"Your Highness, great news, great news!" Ferocious Tiger Roth led a dozen men to the front of the tent. He dismounted and crashed into the tent, followed by Dolais. Dolais, who was grinning from ear to ear, smiled like an idiot.
"Great news? What's there to be happy about … "Loriste said unhappily. He was studying the three defensive positions of the Handa Duchy. He had suffered a loss last night, and now he was thinking hard about how to get back at them.
The frontlines were still in a stalemate. The garrison of the three defensive positions of the Handa Duchy could not afford to provoke the huge lever catapults commanded by Loriste. They simply gave up on the defensive position that was a hundred meters away from the hillside, and retreated their troops, allowing Loriste to smash them however he liked.
However, Loriste was dumbfounded. How am I supposed to smash them if no one is guarding me? The catapults are almost useless. Due to their huge weight, these cumbersome catapults could not move up the hillside at all. Even if they moved, they could not throw stones, or they would not be able to retaliate. Duke Fisabron did not believe it, and wanted to forcefully move the catapults up the hillside. In the end, the guards at the hillside threw down many rolling logs and stones. Not only did Duke Fisabron's plan fail, but they also lost close to a hundred grass-barbarian cavalrymen who had dismounted to move the catapults.
Loriste was at the foot of the hill, and the defensive position was on the hillside, about five hundred meters apart. Thus, although the defending side had given up the frontlines, once they discovered that the enemies at the foot of the hill were about to attack, they could still quickly enter the frontlines and prepare for defense, leaving Loriste helpless. In particular, the defensive positions on the hillsides were not laid on the hillsides like a piece of paper. Instead, they cleverly made use of the terrain to set up defensive facilities of different levels. No matter where the attackers attacked, they would be attacked from the flanks and from all directions.
Even though Loriste had surpassed the realm of a level-3 Great Swordsman, he still almost suffered a loss in this defensive position. Last night, Laurist personally led his troops to launch a night attack, but no one expected the defenders to place a large number of broken pots and glass bottles in the first trench of the front line. Laurist was fine, but the soldiers of the Family who followed him in the night raid were unlucky. They were fully armored, but their shoes were not equipped with armor plates. They were hit the moment they jumped into the trench and screamed in agony. What followed was the concentrated fire of the guards, arrows and crossbows raining down like a storm. At the same time, the guards had also learned Laurist's dirty tricks. Rocks the size of fists were hurled by the catapults on the mountain, covering the entire front line. There were even burning fireballs in the middle …
Seeing that the situation was not good, Loriste hurriedly led the soldiers in the night attack back. Then, when he did a headcount, he almost exploded in anger. An elite team of a thousand guards had followed him in the night attack, but in the end, they had lost three to four hundred men without even touching a hair of the enemy. The only fortunate thing was that his order to retreat was timely, and the injured and dead were all brought back by the guards. Only a few dozen people were sacrificed, but nearly 300 were injured.
Laurist was gloomily thinking about how to get back at the losses he had suffered this time, and when he heard Ross the Ferocious Tiger shouting, he did not have the face to look at him. Ross the Ferocious Tiger knew that Laurist was in a bad mood because of the failure of the night attack last night, and hurriedly said, "Your Highness, a messenger from the Furious Bear City has brought you good news."
"What good news?"
"Madam Silvia is pregnant. According to the examination, she is already more than two months pregnant …"
Princess Silvia is pregnant? Laurist was stunned. Hmm, it was now the beginning of July, so it should be the end of April for her to be more than two months pregnant. Knowing that he was going to the front line, she could not bear to part with him, and shamelessly pestered him for a few days. At night, she even called Anna, Daisy, and the other concubines to sleep together. However, in the end, she was the one who received the rain and dew. It seemed that this girl was very considerate, and her hard work paid off. Finally, she was pregnant.
"Hmm, this is indeed good. But why are you so happy? " Laurist was confused. It was not like he did not have sons. Elina gave birth to two, and Anna also gave birth to a son. In addition, Miss Tracy gave birth to two daughters. It was normal for Princess Silvia to be pregnant, so why were you so silly?
"Your Highness, if Madam Silvia gives birth to a boy, then he will be a legitimate son. Your Highness has an heir, and the knights of our family will have hope in the future …" The silly Dolus explained with a grin.
"Scram!" Laurist was furious. "I am not even forty yet, and I am in the prime of my life. Do you really want my unborn son to take over my position?"
Dolus, who knew that he had said the wrong thing, covered his head and scurried away. Ross the Ferocious Tiger stood at the side with an awkward expression, speechless …
"Ah, come back." Dolus heard Laurist calling him the moment he stepped out of the tent, and could only turn back. "Your Highness …"
"Where's the messenger?" Laurist glared at him.
"He is waiting outside the tent …"
"Then hurry up and call him in."
The messenger was a guard that Laurist knew. Laurist's guard battalion consisted of three thousand men, and he had brought two thousand-man squads with him to the frontlines. The other thousand guards were left in the Raging Bears City to protect the castle and his family. This guard called Warren was a platoon leader, and also a member of the guards stationed in the Raging Bears City.
Warren brought a letter personally written by Princess Silvia, and the letter was nothing more than a report of the good news to Laurist. Princess Silvia was very proud of her pregnant belly, and her proud tone made Laurist smile uncontrollably. What followed was a long paragraph of yearning, describing how much she missed Laurist. Finally, she said that in order to nourish her pregnancy, she was preparing to head to the Cherry Blossom Ridge Manor. The scenery there was beautiful, and the weather was cool. It was a perfect place to avoid the summer heat …
After reading the letter, Laurist told Warren to take a rest. He would write a reply in two days, and then he would have Warren bring it back. After Warren left, Laurist looked at Ross and Dolus, who were standing side by side. He frowned and said, "I already have three sons. Elina gave birth to two for me. The older one is already 11 years old, and he is being fostered in Malek's home. You should know that the younger one is already 7 years old, and I am preparing to find a good teacher for him. Anna also gave birth to a son for me, and he is almost 4 years old this year. Therefore, I do not have to worry about not having an heir, and I have also promised that any child of mine will be listed in the genealogy as the heir of the Norton Family.
Therefore, although it is a good thing for me that Silvia is pregnant, it is also very normal. I am very happy, but I will not be celebrating in such high spirits like you. Both of you, tell me the truth. Do many people in the family have the same thoughts as you, and are very particular about the inheritance rights of the legitimate children of the Norton Family? "
Ross and Dolus looked at each other. Then, Ross took a step forward and said, "Your Highness, it is not that I want to talk too much, but in fact, I believe that the inheritance rights of the legitimate children is the most solid foundation for a century-old noble family. If Your Highness is not married, I have no objections to making all of your sons the heir of the family. However, Your Highness has already officially married Lady Silvia, so your child with her is the legitimate child, and should be the first heir of the Norton Family. This is not just my opinion. Many of the family's knights think so … "
Dolus wanted to say something, but stopped. Laurist glared at them and said, "If you have anything to say, just say it. No matter what you say here today, I will not be offended or blame you later. Now that the family is growing bigger and bigger, there are fewer and fewer people who dare to speak the truth in front of me. Speak, tell me what you really think in your heart. Think about how difficult it was for us to organize the caravan north, and look at what we have now. As my earliest followers, I have never doubted your loyalty and dedication. Let me hear what you really think. "
"Alright, Your Highness." Dolus spread his hands and said, "It is not that we do not want to say some things, but we feel that it is not appropriate. After all, these are Your Highness' family matters, and as knights of the family, it is not appropriate for us to interfere. However, the heir of the family is different. This concerns the future of the family, and we all have the deepest interests. If Your Highness chooses an unsuitable heir, then the future of the family will not be optimistic …
Just like the young master, we have also paid attention to him. However, Baron Malek's evaluation is that the young master may become a brave and fearless knight, but he will never become a benevolent and wise lord. This is because his personality is too tyrannical. Although Madam Malek's careful teachings had taught the young master manners and restraint, he still killed the small animals on a regular basis. We all think that letting the young master become the next head of the Norton Family will be a disaster for the family … "
"But he is still young …" Laurist argued helplessly. In fact, it was not that he did not know about his eldest son's report. Tagger had sent a few intelligence agents to secretly observe his growth. What left the deepest impression on Laurist was that after he made a mistake and was punished by Lady Malek, he went out and shot down a small squirrel with an arrow. Then, he used a short sword to chop the poor squirrel into meat paste …
"Your Highness, this is not a matter of whether he is young or not. An eleven-year-old child can already tell right from wrong. After being scolded and punished, it is not the behavior of a brave person to vent his anger on a creature weaker than himself. In this matter, we all agree that it was Lady Elina who spoiled him since he was young that caused the young master to develop such a tyrannical personality. From this point of view, we are not optimistic about the future of Lady Elina's two children, and we think that they are not qualified to be the heir of the family, "Dolus retorted.
Laurist was silent. He knew very well that this was actually a counterattack by the new members of the family against the so-called old members. He did not know when it started, but the old members and the new members actually appeared in the family. The so-called old members were those who originally lived in the family's territory. Basically, they were born in Maple Forest Manor, and they were proud of being part of the Norton Family since they were young. They looked down on the knights and officials who followed Laurist into the Norton Family, and called them the new members. They thought that the old members were the most loyal to the family, and that the new members were opportunists. These old members were led by Hanks, who was sent by Laurist to build roads in the northern wilderness. They thought that Elina, who was born in Maple Forest Manor, and Laurist's two sons were the rightful heirs of the Norton Family …
The new members were the knights and officials who followed Laurist into the Norton Family on the road north. They also looked down on the old members. They thought that before Laurist returned to the family's territory, these old members were basically hiding in Maple Forest Manor and being bullied by others. They thought that they were just a group of ignorant country bumpkins. On the other hand, they followed Laurist and created such a prosperous situation for the Norton Family, allowing the Norton Family to flourish. This was their credit and glory. Now that the old members of Maple Forest Manor wanted to climb over their heads, who could stand it? This was how conflicts accumulated and slowly developed into conflicts.
Fortunately, there were still many wise people who became neutral, such as Fatty Shi, Bofinger, Spear, Coldan, Knight Berhunek, and others. Their attitude was to stand on the side of those who did things that were beneficial to the family. This effectively stopped the conflicts between the old members and the new members from exploding, and made the family's development unstoppable …
Laurist was well aware of this, but he did not care. Having the old members and the new members in the family allowed him to better control the family. However, he did not expect that the old members would use the fact that he wanted to marry Princess Sylvia as his wife to cause a huge uproar. Now, the new members wanted to use the difference between the legitimate and illegitimate children to give the old members a heavy blow. Couldn't they all calm down …
"Then, didn't Anna give birth to a son for me?" Laurist finally spoke.
Dolus shook his head, "Your Highness, Madam Anna's status is not suitable. If she becomes the mother of the head of the Norton Family, the reputation of the family will be affected …"
Lollister understood that Dolles was subtly reminding him that Anna was not only a widow before she became Lollister's concubine, but she had also participated in the Paradise Ball hosted by the late Queen Kerry when she was still a princess. It was a famous party among the nobles of the Andinac Kingdom, and it was there that Lollister met Andrea and Anna. Although Queen Kerry was dead, and her companions and the nobles who had participated in the party had mostly been killed by the second prince, there was no guarantee that no one had slipped through the net.
If Anna's son inherited the position of head of the Norton Family in the future, then Anna would inevitably appear in front of the nobles. Once someone found out about Anna's past, it was very likely that they would use it to blackmail her for their own purposes, or spread it to create a storm, causing people to doubt the legitimacy of the heir's bloodline. To Anna, a peaceful life was her choice, and her son would be her pillar of support in her old age. She did not need the position of head of the Norton Family.
Sigh, he did not expect that Sylvia's pregnancy would immediately cause such a huge storm in the family. To Laurist, this was both a good and a bad thing. No matter how he expressed his stance, some things could not be avoided. To some people in the family, choosing a successor for the Norton Family was not Laurist's personal matter, but something that concerned the future of the family and everyone in the family.
"You can leave first. Today's matter ends here. Don't add fuel to the fire in the family. Don't worry about some things too early. Right now, I just want Sylvia to give birth to the child safely … "
Laurist waved his hand, dismissing Ferocious Tiger Ross and Dolus. He then sat alone in the large tent, smiling bitterly. The family was now the sole ruler of the North, and its glory was boundless. But to Laurist, they had just gained some ability to protect themselves, and it could be said that there was some improvement in the family, and now the family was scheming against each other. This was something that could not be avoided when the family grew stronger and had more members.
They were all bastards! Did they not realize that they were not even 40 years old? If they could confirm that they had already reached the realm of Sword Saint, living for two or three hundred years would be easy. They really had nothing better to do. They were already worrying about the problem of their own successor. They did not even consider their own feelings. They had ruined a good thing …
Laurist spent an entire day writing a long, affectionate letter to Princess Sylvia. It was nothing more than an account of how much he missed her, telling her to take care of herself, and promising that he would return to his family's territory to accompany her whenever he had the time. Then, he asked Knight Warren to bring the reply back. After that, Laurist began to wonder if he should hold a big celebration banquet or a private banquet. This was because he had to inform Duke Fisablun … He was Princess Sylvia's grandfather …
Should he invite them or not? Would the Fisablun Guild agree to attend the banquet? Laurist was in a dilemma …
…
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