The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 235 Having a son or a daughter is the same
The youngest daughter, Liliana, returned to the study more than an hour later.

Saint Eric and Grand Princess Natalia, who had returned to the Governor's Palace around noon, boarded their carriages and departed again to continue their planned activities.

On Austin's desk, there was an extra short letter compared to before her daughter left.

The incident was trivial, even insignificant: a nobleman's mansion in the city was attacked by a large number of seabirds, causing chaos at the scene.

There was only one reason why such a trivial matter would come before the governor: it was a place the saintess and the grand princess had visited that morning, and the attack occurred after they left.

Austin was speechless at the thought that Eric's female attendant was a druid, and that Eric himself had just been feeding those "empty-bellied" seabirds in front of him at the governor's mansion.

To provoke him in this way, he's just a kid not even twenty years old yet...

As for Eric being able to guess that the nobleman he visited that morning had acted so rudely on his orders, Austin wasn't surprised. After all, their conversation that morning hadn't been pleasant, and his intentions had been largely exposed.

Although this arrangement was made earlier, it had nothing to do with his mood that morning.

Austin couldn't even muster anger at such provocation—after all, it wasn't the governor's mansion that was attacked by bird droppings—and after his daughter returned to her study, he didn't bother to bring it up, only asking her what she had talked about with those two men.

“Oh? We just chatted casually… They were very busy too,” Liliana said, her gaze involuntarily drifting to the window, as if she wanted to follow the three people out.

Austin temporarily suppressed the urge to ask more questions, after all, he wouldn't get much out of talking to his daughter about this. Having raised her for over twenty years, he knew very well how his youngest daughter felt about things she wasn't interested in.

But she does possess another aspect of the truth, one that she herself is unaware of.

"Let's not talk about them for now. Tell me in detail what happened before you left Marshshire."

Marshshire is the territory of his in-law, the Marquess of Rodney, the place his youngest daughter described as a happy place a few months ago, and now the sweltering little town she says she can't stand.

"...What did you say?" Liliana asked, puzzled.

Austin glanced at the words he had written on the paper. In the hour or so that his youngest daughter had been gone, he reorganized his thoughts, peeling back the layers, and finally grasped that fleeting idea, and deduced a guess.

He now needs to verify this guess.

"Why do you suddenly want to go to Lutia?" Austin asked, looking at his youngest daughter.

"Because... I've never been there?" Liliana looked at him, her face full of doubt.

"I'm talking about a more direct trigger. Someone said something to you that made you have this idea, or something like that."

Austin reminded himself not to guide the process too deliberately, as that could lead to biased results; what he needed was a complete process.

Liliana recalled for a moment, and before she could speak, tears streamed down her face.

"...What's wrong with you now?"

"Woooo..."

Austin sighed and looked outside. "Have the lady come over."

"Yes."

Soon, the governor's wife also came to the study and immediately saw her sobbing youngest daughter.

"I already told you, don't put pressure on Lily!"

"I didn't put any pressure on her!"

"She's crying like this!"

Austin instantly realized that calling his wife over was a mistake; he now had to deal with two women.

He couldn't help but recall the times when he was faced with seven women of all ages at the same time, and he would subconsciously blurt out his true feelings:

"Why don't I even have a son...?"

He had six daughters!

If he had a son, why would he have to face all these troubles alone?

Before the thought could fade, Austin realized he had said the wrong thing.

"Oh, so you weren't targeting Lily, you were after me—"

The governor's wife's voice suddenly rose, and Austin then noticed the butler outside the door silently closing the study door.

After a period of chaos, an old woman appeared in the study, weeping and wailing.

Austin was at his wit's end. "Liliana, help your mother back to rest... then you can come over."

As his daughter helped his wife out of the study, Austin leaned back in his chair, finally realizing his long-standing mistake.

He shouldn't let every daughter marry into a wealthy family; he should at least keep one by his side and find her a son-in-law who can help him and, more importantly, is trustworthy.

Now that the youngest daughter is back home, perhaps this is the opportunity...

Does the truth even matter anymore?

Austin's gaze then fell upon the written record beside him.

It remains important.

The heir died while traveling with his daughter; he at least had to give Rodney a plausible explanation.

Austin remained lost in thought until Liliana returned to the study.

After crying her heart out with her mother, perhaps she had vented her emotions or perhaps she was too tired to cry anymore, her emotions stabilized considerably.

“It was Anthony who said it,” Liliana said, suppressing the lump in her throat. “Yes, Anthony asked me if we should go to Lutia before the war breaks out.”

"Did that kid get his head stuck in a door? Why did he have to go to Lutia at this time of year?" Austin frowned.

“You can’t say that about him. He’s the heir to the family business, and he’s under a lot of pressure!” Liliana immediately retorted.

Austin ignored his daughter's feelings, "so he thought he could take advantage of his honeymoon to travel to Lutia and relax for a few days?"

“He only mentioned it briefly, but I remembered it again two weeks later and asked him to take me to Lutia,” Liliana said.

"You just remembered it for no reason?" Austin stared at his daughter.

"More or less... Oh, it was when Ansel received a letter from Lutia and talked to me about Lutia that I remembered."

Austin glanced at the notes beside him.

Ansel, the Marquis of Rodney's second son, is only one year younger than his eldest son, Anthony. His abilities in all aspects are no less than his brother's, and he is even more decisive... This is the Marquis of Rodney's own assessment.

Austin understood his second son's feelings better than anyone else.

“Anthony said that Ansel was someone I returned from Lutia a few months before I got married there, and that I have many friends there,” Liliana added.

Austin realized that she had found it difficult to let go of certain preconceived notions.

"Is it possible that your dead husband initially wanted to go to Lutia because he listened to him?"

Liliana felt resentful and saddened by the way he was addressed as "father," but ultimately said nothing. "Perhaps. They were very close brothers. Ansel spent all his time with him after returning from Lutia."

Austin sneered, "Looks like having too many sons has its downsides too."

"dad?"

Austin thought for a moment, "So what was Ansel's reaction when you were preparing to go to Lutia?"

Liliana recalled, "Hmm... He said he wrote a lot of letters to his friends, saying that as soon as we arrive in Lutia, there will be many people to welcome us, and we don't need to bring anything, we can just take a carriage there."

Austin sat up straight and looked directly into his daughter's eyes: "Did he also say that there was no need to bring any family guards to delay the trip, and that you two could just set off like this?"

Liliana raised her gaze, paused, and slowly nodded.

boom!
Austin slammed his hand on the table, startling her.

"This kid was born in the wrong place!"

He was almost certain that Ansel had orchestrated his brother's death, and now all that was needed was for the people who went to Oren to investigate to bring back evidence of Anthony's unnatural death.

In that instant, Austen's admiration even outweighed his criticism, and he felt even more regretful that he didn't have a son like him.

He then looked at his bewildered daughter, "If only he weren't your husband's brother, but your own brother."

Liliana frowned. "Daddy, what are you saying..."

Austin took a deep breath, looked at his daughter's belly, and then thought about his own age before finally making a decision.

"In a few days, I will have someone examine the baby in your belly to see if it's a boy or a girl."

Liliana was taken aback, then her eyes widened. "Father, this goes against the doctrine... Neither the Church of Yela nor the Ocean Cult allows for the premature determination of a child's sex." Austin was unconcerned. "So the person I'm asking is someone who doesn't belong to any of their minor sects. They have a secret technique that can determine the sex of the child in your womb beforehand. Don't make a fuss, and don't be afraid. Whether it's a son or a daughter, you don't need to leave here."

Liliana was stunned.

"dad?"

Now that she had made the decision, Austin didn't mind telling her daughter.

"If you are carrying a daughter, I will find you a reliable husband in Sunset City; if it is a son, I will raise him myself so that he will become the heir of the Austin family and rule this land forever."

Liliana was stunned for a moment before she reacted: "Really... What about the Rodney family?"

“I will give Rodney an explanation, you don’t need to worry about that,” Austin said.

Happiness came so suddenly that Liliana had to confirm with her father several times before she slowly began to believe that he wasn't just teasing her.

"From now on, you'd better stay home and behave yourself."

Austin looked at his youngest daughter and said, "Of course, when you have time, you can also chat with those two princes more."

"What are you talking about?" Liliana asked.

Austin sighed. “Talk about anything. They’re smarter than you… no, much smarter. They’ll know what to talk about.”

Liliana left in a daze, and Austin got up and went to the window, staring blankly at the azure sky for a while.

When his gaze fell again, he saw that there were still many seabirds on the ground in the courtyard, seemingly waiting for someone to feed them.

"..."

Austin quickly recalled the farce that had taken place elsewhere, and after a moment of silence, he was reminded of the incident. He quickly returned to his desk and wrote more than a dozen notes in one go, canceling his previous plans.

Confrontation is pointless; it will only worsen the two princes' perception of him, worsen their mood, and they might do something even more vulgar than seabirds throwing droppings at him.

Ultimately, both sides will have to return to the negotiating table to decide the future direction.

As Austin had these notes delivered to different noble residences, he remembered something else.

"Which house did the Holy Maiden and Her Highness the Grand Princess visit this afternoon?"

"I went to Count Paladin's residence, Governor."

It was outside of his plans, Austin thought. As for Paradis's attitude, he had never paid attention to it, let alone predicted the outcome of their visit.

At this moment, the only people who cared more about Count Paladin's attitude than him were Eric and Natalia.

"Your Highnesses, although a peace agreement has not been reached at the front, a ceasefire has actually been achieved. I have heard about your gains these past few days. Does Lutia really need so much aid?"

Eric and Natalia exchanged a glance. "I can see, Count Paladin, that you are concerned about the situation on the front lines and also about our movements, but there are many things that cannot be seen at a glance, such as the Demon Clan's next plans."

Count Paladin frowned as he looked at the two men opposite him. "Do you two mean that the demons might make a comeback?"

“It’s not a possibility, Earl, it’s inevitable,” Eric replied.

He had answered questions that were similar in meaning but different in form many times before, so his answer now came naturally without any need for thought.

"Even with the entire demon race mobilized, they failed to break through Lutia and continue south. Once human reinforcements arrive, will the demons still have a chance?" Count Paladin asked again.

"However, the problem is that the demons haven't mobilized their entire forces yet."

"W-what? But I heard that the demon army outside Lutia City is quite large..."

Eric nodded. "Yes, there are many, but this is still not the entirety of the demon army. In the northern border of the empire, and in the demon realm further north, there are still a large number of demons who have not yet moved south."

Count Paladin's expression was grave. After a moment, he asked, "How did Your Highness learn of these circumstances?"

“Does the Earl know where I’ve been for the past year?” Natalia asked.

Paradis looked at her. "I know, Your Highness is stationed at the Black Ice Wall on the border."

“I sent out more than a dozen reconnaissance teams into the Demon Realm. Although they suffered heavy casualties, they brought back a lot of useful information,” Natalia continued.

Paradis immediately believed her and his face turned even paler.

"How could this be... I thought the demon forces that appeared in Lutia were all there were..."

"That's a long story."

Eric picked up the thread, "Looking at it from a broader perspective, it was the imperial family that shouldered the heavy responsibility of preventing the demons. They were quite responsible, but not entirely reasonable, which sowed the seeds of future problems."

Natalia glanced at him without saying a word.

"To put it more simply, the empire is not only failing to support the border regions, but also lacks loyalty to the royal family. The late emperor was willing but powerless, and the investment in the border defense forces was decreasing. Meanwhile, the demons are like weeds in spring; if they are not cut down in a day or two, they will overgrow the entire courtyard..."

Eric noticed Natalia's gaze, but ignored her for the moment, staring intently at the nobleman opposite him.

"The current situation is that the Empire hasn't truly ventured deep into the Demon Realm to wreak havoc for decades. How many demons do you think are lurking on the other side of the Black Ice Great Wall?"

Count Paladin shook his head silently, his face pale.

"In the more than five hundred years of our Delan Empire's existence, we've only produced one hand's worth of offspring..."

Noticing Natalia's gaze sharpen, Eric changed his tune without batting an eye, "They've only produced a handful of truly great and wise rulers. And for the demon race, there's only been a second Demon King to unify the entire race. What does that mean?"

"What?" Count Paladin asked instinctively.

"This represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The demon race will not stop until they are driven to extinction!"

Count Paladin looked as if he had been choked and suffocated for several minutes, and took a deep breath.

"So, can my meager efforts really make any difference?"

Feeling that the threat had gone a bit too far, Eric coughed lightly and immediately said:

“Of course it’s useful. Many trees make a forest, many grains of sand make a tower. Even the demons understand that only by working together can they fight for a future to counterattack the entire continent. Can’t we humans do the same? What Princess Natalia and I are doing now is to unite the power of humanity in one place. No matter how small your power is, it is an indispensable part of it.”

Count Paladin, his blood boiling, nodded emphatically.

"Okay! Then I'm willing to offer... uh..."

Count Paladin considered that he would have to contribute his entire fortune in gold and silver, and then calmed down considerably.

Eric and Natalia both secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Once he agrees, things will be much easier to discuss afterwards.

The negotiations continued until evening. After much back and forth, both sides felt there was still room for negotiation, but neither had the energy to continue.

"Your Highnesses, this is truly all I can offer."

"I believe in you, Earl. Your generous character is as noble as the blue sky over the harbor."

Eric and Natalia politely declined Count Paladin's invitation to stay at the banquet and returned to the carriage. Kasha, who had transformed into an owl, flew in through the carriage window, reverted to human form, looked back and forth at the two exhausted people, and like them, remained silent for a long time.

The carriage headed towards the governor's mansion. Eric lay there for a while, then got up and looked outside.

Overall, today was still a fruitful day.

Natalia lay on the other side of the cushion, one arm over her eyes, and remained silent for a long time.

Just when Eric thought she was too tired to sleep, she responded.

“Even if it’s just one gold coin, it’s still a gain. That’s what His Highness said to comfort me before, and I still remember it.”

Eric glanced back at her and simply smiled.

Upon returning to the governor's mansion, Liliana soon came to find them.

The two men were tired and not in high spirits, so they chatted with her for a few minutes.

Even after they ran out of things to talk about, Liliana still showed no intention of leaving, and the two quickly figured out that this was her father's idea.

"It seems that Governor Austin intends to have a serious talk with us."

That's probably what it means.

Seeing Liliana's somewhat bewildered expression, Eric thought of something else.

“Miss Austin, could you please book a few tickets for us on the Queen Wimmer? We might make it.”

(End of this chapter)