On the Adriatic Sea, a ship laden with precious goods imported from the East was sailing from a port in the Kingdom of Naples towards Trieste.
In recent years, with the suppression of Dalmatian pirates, trade on the Adriatic Sea has become more prosperous.
A figure stood at the pitching bow of the ship, gazing into the distance, a few strands of wet hair clinging to his angular forehead.
The disheveled man was wrapped in a faded, blood-red wool cloak, a dark hood covering his head, and a hint of iron-gray showed at his collar, with water droplets seeping between the interlocking links of his chainmail.
His face had grown gaunt from prolonged exile, but his blue-gray eyes remained sharp.
"Your Grace, the captain says we should arrive in Austria later today."
The attendant reported the news to the man with a look of relief.
He was one of the few attendants willing to remain loyal to the Duke of Armagnac even in his destitution.
They had experienced so much over the past year or so.
Initially, they fled to the Aragon for refuge, but later, King Juan II of Aragon was unable to quell the Catalan rebellion.
He then planned to marry his imprisoned daughter, Princess Blanca, to Charles, Duke of Normandy, the King of France's brother, in exchange for the French King's troops to help Aragon suppress the rebellion.
However, Princess Blanca, unwilling to be manipulated by her father again, refused to marry the French prince.
After her divorce from her first husband, King Enrique IV of Castile, she had been imprisoned by her father, Juan II.
Subsequently, this poor princess witnessed her own brother being murdered by her father, and her spirit almost broke.
And the stigma of "Virgin Queen" had always followed her.
Now thirty-eight years old, she absolutely refused to marry a fifteen-year-old French prince and suffer humiliation.
This annulment infuriated Louis XI, who demanded an explanation from Juan II.
The weak Juan II then transferred the Kingdom of Navarre, which Blanca should have inherited, to Blanca's younger sister, Leonor.
However, the actual ruler of the Kingdom of Navarre was Leonor's husband, the Count of Foix, a vassal of the Kingdom of France.
In this way, France virtually seized control of Navarre from Aragon.
The stubborn Princess Blanca subsequently followed in her brother's footsteps, poisoned by her own father, Juan II. However, Louis XI was still not satisfied and demanded more compensation.
Juan II then ceded Roussillon and Cerdagne to the Kingdom of France in exchange for Louis XI's army to help him quell the rebellion.
To avoid further angering Louis XI, Juan II ordered the expulsion of the Duke of Armagnac and his wife, who had been sheltering in his court.
Because it was now known that the Duke of Armagnac was an enemy hated by King Louis XI, Juan II dared not offer him further asylum.
Since Aragon could not accommodate him, the Duke had no choice but to travel to the Kingdom of Naples, which was at war with Aragon, to seek refuge.
At sea, they encountered several attacks, but fortunately, they eventually arrived in Naples without incident.
However, when they met King Fernando I of Naples, this usually amiable king was troubled by the unfavorable war situation.
Aragon quickly regrouped after suppressing the rebellion and defeated the Neapolitan fleet at sea.
Subsequently, Aragon's army landed and recaptured most of Sicily, taking back the lands that Fernando had seized opportunistically.
The agitated King of Naples did not want to harbor the French King's enemy; he still feared the French army like a tiger.
Moreover, he did not want to risk angering the Pope by sheltering the Duke of Armagnac, who had committed incest.
So, he gave the Duke some travel expenses and arranged for a merchant ship to take the Duke and his entourage to Austria.
As long as he was an enemy of the French King, the Emperor would surely welcome him warmly, and Fernando simply used the opportunity to pass this hot potato to the Emperor.
Thus, the Duke could only reluctantly continue his exile, and his followers also had to endure the hardship of wandering.
However, they were about to reach Austria, and this long journey seemed to finally be coming to an end.
People always said that Vienna gathered the group of people who most hated the Kingdom of France in the world, and they spent all day thinking about how to destroy the rule of the Valois dynasty.
Now, these poor people, exiled by the French King, were also going to that legendary den of evil.
This made the people around the Duke cheer with joy.
As for the Duke himself, upon hearing this news, a change appeared in his already numb expression.
Thinking of that young Emperor who commanded awe throughout the world, his complexion became incredibly complex, and his heart was filled with mixed emotions.
During the reign of the late King Charles VII, when he could still wield influence in the court and serve the Kingdom with utmost loyalty, he had regarded Austria as his greatest enemy.
He himself had planned and participated in many conspiracies against the Empire and the Emperor, and even the Mantua Alliance against the Emperor was spearheaded by him.
He had presided over that alliance meeting.
He had thought that such animosity would last forever, and he would use every means to bring down the Emperor's vast Empire.
Who would have thought that this country, which he considered his lifelong enemy, would become his final refuge?
Reality is truly ironic, the Duke of Armagnac thought bitterly, his gaze fixed on the boundless ocean before him.
"What about Isabelle and the others?"
"Madam and the young master are still resting in the cabin. Madam's illness has improved, but her condition still needs to be monitored."
"Hmm, let them rest well. Don't disturb them."
"Yes, Your Grace."
Thinking of his sister's illness, the Duke of Armagnac's heart began to ache faintly. Their youngest son had died of illness in Naples, and since then, his sister and wife, Isabelle, had been overcome with grief and remained in poor spirits.
It wasn't until they boarded the ship and sailed for some time on the Adriatic Sea that Isabelle finally collapsed from illness.
He was now somewhat afraid, or rather, didn't know how to face his sister.
Perhaps, as Louis XI said, it was all his fault.
He had fallen in love with the wrong person and had done many wrong things because of it.
Because of this, he lost his territory, was exiled by the King, became an outcast, and now, in his bitter exile, he had lost his beloved son.
He feared that God's punishment for him was not over, and perhaps he would lose more in the future, such as his beloved.
Conflicting thoughts entangled his heart, making it difficult for him to breathe.
But when he calmed down, this intelligent Duke of Armagnac would immediately clearly recognize his true sin.
He had once leaned over the late King Charles VII's bedside before his death, inquiring about the succession to the Kingdom, and had secretly tried to enthrone the second prince, Charles.
This was not only to fulfill the late King's dying wish but also to realize his own political ambitions.
Since the end of the Armagnac-Burgundy faction's civil war, the Duchy of Burgundy had completely broken free from the French King's shackles through the Treaty of Arras, and now it had grown into a major concern for the French King.
However, the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Agincourt and the massacre of Armagnac faction members after the English capture of Paris in 1418 led to the continuous weakening of the Armagnac faction.
By the end of the Hundred Years' War, the two major factions that once dominated the Kingdom's politics had one broken free to pursue independence, while the other was forced to become the King's loyal dog.
The Duke felt extremely unwilling about this, but he did not possess the formidable strength of the Duke of Burgundy to dominate a region, so he could only lie low in the turbulent court, searching for an opportunity.
He hoped to fulfill his father's grand ambition and once again take charge of the court of the Kingdom of France.
But all these wishes had now come to naught.
King Louis XI, known as the "Universal Spider," relentlessly persecuted his former political enemies as if he had gone mad after ascending the throne.
It was as if... doing so brought him infinite pleasure.
The Count of Foix was dismissed and sent back to his fief, and the Duke of Bourbon was also imprisoned.
And there was that fellow who made him grit his teeth—his cousin, Jacques d'Armagnac.
It was this damned traitor who betrayed him, telling the French King about his love for his sister, which ultimately led to all this tragedy.
After the Duke of Armagnac was exiled, half of his territory fell into the King's hands, and the other half was annexed by this Jacques fellow.
In the subsequent process of suppressing the rebels in Roussillon and other places, Jacques very actively served as a vanguard for Louis XI.
But what was the result?
That stingy King actually took the main credit for himself, and Jacques, who betrayed his brother, was thus ignored by him.
Jacques, unable to bear it, refused to fight when Roussillon rebelled again.
Who knew this played right into Louis XI's hands? He immediately arrested Jacques on the grounds of disobeying royal orders and confiscated all the half of Armagnac territory that Jacques had previously swallowed.
Even the title of Duke of Nemours, which had been bestowed when Jacques was being wooed, was also revoked.
At this point, Jacques, who betrayed his brother for profit, gained nothing, was dismissed from his official position by the King, and driven back to his own territory.
When the Duke of Armagnac learned this news during his exile, he truly didn't know whether to cry or to laugh.
That foolish cousin probably only now recognized the vicious true face of the Spider King, right?
Attempting to exchange loyalty for rewards from him?
The Duke of Armagnac would rather believe that a donkey could recite the Bible.
However, Louis XI's insane and reckless strengthening of royal power would ultimately lead to terrible consequences—which was exactly what the Duke expected and his only chance to reclaim everything he had lost.
Before his expulsion, he had already conducted a series of secret contacts with the Duke of Brittany and the Duke of Burgundy.
He knew very well that those powerful vassals, accustomed to freedom, could not willingly be manipulated by the Spider King—with the exception of the Duke of Orléans.
Even Louis XI's two uncles, the Duke of Anjou and the Count of Maine, were uneasy about the King's tyranny.
But the Duke of Orléans, as the King's grand-uncle and a trusted minister entrusted by Charles VII, was willing to submit to his nephew Louis XI and become his aid against the vassals.
Even when Louis XI bestowed upon him the title of court poet, almost as an insult, the Duke of Orléans accepted it gladly.
Who didn't know that this French commander from the Battle of Agincourt was captured and imprisoned in England for twenty years, and wrote English poetry better than French poetry?
The Duke of Armagnac used to often mock him for this, never expecting that the Duke of Orléans had completely abandoned his noble pride.
Just last year, the 71-year-old Duke of Orléans welcomed his only son, Louis.
For this, Louis XI flew into a rage, deeply regretting his inability to directly seize the Duke of Orléans' territory by preventing his lineage from continuing.
Apart from this free-spirited Duke of Orléans, the Dukes of Brittany and Burgundy were certainly conspiring against the Spider King.
According to their previous plans, the Dukes needed to find an opportunity to rescue Louis XI's brother, Charles, from house arrest, and then enthrone Charles to confront Louis XI.
As long as Charles could return to his fief, Normandy, they would be able to ignite a major war in northern France.
The Duke of Armagnac's original task was to create more trouble for Louis XI in the south, but who knew Louis XI would strike first and directly annex the Armagnac territory.
Even without the Duke of Armagnac's help, the Duke of Burgundy alone would be enough to fight the French King, not to mention the Emperor's support behind him.
This was precisely what the Duke of Armagnac was worried about.
If he was not of much value to the Emperor, then the Emperor certainly would not keep him for long.
If he could not find refuge in Austria either, then he would have no place to stand on this continent.
In other words, he needed to show his value to the Emperor.
He currently had nothing: no territory, no wealth, no army.
The only things still somewhat useful were himself, his mouth, and what was in his head.
As a close confidant of Charles VII for many years, the Duke of Armagnac was intimately familiar with the situation in the Kingdom of France.
Those intricate relationships, and the deepest hidden secrets.
To gain the Emperor's approval, he had to reveal everything he knew about France.
Only after that might he get an opportunity to serve the Emperor.
He had to seize this opportunity, and then he could take revenge on that damned, tyrannical Spider King and reclaim everything he had lost.
Recalling the hateful face of that tyrannical King, the Duke's hand, gripping the hilt of his sword, trembled slightly from the excessive force.
If he had the chance, he truly wished to personally slay Louis XI on the battlefield, to wash away the shame the Spider King had inflicted upon him.
"Land! We're almost there!"
The shout of a crewman interrupted his contemplation.
The disgraced Duke looked up, and the horizon appeared at the end of his sight; he could even see a few ships leaving the harbor approaching them.
That was Austria, the frontier of the Frankish Kingdom where the raw-eating, blood-drinking Germanic people were said to live.
Today, it was the center of two vast empires, the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Empire.
As a former enemy, the Duke of Armagnac was also very familiar with this empire, which harbored hidden dangers.
He had been responsible for France's alliance with the Ottoman, and had secretly incited Hungarian nobles to resist the Emperor.
If the Emperor knew about these things, let alone taking him in, it would be merciful of the Emperor not to flay him.
But he was truly at his wit's end now, and could only brace himself to try his luck in Vienna.
Even if the Emperor's Empire was somewhat fragile, its power was far stronger than that of the unpopular Louis XI.
If he could persuade the Emperor to provide him with enough support, then reclaiming the Armagnac territory, or even seizing more, would be no problem.
The merchant ship sailed into the port of Trieste, and the Duke personally helped his ailing wife, leading his followers into the city to find a place to stay.
He planned to wait until his wife's condition improved before setting off north to Vienna to meet the Emperor.