After asking Trotty to take good care of Eleanor, Charlotte left the church hospital.
The arrival of the envoys from the royal capital was like a clear signal, announcing the end of the war. After the peace talks with the Violet Principality, peace talks with Bold were put on the agenda.
After leaving the church hospital, Charlotte went to the Earldom of Tulip and completed the de facto transfer of territory.
There was no lord in the Earldom of Tulip, only Count Gaston was stationed there. With the support of Count Gaston, the handover of the territory went smoothly.
The Tulip nobles, who often intermarried with the Castel nobles and had many business dealings with them, did not resist but naturally accepted Charlotte's rule.
This is also easy to understand. Geographically speaking, the Tulip Territory is part of the North, and it is also close to the North in terms of economy and blood ties. Not to mention that after witnessing Castel's defeat of Bold, this pocket-sized earldom that doesn't even have a viscount has no capital to resist.
Bold had long viewed it as a direct territory to strengthen his control over Castel, and had always tried to prevent the emergence of large noble families here. Ultimately, this benefited Castel, who had merged the Earldom of Tulip.
Charlotte met with local nobles in the Tulip Fortress, a total of six barons.
Although the territorial treaty between Bold and Castel had not yet been formally signed, and the tulip nobles had not formally sworn allegiance to Charlotte, their words and deeds had already expressed their submission to Castel.
After meeting with the nobles, Charlotte talked alone with Count Gaston for an hour.
No one knows what Charlotte talked about with Count Gaston.
After the conversation, Count Gaston handed over all standing control of Tulip Territory to Castel, and left Tulip alone, returning to Boulder with the help of the ultra-long-distance teleportation array provided by the Violet Principality.
It is difficult to understand why the extraordinary regular equipment that the family has run for more than ten years is handed over to others.
Not only the nobles of Tulip County, but even the nobles of Castel County found it difficult to understand.
Some said that this was an agreement secretly reached between Count Gaston and Castel; some said that this was because Count Castel gave up his declaration of celibacy and intended to marry into the Gaston family; and even more outrageous; there were rumors that Count Gaston was infatuated with Castel's Charlotte, so he first helped Castel fight against Bold, and then handed over the extraordinary constant to him...
Even if... Count Gaston is old enough to be a grandfather to Charlotte of Castel.
Not to mention, there are quite a few people who believe in this most outrageous statement, even many nobles firmly believe it.
Especially those who had seen the young earl of Castel with their own eyes.
"She is indeed a beautiful lady, young, beautiful, and pure... just like an angel sent by God to the world!"
"Hic, let alone Count Gaston, even I, who only saw her from afar, would fall in love with her."
A down-and-out nobleman who boasted that he had met Charlotte at a banquet at the Earl's Palace was talking in the tavern while burping.
In short, rumors about Count Gaston and Count Castel were rampant for a while.
The romantic affairs of nobles, especially great nobles, always arouse people's interest, even if they are just hearsay.
Just eat melon.
In any era, especially when entertainment options are scarce, this is something people would welcome.
It was not until the North Port City Hall severely dealt with a group of mercenaries and down-and-out nobles who spread the rumors that these outrageous rumors gradually weakened.
Of course, this weakening is limited to the direct jurisdiction.
Similar topics still have a market in the vassal territories where Caster's control is weaker and in the surrounding areas of Caster, especially in taverns and salons.
At the same time, word of how charming, stunning, and beautiful the young Earl of Castel was spread more and more widely, making Charlotte, who was already known as the "Pearl of Polder" and the "Lord of Beauty", even more famous...
The resulting chain reaction even affected Castel's diplomacy.
Charlotte was stunned to find that after that, many more nobles from all over the country came to visit Castel, many of whom were even heirs to titles, or simply the lords themselves.
However, what happened in Boulder next made this outrageous rumor gradually lose its market.
After Count Gaston returned to the Duchy of Bold, he quickly took the lead, organized the scattered Bold nobles in the name of Castel's allies and Bold supporters, established the Bold Regency Cabinet, and started peace talks with Castel.
Among them, Count Gaston, as the most influential earl of Bordeaux, was unanimously elected as regent by the Bordeaux Nobles' Council.
When this news came out, many sharp-minded nobles came to their senses.
"Count Gaston must have reached some kind of exchange of interests with Castel, and gained Castel's support on the condition of supporting Castel's independence, merging the Tulip Territory, and controlling the Tulip Army..."
"Bord was the defeated party, and it is said that many nobles were captured. No one is more suitable than Count Gaston to represent Bord in negotiations with Castel."
An experienced kingdom lord made the judgment.
However, when this news reached Castel, some of Castel's nobles were somewhat puzzled.
"My Lord Earl, you...are not going to fight for the position of Regent?"
Viscount Ryan Castel couldn't help but ask.
Charlotte shook her head.
"Fight? Why should I fight? As the regent, I am still a vassal of Bold. Even if I actually control Bold, what does it matter?"
"My Lord Viscount, please take a long-term view. Our goal has never been Boulder from the beginning, and Boulder is not the destination we can reach."
Then, she chuckled again:
"Not to mention... Count Gaston's appointment as regent will make no difference to us. We can also have an extra helper to divert the king's attention."
…
Count Gaston was very fast.
After taking office as regent, he began intensive "negotiations" with Castel, and the peace treaty between the two sides was made public soon after.
The compensation aspects of the treaty are similar to those of the Violet Principality.
The Duchy of Boulder will pay a ransom of 6 million quintanas for all the nobles and soldiers captured, including Duchess Eleanor, as well as extraordinary materials worth 15 million quintanas. All ransoms must be paid within three months, and all food and lodging expenses of the captives within three months will be borne by the Duchy of Boulder.
In addition to this, it is necessary to recognize the independence of Castres and its sovereignty over the Tulip Territory.
By the way, after the treaty was signed, Duchess Eleanor was not released immediately, but continued to recuperate in Castres.
At this point, the Bold-Castell War came to an end. As the biggest winner, Charlotte not only unified the North, but also obtained a sky-high ransom and nearly 1,500 sets of kingdom-standard standing equipment.
However, despite the fruitful results, Charlotte felt as if she had forgotten something.
It was not until three days after the formal treaty was signed that news came from the north that the Isaac prisoner-of-war camp had been attacked by Violet deserters. Charlotte suddenly remembered that she still had thousands of Isaac Hussar prisoners of war who had participated in the Castell Rebellion to deal with.