Claude was busy for more than ten days before he could properly handle the official affairs accumulated by the military region headquarters that required his own decision. I finally breathed a sigh of relief and was about to give myself a few days off to relax. Unexpectedly, when I walked out of the military headquarters, I found that the manager of Field Manor, the eldest son of the old butler Alec, Swenson, was standing next to a carriage waiting for him. Appear.
"Why are you here?" Claude was a little surprised.
Svenson lowered his head and gave a half-bow: "That's it, sir, the old lady heard that you were back and wanted you to go home. She said she had something to discuss with you..."
Well, Claude blushed a little. He had been staying at Sheila's place since returning to Lanhu City, and he really didn't think of going home to see her. After all, Field Manor is his home. His legitimate wife, three biological children, and mother all live there. As a result, he did not even think about going home after being apart for more than two years, but stayed with his mistress. No wonder His mother even sent a housekeeper to invite him.
"Okay, I'm going home right now." Claude said, and then called his adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Mason Hughes, and asked him to send a guard back to Coven Bellen Manor and tell Sheila that he would go back to Field Manor to live in the next period of time.
The restaurant was lit with white candles and felt very bright, but the dining atmosphere was not very good. Claude likes to talk while eating. He still follows the habits of his previous life on many things and likes to talk at the dinner table. But at home, Claude's mother wanted to learn the rules of an aristocratic family and strictly prohibited the family from talking and making noise during meals, and swallowing food without making a sound. So the whole restaurant was very quiet, except for the occasional sound of clinking knives and forks...
The food was rich, but Claude found it tasteless. He ate some casually and picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth: "I've finished eating."
He stood up to leave, but was stopped by his mother: "Claude, wait a minute, I have something to ask you."
Claude sat down again, picked up a bottle of fruit wine on the table, and poured himself half a glass: "What do you want to say?"
Mother put down the silver fork in her hand and wiped her mouth with a napkin: "I heard that when you returned to the kingdom this time, you were promoted to a hereditary earl of the kingdom, and you also obtained a hereditary family territory?"
"Yes, what's wrong?" Claude replied.
"It's like this. Now that you have become the hereditary earl of the kingdom and obtained a family territory, but you have to stay in the overseas autonomous territory to busy yourself with military affairs, then you will have little time to manage that territory. So I decided Take Kaifni and Tesiore back to the kingdom. Tesiore has also grown up, so it’s time for him to take over and manage your hereditary family territory to practice, so that it will be more convenient for him to inherit this hereditary family territory in the future. Some..." Mother looked at Claude and said.
Claude laughed: "Mother, don't bother with this. Although this territory is a hereditary family territory under my name, the management rights are not mine, but are coordinated and arranged by the Overseas Dominion Council for unification. Planning and development..."
"What are you talking about?" Mother suddenly became angry: "This is the territory that belongs to the Field family. Why should it be handed over to the Dominion Council for development? You will write a letter tomorrow to tell the Dominion Council members that we will develop and manage this territory ourselves. , don’t need their help..."
The smile on Claude's face disappeared: "Mother, please remember that this territory belongs to me, not to the Field family. I hope you can understand this. As for who I want to hand over to manage, it is my own It has nothing to do with your so-called Field family..."
The mother looked very sad: "Claude, I know you hate me for letting your brother leave the family, but now you are the hope of the Field family. Even if you don't think about your own family, you should think about your son." Tesore, think about it. He is your biological son. He has grown up and can no longer stay in the overseas autonomous territories doing nothing. If you just get the family territory, let him manage it, and you can also use this to communicate with those in the kingdom. It will be beneficial to his future if he makes friends with a truly aristocratic family. We are also thinking about his future development... "
Claude suddenly laughed out loud and asked Tesore to deal with the noble families in the kingdom. Isn't this a door-to-door meal delivery? He shook his head: "Mother, I don't want to say more. You don't understand the current situation in the kingdom. In addition, I don't want Tesore to go back to the kingdom to make friends with those noble families. Although he is an adult, he has also experienced What you call noble training, but in front of those noble families, he is just a washed and skinned little lamb, which can be eaten clean easily. Therefore, you should be realistic and don't be too ambitious. "
The mother was angry: "Claude! How can you say that about Tesore? He is your biological son. He is very smart and is now an adult. I hope that he will come back to the kingdom and find a truly noble family in the future. We would like to marry a young lady from another family, so that we are well-matched and make our Field family even more glorious..."
Claude shook his head: "Mother, put away your wishful thinking. You have already forced Blovik away. Do you still want to lose your eldest grandson? As for the future of Tesore, I have other plans. Plan. As his biological father, I have naturally considered his future... "
Claude turned his head to his son: "Tessoure, stand up and tell me what you think. What are your thoughts about your future?"
The white and fat Tesore has been eating in silence. To be honest, he is very afraid of his father. Because growing up, only Claude would beat him, and he would beat him mercilessly. As long as Claude found out that he had done something bad or bullied someone, his butt would suffer. Although I later learned to be a good boy, I immediately hid with my grandmother after committing a crime, leaving my father unable to do anything to me. But from then on, Claude looked at him with more and more strange eyes, and he could no longer even see the look in his eyes that hated iron and steel...
This time when Claude came back and everyone ate together, Tesore had been trying his best to make himself invisible and reduce the chance of being noticed by his father. But things went counterproductive, and his hopes and reality always collided, because his dearest grandmother had great differences with Claude over his future development, eventually involving him in this family turmoil.
Even though he was very reluctant, he still stood up under Claude's gaze and hesitated for a while before speaking: "Father, I don't have any ideas, but if you let me do it, I will definitely do it. I strive to do my best. My grandmother and mother have been training me with the aristocratic education method. I think I can try to manage the next family territory... "
A victorious smile appeared on the mother's face: "Look, Claude, Tesore has already said that he will do his best. You should believe in your son and let him try. He will let me The Field family has become a prominent family in the Kingdom of Overas!”
Claude ignored his mother and stared at his eldest son: "Tesore, do you know how your father, the marshal of the kingdom, got his noble title and territory?"
Tesore shook his head and said nothing. He really didn't know. Growing up, when he was sensible, Claude was already in a high position, and he had never experienced the most difficult time of his family. After arriving in the overseas dominions from White Deer City, due to Claude's military exploits and influence, their family has been receiving preferential treatment, and many people have come to flatter them. Even though he attended Lanhu City Elementary School, he repeatedly bullied his classmates but was not punished because of Claude. In the end, he dropped out of school and received training as a noble at home.
"The ancestor of our Field family was just a farmer. Due to good luck, he joined the troops of King Sterling IX in the Battle of the Restoration of the Kingdom. He made some meager military exploits and gained a family fortune. Later, he drowned due to drunkenness. Died in the ditch." Claude slowly tasted the fruit wine in the cup and told his son some family past events: "Your grandfather was a commoner, he became a White Deer City, and he was still a civil official of the town at that time. , it took eighteen years to become a citizen and the administrative director of Bailu Town, laying the foundation for our family.
But your grandfather also dreamed of making great contributions to the kingdom and becoming a member of the nobility. Therefore, it was a bit too hasty. When he and his friends were planning to open up a new route for the kingdom from White Deer Town to the overseas autonomous territories, which was still the overseas autonomous territories at that time, it was now a new route from Corbichus Port to White Deer City. Yes, this route was opened by your grandfather and his friends, but they did not enjoy the benefits of this new route. Instead, their family was ruined by the opening of this new route.
The reason is very simple. Your grandfather and the others are greedy for the huge profits from the commercial trade between the two continents brought by this new route, and are ready to make extra money for their family before reporting to the kingdom. But the merchant fleet they organized attracted the rampant pirate gangs from the Nubicia continent. Not only were the merchant fleets robbed, but many pirate ships also followed this new route to the Farea continent, ravaging the coastal areas of the kingdom's mainland... . ...
The kingdom sent the navy to expel these pirate gangs from the Nubisian continent and found out the truth. Then your grandfather and his friends were captured. Although he was later spared from death for his meritorious service in opening a new route, his public office was lost, and he owed a huge debt because the merchant fleet was robbed by pirates. In the end, your grandfather had to die... "
"Stop talking, Claude!" The mother didn't want to hear Claude talk about the family's past. It was obvious that talking about Mr. Morsant's suicide made the mother feel very uncomfortable.
"Why don't you say it? We should let the children understand their family history so that they will not forget the roots and not regard themselves as inherently superior to others. Understand, Tesore, you are not a nobleman, you are just a farmer. Descendants. Your grandmother, your mother, including me and your father, we are all civilians, not nobles of the kingdom." Claude ignored his mother and continued to educate his eldest son.
"Do you know why you have such a prosperous life now? That's because I, your father, left home and joined the army when I was younger than you, when I was just eighteen years old... .." Claude fell into memories: "Less than half a year after I joined the army, the First Eastern War broke out. Then I struggled on the battlefield for five years. I was lucky enough to survive in this battle involving hundreds of people. He survived a war in which tens of thousands of people were killed and injured, achieved some minor military exploits, and became a captain of the kingdom.
When your mother and I got married, I was returning home from the battlefield for a vacation. Because of my military exploits, I caught the eye of General Michelchi, the future Marshal of the Kingdom. I went to the military academy for a short-term training for a year, and then joined the New Kingdom Army. The formation of the Ranger Division. I remember that I received the news of your birth in the military camp. I was very excited and asked my colleagues to get drunk because I had become a father and had a child of my own...
It's just that as a soldier, you and I have been together less and more apart, and soon we came to the overseas territory of Nubisia mainland because of the colonial war provoked by the Kingdom of Hicks. After three years of fierce fighting on the battlefield, I became a division commander due to my meritorious service and gained a firm foothold. At this time, your mother took you, your grandmother, your aunt, and your uncle to the overseas territories, and the family was truly reunited. Your uncle also joined my army and became a soldier.
Having said all this, I am not reminiscing about the bitter experience, but I hope you understand where the true foundation of our Field family lies. We are not from a noble family, but from common people. Even if you have been trained by the nobles and behave like a real noble, in the eyes of the nobles in the kingdom, you are still an upstart. No one will think highly of you if you are a commoner among them. Therefore, you have never wanted to be a noble in this life. Without the inheritance of three generations, you cannot become a true noble of the kingdom. "
"Claude, what do you mean? Why can't Tesore become a noble of the kingdom? You are now the hereditary earl of the kingdom. When you grow old and return to the kingdom of the God of War, he will be your legitimate first successor. You Shouldn't he inherit the title of earl of the kingdom?" Mother was really angry. She even said that after Claude died, everything would be inherited by Tesore...
"Inherit? Haha..." Claude laughed sarcastically: "My mother, where do you have the confidence to think that after my death, Tesore will inherit everything I left to him and he can keep this place?" A family fortune? Is it just based on the aristocratic education he received? Tesore, I have just told you so much, do you understand what I mean? Can you tell what our family’s real support is? "
Yes..." Tesore was trembling a little, but he didn't dare not answer when facing Claude's gaze. He thought for a long time before he finally managed to say: "Yes, it's your kingdom's earldom title. There must be those properties of our family in the overseas autonomous territories..."
Claude shook his head in disappointment: "My son, these answers you mentioned are the impressions left by your grandmother or your mother's usual teachings to you, right? The answers are wrong. I can guarantee that if this If something happens to me in a few years, as your grandmother said, if I return to the kingdom of the God of War, then you will inherit my title and family property. You will not be able to keep these things, and you will even give them to us. The family is in danger of death.
This is not alarmist on my part, my child, this is a reality that is very likely to happen. I'm sorry that your grandmother and your mother's love for you has led you to go astray. Fortunately, there is still room for recovery. Let me tell you now, what is the foundation of our family? It is very simple, that is the military. We are a military family, not a noble family. I hope you can understand this. If I had not joined the military, our family would never have the status and identity it has today.
I have plans for your future, but in the past two years I returned to the kingdom to fight, and I was busy with military affairs and forgot about your future and prospects. But it's not too late, you are only over twenty, not yet twenty-one. Starting tomorrow, you will become a volunteer in the overseas autonomous territories and enter the army for training. Just like me at the age of eighteen, you will become a qualified and outstanding soldier as soon as possible. This is what I want as a father. You, the hope of my eldest son..."
"No! You can't let Tesore join the army!" Kaifuni, who had been silent all this time, suddenly stood up and shouted loudly: "Claude, you want to send your son to the battlefield to become a Cannon fodder? I will never allow you to do this!"
"Yes, Claude, you can't let Tesore go into the army. He is your eldest son and your successor. You can't send him into the army. I won't let you take him away to the battlefield. You're going to die!" His mother also stared at Claude angrily.
"My successor?" Claude smiled nonchalantly: "As a father, I have the power to decide his future. As the head of the Dominion Military Region and the marshal of the kingdom, I have the power to recruit Tesore into the army. . He will be like other children, struggling in the military camp, undergoing rigorous training, correcting all his bad habits and so-called aristocratic habits, and becoming a qualified soldier, just like his uncle Blovik, He is a legend among the soldiers of the overseas dominions.
Of course, I do not expect my son to reach the level of me or his uncle, but to become a qualified soldier, only the elite in the army can reach my standards. Only then will I acknowledge him as my true successor. Otherwise, I will not leave everything I have to a coward without courage, even my biological son. If he does not join the army, he will have no inheritance rights. Tesore, tell me, what is your choice? "
"Don't even think about sending him to be a soldier!" Kaifani was hysterical and suddenly started to cry.
Claude impatiently drank the fruit wine in his glass and stood up: "That's it, Tesore, I will send someone to take you to the military camp tomorrow. If you don't go, then I won't have you as my son. .You will lose all inheritance rights from my father, you will not be allowed to bear the surname Field, you will become a person without a surname, and at the same time, you will be sentenced to ten years of hard labor for evading military service...
You have one more night to comfort your mother and your grandmother and say goodbye to them. I hope that life in the military camp will make you a real man, not a weak pretty boy who only takes shelter under the skirts of your mother and your grandmother. As a man, your destiny will be controlled by you and should not be dominated by women, even if they are your mother and your grandmother. Sometimes, their doting on your transition is the real reason that prevents you from growing up and understanding the truth!
By the way, I want to tell you one more thing. When you enter the military camp, I will give you another name. Your identity is the son of a commoner and has nothing to do with me. You need to fight alone in the military camp and make friends with your life and death comrades. You will be no different from others. Everything needs to be done by yourself. I will not restore your identity until you become a captain. Your relationship with me recognizes you as my son and successor, do you understand? "