Count Kenmais paid another visit, and judging from his traveling gear and the large retinue he had brought along, it was clear he was once again heading to the duchy's capital of Gildusk City to spend the winter.
"Baron
Since
Lorist's hand trembled, nearly spilling the maxis he was pouring into his cup onto the table. Just a few days ago he had stuffed seven wives onto Lomond, and now it was Count Kenmais coming to propose a marriage to him — could this possibly be karma?
"Come, have something hot, my friend. Tell me, what scheme does His Majesty the King have cooking this time? Sending a Count to propose a marriage — the bride must be someone of considerable standing..." Lorist invited Count Kenmais to sample his freshly brewed maxis.
"I knew this errand wouldn't be easy, but I had no choice but to come. That Second Prince sent a messenger my way and wrote me a long letter to boot." Count Kenmais relaxed as he walked over, grumbling as he went.
"No longer calling him 'His Majesty the King'?" Lorist chuckled.
Count Kenmais scoffed disdainfully. "Does he have the bearing of a king? Bah..."
"I don't understand why the Second Prince bothered writing a letter and dispatching a messenger to invite you here, making such an elaborate detour. He might as well have written to me directly..." Lorist was quite puzzled.
"That's for the sake of face. You've already rejected his invitations to show goodwill multiple times, most of which I delivered. But now the Second Prince has a strong army and his arrogance knows no bounds. If you'd refused his envoy to his face, how could he save face? Besides launching a punitive attack, he'd have no other option."
Many nobles in the Northland hope for a major war between you and the Second Prince. The best outcome for them would be for both sides to end up severely wounded. The awe your Norton Family inspired when you swept across the Northland two years ago is still fresh in many people's minds. To those territorial nobles, your Norton Family is a raging bear squatting on their land, while the Second Prince is a predatory wolf from outside. They'd be delighted if the two of you fought to the death..."
Count Kenmais took a sip of makkas wine. After catching his breath, he continued, "The Second Prince understands this clearly too. Even though he commands a regular legion of fifty to sixty thousand men, if he can't subdue the Norton Family, the Northland nobles will still be outwardly submissive but inwardly defiant. His newly issued tax collection edicts are being openly and covertly resisted by the Northland nobles. However, given the Norton Family's fame for defeating the Northland Grand Duke in a single battle, the Second Prince still doesn't dare to act against your family lightly."
"Writing to me and sending the envoy was his way of acknowledging our good relationship, hoping I'd come persuade you to visit Gildusk City and meet him once. To give him a way to save face. There's also the implication of probing our family's strength. Rumors of our family assembling a thirty-thousand-strong armed force have already reached his ears. That's why his envoy brought so many followers, constantly trying to infiltrate our family's military camp and asking endless questions in the taverns where the soldiers gather. Did he think I wouldn't notice?"
"Do you know how wonderfully expressive the envoy's face was when I bluntly told him that our family has indeed formed a thirty-thousand-strong family militia specifically to defend against Hilltribe raids and protect our territory? Heh, thinking about it now is really quite amusing..." Count Kenmais looked immensely pleased.
"Ha. Who in the Northland doesn't know that your Kenmais family has always been on good terms with the Hilltribes? The Hilltribe specialty goods you handle have made countless merchants jealous. And you say you formed a family militia to resist them? Only a ghost would believe that." Lorist chuckled and shook his head.
"Let them believe it or not. That's our family's story anyway. Ah, this is the long letter the Second Prince wrote to me. Read it yourself." Count Kenmais pulled a thick letter from his inner pocket and handed it to Lorist.
In the letter, the Second Prince expressed his regards to Count Kenmais and his remorse towards the Norton Family. He once again recounted the past heroic deeds of the Norton Family's eldest young master, Aborid, a
"Eh? Who is Princess Sylvivia? Didn't you say the Second Prince only has three illegitimate children who are still minors?" Lorist asked, puzzled.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Count Kenmais clicked his tongue. "For your Norton Family, the Second Prince has really cast a huge bait! He's even brought out Princess Sylvivia. Honestly, Locke, you should get out more. Don't stay cooped up in the family territory all the time like some bumpkin who knows nothing."
"Princess Sylvivia is the most exquisite rose in our Iberian Kingdom, hailed as the most dazzling pearl of the grasslands..." Count Kenmais recited as though performing poetry, his tone brimming with passion, rising and falling in dramatic waves.
"Never heard of her," said Lorist.
"You..." Count Kenmais was rendered speechless, then turned to glare at Lorist. "A bumpkin is a bumpkin. Do you know Grand Duke Fisaburen?"
"I do," Lorist replied honestly with a nod.
"Grand Duke Fisaburen has three sons and one daughter. His daughter is our Iberian Kingdom's beautiful empress — the Second Prince's wife. Grand Duke Fisaburen's eldest son died young, and Princess Sylvivia is his posthumous daughter, making her the Grand Duke's own granddaughter, the beautiful empress's only niece. The Second Prince granted her the title of princess. Do you understand now?" Count Kenmais lectured Lorist in a fury.
"My, why are you so worked up?" Lorist asked in genuine bewilderment.
"What do you know? Princess Sylvivia is the goddess of my heart. She is so beautiful and pure, so graceful and poised. I had the fortune of catching a glimpse of her once in the royal capital, Windbury City. In that moment, the god of love engraved her image deep into my soul, and I have never been able to forget that mysterious smile on her lips. And her enchanting green eyes..." Count Kenmais struck a wistful, lovestruck pose.
"So you proceeded to channel all that love for her onto the ladies and noblewomen you meet in secret, didn't you?" Lorist added with a jab.
"You..." Count Kenmais pointed at Lorist, utterly at a loss for words.
"You're single too. With your family's standing, you could very well propose to this Princess Sylvivia," Lorist said with a shrug, taking another sip of Max's.
"Sigh. You don't understand..." Count Kenmais deflated. "When I first saw her, it was four years ago, and she was only sixteen. She had already grown into a breathtaking beauty. A commercial family like ours doesn't even deserve to be noticed by her. She is Grand Duke Fisablen's most treasured jewel, and according to the maids around her, Princess Sylvivia has harbored a ambition since childhood—to marry a peerless hero. Do you know why so many young knights followed the second prince onto the battlefield? They wanted to earn meritorious deeds to win this princess's favor..."
"Oh? Is that so?" Lorist suddenly thought of a question. "Isn't the second prince a notorious womanizer? How could he let the beautiful Princess Sylvivia slip by?"
Count Kenmais glanced around. Though only he and Lorist were in the study, he still lowered his voice. "The second prince wouldn't dare. He and our beautiful queen have a loveless marriage, each carrying on their own affairs with no issues—but if he so much as touched Princess Sylvivia, he would be done for. Grand Duke Fisablen would never let him off.
Let me tell you something. The second prince and the queen have always maintained a mutual non-aggression pact, each keeping to their own private life. The second prince has three illegitimate children outside, and the queen has two—neither batch is his seed. They're all just fostered in the homes of knights under the grand duke's command. Last time, when the second prince was thoroughly defeated by Grand Duke Marlian and went begging Grand Duke Fisablen for help, the grand duke locked him and the queen together in a room and wouldn't let them out until the queen was pregnant.
Just imagine—two people who maintain only the thinnest veneer of courtesy, who in truth look down on each other and even despise one another, locked in a room and forced to lie together. Can you imagine how agonizing that was for them? But Grand Duke Fisablen was absolutely resolute. He declared he was doing it for the sake of the Iberian Kingdom's royal succession, and even provided an aphrodisiac. That is also the main reason Grand Duke Fisablen supplied the second prince with three ranger regiments and sent him to attack the Duchy of Madras after he emerged.
Last year, the queen gave birth to a baby boy. They plan to announce him as the heir to the Iberian Kingdom once he's a bit older. But the poor child is pitiable—neither wanted by the second prince nor loved by the queen, raised since infancy by a nanny. The second prince and the queen had this child as if fulfilling a duty. The one currently responsible for raising the child is Princess Sylvivia."
"Ha, what a mess your circle is!" Lorist remarked.
"What do you mean?" Count Kenmais scratched his head and thought for a long while before roughly catching on.
"Don't forget, you're a member of that circle too..." Count Kenmais said, none too pleased.
"I'm nothing like you lot. I'm a proper landed noble, bearing the traditional virtues and excellent aristocratic conduct of a noble family with centuries of heritage..." Lorist declared with an expression of complete solemnity.
"Tch, don't think I don't know about your affair with that female scholar, Miss Thrifty. I can tell just from looking at the two of you that you've been carrying on for some time now." Count Kenmais looked at Lorist's pretense of propriety with utter contempt.
Pointing at the second prince's letter, Count Kenmais said, "This time you really ought to give me some face. Accept the second prince's invitation and make a trip to Giriduske City. Putting everything else aside, it would at least be worth meeting Princess Cilivia. The second prince has even said he would do his utmost to facilitate a marriage between the two of you. If you could win the hand of Iberia's most dazzling rose, you'd be set for life. With Duke Fisaborn backing you up, the second prince would truly have no way to touch you."
"I'm not going." Lorist refused outright, a faint hint of displeasure stirring in his heart. With the strength he already commanded, why would he need Duke Fisaborn to have his back? Did they take the Norton Family for something trivial?
"My friend, could you at least tell me your reason for refusing the invitation? The second prince has sincerely invited you several times now — you can't keep turning him down like this, it's rather unkind," Count Kenmais said, quite unable to understand Lorist's thinking.
"If you're worried about those two Great Swordmasters at the second prince's side, let me put your mind at ease. At most, the second prince would use them to put a few of your Golden Knights in their place, under the pretext of offering martial pointers. He wouldn't dare go too far — after all, he needs those two Great Swordmasters to display his strength and keep the ambition of the territory's nobles in check. All he wants is for the nobles to understand that the royal family has the military might to keep them in line.
Just grit your teeth and endure a bit, and everything will be fine. I'll have my eye on things, so don't worry. I guarantee you won't have made the trip in vain. Even if Princess Cilivia and you don't hit it off, I can introduce you to any number of lovely and gracious ladies and young misses. They may not rival the princess in beauty, but they are every bit as charming and gentle. They'll soothe the wounds in your heart and keep you company through the long cold nights..."
Count Kenmais did his level best to entice Lorist to accompany him to Giriduske City, using all the wiles of a procuress.
Lorist laughed. "My friend, I truly appreciate your kind offer. But there are compelling reasons behind my refusal — reasons I cannot help. Perhaps you are unaware that while you were savoring fine wine in the company of beautiful women, listening to music and watching the snowflakes dance, I was out on the frozen frontiers of my family's territory, leading my knights through a desperate and bloody battle..."
Seeing the shocked expression on Count Kenmais's face, Lorist continued in a serious tone: "My friend, do you think the two million pounds of smoked demonic beast jerky you bought from my family this year came out of thin air? Ask your Mountain Barbarian friends — they should know what a magical beast tide is. Every winter, nearly a million magical beasts sweep down from the wildlands and overrun our family's domain, turning an entire year's worth of labor to nothing. That is precisely why I trade iron armor with you — to secure large quantities of grain and supplies in return..."
"A magical beast tide? I think I've read about it in some book..." Count Kenmais said, lost in thought. "I once read a travelogue of the Northland written by — who was it again — and it said that every winter, magical beasts pour out of the wildlands in uncountable numbers and flood into the desolate plains of the Northland, overwhelming everything in their path. It sounded absolutely terrifying. After my family arrived in the Northland, we never encountered anything of the sort. I thought that travelogue was utter nonsense. So it turns out the magical beast tide only ravages your family's territory, not the entirety of the Northland..."
"Yes, for two consecutive winters. Our family's armed forces have been battling the magical beasts for dominance over the wastelands, and this year will be no exception. In another twenty days or so, I'll need to set out and gear up. So, my friend, it's not that I don't want to accept your invitation — as a lord, my duty leaves me no choice. I must stand at the very front of the fight against the magical beasts, so that our family's forces can have the courage to fight and the conviction to endure..." Lorist's expression was heavy.
Count Kenmais thought it over and said, "Are your family's forces suffering heavy casualties? How about this — I'll skip the New Year celebration too and go with you to see what a magical beast tide is all about."
"Don't bother. I appreciate the thought, but it's really not a sight worth seeing. Hungry and cold, eating ice and drinking snow. Vast, endless swarms of dark magical beasts. You can never imagine the suffocating feeling of tens of thousands of red-eyed magic bulls stampeding toward you, or the wretched sight of mammoth magic elephants five or six meters tall crashing into our family's battle lines. Just thinking about it sends chills down your spine. But there's no way around it. This is our family's territory — this is human land. Our Norton Family will never let the magical beasts run wild without consequence..."
Lorist spoke as if it were all true, his expression extremely grave and his tone deeply serious: "It's not just fighting those magic bulls and mammoth elephants. When we camp at night, we can only eat dry rations, because any fire we light could attract packs of winter wolves and snow leopards — those carnivorous magical beasts with their keen sense of smell — and then we'd get no sleep at all. Every winter is a harsh trial for us!"
Count Kenmais immediately lost all interest. Cold he could handle, but if he couldn't eat properly or sleep properly, that would be the end of him. He mocked himself: "It seems I'd be better off going to Gilduis City — music, fine food, good wine, and beautiful women. That's the life I'm accustomed to..."
Lorist laughed. "It's fine, my friend. This is the mission of our Norton Family. When our ancestors swore to guard the northern frontier of the empire for it, they were already prepared. As descendants of Norton, it is only natural that we take up the duty of our predecessors. This is our family's destiny, and we will not run from it. As my friend, as long as you can still think of me — a friend out there fighting the magical beasts — whenever you find yourself enjoying the pleasures of life, I will be more than content."
"Rest assured, my friend. We will spread the heroic deeds of your Norton Family far and wide, so the world will never forget the heroic exploits of your Norton Family in guarding the frontier," Count Kenmais said, thumping his chest.
…(To be continued.)