Chapter 42 42 Let’s Get Married

Chapter 42 -42- Let's get married

What is Castel's current situation?

Charlotte's heart skipped a beat.

She raised her head and looked at Duke Bold standing in front of the map, wondering what the other party meant by asking this question.

The old duke did not wait for her to give an answer.

Perhaps it was the brief silence that made him think that the girl was not clear about the current situation, so he took the initiative to make his own judgment:

"The Earldom of Castel is located at the northernmost end of the kingdom, and is separated from the hinterland of the principality by three duchies and two earldoms."

"And among these three duchies, there are covetous people who have always wanted to get Castel, there are enemies who always want to defeat Bold, and there are loyal supporters of His Majesty the King, who support His Majesty to weaken the vassal, strengthen authority, and expand the king's territory..."

"It can be said that outside the duchies... the situation is quite difficult, and everyone is eyeing the wealthy Castel!"

At this point, the old duke took a deep breath, and his face became a little ugly:

"The duchies are not Calm. "

"Those families loyal to Bold have their own plans!"

As he spoke, as if he remembered something, a trace of anger flashed across the old duke's face, and his voice trembled:

"Especially after seeing the marriage between Eleanor and the third prince!"

"The third prince is ambitious, Eleanor is cowardly, and Anthony, that bastard, is not in tune. He spends all his time on divination and astrology, idle, and doesn't pay attention to the management of the duchy!"

"The dignified Bold family is actually full of trash! Shit!"

The old duke angrily scolded his family members, not realizing that he was also a member of the Bold family, and that he was also a piece of shit that couldn't produce a qualified heir.

Charlotte lowered her head slightly, thinking about the information related to the Bold family.

She had studied the information of the Bold family and knew that what annoyed the Duke of Bold the most was the marriage between his only daughter and the third prince.

The old duke was planning to win over the Crescent Royal Family. After the marriage contract was signed, he boasted about it everywhere. However, he did not expect that he would be shot by the enemy's spearmen on the battlefield, which made him unable to produce an heir. In the end, he even sacrificed his only daughter who was willing to marry into the family. He was completely dumbfounded.

As for Anthony mentioned by the duke, his full name is Anthony de Borde, and he is less than 30 years old.

He is the half-brother of the old duke, the current designated heir to the duchy, and was named the Earl of Tulip. His fiefdom is also an enclave adjacent to Castel Territory.

This is also an old tradition of the Borde family.

Although Castel Territory is an enclave, the Duke's Mansion has always had a small indirect direct territory next to Castel Territory as the fiefdom of the next duke to strengthen control over the Castel family.

By the way, Earl Tulip is also the only son of Charlotte's aunt Lady Catherine, and is considered the girl's cousin. The two families have a good relationship. Charlotte remembers that he took her out to play. He is a very elegant, gentle and considerate gentleman who makes people feel comfortable to get along with.

However, although he is the heir to the Principality of Boulder, Earl Tulip is not interested in inheriting and governing the territory. His interests and skills are all wrong.

He is obsessed with divination and astrology, and his management ability is almost zero. He messed up the small Tulip Territory and was even driven back by the rioting people.

Now he has completely let himself go. He either stays in the Duke's Mansion to study divination or goes to the Mage Association to discuss astrology magic. He is unwilling to take care of anything, which makes the old duke quite disappointed.

The nobles of the Principality of Boulder know all these things.

Obviously, if the old duke dies, the Earl of Tulip, who has no interest in the territory, will not be able to control the duchy at all. The entire Duchy of Boulder may be seized by the Crescent Royal Family, and the third prince, who is Eleanor's husband, will become the next Duke of Boulder.

At that time, the Duchy of Boulder will change its name, and the spendthrift Earl of Tulip Anthony may be excited about getting rid of the duke's identity, because he will have more time to study astrology magic...

Astrology magic is different from other magic anyway. It does not cost more money, and only burns your own CPU.

The old duke was still cursing, getting angrier and angrier:

"These greedy guys... all think that the main branch of my Bold family is about to die out, and the duchy may change its name, and they all want to take the opportunity to bite off a piece of meat from us! Cough cough cough..."

At the end, it seemed that his old injury was involved, and he started coughing violently, with an abnormal blush on his face...

"Your Excellency the Duke..."

Charlotte hurriedly stood up, but the old duke raised his hand to signal:

"Cough cough... It's an old problem, I'm fine."

Deep After taking a breath, the old duke calmed down a lot, but his majestic voice still suppressed his anger, like a volcano that could erupt at any time:

"Hijacking, assassination, rumor-mongering..."

"Hmph!"

"Look at what they have done during this period!"

He took out a crossbow from under the table and threw it on the table angrily:

"These greedy bastards dared to throw dirty water on me, Bold. Do they really think that I can't deal with them because I'm old?!"

Looking at the crossbow on the table, Charlotte's eyelids jumped.

She recognized it. It was the other crossbow carried by the free mercenary who hijacked her that night.

Before leaving that night, she specifically asked Nice to find it and take it with her, but Nice couldn't find it after searching for a long time.

Combined with Leno who left in a hurry at that time, she now remembered what happened.

I'm afraid Leno had already recognized that it was from the Duke's Mansion, so he hurried back with the crossbow to report the news.

Maybe... at that time he might still think that it was his own hand, so he left so quickly.

"It seems that you recognized it. This is the crossbow used by the free mercenary who kidnapped you that night!"

"Even now, they don't forget to provoke the relationship between Castel and Boerde!"

"If I hadn't called them over one by one these days and beat them hard, this Boerde city would have been turned upside down by them!"

The old duke said angrily.

As if he was tired, he sat down again in his seat, sighed, and rubbed his temples.

After a moment, the Duke continued:

"Castel and Bold are of the same blood and are as close as brothers. Although they are the main family and the branch family, the lord and the vassal, as a feudal lord, I have never regarded Castel as an outsider."

"In the Second Star-Moon War, it was your grandfather and I who repelled the Fallen Star Kingdom Army that tried to invade Castel's territory. It was also your father and I who worked together to defeat the conspiracy of the Northern Grand Duchy to overthrow Castel..."

"At the same time, it was the Castel family's strong support for the successive dukes that allowed these great men in the duchy to The little nobles are law-abiding and dare not act presumptuously! "

"And now, the difficult time is coming again, and it is time for us to stand together again."

At this point, the old duke slowly turned around, his expression majestic and serious:

"Without Bold, Castel will sooner or later be annexed by other lords."

"And without Castel, Bold's strength will also be greatly damaged, unable to withstand the pressure from the royal family and other nobles..."

"We are originally a family."

Hearing the implicit hint in the words of the Duke of Bold, Charlotte's heart jumped.

She slowly raised her head and saw a pair of blue-gray eyes full of firm will.

"Sir Charlotte."

The Duke of Bold's voice became serious.

After a series of preparations, he finally expressed his thoughts:

"Let's...marry each other."

"Castel will eventually choose a marriage partner to consolidate its rule, but I think you also know that those pests in the principality will only eat up the declining Castel..."

"Only the Bold family has always been Castel's solid backing."

"Only by uniting can we overcome the difficulties in front of us!"

Charlotte was silent.

What is coming will eventually come. Although she knew that the Duke might want to marry her, when she found that the other party's will for marriage was so firm and so determined, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart.

She knew that after this banquet, the Castel family might break up with the Bold family.

At the same time, she would completely lose the protection from the Duke's Mansion and face the malice of other nobles...

"Is it Lord Leno?"

Charlotte asked.

A trace of surprise flashed in the Duke's eyes, and he seemed a little surprised by the girl's calmness.

He nodded:

"That's right."

"Although Leno is an illegitimate child and has a poor background, he has become a Silver Moon Knight at a young age."

"He didn't even use the Seed of Source Power, but like most nobles, he also awakened himself!"

"I can guarantee that his potential on the path of transcendence is even greater than that of an old man like me!"

"Although Leno lacks some etiquette, he is righteous and a true holy knight in his heart..."

"With him, you will have no worries. I believe he will definitely bring you happiness; and with Castel's support, Bolder will continue to be great!"

"This is a win-win situation."

The old duke looked sincere.

He was really sincere, at least from Bolder's perspective, because he had already told all the difficulties of the family, which was indeed a very sincere approach in the negotiation.

But Charlotte almost wanted to curse.

Win-win situation! Happiness of ghosts!

An ordinary little girl might believe the other party's nonsense, but she didn't!

It sounds good, but in the final analysis, isn't it because the Bold family feels that they can no longer control the nobles below, so they want to use the rich Castel to strengthen their own power? !

Yes, the situation of Castel's territory is more delicate, but the predicament of the Duke's family is no secret.

Not only that, the Duke's Mansion is not Castel's only choice, let alone the best choice.

And she, even if she dies immediately, will never let a man ride on her!

Her fate can only be controlled by herself!

Taking a deep breath, Charlotte raised her head and planned to refuse with the prepared reasons.

But the old Duke suddenly waved his hand to stop:

"You don't have to tell me your answer so quickly, you can go back and think about it first."

"I know you have concerns, especially Leno's identity, illegitimate children are a stain after all... This is indeed difficult for the Castel family to accept."

"But don't worry, at today's banquet, I will let you see the sincerity of the Duke's Mansion first..."

...

Charlotte finally failed to say the words of refusal on the spot.

The old Duke seemed to have a hunch about her choice and directly blocked her back.

This made Charlotte guess a little about the "sincerity" the other party said...

However, the girl didn't care.

No matter what the so-called sincerity of the Duke's Mansion was, her answer would not change.

Her biggest purpose in coming to this banquet was to cut off the thoughts of these greedy nobles.

However, after an in-depth exchange with the Duke, the girl also knew how bad the situation of the Castel family was.

It can be said that she was dancing on a tightrope now, and there were greedy eyes in the abyss on both sides.

Back to the main venue of the banquet, the banquet had not yet begun, and the nobles gathered in twos and threes, chatting in a low voice.

The girl picked up the high-heeled glass filled with milk from the waiter's tray and sat alone in the corner to rest.

From the carriage to the section of the journey to the Duke's Mansion, she was inevitably exposed to the sun, and her body was somewhat uncomfortable.

The chat with the Duke further consumed her energy, and now the girl just wanted to rest.

The band from Luna Bay played beautiful music, soothing and beautiful.

But Charlotte only felt noisy when she listened.

Especially when they saw her enter, the young nobles who seemed to be in heat became excited again. Before she could react, they surrounded her and showed their grace like roosters on stimulants.

Smelling the heavy perfumes intertwined on their bodies, Charlotte felt that she was about to suffocate.

She was not in the mood to talk to these peacocks now.

Looking at the handsome faces that would immediately get excited as soon as she looked at them, the girl narrowed her eyes slightly, thinking about how to find something for these energetic guys to do, to trick them, and at the same time to find some fun for herself to relax.

But at this moment, an elegant and gentle voice suddenly interrupted the young nobles' attentive flattery:

"Gentlemen, it is not a gentleman's behavior to surround the lady and disturb her rest."

"Don't you see the fatigue between the lady's eyebrows?"

Hearing this voice, Charlotte's heart jumped, because she felt that the tone and voice of this show-off were somewhat familiar.

The girl raised her head and looked towards the source of the voice, and then was stunned for a moment.

Behind the young noble, there stood a tall, handsome, red-haired man wearing a black tuxedo.

He wore a monocle, with a faint smile in his scarlet pupils, and held a goblet filled with red wine in his neat white gloves.

It was no one else.

It was the extraordinary person she saw in the dream world of Blood Summoning - Sebastian!

4,000 words long chapter! There shouldn't be many books with long chapters in the new book period, right? Everyone, don't vote yet!