Prince Alfred looked at the team slowly coming from the foot of the mountain with a nervous expression and a pale face. Although the team was not large in number and the badge in front belonged to the king's emblem of his own family, in the eyes of the prince, it seemed that the devil was constantly approaching him.

The Corsencha family's team was also slightly turbulent. The guards quietly put away their weapons and retreated. Everyone showed a faint look of anxiety. They stared at the approaching team and looked at Alexander one after another.

"The Duke is here." Ruosha said again. Her tone sounded rather than telling the facts, it was better to say that she was announcing bad news.

Alexander nodded, indicating that he knew.

There is not only one duke in Naples. The former king Alfonso II alone had a very famous illegitimate son who was awarded the title of duke.

But there is only one duke who only calls him the duke without having to be famous.

That is Frederick, the younger brother of the former king and now the uncle of King Ferdinand.

Some people say that Frederick is the bravest and most rewarding person in Naples, because he saved Naples from the French.

Some people also say that he is a treacherous villain who relies on all kinds of conspiracies and unscrupulous means, because he finally obtained the heavy power along the way by constantly attacking his opponents.

However, no matter how you evaluate this person, the name Duke Frederick has long become a popular person in Naples and can even determine the fate of the kingdom. This is an indisputable fact.

Even the king had to obey him, especially after the generals of the coalition forces publicly expressed their support for Frederick, rather than the king commanding the army of Naples, few people dared to confront him.

Modillo is one of the few people who can compete with Frederick, but even so, people generally do not like Modillo.

What's worse is that there are already rumors in the market that the king is getting crazy and his body is getting worse and worse. The king has not given birth to an heir so far, which has given people too many ideas.

Although the mountain road was rugged and circling, with the continuous sound of the horns and the last elongated tail sound disappeared, the duke's team finally arrived in front of the pass.

People bowed and saluted respectfully to a tall man dressed in the middle of the team, who was not wearing a hat and had long curly hair on his head. When he got off the horse, Alexander was quite surprised to find that this man was really not as tall as the soldiers wearing helmets.

The duke had long, thick, curly hair, and half of his face was covered by curly hair. Some people said it made him look mysterious and terrible, but there were rumors that he did this just to block the scar on his face that was ulcerated due to some strange disease.

"What happened here?" Seeing the two groups of people who had already restrained themselves, Frederick walked out of the team.

The middle-aged man had already taken a few steps forward. He first picked up the duke's hand and kissed it, and then whispered to him what happened. This made Alfred, who was standing not far away, even more nervous. He licked his dry lips and stared at his father's face. Seeing his father looking at him, he took a step forward nervously and then stopped.

"You did a good job," Frederick patted the middle-aged man on the shoulder. His kind expression seemed to be inconsistent with the rumors about him being bad. After saying that, he raised his hand and made a gesture to Alfred. Under everyone's gaze, the prince slowly walked to the Duke in a hurry. "Come here, Alfred, don't be so nervous, come, get closer."

Alfred, who finally walked to his father, looked at his father. At this time, the prince had no longer had the courage to be enemies with anyone in order to protect the honor of the woman he liked, but had completely turned into a cormorant that was trembling due to fear.

"I don't like him because of this," Alexander heard Ruosha who had already walked off the carriage and whisper beside him. "Alfred can be a good friend, but he can't be a good lover. He will always be a good son in front of his father."

"It is said that he is good at fighting," Alexander also whispered, "and his swordsmanship is also good."

"But he still lost to you."

As soon as Ruosha finished speaking, Alfred's scream suddenly came!

The Duke, who had just spoken to his son with a calm expression, was waving his horse whip and constantly whipping Alfred. With the screams of the prince who bent down and hugged his head and kept dodging, the sound of the horse whip whip on his body made the people around him frightened!

"I hit you like this because you were hindering my people," the Duke grabbed his son's collar and forced his face to press against his nose. His voice was low but not angry. "But you have forgotten your identity and responsibilities. Don't forget that you are my only son. If you don't have any surprises, you will be my only heir in the future, so please don't be so naive. Go back to your palace immediately. You can do whatever you want, just don't come out again. Do you understand?"

Alfred, who was so dazed by a whip that he was already dazed, nodded only when the Duke finally let him go, he immediately staggered and ran away, without even the courage to look back.

Looking at the prince running away, Ruosha's face looked a little bad. Although she herself did not like this suitor, this person was so scared by his father that he ran away at the last minute, which made the Earl Miss feel very shameless.

And looking at Frederick approaching, she felt a huge pressure.

"Miss of the Earl of Cosenca," Frederick looked at Alexander next to him, "a respected messenger from Sicily..."

"Gumbrey, Lord Alexander Juliant Gombray." Alexander bowed and saluted.

"Ah, Gombree," the Duke responded casually and said hello, and then he looked at Ruosha. "Miss Earl, I want to know why you refuse to undergo the inspection. You must know that this is the king's order, and as far as I know, both your father and uncle, will be loyal to His Majesty the King."

Ruosha smiled, and a hint of relief appeared on her originally nervous face. She glanced at the middle-aged man in the distance, and then looked at Frederick without fear: "Your Highness, I think your subordinates don't think so. What I heard was that he shouting 'In the name of the duke' rather than the king', which made me have to protect my family honor, because he was obviously provoking."

"Is that true?" Frederick looked back at the middle-aged man. Although he had not received any answer, he could tell the answer from his face. "This is really stupid."

Alexander heard Frederick say in a low voice, and then he turned to Ruosha and said, "It seems that I have to apologize for this matter first." As he said that, the Duke slowly picked up one of Ruosha's hands. When he put her hand on his lips to kiss, the Duke's eyes began to change slightly when he looked at her. "You have grown up, I always think you are still a child, but before you know it, you have grown into a beautiful lady."

"Do you still want to check our convoy?" Ruosha suddenly felt uncomfortable when she noticed Frederick's sudden and became extremely hot. She broke her hand away from Frederick's hand with a little force, and asked in a somewhat unhappy tone, which looked like a little girl who was irritating.

"This is the king's order, we must obey it." Frederick shook his head helplessly, and then he took a little back and waved hard. "Check the convoy, check carefully and don't let go of any suspicious places."

With Frederick's order, the soldiers rushed forward, pushed away the overwhelmed guards and began to check the small convoy. Then, under the command of the middle-aged man, everyone began to check the guards one by one.

Seeing that his soldier was forced to take off his helmet and hat for inspection, Ruosha finally couldn't bear it. She walked up to Frederick and protested angrily: "Your Highness, you do this is an insult to Modillo and the Kosencha family. My uncle and father will not agree!"

"Miss, then your uncle and father have to protest to the king," Frederick replied indifferently. When he saw Ruosha's shoulders move slightly, he was ready. The Duke had raised his hand and grabbed her jaw tightly. "Be careful, Miss, you have a bad temper but you can't get married." Frederick said, his fingers couldn't help but touch Ruosha's smooth chin.

"Your Highness, you can do very uneducated." Alexander suddenly stepped forward, and he ignored the sword pointing at him, clutching Frederick's wrist tightly. "You should apologize to Miss Cosencha."

Frederick's eyes narrowed slightly, and he looked at Alexander curiously for the first time, who had not paid attention to the Sicilian messenger.

"Is it strange that a Sicilian messenger is so close to the Modilo family?" Frederick slowly let go of his hand holding Rusha's jaw and looked at Alexander. "Young man listen to my advice. If you finish the affairs in Naples, go back to your Sicily immediately. Although you are a Sicilian messenger, don't forget that I am a descendant of the Aragon royal family."

Alexander made up for a descendant of a royal family who would be deposed in no time.

Frederick looks arrogant now, but only Alexander knows that this man's good life will not last long.

As long as he thinks about what his distant cousin, King Ferdinand of Aragon, did to him in the future, Alexander felt that if he had something to do in Naples, he would have received Ferdinand's support.

"Your Highness, please apologize to Miss Cosencha, otherwise I can only think that you are a savage and rough man who does not match your identity," Alexander did not care about Frederick's threat. "I don't think my king will allow me to interact with such a person."

This was the first time Alexander borrowed the name of Ferdinand, the king of the Kingdom of Sicily. What really concerns this king is that he is also the king of the Kingdom of Aragon and the husband of Isabella, the queen of the Kingdom of Castilla, and the king of the two kingdoms and the king of one king.

The expression on Frederick's face changed slightly. He didn't care about the little man Alexander, but he had to care about a Sicilian messenger.

Especially at such a subtle moment, when he thought that his nephew had become increasingly crazy and his health was obviously getting worse, Frederick had to seriously consider the people and things that the young man in front of him represented.

"I will apologize to the lady, for I wish to gain her favor," Frederick stared at Alexander. "But you young man, stay away from that girl from now on, and you'd better pray that your noble party will be recognized by the King of Sicily, or you'll be nothing."

Alexander slowly let go of Frederick's wrist. He knew that he had completely offended the duke this time, but he didn't care. From the beginning, he had not been optimistic about the duke.

In Alexander's view, even his nephew who is in his near future is worth more attention than Frederick. This is because although Ferdinand hastily succeeded the throne, the Naples had not completely lost their country at that time, and now Naples has actually lost almost everything as a country.

A country where even the command of the army was ruthlessly deprived by generals from other countries, even if its king had strong ambitions, what role could it play?

Moreover, Alexander believed that Frederick must need Aragon's support, which was why he was not afraid.

"Your Highness," the middle-aged man came over, and he hesitated and whispered, "We have searched all of them, and even the lady's carriage has been searched, and nothing has been found."

Although he was a little surprised, Frederick just nodded quietly. He nodded slightly to Ruosha: "I'm sorry, Miss Earl, it's been delaying you for so long."

"I will tell my father and uncle what happened today," Ruosha said angrily, "I will ask them to repay the humiliation you gave me."

"Maybe we will meet again soon," Frederick looked at Ruosha with a strange look. "If you still insist, I will give you an explanation."

As he said that, he looked at Alexander again: "As for you, remember my words and stay away from now on."

Looking at Frederick's uncomfortable gaze, Ruosha turned to the carriage, and the clumsy straight-shaft carriage began to bump forward on the road.

When he finally passed through the pass, Ruosha, who was originally angry, calmed down.

She turned her head and looked at Alexander next to the carriage, pondered for a moment and suddenly asked, "Where is that Florentine?"

Alexander's hand holding the reins tightened slightly, and the horse stopped.

He looked at Ruosha in the slowly moving carriage, wondering if she was really interested in the Florentines thinking or had noticed something.

Looking at Alexander's expression, Ruosha didn't say anything else. She stroked her jaw that was still a little painful after being pinched by Frederick. After a while, she asked again: "Why did the Duke keep you away from me?"

Alexander shook his head and urged the horse to follow the carriage: "No matter what, I know that Duke, I will stand on your side."

"Of course, this is what you owe me." Ruosha glanced at Alexander and said, "I will get a reward when I arrive at Kosencha."

Standing at the pass on the top of the mountain and watching the team slowly moving along the mountain road, Frederick shook his head slightly.

The middle-aged man came over and saw that Frederick's mood seemed not so bad. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "Your Highness, we have not yet discovered the Florentine man. Maybe he is still hiding in the city. Do you need to order the city to strengthen the search?"

"No need, order the search to end," Frederick exhaled as he looked at the distant team. "The Florentine's man has escaped."

As he said that, the Duke suddenly turned around and smiled: "Would I be smarter than Alfred if I had another son? Suppose his mother is not only young, beautiful, but also very smart?"

The middle-aged man looked at Frederick in surprise and didn't know how to answer. The Duke obviously didn't want to ask for his opinion. Looking at the team at the foot of the mountain where there was almost no shadow, Frederick murmured to himself: "Why didn't I expect this from Rusha Kosencha of the Kosencha family?"

Down the northern foot of Mount Vesuvius, a gentle and spreading ridge extends along the mountain to the distant plains. A large area of ​​lush forest covers the originally bare halfway up the mountainside with a cool barrier. The hot wind blows through the woods and becomes cool and comfortable.

Warm light rays projected through the gaps of the branches and swayed lightly with the swaying shade, as if the curtains built with light were fluttering gently in the wind.

It had been more than half a day since we left Vesuvius Pass, and the team did not stop on the road until we arrived at the woods.

The terrain here has become much smoother. As long as you walk a little further, there will be several forks leading to different directions.

The escorted captain ordered camping in the woods.

Some people in the woods were resting, mostly travelers who had passed the mountaintop pass before.

Seeing Kosencha's team, many travelers showed happy expressions.

Although the French have long been driven out of Naples, it does not mean that the road is peaceful.

At least safety is guaranteed to be able to walk with the nobles with armed escorts.

In fact, in this era, no place is safe.

There was a sunshade tent on Ruosha's carriage. Although it only blocked half of the carriage, it was enough for the Earl Miss to sit inside to avoid the raging sun.

At this time, Miss Rusha Kosencha was sitting in the carriage, looking at Alexander who was drinking water in a tree not far away.

"Master, we have to walk a little longer before we can get water," Uriu looked at Alexander, who was shaking his kettle with his head raised, and said blaming himself, "There are stones everywhere here."

"Don't care about these Urius, this is a volcano, of course there are stones everywhere," Alexander laughed and comforted. "Fortunately we're leaving soon."

"Volcano?" Uliu asked in surprise, "Is it the kind of mountain you can spit out flames? I have heard people mention it before, but I think that's nonsense. Is there really a mountain that can spit out flames?"
To be continued...