I'm not a lord

Chapter 337 It's all a conspiracy by the illegitimate son, Maurice!
In Count Vasa's view, his idea was very reasonable.

The current situation is that he occupies the Valley Territory, while Lynn occupies the Swamp Territory. The two sides govern separately along the Quiet River, do not interfere in each other's internal affairs, and have formed an alliance against Otto III of the Royal Territory.

If Lynn is to marry Lothair's daughter in order to rightfully inherit the title of Duke of the Marsh, then Lynn's continued protection of the former Duke of the Vale's daughter would be meaningless.

After all, a man cannot marry two wives.

If Lynn were willing to hand over Miss Hela, who was known for her beauty, Count Mirror Iron was even willing to offer a considerable sum.

Of course, he was not lusting after Hela's beauty. For a nobleman of his caliber, women were something he could never do without.

All he needed was Hela's legitimacy and the right to claim it.

Moreover, he would not possess Hela, but instead have his son marry the daughter of the former Duke of the Vale, thus somewhat absolving himself of his rebellious actions.

But when Count Mirror Iron opened the gilded wedding invitation, he was immediately stumped.

Lynn is not going to marry the Duke of the Marsh's daughter, but Princess Chloris?

No, how could he marry Chloris?

How dare he marry Chloris?

If he dares to marry the king's daughter now, won't he become the King of the North in a while?
If he becomes king and I become a duke, or at least a duke who is nominally subordinate to him, how can this alliance be maintained?

Looking at the wedding invitation before him, Count Mirror Iron felt his mind was in turmoil and could not calm down for a long time.

After a long pause, he finally managed a weak smile and addressed the envoys below the stage:
"Due to the busy affairs of the territory, please convey my message to Earl Baihe that I may not be able to attend his wedding, but I will send an envoy with gifts to congratulate him on his marriage."

After dismissing Lynn's messenger, Earl Mirror Iron immediately summoned his court advisor, Evan.

After reading the wedding invitation, Evan immediately concluded, "No wonder Lynn has been in no hurry to wear the title of Duke of the Swamp; he's going to call himself the King of the North!"

“I think so too. This kid is not only cunning, but also has endless ambition for power!” Earl Mirror Iron gritted his teeth when talking about Lynn.

Previously in Perch City, he had been thoroughly outmaneuvered by Lynn.

In the Battle of Bass, Earl Mirror Iron fought from start to finish, with a mere four thousand soldiers holding off seven thousand southern invaders. His troops suffered nearly a thousand casualties, and his core personal guard cavalry suffered even more heavy losses.

In contrast, Lynn simply led his troops on a tour, endured almost no hardship, and brazenly took away most of the spoils and prisoners.

Moreover, although Earl Mirror Iron occupied Perch City first, and that place was indeed his territory in name, Lynn immediately took control of the city by virtue of his superior military strength.

But Count Mirror Iron didn't dare to object, because he was outnumbered.

In the end, he could only watch helplessly as Lynn hauled away ship after ship of spoils and prisoners.

It appears that the spoils of war were looted from the camps of the invading forces in the southern border; they were righteous captures.

But Count Mirror Iron knew very well that the so-called spoils of war were all property that originally belonged to the Valley Territory.

That's clearly his money!

Lynn forcibly took most of the money that belonged to him, leaving him only some leftovers. Did he expect Lynn to thank him for his generosity?

If Count Mirror Iron weren't still relying on Lynn's army to resist Otto, he would have already turned against this so-called ally.

Seeing that his lord was already red-hot, Evan quickly said something nice: "My lord, this is not necessarily a bad thing. If Lynn really calls himself the King of the North, then he will undoubtedly become Otto's main target. This should reduce the pressure we are facing."

Earl Mirror Iron's expression softened upon hearing this, and he nodded, saying, "Your analysis is indeed reasonable. The reason why those two Southern armies attacked my Valley Territory was because our Valley Territory was relatively weak. Now that Lynn is drawing the attention of the Southerners, we can catch our breath for a while."

With the death of Earl Leiner, Earl Harvey retreated to the Crown Territory, and the two southern invading armies vanished.

However, the wounds inflicted by these Southerners in the Valley Territory are still painful, and even show signs of worsening.

The most severely damaged area was Mirror Iron Territory, the stronghold of Mirror Iron Earl, followed by the Tranquil River region in the northern part of the Valley Territory.

However, these two places happen to be the essence of the entire Valley Territory. Mirror Iron Territory is a high-quality iron ore producing area, while the river plain area is home to more than 60% of the autonomous cities in the entire Valley Territory, and is also the main grain producing area of ​​the Valley Territory.

After the two invasion forces from the south wreaked havoc, iron mines almost ceased production, most autonomous cities were burned, killed, and looted, and serfs in grain-producing areas were displaced.

To make matters worse, the Southerners arrived just in time for the spring planting season.

With spring planting severely disrupted, the Valley Territory's ability to maintain its position this autumn will be greatly diminished, further exacerbating the already food-scarce situation.

This is also a major reason why Earl Mirror Iron dares not turn against Lynn, as his people will inevitably have to rely on the Swamp Territory's food to get through the winter this year.

If Lynn cuts off the food supply route, the Valley Territory will inevitably suffer a severe famine.

Count Mirror Iron is now like a wildcat that has been bitten twice by a big dog, no longer daring to breathe on it, and can only curl up in a corner and secretly lick its wounds.

As for turning against Lynn, he only dared to secretly utter a few harsh words.

Evan, fearing that his Count wasn't satisfied enough, immediately added, "According to reliable sources, Otto has recruited quite a few new troops in the last six months. It's time to let Lynn experience the pain of the enemy ravaging the territory."

Count Mirror Iron sneered, "Heh, he now occupies the entire Swamp Territory. With the troops he can mobilize and the defenses he has built in White River Territory, it won't be too difficult for him to withstand Otto's offensive. I just hope they can stay entangled for as long as possible."

Earl Mirror Iron now needs a lot of time to heal the wounds on his territory and also to digest this vast Valley Territory.

To this day, he still lacks the confidence to call himself the Duke of the Valley.

The other nobles in this territory are rebellious by nature, but they are reluctantly gathered under the banner of Earl Mirror Iron because he has the most power and there is also the threat from the Southerners.

Vasa immediately ordered, "The marriages of my sons and daughters should also be settled. You must immediately contact the other earls and barons and finalize the marriage arrangements as soon as possible!"

For the great nobles, the marriage of their sons and daughters was a bargaining chip in political negotiations.

If Lynn is unwilling to hand over the daughter of the former Vale Duke Herman, then Vasa will have his eldest son marry the daughter of a Vale Earl.

By building a network of marriage alliances, Count Mirror Iron was able to bring other nobles in his territory under his control, which helped him ascend to the ducal throne.

Seeing that Lynn was about to become king, Vasa felt he had to follow in the footsteps of his northern neighbor, and if possible, even declare himself Duke of the Vale before Lynn did.

The reasoning is quite simple: if Lynn were to become king first, wouldn't Vasa, who would later become duke, then become Lynn's vassal?

Although there was no actual investiture process, that's how it appeared to outsiders. Incidentally, Earl Mirror Iron could also extort money from nobles across the land by arranging his children's marriages, a considerable sum that was enough to recoup a significant portion of his losses.

The Vasa was going to bleed a lot of money from Lynn's wedding and importing grain from the swamp; if he didn't make some money soon, he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.

"Yes, sir, I will arrange it immediately." Evan is now in charge of the territory's diplomatic affairs.

After Evan left to carry out his orders, Vasa got up and walked to the windowsill.

Looking at the babbling brook flowing through the canyon outside the window, a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes, and then he raised his hand and slammed it heavily on the windowsill.

Some doubts still lingered in his mind.

Why did Princess Chloris fall into Lynn's hands? Shouldn't she have gone to the Southern Border with that bastard son, Maurice?

Could it all have been Morris's doing? Did he deliberately send Chloris to Lynn to keep Otto in check?

That should be the case. Morris and Lynn had been in contact for a long time. I remember that he even bestowed upon Lynn the titles of Earl of White River and Royal Executive Officer.

Without the royal title, Lynn's rise to power would not have been so smooth.
Upon realizing this, Vasa's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly.

He believed he had deduced the only reasonable explanation.

Meanwhile, Otto III, who was inspecting military drills on the outskirts of Amber Harbor, received a secret report.

The secret report came from Three Rivers City, and its main content was, of course, that Lynn was about to marry the former dynasty's princess, Chloris.

After reading the secret report, Otto looked up at the chief intelligence officer in front of him and asked, "Any news about Morris, who fled to the southern border?"

Otto shared a similar view with Vasa, believing it to be a backup plan left by Maurice.

After all, only Maurice, who had been a king, could mobilize a pawn of the princess's caliber.

Furthermore, based on the situation before Amber Harbor changed hands, Chloris and her daughter were both under Morris's control, and only he had the ability to secretly send the princess to White River Territory before the city fell.

The intelligence chief replied, "Your Majesty, Morris is still recruiting troops in the Kingdom of Dawn. It is said that he has already gathered four or five thousand troops under his command and is clamoring to sail north and launch a counterattack on the northern border."

Meanwhile, François of the Kingdom of Dawn has been very active lately, frequently contacting several kingdoms in the south in an attempt to construct an encirclement against Your Majesty.

The Kingdom of Dawn is located on a large peninsula in the eastern part of the southern border. It is named after the region on the continent of Dievas that is the first to be bathed in the morning sun.

Although this kingdom does not actually border the Kingdom of Rui, it has long been hostile to the Kingdom of Rui over the struggle for several small territories, and is Otto's number one nemesis in the southern region.

As time passed, news of Otto's coronation as King in the North in Amber Harbor had already spread throughout the South.

Many southern powers believe that he has completely annexed the northern kingdoms, which has led to their dissatisfaction and hostility towards him.

If this were placed in the war criminal simulator EU4, Otto's overreach would have already gone too far. The forces around him would be raising red flags against him and would begin to build an encirclement around him.

Otto showed no panic or fear in response; he simply squinted and chuckled softly.

“That makes sense now. Sure enough, Lynn and Morris are indeed related. The reason he was able to rise from an unknown bandit to an earl and then a duke must have been due to Morris’s assistance.”

While the encirclement was indeed formidable, Otto was not without reliable and powerful allies in the South.

If war were to break out, it would be a massive conflict affecting the entire southern region, drawing in almost every well-known and powerful force.

Moreover, Otto did not mobilize many troops from the Kingdom of Rui to conquer the North. The armies of Earls Reiner and Harvey were all impoverished nobles or mercenaries recruited from the South, which were essentially cannon fodder.

The native forces of the Kingdom of Rui are currently stationed in the southern border, and Otto's wife, eldest son, and trusted minister, Earl Maison, are also remaining in Rui.

With them around, Otto was able to focus entirely on conquering the North.

The intelligence chief pondered for a moment, then asked in surprise, "Your Majesty, do you mean that Lynn's rise to power was all due to Morris's arrangements? Including his current occupation of the entire Swamp Territory and his impending self-proclamation as king?"

“That’s impossible. If it was all Maurice’s doing, why would he run off to the South like a stray dog? It must have been that Maurice gave Lynn a little help, nothing more. And the fact that the princess stayed in the North is also suspicious.”

Otto certainly looked down on Maurice, who had fled in panic.

However, he had to admit that Maurice did have some ability.

As an illegitimate child, Maurice withstood the fierce attacks of Duke Lothair of the Marsh for more than half a year and managed to escape Amber Harbor unscathed in a critical moment.

Maurice's failure stemmed more from his lack of power and legitimacy; with his abilities, he would have been perfectly capable of being a king who maintained the status quo in peacetime.

Otto then ordered, "You must immediately investigate the views and attitudes of the illegitimate son Morris, Chloris's maternal family, Earl Vasa of Mirror Iron, and Duke Samuel of the Meadow regarding Lynn's marriage. Be quick!"

Investigating Maurice and Chloris's maternal home in the South naturally involves figuring out the specific relationship between the former King in the North and Lynn, as well as why Chloris suddenly appeared by Lynn's side.

It would be very interesting if Morris was also unhappy about Lynn becoming king.

Princess Chloris's maternal family wields considerable influence in the Southern Territory. Perhaps Lynn is backed by some powerful forces in the Southern Territory?

Otto didn't entirely believe that Maurice would be so magnanimous as to allow a bandit-turned-commoner to ascend the throne of King in the North.

As for investigating Vasa and Samuel's views on the matter, Otto wanted to sow discord among the trio in the northern inland region.

Currently, Lynn, Vasa, and Samuel each occupy a duchy, and the three have formed an alliance, which is giving Otto a real headache.

If Otto can dismantle this alliance through diplomatic means, the pressure he will face will be significantly reduced.

A day later, Duke Samuel of the Meadows, located in Wolfsburg, also received Lynn's wedding invitation.

"That greedy brat, he really wants to be the king of the North!"

Samuel wasn't too dissatisfied, but he was amazed by Lynn's ambition.

Declaring himself king at this time would most likely make him Otto's sole target, and the military pressure he would face would be palpable.

Samuel had no intention of becoming king; he was well aware of his own limitations and knew that the barren grasslands could not support too much ambition.

(End of this chapter)