Do you have a problem with necromancers?

Chapter 116 Our Grand Duke
The Riverlands nobles, who had left Eagle Castle at dawn, had already arrived at the south bank of the Raging Tide River.

The Nuchao River is not only extremely wide, but also located at the mouth of the sea. When the tide rises, the seawater often flows back into the river, forming a turbulent countercurrent, so the hydrological environment is extremely complex.

Apart from fishing boats from nearby villages, only the Fahre family's fleet could carry people between the two banks.

The nobles came to nearby villages and asked the villagers to provide fishing boats for transport.

Under the gleaming swords of the knights, the fishermen dared not refuse and could only row their boats out from the reeds to let the gentlemen board one by one.

Upon receiving orders from Eagle Castle, Fahre's fleet on the Raging Tide set sail and intercepted the Riverlands nobles' ships in the middle of the river.

"Fire arrows!"

Seeing the situation was dire, the boatmen were the first to jump into the water, while the nobles and knights were still in shock when they were bombarded with arrows and quickly fell like wheat being harvested by a sickle.

Some who were lucky enough to survive quickly tumbled off the boat and fell into the water. But the Angry Tide River has its reasons for being named as such.

The armored knights couldn't swim at all and quickly sank to the bottom of the river. The nobles struggled to swim, but their soft clothing was no match for the arrows shot from the boats, and soon the surrounding water was stained red.

The screams and wails gradually subsided. The sailors lowered their small boats and began searching for survivors in the surrounding river. Once they found one, they would fire an arrow to ensure that the survivor could not swim to the north bank alive.

Within Eagle Keep, the nobles of the Land of Fertility had already sent letters home, demanding that the knights launch a massive crackdown on the suspicious "bandits" heading north, and that no noble be allowed to pass through the Land of Fertility.

In the castle's ground floor hall, Renn sat in the lord's seat, with the nobles below him seated in their respective places. To his right were the nobles of the Fertile Lands, and to his left were the nobles of the Riverlands who had remained in the city. The two sides were clearly separated and stood in silent confrontation.

“We performed the guest ceremony before entering Eagle Castle,” a Riverlands nobleman finally spoke up. “Is Marquis Faher intending to risk angering the gods by forcibly keeping us here?”

“Of course not,” Renn said with a warm smile. “As long as you are still within my territory, you are my guests. The Faher people will not allow any of their guests to be harmed.”

The nobles from the bountiful lands opposite them cast cold, cruel glances their way.

That's right, Raine Fahl wouldn't harm them, but their return to the Riverlands would inevitably take them through the Fertile Lands, and the nobles of those Fertile Lands would clearly not allow them to return alive.

The struggle for the heir apparent has always been like this. The Grand Duke's death was too sudden, and the designated heir, Kyle Malorne, was in the East, which gave these Reachers an opportunity.

The nobles of the Riverlands drank and ate in silence, knowing that as long as they did not leave, the Marquis of Faher could guarantee their safety, but that also meant they could not bring news of the Grand Duke's death back to the Riverlands.

Unless one risks venturing south into the Serpent Mountains, then turning west through the Longwater Province, and finally circling back to the Riverlands… not only would one face the risk of savage attacks, but the journey would also be extremely long and time-consuming. By the time one returns to the Riverlands, Marsan Malone would likely have already been crowned in High Rock.

“The Malorne family will not allow this to happen,” a Riverlands nobleman said coldly, his face grim. “Kyle Malorne is the Grand Duke’s only designated heir.”

“I haven’t heard of such a claim,” Renn said slowly. “Did the Grand Duke designate an heir before his death?”

"Of course not." The nobles of the bountiful land immediately burst into laughter. "Why don't you go and ask His Excellency the Duke and see if he agrees with your statement?"

"How shameless!" A nobleman from the Riverlands suddenly stood up and roared, "You are the Grand Duke's vassals, yet after his death you defied his wishes and plotted to seize his title. What about your loyalty, duty, and honor? Are they all disgusting lies?"

“I’m not so sure.” Claudius, dressed in a legionary commander’s uniform, emerged from the back of the hall, accompanied by soldiers of the Nightshade Legion. “According to Emperor Trajan’s decree, any succession to a dukedom requires the duke himself to apply to the capital, and it only becomes effective after approval by the royal family and the court. Since when has the ‘grand duke’s own will’ been enough to decide the ownership of a dukedom?”

The nobles of Hejian were speechless for a moment.

The system of approval for nobles is self-evident and has already been mentioned. When Renn inherited the title of Marquis, he was specially summoned to the capital to meet the Emperor and obtain authorization. In essence, this was an attempt by the central imperial power to restrain the ruling power of the border dukes.

In reality, this system only applies within the four borders of the capital. As for the nobles in the border provinces, many of them first complete the succession and transfer of their titles, and then routinely notify the capital for record-keeping—after all, I've already obtained the title, so what difference does it make whether you approve it or not?

However, if we must be strict about the procedure, then Colonel Claudius's statement is correct. Even the most arrogant Reach noble would not utter such a treasonous statement as "the internal affairs of the Reach nobles are none of the court's business" in front of the Imperial Legion; that would be tantamount to courting death.

“Even if an application is to be submitted, it should be the Malorne family that submits it,” another Riverlands nobleman tried to find a loophole in the procedure. “Then the court council will make the decision, instead of you people of the Fertile Lands submitting the application and the Nightshade Legion approving it, right?”

“Of course.” Renn spread his hands and said calmly, “We have no intention of overstepping the rules, so we have already sent a raven to High Rock to inform the Malorne family about this.”

This is a lie.

Everyone could see at a glance that Renn's message was definitely not to High Rock, but to the Marshan couple who lived there. They would secretly come to the Land of Fertiles to inherit the title without the knowledge of the entire Malorne family, and after making it a fait accompli, they would return to High Rock as Grand Dukes.

The court's attitude and stance are not difficult to discern. Kyle Malorne has the support of the Riverlands and the ally of the East, and is the Malorne family's most favored heir. His appointment as Grand Duke would minimize the negative impact of the entire affair—a result that the court and the royal family undoubtedly do not wish to see.

In contrast, Martha Malorne, after taking office, had to face the centrifugal force of the Riverlands nobles, resistance within the Malorne family, and a powerful rival with many supporters. Therefore, in order to consolidate her position as Grand Duchess, she had to rely more on the support of the capital.

Even a fool sitting in the court council would know which option to choose.

At this point, the situation was beyond saving for the Riverlands nobles. Unless they could teleport to the East or acquire a raven capable of delivering messages... but even a fool could guess that no bird was allowed to fly above Eagle Hold at this time. Raine had even assigned Aurora to guard the castle rooftop around the clock, ready to intercept any unexpected changes.

The luncheon ended in this somber atmosphere.

Several nobles from Hejian bid farewell and left, clearly unwilling to accept the status quo and determined to gamble their lives on a desperate breakout.

Many more approached Raine privately, expressing their willingness to pledge allegiance to the future Duchess of Marshan and to return to the war against the Wildlings.

Some nobles were caught in a dilemma, neither daring to attempt a breakout nor willing to surrender now. After their meal, they would go back to their rooms and gather together, whispering among themselves about their next course of action.

Renn let them continue to hesitate, but had old Earl Tanfield write a letter home to his son, who lived with his wife in High Rock.

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Grand Duke Malorne had a son and a daughter. His son, Kyle, was adopted by Duke Bolot in the East and would only return to the Reach once or twice a year at most. As a result, the Grand Duke doted on his daughter, Marshan, and his son-in-law, Galien Tanfur, was also kept in High Rock. To outsiders, it seemed like he was adopted by a son-in-law.

Of course, everyone in the family knows that Kyle's position as heir is unshakeable, as can be seen from the path the Grand Duke has paved for him in advance.

In contrast, her daughter Martha received no elite education whatsoever. Her tutors taught her literature, painting, and art appreciation, which made her overly idealistic and easily influenced by others; otherwise, she wouldn't have been so easily persuaded to join the Amazon Society.

For the Malorne family, unless Kyle were to suddenly die a violent death, no one would support Marsan. But for the Tanfield family, the nobles of the Land of the Bountiful, and the Imperial City, Marsan was undoubtedly the best candidate for Duke.

The idea of ​​"considering oneself an Amazonian" is a harmless hobby, not worth mentioning; but to be obsessed with governing the Marlowe family and "making the Reach Great Again" is absolutely unacceptable. There's a saying, "It's not that we're afraid of the second generation neglecting their duties, it's that we're afraid of them being determined to start their own business"—that's the point.

Before Martha's husband, Gabriel Tanfield, was arranged to marry into the Malorne family, the old count had already given him a detailed instruction: You have only two tasks in High Rock: to please your wife and to please the Grand Duke.

In addition, Gelian kept in mind the importance of keeping a low profile and avoiding attracting attention.

Because she had spoken up for Renn before, she was severely criticized by others within the association. Recently, Martha has stopped exchanging letters with association members to discuss the "loss of power of the Amazons." Instead, she has become obsessed with the social balls among nobles. As a result, Galian is also practicing ballroom dancing like crazy and has even hired three dance teachers to teach him to dance.

"Lord Tanfol, your Raven letter." The butler came to him with the letter, the Tanfol family's wax seal still intact.

Galian opened the letter, glanced at it, and his expression changed slightly. Noticing that the steward of High Rock Fortress was scrutinizing him, he quickly composed himself and said:
“It’s nothing, just a letter from home… Oh, right, it’s from my father, hoping I can go back as soon as possible, and also from Martha… Well, hoping the two of us can go back as soon as possible.”

“If I remember correctly, your father should be with the Duke right now, fighting the savage army in the area south of the Fertile Lands, near the Serpent Mountains,” the steward gently reminded him.

“Um, um, we’re going back to Deep Forest City.” Galean wasn’t good at lying and lacked quick wit, so he just stammered, “My father asked me to go back to the family to take care of some things.”

The butler neither confirmed nor denied it. He could tell, of course, that the Duke's son-in-law was trying to cover something up, but he didn't press the matter, offering only a reminder:

“Then you should tell Mr. Toltak. The Grand Duke is not here; he is the one in charge of the family.”

“Yes, yes, I’ll go find him right away.” Galean was already sweating a little.

“Before that, you can inform Miss Martha first,” the butler continued to suggest. “As her husband, she should be the first to know about this.” “Ah, yes, that’s right, thank you for reminding me.” Galean finally calmed down and realized that he did need some time to think carefully about how to plan his actions.

In his letter, his father mentioned that even Martha was not to be told about this; he should just take her to the north bank of the Raging Tide as soon as possible, where the Fahre family's fleet would meet them. However, Martha Malone was not an easy person to talk to, and Galian knew that if he tried to take her away without explanation, he would most likely be kicked by her.

Aha! Doesn't she really like that Renn Fahr? Let's say that Marquis Fahr invited her over... to the savage tribe in the Serpent Mountains, where they discovered relics of an ancient Amazonian tribe!

Galean found his wife, Martha, who had just returned from dancing in the salon, covered in sweat. After hearing her husband's fabricated excuse, she immediately looked bewildered.

"Are you sick? We are modern Amazons, what do we have to do with ancient Amazon tribes?"

Galen was speechless. You didn't know there was a difference between these two?
Seeing her husband's blank and honest face, Martha also showed a frustrated expression that said, "Speechless, I can't explain this to you, a typical imperial man."
"Tell me, why did you bring me back to Deep Forest City?"

“That’s right, that’s right…” Galian said helplessly, “Anyway, Father said he was going back to see Renn, but I don’t know the specific reason!”

Martha frowned in confusion. Though somewhat puzzled, she didn't suspect anything. She knew her husband wasn't good at lying, and old Earl Tanfield should understand that he couldn't afford the consequences of fooling her and offending his father.

"Okay then, let me change my clothes."

"It's too late, we have to go see your uncle right away..."

"I said, let me change my clothes!"

Although Martha was still completely unaware of what was going on, she displayed a domineering and forceful attitude in front of her husband that was no less than that of the Duchess. She leisurely took a bath, changed her clothes, and then went to see her uncle, Tortak.

Toltak readily agreed to the couple's request to return to Deepwood City. After all, according to the customs of the Human Empire, wives usually lived with their husbands' families, and Martha couldn't stay at her parents' home forever.

But isn't the Earl of Tanfield in the River Bend coalition?

This doubt did not dispel Tortak's thoughts, because he knew that old Earl Tanfort was a very discerning nobleman who would neither dare nor need to do anything bad to Martha. The advantage of the various unspoken rules and formalities among nobles lies here: knowing how the other person would think in any situation avoids much unnecessary speculation and suspicion in the process of building trust.

The couple quickly set off, leaving High Rock City by carriage and entering the Land of Fertiles.

With many knights and militiamen already having crossed the Raging Tide, the roads on the Fertile Lands side were somewhat deserted. Martha ate a few sweets and, feeling a little drowsy, told her husband to wake her once they reached Deepwood City.

Gailian readily agreed, then lifted the curtain to give the driver a few more instructions before retreating back into the carriage. To allow his wife to sleep more soundly, he simply let her head rest directly against his chest.

Human flesh provides excellent shock absorption; Martha slept like a log. When she awoke again, the carriage was almost at the north bank of the Raging Tide River.

"Haven't we arrived at Deep Forest City yet?" Martha lifted the curtain, looked at the position of the sun, estimated the time, and felt that this journey seemed unusually long.

“We’ll be there soon,” Galean said vaguely.

“Are you lying to me?” Martha tilted her head suspiciously at him. “Galerian, has anyone ever told you that you’re a terrible liar?”

Galian was speechless, and his silence only strengthened Martha's resolve. She turned and called out:
"Stop, I want to get off."

“Wait, not here yet…” Galian tried to stop him, but quickly received a slap from Martha:

"Get out! How dare you lie to me?"

Martha Malone, who had violently assaulted her husband, jumped out of the car and gazed at the Raging Tide River in the distance.

This is where?

Before she could even make out what it was, she saw a large ship quickly dock and moor at the shore.

Ryan was the first to jump off the boat and raced toward the carriage. By the time he reached Martha, his eyes were already brimming with tears.

“Marsan,” he said, his voice heavy with grief, “you must accept this loss. Your father… tragically perished in the battle against the savage army…”

Martha froze for a moment, her legs went weak, and she almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, Ryan quickly stepped forward to support her, even faster than Gallian rushed out of the carriage.

The other nobles from the bountiful lands rushed to the carriage, chattering excitedly, but Martha could no longer hear them. She felt as if countless bees were buzzing wildly in her ears, until Renn poured her a glass of tequila, and she felt her strength gradually returning.

"Has the murderer who killed my father been caught..." Martha asked, her voice heavy with emotion.

“The murderer is dead,” Raine said in a deep voice, “but the Wild Elf King who ordered the murderer is still confronting us in the Serpent Mountain Range.”

Martha was silent for a moment, then looked up at the nobles of the bountiful lands and said:
"As my father's vassals, shouldn't you avenge him?"

This was a rather unsophisticated statement, immediately questioning the nobles instead of appeasing and winning them over. But everyone liked this kind of straightforward duchess, and upon hearing it, they all immediately pledged to devote all their troops to tearing that damned wild elf king to pieces. However, the prerequisite was that Martha must immediately assume the position of Grand Duke of the Reach, otherwise, they would be leaderless and wouldn't know what to do.

Martha fell silent again. She had a strong urge to say, "Then I'll become the Duchess," but she also knew that her father's preferred heir was her brother, Kyle.

If she just nods here, the brother and sister will be estranged from each other from now on.

“Marsan,” Raine noticed her hesitation and lowered his voice, “The Grand Duke’s body is still at Eagle Hold, and we need someone from the Malorne family to go there as soon as possible to preside over the funeral. It’s definitely impractical to go to High Rock or even the East to call someone. Why don’t we cross the river first?”

Martha suddenly realized what was happening and nodded quickly. She didn't want her father, who had loved her dearly in life, to lie alone in his coffin after death, with no one to keep him company.

The crowd ushered Martha Malone onto the deck of the large ship. Galean, on the periphery of the crowd, scratched his head, trying to find his wife but unable to squeeze in. He was then quickly dragged away by the nimble Earl Tanfield.

A biting wind swept across the Raging Tide River; the early spring weather remained harsh and unforgiving. Martha gazed at the distant riverbank, her eyes welling with tears again. Suddenly, she heard Ryan speak beside her:

"It's windy on the river, put on a robe."

Martha blankly thanked him, wrapped the robe that Renn had draped over her, and didn't notice that the wealthy nobles around her were almost simultaneously holding their breath in astonishment.

Because she was wearing a lord's robe, which only a grand duke was entitled to wear, with the Marorne family's pegasus crest embroidered on the back.

The group crossed the Angry Tide River and rode swift horses to Eagle Fortress.

In the castle courtyard, the Riverlands nobles were also gathered. When they saw Martha Malorne, draped in a Pegasus robe, enter surrounded by the nobles of the Bountiful Lands, they were all momentarily stunned.

However, the nobles of the Riverlands who had already secretly pledged allegiance quickly realized what was happening and shouted:
“Marsanne Malone is our Grand Duke!”

The sound echoed throughout the castle. Aurora, perched atop the rooftop, watched the near-mad nobles below, surrounding the terrified Martha Malorne, and sighed in disbelief:

"Even if they aren't depicted as caged birds, what difference is there between them and us?"

In the lower hall, the body of Grand Duke Malorne lay in a sarcophagus. His face was bluish from poisoning, and his servants had to apply a thick layer of lead powder to him, otherwise he would have been almost unrecognizable.

Martha collapsed in tears before the sarcophagus, while the nobles and knights behind her fell silent, bowing their heads in mourning.

At the top of the stairs, Berthalia watched from afar as Masan wept bitterly, and a subtle feeling welled up inside her.

The two had a fairly good relationship within the association, so the dark elf felt a little sympathy for her... Of course, only a little, because she knew very well that from the moment Grand Duke Malorne became hostile towards Renn, it meant that his life had entered its countdown.

No one who has offended a necromancer has ever escaped unscathed. Although he won't kill you immediately, this inexplicable and sudden death only makes his methods seem more unpredictable and mysterious.

Forget it, what does it have to do with me? I'm just a bird in his cage, and the butcher's knife will never fall on me.

(End of this chapter)