The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

For once, Cordick kept his promise. After the Grand Duke of Lars read out his “crimes,” the decree was immediately signed in the palace, and the Grand Duke of the North, who had been trapped in the capital for many years, was finally able to return to his territory.

In theory, if Grand Duke Lars wanted to leave, no one could stop him, but out of loyalty to the royal family, he obediently stayed in the capital.

The elderly Grand Duke of Lars keenly sensed the king's change in attitude toward the North. However, as a member of an old knightly family, the Grand Duke of Lars still obeyed the old king's orders. This was a kind of blind loyalty out of chivalry, and at the same time, it was a way of lowering his stance to tell the old king that the North was not an enemy.

At least that's what Grand Duke Lars thinks.

But now, even if Grand Duke Lars is as rigid and loyal as he is, he can realize that Augustine no longer regards Lars as his vassal, but as an enemy.

To resort to threatening someone's children has crossed the line of aristocratic politics in this era. You might say that real politics is far more ruthless than this.

At least in this era, nobles still had some sense of shame, especially in wars between nobles. No matter how bloody the fighting was, as long as the ransom was paid, it was fine, except for mortal enemies. They could do things without any bottom line, but they couldn't do things so shamelessly.

Grand Duke Lars, holding Ruby, took one last look at the capital from inside the carriage. It was still as ancient, smelly, dirty, and chaotic as ever, yet still so full of life.

"Master, it's time to set off."

The old butler, who was driving ahead, spoke up to remind them.

"Yes, let's go to our base, Winterhold."

"Shouldn't we go to Young Master Sean's valley first?"

The butler has served the Lars family for decades and his relationship with Grand Duke Lars is more like that of friends than master and servant. He naturally knows how much Lars dotes on his grandsons. Now that even Ruby can be easily captured by the royal family, Sean should be in even greater danger.

"That's too late."

Grand Duke Lars sighed, "Whether Sean is alright or not, we must go to Winterhold first. Only when we get there can we truly take control of the situation."

According to Ruby, the reason for being captured in the capital was due to an internal rebellion within the territory. Some knights of the Lars family had rebelled. It was obvious to Grand Duke Lars that his troublesome sons had joined forces with the royal family to take action.

Grand Duke Lars never expected his sons to become so audacious, and even to start learning the royal family's schemes and plots.

However, once he returned to Winterhold, these brats wouldn't be able to cause any trouble in the eyes of Grand Duke Lars. As long as he was alive, the knights of the Lars family would know who they should be loyal to.

"Let's go, let's go back to the North."

And so, the ruler of the North left the capital on a bitterly cold morning. Even Grand Duke Lars dared not make a fuss, taking only a guard with him, and even secretly removing the coat of arms of the North Wind Bear.

Because once someone gets their North Wind Bear crest tattooed on them, they'll be pelted with rotten eggs or fresh roadside excrement by people along the way.

Meanwhile, in the capital, in the king's castle, Augustine III, lying on his sickbed, held a report in his hand and asked Cordick, "Is everything arranged?"

"It's all arranged, Your Majesty. Rest assured, this plan is also aided by the demons, so it's absolutely foolproof. We will definitely ensure that Duke Lars dies without a burial place!"

"That's good, cough cough! Don't leave any future troubles. All of Lars's brats must be dealt with, as well as their uncles. After they've eliminated those brats, give them a position to govern the North so they can fight amongst themselves. Then find another opportunity to eliminate them all at once, cough cough cough!"

Augustine III coughed violently, but continued to explain his thoughts.

A family like Lars, which has ruled a place for hundreds of years, is very difficult to completely eliminate. In addition to physical extermination, their influence must also be eradicated.

The best solution is to divide and conquer, support a force that depends on you, instigate, plot against, and fan the flames, and then repeat this combination of tactics once the force has grown strong.

All that's needed is to acknowledge to those bastards of Lars that everyone is a legitimate member of the Lars family and has the right to claim the North. Then those bastards will beat each other senseless. Add to that the demons eyeing the North from beyond the borders, and the destruction of the North won't even require the royal family's intervention.

Moreover, the Lars family would be torn apart, with no possibility of unifying the North.

As he pondered this, Augustine III suddenly realized that something was amiss.

It wasn't that there was something wrong with my thinking, but rather that the surrounding environment suddenly began to blur.

Where are the maids? Where are the servants? I've been coughing for so long, why hasn't a servant come in to bring me water? Before I knew it, only Augustine III and Cordick remained in the room.

In a daze, Augustine saw a cold smile on Cordick's lips, and at the same time his eyelids grew heavier and heavier, as if he was about to be invaded by a nightmare.

"Uh-huh!"

Augustine III wanted to call for his guards and activate the magic device on his body, but he found that he could only utter two simple syllables.

"Your Majesty, you should rest."

As Cordick finished speaking, Augustine III closed his eyes.

"Has everything been arranged?"

A glamorous woman dressed in a slit nun's habit emerged from the void behind Cordick, carrying a lantern.

"It went very smoothly; he didn't even realize he had fallen into a dream from the very beginning."

Before this woman, Cordick lost all his heroic and prime ministerial demeanor, and his obsequiousness before Augustine; in his presence, he was replaced only by deep fear and obedience.

The magical artifacts on Augustine III had barely begun to react when they were immediately suppressed by the black aura emanating from the lantern in the alluring woman's hand.

"You did a great job. To be honest, we never expected someone as shameless as you to go to this extent."

The glamorous woman spoke with barbs, seemingly deeply dissatisfied with Cordick's cruel methods.

“We do need to incite conflict, but not let it get out of control. You’ve done too well; some conflicts have already exceeded the control of our Lantern Dream, you know?”

Cordick stood frozen in place, trembling with fear, not daring to utter a single word in rebuttal.

"From now on, we need to keep a low profile and not do anything risky like this again. The bishop doesn't like it at all that you brought the demons into this."

Before Cordick could react, everything that had just happened seemed to end abruptly, like a dream.

"Your Majesty? Your Majesty!"

Maids and servants suddenly appeared, calling out incessantly at Augustine III's bedside. Beside the sweating Cordick were the equally sweating royal physician and the best professor from the Royal Academy.

On the day that Grand Duke Lars left the capital, Augustine III, who had ruled the Kingdom of Capet for decades, lost consciousness. However, according to outside sources, Augustine III died peacefully in his sleep due to overwork.

Because a crown prince had already been chosen, Cran Augustine immediately stepped in to stabilize the situation and prepare for his ascension to the throne.

However, because the old king's death was so sudden, the capital was still plunged into chaos.

Moreover, rumors among the nobles suggest that Augustine III's death was shrouded in mystery. Some even claimed that Augustine III was still alive and breathing normally, but his consciousness seemed to have sunk into a vast ocean, and he was in a perpetual slumber.