章節 230: Plans

Translator: Cinder Translations

...

"The deepest room in the dungeon is one of the entrances to a secret underground passage. The tunnel leads straight outside of Sente City. It was dug by the Fraule family as a precaution for emergencies. I escaped through this passage."

In Earl Parker's castle, Duke Henry detailed the process of his escape.

Paul examined the piece of paper filled with tiny handwriting. According to Duke Henry, this was a letter written by his brother. The handwriting was somewhat hasty, as if it had been written in a hurry.

The existence of underground passages wasn't unusual; it was instinctive for every lord to have a backup route. There was even a hidden tunnel in the castle of Alden Town.

What was alarming about the letter's content was the terrifying revelation: Earl Maltz Kent had controlled Duke Fraule—Henry's own brother. Under Kent's coercion, the Duke was forced to publicly transfer his title to him. Maltz Kent was planning to betray the Kingdom of Aldor, intending to establish his own power in the Northwest while the main force of the royal army was occupied with the Giles' Rebellion in the south.

As for how the Duke was controlled, the terms used in the letter made Paul's eyelids twitch.

"Disgusting insects," "Magic," "Witchcraft"...

The Duke used a series of seemingly incoherent words, but Paul, having had close encounters with mages, knew that there might be truth to these claims.

"Henry, I've managed to regain a bit of control over my mind and wrote this letter in my struggle. I'm done for; his evil sorcery has drained all my energy. I hope that you can avenge me and save the Fraule family after reading this. Maltz, the traitor, is secretly monitoring every member of our family now. I will try to help you escape his surveillance…"

The letter ended with these words. Paul fell into deep thought, wondering if the mysterious mage organization, the Arcane Society, might be connected to Maltz Kent's plot.

"It might be a bit messy, but it's certain that this letter was written by the Duke himself. I recognize his handwriting."

Seeing Paul deep in thought, Earl Parker assumed he was doubting the letter's authenticity.

"I stake my honor and the honor of my family on the truth of this letter and everything I have said."

Henry immediately swore an oath.

Paul looked up and asked, "Do you two have any plans? What can we do?"

"Of course, we must raise an army to deal with that bastard immediately…"

Duke Henry was about to insist on this course of action when Earl Parker interrupted him.

"This matter requires careful consideration. We mustn't act recklessly. The Kent family is powerful, and now the Duke is under their control. A direct confrontation is unavoidable, but Maltz Kent isn't the kind of person who will submit just because we issue a proclamation."

Although he was skeptical of the "witchcraft" mentioned in the letter, there was no doubt that Duke Fraule was forced to obey Kent.

Parker had suspected something was amiss when Kent was named the Duke's heir at the birthday banquet. Under normal circumstances, the title should not have gone to the Kent family, no matter how inept the main family members were. There were always closer collateral branches to consider.

Parker was prepared to confront Maltz Kent because there had been past conflicts between their families, though these conflicts were kept secret.

Paul pondered, "Uh... I think…"

"Earl Grayman!"

Earl Parker's face turned serious. "You're not still holding out hope for Kent, are you? Have you forgotten the conflicts between our families last year? I don't need to guess; I know he must have made many excessive demands from you. Not only you, but many lords of the Northwest Bay suffered under him."

Last year, tensions between the Grayman and Kent families had nearly erupted into violence. Although the reasons were not officially announced, the lords had roughly guessed the cause—Alden had made a lot of money, and Earl Kent was envious, as that was the kind of person he was.

Earl Parker continued, "Hmph! Once he becomes Duke, do you think we'll have a good time? What's more serious is that he plans to incite rebellion. We are all subjects of His Majesty the King. Can we just let him cause such chaos?"

"To be frank, we've already spoken with several lords who despise that villain Maltz Kent. We're prepared to unite and deal with him."

The old Earl fixed Paul with an intense gaze and asked, "Earl Grayman, Earl Ganard, what are your intentions?"

Paul inwardly cursed; it seemed he had to choose a side. These two groups were right next to his territory, so he couldn't stay out of it.

"What are you planning?" he quietly asked Malon, seated beside him.

"Of course, we'll join Earl Parker in dealing with Maltz Kent. Haven't you forgotten Kent's extortion of us last year?"

"Yeah, I was thinking the same. But..."

Paul turned to Lord Parker and asked loudly, "Lord Parker, how many lords have you gathered?"

Earl Parker smiled faintly, sensing Paul's doubts.

"Paul, our strength is considerable. But I understand your concerns. How about this? In a few days, I'll gather everyone to discuss our plans. You can go back for now, and then return when everyone is here. Of course, you're welcome to stay here for a few days until then."

It seemed Earl Parker was quite confident.

"Then we'll come back in a few days. Malon and I also hate Maltz Kent. If you can really gather a strong force, count me in."

"Good, it's settled then. I'll notify you when the time comes."

With the main discussion concluded, everyone began to enjoy dinner. After finishing, Paul and Mallon excused themselves to their guest rooms to rest.

Viscount Henry stayed behind. He cautiously asked Earl Parker, "My lord, how much help can these two provide us? I've heard that the Grayman family's strength has always been weak, and the Ganard family just experienced a rebellion from almost all their vassals last year."

"Heh heh." Earl Parker stroked his beard.

"Henry, you mustn't underestimate them. Leaving aside Byerldine for now, Alden is now much stronger than before. The pirates in the Northwest Bay were completely wiped out by the Grayman family, albeit taking advantage of the absence of their leader Edward and the disarray among the pirates. However, it's not something any ordinary earl could accomplish. And Grayman also helped quell Byerldine's rebellion, and you should know that those rebels had quite a few knights under them."

"I believe inviting them to join our plans will be greatly beneficial."

(End of the Chapter)