Chapter 35

The largest river in northern Weilan is called the Shattergold River, and its mouth is right where Shialin City lies.

The Shattergold River's massive flow is like a great blood vessel, linking northern Weilan's interior to the sea.

This also makes Shialin the largest city in northern Weilan.

Therefore, to develop White Sturgeon Island, the Baron is one of the indispensable aids.

On the third day after arriving in Shialin, Luosen and Selena rode in a travel carriage along the wide Maple Blossom Avenue, cheerfully heading toward Count Robert's Maple Leaf Castle.

By then, Shitou had gathered much information about White Sturgeon Island; the two knew that an internal conflict had erupted on the island and that Crescent City had been seized by rebels.

Thus, this trip is not only to visit the Baron but also to obtain as much support as possible from him, preferably by borrowing a troop.

Along the way, Luosen looked at the fiery-red maple trees lining the road and suddenly let out a light laugh.

"Speaking of which, Count Robert is still my distant uncle."

Selena, who was combing her hair before a silver mirror, laughed at the words: "What's that? Actually, if we go by blood, I'm still your cousin."

This is true.

According to the World Noble Genealogy, all Weilan lords bear the blood of the Saintess Weilan.

And the Saintess Weilan is said to be the daughter of Mother Nature, thus also called divine bloodline or natural divine blood.

The Natural Alliance places great importance on bloodline; possessing natural divine blood is a hard requirement to become a noble lord, known as "divine right of kings."

Otherwise, even if one's talent reaches the heavens and one becomes a Sage, one can only obtain an honorary title that is not hereditary and carries no land.

Turning back to Luosen.

Luosen's ancestors six generations up were brothers with those of Count Robert; going up another two generations on the maternal side, his ancestors were siblings with a certain paternal ancestor of Selena.

Back to the matter at hand.

Luosen turned to examine Selena's increasingly radiant face and smiled: "Cousin, I suddenly feel uneasy letting my uncle see you."

Selena spat: "I'm still a princess, and I have a Sage's protection; even if Count Robert were utterly scandalous, he wouldn't dare harbor any designs on me."

Luosen said seriously: "I'm not worried about that; I'm worried he might grow jealous of me, which would affect our cooperation."

"Jealousy among men is very subtle—either it exists or it doesn't; reason can only suppress it, not eradicate it."

"Mm~ your words are not bad."

Selena had seen Count Robert several times at the Dawn City martial tournament and had once felt him secretly observing her with a strange gaze.

Before, she didn't understand, just thinking Robert was odd; but now, having a husband, she reflected carefully and suddenly realized what that gaze meant.

She immediately told Luosen: "Use a Transformation Technique on me to make me look full of worry, fatigue, exhaustion, even premature aging."

The troubles her beautiful appearance brings are already plenty; she doesn't want another.

Luosen had been waiting for those words; he had already had Laifu prepare the appropriate visage, and he promptly raised his hand and lightly brushed Selena's face.

Selena immediately took up a water mirror to look, and couldn't help but shrug her shoulders.

"Mm~ it turned out really well; now even I dislike myself."

At that moment, the travel carriage reached the entrance of the great drawbridge of Maple Leaf Castle.

The carriage was high-end, so the guard captain personally came over to question them.

"Visitors, state your identities."

Luosen opened the carriage window, handed over a letter of introduction, and secretly tucked a gold coin beneath it.

"I am Baron Saxon, apprentice in the arcane arts to Lady Agneth, come to pay my respects to Count Robert."

"This is the introduction letter from my mentor; the magical seal on it can prove my words."

The guard captain, a knight, upon feeling the gold coin, his expression softened considerably; after hearing the identity, a flicker of surprise crossed his face: "Just a moment, I'll have someone verify."

He took the letter into the castle; about ten minutes later he returned, handing the letter back to Luosen, but his face now bore an extra hint of strange envy.

"Fortunate Baron Saxon, please enter; Mr. Abru, the steward, will guide you to see the Count."

Luosen nodded: "Thank you very much."

The driver, Ailiya, continued onward.

In the carriage, Luosen whispered to Selena: "My lady, look, even a petty knight is jealous of me."

Another fact is that, after over a week of explosive spread, the news of the Dawn Princess marrying the Baron of White Sturgeon Island has spread throughout the entire Weilan island.

"Jealous of what?" Selena, who is usually slow on details, asked.

"Jealous that the lowly baron won the favor of the Dawn Princess."

Selena startled, worry appearing on her face: "Dear, will this bring us extra trouble?"

Luosen shook his head: "There will be some, but they're minor; I'll handle them properly."

There are still some aftereffects of marrying the princess, but they are now under control.

After the carriage crossed the drawbridge, it entered the castle's outer courtyard's designated parking area.

Once the carriage stopped, a middle-aged man with graying temples and respectable attire approached, accompanied by two young attendants.

One young attendant took Ailiya to the attendants' lounge, while the other unhitched the carriage's horses and led them to the stables for feed and water.

The middle-aged man then came forward, earnestly opening the carriage door for Selena and thoughtfully placing a small wooden step at the threshold, addressing her as "Your Esteemed Highness, the Princess."

Luosen did not receive such treatment; he opened the door himself and stepped out.

After standing, the man again bowed: "Your Highness, Baron, I offer my greetings."

Then he introduced himself: "I am Abru, the Count's steward; the Count is currently busy in the conference room, so please follow me to the lounge to wait?"

As the guest follows the host, Luosen naturally had no objection.

The two followed the steward through the spacious, bright arched corridor into the castle's middle courtyard visitor area, and were finally assigned to a luxurious grand guest room.

"Your Highness, Baron, if you have any further needs, please summon the attendants at the door at any time; they are on duty twenty-four hours."

The middle-aged man's attitude was very respectful, of course largely because of Princess Selena.

If Luosen had come alone, he would likely have received only a lower-class guest room.

So, after marrying the princess, his status was comprehensively improved. Luosen asked: "When can we roughly expect to see Count Robert?"

"You can see him tonight. The Count will invite you both to dinner."

"To actually have dinner together—if it were the old Luosen, he wouldn't even dare imagine such treatment."

After saying that, the middle-aged man bowed again, turned and hurried away.

Luosen silently flicked his finger against the man's clothing, then closed the door and stretched out lazily.

"The Count has run into trouble."

Selena was examining the room's furnishings; hearing this, she exclaimed in surprise: "How do you know that?"

"I saw it on Mr. Abulu's face—he looked worried and anxious. As the Count's close aide, his emotions mostly stem from his master, so the Count's mood surely can't be good."

Selena thought back carefully and realized it was indeed true.

She used to be surprised, but after getting along for about half a month, she's grown accustomed to her husband's keen observation, so she moved straight on to the next topic.

"What kind of trouble do you think it is?"

Luosen saw a few bottles of excellent maple dew wine on the side cabinet, opened one, poured out a little less than half a cup, gently swirled it, and used a special warming technique to aerate it.

After the aroma emerged, he lightly sniffed, took a small sip, and praised: "The scent is fresh and mild, the texture smooth and rich—good wine."

After giving Selena the same treatment, he stood before the gorgeous floor-to-ceiling window, admiring the beautiful courtyard garden, and said in just two words:

"Short on money."

Selena took a sip of wine, found the taste wonderful; the wine itself is merely decent, but it's been aerated superbly—rich aroma, layered flavor, endlessly lingering.

She quickly took a second sip: "Luosen, I didn't hear you liked drinking."

There aren't many wines in the world that would make her unable to resist a second sip in such a short time.

Luosen smiled: "To be precise, I don't love heavy drinking, but I often have a few sips. When bored, I just happened to study it."

"Fortunately it was just a casual study; otherwise Anna and I would risk becoming alcoholics."

Selena walked over to Luosen's side, and together they looked out at the courtyard garden beyond the window.

"The Count certainly isn't short of money—Shialin City alone pulls in up to five hundred thousand ogre in trade taxes each year, second only to Dawn Harbor."

The flowers in the garden are fine, but some blossoms in the corners have wilted and died, yet they haven't been promptly replaced.

There's also a crack in the garden wall; though small, the moss on the broken surface shows it's been there for at least over a month.

Though the details are minor, they certainly don't escape Selena's eyes.

Half a minute later, she corrected herself: "Although I don't know the cause, Count Robert is indeed facing a financial crisis."

"My husband, what do you think about this?"

Luosen gently swirled the crystal glass in his hand, letting the amber liquid flow like silk along the inner wall.

"Madam, the living conditions on White Sturgeon Island are harsh; most islanders are descendants of exiled criminals, and they constantly face threats from forest spirits and fish people."

"Thus, the islanders are fierce and extol martial prowess, yet their outlook is narrow and their thinking closed off."

"If I'm not mistaken, the islanders almost instinctively worship tangible strength, but they lack sufficient awe for the distant duke."

"These remarks don't answer the question."

But Selena could certainly hear the underlying meaning.

"You mean we absolutely must have an army?"

Luosen nodded: "Exactly, we must have an army; otherwise, let alone inheriting the new lordship, even survival is questionable."

Moreover, our goal isn't just to deal with the island's human rebels; we also have to contend with the two major alien races, forest spirits and fish people.

Since my ancestors landed on White Sturgeon Island two hundred years ago, the war with the alien races has never ceased. Both sides have forged deep hatred, and they will surely seize the opportunity of internal chaos to reclaim lost territory.

Selena understood: "You think we'll need to borrow roughly how many troops?"

Luosen nodded: "To pacify the whole island, we'd need about three thousand regular troops. But to take just the Crescent River Valley, a force of five hundred men, or even a hundred‑strong elite unit would suffice."

Having heard Luosen's description of White Sturgeon Island's situation, Selena agreed with his estimate, but a new worry arose.

"Sending troops to assist is a major undertaking; military consumption is enormous, and the money we have on hand is far from enough."

"It's common for one lord to borrow troops from another to suppress rebellion; the default rule is that all expenses are borne by the borrower, who must also pay a substantial mercenary fee."

"Not to mention three thousand regular troops—even if just a hundred elite warriors accompanied them on a trip, the total cost would likely exceed fifty thousand ogre."

"If Shire County's finances were sound, we could simply run up a tab with enough cheek, but the Count is penniless now, so that tab certainly won't fly."

Luosen snapped his fingers: "We can also trade territorial resources—for example, ore, timber, bird droppings, and so on."

Selena gave a teasing look: "Dear, I know White Sturgeon Island's mountains and forests have plenty of bird droppings, but ore and timber… don't seem abundant, right?"

"If we used them to repay debt, we'd have nothing left for ourselves."

Luosen smiled: "Your concern is quite reasonable, but please rest assured, madam—I've already devised a plan."

Saying that, he switched to spiritual whisper and roughly explained his plan.

Selena listened attentively, her lovely eyes sweeping over Luosen's face, half‑chiding, half‑smiling.

"Luosen, my husband, how can you be so wicked?"

"Besides, the Count is Anna's own brother; we can't scheme against him like that."

Luosen spread his hands, looking helpless: "Madam, who made us short on money?"

"Moreover, this isn't scheming—it's a dignified loan. We'll repay him once we have the money."

Selena was immediately convinced: "All right, then let's do it your way."

Luosen then raised his glass: "Madam, drink up—here's to the success of our plan."

"Cheers~"

(End of chapter)