Duke was the highest title of nobility other than royalty.
And as if to express her sincerity and determination, Stephanie continued, “Of course, not the kind of noble who only has a title and no real power. When the time comes, I will give you a third of my territory and give you all the rights of the Grand Duke, such as the basic right of conscription, the basic territorial law autonomy, and even the right to wage war.” This was already pure lordship treatment.
In addition to the title of Grand Duke, as long as Roland’s ability wasn’t too bad, he would be a rising star of the high noble class in Fareins.
The blindingly bright kind.
Normally, no one would refuse such a gift if they were young. Even if it was a member of the royal family, most of them would be overjoyed when this happened, and then fall over and call out “Long live Her Majesty!”
However, Roland was not very interested.
Not that he was completely uninterested, he was just slightly touched.
After all, Stephanie was offering a really, really good deal.
But… after seeing Mordenkainen’s floating city, Roland had little interest in the territory on the ground.
No matter how big your land was, it would still be fixed in one place.
Could it come and go and be as convenient as the floating city?
It didn’t matter how high the nobles sat; at most, they would have the title of king or queen. They would still be mortal.
But once the floating city was built, even if it was small, it meant something different.
It would be moving in the direction of transcendence.
This was why Roland was indeed a little touched but still didn’t quite care.
Andonara knew Roland too well, and when she heard Stephanie’s words, she smiled and said, “This condition of yours will work for others, but not for him. Promising him a large library is better than all this power you’re using to entice him.”
“He just wants knowledge?” Stephanie leaned on Andonara, her body still weak. “Power and influence you don’t like, Roland, what about beauty?”
Now Andonara was not happy. “What do you mean?”
Stephanie’s reaction was also extremely quick, and she immediately said, “Don’t worry, I’m just testing him for you.” “Don’t do that.” Andonara stopped and looked at Stephanie very seriously. “Human nature cannot bear to be tested, understand?”
When she spoke, her eyes were grudging and even a little bit murderous.
Stephanie felt a chill inside, and she immediately nodded her head.
Seeing her concede, Andonara was quite satisfied and said, “We are good friends, this is Delpon, and I am the mistress of this placedon’t worry, you will be safe and happy here.”
Stephanie was indifferent to this. The people of Fareins had a bit of a “center of the world” complex. In their view, except for Fareins, all other human countries were barbaric, and only the elves were a little stronger than them.
The small country of Hollevin and the small city of Delpon were of no interest to Stephanie.
But there was no problem in taking refuge here.
Stephanie leaned against Andonara and slowly walked forward, as she asked Roland, “Before, you had been unwilling to show me the secret of the multiple teleportation array, but now you are willing to do so, and you even said you would invest—what deal do you want to make with me?”
“Because I suddenly feel that it would be good for me if you became queen.” Roland smiled and said, “The underground library of a princess like you already has a good collection of books, so the royal library, which is on a par with the Grand Library of Light, should also have many good books, right? It is said that that place is only open to the royal family, so if you become the queen, you should be able to let me in for a long time, right?”
“That’s why you revealed the secret of your multiple teleportation magic array!” Stephanie looked at Roland incredulously. “Do you know what this secret means?”
Roland nodded. “I think I should know better than you the importance of transportation in making a profit and the significance of smooth transportation to war strategy. Although you are a queen, I should be better than you in other comprehensive qualities, except for the education of etiquette and human affairs.”
Roland said this with great conviction.
It was just like he said; except for the elusive matters of the upper class, in his mastery of other areas of study, after nearly twenty years of systematic education, Roland, both in terms of the breadth and depth of knowledge, completely overwhelmed the First Princess.
Stephanie didn’t argue. She frowned. “Then why did you expose it… Just for some books?” “Just for books.” Roland nodded. “The amount of knowledge determines the upper limit of a Mage’s growth.”
“I can give you the territory and get you into the library. These things don’t conflict.”
“But with a territory, I won’t have as much time to study.” By this time they had reached the outside of Delpon, and the Magic Tower could be seen from afar. “I have my forces, but I find that just maintaining a small organization like this takes up a lot of my study time, and with another territory, the status of a Grand Duke, and a high position of power, even if I don’t manage anything, trouble will still come to me.”
Stephanie took a hard look at Roland and didn’t try to persuade him.
It was not that she’d given up, but that she’d put the issue aside for the time being.
A young Mage who could draw a multiple teleportation magic array was worth spending a lot of energy and time on to show favor and rope in.
The three of them were silent all the way back to their manor in Delpon.
Vivian, who received the news, rushed from the Magic Tower and then hugged Roland hard, refusing to let go.
Andonara was considerate enough to give the two of them space to be alone.
After all, Andonara had been by Roland’s side all this time.
In contrast, Vivian not only had to stay in Delpon but also had to manage the Magic Tower, as well as all the affairs of the magic academy.
Although Vivian had no complaints about it and even enjoyed it a bit, she was still a girl under twenty and would feel lonely not being able to see her lover for so long.
The two of them spent the night alone, and the next day, Vivian went back to handling the Magic Tower’s affairs in a radiant state.
Roland was a little tired and slept until almost noon before he got up from the bed.
Coming into the living room, he found that Andonara and Stephanie had already finished eating
As soon as Roland sat down, Stephanie said, “Getting up so late, you don’t seem to be that diligent.”
Roland smiled and didn’t say anything.
Everyone took breaks.
Roland understood the principle of combining work and rest.
But there was no point in quarreling with a woman over such trivial matters, so she could say whatever she liked.
Andonara went back to the kitchen and took out the fried egg and a glass of milk she had left for Roland.
When Roland ignored her, Stephanie frowned and asked, “How long are you going to keep me here and when are you going to send me back!?”
Roland took a sip of warm milk. “Not until Schuck and I figure things out.”
Stephanie looked displeased. “You’re putting me under house arrest?”
Roland put down his cup and raised his eyebrows. “House arrest? Your Highness the First Princess, although we are acquainted and considered close, you are always so suspicious; it is really difficult for our relationship to be harmonious.”
“But you won’t tell me when you’ll let me return to the capital, and if that’s not house arrest, then what’re you doing!?”
Roland sighed. “I thought you were a princess and had been hanging around the upper noble class for years, so you should be quite smart. In the end, you’re only a little smart; you don’t see the situation clearly at all.”
Those words were somewhat sarcastic.
Stephanie was extremely annoyed after hearing this, and her face was much darker.
However, she didn’t lose her temper, and instead just endured her anger and asked, “What do you mean by that?”
“Regarding this matter, there are only three parties involved now,” Roland explained somewhat helplessly. “The royal family, the Temple of Light, and the Association of Mages.”
Stephanie sneered, “Who doesn’t know that?”
“But you fail to understand the attitudes of these three parties.” Roland cut the plate of fried eggs into three portions and pushed one of them in Stephanie’s direction. “You represent the royal family, I represent the Association of Mages, and Schuck represents the Temple of Light.”
Stephanie was tempted to say, “Anyone can see this, and you can cut the crap.”
But she still decided to listen patiently and see what Roland had to say.
“Logically, most people can imagine how strong these three parties are united. No matter how powerful the enemy is, they should have been discovered by now. But the parties aren’t investigating and only pushing the three of us to work!” Roland sliced the omelet into a dozen pieces. “Schuck and I are both Golden Sons and will not die, so there is no problem with how we do things. I think that the Association of Mages has the idea of training me to do things on my own, and the same goes for Schuck—the pope agreed with Schuck’s idea of forming an investigation team but stopped helping. Isn’t that obvious? As for
you…”
Stephanie understood what Roland meant.
Then her whole body went cold.
Sometimes there were blindsides in vision and ideas, and one couldn’t change their mind just because they were involved in the situation.
Stephanie now understood that Roland and Schuck were both just out to “play” and that she was the only one who was fighting for her life.
Only she was being tested and watched!
“So, it’s you who’s really at risk. The nobles of the entire capital have only wanted to watch you all along, to see your ability to handle things, to see your ability to socialize, to see your ‘luck,’ whether you are qualified to be a queen or not.” Roland finished his omelet and said slowly, “So, the nobles are watching, the Temple of Light is watching, and even the Association of Mages, where an important figure has died, is watching.” A cold sweat broke out on Stephanie’s forehead, each drop the size of a soybean.
It was as if she saw three illusory giants in the air of this world, staring at her.
Each of the giants had a scrutinizing gleam in their eyes.
It was as if they were looking at a little sow struggling desperately to escape from a chopping board.
Among the three superpowers, two of them, the Temple of Light and the Association of Mages, had already chosen the future core figures of their organization. The only one who hadn’t even completed their exam was the First Princess.
“So, you’ll stay in this city until I return to Fareins, and Schuck and I will make a breakthrough in the situation first,” Roland said. “When this is over, I will come and bring you back to the royal family of Fareins.”
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login