I'm not a lord

Chapter 177 Lynn should be made an earl, who agrees and who disagrees?
Maurice never felt happy being king.

In terms of seniority, he was the former king's half-brother.

When he was born, his older brother was already in his twenties and his father was over fifty.

Because of his status as an illegitimate child, he was not raised as a king and lived with his mother in a secluded and quiet suburban castle from a young age.

He had seen his father very few times.

His memory of his father was extremely vague.

He had never even entered the palace in Amber Harbor before being crowned king last November.

Simply because he was a lowly, despised, and pitiful illegitimate child without any right to inheritance.

When Maurice came of age, his father had already passed away.

Because he was always cautious, his brother the king didn't make things too difficult for him and even arranged a good marriage for him.

At the age of twenty, Maurice married a young widow who had lost her husband, and received a small earldom, thus successfully joining the ranks of the nobility.

For the next twenty years, he stayed in that earldom located in the northern part of the Crown Territory, living his peaceful life.

He was not interested in the throne, or rather, he dared not be interested.

Because illegitimate children have no legal right of inheritance in the Northern Kingdom and cannot use their father's surname, their status is very low.

Having obtained the title of earl and possessed his own territory, Maurice was already content and dared not harbor any more unrealistic fantasies.

Unfortunately, his brother's several sons, whom he had painstakingly conceived, all died young, leaving the vast Northern Kingdom without a legitimate heir.

The only two people who are qualified to inherit the throne are Maurice, the younger brother, and the son-in-law of the King of the South.

It is true that Maurice was an illegitimate child.

But there is no doubt that he carries the noble blood of the Urenis family and is a descendant of the first King of the North.

Gradually, whispers began to reach Maurice's ears.

Court officials kept visiting his castle, confidently promising to put him on the throne.

Those around him also encouraged him to fight for the right of succession and the throne.

Especially his wife and son.

The former yearned for the queen's prestigious position, while the latter fantasized about continuing to inherit the throne.

But Morris didn't find the crown particularly dazzling.

He had no foothold in Amber Harbor or the royal palace.

Even if he were to become king, he would only become a puppet of a few high-ranking court officials.

Moreover, the Northern Kingdom is no longer solely the domain of the Urenis family.

All three dukes were ambitious.

The Duke of the Marshland, in particular, had long been in contact with local dignitaries and high-ranking court officials, and his ambition for the throne was common knowledge.

Maurice knew that once his brother died, the North would immediately be plunged into a fierce battle for the throne.

Even if he successfully inherits the throne, he will only be an illegitimate king with no legitimate claim to the throne.

The other three dukes, and even the king's son-in-law in the south, could wage war on the grounds of demanding the throne.

Why? Because they are related to the royal family by blood or marriage.

The previous king died last March, but Maurice dragged his feet until November before agreeing to succeed to the throne.

The main reason is that he was conflicted and fearful.

But in the end, he was forced into a corner.

Court officials flocked to his castle, all urging him to inherit the throne.

His wife also whispered in his ear night after night, even threatening that if Maurice did not take over the throne, she would completely turn against him.

The eldest son and his two younger sons also fanned the flames and fueled the fire.

Ultimately, Maurice had no choice but to agree to inherit the throne, thus becoming the first king in the history of the Northern Kingdom to be born out of wedlock.

His coronation ceremony was rushed and hasty.

According to custom, the coronation of a king must be witnessed by three grand dukes and the Archbishop of Amber.

However, none of the three dukes were present on the day of the ceremony, and they didn't even send an envoy, which clearly showed that they did not recognize him as king.

The Archbishop of Amber Harbor did attend in person, but he was rather perfunctory in presiding over the various ceremonies.

After all, Maurice came from a humble background, and the archbishop was essentially holding his nose when he was crowned.

After becoming king, Maurice had no time to appreciate the authority that came with his new identity; instead, he lived in constant fear.

By then, the Duke of the Marsh had already assassinated the Earl of the Bend and captured the supposedly invincible Bend Castle.

Subsequently, the Duke persuaded several powerful earls, including Earl of Coldwind, to surrender, and his army marched directly towards Coron, with the possibility of advancing down the River Stillness to Amber Harbor at any time.

Fortunately, it was already winter.

With the earth and rivers frozen over, Maurice gained a precious respite.

After being crowned king, he was given the surname 'Urenis' and gradually won over a group of local nobles who were willing to fight for him by virtue of his royal title.

These nobles were more opposed to the swamp duke inheriting the throne than to the illegitimate king.

In their eyes, the three duchies to the west were all lowly country bumpkins.

How could such a noble crown fall into the hands of a country bumpkin?
Even if Maurice was a bastard, he was still the bastard son of the previous king.

Ultimately, these nobles were actually afraid of the centralized rule of the Marsh Duke, and they preferred to support the weak illegitimate son king in order to maintain their autonomy.

It took Morris nearly three months to finally assemble an army of five thousand men.

This army came from different noble territories and different cities, and their ownership and even command were unclear.

In any case, Maurice couldn't command this army.

The rest is quite simple.

Upon hearing that the city of Koren was besieged, a group of nobles clamored to capture the Duke of the Swamp alive and petitioned the king for permission to fight.

Left with no other choice, Maurice had to lead his troops toward the city of Coron.

An army hastily assembled could not possibly defeat the Duke of the Swamp's elite court knights.

North of Cologne, on the battlefield meticulously prepared by the Duke of the Marshlands, Maurice lost everything.

Two thousand soldiers died on the spot, and the rest of the soldiers scattered and fled. He was lucky enough to survive and escaped back to Amber Harbor under the protection of his confidants.

From then on, Maurice completely lost the trust of the nobles.

Or perhaps the nobles never trusted Maurice.

All they needed was a flag called 'Urenis'.

After this battle, the nobles of the Crown Territory either secretly colluded with the Duke of the Swamp or returned to their respective territories to await the coronation of the new king.

Given the circumstances at the time, it seemed that Morris had no chance of turning the tide.

The vast majority of nobles believed that the North was about to be overthrown.

But just a few days later, news of the massacre in Coron reached Amber Harbor.

This event brought a turning point for Morris.

The citizens of Amber Harbor feared being plundered and massacred by the Duke of the Marsh, and fear and rumors spread throughout the city.

Finally, they turned to firmly support the royal family and the king.

Amber Harbor works closely with the Royal Family, a rare occurrence in the history of the Northern Kingdoms.

Despite the fact that the royal palace is located within Amber Harbor, Amber Harbor is actually a fully autonomous city.

The mayor is elected by the city council, and the city council also has full authority to appoint officials in all important departments.

The king was merely a landowner with the right to collect rent and had no right to interfere in major matters within the city.

The city and the king had clashed several times throughout history over the amount of land rent, with the bizarre sight of citizens throwing rotten eggs at the royal carriages. But because of the massacre in the city of Coron, the royal capital, Amber Harbor, stood firmly on the side of the royal family.

Under the organization of the city council, capable citizens armed themselves and formed a city defense force of more than 3,000 people.

The city council even allocated a large sum of special funds to purchase a mercenary group with thousands of troops from the south.

The mercenary group is currently en route by ship and is expected to arrive at Amber Harbor in about half a week.

The city's strong support became Morris's greatest source of confidence.

The nobles abandoned him? So what! I still have strong walls and brave citizens!

But the Duke of the Marsh's messenger was unaware of these details.

Seeing Maurice's resolute attitude of mutual destruction, the envoy could only offer a friendly reminder:

"Your Majesty, I will remind you one last time: if you surrender now, the Duke will still be willing to maintain the original terms. You will receive a wealthy territory befitting your status as a duke, and more."

But before he could finish speaking, Maurice slammed his hand on the armrest, pointing his scepter directly at the messenger's nose, and roared:
"Shut up! Before I can still control my anger, you'd better get out of here! Go back and tell Lothair that he will never have this scepter in his lifetime, never!"

In an instant, the messenger could feel a terrifying pressure from this frail bastard son that was comparable to that of the Duke of the Swamp.

Just a month ago, this envoy visited the palace on the Duke's orders.

At the time, although Maurice did not agree to the Duke's conditions, he was at least still polite to him.

Now, the envoy realized that the situation had changed, so he dared not say anything more and could only take the Duke's letter of surrender and leave the palace in a sorry state.

As the messengers rode through the streets of Amber Harbor with a few attendants, a large crowd of citizens, having heard the news, came and surrounded them.

At the same time, the magnificent bells of the cathedral in the center of the city rang out.

One sound, two sounds, three sounds, twenty-five sounds.

The cathedral bells rang a full twenty-five times.

The envoy's face turned deathly pale instantly, while the surrounding citizens erupted in enthusiastic shouts.

In the autonomous cities of the North, when the city bells ring twenty-five times, it signifies that the city is about to face war; this is a pre-war declaration to the citizens, urging them to arm themselves.

"Get out of here, you shameful country bumpkin!"

"You rude barbarians, you'll never be allowed to enter Amber Harbor!"

"Don't even think about turning Amber Harbor into Coron City. We'll show you the power of this city!"

Under the multi-layered attack of the citizens' sharp words and rotten eggs and vegetables, the envoy, accompanied by a few attendants, fled in disarray toward the city gate.

In the palace, King Maurice sat on his throne, listening quietly to the melodious chimes.

The name Amber Harbor comes from amber, a gemstone native to the North.

Abundant amber veins exist in the northern hilly region of the Crown Territory.

Exporting amber ore to the south was once an important part of the royal family's income.

Over time, this largest port in the North became known as 'Amber Harbor'.

Amber also holds special significance in royalty.

The seal of the King of the North was carved from a single large piece of amber, with a side length exceeding twelve centimeters, making it priceless.

The king's throne also features a wealth of amber elements, with fist-sized animal-shaped amber carvings inlaid at the tips of the armrests and backrest, and a whole oval amber plate embedded behind the throne.

Morris squinted and gently stroked the amber lion head on the armrest. For the first time, he felt that being a king might not be so bad.

It was only because he saw a glimmer of hope.

This glimmer of hope stemmed not only from the support of the citizens of Amber Harbor, but also from a letter from the Duchy of the Valley.

This morning, a ship flying the white eagle flag sailed down the Tranquil River and entered Amber Harbor, bringing with it a small delegation.

This was naturally the same delegation that had stayed in Sanhe City.

They brought a personal letter from the Duke of the Valley, and also the merchant manager who had delivered the letter to Leon.

“Haha. Hahaha.”

Upon recalling the contents of the letter, Maurice couldn't help but tilt his head back and cover his face with a laugh.

Since ascending to the throne, he has been under pressure that is unimaginable to ordinary people.

Right now, the Duke of the Marshland's besieging army is still outside the city.

But Morris felt a sense of relief he had never felt before.

He believed that as long as the citizens remained on his side, he would be able to keep the Duke of the Marsh out.

Moreover, if he can hold out for two to three months, the loser will definitely be the Duke of the Swamp.

All of this naturally stemmed from the contents of the letter.

In his letter, the Duke of the Valley claimed that by June of this year he would have assembled a considerable army to relieve Amber Harbor.

Of course, Maurice didn't really trust the Duke of the Valley.

In his eyes, this fellow also coveted the throne and was a complete ambitious man. The only difference between him and the Duke of the Swamp was that this fellow had no real power and could only stare longingly at the throne.

Maurice was more inclined to believe Lynn of the White River than the so-called Duke.

According to the messenger, Lynn has now taken over the entire White River region and has thousands of soldiers under his command.

Lynn is currently engaged in a fierce conflict with Three Rivers and could seize Three Rivers at any time, working with the Duke of the Valley to completely cut off the Duke of the Swamp's retreat.

The number of soldiers may still be debatable, but Lynn's presence is beyond doubt.

Merchants loyal to the royal family also provided similar intelligence, saying that an unidentified force had defeated the Baronial Alliance in the White River region and occupied six baronial territories.

This was undoubtedly fantastic news for Morris.

If everything is true, then the Duke of the Swamp's tough stance is all an act; he is facing a huge threat from behind.

If Morris simply holds Amber Harbor and delays, will everything turn around?
Whether others believed it or not, Maurice believed it, even if it meant placing his hopes on an ambitious man and a bandit leader who appeared out of nowhere.

Because he had no choice but to believe.

After all, he couldn't trust a single word of the Duke of the Swamp.

If he surrenders, he will inevitably face torture more terrifying than death.

After laughing, Maurice summoned the servants outside the palace and ordered them to immediately gather all the important figures inside and outside the palace, as he had something important to announce.

About half an hour later, a large number of people, both men and women, arrived inside the hall.

The entourage included Maurice's wife and three sons, six senior members of the Royal Council, the Archbishop's representative at the palace, the Mayor of Amber Harbor and several councilors, as well as the late King's youngest daughter; it seemed to be a very impressive lineup.

Morris first revealed the Duke of the Valley's letter and Lynn's existence.

Then he sat on the throne and announced to the crowd: "Hermann has suggested that I grant Lynn of White River Territory the title of Earl. I think this suggestion is wonderful. Does anyone have any objections?"

The king's bestowal of the title of earl was a significant event.

An earl is a noble title second only to a duke, especially since Lynn occupies the White River region. Granting him an earl title would be tantamount to acknowledging his ownership of the territory.

However, the White River basin was originally the territory of the Duke of the Swamp, so Morris accepted it without any pressure.

He is the king, and nominally the entire Northern Kingdom is his territory; he certainly has that power.

The only problem is that Lynn's background and identity are completely unknown, and granting him the title of earl rashly may damage the dignity of the royal family.

But in Maurice's eyes, if a bastard could become king, then the dignity of the royal family was nothing but a fart.

After some whispering among the crowd, the chairman of the Royal Council and the Prime Minister of the Kingdom finally stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, I agree with your decision."

In the last two months alone, the Kingdom's Prime Minister has changed three times.

The previous one ran away, so Maurice found someone else to take his place.

The current Prime Minister of the Kingdom is Maurice's childhood friend, so he will inevitably listen to him.

The other high-ranking officials in the council echoed this sentiment, as the original officials had all fled, and they were all temporary replacements that Maurice had found.

Just then, a clear female voice rang out in the hall: "Your Majesty, I object!"

(End of this chapter)