Chapter 211: Family Affairs? State Affairs?

In early winter, the bright and warm sunlight is shining upon a brilliant sea of flowers.

Petals of various colors—red, pink, gold, white, and more—unfold their fresh and beautiful countenances against the backdrop of green leaves.

Countless bees, nimble in form and marked with black and yellow stripes, are busy "buzzing" amidst the flower clusters, subsequently carrying the collected nectar back to their hives.

This is the garden of Beorn; even in this season nearing bitter cold, the vast stretches of flowers still bloom with incomparable splendor and variety.

Such a place is rarely seen throughout all of Rhovanion; perhaps only in Lothlorien, sheltered by the Lady, could one see such a sight.

And amidst this beautiful scene, Allen and his good friend Beorn are sitting beside a wooden house.

The two chat from time to time over the pastries and drinks on the table; most of the time it is Allen speaking and Beorn listening, though occasionally this burly man also asks a question or two.

"So, after experiencing that ambush, your girl and my boy have been much better behaved?"

At this moment, Allen is bringing up the incident where Grim and Cress were attacked near Dol Guldur while wandering in the surrounding area.

It must be said, that was an extremely perilous ordeal.

"Hahaha, yes, indeed much better behaved. Ever since that battle, those two little ones haven't done any little tricks in private; whether in Minas Tirith or Pelargir, they have stayed obediently in their rooms, as if they haven't even really been to the taverns."

Recalling this, Allen burst into laughter; although Cress is grown up now, having become a young woman in her twenties, in Allen's eyes she is still just a child.

If one were to calculate, Allen, who still appears very young, is already over fifty years old, but his energetic body, coupled with the journey he has traveled, makes his mental age much younger than his actual years.

After all, since coming to Middle-earth, although there have been calamities and dangers, he has never played any mind games with his own people, and the friends he has made mostly possess a sincere character.

And the subordinates who serve him are all very loyal, having never once disobeyed his orders.

It can be said that of all the friends Allen has met in Middle-earth, no one has ever played the trick of being one way to his face and another behind his back.

Even the proud and difficult King of the Woodland Realm, Thranduil, has a temperament where yes is yes and no is no.

And Saruman, who nearly became an enemy of Allen, never did anything like smiling to his face while stabbing him in the back.

The White Wizard, who once viewed Allen with hostility, might as well have had the words "I don't like you" carved onto his face.

Having lived in such a simple environment for over a dozen years, Allen often feels that his ability to fathom the human heart is not what it was when he sat in an office.

Only when sitting in that dreary castle in Calradia, looking at the nobles who make all sorts of demands of him, can Allen muster his full attention.

Hah, those scumbags!

It is just that such a life is truly too exhausting; if he has leisure time, he would rather look at beautiful scenery with his good friend, drink a little wine, and chat about his observations from this trip south to Gondor.

However, the topic, with a smiling question from Beorn, veered to the borders of Belegaer.

"Allen, do you think those two children, Grim and Cress, are suited to live together?"

Hearing this, Allen nearly spat out the Honey Mead in his mouth, and Yamila, who was teasing Juan nearby, also stopped her movements, her beautiful eyes looking over here in surprise.

Yes, Cress is already over twenty; it is time for her to be married.

Startled in his heart, Allen suddenly realized that although he could grant Cress a long life, this bold, fearless, and impulsive girl must eventually build her own family and give birth to her own children for her life to be considered complete.

Unless Cress herself does not wish to do so, and Allen would never sacrifice a subordinate's later life for any political factors.

"My dear friend, if Cress herself has no objections, then I have no reason to oppose it."

Saying this, Allen looked at the beaming Beorn and emphasized:

"It is just that I believe the future belonging to young people should be decided by them; especially in the days to come, choosing who to live with is truly too important a matter. I will not make any decision for this, and likewise, my friend, I hope you will let them follow their own course."

Allen's extremely serious words did not cause any look of displeasure to appear on Beorn's face.

In fact, among the Humans living in this land of Middle-earth, especially the nobility, marriage is actually quite free; for instance, Sengel, the heir to the Kingdom of Rohan, married the daughter of a minor noble from the Kingdom of Gondor.

Another marriage that left a deep impression on Allen was the union between the twentieth King of Gondor, Valacar, and the Northern princess Vidumavi; their free-love marriage added a bloody chapter to the history of Gondor and could be said to be the fuse for kin-strife.

"Of course, of course, I am not in a hurry either."

Beorn nodded with a joyful face; as long as Allen, who is a King, does not oppose this match, then the rest is up to Grim. As a father, being able to do this much is completely sufficient.

The Skin-changer race can live together with ordinary Humans; the only problem is that the offspring born will have diminished power, meaning they will shrink quite a bit in strength and stature.

Yet such a problem, in Beorn's view, is not a big deal at all; after all, they are mountain-dwelling folk who live in family units and have not developed the original sin of arrogance throughout their long history.

Even possessing great power, they have never considered themselves any "King of Men" of the North.

When this topic concluded, Allen instead lost the mood for idle chatter, though it was not because he was affected by Grim and Cress.

As long as Cress is willing, Allen will prepare a large dowry to send her off, letting her go wreak havoc on Grim, and he himself can save some worry.

It is because mentioning these two reminded him of another not-so-good matter: the Orcish entrenched in Dol Guldur.

In that battle against the Orcish in the Brown Lands, the allied forces of Allen, Cirdan, and Lady Galadriel dealt a severe blow to the enemy's strength.

But that eerie, dark fortress was once again put to use; even Lady Galadriel did not know how many evil servants, riding Wargs, had fled back to that strange, ancient castle.

Although there is the saying that one can catch a thief for a thousand days but not guard against one for a thousand days, that place full of evil cannot be completely destroyed before Sauron perishes.

Otherwise, the Elves of Lothlorien would not leave such a threatening place alone; it is truly because it cannot be cleaned out. Even if they risked huge casualties and losses to clear it at this moment, another group of Orcish would immediately station themselves there the next.

The Elves, few in number and struggling to reproduce, cannot outlast the Orcish, and ordinary Humans simply dare not approach that place.

Thinking of the situation when the great army of Gondor approached Mordor, one can guess the performance of the Northern Men; without the bloodline of the Numenoreans, they would not be much stronger, and might even be inferior.

And the evil power that was originally entrenched in that forest, the descendants of the evil spirit Ungoliant, also had signs of reappearing.

All the free peoples who are enemies of Sauron cannot stay in Dol Guldur for long; the living environment there would have a great impact even on Lady Galadriel, let alone other Elves.

Therefore, no matter how unacceptable it is, Allen has to make preparations to guard against the thief for a thousand days, because the Orcish and Wargs active in the forest could very likely threaten the safety of the Old Forest Road.

For Allen, that is an extremely important transportation hub, a road opened at a great price, and he absolutely will not allow it to be affected in any way.

And as for the job of guarding the road, Allen, looking at Beorn, suddenly thought it could perhaps be handed to the Skin-changers to complete.

At this time, there are a total of four Skin-changer families living in this Oak Forest; besides Beorn's family, there is the family of Wulf, who once followed Allen to strike hard at the Easterlings.

And the remaining two families are the families of Ogris and Baierke, who did not participate in the war and stayed home to assist Beorn.

Allen actually does not know if these three Skin-changer families are willing to obtain a territory of their own within the area he controls, while at the same time shouldering the responsibility of guarding the border.

Of course, wanting to get an answer is also very simple; just ask Beorn at this moment.

"Beorn, I suddenly thought of a worrying matter, and I hope you can help me."

Looking at Allen, whose expression had gradually turned serious, Beorn also withdrew the smile from his face and asked in confusion: "Has the war not already ended? And with the enemy having suffered such a severe blow, they should be quiet for a long time, right?"

Beorn was not wrong, for this information had all been mentioned by Allen in previous casual conversations.

"Indeed, a severely depleted Mordor should remain silent for a long time, but I am speaking of the evil shrouding Mirkwood, that fortress located in the south, Dol Guldur; you should know of that place."

Beorn nodded; of course he knew that place. When Allen was in a standoff with Ashur, it was Beorn who led his own kin to guard the passages within Mirkwood. Aside from guarding against the Easterlings, the south was also a place he needed to keep an eye on.

"Then what can I do for you? I assume it wouldn't be to continue leading men to guard that place? You already possess enough power now, and countless people are willing to give their lives for you. I think such opportunities for merit probably wouldn't fall to me anymore."

This remark from Beorn was, of course, a joke, but it also illustrated the current situation in Rhovanion.

Ever since the battle against the Easterlings, the rewards Allen bestowed upon the soldiers had been extremely generous. Whether they were professional soldiers receiving pay or peasant soldiers fulfilling their obligations, their standard of living had been raised by a whole level after this battle.

Not only were there a large number of Easterling captives to help them cultivate the land, but the gold and silver bestowed from the Cabinet were enough for these families to build better houses, purchase newer furniture, and in the end, they even had surplus money to set out a set of silver tableware in their dining rooms to entertain distinguished guests.

"No, no, no, what I want to say is, would your kin be willing to carve out a home of their own to the south of the Old Forest Road? I can hand over the forest there for them to manage; of course, I also need them to protect the safety of the Old Forest Road."

The forest north of the Old Forest Road was land belonging to the Woodland Realm; Allen did not have the right to rule there, nor did he want to create conflict with the Silvan Elves over a piece of forest.

But the area south of the Old Forest Road was effectively ownerless land after being abandoned by Thranduil. This was an area Allen could call the shots on, provided he could hold it against the harassment of the Orcish.

The Old Forest Road, which ran through the middle of Mirkwood, was about two hundred to less than three hundred kilometers long in total, which was perfectly sufficient to be divided among three or four Skin-changer families.

They could model their lives after Beorn's, establishing their own gardens, stables, and halls there, and they would also have enough land to domesticate the animals they liked.

And what the Skin-changer families would need to do was to guard that piece of land, intercepting all dangers that might harass the Old Forest Road before they reached their homes.

This was a deal; in Allen's view, it was a win-win, because Humans were actually better suited to living in plains or hilly areas.

If they had a choice, most Humans in this era would likely not abandon the lush plains to choose a forest overgrown with trees; it did not quite fit their survival habits.

It was just a matter of what Beorn and his kin thought.

In fact, Beorn did not think this was a bad thing either. According to the living habits of the Skin-changer race, they did indeed need more expansive land to build their homes.

And Grim had gradually grown up and would soon go out to start a family of his own, and his several kin were facing a similar situation.

Under Allen's rule, their lives were relatively stable, which also provided the conditions for the Skin-changers to multiply.

"This is not a bad thing, Allen. I will help you ask them."

Allen nodded, ended the topic, and began chatting with his good friend again. The topics ranged from the customs and culture of the Kingdom of Gondor to stories of the ancient times, covering everything.

Today was a day of rest. He and Yamila had finally finished most of their work and carved out a little time to come here to Beorn's to relax; they shouldn't spend too much time on work.

The bright sun gradually shifted westward as time passed.

Before the sky turned dark, Allen and Yamila, along with their personal guards, set off on the road back to Fislate.

"My Lord, do you think Cress and Grim are a good match?"

After walking for half an hour, Yamila, who was riding alongside Allen, finally could not suppress her desire for gossip and asked the question in her heart.

Although she had already confirmed her status with Allen, Yamila still had not changed how she addressed him.

If following the court rules of Calradia, even if Yamila became Queen, she would still need to address Allen as Your Majesty, but that was a title representing power, containing little emotional factor.

Yamila still felt that the title "My Lord" was more intimate.

"Hahaha, my dear Yamila, that depends on how you look at it. From a political standpoint, given my relationship with Beorn, this is the most appropriate thing. The Skin-changers have always been our vital allies. Although I have no blood relation to Cress, everyone knows she is the daughter of my house. Her union with Grim will greatly increase the degree of closeness between us and the Skin-changers, and this will last for a very long time."

"However."

Allen changed the subject here.

"We should not look at this matter purely from a political perspective, or rather, we should consider more. If—and I mean if—after Cress and Grim unite, the two of them quarrel every day because of their personalities, and Cress comes to me to complain, what should I do? Should I scold Cress or punish Grim? Neither of these are good choices. It is better to let nature take its course and let the young people understand each other more in the process of interacting."

Hearing Allen address her as "my dear" in front of Holimion, Balin, Gale, and the others, two red clouds quickly climbed onto Yamila's fair face.

Before their relationship was confirmed, Yamila felt that the feelings Allen expressed were overly reserved and cautious, different from most young male nobles in Calradia.

But once everything was settled, the feelings Allen revealed were fiery and bold.

Although the two had not yet held a wedding, Allen never minded expressing his love for Yamila in public.

This obvious change before and after made Yamila still somewhat unaccustomed to it; of course, our Prime Minister, the future Queen of Rhovanion, still very much enjoyed this feeling of being loved.

"What if we only consider them as individuals?"

Having served as Prime Minister for a long time, Yamila was actually no stranger to politics; she could naturally think of what Allen said.

"Oh~, if that's the case, then Grim is in for it; he'll probably be henpecked for the rest of his life."

As someone who had been through it, Allen could naturally see Grim's tolerance for Cress. If political factors were not involved and they only talked about feelings, I'm afraid that silly boy would be suppressed by Cress for a lifetime.

"Ah? My Lord, what is 'henpecked'?"

Looking at the puzzled Yamila, Allen burst into laughter.

"If there's a chance, if there's a chance, I'll tell you about it."