Chapter 517: Catherine

"But Gervas, besides the Chaos Wasteland, your other half of the territory is at sea..."

Mil and the others believed that, given Gervas’s strength, securing the Chaos Wasteland should be possible.

But what about the sea?

Even if Gervas’s subordinates were formidable, could they possibly conquer the ocean?

Besides, the sea holds nothing at all.

At best, there are a few islands; everything else is useless seawater.

As for treasures beneath the waves?

Are you afraid there aren’t enough fishfolk and sea monsters to go around?

"The sea... fine, we can just give up the sea—it’s only the size of a single earldom anyway!"

"If I develop the land properly, my earldom will be larger than anyone else’s!"

Gervas couldn’t possibly explain his cooperation with the fishfolk.

So, the ocean could still be under his control.

But secrets succeed in silence—he still needed to lie low, and the fewer who knew, the better.

"Enough! Gentlemen, in short, I’m quite satisfied with this territory. Let’s speed up our journey! Once we reach Wolf City, I’ll take you for a couple of strolls through town!"

"And when we get there, I won’t spare a single gold coin on the finest cuisine in the East District!"

Thus, though Mil and the others remained disgruntled, Gervas himself had no interest in continuing the discussion.

They could only fall silent.

In truth, Gervas knew better than anyone that he had been manipulated.

After all, the morning’s intelligence had fully detailed everything.

As for this manipulation, even if he wished to retaliate, he could only wait for a suitable opportunity in the future.

Moreover, he truly had no complaints about his current territory.

After all, with his intelligence network, he could truly develop it.

The sheer scale of this territory even filled Gervas with particular satisfaction.

Perhaps this was the Chinese obsession with land.

The return journey was smooth.

Originally, after leaving Eagle City, Gervas planned to meet Catherine.

After all, before departing, he had instructed Old John not to inform Catherine of his campaign, to spare her worry.

Surely, after so long without word from him, Catherine would think he was deliberately ignoring her.

He still held a certain fondness for this cold, beautiful countess.

So he must meet her in person, and explain the situation.

But when Gervas arrived at the Violet Earldom, he learned Catherine was not at the castle.

She had gone to her own Storm Earldom.

"Lord Gervas, the countess said several days ago that you hadn’t replied to her letters, so she asked the storm earldom’s serfs transporting crystal ore—they only said you were busy!"

"So she decided to go to the Storm Earldom herself to see what you were really up to."

The Violet Castle steward’s gaze turned slightly strange.

After all, over these past two months, his own countess had written Gervas multiple letters.

Each one had vanished into the void, with no reply.

To him, this was simply unthinkable.

After all, since the countess had publicly revealed herself as Duke Hernand’s granddaughter, noble youths had flooded in seeking her hand.

He himself had turned away hundreds of visitors on her behalf.

Yet the countess treated only this Lord Gervas differently.

And yet, Lord Gervas didn’t appreciate it!

Meeting the steward’s strange gaze, Gervas felt somewhat embarrassed.

He’d clearly been mistaken for a faithless lover.

"Steward Malick, the truth is this—I didn’t ignore Catherine’s letters on purpose. I was away on business, to the Northern Frontier..."

Then Gervas explained how Willard had framed him, forcing him to become a conscripted noble and march to the Northern Frontier.

"...So I merely instructed my subordinates not to tell Catherine, to spare her worry!"

"This... this..." The Violet Castle steward stared wide-eyed, momentarily speechless.

But now he noticed Gervas had come from the north.

And Gervas’s party carried a count’s banner—who was this count?

"Lord Gervas, I misunderstood you earlier! Please forgive me!" The Violet steward, realizing both he and the countess had misjudged Lord Gervas, bowed deeply before him.

Though he himself had said nothing bad about Gervas,

he still felt guilt for having wrongly suspected him.

The Northern Frontier!

How dangerous a place!

And yet Gervas, to spare the countess worry, had not told her at all.

How deeply he cared for her!

Otherwise, any other man with such a connection to the countess would have rushed to beg for help.

After all, the countess was Duke Hernand’s granddaughter.

At that moment, the Violet steward’s gaze toward Gervas became one of profound reverence.

Of course, the Violet steward did not know that Gervas hadn’t wanted to ask Catherine for help—he simply hadn’t had time.

The conscription order had been issued that morning; he had to depart the next day, or risk missing his deadline to report to the Northern Frontier.

So since he was already on his way, asking Catherine for aid would have been too late anyway—better not to trouble her.

Gervas naturally didn’t hold a grudge against a mere steward. Confirming Catherine was absent, he prepared to take his leave. "Steward Malick, since Catherine isn’t here, I’ll be going."

But the Violet steward immediately stopped him. "Lord Gervas, how can you leave without lunch? Please stay and eat!"

"Otherwise, when the countess returns and learns I didn’t even offer you a meal, she’ll scold me!"

"Besides, your party includes another count and several viscounts—guests must be properly hosted. If I neglect them, word might spread and damage the countess’s reputation!"

The Violet steward spoke earnestly, but Gervas truly had no time to waste.

Moreover, Mil and the others were even more eager than he was.

After all, the grant decree was already in hand; each of them was desperate to return and confirm their new territories. "Steward Malick, I truly won’t eat lunch. And my companions are my allies—they won’t say a word, so don’t worry!"

"That’s right, steward! We all know the relationship between Gervas and Countess Catherine—we won’t gossip!"

"Besides, the count in our party? That’s Gervas himself—Gervas is now a count-lord!"

Mil and the others stood over ten meters away, their hearing sharp; hearing the conversation, they immediately laughed in agreement.

"What? Lord Gervas is already a count? This... this..."

Hearing Mil’s words, the Violet steward froze in shock.

Only when he processed it did his eyes snap wide open, fixed on Gervas in utter disbelief.

Gervas smiled. "I earned a small merit in the Northern Frontier, so His Majesty granted me the title. I am indeed a count-lord now."

Gervas smiled, “I earned a small merit in the Northern Frontier, so His Majesty granted me a title—I am indeed a Count Lord now.”