Chapter 351: Intent of Marriage

Seeing that Richard was talking as directly as boxing, Lawrence couldn't continue to beat around the bush and could only get to the point.

"I wonder if His Excellency the Duke has any plans to let Her Highness Margaret marry?"

After hearing this, Richard's face suddenly looked a little strange and said: "Your Excellency the Earl should know that my eldest daughter Margaret is only eleven years old this year, and my eldest son Philip is only seven years old. I have only two direct descendants. For the stability of the territory, I don't want them to leave the territory too far. Although the territory is just being built, we don't have a strong demand for external support. For the first generation, I consider internal marriages and have no plans to marry outsiders for the time being."

According to the decree of the Kingdom of Grant, if Richard has an accident, William and Sophia will have the right to inherit the territory. On the contrary, Margaret and Philip, because they are not yet adults and are not professionals, do not have the right to inherit for the time being.

Hayden, Wendy and other brothers with the same father and mother have a later inheritance right than William and Sophia.

Next up are half-brothers like Ron and George, and even Powell and Bernie can be related, with the right of succession at the back of the order.

Richard has fought for many years in the Dawn Plane and has devoted countless efforts to the Dukedom of Harland. As long as Margaret and Philip show their talents, of course the territory will be passed on to the bloodline of the direct relatives.

If the children are useless, I am afraid they can only be selected from the bloodline of close relatives.

Richard is only 33 years old now. If he is promoted to a legendary magician, there are various means to extend his lifespan, but it is still very far from the normal transfer of power.

Normally, the lifespan of a magician is longer than that of a knight or a warrior, and the lifespan of a legendary magician can often reach 200 years. Maybe the children will go ahead of Richard and not wait to take over.

The competition for the noble territory is extremely cruel and often bloody. If you are not careful, it may cause waves.

Although Richard is now in the heyday and Sophia's position is very stable and no one can challenge it, in order to protect the children, Richard can't let them go too far away.

Margaret and Philip's marriage partners will only be selected from within the family. Most likely, they are members of the Harland family who have close ties with the Harland family, such as Stob and Dark.

Of course, Richard is not as conservative as William. Even if the children are of average qualifications, they will have a certain degree of autonomy in marriage. Richard just set a range and let the children choose within this range.

Lawrence came to the Harland Territory just to test Richard's mouth and see if the Harland family has any plans to marry the royal family.

King Roger's eldest son Ferdinand is already sixteen years old, and the royal family needs to make plans for the marriage of the eldest prince.

The king's children have very narrow marriage partners. In addition to the great nobles in the country, they are members of the royal family of nearby countries. Adding up the big and small, there are actually no more than dozens of families, and very few candidates.

Sometimes the great nobles need to wait for more than ten years or even more than twenty years to find a suitable marriage partner.

In recent years, the Kingdom of Grant has provoked many wars, offending the Linus family, the Ryan family, the Delong family, many great nobles of the East Coast United Kingdom, and the surrounding countries.

In a short period of time, the Grant royal family has almost no way to ease the relationship with the surrounding countries. The next generation of royal family members of King Roger can only be selected from within the family.

The eldest son of the king, Ferdinand, has awakened the blood of the knight, promoted to a professional, clarified the order of succession, and is now the first heir.

To marry with the eldest prince Ferdinand, the earl and marquis families can no longer be called equals, and their family status is a little worse.

Moreover, the earl and marquis families have weak influence and are not as strong as the several great dukes, so it is difficult for them to become the arms of the eldest prince to the top.

The only ones suitable for marriage are a few members of the duke family.

And the person King Roger wants to marry the most is Richard, the Duke of Harland.

First of all, the age is suitable. Margaret and Ferdinand are not much different in age and status. Both of them are legitimate sons and daughters, and they are naturally heavyweight noble members in the system of the Grant Kingdom.

Secondly, the political relationship of the Harland family at the top level is relatively simple. Once Ferdinand becomes Richard's son-in-law, he will definitely get full support from the Harland Territory. This is very important at the critical moment of the fight for the throne.

Third, the development prospects of the Harland Territory are particularly good, and King Roger also plans to invest in advance.

In addition, there is a fourth point, which is hidden in the dark. The royal family has a stronger foundation than the Harland Territory. Through the marriage of nobles, it can infiltrate and intervene in the internal affairs of the Harland Territory. Once Richard encounters an accident, it can control the Duke of Harland through Margaret's hands and find an opportunity to merge the Duke of Harland into the royal family and be managed by Margaret's descendants.

For the marriage to succeed, Richard's cooperation is needed, not King Roger.

The great nobles of the Grant Kingdom have extremely high authority. This country is a noble alliance country in terms of system. Although the royal family is the strongest and has 200,000 soldiers, it actually accounts for only a quarter of the national strength. In military affairs, the Kingdom of Roger cannot be arbitrary and needs to compromise with the nobles.

Even if King Roger wants to marry the Duke of Harland, he cannot directly issue an edict to grant the marriage. He needs to communicate with Richard first to avoid being directly rejected and embarrassed.

Lawrence came to Fort William mainly to test the wind direction, but he didn't expect to be directly rejected by Richard. However, in addition to the commission of the Kingdom of Roger, Lawrence is also preparing to matchmake for another noble.

"I heard that His Excellency the Duke's sister, Baron Wendy, is not married yet?"

Hearing Lawrence talk about Wendy, Richard suddenly became interested. "Do you have a suitable candidate?"

Wendy is only two years younger than Richard, and is already an unmarried young woman over thirty. Her marriage problem is also particularly troublesome, and there is basically no suitable candidate.

As the sister of the Duke's sibling, the marriage partner needs to be selected from among the great nobles. Although minor nobles can do so reluctantly, they must be members of the nobility with titles.

There are more than 600 hereditary nobles in the Grant Kingdom, including some of the children of the great nobles. Wendy's choice of marriage partners is much wider than Margaret's.

But Wendy herself is a five-ring magician, so it is impossible to choose a husband who is weaker than herself. The nobleman who can suppress the five-ring magician must be a silver knight of the seventh level or above.

Silver knights of the seventh level and above, those over forty years old are all geniuses of the kingdom and seeds of legends, they are particularly rare.

Moreover, the seventh-level Silver Knight, who is in his forties, was a hot commodity when he was young and has already married and had children. Unless Wendy is willing to be the replacement for an elderly noble, there aren't many suitable candidates at all.

"This spring, Marquis Allen's wife, Lady Ona, died of illness unexpectedly. If the Duke is interested, I can talk to Marquis Allen."

Given Wendy's social status, it would actually be worse to marry directly to a young marquis. But filling in a house for an old marquis is too unfair.

Although Marquis Allen is the Speaker of the Noble Council and has very great real power in the Grant Kingdom, Richard is actually not satisfied with this candidate.

"Marquis Allen's wife is the sister of the Earl of Silver Moon Island. In last year's war, the Earl of Silver Moon Island suffered heavy losses. He lost his territory and was demoted. He lost his status as a great noble. Just half a year later, Mrs. Ona had an accident. It was unavoidable. What a coincidence.

I'm afraid that after the war ended last year, Marquis Allen had plans to marry me.

But why would he target Wendy?

What resources does he want from Wendy?

Since Wendy has me as her backer, Marquis Allen may not dare to go against Wendy, but this man is ruthless and has a deep palace, so he is not a suitable candidate for marriage. "

Upon hearing this choice, Richard's expression changed slightly, and he felt a little disgusted. Although he was dissatisfied in his heart, it was not easy to refuse directly. After all, from the outside world, the two parties are a good match and are considered suitable candidates.

Moreover, Richard had just rejected Margaret's marriage proposal, and objected again because of the bad appearance.

"My sister Wendy is an important member of the Harland family. Whether she wants to get married depends on her own plans? She has autonomy in marriage matters. Whether she wants to marry Nolan depends on Wendy herself. That’s all.

The messenger might as well wait for two days while I talk to Wendy to see what her opinion is. "

After patiently exchanging pleasantries with Lawrence, he was sent to the most prosperous hotel in the castle. This hotel is officially run by Leader Harland. In addition to daily operations, it is also responsible for some official business. If Halland's middle-level civil servants and above come to Fort William on business, they will basically stay in this hotel.

Of course, Richard would invite the important envoys to live in the city lord's mansion.

Although Lawrence is an earl, he does not have a hereditary territory, and his status is far from that of a hereditary territory duke like Richard. He is not an important messenger to Richard.

After seeing Lawrence off, Richard looked at the nightfall, took a casual bite, and immediately came to the Western Suburbs Mage Tower.

Wendy, like Sophia, is particularly fond of magic and likes to study the mysteries of magic. Full of desire for knowledge, she actually has no intention of getting married.

Richard casually talked to Wendy about today's events.

Wendy was particularly averse to marriage because of what happened when she was a child. As soon as Richard started talking, he was directly interrupted by Wendy, who clearly expressed his rejection.

After Wendy's attitude was clear, Richard gave Lawrence a clear attitude and rejected the proposal of marriage between the nobles of the royal capital.

More than ten years after the establishment of the Harland Leadership, Richard had always resisted integrating into the special circle of the royal aristocracy. This can be seen clearly from the fact that he did not choose the count's legitimate daughter when he got married, but chose Sophia.

As an older brother, Richard hopes that Wendy can live happily every day. His three views have matured in his previous life. Unlike William, he has no intention of exchanging the happiness of his relatives for benefits.

Moreover, from the perspective of practical interests, Richard did not want Wendy to marry other nobles.

Because Wendy is an important member of the Harland Mage Association, she has a very complete grasp of the Mage Association's inheritance.

Wendy understands all the ancient wizard language, new discoveries of elemental magic, alchemical bombs, searing ray guns, force field shield refining methods, magic energy steam engine principles, magic energy conversion principles and other new achievements.

Once Wendy marries outside, the unique core heritage of the Haaland family will inevitably be leaked.

The great nobles are all potential competitors of the Harland territory. Once they master the core inheritance, they will undoubtedly add a lot of trouble to the territory.

If it were a normal situation, Wendy should be asked to sign an anti-leakage contract.

But Richard and Wendy have a very deep relationship, and they can't pull this face off at all.

After Richard traveled through time, his mother died, and his father soon married Mrs. Ola. Wendy grew up with him and Hayden. The relationship between them has lasted for more than 20 years, and it is like watching a daughter grow up.

As an older brother, Richard actually assumed the role of a father. As Wendy got older, Richard hoped in his heart that she would find a companion.

Even if this person is not a noble and has average talent, as long as Wendy likes him, Richard will send his blessing to Wendy and block the pressure from the outside world. But through observation over the years, it is difficult to do this.

Wendy's talent is very outstanding. There are almost no suitable candidates of the same age in Harland. The only suitable Jennings was also taken by her cousin Flora.

Although there are some strong people in Harland, there is no suitable candidate for Wendy.

Over the years, Richard suddenly found that Wendy did not show any affection between men and women to any man. It seems that she is indeed naturally indifferent to this aspect of feelings and has no intention of getting married.

After rejecting the marriage with the nobles of the capital, Harland may have to deal with some open and secret arrows, but the territory has developed to this point, even King Roger needs to compromise with Richard.

As long as the strength of Harland can develop positively, King Roger must win over the Harland family, the most powerful duke in the northern border, to cooperate with his grand strategy.

Although there are many factions of nobles in the capital, their control is not very strong. Moreover, the internal struggle of the court nobles is very fierce, and it is difficult to unite. These people secretly targeting is not too troublesome for Harland.

After sending Lawrence away, time passed very quickly, and it was November in a blink of an eye.

The new year's commodity fair was held again in Fort William.

The Harland Commodity Fair has been held for six years. Because of fair trading rules, it has become the leading commercial event in the Kingdom of Grant. Last year's trading volume has reached hundreds of thousands.

This year, Richard released the news in advance and prepared to sell some early magic hot air balloons.

A few years ago, Harland had not found red rubber grass, there were no rubber products, and the sealing process was worse. The earliest batch of magic hot air balloons had more or less some air leakage problems, and the air combat could not last too long.

Despite some problems, the price was more than three thousand gold coins, which still attracted the scramble and onlookers of the nobles in the northern border.

The core of a magic hot air balloon is the magic lamp, which was added with voice-controlled anti-counterfeiting technology by Richard, making it particularly difficult to copy.

According to the magic level of the Grant Kingdom, even in several duke families, the number of magicians is very small, and it is difficult to copy it. Only the Grant Mage Association has strong magic ability and has a chance to crack it.

Despite the layers of arrangements, in order to prevent the magic hot air balloon from falling into the hands of the nobles, the purchase of the magic hot air balloon requires the signing of a royal power contract, prohibiting second-hand transactions, and preventing leakage to the greatest extent.