Chapter 164

It happened that the meal was served at this time, and the few people stopped talking.

"By the way, I have something else to do. I'm sorry." In order to create a private environment for the two of them and to get rid of this awkward atmosphere, Orson stood up immediately after finishing his meal.

"Mr. Orson, wait a moment." Unexpectedly, Arthas called Orson directly at this time.

"That... Your Highness, is there anything else?"

"Tonight, I have something private to talk to you about. I will ask someone to find you then."

"Okay." Orson nodded, and then quickly left the restaurant, leaving the space here to Rosaline and Arthas.

...

"Then, now there are only two of us left. What is your purpose for meeting me this time? Just tell me directly." Arthas fiddled with the wine glass in front of him, which could be called a work of art, and asked nonchalantly.

"That... Your Highness Arthas, I think, I want to ask you to give me a chance..." After a long time, Rosaline finally mustered up the courage.

"Do you want to be a prince's consort?" Arthas asked straight to the point.

"Yes, His Highness Arthas."

"Is it your idea or your father's idea?"

"Does it matter? Our two families are married, and you can have stronger control over the army. It's a win-win situation for both of us."

"Sorry, I don't have this idea yet." Arthas shook his head and then stood up.

"If there is nothing else, I will go back first. Miss Rosalin, do you need me to arrange someone to take you back to the academy?"

"..." Rosalin heard this, pursed her lips, and then stood up.

"Your Highness Arthas, are you really... not going to consider it again?"

"Sometimes, pestering is the lowest choice, Ms. Rosalin." Arthas's tone was no longer gentle at this moment, but indifferent.

"I don't want our relationship to be damaged because of this impossible thing. Similarly, I advise you to be down-to-earth and stop having your unrealistic fantasies." Arthas said this, shook his head, and turned away directly.

"Of course..." At this time, Arthas suddenly stopped and gave Rosaline a glimmer of hope.

"What I call impossible is only relative to the help you can provide me at present. If you let me see new value, I will reconsider it."

After that, Arthas left like this.

Not saying it so absolutely can not only take care of the other party's face, but also indirectly make the other party work for you.

...

On the other side, after leaving the restaurant, Orson did not go back to the academy directly, but walked towards a warehouse in the lower city.

The entire street here was bought by the Lison Chamber of Commerce and used as a place to store goods.

Of course, in addition to storing goods, there are several houses that are prepared for Orson alone.

Orson walked into a warehouse. From the appearance, it is a warehouse, but in fact it is a renovated residence.

Or, a prison.

"Mr. Lodi, long time no see." Orson said this, looking at the man sitting at the desk in the room converted from the warehouse.

"Who was it? It turned out to be Master Orson." Lodi drank a cup of tea slowly, and then turned his head to look at Orson.

"What do you want to talk to me about? Are you finally going to use me as a chess piece?"

"During this period, you should know that we can guarantee your safety. As long as you can come forward to testify, the scourge of the empire can be eliminated." Orson said this and came to Lodi's side.

"You will not be a chess piece, but a hero."

Chapter 65: Your Partner

Since the establishment of the human empire for thousands of years, the central and local governments have maintained a delicate balance. The emperor does not go back to interfere in the affairs of the duke's territory, and the duke will also express his support for the emperor by offering tribute and reporting regularly.

The reason for this is partly due to the good relationship between the emperor and the duke. After all, when the land was divided and the dukes were granted titles, the dukes often had the best relationship with the emperor, so they could obtain a lot of land.

Of course, as time goes by, the friendship between one generation may be passed down for three or four generations, but it will gradually fade afterwards.

The key to maintaining this relationship is the relative balance of power between different places.

The Royal Territory is undoubtedly the richest and most powerful territory, but it does not mean that the Royal Territory can sweep the other duchies with overwhelming advantages. In fact, if the comprehensive strength of each place is converted into a value, the comprehensive strength of the Royal Territory accounts for about one-third of the empire, and the remaining two-thirds are composed of the other six duchies. If the Duchy of Prussia and the Duchy of Naples cooperate, the comprehensive strength they account for can also reach about one-third. In this case, if the empire maintains stable development and no force has an absolute advantage over the sum of other forces, it will always maintain relative peace. Then, the contradiction between the central and local governments is relatively deadlocked due to strength. What about between local governments? Will there be no contradictions between dukes? Not so. In history, the Duchy of Lucia once had a Duke Peter, who was ambitious and capable. During the reign of this duke, the Duchy of Lucia developed rapidly, so his ambitions also expanded.

In his later years, he joined forces with the Duke of Orleans and attacked the Duchy of Prussia from both sides. The emperor at that time was also happy to see the Duchy of Prussia being suppressed, so he did not choose to support it. The remote Duchy of Aragon and the Duchy of Naples could not help the Duchy of Prussia because their territories were not adjacent.

Of course, they would not let the Duchy of Prussia be annexed like this. After all, one side would gain while the other side would lose, so they secretly supported Prussia.

Fortunately, the ruler of Prussia at that time was not incompetent. After adopting the strategy of attacking the west first and the east later, he first defeated the Duchy of Orleans and then dealt with the Duchy of Lucia with all his strength, defeated the arrogant Archduke Peter at that time, and seized a large amount of Lucia's land. If the royal family did not want to break the balance at that time and was forced to intervene, Lucia might have been annexed.

Even though Prussia later returned a lot of land, the plunder in the war and the reparations after the war still laid the foundation for the Duchy of Prussia's first strength.

In the laws of the empire, the relationship between the monarch and his subjects is clearly defined, but there is no strict law to deal with the conflicts between people of the same level. Such conflicts will eventually intensify and turn into wars.

Wars between dukes are relatively rare in the history of the empire. After all, once such wars occur, they involve the entire empire, but wars between earls are not uncommon.

Many times, earls will fight over tax issues in several villages. Although the winner will not get land, he can plunder a lot of wealth from the other party's land, or get a lot of war reparations and hostage ransom.

The number of such wars is related to the ability of the ruler.

If the ruler is tough, the nobles below are willing to take the initiative to mediate conflicts, and he has enough military force to deter all vassals, then the war will decrease, otherwise it will increase.

At this moment, a war is about to break out between the Duke of Napoli and the Duke of Antica.

Between the borders of the dukedoms, both sides have mobilized more than 100,000 troops each and are confronting each other at the border.

Just waiting for the right excuse to appear.

...

In the Imperial Court in Saint Laurent City.

Elsa was looking at the documents on the desk with a frown.

This is about the investigation of the last Mudrick incident.

All the information was cut off by a man named Lodi, and no one knew where this man was hidden.

Therefore, during this period, the judgments given by the court and the public security office were consistent.

Because they really couldn't find the person, the public security office decided to characterize the incident as Mudrick's personal act, while the court suggested temporarily putting it on hold until Lodi appeared again or discovered other rumors about the devil, and then combining the two cases for investigation.

And now, Elsa needs to choose one of the two documents to sign her name.

At this time, the side effects of power came out.

Signing the public security office's documents can certainly quickly settle the case, but no one will be satisfied with the final result, which can only be said to be an unsolved case.

And signing the court's documents will inevitably make Odysseus question his ability.

Just when she was still frowning, the door of the office was suddenly pushed open.

"Your Highness Elsa!" The person who came in was her follower Afro.

"What happened?"

"Outside the court, there is a man who calls himself Rody and wants to see you, Your Highness."

"Roddy!?"

Elsa instantly became alert when she heard the name, and then quickly stood up and walked out with Afro.

A few minutes later

In the interrogation room, Rody sat on the chair politely, looking at Elsa in front of him and the interrogator next to him, with a blank expression on his face.

"Roddy, I heard that Mudrick's mercenary group had cooperated with you many times before, is that true?"

"Yes." Rody nodded. "According to my master's order, I have carried out a lot of cooperation with the Iron Wolf Mercenary Group. I am responsible for conveying my master's intentions, and they are responsible for taking action."

"So, during the period of investigating the Mudrick case, we didn't find you. Where did you go?"

"..." Hearing this, Lodi was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Sorry, interrogator, I only want to tell Her Royal Highness the Princess about this matter, okay?"

The interrogator frowned.

This matter is not in accordance with the rules. After all, the princess is just listening, but she is a princess, and I can't really offend her face.

In desperation, he cast his eyes on Elsa beside him.

"Your Highness, I'm worried that this person will harm you..."

"It's okay, you go out first." Elsa said this, shook her head, and indicated that it was not a problem.

"Well... okay." After hearing what Elsa said, the interrogator didn't know what to say, so he got up and left. Before leaving, he handed the book recording the confession to Elsa.

"Okay, now that the person has left, can you tell me alone?"

Elsa looked at Lodi in front of her and said.

"Yes." Lodi nodded. "During the time I was away, it was your partner who hid me."

Hearing the word partner, Elsa's eyes widened.

"Why...why did he do this?"

Chapter 66: Excommunication

The Dukedom of Naples.

Giovanni looked at the intelligence sent by his subordinates, frowning.

"When will the Duke of Antica be able to mobilize so many troops?"

"It is said that there is support from other forces, perhaps from Prussia or the royal family." Next to him, Donnie spoke slowly.

Since being taught a lesson by Giovanni last time, Donnie has restrained himself a lot, and he also behaves like an obedient and sensible child in front of Giovanni.

Because of this, Giovanni still kept Donnie by his side, at least as his adjutant, Donnie would never make mistakes in things like passing orders up and down.

"Antica is originally located in the border area, and the people are tough. Now they are given weapons and equipment as well as food and money. This battle looks like it will be difficult to fight." Giovanni said this and sighed.

"Father, why are you so sure that the Duke of Antica will attack us?" Donnie asked puzzled. "They have no reason to start a war. If they attack us rashly, the other dukes of the empire will not sit idly by."

"Well, if they really don't have a suitable reason to declare war." Giovanni said this and looked at Donny.

"Donny, there are some things I don't know whether I should tell you."

"I was originally going to tell you after you are able to take over my position, but now it seems that it is difficult to solve the crisis at hand."

"Father, please speak." Donny didn't know why Giovanni always treated this matter with a pessimistic look.

Obviously, the Duchy of Napoli ranks second among the six duchies, and is not afraid of the Duchy of Antica, which is at the bottom.

Looking at Donny in front of him, Giovanni opened his mouth, but still shook his head.

"Forget it, knowing this will not do you any good, you should pass on the things I told you to do first." After that, Giovanni waved his hand and motioned Donny to leave.

"Okay." Donny nodded and then left Giovanni's office.

Sitting alone in the office, Giovanni opened the drawer, took out a yellowed book, and slowly opened it.

It recorded the roster of the Imperial College.

Turning to a page, three names were clearly recorded on it.

"It's been decades." Giovanni sighed, his tone full of emotion.

...

After leaving the room, Donnie followed and got on his own carriage.