I'm not a lord

Chapter 286 Women will only slow down my ascension to the throne
When Otto and his wife arrived at Amber Harbor Cathedral in the city center, they were greeted by a deafening roar of "Long live the King!" from the crowds.

The current mayor of Amber Harbor, Neil, stepped forward, bowed, and led him toward the main entrance of the church.

According to the past practice in the North, when a new king is crowned, the three dukes of the North should be the ones to open the door and lead the way for him.

Otto, however, did not have the means, and he held the old nobles of the North in contempt, so he found other nobles to replace them.

For example, today the person who opened the car door for him was Mayor Neil, and the person leading the way for him was his in-law, Earl Meissen.

Thanks to Otto's preparations made half a month in advance, the coronation ceremony went quite smoothly.
Upon entering the church, he walked to the altar, turned around, and recited the oath to the priests and guests present.

He had already memorized the oath, which was nothing more than unifying the North, respecting the Church, and protecting the cities.

The Rui royal family are devout followers of the Trinity Church, and all procedures are strictly conducted in accordance with church regulations.

After Otto finished taking the oath, the white-haired archbishop smeared holy water on his forehead and hands, symbolizing the grace and blessing of the three saints, and veiling his rule with a veil of divine authority.

Then comes the most crucial coronation ceremony.

The archbishop tremblingly held up the golden crown inlaid with countless jewels, and Otto bowed his head at the opportune moment, allowing the archbishop to place the crown on his head.

Subsequently, the archbishop presented Otto with a scepter symbolizing rule, a longsword symbolizing protection, and a ring symbolizing responsibility.

The moment Otto received the ring, the children below the altar sang hymns in their tender voices, thus concluding the coronation ceremony.

The ceremony began in the morning and ended at noon.

Otto then hosted a grand banquet at the palace, inviting distinguished guests from all quarters to attend.

Despite the relative scarcity of produce in winter, the dishes at this luncheon were still quite abundant.

The banquet was held in several restaurants, with only about twenty people qualified to enter the most central restaurant.

Otto first raised his glass to Mayor Neil, who was sitting to his left, to express his gratitude: "Mr. Mayor, I am very grateful to you. Without your courage and decisiveness, I would never have been able to land in Amber Harbor, let alone be crowned king today."

Mayor Neil and the city council behind him played a crucial role in Otto's takeover of the North.

If it weren't for Neil and the councilors leading the citizens in a desperate resistance, Duke Lothair of the Marshland would have already stormed the city, and Otto wouldn't have had a chance to pick up the pieces.

When the bastard Maurice realized the situation was not good and prepared to flee to the South, it was Neil who forced Maurice to hand over the scepter and crown, and kept these two precious ceremonial objects in the cathedral.

Otto's successful coronation today owes a great deal to Neil.

Of course, even without these ceremonial items commissioned by the first King of the North, Otto could still be crowned.

But saying that out loud would sound rather unpleasant and would damage his prestige and legitimacy.

Neil stood up, solemnly raised his glass, and replied, "The citizens of Amber Harbor have been longing for a true king, and that is our great King Otto. Everything I have done is to maintain the stability of the kingdom and the city, and I firmly believe that under King Otto's leadership, the North and Amber Harbor will usher in the dawn of a new era."

Throughout, Neil put the city first, and everything he did was based on protecting the city's interests.

In the eyes of the citizens of Amber Harbor, he is an absolutely outstanding mayor.

However, in the eyes of the rulers of the North, Neil was undoubtedly a fickle and treacherous man who would not hesitate to betray the king for the sake of the so-called interests of the city.

It can only be said that different positions lead to different evaluations.

However, Otto and Neil are currently in a honeymoon period, and their conflict of interest is not serious.

Otto then thanked the more than twenty distinguished guests present.

Most of these guests came from the southern border, including nobles from the Kingdom of Rui and noble representatives from other countries who came to seek refuge with them.

Otto's ability to decisively defeat the combined forces of the Marsh Duke and the Royal Territory north of Koren was entirely due to the valiant fighting of these nobles.

The only exception was Arno, the leader of the Power Mercenary Group.

This man used the Duke of the Marsh and River Bend Castle as a pledge of allegiance, successfully squeezing into Otto's group of meritorious officials.

After exchanging pleasantries, Otto looked around and said loudly, "Next spring, I will continue my campaign against the inland regions of the North. Earl Lynn of the White River, Earl Vasa of the Mirror Iron, Duke Samuel of the Meadows, and László, the eldest son of Lothair, these remaining forces in the North are unwilling to bow down and submit to me. Tell me, should I grant them destruction and death?"

Otto mentioned almost all the remaining native forces in the North, except for Herman, the Duke of the Valley.

This guy is already halfway to his grave; his political life is practically over, so let's not even talk about it.

Earl Maison was the first to stand up and respond: "Of course! You are the only king of the North, and everyone should submit to you! Those who disobey are traitors!"

Immediately afterwards, all the distinguished guests stood up and shouted in unison: "Suppress the traitors!"

Otto smiled broadly, but he knew in his heart that these distinguished guests were not fighting for him, the king.

There is only one reason that could make these nobles travel thousands of miles to the North to fight: their territory.

Otto waved his hand, gesturing for everyone to sit down, and then continued, "Although I am the king, the North is not just my North, but the North of all of you."

Next spring, I may return to Rui by ship. The task of subduing these rebels will be yours, and their territories and titles will, of course, be won by you!

The North is too big a pie for Otto to eat by himself, no matter how big his appetite is.

He currently controls only a large portion of the Crown Territory, of which he has taken control of half of the land and cities, while the remaining territory has been distributed to the nobles of the Kingdom of Rui.

The impoverished nobles of other countries in the southern border region were allocated only a very small amount of territory.

This allocation scheme, which favors Rui nobles, is clearly unacceptable to the public.

Therefore, Otto came up with a solution that would satisfy everyone before internal conflicts erupted.

You want territory? If you want it, then go and take it yourselves, just like the three dukes of the North two hundred years ago.

How much you get is up to you; if you don't get it, don't come complaining to me.

I've given you the opportunity; if you can't seize it, it's your own fault for not being capable!

Otto then seized the opportunity to divide the nobles into two groups, each led by a count from the southern border. Neither of these counts was Rui, nor were the nobles assigned to them.

Otto directly promised all the land west of River Bend to the 'Firui'.

This seemingly fair plan was immediately approved by most of the nobles present. They all clamored to rid the king of the traitors and to hang the heads of Lynn and the others at the west gate of Amber Harbor, to keep Duke Lothair of the Marshland company.

Apart from a few Rui nobles.

But despite the Earl of Meissen's warning, the nobles did not retaliate, but instead forced smiles and drank in silence.

As soon as the luncheon ended, Count Meissen followed Otto to a quiet, deserted corridor.

"Your Majesty, why give them all the land west of River Bend? You are the King of Rui, shouldn't you be taking care of your own country's nobles? Besides, once the territory is given to them, it will be difficult to take it back!"

The Earl of Meissen's doubts were shared by the other Rui nobles present.

They couldn't understand Otto's decision.

Indeed, the vast territory of the North should not be monopolized by the Kingdom of Rui, and the nobles of other countries have indeed contributed to the war effort and deserve a share of the land.

We can't give them most of the North! You, Otto, are the King of the Rui! And haven't you been saying you want to build a Rui empire? How can you be emperor if you give all your territory to other peoples?
Otto chuckled and punched Earl Meissen on the shoulder: "I know you're in a hurry, but hold on, let me explain. Besides, don't you know my personality? Would I let someone take advantage of me for nothing?"

He then lowered his voice and asked, "I only gave them the opportunity to seize territory, but what if they fail? This northern border is not the northern border of two hundred years ago, and those rebels west of River Bend are not backward and ignorant barbarians."

Otto's strategy was simple: the remaining forces in the North were unwilling to submit to him, and the non-Rui nobles from the South were neither controllable nor reliable.

Then let these two sides fight it out, preferably until they are both dead and both are severely injured.

During this period, Otto and the Rui nobles will simply sit back and watch the fight unfold in the Crown Territory, only to emerge at the last moment to feast on the corpses.

Earl Meissen was no fool; he understood everything immediately after hearing Otto's words. He exclaimed in admiration, "As expected of His Majesty, to be able to come up with such an ingenious plan."

Otto's smile gradually faded, and he said seriously, "We have indeed defeated Lothair, but it will be a long time before we conquer the entire North. The remaining major forces in the North should not be underestimated, especially Lynn and Vasa. These two have suddenly risen to power during the war, and they must have an elite army under their command. Let those wolves fight these two first, and we will just watch from the sidelines."

In truth, Otto also longed to quickly unify the North.

After unifying the North, he can formally merge the Northern Kingdom with the Kingdom of Rui, thus fulfilling his grand vision of establishing an empire.

But harsh reality reminded him that this dream was still far away.

The situation in the North is complex, and the composition of Otto's army is equally complex.

Even though he personally led tens of thousands of troops to conquer the entire northern territory, the northern territory still did not completely belong to him.

To appease the non-Ruy nobles, the territories of the three duchies will still be allocated to them; otherwise, a brutal civil war will continue in the devastated North.

So Otto simply changed his approach.

He then strolled through the corridors with Count Meissen and confided in him: "Next spring, you will return to Rui and assist Ludwig in governing the kingdom. I will remain in the North and spend six months to a year reorganizing the army."

To completely conquer the North, I need an elite army truly loyal to me, whose members will mostly be recruited directly from the North. I will use Northerners to conquer the North.

North or South, Otto chooses to have it all.

He did indeed have a direct army of nearly three thousand men in the Kingdom of Rui, but this army had to remain in the southern border to protect the old base and could not be easily transferred to the northern border.

The Crown Territory lacks everything, but it has no shortage of soldiers.

Mercenaries, civilian militias, noble conscripts, and bandits and thieves active in the mountains and fields—these are all excellent sources of soldiers.

While the nobles of the North opposed Otto, the ruler of the South, the common people of the lower classes did not have such nationalistic discrimination.

The citizens of Amber Harbor, for example, had absolutely no goodwill towards the former royal family.

Otto's plan is to use the money from the South to recruit an army of Northerners. Now that he is the rightful King of the North, he only needs to train them rigorously to leave his mark on this new army.

Training an army takes time; it may not be until next autumn that the army will have the combat capability he desires.

But he can wait, and isn't he being bought time by those hungry wolves from the South?

Once the news of his coronation as King of the North reaches the South, even more impoverished nobles from the South will come to the North to pursue their dreams next year. He can have as many cannon fodder as he wants!
That evening, Otto spoke frankly with his wife Sofia: "I have made my decision. Next year you will go back to Rui with Meissen. Ludwig cannot do without your guidance and education. I will stay in the North."

Sofia was in the midst of her husband's coronation when she heard this, and it was like a bucket of cold water being poured over her head.

She replied incredulously, "Otto, I think you need to discuss things with me before making any major decisions."

Otto chuckled and said, "Aren't I discussing this with you right now?"

"You should announce your decision to me after you've made it; there's no room for discussion then."

Sofia almost screamed; her intention was for her eldest son, Ludwig, to share in the glory of conquering the North.

Furthermore, Ludwig was the son of a Northerner, so it was only natural for him to rule the North in place of his father.

Now, all the glory has been taken by the father. The Northern Territory is such a big pie, yet she, the eldest son, has no share. How can she accept this?
On what should have been an exciting and sleepless night of coronation, the king and queen had a quarrel in their bedroom.

Otto didn't think he had made any mistakes. He outwardly showed great respect to his wife, but he rarely listened to any of her opinions.

If everything were done according to Sophia's wishes, Otto would still be in the South, eagerly waiting for spring to arrive, how could he possibly be crowned king in Amber Harbor?
To give Ergen some peace and quiet, he even planned to send his wife back to the southern border to take care of the children.

Women will only slow down his ascension to the throne.

Moreover, there are so many beautiful women in the North that Otto is never short of female company.

Under his insistence and coaxing, Sofia finally had no choice but to agree to his plan.

Otto was indeed efficient in his work. After settling things with the two major noble groups and his wife, he summoned representatives of the citizens and mercenaries to the palace for breakfast early the next morning.

"Arno, I've heard you're from the Southern Territory? Would you be willing to serve me?"

(End of this chapter)