I'm not a lord

Chapter 230 Troops Deployed to the Southern Border
Chloris stood on the second-floor window, gazing at the walls of Amber Harbor to the northwest.

Two more days of fierce fighting ensued on the city walls, and the acrid smell of battle had already reached her small palace in a corner of the royal palace.

Even with the situation in Amber Harbor so critical, King Maurice did not relax his surveillance and control over the little princess, and the guards stationed around the palace were never withdrawn.

Even though the city walls were short-staffed, Maurice only transferred half of his guards, leaving more than ten men to keep watch day and night.

Chloris's very existence is a valuable political bargaining chip.

If it falls into the hands of an ambitious person, it could instantly be transformed into a legitimate claim to the crown of the North.

Therefore, she was already under strict surveillance long before her father, the former King in the North, died.

During the six-month vacancy of the throne, the high-ranking officials who remained in the palace did not relax their surveillance of her.

Of course, Chloris was not the type to sit idly by and wait for her fate.

She has reliable trusted servants and intelligence channels, enabling her to keep abreast of external developments at all times.

During this period, she had several excellent opportunities to leave the capital.

She just didn't want to leave, or rather, she was somewhat lost and didn't know where to go.

Go to other powers in the North? Wouldn't that just be handing over legitimate claims to ambitious individuals?
Returning to her maternal home in the Southern Territory? It seems the outcome wouldn't be much different.

Chloris had a poor relationship with her sister and brother-in-law because her uncle had offended Otto III over the issue of succession.

Running back to her parents' home would only harm them, and she might even be tied up by her own uncle and sent to Otto as an apology.

If she were to fall into Otto's hands, her best outcome would be to be imprisoned for life.

To put it bluntly, it's not much different from her current situation, and it might even be worse.

When Maurice first ascended to the throne, Chloris still held a sliver of hope for her uncle.

In hindsight, the illegitimate king was utterly hopeless.

Of course, this is also inseparable from the deteriorating situation in the North.

If this were a hundred years ago, given Maurice's mediocre political acumen, he would have had no problem being a good, incompetent king during peacetime.

But times have changed.

The royal family declined, and various warlords rose up.

The Duke of the Marshland was able to besiege Amber Harbor twice within a year, completely disregarding the 'holy' royal authority.

Over the past three days, in order to resist Lothair's elite court knights, a large number of armed citizens in the city have been killed in battle, and their morale is at risk of collapsing.

Unprofessional militiamen are ultimately no match for professional warriors.

Given the current situation, the capital is in grave danger, and Lothair outside the city could invade at any moment.

If they manage to withstand Lothair's relentless offensive, Otto III of the Southern Territory could deliver a fatal blow to the bastard king at any moment.

Those volunteers and mercenaries from the southern border were like a sharp guillotine that could fall at any moment.

It can only be said that Maurice's good days are yet to come.

As night fell, the maid who brought the meal said with a worried expression, "Your Highness, the situation in the city is getting worse and worse."

Chloris picked up her knife and fork and cut into the freshly cooked chicken, saying calmly, "Yes, I know all that."

With her intelligence network, she was not only fully aware of the situation in the city, but also had a clear understanding of it.

According to her estimate, if the Duke of the Swamp's frenzied attack could continue for another week, then Amber Harbor would most likely fall.

However, she was not very clear about the situation on the Duke of the Swamp.

Can this near-frenzied offensive really last a week?

She felt it was difficult to say.

In the North and even on the continent of Dievas, death is the only fair thing. No matter how high your status, how strong your martial arts, or how thick your armor, once you are dead, you are truly dead, and even the divine magic of the Three Saints cannot bring you back.

You can't say that the armed citizens inside the city are afraid of death, but the palace cavalry outside the city are not, can you?

The lives of the court cavalry are also lives.

Even the Duke of the Swamp couldn't force thousands of court cavalry to line up and die, because these cavalry would take care of the Duke first.

The maid, carrying a tray, suddenly lowered her voice and said, "Your Highness, I think you should prepare as soon as possible."

“Don’t worry, I have my own plans.” With that, Chloris forked a piece of tender chicken leg meat and put it in her mouth, chewing it slowly and savoring it.

The Duke of the Marsh did not have enough naval power to blockade the Amber Harbor docks, nor could he cut off the Tranquil River waterway, nor dared he do so.

The Tranquil River is the lifeline of the entire Northern Kingdom; cities and noble territories of all sizes rely on this route to transport goods and supplies.

The Duke of the Marshland had the audacity to besiege Amber Harbor, but he wasn't foolish enough to offend all the powers in the North.

Therefore, Amber Harbor continues to receive a steady stream of supplies from the coastal cities of the South, and a small number of nobles in the North are willing to provide support to the royal family.

At the same time, King Maurice could also use the Tranquil River waterway to contact the nobles in the interior; Count Brun, who had previously been sent as an envoy to the White River Territory, had also used the Tranquil River waterway.

It is thanks to these external supplies that Amber Harbor has been able to hold on until now, and that the city's elites have been able to enjoy fresh and delicious food.

Although Morris effectively placed Chloris under house arrest, he didn't make things too difficult for her in her daily life.

As for her plan, it was simply to run away with the bucket.

Amber Harbor is most likely beyond saving; given the bastard Maurice's skills and abilities, he's absolutely powerless to turn the tide.

The Urenius dynasty will also come to an end.

Chloris was just a young, unmarried princess, and she was powerless to change the situation.

The next master of Amber Harbor will either be the Duke of the Marshlands in the North or Otto III in the South.

This time, Chloris wants to decide her own destiny.

Or rather, she wants to decide for herself whose 'trophy' she will become.

Once Amber Harbor falls, given her status, no matter where she appears, she will quickly fall into the hands of ambitious individuals and become their political pawn or breeding tool.

This matter is beyond her control, unless she changes her name and identity and completely abandons her identity.

However, the matter of living in anonymity was also beyond her control.

Every mortal leaves a trace, and the ambitious ones who want to seize the capital will surely follow those traces to find her body or whereabouts.

The North is vast, yet also very small.

Unless she hides deep in the mountains, she'll eventually be found. Since she can't escape this damned fate, why not submit to an ambitious man who's even slightly more agreeable?
For example, Lynn?

In fact, all of Chloris's knowledge of Lynn came from the merchant's retelling and a few letters sent back by the three trusted stewards.

The less she knew about him, the more interested the little princess became in him.

She was very curious as to why a force that had only suddenly emerged last year could expand so rapidly, like a dazzling shooting star that suddenly streaked across the night sky.

She was equally curious about the various wondrous tools and technologies that appeared in Baihe Territory, such as the wheeled heavy plow that could slice through the black soil like a cake.

The fact that the bandit lord did not indulge in pleasure and even invested a large amount of gold in the school puzzled her even more.

What she was most curious about was how long Lynn's emerging power could last, or whether it could continue to expand.

Is Lynn really just a fleeting shooting star?
Does he have the chance to become the eternally shining moon or sun?
But if Chloris wants to witness all of this firsthand, she must go to White River Territory herself.

The fall of Amber Harbor and the end of Urenius's family also presented her with an opportunity—a chance to escape the birdcage.

With the city in chaos, Maurice would have no time to attend to this remote little palace, and the king's guards outside would most likely scatter like birds and beasts.

Just in case, Chloris had actually bribed two guards with a large sum of money and her beauty.

She still wields some influence within Amber Harbor.

After enjoying the exquisite dinner, Chloris picked up a napkin to wipe her mouth and instructed the maid in a firm voice, "Go and rest. Don't worry, I'm here. I am the princess, and I will protect you."

Amber Harbour remains 'lively' even at night.

Under cover of darkness, the Duke of the Marshland dispatched several elite troops to launch a surprise attack on the southwest corner of the city wall.

Exhausted citizens could only rush to the southwest corner, and after a fierce battle lasting more than half an hour, they barely managed to repel the enemy force.

However, the horns outside the city sounded continuously throughout the night, creating the impression that the Duke of the Swamp was ready to send troops to attack the city at any moment.

Chloris didn't dare to take off her clothes to sleep all night, fearing she wouldn't be able to escape in time.

Just as dawn broke and she was about to doze off, the city walls became lively again; the enemy had begun their attack once more.

Clearly, the Duke of the Swamp employed a strategy of attacking day and night, and used a war of attrition to wear down the defenders.

His main camp was a full three kilometers away from Amber Harbor, and even though the sounds of battle were deafening from the city walls, it did not prevent the soldiers who had been fighting during the day from sleeping soundly.

But it was a different story inside the city. If there was any commotion on the city walls, no one in the entire city could get a good night's sleep.

This tactic, though unscrupulous, is very effective.

Like Chloris, most people in Amber Harbor had not slept all night, including King Maurice, who was huddled in the palace, trembling with fear.

When the sun was high in the sky, she could no longer stay awake and drifted off to sleep in bed.

After an unknown amount of time, her mother's voice rang in her ears: "Chloris, wake up, wake up!"

"W-What's wrong, Mom?"

Chloris barely opened her eyes, and before her was her mother Katarina's anxious face.

Although she is a widowed former queen, Katarina is actually only 35 years old this year and is quite well-maintained.

But her fair face was now distorted by panic, and the prominent dark circles under her eyes proved that she had also spent a sleepless night.

"Your uncle just sent an urgent message by carrier pigeon: Otto is going to formally declare war on the North! And on the very day the message was sent, Otto himself led his army onto a warship bound for the North!"

Katarina brought absolutely explosive news.

"Really? Otto really sent troops?" Chloris's eyes widened in surprise, and her drowsiness vanished.

Katarina quickly replied, "It's true, the carrier pigeon and the handwriting have been verified!"

Carrier pigeons are actually a rather inconvenient communication tool; their only advantage is their speed.

Training a group of excellent homing pigeons often takes several years, and even if they are successfully trained, they can only serve as one-way messengers.

Moreover, the risk of sending messages by carrier pigeon is very high. Hunter's traps, enemy crossbow bolts, and foraging eagles can all threaten the life of the carrier pigeon, thus causing the message to fail.

The carrier pigeon that delivered the message today was hatched in Amber Harbor and then underwent more than two years of training before being taken to the Southern Reach.

If something happens to Chloris's family, the message can be sent to the North as quickly as possible via carrier pigeon.

Once the message is delivered, the carrier pigeon cannot fly back on its own. Someone must be sent by boat to take the pigeon back to the southern border before it can deliver another message.

As for the content of the letters, it was all encrypted, requiring a specific codebook to decipher. This was mainly to prevent the enemy from capturing or altering the letters.

After confirming that the information was correct, Chloe jumped off the bed like a spring-loaded doll.

She sat on the edge of the bed, her brows furrowed, muttering to herself, "It takes three days for a carrier pigeon to travel from the Southern Territory to Amber Harbor. It's summer now, and the winds blow from the south over the icy sea. Subtract three days, and Otto's landing should be in a week. A week."

Katarina was shocked: "A week? Otto will arrive at Amber Harbor in a week? What are we going to do? And what are you going to do?"

For this former queen, spending the rest of her life in a convent was the best destiny for her.

She has no claim to the throne, so whoever puts the crown on her in the North shouldn't make things too difficult for her.

But her daughter is a different story.

Katarina understood the situation and was naturally worried about her daughter's future.

After calculating the exact time, Chloris smiled reassuringly: "Mom, don't worry about me. There's still plenty of time; I can carry out my plan."

Katarina knew her daughter was always intelligent, and she had already handed over all her power and wealth to her daughter.

She felt somewhat relieved, then asked, "Should we tell Maurice about this?"

“No, there’s no need for that. Maurice’s fate is sealed, and no one can change it. Mother, we can only think of ourselves now. If we tell Maurice this news, the entire Amber Harbor will instantly fall into irreversible chaos. The Marsh Duke outside the city could storm the palace today, which will do us no good.”

Without the slightest hesitation, Chloris chose to sell Morris, and in doing so, the entire Amber Harbor.

In her plan, Amber Harbor needs to hold on for a while longer, at least until she has completed all the preparations for her escape.

Moreover, the longer Amber Harbor can hold out, the more troops it will consume, including the city's own troops and the troops of the Duke of the Marshland outside the city.

Thus, when Otto landed, he was met with a dilapidated Amber Harbor and an exhausted Marsh Duke.

At that time, it is highly likely that Otto will occupy Amber Harbor, while the Duke of the Marsh will lead his remaining troops in retreat.

The Kingdom of Rui has a very limited army available for the northern expedition, and Otto is not popular in the north, meaning he does not serve the interests of the local nobles in the Crown Territory.

Who benefits most from this situation? Naturally, it benefits the other ambitious figures in the North.

(End of this chapter)