Chapter 131

"Your Highness, choosing an heir for the Dustin family will be difficult, because the existing heirs are actually too far from the main line, and moreover rather strange." Chaire monk slowly thought, "If the Stark family's heir is not chosen from Lord Eddard's branch, the situation could be similar."

"Could we make a long story short so we can understand quickly?" Mason Sevain sat beside the seat urging.

"Of course, Lady Dustin's husband William died in the south during Robert's Rebellion, leaving no descendants with Lady Dustin, so to find a suitable heir we must go back a generation; unfortunately, all the children of William Dustin's father, Kaylen Dustin, have died, leaving no descendants; therefore this descendant must be sought from William's grandfather, Kayven Dustin."

"If the Stark heir is not sought from Eddard's branch, given that her grandfather Rickard Stark is an only child, this heir must continue looking among the descendants of the great-grandfather's father—that is, the great-great-grandfather—who had only one son and one daughter; the daughter later married into the Royce family. Therefore, if the heir is not chosen from the Eddard line, the legitimate Stark heir must be sought from the Royce family."

"She hopes the Dustin family will not face such difficulty."

"William Dustin's grandfather, Count Kayven, had three sons and two daughters; his second son, Menard, married a lady of the Leslie family and had three daughters. The eldest daughter, Ellen, married a viscount of the Stoke family and gave birth to a child now named Lanoth Stoke, who should have been the legitimate heir, but unfortunately he was born a year after Viscount Stoke died in battle, so the Stoke family expelled Lady Ellen from Golden Horn Fortress—this incident once caused a sensation in the North and was only settled after arbitration by Lord Rickard—Lanoth Stoke and his mother were sent back to Barrenmound Village, losing their inheritance rights to Golden Horn Fortress. However, since Count Dustin is the lord of Golden Horn Fortress, they did not completely break ties; thus this posthumous bastard could bear the Stoke name without having to be called……"

"No need to call him Snow." Mie didn't care, "It seems Lord Lanoth Stoke will be an important candidate for the Dustin heir."

"Yes, Your Highness, originally this was just a somewhat embarrassing emotional matter; if the Dustin family sent Lord Lanoth Stoke farther away, the two families could continue pretending all was well." Chaire monk sighed, "The Dustin family did just that. They sent Lanoth Dustin to the Widow's Watch of the Flint family, making him the Flint count's cupbearer."

"Sure enough, the story is quite long."

"But over a decade ago, after Count William Dustin died in the south, Lord Lanoth Stoke returned to public view. He began to shift from being a mere bastard to a strong contender for the Dustin heir."

"According to Duke Rickard's ruling, legally speaking Lord Lanoth Stoke is not a bastard but the legitimate eldest son of the Stoke count, merely deprived of the right to inherit Golden Horn Fortress. So, if he accepts Duke Rickard's ruling, he has the right to inherit Barrenhold." Mie was somewhat uncertain, "But will he accept Duke Rickard's ruling? They were sent back to Barrenmound Village, which almost confirms he is a de facto bastard."

"At least it won't be so simple: if he accepts, he might gain inheritance rights to Barrenhold, but at the same time he would tacitly acknowledge himself as a bastard, and bastards have no inheritance rights. Since he returned to public view, he has become a 'bastard bearing the surname,' and people mock him."

"I don't understand why Duke Rickard didn't have this child take his mother's surname Dustin instead of letting him keep the Stoke name; if he were named Dustin, there wouldn't be all these troubles."

"Your Highness, if Lord Rickard didn't impose some checks on his vassals, Barrenmound Village could perhaps muster more troops now. I remember the incident vividly. The matter itself could have been decided by the Barrenmound count himself, but his vassals felt their lord was humiliating them, so they chose to support the Stoke family in ejecting Lady Ellen Dustin and her children; but how could Count Dustin tolerate such humiliation? Thus Barrenmound's internal contradictions externalized, eventually giving Duke Rickard the chance to intervene. Duke Rickard outwardly supported the Barrenmound count's demand, did not label the child a bastard, yet still agreed to the vassals' request to expel Lady Ellen Dustin and her offspring." Lord Rogervor Geluofuo said while recalling, and Chaire monk beside him nodded.

"Oh?" What scheme does Duke Rickard have in doing this?

"On the surface, Duke Rickard supported the Barrenmound count's opinion, did not define Lady Ellen's conduct as adultery, nor did he define Lord Lanoth Stoke as a bastard, and insisted the child keep the Stoke surname. In substance, however, he still deprived the Barrenmound count's grandson of the right to inherit Golden Horn Fortress, supporting the Barrenmound vassals' request to expel Lady Ellen Dustin and her children." It seems he planted a nail inside Barrenmound.

"I see. Lord Rickard must really be quite different from Lord Eddard."

"Lord Rickard was wise all his life, except that going south to the capital for the sake of an heir was a mistake." He lamented, "My father died alongside him there! When I arrived at the capital, the city was already in chaos, and I couldn't find his corpse at all."

"Mie gasped at hearing this. The history in books is far less vivid than what others recount."

"This is actually the old scholar's settled plan." Chaire monk said, narrowing his eyes.

"Scholar Luwen?"

"He was one of his earlier scholars, Varris. Scholar Luwen is buried beside him." He waved his hand, "Ah, the scholars buried in Winter-approach City could form a regiment. I hope Scholar Luwen can happily discuss knowledge with his peers in the cemetery."

"History is layered upon layered, yet far less clear than the scholars in the graveyard and the northern lords in the vaults."

"Getting back to Lord Lanoth Stoke, who could compete with him for the heir position?" Mie brought the topic back on track.

"Your Highness, the matter of Lanoth isn't over yet; I suggest you keep listening." Chaire monk said with a smile.

"I'm all ears, but I only hope these stories aren't both long and foul."

"Maps also need to be slowly unfolded, just like stories." He wiped his smile, "Lord Lanoth's mother, Lady Ellen Dustin, later married the Flint count of the Flint's finger, became his second wife, and bore him several sons, one of whom is the present new count."

"So, you mean Lord Lanoth now has an important supporter?"

"Certainly."

"Such support is probably useless." Sir Roderick said.

"It really is useless. Do you know who he, as heir of Barrenmound, most opposes?" Chaire monk asked with a smile.

"The Viscount of Stoke at Golden Horn Fortress?"

"Quite right, and also includes the other viscount families of Barrenmound. Because if Lord Lanoth Stoke becomes count of Barrenhold, he would not only likely again assert rights over Golden Horn Fortress, but also commit other worse deeds."

"Lanoth can't even manage to appear generous; Mie thinks that if he doesn't assert his claims, someone will always gossip behind his back."

"The other viscount families once joined forces to expel him and his mother, and now they would have to become his vassals, which they certainly don't like." Chief Minister Fen concluded with a nod.

"Mie could understand that the viscounts who had gravely offended Lanoth before would now have to become his vassals again; no one would feel at ease about that. However, this is at most a communication-level issue; the conflict may not be deep enough to be irreconcilable."

"Exactly, that's precisely the point."

"So, this potential supporter from Winter-approach City might, because of the nail Lord Rickard planted, be unable to inherit Barrenhold and thus unable to support us?"

"Lord Rickard preserved his surname for him, which is the basis for him to assert all his rights; if he still has some sense, he will naturally lean toward Winter-approach City. Therefore, if we can confirm his identity in the name of Winter-approach City, perhaps he would be willing to lead Barrenmound to fully turn toward Winter-approach City, and with its strength consolidate Barrenmound's inheritance rights."

"If he knew this was a nail planted by Duke Rickard, it wouldn't necessarily be the case."

"But you say the viscounts of Barrenmound don't like him."

"That's the problem. The Barrenmound viscounts also have many kin who died in the Red Wedding; they have no reason to like Bolton, but if Winter-approach City supports Lord Lanoth Stoke, they would have to reconsider."

"Mie found it a bit strange. The current situation is that the viscounts may lean toward Stark, while the head of Barrenmound leans toward Bolton; but if the head becomes Lord Lanoth, the situation could shift to the head leaning toward Stark while the viscounts begin to stray from Stark because of their lord."

"Which is lighter, which heavier?"

"I don't believe that Lanoth Stoke would still have a rift with these viscount families over something that happened just after his birth decades ago, nor that the viscount families would oppose him over such a distant matter."

"If we were to kill Lady Dustin now, and Lord Lanoth Stoke smoothly inherited Barrenhold, could he suppress his opposing vassals? Or would he truly turn toward Stark? Uncertain; the only certainty is that internal chaos would erupt in Barrenmound."

"But chaos would be better than the current support for Bolton."

"If you understood Lord Lanoth Stoke's and his mother's character, you would see that the viscount families' concerns and worries are reasonable." Chaire monk said, "Others call him 'a bastard bearing the surname,' but he calls himself 'an avenger bearing the surname'; I've never met him, but that epithet sounds like he's not a sensible person."

"The nickname 'Blood Wolf Maiden' is also not pleasant."

"Mie lost interest."

"Let me hear about other potential heirs! If we can't get clear information, we might as well look at these maps—at least it would cheer us up. Besides, devising military strategy is more interesting than discussing inheritance rights."

"For Barrenmound's army of nearly ten thousand, chatting about inheritance rights isn't a waste."

"Alright, let's see if Lord Rickard has planted any more useful nails."