I'm not a lord

Chapter 354 It's early March again.
In early March, the snow in the North had not yet melted away, but the biting cold of deep winter was long gone.

The morning sunlight shines through thin clouds onto the frozen surface of Jinlu Lake, reflecting a layer of hazy, fragmented gold.

The ice on the lake is not as thick as it was in January. Meltwater can be seen seeping out along the cracks in the ice at the edges, and it makes a pleasant "crunching" sound when you step on it.

The gates of Golden Deer Castle were wide open, and three two-horse carriages drove out from inside, escorted by twenty elite cavalrymen. It was clear that some distinguished guests were taking advantage of the good weather to go out of the city for a visit.

"Finally, I can get some fresh air. I've been cooped up in the castle for almost two months, and my legs are practically rusty." Queen Katarina of the former dynasty pushed open the car window and greedily inhaled the slightly chilly fresh air.

If this had happened before November of last year, Katarina would never have acknowledged herself as the former queen.

In her eyes, Otto was an illegitimate king who had usurped the crown, and Maurice, who was in exile in the south, had not formally abdicated. The Urenis dynasty was not yet over, and she was still the legitimate widow of the former king.

But now that a new dynasty has been established, and the new king's queen is still Katarina's own daughter, the situation is naturally very different.

Morris?
Isn't he just a cowardly bastard who abandoned his kingdom and ran away? Does he even deserve to be called a king?

In terms of legitimacy, the only king in the entire North is her good son-in-law, Lynn!
Chloris sat beside her mother, a blanket covering her legs, her right hand resting on her flat stomach, and smiled, "Mother, you took me for walks in the garden every day in the castle, how could you possibly be rusty at all?"

Katarina closed the window, turned and glared at her daughter, saying irritably, "If I don't take you out for a walk, you could lie in your bedroom reading all day! Don't forget, you're pregnant now, and you need to be active every day so that your baby will be healthy!"

The harsh winters in the North were so severe that all outdoor activities were difficult to carry out, and even a king could only stay in his castle and play the little game of procreation.

After Lynn's persistent efforts, Chloris finally became pregnant.

She became pregnant around the beginning of January, and her due date is expected to be between September and October of this year.

Incidentally, Lynn's two lovers, Agna and Lia, both gave birth to their second children last winter, but both were daughters.

In other words, Lynn now has one son and three daughters.

But in Katarina's eyes, these children, along with their mothers, are all her daughter's future rivals!

She went to great lengths to ensure her daughter would give birth to a healthy boy who could inherit the throne.

Chloris clung to her mother's arm and replied with a charmingly innocent expression, "I just get sleepy easily, and the winters in the swamp territory are much colder than in Amber Harbor, so I really don't want to go out."

Even after she became the new Queen of the North, she still showed her girlish side in front of her mother.

Perhaps due to the effects of pregnancy, Chloris has been feeling sleepy for the past two months, wishing she could seal herself in the barrier created by the fireplace and her bed.

These days, there's no central heating. In the winter, the castle is freezing cold, except for the small area warmed by the fireplace.

Especially the corridors and spiral staircases with permanent ventilation openings; going in is like being tortured. Even though the ventilation openings have been sealed with wooden boards, there is still a biting cold wind that blows in from who-knows-where gaps, scraping your face like a knife.

The climate of the Marshlands is quite different from that of Amber Harbor, which is closer to the sea and is somewhat influenced by the warm southern ocean currents, making its winters much warmer than those inland.

Having lived in Amber Harbor for over a decade, Chloris is still unable to adapt to the winters of the Marsh Territory.

Katarina scolded her with a tone of disappointment, "Sometimes you're just too soft. If you don't show yourself often, how will the officials and generals in the court accept you as queen? And you even tolerated Lynn granting titles to those lovers. Where is your queenly dignity?"

"How many? There are only three," Chloris muttered softly.

"Three isn't enough? They now all have the title of court lovers, not only can they freely enter and leave the palace, but their children can also share the same surname as Lin Enguan. Do you know what that means? It means that their children, like your children, have the right to inherit the throne!"

Whenever this is mentioned, Katarina instantly transforms into a short-haired cat whose tail has been stepped on, hissing incessantly.

Lynn personally crowned Chloris as queen after her own coronation, which was excellent and perfectly suited Katharina's wishes.

However, the following month, Lynn officially recognized both of her lovers as his mistresses, bestowing upon them the formal title of 'court lovers,' which Katharina found extremely difficult to accept.

In her view, this was a blatant challenge to the Queen's authority, a violation of the ancestral law of monogamy, and an outright illegal act.

Even a king can't break the law! Otherwise, how can he set an example for the entire nation? Didn't Lynn swear an oath during his coronation?

In Katarina's eyes, Lynn was perfect in every way: young and handsome, and he had built a vast empire from scratch.

The only downside is that he's too lecherous.

Actually, it's not a big deal for a king to be a little lecherous.

Which king in the history of the North didn't have a lover? Some kings even kept male concubines!
Even Katarina's late husband had more than a squad of lovers, so she was already used to it.

Shouldn't having a lover be done secretly, outside the palace? What kind of nonsense is it to bring them into the palace so openly? How can they possibly respect the legitimate queen?
“If I were Lynn, I would also give Jacoba, Leah, and Hela some compensation. They have sacrificed a lot for Lynn’s career and deserve a title.” On this matter, Chloris insisted on going against her mother’s opinion.

“I really don’t know what you’re thinking. You’ve been smart since you were little and never hesitate when faced with a problem. How can you be so weak in this matter? Without the claim you brought, would your husband be qualified to wear the crown of the North? If you can’t even fight for this little bit of authority, I don’t even want to think about what he might do in the future!”

Katarina grew angrier the more she talked.

But she knew that once her daughter had made up her mind, she could not persuade her otherwise, which was why she couldn't understand it and became increasingly sad and angry.

“Mother, I understand Lynn better than you do. I will not only not oppose him, but I will support him. Besides, there is nothing wrong with having a few lovers in the court. At least he won’t be like my father, who only had daughters but no male heir.”

Chloris didn't finish her sentence; there were a few reasons she didn't want to tell her mother.

Because she was smart, and because she understood Lynn's temperament, she wouldn't oppose Lynn on this matter.

She knew very well that Lynn, though seemingly gentle and polite, was actually autocratic and intolerant of disobedience.

In Chloris's eyes, there's nothing wrong with being autocratic; the North needs an autocratic monarch to achieve true unification.

The establishment of the 'court lover' system was a decision Lynn made without consulting his officials, and no one could dissuade him. If Chloris, as queen, had truly tried to persuade Lynn to retract his decision, she wouldn't be queen now.

Furthermore, she harbors a certain psychological fear of childbirth. To her knowledge, two of her father's lovers died in childbirth or from postpartum complications.

In an era when medicine was not advanced enough, childbirth was extremely risky for pregnant women, and too many births could seriously affect a woman's health and lifespan.

Chloris only wanted to have two or three children. If none of them were boys, then Lynn's new dynasty would not have perished due to the extinction of its lineage.

Of course, it would be best if you could have a boy in your first pregnancy.

Upon hearing Chloris bring up her deceased father, Katarina's anger flared up instantly. She pounded the leather cushion angrily and said:
"How can that be the same? Your father's problem lies with himself. Neither you nor Lynn have any physical problems. You got pregnant right after you married him, while I only conceived after five years of marriage to your father. I can fully foresee that Lynn will definitely have more than ten male heirs in the future, which will be an absolute nightmare for your children!"

Katarina didn't have much affection for her late king husband, after all, they were decades apart in age.

Before her marriage, she had never met Chloris's father. If it weren't for the immense pressure from her family, she would never have crossed the sea to the far north to marry a man nearly thirty years her senior.

Katarina was simply angry about her daughter's unfair treatment and vulnerability.

From her perspective, she was certainly not wrong. She was simply advocating for the rights of her unborn grandson. What was wrong with that?

Chloris took her mother's hand, gently stroked her palm, and sighed softly, "Mother, I am well aware of the pros and cons, but let's leave it at that. Continuing to argue will not do us any good."

Chloris did not intend to completely persuade her mother, and knew that she could not persuade her mother.

This incident certainly damaged her authority as queen.

Putting aside other factors, she had no reason to fight for this authority.

Lynn possesses enough strength to support a throne. Even without the claim to the throne she brings, Lynn can still be king, only he cannot use the name of the Northern Kingdom.

“Since you’re unwilling to fight for it, then I have nothing more to say. After you give birth, I’ll leave Golden Deer Castle and find a quiet, secluded place to spend my old age in peace.” Katarina opened the window again and looked out, her voice trembling with sobs.

Silence returned to the carriage for a moment, with only the rumbling of the wheels and the rustling of the flags on the roof fluttering in the wind.

If someone stands at a distance and looks at the carriage, they can clearly see the new royal flag flying on it.

This royal flag is entirely blue, with a white bear on the left with its claws outstretched and a gray narwhal with its horn pointing downwards on the right.

The giant bear's paws meet the narwhal's tail, and the northern lands and the king of the deep sea together form a pattern resembling a yin-yang symbol.

The design on the flag is the family crest designed for Lynn by a senior herald.

Starting this year, this new emblem will be embroidered on the clothing of himself and his relatives.

The white bear on the left symbolizes Lynn's rise to power from White Bear Territory, while the whale horn on the right is the emblem of the former royal family, the Urenis family.

The two symbols combined signify the union of Lynn and Chloris, and also that he has taken over the claim left by the previous royal family.

On the continent of Dievas at this time, the royal families and nobles of various countries did not pay much attention to surnames. They usually used the name of their fiefdom or their family crest as their family surname.

For example, the 'swamp' surname of the Marshland Dukes and the 'coldwind' surname of the Coldwind Earls.

The surname of the former royal family, the Urenis, seems somewhat unusual, but its original meaning is actually 'narwhal'.

Legend has it that when the first King of the North was traveling by ship to the North, he saw a large number of narwhals surfacing to breathe. He considered this a symbol of good fortune, so after being crowned king, he included narwhals in the royal family's writings, thus giving rise to the surname 'narwhal'.

Incidentally, before his coronation, the first King in the North personally went out to sea to hunt a narwhal and had its horn made into a coronation scepter, which has been passed down to this day.

According to the historical record conventions of the North, Lynn's name is not followed by a surname; he is usually recorded as 'Lynn I of the North'.

If he truly makes the North great again in the future, his successors will surely inherit his glorious name, and history books will have more kings such as 'Lynn II' and 'Lynn V'.

Returning our attention to the carriage, Chloris and her mother resumed their conversation after a brief silence.

“Mother, do you still remember that little castle in Green Lake Territory?” Chloris broke the awkward silence.

“Of course I remember, the scenery there was absolutely the most beautiful in the North.” Katarina’s face showed a look of reminiscence.

In Green Lake Territory, she truly enjoyed a carefree and peaceful life, spending her days rowing boats and fishing on the lake, a life far more comfortable than the life of constant anxiety she lived in Amber Harbor.

Of course, it's still better than being mistreated by my daughter at Golden Deer Castle.

Chloris leaned back on the cushion, squinted her eyes and whispered, "There's something I forgot to tell you. Last year, Lynn ordered the demolition of most of the castles on the territory, leaving only a few to serve as palaces."

"What about the castle in Green Lake Territory? Was it also demolished by him?" Katarina's heart jumped into her throat.

Chloris opened her left eye and caught a glimpse of the panic on her mother's face. She chuckled and said, "Don't worry, he specially saved it for you. It's just that White River Territory is constantly threatened by war, so you can't go on vacation right now."

"A vacation? Once the North is settled, I'll live in that castle for the next few decades!" Katarina's tone was very resolute, as if she had already made up her mind to spend her old age in peace.

As they spoke, hundreds of soldiers ran past outside the vehicle, chanting slogans in unison.

These are the new recruits Lynn recruited from the Marshlands during the winter; they are undergoing physical training.

Perhaps this month, they will head to the front lines.

(End of this chapter)