"Black Revered King Jeffrey…"
In the dim room, Ed, sitting in a corner of the house, couldn't help but frown slightly after hearing John's words. After a moment of thought and recollection, he responded.
"If I remember correctly, in common history, Jeffrey should be the leader of the rebellious kings, who faced off against the ancestor of the current Royal Family, the City Builder Edward III's father, the 'Legitimate Successor' Baldrick, during the Wind King Rebellion and was eventually defeated…"
"Yes… according to surface history, that is indeed the case, but in true history, Baldrick was no legitimate successor. If we were to calculate based on the legal order of succession at the time, his legitimacy was actually inferior to Jeffrey's." Listening to Ed's words, John, sitting on the bed, also spoke slowly. After hearing John's words, a look of considerable surprise appeared on Ed's face, and he then spoke.
"Baldrick's legitimacy was inferior to Jeffrey's?"
"That's right. In the Despenser royal lineage, neither Baldrick nor Jeffrey were from the main branch, but Jeffrey was closer to the main branch. If it weren't for the convenient interference of the Church, he truly should have been the one to be crowned king."
John said this, then slowly looked up at the ceiling, and began recounting the history he knew while thinking.
"The origin of the Wind King Rebellion stemmed from the Calamity of Sorrowful Wind. At that time, in Prit's royal capital, Solforth Stone, the 'Mad King' Volkioff, after being troubled by his madness for many years, committed suicide without any warning. The Prit throne thus became vacant, and his five sons rushed back to Solforth Stone overnight after receiving news of Ralph's death.
"They should have, according to law, jointly nominated the eldest prince, Howard, as king, but who knew that during the coronation ceremony, Howard was poisoned to death by a cup of poisoned wine. The remaining four princes accused each other of poisoning Howard, and eventually their conflicts intensified. They each led their men to attack and kill each other, fighting fiercely for three days. The ignited flames of war completely destroyed the royal capital of Solforth Stone. In the end, all four princes perished together, with none surviving. The Roaring Lance Dynasty was extinguished, and the legitimate main branch of Despenser at the time died out without issue."
Looking at the ceiling, John recalled his research and murmured. Listening to John's words, Ed couldn't help but silently stroke his chin, then slowly replied while pondering.
"If I remember correctly, common history records that Volkioff died in a hunting accident… His sons each inherited the throne in order, but all died young without issue, ultimately leading to the situation of the lineage dying out. I didn't expect the situation in the secret history to be like this… Volkioff actually died of madness…"
"Yes… it was indeed madness. It is said that Volkioff was tormented by madness for seven years. Every day he was muddled, delirious, and spoke nonsense. His sudden suicide was the fuse for the entire Calamity of Sorrowful Wind, and the Calamity of Sorrowful Wind was also the beginning of the later Wind King Rebellion." John continued, then shifted his gaze back to Ed and continued.
"After the Calamity of Sorrowful Wind, Prit's royal capital was destroyed, the throne was vacant, and the main heirs were all dead. Lords from all over the country, especially those collateral branches with Despenser blood, became active at this moment, harboring ambitions for the throne. However, at first, they did not immediately start fighting, but instead held a Stone Table Meeting, attempting to nominate a new king through discussion. However, none of them could completely convince the others, so the crucial factor in deciding the new king converged on the greatest external force in Prit, the Church."
"Since the Stone Table Meeting did not allow the lords of Prit to reach a consensus, the Church began to have a say in this matter. Although the original Church already had considerable influence within Prit, it had not yet reached the extent of influencing the king's decisions. But this time, the Church saw an opportunity and actively expanded its influence to interfere in this matter."
"Finally, at the Second Stone Table Meeting, when the lords of Prit were still unable to reach a unified opinion to elect a new king, Archbishop Nestore, who was present but had remained neutral until then, publicly announced that the Lord in heaven had made a decision, designating Duke Lisgo, Baldrick Brionna, as the new King of Prit. This announcement greatly astonished the attending lords and sparked widespread dissatisfaction."
"Before this, although the Church had great influence in Prit, there was no precedent for the Church interfering in such an important matter as the succession of the throne. Although Baldrick, nominated by the Church, was also a great lord, in terms of his overall strength and legal right to inherit, he was not the highest among the lords. His advantage over other lords was that the Church's influence was greatest in his territory, the degree of Light indoctrination was the highest, and he was most favored by Holy Mountain. At that time, many areas in Prit with low levels of Light indoctrination were somewhat resistant to the Church."
"At the Second Stone Table Meeting, not only did the parties fail to resolve their conflicts, but the conflicts became even more intensified. At the meeting, almost half of the lords refused to acknowledge the so-called 'divine oracle' issued by Archbishop Nestore, declaring that what belonged to the Three Saints belonged to the Three Saints, and what belonged to Prit belonged to Prit, and then they left in anger, causing the meeting to end in complete failure."
"After Baldrick returned to his territory, he directly accepted the coronation by Archbishop Nestore, declaring himself the Guardian of the entire territory of Prit, the sole King, who had received the divine grace of the Three Saints. His actions provoked the lords who did not recognize him. These lords successively declared themselves kings in their own territories and jointly took up arms against Baldrick, historically known as the Wind Rebel Kings. The Wind King Rebellion thus fully erupted."
John continued speaking slowly, describing the secret history he had studied in a calm tone, while Ed, who was listening nearby, also couldn't help but say something while stroking his chin.
"So… it was the Church's intervention that led to the outbreak of war?"
"No… I believe the Church's intervention was merely a catalyst that accelerated the progress of the war's outbreak. The conflicts among the lords at that time were inherently irreconcilable; war was only a matter of time. However, although the Church's intervention was not the primary cause of the war, it did change the nature of this war."
John replied, then rested for a little while. After a brief pause, he continued speaking.
"In the early stages of the Wind King Rebellion, the great lords fought individually, but none of them were a match for Baldrick, who had the support of the Church. Baldrick achieved successive victories on the battlefield, and the lords opposing him suffered continuous defeats. Under these circumstances, the most powerful among these lords, Jeffrey Ereler, stepped forward."
"Jeffrey was the one among these collateral lords with the closest blood ties to the original main branch, possessing immense prestige and powerful strength. As Baldrick was defeating the lords opposing him one after another, Jeffrey stepped forward and, with extraordinary diplomatic skill, united the previously isolated Wind Rebel Kings, forming a common alliance. They coordinated and cooperated, finally managing to resist Baldrick's offensive. Jeffrey became the leader among the Wind Rebel Kings. As the war continued, Jeffrey used various means to gradually integrate the alliance in his hands, eventually reaching the point where the other Wind Rebel Kings voluntarily renounced their royal titles and honored Jeffrey as the sole King of Prit under the name of vassals. King Jeffrey thus ruled half of Prit's territory."
"In order to win more support to defeat Baldrick, and to counter the religious pressure from Holy Mountain, thereby further increasing the sense of identity and legitimacy of his own forces, Jeffrey announced the abolition of the Shining Light Church within his territory. He began to rediscover the local Prit beliefs that had gradually been forgotten due to the cultural invasion of the Shining Light Church. From past ruins, they found ancient scriptures that had been lost, and they began to worship a deity who had once ruled Prit in the distant past, honoring her as the Night Sky Empress. They took the Night Sky Empress and her four knights as symbols, establishing a new religion that worshipped the moon and night. Jeffrey was thus called the Black Worship King."
John narrated in this calm manner. After speaking, he reached out to pick up the water cup on the bedside table and took another sip to moisten his throat. Ed, who was sitting in the corner, asked after listening.
"In order to fight against Baldrick, Jeffrey did not hesitate to revive the original local religion of Prit… Can this really increase his strength? This approach completely cuts off the possibility of reconciliation with the Church… Is it worth it?" Ed asked this, and John replied after drinking the water.
"At least from his perspective, it was definitely worth it. Five hundred years ago, Prit was not like it is now, where the Shining Light Church culture has severely invaded everywhere, and most customs and traditions are no different from other countries on the Main Continent. At that time, although the influence of the Shining Light Church in Prit was strong, it was not as thorough as it is today, and many customs and traditions based on old beliefs were preserved. The expansion of the Shining Light Church was dedicated to destroying these, which naturally aroused the disgust and opposition of many conservative Prit people. Jeffrey raising the banner of reviving the old gods could naturally win the support of this group of people.
"This… is based on Jeffrey's consideration of actual benefits. However, as for himself, he may not need to act entirely based on practical interests. He himself is a loyal believer of the Night Sky Empress. He believes that he can obtain the help of the Night Sky Empress and win this war…"
John responded in this way, and his words made Ed frown slightly, and then he continued to speak.
"Does he really believe that a god from an old faith that has been gone for hundreds or thousands of years can help him, why?"
"Because of a 'divine messenger' by his side."
"Divine messenger?" Hearing John's response, the look of surprise on Ed's face deepened, and John continued unhurriedly.
"Yes… According to our research, during the Wind King Rebellion, there was someone by Jeffrey's side who claimed to be a divine messenger of the Night Sky Empress. She was initially a witch active in the countryside of Prit. It seems that she was recruited by Jeffrey because she could show divine miracles. She advised Jeffrey and helped him fight Baldrick's army on the battlefield and integrate other rebellious kings of the wind rebellion. The results were very good, and Jeffrey also trusted her very much because of this, truly treating her as the divine messenger of the Night Sky Empress, believing that the Night Sky Empress had sent her to assist him.
"The name of this witch divine messenger is now unknown, but we can know that Jeffrey's rise is inseparable from her support. At the same time, her existence also made Jeffrey and even the entire Ancient faction believe in the real existence of the Night Sky Empress. The divine messenger claimed that the Night Sky Empress had abandoned the land of Prit and the people on it, but as long as they could repent, the Night Sky Empress would return again.
"And the method of so-called repentance is to find the ruins left by the Night Sky Empress throughout Prit and perform a 'repentance ritual' on them. As long as enough and large enough ruins have undergone the repentance ritual, the Night Sky Empress will be able to feel the sincerity of the people on this land and descend again to help her loyal believers."
"Repentance ritual… What exactly is that?" Listening to John's words, Ed continued to ask with a frown, and John shook his head and replied.
"I don't know. We haven't found any documents about how this ritual is specifically performed. All we know is that Jeffrey firmly believed the words of that divine messenger witch. While fighting Baldrick, who was supported by the Church, he sent people throughout Prit to search for the ruins of the Night Sky Empress and hold repentance rituals.
"However, this repentance ritual seems to be really effective. As more and more rituals were held, the power of Jeffrey and the divine messenger also seemed to be constantly growing, even allowing the Ancient army to gain the upper hand at one point. The strength of the Ancient even made Holy Mountain consider whether to increase its intervention in Prit." John continued to speak calmly, while Ed spoke with a serious expression.
"So… in the end, the Church was prepared to increase its troops and further intervene to help their agent win this war?"
Thousands!, Search" Free! Small"!?. Say.''. Skirt"2?5,!.?5,!5!9!,'5!:.,3'0,0 "No… The war ended before the Church increased its troops. Just as the Ancient was in full swing, the unexpected happened in the entire Wind King Rebellion. The Black Worship King Jeffrey suddenly died, by suicide. The entire Ancient suddenly lost its leader and fell apart. Baldrick won the war, founded a new dynasty, and changed his surname to Despenser Authentic." John continued to reply to Ed's words, and his response made Ed stunned, and it took him a moment to speak.
"What… committed suicide? Why? Did he also have madness?" Ed's tone of voice revealed obvious surprise. Obviously, it seemed that he had not expected this great war to end in such a way, and John, who was sitting on the bed, continued to answer slowly.
"We actually don't know what Jeffrey's final state was like. When we were researching this period, the secret documents we collected only showed that Jeffrey died suddenly, and did not record the cause of his death. The record of his death was found at the end of last year from a secret letter found by Richard in a corner of the Royal Archives.
"It is unknown who wrote and sent this secret letter. The recipient was a respected lord under Jeffrey at the time, Ampere Devonshire. During the Wind King Rebellion, he followed Jeffrey's orders to search for the ruins of the Night Sky Empress throughout Prit and was the main force in finding the ruins. Most of the ruins used by the Ancient for repentance were found by him.
"At the end of the Wind King Rebellion, after Jeffrey suddenly died, Ampere was the fastest to turn his spear and pledge allegiance to Baldrick, and thus was valued by Baldrick and later received good treatment, which is today's Devonshire Duke lineage."
John said this, and hearing the surname Devonshire, Dorothy, who was hidden behind Ed, was stunned, and then she thought, isn't this Misha's surname? Misha is from the Devonshire family.
And just as Dorothy was thinking, John on the other side continued to speak.
"At first, we thought Ampere was an unprincipled turncoat who was used to seeing which way the wind blew, but in the process of interpreting that secret letter, I found some interesting and important points.
"This secret letter was written very sloppily, with many errors and ambiguities. Although the mysterious letter writer seemed to be in a bad state, he had a commanding tone towards Ampere in the letter. He asked Ampere to immediately destroy the'secret' of the most important temple among the ruins of the Night Sky Empress that he had found. If it could not be destroyed, he should do his best to guard that secret forever and absolutely not reveal a single bit of it.
"And on one side of that secret letter, there was a letter written by Ampere but seemingly not sent out. In the reply letter, he said that he guaranteed to keep that secret forever, and would even take it to his grave after death."