Chapter 226 The Grand Duke’s Change

No one else knew what happened in Archduke McReynolds’ study except the Archduke and the four earls.

The servants in the castle only knew that after several unidentified guests left, the Grand Duke was very angry. He smashed his favorite porcelain and made a mess in the study.

“Father.”

Roland appeared beside McReynolds at nightfall, somewhat intimidated by his Grand Duke father.

“You’re back?”

Grand Duke McReynolds looked at Roland, and his calm emotions began to rise again.

“Why did they know that we were trading weapons with the Northern Wind Province?!”

Thinking of what those earls vaguely revealed, Grand Duke McReynolds couldn’t help but have a headache. What Earl Wilcox failed to finish said made him realize that his army was not as pure as he had imagined.

“It shouldn’t be a military problem.”

“The knights are loyal to you, but the soldiers don’t know where their weapons come from.”

Roland was extremely humble in front of the Grand Duke. He knew what he was going to say next, and he said in a speculative tone:

“Perhaps, someone in your bloodline couldn’t help showing off.”

Although it was just a guess, Roland was very sure that this was the fact.

The McReynolds family is very large. In addition to the eldest son and himself, the Grand Duke also has some illegitimate children who are not allowed to see the public.

This is due to the Grand Duke’s decades of study of the Empire. The life magicians and priests of the churches in the Grand Duke’s territory are all his people, which greatly reduces the probability of infant mortality.

Over the past few decades, the population in the territory has grown, and the strength of the dukedom has gradually increased, which has caused the royal family to be vigilant, and this is also a reason.

“them?”

The Grand Duke also fell silent. This was something that was difficult to change.

His troops are now all in the south fighting against the armies led by several nobles, and those who control the armies are naturally his bloodline.

Of course, there are other nobles of the Andara Kingdom who are fighting against those noble lords, such as Viscount Fragoso and the four earls before, who all have their own armies.

So, when the people below meet, many things become complicated.

“A bunch of good-for-nothings!”

Grand Duke McReynolds couldn’t help but start to scold. He was already angry at the choice of the four grand dukes.

After a long time, the Grand Duke calmed down and looked at his trembling second son Roland.

“Has the second batch of weapons from the Northern Wind Province been delivered?”

“Yes father, the weapons are of high quality, I left most of them in our possession.”

“They want food?”

“Yes, the Frozen Baron hopes that we can sell them some food. This is a long-term transaction, perhaps an exchange that will take place every year.”

Grand Duke McReynolds nodded. He still didn’t care about a little food.

“Tell me, what is the Empire’s army like?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t dare to find out too much during my trip to Beifeng Province this time.”

He knew his father very well. He was extremely wary of the Holy See and also cautious of that huge empire and was unwilling to have any more contact with it.

Unexpectedly, the Grand Duke’s next words made Roland look surprised.

“In the future… maybe we should make a change.”

The four earls did not explicitly reject him, but it was difficult for them to agree with him, which Grand Duke McReynolds could see.

To put it bluntly, the things and interests that he had mentioned were not enough to shake the choices of those earls.

They were nobles who were on good terms with him, and they were all like this, and the other nobles in the kingdom were even more so. Nobles, big or small, all wanted to see definite benefits, but now that the king was selling out the interests of the kingdom, the one who was harmed the most was Grand Duke McReynolds.

As for other nobles, they have not yet seen the huge threat posed by this incident.

In other words, they have not yet felt that their interests have been harmed.

This resulted in the situation that, even though there were many nobles standing by his side, McReynolds still felt that he was fighting alone.

He needed friendly forces, the kind that could clearly become allies and enemies of the other nobles of the kingdom and the Holy See.

The empire can meet this condition, but the empire is too large, so the nobles of the empire can also meet their own conditions.

Grand Duke McReynolds had thought a lot in his study before. He had figured out many things and he felt that he needed to make changes.

The same is true of the McReynolds family.

“Has the team from the Frozen Territory left?”

“Not yet. They are going to buy some food and other items from the Andara Kingdom and bring them back to the frozen land.”

“Go and bring their team over and sell them some of our resources. You can also sell them some extraordinary potions for breeding magical beasts and some priest scrolls from the Church. The empire is in great need of these things.”

“Then ask them to bring some specialties from the Empire and the Frozen Territory to trade with us next time they come.”

Roland nodded and looked at his father with some surprise.

“Father, will this attract the attention of the royal family?”

Upon hearing this, Grand Duke McReynolds became furious.

“What are you paying attention to? The Andara royal family has directly placed the Vatican’s army on the land of the kingdom. I just made a deal with a baron from the northern border. What’s wrong with that?”

“Is there anything in our McReynolds family that he, Erdo, would like to see?”

“No matter what we do, it will be problematic in the eyes of the royal family, Roland, you have to understand.”

Grand Duke McReynolds’s gaze became extremely profound at this moment.

“Yes, father.”

Roland bowed his head deeply.

“Okay, you go make arrangements.”

Roland left the castle and appeared in a city on the plain far below the castle. This was one of the three cities in the Grand Dukedom. It was the closest to the castle and the Griffin Mountains, making it very prosperous.

When arranging people to look for the caravan from the Frozen Territory, Roland met someone unexpected.

“Roland? You’re back?”

Compared to Roland, whose eyes were three parts noble, three parts melancholy, and three parts majestic, and whose body was perfectly symmetrical, the burly man in front of him was too “knightly”.

His muscular body cannot be concealed even by his gorgeous aristocratic clothes, and his aura is even more barbaric. This is the change brought about by the Alpine Knight’s breathing method. Usually, only one lucky knight out of a hundred can perfectly comprehend the charm of the Alpine Knight’s breathing method.

Roland’s expression was respectful, because the burly man in front of him was his elder brother.

“Otto, why are you back?”

“Why, you don’t like seeing me back?”

Otto McReynolds blinked, then grabbed Roland by the neck.

“What are you planning to do? I came back to find my father and want him to send me to the battlefield in the south. Can you help me?”

“The battlefield in the south is too dangerous.”

Roland frowned. No one knew that the Grand Duke’s army had already clashed with the armies led by several nobles in the south. Because of the deal made by King Andara, these nobles wanted to enter the Griffin Mountains.

Strictly speaking, more than half of the Griffin Mountains have been divided among them.

(End of this chapter)