Lord: Marry the villain's daughter at the beginning?

"Caudric, I disagree with you."

The first to oppose was naturally the master of the North, Reina's grandfather, Grand Duke Lars.

The white-haired and white-bearded Grand Duke Lars leaned back in his chair, his hands resting naturally on the table. His tall body took up most of the space at the round table like a small mountain, like a giant bear waiting for its prey, exuding a dangerous aura.

Although he is over seventy years old, for a high-level professional, this is just a little old and not considered advanced age. A normal high-level professional, even without considering various secret medicines and magic, can live to be over a hundred years old.

"First of all, the kingdom has never provided any assistance to our northern border."

As Grand Duke Lars's gaze swept over, some guilty nobles lowered their heads. Not only did the kingdom not provide any assistance to the North, it was even secretly trying to win over the nobles in the North. Not to mention, there were even merchants who were openly or secretly selling weapons, salt and iron to the demons. This was one of the reasons why the North, whose territory was almost half the size of the entire kingdom, had been beaten by the demons and had to retreat.

"Secondly, I don't think compromise can bring peace. Giving in to the aggressors will only make them more greedy."

Grand Duke Lars's voice was like a bell, but he didn't get much response. Almost all the nobles stood on the side of the royal family. At the very least, they were just sitting on the fence and watching the scenery. Now the North was not only invaded by foreign enemies, but also fighting the War of Succession. It was inevitable that it would weaken. The only question was how much. Would you care what the meat on the table said? Although the meat looked a little bit rough, the bright red blood on it made the nobles around lick their lips.

Instead of a direct rebuttal, Kodick clapped his hands, and immediately the servants spread out a painting on the conference table.

The painting shows a baby and a child who looks less than ten years old. There are two corpses holding weapons on the ground. Two soldiers in the painting, with the Lars family's North Wind Bear emblem printed on their armor, are snatching pensions from the older children. There are also many corpses of starved refugees around them.

Many nobles present began to discuss the matter.

"Everyone, this is the North under the rule of the Lars family. When I heard the bards tell me about it, I didn't want to believe it until I saw this magical painting that recorded the scenes in the North."

After saying this, Codick immediately put on a look of deep sorrow and began to speak passionately about the dangers of war.

"What has war brought us? Think about the Blood Mist Rebellion. Almost one-third of the kingdom's elite died in that civil strife. People's livelihood was in decline, and rebellions continued in various regions."

In order to describe the scene in the scroll more vividly, Kodik recalled how he exploited the serfs under his command, and then continued loudly: "In order to survive, these people even had to sell their own children!"

Then, Kotick blamed the Lars family for how he bribed and abducted children using welfare facilities and subjected them to sexual torture.

Codick's tone was sharp, and he patted his chest with exaggerated body movements, as if he was really very sad. Some of the women brought by the nobles had already started crying and were even scared. After all, although the practice of live mutilation has always existed in the kingdom, most of the nobles did not actually know much about these things.

Of course, there were also many nobles who were very interested in these curious things, and some even wanted to talk to Codick about them afterwards.

There were also those petty nobles who were not qualified to sit in the seats and could only listen, but they all showed disdainful expressions. Some even wanted to laugh, mocking Codick for having been in this business for too short a time and for having many loopholes in the techniques he described, which were not professional at all.

"You are simply slandering me!"

Grand Duke Lars slammed the table in anger, and the magic power around him continued to gather, but in the end, under the warnings of the law enforcers and the contempt of the nobles, he could only helplessly disperse the magic power.

There were even many nobles discussing in secret, saying that this was indeed a family that had educated a shameful noble family, and that if the top beam was not straight, the bottom beam would be crooked. However, after being warned by Grand Duke Lars' eyes, those nobles immediately fell silent.

In the past two years, the Demon Army was renamed the Demon King Army, apparently because a new king appeared in the Demon Tribe. Under the leadership of this king, it became increasingly difficult for the North to resist the invasion of border demons.

Originally, the royal family and the North could coexist peacefully, and even wanted to marry Reina, the eldest daughter of the North. However, with the disappearance of Reina's father, the royal family's attitude gradually changed from uniting with the North to defend the royal power to weakening the North to maintain the royal power.

Because the North has become too weak, it is still unknown who will give blood transfusions to whom when a marriage really takes place. However, this is just a superficial speculation. After the astrologers in the tower visited the old king, the old king's attitude suddenly took a 180-degree turn. He became so eager to wipe out the North that he was even willing to sell out land and join forces with the demons.

Seeing Grand Duke Lars' silence, the atmosphere was almost brewing. Kodik no longer concealed his intention and changed the subject: "However, you do not need to worry. Previously, the Demon King's messenger had come to the capital and had a long talk with me. The Demon King is no different from us, and is even more peace-loving and approachable than we imagined."

"The Demon King also hates war."

Having said that, Kodick turned his gaze towards Grand Duke Lars, seemingly mocking Lars for being a warmongering person.

"Therefore, the Demon King hopes that both sides will make concessions and promote peace. I, a humble person, have signed a new agreement with the Demon King on behalf of His Majesty the King. Although the details are still to be discussed, I believe that this agreement will bring lasting peace to the North, the Kingdom of Capet, and the Demons."

Although Kodick said so, when copies of the agreement were distributed to the nobles and church representatives at the round table, almost everyone showed expressions of confusion and shock.

The land north of the Duanxue Territory in the Northern Territory will be ceded to the Demons, and the trade between the Northern Territory and the Demons will be completely opened. The Northern Territory needs to provide the Demons with 300,000 silver leaf coins every year, and the Demons will also provide a certain amount of monster furs and ores.

No matter which one, it was too exaggerated. Isn't this just ceding territory and paying compensation? How can the devil be so peace-loving? Is he dissatisfied with the fighting in the North? Isn't this clearly a defeat clause?

Many people stared in amazement at the huge figure emitting a dangerous aura, and stepped back unconsciously, as if they were worried that Grand Duke Lars would launch an attack in the next second.

Even church staff have begun preparing for on-site rescue.

"The Surde region north of Duanxue Territory is already rich in minerals. We ceded these places, but we still have to buy the minerals from the demons?"

Archduke Lars questioned loudly, and even seemed to be amused by this absurd contract.

"This is just a preliminary agreement. We can still discuss the specifics. But the Demon King must have these places rich in minerals. The North is vast and rich in resources. I believe it won't hurt to lose this little territory, right?"

Kodick was not afraid of Lars, and the sarcasm in his tone never stopped.

"Humph, I hope you don't end up being eaten by the wolf you feed."

After saying this, Grand Duke Lars stood up and left his seat. At the round table meeting, it was no longer important whether the Lars family participated or not. Codick was not even here to discuss, but to inform. In the game between the royal family and the North, the royal family promised a lot of benefits, but paid a huge price in exchange for a comprehensive suppression of the weakened Lars family. Now it was time to close the net.

"Mr. Prime Minister, regarding the Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation in the North..."

The people of the Church of Light finally spoke, but they did not oppose the terms of the treaty. Instead, they asked what to do with the churches of the Church of Kodik in the north.

"Don't worry, the Demon King's army is a civilized army. I have already communicated with them, and they will ensure that the people who are rescuing the Cathedral of Our Lady are evacuated safely."

Codick was confident and looked at Augustine III, who had remained silent.

Augustine III's face, which was beginning to show age spots, had no expression on it. He just nodded, and then Cordic continued to preside over the meeting. After Grand Duke Lars left, Cordic had already begun discussing with the nobles how to divide the North.