I'm not a lord

Chapter 284 The Old Forces' Resentment and Counterattack

Lynn and Hela both underestimated Herman's will.

Even though the situation in the North changed drastically, it did not affect his determination to resist to the end.

As the Duke of the Valley, he could not allow himself to bow down to a traitor; it would be a serious blow to the family's prestige.

Even if his eldest daughter Hela were to marry Lynn now, he would not abandon the castle to attend the wedding.

There is no room for compromise on this matter.

Herman was furious, largely because his daughter Hela had advised him in a letter to abandon White Eagle Castle and seek political asylum in Lynn as well.

Even his most beloved daughter didn't understand him, which broke Hong Wen's defenses.

After the envoy left, Herman couldn't help but burst into a tirade of curses in the hall:
“Unforgivable! Lynn is absolutely unforgivable! He must have instigated Hela to write this letter. My daughter has been in White River Territory for less than a month and this brat has corrupted her!”

But he had no solution other than impotent rage.

Without his permission as their father, how could Hela and Heidi have sought refuge in the White River Territory?
Ultimately, it's all his fault for being soft-hearted and agreeing to Hela's request.

Hermann now resembles an incompetent old man whose beloved daughter has been kidnapped.

Whenever he thinks about it, he feels like slapping himself twice.

Compared to Hermann's explosive emotions, Count Mirror Iron's emotions were much more stable.

The next day, when Vasa learned that Herman had no intention of opening the gates and surrendering, he simply shook his head.

“It’s not that I’m disregarding Earl White River’s feelings, but that Herman doesn’t cherish this rare opportunity. Envoy, please make sure you truthfully convey the situation at White Eagle Castle to Earl White River.”

Vasa truly did not want to launch a full-scale attack on White Eagle Castle. If Herman were willing to open the gates and surrender, he would certainly be willing to spare the life of this 'former' duke.

Of course, there is another prerequisite: Herman must voluntarily relinquish his claim to the territory and publicly acknowledge the transfer of the ducal title to Vasa.

Logically speaking, only the king of the North has the authority to grant or revoke a duke's title, and even the duke himself cannot arbitrarily transfer his title to others.

But now that Maurice, the rightful king of the North, has fled to the South, and Otto III is nothing but an aggressor, who would care about the so-called authority of the king?
Since neither of these two prerequisites has been met, Vasa has no choice but to continue besieging White Eagle Fortress.

"Your Excellency, this is my duty." The envoy's young face showed some panic as the main mission of this mission had not been completed.

He knew in his heart that the White Eagle Fortress, which refused to surrender, would tie down a large number of Mirror Iron Earl's troops, thus affecting his lord's overall plans.

Vasa then gave the messenger a personal letter, asking him to pass it on to Lynn, and instructed him: "You need not worry. I have already defended you in the letter. This is not your responsibility. With the magnanimity of the Earl of White River, he will surely understand your difficulties."

The envoy was deeply moved and immediately bowed, saying, "Thank you for your understanding and assistance!"

Vasa stroked his thick beard and smiled, “There is one more thing I need you to tell Count Baihe: I will continue to abide by the treaty signed last autumn and will not interfere in any way north of Jinghe.”

According to the treaty signed by Lynn and Vasa last autumn, the two demarcated their future spheres of influence and agreed to use the Tranquil River as the boundary.

Vasa has now almost conquered the entire Vale Territory, with only White Eagle Castle remaining.

Lynn, on the other hand, only controlled two counties, while the wealthy region centered around Golden Deer Castle remained in the hands of Lothair's eldest son.

But Vasa knew very well that Lynn of Golden Deer Fortress was determined to have it, and if he were to be greedy and try to interfere north of the Tranquil River, he would only be giving Otto in the east an opportunity.

What he needs to do now is to join forces with Lynn and the Duke of Meadows to fight against the Southern Territory.

Once he has repelled the invaders from the south, he can then focus all his efforts on heading east to seize the Crown Territory, a truly prosperous place far superior to the valley territories filled with mountains and ravines.

Only then will he be able to free up his hands to compete with Lynn.

However, the scale of the Grassland Dukes was clearly not as grand as that of the Vasa.

When Lynn's envoy arrived at Wolf's Keep and presented diplomatic documents, Duke Samuel of the Meadows frowned and asked in confusion, "I don't understand why Earl White River is so obsessed with Golden Deer Keep?"

The envoy, Leif, raised his head and replied, "Your Grace, Earl of White River simply wants to concentrate more forces against Otto, and for this he needs the wealth and population of Golden Deer Castle."

Leif was born in the Valley Duchy and served as Kalebo's second-in-command at White Eagle Castle.

After Kalebo joined Lynn's side and became Minister of Foreign Affairs, he recruited his deputy to the newly formed Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Leif had accompanied Kalebo on numerous diplomatic missions to various powers in the North, and was quite adept at diplomacy.

This wasn't his first time visiting Canglang Castle, but he didn't have a good impression of this castle located on the vast grassland.

One reason is that the towns surrounding the castle are rather desolate, offering little entertainment, and even the drinks sold in the taverns are quite poor, almost inedible.

On the other hand, it is because the nobles of the grasslands are not very clean. They often bully and even rob visiting delegations and nobles. They are simply bandits, or even worse than bandits!

Because of such a harsh environment, this grassland territory has never been able to develop. In terms of both economic and military strength, it is at the bottom of the three major duchies and can barely make a living by selling warhorses.

No sooner had Leif finished speaking than Duke Samuel, sitting on the wolf-skin cushion, eagerly said:

“If the Earl of White River needs more troops to fight Otto, that’s easy. He hasn’t bothered to attack Golden Deer Castle at all. I’m willing to act as a mediator, mediate the conflict between him and Golden Deer Castle, and persuade László to send troops to resist Otto. To show my sincerity, I will personally lead the army to White River Territory, and László will accompany me.”

In the grasslands teeming with bandits, Duke Samuel was an exception. He always kept his hair and beard impeccably groomed, spoke clearly and logically, and had no trace of banditry about him.

But when it comes to actually fighting, he's more insane than anyone else.

Last autumn, he led two thousand soldiers to sweep through the western part of the Swamp Territory, plundering a large number of people and grain. Villages along the way were burned down by his army, and all valuable goods were looted.

But Samuel considered himself a reasonable person.

Grassland Territory has the largest area among the three duchies. In fact, all the land west of the Tranquil River belongs to Grassland Territory, and its total area even exceeds the sum of the other two duchies and the Royal Territory.

However, such a large land area cannot generate much benefit. The further west you go, the drier the climate becomes, and the territory is full of barren grasslands and desert sands.

Because his territory was poor, Samuel believed that raiding other territories was perfectly legal.

When the three dukes divided their territories, if one of them received the poorest share, the other two dukes were obligated to provide reasonable compensation.

Moreover, Samuel only robbed, never occupied land, and left immediately after looting, being very 'rule-abiding'. Therefore, he had an almost fanatical pursuit of so-called 'rules'.

Anyone who dares to violate the 'ancestral rules' of the North, that is, the sphere of influence defined by the first King of the North, will be dealt with.

Duke Lothair of the Marshland usurped the throne, so he attacked Lothair and launched large-scale invasions of the Marshland for several years in a row.

Otto III of the South invaded the North, so he was willing to gather an army to deal with Otto next year.

Lynn was also a rule-breaker, and he certainly didn't want Lynn to conquer Golden Deer Castle further.

Ultimately, Samuel hated 'change'. It was precisely because the Grasslands were too weak to influence the course of events in the North that he sought a stable and unchanging power structure.

Lynn's rise was so rapid that it terrified and even made him dizzy. He feared that this new Northern power would continue to expand westward after taking Golden Deer.

Moreover, the policies Lynn implemented on his territory were a complete rejection of the traditional aristocratic system, which Samuel considered pure 'treason'.

However, he still needs Lynn to defend against Otto, so he is willing to cooperate with Lynn to a limited extent.

Samuel was sincere in sending troops to fight Otto, but he had limited forces, at most two thousand men, and Lynn had to provide the supplies.

He had assumed that his sincere proposal would be accepted by the envoy.

To everyone's surprise, Leif refused righteously, saying, "Your Grace, I am not here to negotiate with you on behalf of Earl White River, and he will not allow the armies of the two dukes to enter his territory. There is no possibility of this happening."

Before his mission to Wolfsburg, Leif had been summoned by Lynn and thus knew his lord's core demands.

Lynn had no desire to cooperate with such a backward old power as the Grassland Dukes. The nobles of Grassland Territory were more like bandits than bandits themselves, and they would definitely not be able to control their unruly little hands once they arrived in the wealthy White River Territory.

At that time, Lynn will not only have to guard against external enemies, but also keep an eye on his allies. How can he fight this war?
These words seemed to flip a switch within Samuel, who abruptly stood up from the wolfskin mat, glared at Leif, and roared:
"So, is Earl White River really planning to fight Otto alone? Or is he already prepared to surrender to Otto? His obsession with Golden Deer Castle is precisely to replace the Duke of the Swamp, and then use that as leverage to negotiate with Otto, isn't it?"

In the last month or two, Samuel has been in frequent contact with László, the eldest son of the Duke of the Marsh.

Perhaps they developed feelings for each other during the robbery, because Samuel and László got along quite well.

After analysis, they unanimously concluded that Lynn might have betrayed the North.

In their understanding, Lynn's decision not to attack the Crown Territory but instead to relentlessly pursue the Marshland Duchy was to avoid a direct confrontation with Otto and to gain sufficient bargaining power.

They held the same view of Count Vasa of Mirror Iron.

In short, neither of the two established powers in the North can be entirely trusted by these new forces that have risen to power amidst the chaos.

Faced with Samuel's stern accusations, Leif remained unfazed. He held his head high, meeting the Duke's murderous gaze directly, and spoke in a measured tone:

"Your Grace, Earl of White River's determination to resist Otto is beyond question. Time will tell. I have come to Wolf's Lair only to deliver a message to you on his behalf: if you insist on siding with Golden Deer Castle, then only war and destruction await you."

"But if you are willing to remain at Wolf's Lair and observe until everything is over, Earl White River will bestow upon you a generous gift."

It was called a notification, but it was more like a threat.

Resistance only gets you punished, while compliance brings rewards.

The reason why Leif dared to threaten a duke was naturally because he had the support of Earl Lynn of White River and the powerful army of White River Territory as his backing.

If the Duke of Meadows were to take his anger out on him, Lynn would avenge him and take good care of his wife and children.

Therefore, Leif had nothing to fear.

Today is also the most triumphant day of his ten-year diplomatic career.

Previously, he had worked for the Duke of the Valley under Kalebo, where he not only had to be humble and subservient but also suffered constant scorn and looked down upon, living a truly pathetic life.

But ever since he followed Earl White River, his posture has straightened and his voice has become louder, which is like a rebirth for Leif.

"Are you threatening me?" Duke Samuel of the Meadow stared intently at Leif, his narrow eyes radiating a dangerous, wolf-like aura.

The two burly guards behind him also placed their right hands on their sword hilts, waiting for a command to chop the fearless messenger into mincemeat.

Leif grinned: "That's right, it's a threat!"

Leif eventually managed to return to White River Territory, and no matter how angry Samuel was, he didn't dare to do anything to him.

Before him, the envoy sent to White Eagle Fortress had already returned safely to the Western Suburbs Palace.

At the southern end of the western suburbs, Lynn was leading a group of officials to inspect several monasteries and estates within the county.

Although the monasteries under the church were abolished, the manors and buildings that remained still existed.

Lynn plans to renovate these manors and integrate them into the territory's defense system.

These manors are of fairly good quality overall, all of them are brick and stone buildings, and their defensive capabilities are no weaker than those of the castles in baronies.

By simply deploying a small number of elite troops to these manors, they can protect a large number of people and delay the enemy's advance when faced with foreign invasion.

When Lynn received the news, he smiled and said to Victor beside him, "These old forces in the North are quite stubborn."

Victor said seriously, "Sir, this is stubbornness. Times have changed, but they don't want to make changes."

“Yes, he is stubborn, but Samuel eventually made a concession. He clearly doesn’t dare to be my enemy and is willing to watch our war with Golden Deer Castle.”

Lynn had anticipated this outcome.

The grasslands are too weak; even if they are eliminated, it will not affect the course of the war.

The two walked on the snow in the manor for a while. Looking at the collapsed walls of the manor, Victor suddenly asked, "Sir, the enemy in the east is more deadly than the one in the west. Is it really necessary to put the battlefield near Sanhe City? You can deploy the army to some locations further east."

Victor's intention was to persuade Lynn to take over several territories east of White River Territory and rely on the castles in these territories to resist Otto's southern army.

Lynn smiled slightly and looked up at the vast white snowscape to the east: "I have already ordered Kalebo to handle this matter, and there should be news soon."

(End of this chapter)