Chapter 337. Pledging Allegiance

Of the four great families of Northland, the Norton Family held the greatest strength, followed by the Kemais Family, then the Feelim Family, with the Shahin Family ranking last. However, in terms of family heritage and foundation, the Norton Family was renowned throughout the former Krisen Empire for its Roaring Bear legacy, the Feelim Family came second, and the Pegasus Family was also a well-known name. Next came the Shahin Family — though they were a vassal family of the Northland Grand Duke and merely held the rank of Baron, they had nonetheless undergone nearly a hundred years of heritage across three generations.

Only the Kemais Family had yet to establish firm footing. Having transitioned from a commercial house to a territorial noble family, without decades of accumulation and generations of heritage, it was extremely difficult to earn genuine recognition from noble circles. As Baron Kemais had said, the reason he was tempted by the Second Prince's promises came down to two points: first, the Kemais Family had been territorial nobles for too brief a time, lacking deep foundations — wealth alone was useless. Second, their legitimacy was questionable — he had purchased his title from the Second Prince, who was a traitor to the Empire, already dead, and whose Kingdom of Iblia was now teetering on the verge of collapse, clearly a short-lived dynasty. Once the kingdom fell, whether anyone would continue to recognize the Kemais Family's territorial noble title was anyone's guess.

The Second Prince had keenly identified this weakness of the Kemais Family, and so he was confident he could lure them into his fold. For Baron Kemais, this was a golden opportunity to legitimize his family and truly establish himself as a territorial noble. He knew that when the Second Prince commanded a great army and swept across the land to reunify the former Empire's territories, encountering a family like his would mean certain destruction — there would be no chance of reduced holdings or relocation. At best, he could offer up his family's accumulated wealth to buy survival for himself and his kin, only to be demoted to commoners...

Though the Second Prince was now merely the former king of the Andinak Kingdom, without soldiers or generals, his throne stolen by his own niece, he still represented the legitimate line of the former Krisen Imperial House. So Baron Kemais was tempted — pledging loyalty to the Second Prince meant his family would receive the most legitimate recognition as territorial nobles, and from then on, his title as Baron would be beyond reproach.

"You agreed to him?" Lorist asked from inside the bathing tub.

"Not yet. I said it concerned the family's future and I needed to think it over properly, that I'd give him an answer in a couple of days. After seeing him off, I came straight to you," Baron Kemais replied.

"Besides asking you to pledge loyalty to him, what other demands did he make before he'd grant you control of an entire province as Grand Duke?"

Baron Kemais spread his hands. "He wants me to find a way to instigate you into attacking the Madras Duchy. He promised that as soon as Madras falls, he'd immediately title me Grand Duke. But I told him that without your Norton Family's help, we'd be unable to destroy Madras — with the military strength of just the Kemais and Shahin Families alone, defeating the enemy was possible, but completely annihilating the Madras Duchy would be extremely difficult."

Lorist furrowed his brow in thought for a long while. Baron Kemais waited patiently beside the tub.

The water in the tub had grown cool. Finally, Lorist looked up. "Perhaps this is an excellent opportunity for our four great families of Northland. We could bring the entire Madras Duchy under our sphere of influence. Keep the Second Prince waiting for a couple of days, then go to him. Say this..."

...

Over the past two days, Baron Shahin Henner had led troops on raids against surrounding lordly estates and castles, hauling back vast quantities of grain and supplies. Draelmuk Province, which had earned the reputation as the former Krisen Empire's greatest granary, truly lived up to its name. In just two days of raiding, Henner had hit four nearby estates and returned with grain piled high as mountains — enough for nearly a hundred thousand Northland allied troops to spend the winter comfortably in their progressively improving camp.

The Second Prince felt each day in the Northland allied camp drag on like a year. Baron Shahin had gone off to raid — or rather, to "procure provisions" — leaving the Second Prince unable to build rapport with him. And Baron Kemais, for reasons unknown, had been avoiding meetings entirely. Remembering his words about needing a few days to consider, the Second Prince couldn't very well rush him for an answer. As for Lorist, he spent every day fishing on the Mitoburo River with his personal guards, looking for all the world like a man untroubled by worldly affairs.

Though the Second Prince received excellent hospitality in the Northland allied camp, his freedom was tightly restricted. Whenever he tried to leave the camp, a very polite guard would invariably appear before him, reminding him that as a noble knight observing the conflict, he should not leave the camp at will, as it would cause great inconvenience to the camp's hosts. After all, the conflict between the Northland alliance and the Madras Duchy was merely a minor skirmish — if the Second Prince were to venture out and be discovered by Madras scouts, the consequences could be severe, and it might affect the outcome of the war.

For the sake of his greater ambitions, the Second Prince endured it. He did not want to be declared a persona non grata by the Northland alliance, especially at this critical moment when he hoped to recruit the Kemais Family. So he could only wander around the camp with his retinue, drooling over the Kemais and Shahin Family troops in their standardized equipment and fine armor, fantasizing about these two elite family armies sweeping all directions under his command to reunify the former Empire — tending livestock, and all manner of other such tasks.

In the Second Prince's view, the Northland alliance was simply not attending to proper business. Soldiers should fight wars, not busy themselves with menial work fit for servants. If these hundred thousand troops were under his command, he would have swept through half of Draelmuk Province by now. With territory and elite forces, he would have the confidence to defeat the Grand Duke of Madras, and by next year, he could force the Madras Grand Duke to cower in his lair in Siedegle Province, unable to show his face, while he himself marched straight for the Imperial Capital...

The Second Prince's patience finally paid off. On the third day, Baron Kemais appeared before him.

"Your Majesty, the Kemais Family is willing to offer you our loyal hearts and clear the thorns and obstacles from your path beneath your banner. May the War God's radiance protect our kingdom and grant Your Majesty victory in every battle." Baron Kemais respectfully performed a formal audience salute to the Second Prince.

The Second Prince was overjoyed. When he heard Baron Kemais address him as "Your Majesty" rather than the polite formality of "Your Royal Highness the King," he knew he had succeeded. Now, besides the Norton Family, another powerful territorial noble had joined his ranks, filling him with confidence toward achieving his goals.

But when the Second Prince noticed Baron Kemais looking somewhat troubled, he felt puzzled. "My dear Baron, what's the matter? Is something troubling you?"

Baron Kemais answered with a bitter smile. "Your Majesty, though I and my family are willing to pledge loyalty to you, please forgive me for being unable to fulfill your wishes. I cannot risk my family army to attack the Madras Duchy, nor can I convince my allies to continue fighting against Madras."

"Why not? My dear Baron, my promises to you are genuine and reliable — I swear it in the name of a sovereign. As long as you destroy the Madras Duchy, I will certainly elevate you to Grand Duke. In the future, when I reclaim the throne and reunify the Empire, you may freely choose a province as your family's domain..."

Baron Kemais shook his head. "Your Majesty, you've misunderstood. To destroy the Madras Duchy, all four great families of Northland must commit their forces together. The armies of Baron Shahin and myself alone are not enough. Moreover, Baron Shahin has no interest in a grinding war of attrition against Madras. As for my family, because of my father's position, he would also oppose depleting our family army here..."

The Second Prince asked with some doubt. "My dear Baron, I've observed both your and Baron Shahin's family armies in this camp — both are elite forces. Nearly a hundred thousand troops should be enough to sweep through all of Draelmuk Province. Even facing the full might of the Grand Duke of Madras, victory would be very likely. Why do you say Madras cannot be destroyed?"

"Your Majesty, you don't understand Madras's military strength. In truth, after the Battle of Kebo City between the Grand Duke of Madras and the Second Prince several years ago, the Grand Duke has spent these years diligently rebuilding his forces. Besides the forty-eight thousand men of the Haishan Legion stationed in Siedegle Province, he has deployed four garrison legions totaling a hundred thousand in Draelmuk Province. First, forty thousand guarding the seven fortresses of the Hindesen Minor Mountain Range. Second, twenty thousand in Vanades City. Third, twenty thousand in Kebo City. Fourth, twenty thousand guarding the riverbank right here. His total forces reach one hundred and fifty thousand. Add the private armies of his vassal lords, and he can muster another fifty to sixty thousand troops.

If Baron Shahin and I attacked the Madras Duchy, the Grand Duke would quickly march over a hundred thousand men to deal with us. Even if we won, we'd suffer devastating losses. And the Grand Duke of Madras, after a defeat, could continuously conscript from his territories to replenish his forces, fighting us to the bitter end without respite. But if Baron Shahin and I were defeated, it would take us at least ten years, possibly eight, to restore our family armies to full strength...

Your Majesty, you should know that in terms of pure military capability among the four great families of Northland, the Norton Family stands above all — their forces alone equal the combined strength of our three families. After them come the Feelim Family. Your Majesty perhaps still remembers the old Pegasus Family? Baron Feelim is a descendant of that house, and their family's light cavalry legion has always been renowned for swift, devastating raids. Compared to those two, Baron Shahin's family army is split evenly between infantry and cavalry, balanced in both attack and defense. As for our Kemais Family's army, we excel in defensive warfare — offense has never been our strong suit.

Your Majesty, I'm sorry, but I cannot comply with your command to attack the Madras Duchy. That would be nothing more than throwing eggs against a stone — no wise man would attempt it, unless all four great families of Northland committed their forces together. For now, I can only offer Your Majesty some gold to demonstrate my loyalty. As for destroying the Madras Duchy... please forgive my inability." Baron Kemais pulled a thick stack of gold bonds from inside his robe — roughly ten thousand gold Forde — and placed them respectfully on the desk.

The Second Prince's expression darkened somewhat. Baron Kemais's words conveyed a clear message: I've pledged myself to you for the legitimacy of my title, but if you want to use my family army to fight the Madras Duchy, I must respectfully decline. The Kemais Family was willing to offer tribute gold but unwilling to sacrifice its family army for the Second Prince's restoration. Of course, the Second Prince was only half-believing Baron Kemais's claims about Madras's military strength. What truly interested him was another piece of information the Baron had let slip.

"You say the Norton Family's military strength surpasses the combined total of your three families — is that true?" the Second Prince asked.

"In terms of combat power as well, the Norton Family is the strongest." Baron Kemais deliberately understated the Norton Family's troop numbers, omitting the twenty-five-battalion Guard Corps. As for the three Guard battalions parading around the camp, he pretended not to see them — after all, the Second Prince had no way of knowing the true extent of the Norton Family's forces...

"If that's the case, I have a question," the Second Prince said. "Northland is already your four-family alliance. The Norton Family's territory borders only your three families and connects to no outside territories. So why do they need to maintain so many family troops? What exactly are they planning? Aren't your three families afraid they might turn on you?"

Baron Kemais smiled. Just as Lorist had said, the Second Prince never missed an opportunity to trip up the Norton Family — he was even resorting to sowing discord now.

"Your Majesty, do you know why our four families of Northland formed an alliance?" Baron Kemais said. "In truth, our alliance has only two purposes: first, to target the Kingdom of Iblia, and second, to guard against Grand Duke Fisablen and his Border Patrol Cavalry Corps."

"To target the Kingdom of Iblia? I understand guarding against the Fisablen Family, but aren't your three families nobles of the Kingdom of Iblia? Why would you target Iblia?" The Second Prince's interest was piqued.

"Your Majesty, in truth, ever since the Norton Family sent troops to Windbury Royal City and captured the Second Prince, our three families have existed on the periphery of the Kingdom of Iblia's noble circles. To call us nobles of Iblia would be less accurate than calling us nobles of Northland. Targeting the Kingdom of Iblia is for Baron Feelim's sake — as you know, he descends from the Pegasus Family, and the Southern Province was his ancestral family domain. He dreams of nothing but returning to the Southern Province.

But the Southern Province is now a wasteland. To reclaim it, one must first conquer Winston Province. However, the one currently ruling Windbury Royal City is Grand Duke Fisablen's daughter, the Queen of Iblia. If we send troops into Winston Province, we'll inevitably clash with the Fisablen Family. Grand Duke Fisablen is one of the Empire's three Military Gods — his name carries tremendous weight, and his Border Patrol Cavalry Corps is the greatest threat in all of Northland. Our four great families have been arming and preparing specifically to defeat him. The Norton Family's army is the main force arrayed against the Fisablen Family, which is why they maintain such large numbers."

"So that's how it is. The Fisablen Family, the Pegasus Family, Baron Feelim..." the Second Prince murmured. Suddenly his eyes lit up. "Baron Kemais, if I were willing to elevate Baron Feelim to the rank of Count and grant him the Southern Province as his family domain, do you think Baron Feelim would pledge his loyalty to me?"

Baron Kemais wore an expression of pained grievance while secretly cursing: This Second Prince is utterly shameless — with no army and no power to speak of, he still acts as though he were the Emperor of the former Krisen Empire, handing out territory that isn't his to give. Easy for him to say — grant the Southern Province to Baron Feelim and elevate him to Count, but is the Southern Province his to grant? If Baron Feelim pledged loyalty to him, he'd still have to raise his own army to conquer the Southern Province. The only benefit would be legitimacy — the Andinak Kingdom and the Kingdom of Iblia were enemies, so warfare between them was perfectly natural.

The Second Prince quickly caught himself upon seeing Baron Kemais's expression. "Of course, my dear Baron, I won't forget your contributions either. If you can convince Baron Feelim to join me, feel free to state your conditions."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Baron Kemais gave a half-bow. "Then I won't be modest — if we can destroy the Madras Duchy, I want Siedegle Province as the Kemais Family's hereditary domain."

... (To be continued.)