Before leaving for the south, Chris's father Kafka once told him about Lange Einske's life and deeds.
And claimed that Lange is the actual leader of the Einske family today.
This does not mean that Lange emptied the power of Archbishop Raphael.
But because in the teachings of the Vulcan religion, marriage is autonomous and will not be restricted by secular power. The forced marriage of the Mills royal family forced Lange to give up his beloved woman and accept a man from China.
Tu's wife also aroused his hatred and made him vow to completely eliminate the title and aristocratic system from the south in his lifetime, so he also became the leader behind the Einsk family's breakaway from the Holy Empire.
For this reason, he, who was also extremely talented, gave up his practice and concentrated on handling territorial affairs for Raphael.
Ten years ago, he asked Raphael to pass the title of Duke to him in the name of his eldest son.
The purpose was to free up Raphael, as a pure archbishop, to form an order of protective warriors and knights who were absolutely loyal to the Einske family, and to prepare for the separation from the Holy Empire by force.
Five years ago, he rushed to the Whispering Forest alone to hold talks with the elves, and facilitated James' marriage to the elf chief princess, turning their hostility into friendship.
Yes, James' marriage was not Raphael's decision, but Lange's single-handed promotion.
On the contrary, Raphael at that time had objections.
He felt that Lange had sacrificed his marital autonomy for the sake of the family, so Lange's only son James should not be subjected to the same unfair treatment. After all, there are many talented descendants of the Einske family.
, there is no shortage of marriage candidates that satisfy the elves, so why choose James?
But Lange's attitude was very firm.
"I am the eldest son, and James is my only child. Since he will inherit the glory of the family in the future, he should also be duty-bound when it comes to contributing to the family!"
Such an answer made Raphael no longer persist, and he completely delegated his power, leaving all affairs in the territory to Lange to handle, and he concentrated on establishing a protective army.
Four years ago, in the sixth year after Lang became Duke, he laid off 70% of his army, leaving only the soldiers who maintained basic order.
This move is tantamount to reducing the restraint of the Einsk family on their vassals, and also allows the lords and nobles born after the establishment of the Holy Empire to act unscrupulously, often trampling on the teachings of the Vulcan Cult.
But what these lords didn't know was that Lange's practice of abolishing martial arts was to intensify the resistance and rebellion against the title and aristocratic system in the south, so that he could gain the support of his people when he abolished it in the future.
Moreover, disarmament is also to save money for the secret formation of the Skitarii.
Three years ago, Lange reached an agreement with the dwarf kingdom through the elves and established a covenant to never invade each other.
In other words, under the promotion of Lange, it only took ten years for the Einske family to completely resolve the hidden dangers behind it and prepare to break away from the Holy Empire.
So now, they have to reorganize their ties with the Eaton family.
.....................
The red moon tonight is very charming, but the silver moon is dim and dull, which makes the whole world shrouded in a blood curtain.
Chris, led by James, walked into Lange's yard under the penetrating red light.
The yard is small but seems very empty.
There are no pavilions, stone tables and benches for resting, no rockeries, flowers and other leisurely furnishings. There is only one guard standing under the eaves on duty.
When Chris entered the study, Lange was immersed in the desk writing something with a quill.
He is not yet sixty years old, but he already has a face with ridges and sagging, heavy bags under his eyes, and his temples are also stained with the traces of time. At first glance, he feels even worse than his father, Raphael.
When the old man heard the footsteps entering the house, he was busy without raising his head. He just pointed at the chair in the house and continued to make a rustling sound on the papyrus with his quill.
James, who was not surprised by this, casually pulled Chris to sit down.
He also picked up the wine on the counter and poured a glass for himself and his cousin, closing his eyes and savoring it slowly.
Chris didn't say anything or was busy going to the ceremony.
When he came here, James told him not to be formal after entering the study, let alone speak on his own initiative, unless Langer needed him to answer.
Very long waiting time.
It must have been more than an hour before Lange gently knocked on the table and called the attendant outside the study to come in.
"These will be sent out tonight."
He picked up several letters sealed with wax and stamped with his ring and handed them to the middle-aged man.
"Yes, Your Majesty the Duke."
The attendant responded respectfully, carefully picked up the letter and left as instructed.
And Chris stood up quickly because Lange got up and walked over.
He was not as amiable as Raphael. He walked up to Chris and squinted his eyes very rudely for a while before asking, "Are you Avril Lavigne's son?"
"Yes, Your Majesty the Duke."
Chris answered respectfully.
Perhaps it was because the title was not uncle but Duke. His eyes flashed and he smiled suddenly, "Very good, sit down. James, take out the fruit wine from the third compartment under the cabinet."
Hearing this, James's eyes lit up, he stood up and walked quickly to the wine cabinet, "Is it the fruit wine from the elves?"
"It's worthless!"
Lange scolded with a smile, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were much reduced, and turned to look at Chris, "Little Chris, how have you been these two days? Are you still used to the weather in the south?"
"Sir, it's quite good and I'm used to it."
"That's good."
He took the glass of fruit juice that James handed him, closed his eyes and tasted it slowly, which made the room quiet again.
After a while, he put down the wine glass, lowered his head and rubbed the roots of his eyes, and said in a faint voice, "Little Chris, you have to listen carefully to the next words, because you are now representing the Eaton family."
After giving the instruction, without waiting for Chris to answer, he began a very long narration——
You must know the origin of the Einske family and the Eaton family, so I won’t go into details.
For more than a hundred years, our two families have helped each other and benefited each other.
My family helped you stabilize the territory, and you changed your beliefs and helped our family gain more say in the Vulcan Cult.
But now the situation has changed, and the Holy Empire is about to usher in turmoil.
His Majesty the Human Demigod Uther Brundor, in the past one hundred years, the time intervals between appearances in front of all living beings have begun to become longer and longer. From once a year at the beginning, it gradually became once every three years.
Once in five years, once in ten years...
Now, since he brought back the heads of the two Centaur Khans from the northern grasslands, they have not appeared in front of people for twenty years.
This also means that his power is disappearing and is about to be lost!
He is the only demigod in the world and the guardian of the Holy Empire, so when he falls, the Holy Empire will fall apart, and all races that were once expelled by humans will also sound the clarion call for revenge.
The demigods fell, and strife arose again.
This is the tacit secret and expectation of all lords and all races.
The Ainske family is also looking forward to this moment.
For this reason, I asked James to marry the eldest princess of the elf tribe so that I would have no worries; I have condescended to be friends with the dwarves for so many years, and I also don’t want these greedy dwarves to be beguiled by others and stab them in the back. But the weakness of our family is not in the south.
, but in the northwest, it’s your Eaton family!
Having said this, Lange paused briefly and looked sideways at Chris.
After seeing Chris' expression as normal, he showed an expression of approval and continued to talk.
As I just said, our two families helped each other and benefited each other in the early days.
But your family is too weak, with a shallow foundation and no strong people. It has no ability to protect itself in the chaos that is about to begin. Whether it is the demihuman tribe in the northern blood rock or the Earl of Mikonokki in the northwest plains, they can easily
Let you become the dust of history.
The Ainske family cannot save you.
The Eton Territory is too far from the south, far beyond the reach of my family, because my family also has its own war; my family is also powerless, because at that time, the snake people in the Terror Zeal will also launch a war of revenge.
Cut off the connection between your two families.
Therefore, your family has only three endings in the future.
Either be destroyed by the Snow Goddess Cult in the north, be destroyed by the demihumans, or migrate to the south before the chaos.
But no matter which outcome your family has, it will have a negative impact on our family.
Because you lost the territory, it also means that the Ainske family failed to keep the northern parish.
This negative impact will cause the Einske family to be criticized by others and lose some support in the war to unify the south and take up the papal scepter of the Vulcan Cult.
Moreover, your family will be in a very difficult situation after they move to the south.
Ainske is a very large family and needs to take into account the interests of many people. We cannot give preferential treatment to a family that cannot keep the parish and cause dissatisfaction among others.
Of course, for the sake of my poor sister who died young, my family will also provide some help within its ability.
For example, after your family comes to the south, the old man will qualify you to join the Guardian Knights because you are Avril's only child, and the warriors in your family can also become Guardian Warriors, giving you the opportunity to fight with swords.
Based on the capital of the South. However, little Chris, I need to remind you that by then, the South will no longer be ruled by nobles with titles, and everything in your family will have to start from scratch.
In general, the above futures are not a good future for either your family or my family.
Therefore, dear little Chris, I hope you can become a strong man before the demigod falls.
If you become a strong person, the Eton Territory will have the ability to protect itself and the strength to talk to the demihuman tribe on an equal footing, and our family will not fall into the criticism of losing the northern diocese. As for your family’s territory after it is saved, our two families will
There is no need to discuss how we will seek common interests.
No one can predict what will happen until the future arrives.
All we can do is to do the things that are currently foreseeable and wait for time to give the answer.
Langer finished speaking intermittently, picked up the Elf Fruit Brew, poured himself a glass, and asked slowly, "So, Chris Eaton, do you want to become a member of the Guardian Knights, or pursue a life of death?"
On the road to becoming strong, the Ainske family is waiting for you to make your choice."