I'm not a lord

Chapter 187 Alliance with the King

Lynn played with the scepter, feeling that the scepter issued by King Morris was indeed of excellent quality.

Although it is also a relatively low-end sterling silver product, the head of the staff is engraved with a fierce and vivid lion's head, and the craftsmanship is obviously better than the bare fire poker issued by the Duke of the Valley.

However, this only shows that the craftsmen in Amber Harbor are more skilled.

Even if the scepter were made of pure gold, Lynn would not have the slightest bit of loyalty to Morris.

This Maurice is called king, but his orders don't even leave Amber Harbor.

I only asked you to give me a title because I barely respect you and acknowledge you as a king.
You expect me to kneel down and swear allegiance for this? Don't push your luck!

Do you really think the North is still the domain of your Urynnis family?

The Duke of the Marshland has already set an example: the king should be the one with the strongest army!
Lynn is currently treating Morris as an ally.

The premise is that Maurice can hold Amber Harbor.

A king who loses his capital is utterly insignificant; on the continent of Dievas, that would be tantamount to being deposed.

After accepting the two documents and the scepter, Lynn gestured for the bewildered Earl Brun to proceed:

"The ceremony is now complete, and I think we should now discuss the specifics of our alliance."

The bizarre investiture ceremony was abruptly interrupted by Lynn, who then took Earl Brun to a small meeting room on the second floor of the castle.

Sitting in the conference room, after taking a sip of mead to calm his nerves, Bren, still shaken, finally managed to sort out his thoughts.

It seems that Lynn simply doesn't want to pledge allegiance to King Morris.

Is this correct? No, it's not.
Is that wrong? Yes. Right?

Isn't it only natural for a vassal to be loyal to his lord?
Moreover, he was a vassal personally appointed by His Majesty the King.

But Lynn's territory was not granted by the king, so it seems reasonable that he was unwilling to pledge allegiance.
Well, once His Majesty defeats the Duke of the Swamp and reclaims the power rightfully his own, Lynn will eventually have to bow down to His Majesty's scepter.

After pondering for a long time, Earl Brun finally spoke: "Earl of White River, I believe there may be some misunderstanding between you and the King. The King has full respect for you and highly recognizes your heroic deeds in the White River region."

You are granted the title of Earl because your bravery and strength deserve the recognition of this title.

"Your appointment as the Royal Envoy of the Northern Frontier is due to high hopes placed upon you. Once you have quelled the rebellion in the Northern Kingdom, the King will surely bestow upon you a higher title, such as Duke of the Swamps."

Before leaving Amber Harbor, King Maurice had given Brun a hint.

To win over Lynn, Morris was willing to offer the Duke's price.

The premise is that Lynn can breach Three Rivers and threaten the Duke of the Marsh's stronghold, Golden Deer, or launch a sneak attack on the Duke from behind.

Count Brune was a seasoned veteran, but faced with Lynn's completely unorthodox fighting style, he quickly lost his temper and surrendered, revealing his final bottom line in negotiations.

Lynn, however, showed little interest: "There is no misunderstanding between me and the king, and I have no interest in titles."

That's the truth, just like saying "I'm not interested in money."

Most of the time, titles are just icing on the cake; what really matters is the territory and the army you control.

With sufficient ability, titles will naturally follow.

Lynn conquered White River Territory, demonstrating his value in the war effort. Both the Duke of the Valley and King Morris were eager to bestow titles upon him.

Count Brun immediately asked, "Then what do you want?"

Lynn stared into Bren's dark green eyes, his voice deep and powerful: "I only want to know if His Majesty the King will be able to celebrate the Harvest Festival in Amber Harbor."

The implication was that they were asking King Maurice if he could hold on for another two months, until August.

Lynn's newly recruited thousand soldiers are undergoing training by the fifth brother, Andrei, and will not be combat-ready until August at the earliest.

Faced with Lynn's overwhelming aura, Bren immediately shrank back, but he still stubbornly replied:

“I can assure you that His Majesty will not only be able to celebrate the Harvest Festival in Amber Harbor, but will also be able to completely defeat the Duke of the Swamp.”

"Really? That's good." Lynn's face returned to its usual smile.

Bren was essentially a coward, but he was quite confident when it came to the King and Amber Harbor. Lynn didn't care what methods Morris had; he just wanted Amber Harbor to stay in the hands of the Marsh Duke before August.

The tide has turned, and it's Brun's turn to launch a counterattack: "His Majesty the King wants to know when his appointed Royal Executive will be able to conquer the Three Rivers City, which is unwilling to pledge allegiance to the Royal Family."

“Wait, it won’t be long.” Lynn’s answer seemed ambiguous, but his tone was equally firm.

To say that titles are completely useless is not entirely true.

Morris not only gave him the title of Earl, but also the position of Royal Executive Officer, and even nominally stripped him of the title and lands of the Duke of the Marshland.

These three things combined are equivalent to giving Lynn a legitimate claim to every inch of the Marshland Duchy.

Even if Maurice falls from power, these claims will not be completely invalidated.

With a legitimate claim, Lynn could do a lot more.

For example, legitimately recruiting the forces within Sanhe City to surrender.

It turns out that Lynn was a bandit leader who had seized territory, and surrendering to him meant bearing social, public, and even internal pressure.

But he is now the Earl of White River, appointed by the king, and every inch of his land was conquered by himself. He is a very powerful figure in the entire North.

Is it shameful to surrender to the great Earl of Shirakawa?
It's not shameful at all.

Moreover, Lynn has too many cards to play; claiming the card is just one of them.

Mayor Jürgen, a hardliner, is unwilling to surrender, but his councilors might be less likely to.

Lynn and Earl Brun eventually reached a verbal agreement.

According to the agreement, Lynn and King Morris formed an alliance to help each other and fight against the Duke of the Marsh.

Meanwhile, the royal family will station three envoys in the White River Territory to be responsible for communication between the two sides.

Lynn thought it was completely unnecessary.

But seeing that Count Brune was somewhat sincere, he reluctantly agreed to the request.

Lynn then received the three envoys—two women and one man—inside the castle.

After a brief chat, it became clear that the three men were all stewards of Princess Chloris.

“My Lord, Her Highness the Princess has ordered us to pledge our allegiance to you. As long as we remain on your territory, you may order us around as you please.”

Despite being the princess's trusted stewards, the three men behaved with great humility.

These days, noble families usually have more than one household.

Even unmarried princesses would have some private estates, villas, or castles near the capital.

Every residence naturally needs a butler so that the owner can move in with just their bags at any time.

Although such stewards do not have much power, they are highly trusted by their masters and cannot be competent without being trusted confidants.

Under Lynn's questioning, all three revealed their main past experiences.

They all followed the princess's mother from the South to the North, starting as lowly servants and gradually rising to become stewards deeply trusted by both mother and daughter.

Lynn also heard an interesting story from the three people.

First, a female butler spoke up: "My lord, at the court meeting that day, His Majesty the King originally only wanted to give you the title of Earl, but the Princess insisted on granting you the title of Royal Governor or Royal Marshal."

Another housekeeper then added, “That is true, but the King and almost all the royal officials do not approve of the princess. They believe that your birth is not noble enough and are unwilling to grant you such a prestigious position.”

The remaining butler added insult to injury: "In the end, it was the princess who insisted on her opinion, which persuaded the king to grant you the title of Royal Executive Officer."

Lynn looked at the three excited butlers and said thoughtfully, "So, I was able to get the position of Executive Officer because I received the princess's help?"

At the same time, doubts arose in his mind.

Why are the three envoys stationed in Baihe Territory all the princess's men, and not the king's men?

(End of this chapter)