The war was finally over. The
The two southwestern provinces were formally called West Deliga Province and South Deliga Province. Before the establishment of the Krisen Empire, they had been known as the Deliga Region. Later, Krisen I had split the area in two, dividing it into two separate provinces. West Deliga Province was also called the Northwestern Province, and both provinces bordered Campone Province, which had been seized by the Forde Commercial Alliance. In some administrative documents during the Krisen Empire era, the two provinces were collectively referred to as the Two Southwestern Provinces, and they were now known as the Two Southwestern Front Provinces.
Back when the Second Prince had been defeated outside the Feideliga Royal Capital and gone missing, Queen Kairi, who had usurped the throne, had ceded the two southwestern provinces to the Commercial Alliance. The Alliance, however, had not directly annexed them. Instead, it had established the Blitt United Duchy as a buffer between the Forde Commercial Alliance and the Andinak Kingdom. But later, after the Second Prince had reclaimed his throne with the help of the
The two southwestern provinces had served as the garrison location for the White Lion Legion ever since the Second Prince's restoration, and they also functioned as the forward defensive zone against any Commercial Alliance attacks on the Andinak Kingdom. However, the two provinces had been a devastated heartland during the Empire's civil wars, with barely a tenth of the population surviving. The land lay neglected and desolate, and at one point had gathered over five hundred thousand refugees. Although the Second Prince had worked to revive the population and develop the economy, his campaigns against the Redelis Kingdom and Queen Kairi's earlier cession of the two provinces had already drained every last ounce of vitality from the southwestern provinces. Even though both provinces were plains, they remained barren and scarred, with sparse habitation.
The Second Prince's assignment of the two southwestern provinces as the new family territories for Grand Duke Handela and Grand Duke Sabagie was a deliberate move to offload two burdens. It simultaneously turned the Handela and Sabagie families into the Kingdom's southwestern shield while also intentionally saddling them with the task of restoring the southwestern provinces' economy and developing their land. This was also the reason he had allowed each family to bring one legion to their new territories. With these forty-five thousand soldiers and their families, the manpower shortage plaguing the two provinces could finally be addressed. Ultimately, manpower was the most important resource of all.
As for Grand Duke Folundo, he was to become the new Grand Duke of Yungeshandra Province. Though Yungeshandra Province was small and impoverished, it was a position of great strategic importance. The route from the Northland to the Imperial Capital ran through Delamuk Province, Yungeshandra Province, Verbasia Province, and the Central Province where the Imperial Capital was located. By granting Yungeshandra Province to Grand Duke Folundo as his new family territory, the Second Prince — if one were to think the worst of him — was effectively erecting a gate along the vital corridor stretching from the Northland Four Family Alliance's sphere of influence all the way to the Imperial Capital.
What does this fellow mean by that? Is he already starting to guard against us?
If that Grand Duke Fakel hadn't gone into exile, Lorist believed the Second Prince would certainly have assigned him to Limad Province, adjacent to the Southern Province. That would have been equivalent to closing the exits on two of the Northland Four Family Alliance's outward routes. Unfortunately, man proposes but heaven disposes — Grand Duke Fakel had refused to submit to the Second Prince and had fled to the Commercial Alliance. Whether the Alliance might one day use Grand Duke Fakel's name to cause trouble for the Second Prince remained to be seen.
Everyone was busy. The Second Prince was occupied with receiving his new directly administered territories, arranging defenses, inspecting storehouses, calming the public, and launching production — he was so busy from dawn to dusk that one could hardly catch a glimpse of him. The three central Grand Dukes were busy reorganizing their armed legions, gathering their soldiers and families, collecting carriages and horses, and preparing to depart for their new family territories. Grand Duke Fisaburan, meanwhile, had been entrusted with a major task by the Second Prince: reorganizing the troops that had been trimmed away by the three central Grand Dukes and handing them over to the White Lion Legion's commander, Knight Lipired. He would select the strong and able among them to bolster the White Lion Legion, while forming two additional garrison legions from the rest.
As for Duke
Meanwhile, Count
The two of them went before the Second Prince and nagged him endlessly.
Lorist tried to console the two of them, telling them not to bother searching — the Second Prince would not be hiding from them. His current unavailability surely meant he was out inspecting his newly acquired provinces, and he would naturally return after some time. That was what Lorist said, but he was growing impatient himself. He could simply pack up and lead the Flying Tiger Corps and two guard battalions straight back to the Northland. It wouldn't matter if he didn't obtain the Second Prince's personally signed three-year tax exemption certificate — he couldn't care less about such a piece of paper. If the Second Prince reneged on the deal, he would actually be delighted; he was very curious to see whether the Second Prince would muster a great army to subdue him, this tax-defying rebel...
Thinking of his child, not yet half a year old, and Princess Cilivia, Lorist felt a desperate urge to fly back to the Northland on wings. But damn the Second Prince, going off to inspect his territories at precisely this time, leaving a whole crowd of people stranded in Hans City waiting for his return — it was absolutely outrageous! So the impatient Lorist simply took his family armed forces, crossed the Nibaraku River, and returned to the Demonic Plains. Since there was nothing to do sitting around anyway, he might as well go on a few more hunts to earn some extra income.
August was about to draw to a close when Lorist finally received a messenger's summons on the Demonic Plains. The Second Prince ordered him to return immediately and stop wandering about the plains. So Lorist leisurely led the Flying Tiger Corps and two guard battalions back to Hans City, the capital of Delama Province. Upon arrival, he discovered that the three central Grand Dukes had already departed, taking their family-armed corps, soldiers' families, and some settlers who had volunteered to follow the three Grand Dukes to their new territories.
Duke Kemmes had also left long ago, having obtained from the Second Prince a certificate granting the Snow Salt Trading Company a nationwide two-year tax exemption. The Snow Salt Trading Company had taken on the logistics and supply responsibilities for the entire migration of the three central Grand Dukes, so he needed to rush off to arrange the allocation and transport of all sorts of materials. In the letter he left for Lorist, he proclaimed this to be a grand business deal with an estimated transaction volume approaching one million gold. If he could satisfy the three Grand Dukes and then secure the contract to supply production materials for the development of their three new territories, this deal could become a long-term, recurring business...
Grand Duke Fisaburan had also left, departing with the Third Border Patrol Corps and the Reserve Corps, laden with the rewards the Second Prince had given him, without meeting with Lorist. The only ones remaining in Hans City were Duke Filim, Duke Shahin, and their family armed forces. Additionally, there were two newly reorganized Kingdom Garrison Corps. As for the White Lion Corps, which had completed its replenishment and reorganization, it had departed half a month earlier on the Second Prince's orders, heading for Majik Province. They had been deployed by the Second Prince along the border adjacent to Andevolf Province, to guard against incursions from the Commercial Alliance.
When Duke Filim and Duke Shahin came to welcome Lorist, both looked terrible, wearing expressions of barely contained fury. Lorist asked them in puzzlement what was wrong. Duke Filim handed Lorist the letter Duke Kemmes had left behind, then spat furiously before explaining what had happened — he had been deceived. The thirty thousand able-bodied laborers he had originally agreed upon with the Second Prince had been changed by the Second Prince to thirty thousand people total, of which fewer than seven thousand were able-bodied, with the rest being the families of those workers.
Duke Filim complained that for the same kind of reward, Grand Duke Fisaburan had received fifty thousand able-bodied workers — all truly able-bodied — and together with their families, a total of one hundred and seventy thousand people had been relocated to the Fisaburan family territory. Yet when he had appealed to the Second Prince, the Second Prince had shut him down with talk of the greater good. The Second Prince said that Grand Duke Fisaburan had expanded the Kingdom's frontiers, so it was essential to increase his territory's population to prevent it from reverting to grasslands for the barbarian tribes. The Southern Province, on the other hand, was situated in the heart of the Kingdom with no external threats — give it twenty or thirty years and the population would naturally grow...
Moreover, the Second Prince compared him to Grand Duke Fisaburan. The Second Prince said that the Fisaburan Family's reserve corps had suffered heavy casualties in the war to conquer the four central duchies, losing nearly ten thousand cavalry. But your Pegasus Corps, apart from conducting reconnaissance and patrol duties as light cavalry scouts, suffered extremely light casualties. Therefore, the rewards given to you differ from those given to Grand Duke Fisaburan — this is compensation for the great contributions they have made to the Kingdom.
Duke Filim could only consider himself unlucky. But Duke Shahin's situation was a different matter entirely. The Second Prince gave him two choices: first, choose one of two provinces, Limaard or Meishan, as his family's territory. Second, wait until the Kingdom recaptured the provinces seized by the Commercial Alliance, at which point the Second Prince would grant Duke Shahin the Portaorge Province — where the Fedelega royal city was located — as his family territory.
Limaard Province was known for its stone and timber products, and the golden crystal stone, black crystal stone, and red maple wood it produced had always been premium materials in the construction market. But in times of war and chaos, no one was going after these resources. Meishan Province could also be considered a province rich in mineral resources, but what it had was quantity rather than quality. For instance, its two silver mines and one copper mine were all small veins that would be exhausted after twenty or thirty years of mining, and its three iron mines were all of poor quality, classified as inferior mines.
The most important reason Duke Shahin didn't want to choose between Limaard Province and Meishan Province was that both provinces had been devastated by the allied armies of territorial nobles in the early stages of the war, leaving them virtually uninhabited. Of course, the Northern four-family alliance led by Lorist had not gone without benefits. But what he hadn't expected was that the Second Prince would actually offer one of these two provinces to Duke Shahin as his family territory — this almost made Lorist feel like he had been slapped in the face.
It was indeed a major mineral resource province of the former Krisen Empire, but the question was: when would the Second Prince actually be able to recapture it?
Duke Shahin's first worry was that the timeline was hopelessly distant — he feared he might die before ever seeing Portaorge Province become his family's territory. His second concern was that once he agreed to accept Portaorge Province as his family territory, the Second Prince would very likely use the pretext of recapturing lost lands to chain the Shahin Family to his war chariot, employing them at his will, and perhaps even sowing discord between the Shahin Family and the other three families in the Northern alliance...
Don't be fooled by the fact that Duke Shahin only appeared to play the role of a brave but simple warrior among the Northern four families — greedy for wealth, lacking in wits, and with the most ordinary family background. He was not stupid. He understood very well what the Shahin Family's current position depended on. Without the support of Lorist, the Kemmes Family, and Duke Filim, he was nothing. In these chaotic times, he might not even be able to stir a single ripple before being swallowed up.
Aligning himself with the Second Prince would be worse than staying close to Lorist's side. After all, Lorist was more virtuous and kept his word more faithfully than the Second Prince. At the very least, when Lorist ate meat, he wouldn't forget about him. It wasn't like the Second Prince — forget meat and bones, even getting two sips of soup would count as good luck for those who followed him. The Second Prince's character was such that when he needed you, he would treat you like an honored guest, and when he didn't, he wouldn't even deign to look at you. Duke Shahin saw this with perfect clarity.
Therefore, Duke Shahin rejected the Second Prince's proposal and demanded the Kribia Province of the former Falker Duchy as his family territory. Kribia Province was likewise a major mineral resource province, rich in rock salt, gold and silver, purple copper, white lead, and black iron, along with a dozen or so other minerals. Every year it had added over a million gold Forde to the former Grand Duke Falker's coffers. Duke Shahin had long had his eye on this province.
The Second Prince rejected Duke Shahin's request without hesitation. He believed Duke Shahin had no right to make such a demand — whether it was the contributions he had made to the Kingdom or the merits he had earned in battle, none of it was sufficient for the Second Prince to grant Kribia Province to the Shahin Family as their territory. During the Krisen Empire era, Kribia Province, as a major mineral resource province, had always been under the direct jurisdiction of the imperial household. It was only during the imperial civil war, when the imperial household's reach had been too distant, that they had no choice but to entrust its administration to Grand Duke Falker. As a result, the Falker Family had annexed it, making it a province of the Falker Duchy.
The Second Prince coldly told Duke Shahin that if he couldn't choose between Meishan Province and Limard Province, and refused to accept the promise that Kribia Province would be granted to the Shahin Family as territory once it was recaptured in the future, then he was very sorry, but he would consider Duke Shahin to have voluntarily forfeited his reward for the campaign against the four central duchies. As for Kribia Province, he'd do well to stop harboring such wild fantasies.
Duke Shahin stormed off in a fury.
"Henned, so you're saying you did all this for nothing?" Lorist asked.
Duke Shahin shrugged, wearing a deeply resentful expression. "That about sums it up. I can only chalk it up to bad luck. I'll never trust him again."
Lorist patted his shoulder. "Just bear with it for now. You haven't really lost anything this time, and you made a handsome profit clearing out those territorial lords in the Forlundo Duchy. The only pity is that we didn't settle the specific terms with him before committing our forces. Forget it, I'll go see him first and hear what he has to say."
...