I'm not a lord

Chapter 128: The Shoal Territory Succession Crisis

While Leon's fleet was still loading salt in White Bear Territory, a single-masted medium-sized paddle boat flying the Golden Deer flag slowly sailed into the Shoal Territory Pier.

Yagna received the news and came to the dock to greet them in person.

When she saw a girl in a red cloak walk out of the cabin, the reserved look on Yagna's face melted away like spring snow. She waved her arms and shouted excitedly:
"Susan!"

"Yagna!"

The girl named Susan was also very excited to see Agna. She jumped off the side of the boat impatiently without waiting for the boatman to put down the gangplank, but she stumbled and almost fell on the dock.

Fortunately, Yagna came to his aid in time, so the envoy from Golden Deer Castle did not fall on the dock as soon as he landed.

"You are still as careless as before."

"How was I careless? I was just not careful!"

They looked at each other in surprise, and then burst into cheerful laughter at the same time.

The laughter echoed over the dock, attracting the attention of the surrounding boatmen and guards.

The two girls didn't care about what outsiders thought. They hugged each other tightly, and even the autumn wind howling on the dock stopped because of their reunion.

After a long moment, Yagena finally let go of her hand and looked at Susan carefully, her eyes filled with joy and concern. "Are you exhausted from the journey? Come with me to the castle. I've asked someone to prepare snacks and hot wine."

Back then, Yagena was a little girl who had just arrived at Golden Deer Castle and was unfamiliar with the place.

It was Susan, who was half a year older than her, who always took care of her and helped her integrate into the Duchess's maid circle.

Although Susan was born into a count's family, she did not look down on Agna, who was just a baron's daughter.

The two were like sisters and formed a deep friendship.

Times have changed.

Agna is already pregnant, and Susan has been promoted to the Duchess's personal maid, and is also qualified to inspect the territory on behalf of the Duchess.

While Yagena was looking at her good sister, Susan was also carefully looking at Yagena, who was about to become a mother.

Seeing the obvious bulge of her belly under Yagena's skirt, Susan smiled brightly: "It's worth it no matter how tired I am, just to see you soon!"

The two held hands and strolled along the shallow river bank in late autumn, reminiscing about the past, as if they had returned to that unforgettable study time.

They became the Duchess's maids at the same time. Due to their inexperience, they had to receive instruction from the older maids first.

During this period, beatings and punishments were inevitable.

The two of them had suffered hunger together, been whipped together, and been locked up in solitary confinement together.

Although this experience was bitter, it was an unforgettable shared memory between them, and they would smile knowingly when talking about it afterwards.

Agna took Susan's hand and walked all the way to the castle hall.

She asked her sisters to sit down on the walnut chairs and asked the maid to bring hot mead and freshly baked crispy cookies.

After retaking the family castle, Yagna replaced all the servants in the castle. She specially brought several maids from White Bear, including little Thorward's fiancée.

However, this little girl from the wilderness will not appear today, but will hide in her own little room.

Susan picked up the glass, took a sip of the mead, and praised, "As expected, the mead from Baihe is the best. It may be due to the climate, the mead from Jinlubao is always less sweet."

Yagna smiled and replied, "If you like, I'll prepare a few buckets for you."

"There's no rush for that. You should know that I'm on an important mission." Susan put down her wine glass and took off her red cloak, revealing her long light red hair and pretty face, her expression gradually becoming serious.

Although they were like sisters in the past, when talking about business, Susan did not forget the real purpose of her trip.

"I know you came here on the orders of the Duchess." Yagena slowly put away the smile on her face. "But I have already stated everything I need to say in the letter. There is nothing to hide."

Susan looked at her friend's bulging belly with a complicated expression: "Is the child in your belly really that of the White Bear Baron?"

"It's his." Yagena put down her wine glass and nodded.

"So what is your status with him? Mistress and husband? Or a secret marriage?" Susan's tone became increasingly urgent.

"You can think of it as a secret marriage." Yagna once used this argument to convince the knight Bowa of the Shoal Territory.

"Then do you know that he has the right to end the marriage at any time and his reputation will not be damaged? But you will be despised and insulted by everyone! Secret marriages will only hurt women!"

Facing the increasingly anxious Susan, Yagena remained calm.

She simply replied, "Susan, I have no choice."

In fact, the moment she saw Susan, Yagena knew that this time she was in a safe situation.

The Duchess couldn't have been unaware of her sisterly relationship with Susan, yet she still sent Susan to Shoal Territory.

Personnel is politics.

Letting Susan be the envoy is itself a clear gesture of goodwill.

Clearly, the Duke wasn't too concerned about the ongoing troubles at the northernmost end of the White River. As long as the Shoal Territory didn't cause any major disturbances and paid taxes on time, the Duke would likely turn a blind eye.

Yagna continued calmly, "I was once married to the former White Bear Baron, but he died in a hunting accident. If the current Baron hadn't taken me in, I would have been left with nowhere to go, and it would have been impossible for me to reclaim my family's territory."

"Then why doesn't he marry you? You are a true noble daughter and a perfect match for a baron!" Susan's tone revealed her disgust for the White Bear Lord Baron.

Yagena just stared straight into Susan's eyes: "Susan, I don't have a dowry. You should know this better than me."

Susan suddenly felt a pain in her heart.

Dowry is the biggest obstacle that prevents aristocratic women from getting married.

According to the tradition of the North and even the entire Diewas continent, when a noble woman gets married, her family must prepare a dowry.

The higher the status of the aristocratic family, the more expensive the dowry they need to prepare.

Susan, the daughter of a count, was half a year older than Agna, but she was never able to marry and could only serve as a maid in the Duchess's court because her father did not want to give her a dowry.

After all, given her status, the man must at least be a legitimate baron or the son of an earl. Only in this way will she not bring shame to the family.

But the higher the status of the husband's family, the higher the dowry they demand.

The marriages of Susan's two elder sisters had already cost the family a lot of wealth, and there was really no money left for her to get married.

Yagena's words aroused the most painful corner in Susan's heart. She could only grit her teeth and say hatefully:
"This damn dowry!"

Being a maid to the Duchess is a pretty good destination, but how can it compare to being a Countess?
The former is just a job of serving others, while the latter is a real lady admired by everyone.

"Yes, this damn dowry." Yagena couldn't help but agree.

The main reason why she married the former Baron of White Bear was that the Baron had very low requirements for dowry.

Yagena thought she had met true love.

As it turned out, it turned out to be a gay aristocrat who needed a formal marriage as a cover-up.

At this time, Susan asked again: "Yagena, why didn't you choose to ask the lady for help?"

Yagna directly asked, "Then let me ask you, would the Duchess trust a maid who has only been in the palace for a year, or a three-year-old baron and a barony regent who has obtained the Duke's permission? According to the damn Northern Succession Law, only men have the right to inherit the territory."

"Indeed, this damn Northern inheritance law." Susan was convinced again.

The reason why many aristocratic families became extinct was the lack of male heirs.

Susan's family is also facing the crisis of extinction.

Who told her mother to only give birth to three girls?
If women were also eligible to inherit territory, Susan would now be third in line of succession.

Yagena picked up the wine glass, took a sip to moisten her throat, and then said, "Susan, once the child is born, my secret marriage with him will end. He will manage his White Bear Territory, and I will manage the Shoal Territory with the child. I will not marry again in the future and will wholeheartedly protect the child's growth."

Having said that, there was no secret marriage between Yagna and Lynn.

All this was just to convince the Duke that Lynn would not get involved in the Shoal Territory.

Of course, it doesn’t matter if you don’t believe it, at least Lynn gave the Duke a way out.

"But what if the child is not a boy, or if there are other emergencies?"

Susan chose not to say it explicitly.

The emergencies she mentioned were nothing more than tragedies such as miscarriage, difficult labor or premature death.

These days, the mortality rate for first-born babies is over 30%, and the probability of a newborn growing up to the age of 15 is only 50%.

According to the data Susan has, nearly 40% of the noble families in the Duchy of Swamp have become extinct in the past hundred years.

Now even the royal family has become extinct, which shows that extinction is indeed a common phenomenon.

"Susan, I firmly believe that my child is a boy, and he will grow up to be an excellent man." Yagna rubbed her abdomen, with a sacred happiness shining in her eyes.

"."

What else could Susan say? Her best friend had already suffered enough in recent years; she couldn't bear to insult her further.

So she quickly changed the subject: "Where are your stepmother and her children? I want to meet them."

Susan was then taken to a public cemetery in the northern part of Shoalland.

Yagna pointed to two brand new tombstones. "Unfortunately, Flora and her child both died during the siege. She was commanding the battle from the tower, holding her child. An arrow pierced her chest, and the child fell from the wall and died. Furthermore, Henrik, with whom she committed adultery, also died in the battle."

"."

Susan was silent again.

"By the way, Bova, you were also on the battlefield at that time. Please describe the scene of that day to her." Yagena turned around and called Bova behind her to come forward.

Bova took two steps forward respectfully and said, "Ms. Susan, I am Bova, the feudal knight of Shoal Territory. Three generations of my family have been loyal to the Shoal family. That day..."

(End of this chapter)