earl of Montina," the Grand Duke looked at the two women full of hostility. "You probably already know what I asked the Earl to do. I need someone to help me get some trouble for the Ottomans for the time being, so that the Sultan can discover my importance, so I don't want anyone to ruin my good things."

"That count can't do anything in Bosnia," Princess Caniola said disdainfully. "The Bosnians are both stubborn and stubborn. They will not get along well with a catholic. The only result he will die there when he arrives in Bosnia."

"I don't care about this," Carl shook his head indifferently. "What I care about is what he can do for me, at least now I don't want something wrong with him, so I want you to write to your friends and tell them to restrain themselves."

Princess Caniola looked at her nephew gloomy, and she wondered in her heart what would happen if she didn't agree to this request.

As if he noticed the princess' thoughts, Carl said coldly: "If you refuse, I will write to the Ottomans about the things you and your husband did. I believe the Ottomans must be interested in these little tricks."

Princess Kagnola showed a look of surprise. She didn't expect Carl to be so despicable that she threatened her by placing a secret message to the Ottomans.

"Caniola's ancestors will be shamed for your behavior." The princess said angrily, but she did not insist on refusing.

Grand Duke Carl curled his lips and said, "If Kagnola perishes in my hands, it will shame my ancestors, but it has nothing to do with you. Dear aunt, you should think more about how to dissuade your overly excited Bosnian friends."

"What about you, isn't that Earl Montina just Bosnia you instigated? What do you think the Sultan would think of this news?"

Hearing Princess Caniola's rhetoric, Carl did not show any panic, and he slowly took out another letter from his pocket.

"This is what I wrote to the Governor of Bosnia, but you can check it out first, my dear aunt."

Princess Caniola took the letter with some confusion, but after reading the first few sentences, she showed a look of surprise on her face.

"You actually revealed the whereabouts of that count to the governor of the Ottomans?"

"Just tell him that a foreigner entered Bosnia with his army. Didn't you tell you the same Bosnian friends? The difference between us is just the different objects of informing each other, but because of this difference, you have to do as I said, dear aunt."

The princess stared at Grand Duke Carl blankly. The joy brought by borrowing Alexander's power to defeat Carl suddenly disappeared.

Now Princess Caniola suddenly realized that she had no chance to resist except to do what Carl said.

"As for Marcidovi, I think you and his wife should not think about it, but I can consider compensating you in another way," Carl looked at Princess Marcidovi next to him. "Your husband can be awarded the title of Regent, but you must ensure that you will never interfere in any affairs of Marcidovi from now on."

A glimmer flashed in Princess Caniola's eyes. She looked at Carl with some hope, as if she was exploring whether his words were true or false.

Princess Marchidovi looked at the two bargaining people with a heavy face. She felt that her country was like a piece of fat meat ready to be slaughtered at any time, waiting for others to enjoy it at will.

"I can consider your suggestions," Princess Caniola nodded to her nephew, "but I can only promise to give up interfering in the Marchudovians. As for the Bosnians, you should also know that our influence on them is not as good as being able to command them at will."

Carl cursed secretly, knowing that Princess Kaniola was not lying, just like his relationship with Ivo Delana, he did not believe that Princess Kaniola and his wife could have a decisive influence on Bosnian nobles like Royes.

But this makes things a little bad for Carl.

Grand Duke Carl had great hope for Alexander. In addition to counting on Alexander to hold up the Ottomans for him in Bosnia, he also hoped that this would make the Sultan realize that maintaining his army was very important to the Ottomans.

Princess Kaniola's previous news about Alexander would undoubtedly inspire the Bosnians to resist the Ottoman Empire, which seemed to suit his wishes, but Carl knew that the result of doing so might also be a complete anger of the Ottomans.

He only hopes that the Montina army of Alexander will cause some trouble for the Ottomans, and then he will take the opportunity to help the Ottomans encircle and suppress Alexander, so that he can show his importance as the ruler of the Principality of Caniola. However, if there is a rebellion in the entire Northern Bosnia, especially those nobles, if all involved, the result will probably prompt the Ottomans to completely lose trust in the local nobles.

If that were the case, when the Ottomans arrived at Caniola, what might be waiting for him was the fate of being deposed.

"Dear aunt, I have to admit that you caused me a lot of trouble, so find a way to replenish the supply before things get worse, otherwise I will tell the Ottomans what you did."

Carl gritted his teeth and reminded him, and then his eyes turned toward Bosnia.

"Earl, you must withstand..." The grand duke sincerely wished in his heart.

The Nausava River simply divides Bosnia into two parts, north and south. In addition to the result of the arrival of the Ottomans, Bosnia also historically has two different kingdoms, north and south, because of this river.

Among them, when Northern Bosnia was the most powerful, it once ruled the territory including the north and most of Croatia. After a little more, the Kingdom of Northern Bosnia expanded southward, eventually unifying the entire Bosnia and almost all Croatia.

So when the Ottomans arrived, with the demise of the Bosnian Kingdom, Croatia, which was previously ruled by the Bosnians, became a homeless land.

There are many nobles here, as many as birch forests all over the mountain. Often there will be nobles with different surnames on a small area. Although most of these people are not of high origin, they are still real nobles.

The reason why this situation occurs is related to Croatia's past.

Unlike Bosnia or Cagnola, the Croatians believed in Roman Catholicism.

The one who guided the Croatians to convert was Sistine IV, the uncle of Old Rovere.

This is probably one of the most proud feats of Sistine IV. When he heard that the Ottomans destroyed the Bosnian Kingdom, he made a bold move and sent a bishop to persuade the Croats to convert.

No one expected that his seemingly risky move would actually succeed.

Just to make the Croatians convert, Sistine IV made a big promise to the locals and even announced that as long as they were willing to convert to the Vatican, they would recognize the noble status of those people.

The result of this promise was that Croatia successfully converted to the Vatican Church, and there were many new nobles out of thin air.
Chapter completed!