At the breakfast table of the Doria family, no one else noticed that Ladislaus had a headache.

Ladislaus had that strange and vague dream again, about impossibly tall buildings, impossibly fast long carriages, and flying metal machinery. Every time he dreamed of these, he inherited the migraine from his father.

It will happen.

And this dream scene, if spread, would obviously bring accusations of heresy or blasphemy.

Ladislaus, who had a reluctant noble status, was not sure whether the Doria family would oppose the major temples for him, so he tried his best not to show his pain.

The current patriarch of the Doria family, Admiral Andrei Doria, and his two sons are not here today. They are both naval officers of the Republic of Liguria. They are all in the military port because of a diplomatic mission.

Today the Holy Roman Emperor made an unexpected stop in the Ligurian city on his way to Vienna.

So there were only Ladislaus's cousin and aunt, Miss Harna and Mrs. Doria, who did not notice Ladislaus's headache, nor did they notice that today was Ladislaus's birthday.

Ladislaus is just the son of His Excellency Andrea Doria's sister, and he is a very marginalized figure in this noble family.

Ladislaus' parents were a couple in a free love union. His father was also a nobleman, but he was an illegitimate son. The previous head of the Doria family had several warlocks because of Ladislaus's father's lineage, and his father was only eighteen years old at the time.

He was already a level 7 warlock, so he reluctantly accepted their marriage.

It is a pity that Ladislaus's father finally stopped at the level of 7th level warlock and made no progress after the age of 18. This power is considered very good if placed on a commoner, but it is definitely not worthy of Dolly, the top wealthy man in the Republic of Liguria.

A sub-family.

To make matters worse, after the death of his grandfather, the family changed its main branch and did not allow the children of the collateral line to use the family's surname. Therefore, Ladislaus's surname is now Doria, and his father was forced to change his name to Doria. He was unwilling to do so.

He spent the rest of his life going to the Holy Roman Empire to join the army, and finally died on the battlefield, and his mother also died in depression.

The same is true for Ladislaus himself. He was very talented as a boy. He was already a level 7 warlock at the age of ten and was able to use the powerful level 3 arcane spell of Medis' Acid Breath.

At that time, Andre Doria adopted Ladislaus and placed great expectations on him, which enabled Ladislaus to obtain top-notch resources for a time.

Unfortunately, the nightmare happened again. Ladislaus was stuck at level 7 like his father. Today is his eighteenth birthday. He still cannot use level 4 arcana because Andre Doria left and no one even knew about it.

It's his birthday.

Ladislaus is a hard-working man, but the ability of a warlock is completely innate, or he has experienced many battles and has no other way to strengthen it. Whether to follow the path of his father is also a question that Ladislaus has been hesitating about recently.

Migraine and worries left Ladislaus with no appetite. He put down the cream soup, bowed to the two ladies, and prepared to leave.

At this time, Mrs. Doria spoke: "Ladislaus, the Belluc family responded yesterday. If you are willing to accept a dowry of four thousand talers, then of course Miss Belluc will be honored to marry into the Doria family."

Ladislaus was startled: "Last Sunday, wasn't it said that the dowry should be ten thousand talers?"

"It's four thousand now, you should think about it carefully." Mrs. Doria said and started drinking soup again.

As Ladislaus walked out of the courtyard, he heard the voices of Harna's cousin and aunt.

"My cousin is also a warlock after all, and he is quite handsome. Hehe, of course not counting his chin. Why is the price so low?"

"What's the use of a level 7 warlock? And he has been at level 7 for so many years. He must be like his damn father, who can't pass the dividing line of level 8. He was completely embarrassed again in this parliamentary election. If it weren't for our Doria family

, even the family refused to pay four thousand talers."

"Mom, how much dowry will I get when I get married? Hehe."

"Don't worry, your father has saved 50,000 talers for you a long time ago, and he will definitely make you worthy of a certain Duke in northern Germany, or a certain Italian consul family."

Ladislaus had a terrible headache walking on the street. Four thousand thalers was still a huge sum of money. One silver thaler could buy 80-100 pounds of wheat in a good harvest year.

But this was not enough for Ladislaus. He borrowed a large amount of foreign debt in order to run for a seat in the Republic.

For this failed campaign, Ladislaus owed about eight thousand thalers in debt. He originally thought that as a member of the Doria family, he would be able to get a parliamentary position easily.

Unexpectedly, his opponent was a veteran congressman who desperately attacked his father's German ancestry and illegitimate birth, causing all Ladislaus's investment to go to waste.

Although his noble status meant that his life was not in danger, the feeling of being chased for debt by the Woking Church was still terrible. Ladislaus had hoped that the dowry from the Belluc family could help him get out of trouble, but now everything was bleak.

His monthly pocket money of fifty thalers was really useless.

Ladislaus, who was wandering the streets aimlessly and worrying about how to deal with the Vicar of Woking at the end of the month, was suddenly hugged by a bear.

"Haha, it's been a long time since I last saw Ladislaus. Wouldn't it be the end of the world if he failed in the election? Why are you hiding from people all day long?"

Cesare Cibot, the second son of the contemporary consul of the Republic of Liguria, became an 8th-level rogue this year, crossing the boundary of the intermediate level, and was very proud of his success.

Because both parties were low-status figures in the family, they became fair-weather friends.

"Okay, don't be so gloomy. Let's go to Lasiris's store to see if there are any good things." After that, Cesare forcefully took Ladislaus away despite his objections.

As soon as he entered the store, Ladislaus secretly yelled "Bitter". The proprietress Lasilis was actually in the store today.

Lasiris is a small shipowner who trades in the Black Continent, and Ladislaus often buys some specialties from the Black Continent through her.

Her mage husband, who was born as a commoner and built a successful career, sided with the French during the last French invasion. Unfortunately, he died during the Swiss raids on Milan. His career was a dream and all came to nothing.

The most important asset left behind is a few sailing ships that can travel the Black Continent's trade routes in the calm Mediterranean Sea. Lasiris is now in her prime years, with bright eyes, white teeth, blond hair and blue eyes, and a good figure.

explain.

In order to protect the several triangular sailing ships and the trade routes that were targeted by the wolves after the death of the mage husband, she hooked up in the upper class society.

Cesare Cibot coveted this top courtesan, whose status he could barely reach.

It's just that the shipowner's wife hasn't let him eat meat yet, but she still hangs on him, so as soon as she enters the store, Lasiris greets her warmly.

But when she saw Ladislaus coming with him, the shipowner's wife immediately changed her face, "Are you here to pay the debt?"

Seeing Ladislaus' awkward smile, Lasilis continued: "You still don't give up and want to learn how to make strange objects? You already owe almost a hundred talers. My little shop can't let you get any more credit.

Account settled."

Ladislaus could only escape in embarrassment.

Lasiris smiled at Cesare Sibo: "How is it, are you satisfied?"

"Hmph, this guy keeps putting me down as a rogue just because he's a warlock, and he wants to be a member of Parliament. Damn you."

Although she has not yet satisfied Cesare's carnal desires and wants to hang him, Lasiris is still willing to cooperate with the consul's young master to play with a down-and-out noble.

Ladislaus wandered all the way to the dock area in confusion. Because of the emperor's visit, the dock area was under martial law.

Ladislaus could only look at the Emperor's ship from a distance - the Holy Trinity battleship with more than a hundred trebuchets on the top floor and an equal number of giant ballistae on the middle and lower floors, a symbol of national glory and power.

There are a dozen other giant ships next to it, surrounding this majestic queen of the sea.

On the edge of the cordon, thousands of citizens of the Ligurian Republic watched their titular monarch from a distance.

When Ladislaus was at the peak of his confusion and gloom, a knight suddenly appeared in his sight.

The originally crowded crowd somehow left a hollow circle of nearly ten meters around Ladislaus.

This knight was extremely tall and majestic. He was over two meters tall. He was wearing a covering of steel armor that made it difficult to see his appearance. But he didn't know how he could approach quietly while wearing this armor.

Of course Ladislaus was not thinking about this issue at this time.

The knight stood in front of Ladislaus, completely blocking Ladislaus's sight and suppressing his thinking. It seemed that Ladislaus's entire world had stopped moving.

The knight took out a dagger from his arm and held it upside down and handed it over.

Ladislaus was completely attracted by the color of the dagger. It was a complete red, as if it was made from hundreds of tons of blood.

The dagger was full of fear and despair. Just looking at the dagger made some of the onlookers cry loudly, some pee and feces, and some ran away screaming.

But Ladislaus didn't feel any fear at all, he just felt unusually kind and moved, and instinctively took the dagger.

The moment he held the dagger, the world was washed away by a torrent, and Ladislaus understood the strange and vague dream.

Ladislaus is me Liddy, and Liddy is me Ladislaus.

Li Di came to "The Night Without Winter".

As his mind moved, a grid appeared in his mind.

"Ladislaus Doria"

Power 8

Agility 12

Physique 9

Wisdom 12

Perception 10

Charm 13

As a level 7 warlock, the white experience bar has long been filled up, but unfortunately the charm is only 13. No wonder he can't get the fourth level arcana and cross the watershed of level 8 warlock.

At this time, the bright red dagger was undergoing drastic changes. A torrent rushed through the dagger into Ladislaus's arm, and then continued to expand throughout his body.

All the onlookers had fled away at this time, otherwise they would have seen a terrifying scene, Ladislaus's whole body was covered in squirming sticky blood.

The bloody smell that caused others to flee made Ladislaus feel sweet and delicious.

After Ladislaus, who was completely intoxicated, regained his vision again, he found that the dagger had completely lost its red color and turned into an almost transparent white. When Ladislaus focused his sight on it, "Feast"

"Invitation" appeared in Ladislaus's mind, and this was the name of the dagger.

Ladislaus couldn't see himself at this time, otherwise he would be surprised by his handsomeness. Although the outline is still recognizable, every detail has been optimized to the extreme.

He just noticed that his charm had become 18, the white experience progress bar was no longer full, but only a small half, but the eye-catching number became 9.

Ladislaus becomes a 9th-level sorcerer who can cast 4th-level arcane spells.

It's just that he didn't rush to test his newly acquired arcane skills. Instead, he looked around, but he could no longer see the knight.

Holding the "invitation to the feast", Ladislaus understood that the eighteenth birthday is the day when each character starts the game. This is the moment to activate the real background and legendary weapons.

There were no knights or onlookers in sight, but there was a solemn old man and a group of soldiers.

This solemn, meticulous old man bowed to Ladislaus, and then said: "Your Excellency, the emperor invites you to come on board the ship."

This day was December 25, 1520 after the birth of the first apostle of Cyric. The "Winterless Night" officially began, and Ladislaus received all the memories and the "invitation to the feast."
Chapter completed!