novelraw Chapter 180 : Current Situation
Chapter 180 : Current Situation
Chapter 180: Current Situation
One carriage after another, within a few days, continuously drove toward Red River Territory,
All those who had received the black invitation had come to attend the funeral of Marquis Visen Kasein.
But in truth, on Monica’s invitation list, the ones she truly needed to pay attention to were actually only three families.
The Bole Family of White Mountain Territory, the Soderbell Family, and the Billy Family of Gem Territory.
Although both the Bole Family and Billy Family had only one female heir left, the subtle point was that the two women were both lords of their respective territories. And what was even subtler was that between these two territories, there was a key bridge: the Soderbell Family.
The husband of Cynthia Bole, Baroness of White Mountain Territory, was the current head of the Soderbell Family: Yam Soderbell; while the chief knight commander and Guardian Knight of Annie Billy, Baroness of Gem Territory, was the younger brother of the current head of the Soderbell Family: Akar Soderbell.
It was precisely because of the Soderbell Family’s existence that White Mountain Territory and Gem Territory could stand together, for their alliance was well guaranteed.
At least, in their generation and for the next two generations, it would remain very solid.
But looking at it the other way, Monica also knew very well that the current development of Red Eagle Territory was rather abnormal.
Normally, a Count’s fief—even in the case of the County of Fertile Plains—the Antares Family only occupied one domain, while all other territories were distributed among all the vassals loyal to the Antares Family.
And what about Red Eagle Territory?
Eaglehead Territory was the fief of Tyrot Kasein, eldest son of the late Marquis Visen Kasein.
Red Soil Territory was the fief of Hans Kasein, the second son, though its current heir was Hans’s son, Lucas Kasein, who was also the father of Angelina Kasein.
Gem Territory had originally been intended for the fourth son, Arsens Kasein, since Annie’s husband, Joshua Kasein, was Arsens’s son.
But now Joshua was dead, and because the Kasein Family had fought with Annie over custody of the child, the relationship between both sides had dropped to a freezing point.
This time, Monica’s invitation to Annie to attend her grandfather’s funeral naturally also carried the thought of repairing that relationship.
As for Wade Kasein, the third son of Visen Kasein, once the second-in-line heir of the Kasein Family and the father of the family’s late genius, Burton Kasein—his fief was Bayor Territory. In fact, this was also why Wade Kasein had been so invested in the construction of Bayor’s War Fortress.
Meanwhile, Red River Territory had long been regarded as the fief of the Lord of Red Eagle Territory—in other words, whoever became Marquis of Red Eagle Territory would also own Red River Territory.
The Kasein Family occupied four-sevenths of the entire Red Eagle Territory—were it not for the fact that Gem Territory still remained in Annie’s hands, they would have taken control of nearly two-thirds of the entire land.
However, among these seven territories, the most awkward was in fact the Baron’s family of Forest Territory: the Weist Family.
The second son of Baron Cardon Weist had married into the Kasein Family, becoming Monica’s husband.
But whether it was the Kasein Family or the Weist Family, both knew full well that this was purely because Marquis Monica, now the ruler of Red Eagle Territory, simply needed a husband. No one cared about the thoughts of the Weist Family’s second son.
If it were only this, it might have been fine.
But the Weist Family had once been closely connected with the traitorous Senels Family of Red Eagle Territory, even participating in schemes of rebellion. Naturally, the Weist Family was now unwelcome in the Kasein Family. Baron Cardon Weist knew very well that Monica had directly appointed his son to marry into her family as both a form of appeasement and also a warning not to try anything again.
Thus, when Baron Cardon received Monica’s black invitation, he departed at once for Red River Territory, not daring to delay even a moment. Unlike Yam, who waited until the next day, after all matters were arranged, before setting off with Cynthia, Annie, and Akar.
But since they traveled by carriage, rather than riding horseback, they could not move quickly, and by the time they reached Red River Territory, ten days had already passed.
At this time, the Lord’s Manor of Red River Territory was already gathering a large number of Kasein Family members, as well as knights loyal to them.
As Yam and the others arrived, the gazes of all naturally gathered upon them.
Yam and Akar keenly noticed that some of those looks were not so friendly.
「They are Joshua’s kin。」 Annie, in response to such attitudes, appeared very calm, even to the point of complete disregard.
「What do you mean？」 Akar and Yam were clearly puzzled. 「Aren’t they all members of the Kasein Family？」
「It’s different。」 Cynthia sighed. 「Although the Kasein Family was officially elevated to a marquisate because of Marquis Visen, they had been growing stronger since even before then. Counting from the generation of Marquis Visen’s grandfather, there had already been six generations up to Angelina’s time.
Many of the Elders’ Council of the Kasein Family were already left from his father’s generation。」
A Fourth-Tier Bloodline User had already undergone their first life sublimation and could live for at least a hundred years.
A Sixth-Tier Bloodline User, with the second sublimation, could typically live up to around two hundred years.
Though Marquis Visen was the only Sixth-Tier Bloodline User of the Kasein Family, their base of Third-Tier Bloodline Users was not small. Back when Marquis Visen commanded the Southern Army, he had a number of Fourth-Tier Bloodline Users under him as well. In fact, only three Fourth-Tier Bloodline Users had followed him back to the fief: his eldest son Tyrot, third son Wade, and Chief Knight Commander Dean Seia.
Even now, the Kasein Family still had three Fourth-Tier Bloodline Users remaining in the Southern Army—this was another of the family’s reserves of strength.
And since these three had not followed Visen back to Red Eagle Territory, it was obvious they belonged to other factions within the Kasein Family. 「Back when Burton was alive, since his potential made him a guaranteed Sixth-Tier successor,
the Elders naturally all united and worked together。」 Annie spoke calmly. 「But with Burton’s death,
the Kasein Family no longer had someone who could unify all voices. Monica’s rise was only a temporary measure, merely to maintain stability in Red Eagle Territory. Over the past ten years, the Elders’ Council had split into different supporters。」
「But what they were contending over was not the power and interest of Monica’s generation, but rather the distribution of power for Angelina’s sixth generation。」
Of all present, none understood the Kasein Family’s internal problems better than Annie.
So with her explaining, everyone could easily grasp the key.
「Joshua once mentioned a little of it to me. Roughly, the Kasein Family was divided into three factions。」
「The first faction included two of the three Fourth-Tier Bloodline Users in the Southern Army, and they supported Wade Kasein—
they were typical bloodline supporters. Because Monica’s father, Tyrot Kasein, did not inherit Marquis Visen’s bloodline, he naturally lacked their support. But since the Southern Army was no longer under Marquis Visen’s command, their influence there was weak,
and so they eagerly wished for the next Lord of Red Eagle Territory to be Wade or Arsens’s descendants。」
「The second faction was the Kasein Family’s traditionalists. They had no bloodline at all, since the 【Berserk Ape Bloodline】 only appeared after Marquis Visen. Before that, the Kasein Family had no bloodline users. Fearing elimination, they had to unite, and thus supported Monica’s father. In truth, it was only because Monica’s second brother was such a useless man that they were helpless in their choice。」
「As for the third faction, it was the neutralists, led by Knight Commander Dean Seia. They currently supported Monica purely because of Marquis Visen’s assignment, but if Monica failed to win them over, they would inevitably split. And by my estimation, the vast majority would eventually join the bloodline faction。」
「Just because the bloodline faction was the strongest？」
「Yes。」 Annie nodded. 「The Kasein Family were supporters of the Karla Family, and the Karla Family’s most typical mainstream thought was the ‘Doctrine of the Strong.’ It was because of this doctrine that they had gained the Karla Family’s support and risen as lords of Red Eagle Territory. I found these records while reviewing the Kasein Family’s family history。」
「Speaking of which, do you know the difference between a Count and a Marquis in the Tyrella Kingdom？」
As Annie spoke, she looked at Cynthia.
For she knew that Yam and Akar could not possibly know.
Cynthia shook her head. 「I don’t know. My father never told me。」
「It’s about factions。」 Annie did not hold back and gave a direct answer. 「A territorial title granted by the royal family was a Marquisate; a title granted by a Duke one served was a County. But whether Marquis or Count, there was a minimum power standard: the Sixth-Tier. – Yet, the Tyrella Kingdom’s royal family was very complex, and which royal family held power determined which Dukes supported the kingdom and with what attitude。」
「The Southern Duke seemed to have conflicts with the Karla Family？」 Yam recalled rumors from the Bruno Merchant Guild and could not help but ask.
「Yes。」 Annie nodded.
「The Tyrella Kingdom had six Dukes: the Leghton Family as the Tower Dukes in the southwest; the Siger Family as the Black Hawk Dukes in the former Western Region; the Robert Family as the Golden Lion Dukes in the Southern Region; the Wiens Family as the Ironblood Dukes in the Northern Region; the Ivenson Family as the Storm Dukes in the Eastern Region; and the Sett Family as the Keepers of the Kingdom’s Secrets in the northeast.」
「Then there were the Three Royal Families: the Cybos Family of the Sunflower Crest, the Nibel Family of the Golden Flower Crest, and the Karla Family of the Griffin Crest。」
「These nine families were the pinnacle nobility of the entire Tyrella Kingdom。」
「Among them, the Southern Duke Robert Family and the Black Hawk Duke Siger Family had intermarried with the Nibel Family of the Golden Flower Dynasty.
These three families were closely tied, an alliance of mutual defense. And the current rulers of the Griffin Dynasty, the Karla Family, had as their allies the northern Wiens and eastern Ivenson.」
Hearing this, Yam suddenly recalled the chaos of the current Western Region.
「So the Siger Family of the Western Region was a political scapegoat?！」
「I don’t know。」 Unfortunately, Annie shook her head. 「What I know of these families and related matters is because, for the Kasein Family, having a clear understanding of the nine great families and their alliances was considered basic knowledge—
to avoid choosing the wrong side later. But as for the more specific matters, especially those involving political struggles, I don’t know。」
Though Annie did not know much, Yam clearly had his own thoughts and judgments.
The Southern and Western Regions were both supporters of the Golden Flower Dynasty. But now the ruling dynasty was the Griffin Dynasty under the Karla Family. For them to place their own supporters, the Kasein Family, as commanders of the Southern Army, was clearly a move to hinder the Southern Duke Family.
Naturally, they must have used the same strategy to deal with the Western Duke. Perhaps this was also why, when the Western Duke fought against the Aust Empire,
the Western Army suddenly abandoned resistance, only blocking the Empire’s access to the Kingdom’s Heartland.
Perhaps at first, the Karla Family only intended to weaken the Siger Family of the Western Region.
But they had not foreseen the situation spiraling completely out of control, leading to the Aust Empire tearing open a massive gap in the Western Region,
which now gravely threatened the Southern and Northern Regions.
From what Marquis Visen had revealed before his death, Yam knew that the Southern Army was already preparing for war, ready to rush to the Western battlefield at any moment,
and there was even a strong possibility of a conscription order.
What worried Yam most was precisely that conscription order.
But before he could voice his thoughts, as they waited a while in the banquet hall, they soon received the news that Marquis Monica was summoning them.
At that instant, Annie’s face swiftly turned sorrowful and mournful, her eyes reddening almost immediately, with crystalline tears glimmering at their corners.
Though Cynthia could not display such effortless shifts of expression, after taking a deep breath, her face quickly grew solemn and grave, her eyes filled with a sorrow and grief nearly matching Annie’s teary look.
Yam and Akar were dumbfounded.
「If you don’t know what expression to wear, just look serious。」 Cynthia whispered softly to Yam.
Annie said nothing to Akar, but her way was much simpler.
While no one was paying attention, she slapped down hard, her palm squeezing tight.
Akar’s eyes instantly widened, his face contorting in pain as he sucked in a sharp breath.
Seeing Cynthia also seem tempted to act, Yam quickly assumed a solemn, grave, and silent expression.
In an instant, the four of them naturally exuded an unmistakable atmosphere of grief.