"It's here." Christie pointed at the map of the former Redelis Kingdom that Schwartz had brought over. "This is a small valley in the Broken Cloud Mountains, less than a hundred miles away from the snowy mountains. His Majesty brought us to cross the Broken Cloud Mountains and return to the Andinac Kingdom to gather our strength before making a comeback. The six thousand soldiers following His Majesty are the most loyal and elite. After leaving the secret passage of the Felix Empire's capital, there is a small stream that effectively conceals the tracks left behind by our army.
We waded through the stream for half a day until we were a hundred miles away from the capital of Felicia. Then, we turned to the hilly area of the Broken Cloud Mountains. The dense forest there provided us with a place to hide. However, His Majesty thought that we should find a place to rest for a few months and wait for winter to come before crossing the Broken Cloud Mountains. That way, we would be able to pass through the frozen Cloud Swamp and return to the kingdom.
When we flipped open the map of the Redelis Kingdom that we had obtained from the palace, we were surprised to find that the small valley less than a hundred miles away from the snowy mountains had an owner. It was marked as the territory of a Baron called Cremondo. We found out that this Baron Cremondo had never appeared in the palace of the Redelis Kingdom, and no one had seen him.
His Majesty thought that this Baron's territory was the best place to rest. As long as the entrance to the valley was guarded, no one would know what was happening inside. Thus, we marched into the valley and took over the small castle at the entrance of the valley in a surprise attack that night. When we took over the small castle, His Majesty was about to send someone to inform Baron Cremondo to surrender. Knight Bowen Cody volunteered, but we didn't expect that his head would soon be hung on the outer wall of Baron Cremondo's castle in the valley … "
Laurist knew that this Gold Knight Bowen Cody was a trusted subordinate of the second prince and one of the Five Tigers. He didn't expect that he would be killed as an emissary to persuade the prince to surrender.
Kristya's eyes were brimming with tears. "We were all furious. No noble would kill an envoy like that. His Majesty ordered us to attack the city immediately. We had to hang Baron Cremondo to avenge Knight Bowen Cody. After fighting for two months, we've lost nearly five thousand men. Knight Heathreid also died on the city wall. Out of the 13 Gold Knights who followed His Majesty out of King's City, only I, Lippred, and Carritok are left. One of the two Great Swordsmen who protected His Majesty also died in battle, and the other was seriously injured … "
Laurist's eyes lit up. "Carritok is still alive?"
Carritok was an old student of Dawn College. He had followed Laurist's convoy north, and when he passed through the Andinac Kingdom, he was poached by the second prince and became a royal knight of the Andinac Kingdom. Unfortunately, the 26 old students and Silver-tier knights of the Dawn Academy who had sought refuge with the second prince had been fighting for years under the command of the second prince. Now, only Karetok and Send were still alive. Laurist was naturally pleasantly surprised to hear news of Carritok.
Kristya nodded. Perhaps it was because she remembered the bloody battle and the heavy casualties in the valley, but tears fell down her cheeks again.
"Is that Baron Cremondo the eldest prince? Has he been hiding in this valley all this time? "Laurist asked.
Kristya shook her head at first, then nodded. "In the end, we finally conquered the castle in the valley. At that time, we had already found out from the captives that Baron Cremondo was the illegitimate son of the eldest prince. This valley territory was an escape route that the eldest prince had arranged for himself. There were also three thousand of the eldest prince's elite soldiers in the valley. The eldest prince had been hiding here ever since he escaped from the capital of Felicas, watching us and the nobles of the Redelis Kingdom fight to the death. He was waiting for us to be defeated and rise again. He did not expect that we would also escape from the capital of Felicas through a secret passage. By a freak combination of factors, we trapped him in this valley territory, forcing him to fight us to the death …
Our eyes were bloodshot, and His Majesty was so angry that he almost went crazy. Not even in his wildest dreams would he have thought that he would fight against the eldest prince in this valley. In his anger, he gave the order to kill all ten thousand captives in this valley. After all, they were all relatives of the enemy. After he personally beheaded the eldest prince and his illegitimate son, Baron Cremondo, he vomited blood and fainted.
These six thousand men were His Majesty's elites. If they were brought back to the Andinac Kingdom, he could easily regain his military and royal power. However, they suffered heavy losses in this valley territory. There were only two thousand of them left, and most of them were injured. When His Majesty recovered from his injuries, we received news from the outside world that the outcome had been determined. Returning to the kingdom now would be suicide. So, we could only disguise ourselves and come to the north to seek help from you, hoping that the Norton Family could send troops to help His Majesty return to the kingdom. "
Was the eldest prince finally dead? The culprits of the rebellion and civil war in the past, the eldest prince and the second prince, had both died in the hands of the second prince. From this point of view, the second prince was more like a protagonist than Lester! Lester let out a long sigh. "Christie, you've been with His Majesty for almost twenty years. You're his lover. Did he give you an explanation?"
Christie blushed. "This, this … he said that he would marry me after he unified the former kingdom …"
"Queen or consort?"
"Is, is there a difference? It's fine as long as I can be with His Majesty. "
"Christie, you're three years older than me. You're not young anymore. If it was the Norton Family in the past, then His Majesty marrying you as a consort was a show of deep affection. He didn't forget his roots, and you didn't follow him for so many years in vain. But now, with the Norton Family's power, if His Majesty marries you as a consort, it would be an insult to the Norton Family. Don't forget that you have the blood of the Norton Family flowing in your veins. Unless His Majesty doesn't marry the queen, it would still be acceptable for him to marry you as the first consort.
I'm not trying to scare you, Christie. Haven't you noticed that His Majesty has always been wary of the Norton Family's power? He was like this when he was still the second prince. It was the guards of our northbound convoy that wiped out the nobles in the Andinac Kingdom who didn't obey the king's orders and helped him take over the kingdom. Since then, he has always wanted to use the Norton Family's power without paying the price.
As a king, he must be fair and just, but has His Majesty done that? He's always drawing us up, luring us, and making empty promises. Christie, think about what the Norton Family has done to wrong His Majesty? Back then, the northbound convoy was almost forced to a dead end by him. He poached so many knights from the convoy, but how many are left now? There's also the incident at Kebo City. We took down Kebo City and provided him with a large amount of food, solving the food shortage of his army. We only hoped that his army could defend Kebo City and buy time for our northbound convoy and a large number of refugees to head north.
"But what did he do? Krisya, do you know that our king sent an army here, but he tore down the city walls and retreated? It's obvious that he's using our northbound carriages and refugees as a target to attract the enemy. We helped him so much, but he stabbed us in the back. From then on, I no longer trusted His Majesty's character.
Sirovas Island is the territory he gave to our family, but he allowed his tax official, that viscount, to do as he pleased on the island and didn't interfere. He also pretended that he didn't know that the nobles of the kingdom had taken over the Seawatch Manor on the island. Do you really believe that His Majesty didn't know? Also, I killed that viscount, and his brother, that earl, brought nearly an entire army to chase after me. Do you really think that His Majesty didn't know? I don't believe that he was just pretending. At the same time, he wants us to listen to him.
I'm really sick of this, Christie. Have you forgotten that our four families defeated the second prince, divided up the Northlands, and formed an alliance? I wrote to you about this in the past. You might have forgotten, but will His Majesty forget as well? Now, he wants me to be the Duke of the north and promises that all the northern territories that the Norton Family conquered will belong to the Norton Family. If I agree and this news spreads, do you know what will happen?
This is purely to sow discord. The four families in the north are now led by the Norton Family. If they hear that I accepted His Majesty's orders, will they suspect that I'm targeting their northern territories? Even at a time like this, he still doesn't forget to make trouble for me. Does he want the north to fall into chaos and return to its original state? "
Christie hurriedly waved her hand. "No, Loke, you must have misunderstood His Majesty. There are many things that His Majesty doesn't know. Back then, His Majesty also told me about the incident in Kebo City. It wasn't that he didn't want to help you, but that he didn't have enough troops at the time. He couldn't just leave the ten thousand men in Kebo City to waste, so he ordered the ten thousand men to demolish the city walls after confirming that you had left. At that time, the commander of the army was Bowen Cody. He was worried about His Majesty's safety, so he demolished the city walls a few days earlier. In the end, he was scolded by His Majesty when he returned. I was there at that time, and His Majesty said that he had let the Norton Family down …
As for what happened on Sirovas Island, His Majesty really didn't know. You know that His Majesty had been consolidating the kingdom's forces and preparing to unify the former empire. Naturally, he wouldn't pay attention to such a small matter. The actions of the tax inspector, Viscount Aslan, really had nothing to do with His Majesty. After he was killed by you, his brother, Count Aslan, led troops to hunt you down, which angered His Majesty. His Majesty ordered Count Aslan to be confiscated and stripped of his title. "
Laurist shook his head. "Forget it, the past is the past. There's no point in talking about it now. But Christie, is it His Majesty's order for you to come so late at night? He wants you to find out what I want? "
"Yes, His Majesty is afraid that you will misunderstand him, so he sent me to ask what conditions you need to send troops to help His Majesty restore the kingdom. As long as it's not too much, His Majesty is willing to agree to any of your requests," Christie said.
"Tsk tsk, look, Christie. His Majesty still says that it's not too much at a time like this. Think about it yourself. Isn't this what I said about His Majesty's fear of the Norton Family? I would like to ask what benefits His Majesty can give the Norton Family. There's no need to talk about it in name. "
"Locke, this attitude of yours is too much. Don't forget that His Majesty is your superior lord. As a lesser lord, you must maintain the proper respect for His Majesty!" Christie was very angry.
"Fine, fine, fine. Christie, go back and tell His Majesty that the Norton Family is unable to send troops, but we can support His Majesty with a sum of 100,000 gold fords and standard equipment. This was the price His Majesty paid for our family's northbound convoy to help him wipe out the nobles of the kingdom. There are still more than 72,000 pieces of White Lion Legion's standard equipment. I will return them all to you as the Norton Family's support for His Majesty's restoration. This should be the duty and responsibility of a lesser lord, right? "
Laurist said impatiently. The White Lion Legion's standard equipment was still in the family's armory and took up a lot of space. The Norton Family already had the lighter and stronger Sid steel armor, so they had long looked down on the cumbersome and old-fashioned standard equipment. In view of the White Lion Legion's status in the former Christen Empire, it was not appropriate for them to sell the standard equipment. To Laurist, it was of little value. Because other alloys had been added during the forging process, it was troublesome to even bring it back to the furnace. He might as well take this opportunity to return the White Lion Legion's standard equipment to His Majesty, so that the family's armed forces would not be damaged.
Christie jumped up in shock. "Loroc, y-you are really willing to give all the White Lion Legion's standard equipment to His Majesty?"
In Christie's eyes, she had never thought that Laurist would be willing to return the entire White Lion Legion's standard equipment to His Majesty. After all, a set of White Lion Legion's standard equipment sold for 60 to 70 gold fords was already considered cheap. 72,000 was almost equivalent to 5 million gold fords! For Laurist to be able to do this, he was definitely the only lesser lord who could do so. No one could say that he was not trying his best …
"Really." Laurist thought to himself that it would be a burden in the armory anyway. Chief Spear had reminded him several times that he should get rid of the White Lion Legion's standard equipment as it took up too much space.
"Then we still have to recruit soldiers in the family's territory …" Christie immediately made another request.
"No way!" Laurist refused immediately. Why should I recruit soldiers in my family's territory? I have no obligation to do so. "You can recruit soldiers, but you cannot recruit soldiers in the Norton Family's name. The family's armed forces have their own rules when it comes to recruiting soldiers. Even His Majesty does not have the authority to recruit the Norton Family's citizens to fight for him! "
No noble had the authority to recruit soldiers in another noble's territory. To any noble, the population of their territory was also their wealth. But if it was to recruit soldiers, then there was no other way. One side paid with real money, while the other side fought for money. It became a deal, and the lord could not stop it.
"Alright, we can recruit soldiers, but you have to give us the 100,000 gold coins first. Also, if we recruit soldiers, you can't purposely cause trouble and obstruct us. Lastly, the Norton family will pay for the soldiers we recruit in the North. Is that alright?" Krisya was asking for a mile after giving her an inch. "Alright?
She was daydreaming. With this batch of White Lion Legion's standard equipment and the 100,000 gold coins, His Majesty would definitely be able to raise an army of sixty to seventy thousand people. She didn't expect the Norton Family to have so many people in their territory. As long as each person spent one gold coin as a settlement fee, there would be an endless stream of soldiers coming to join them. In the Andenac Kingdom and the Redelis Kingdom, His Majesty had used this method to raise an army of more than 300,000 soldiers.
Laurist sneered, "Alright, you have the final say. I think you can go and report to His Majesty now. He will be very happy when he hears this news. "
He watched Christa leave happily. Schwald, who was standing beside Laurist, asked worriedly, "My lord, you've returned the White Lion Legion's standard equipment to His Second Highness, and you've even allowed them to recruit soldiers in the family's territory. Aren't you worried that they'll mess up the family's territory?"
Laurist laughed, "If they want to recruit soldiers in our territory, I'd like to see how many people they can recruit. Of course, if there are people in our territory who want to join them, it's very simple. We will send their families to the barracks and cancel their houses and fields. Since they want to serve His Majesty, His Majesty will naturally settle their families' lives. We can't let them take advantage of our territory. "
"Yes, my Lord, you are absolutely right." Shihuard laughed.
…
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
