The Cruz people referred to by Flo are naturally a group of southern cruz nobles headed by Count Alcons. Since arriving in Fattan, these southern nobles were fairly regular at first, probably because they knew that they had been beaten by Brando. Tied to the same boat, the army of Qiao Gendigang and the Lions in the south may attack the Evergreen Passage at any time, and at this time, if you don't hold the Eruin's fleet tightly, wouldn't it be a dead end
Coupled with the news of the civil war in the Banker area, the queen split the temple, and suddenly claimed herself as the inheritor of the dark dragon. It also made them feel at a loss. The belief that has been deep-rooted for thousands of years has suddenly collapsed. No one can accept it. Therefore, at the beginning, Earl Alcons and others were still in the same hatred, and honestly restrained the low-level officials who administer Fattan Harbor. On the one hand, they actively contacted the northern nobles and tried to seek an alliance to resist the crazy Queen.
But as the battle turned sharply, the nobles east of Metz were unable to resist the Queen’s advance. They were defeated again and again, as if almost instantly, the army of the New Temple had arrived at Ludwig’s gate, although they had not yet made peace. The Black Legion has played against each other, but has already occupied a great advantage in the situation. In addition, Veronica was placed under house arrest, and the Blue Army was unable to respond to the "uprising" of the northern nobles for a long time, so that soon on the front line of Fattan, people often saw the remnants of the nobles who had defeated and retreated from the front.
Various versions of rumors also spread. First, the nobles of Cape Cloak Bay turned their backs, and then Her Majesty the Queen suddenly appeared a few unfamiliar armies. Today, the Senian werewolves invaded the Fort Mort Habi, and tomorrow. Min again swore allegiance, and there are even rumors that even the Azure Spear was in the hands of Her Majesty Queen. Various signs indicate that the imperial emperor's strength is increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if she was a lonely silver queen at the beginning. It already occupies one-third of the empire's sphere of influence.
The new temple at this time is already not to be ignored-even a suffocating behemoth.
As a result, the southern aristocrats who were not firm enough in their positions immediately began to waver, but this wavering was only circulated among the lower classes at first, until the sudden change of the Lions and the Qiaogendagan army gave them a fatal one. hit. In fact, the Earl of Alcons and others did not have any real feelings about the civil war in the north. Because Brando tightly sealed off the port, almost all the first-hand news they got came from rumors, which can certainly make people feel free. People are panicking, but it's hard to say how real they can be.
However, these nobles have a deep-rooted fear of the Southern Lions and the Qiaogendigang army, especially the Qiaogendigang army. They have witnessed how that army destroyed their homeland and removed them from their own land. They were driven out, leaving them in exile like refugees, and even had to be sent under the fence.
If it weren't for Qiao Gendigang's army that constantly threatened the evergreen aisle to the east, why should they be trapped here
But at the moment the Lion and the underground lords have made clear the position of the Dark Dragon's subjugation, the situation has become a little more subtle. Who is the Dark Dragon at the moment? She is no longer the emperor of the Miner people thousands of years ago. She is also the Queen of Silver, a Cruze. Although the nobles care about faith, in the final analysis, they are more concerned about their status as a citizen of the empire. This is the guarantee of their status and pride. Although life-saving is the most important source of the source, status and power are also what they are after.
Prior to this, these two options were not available at the same time, but as the situation changed, the nobles who had fled to the south suddenly discovered that the answers to these two options seemed to gradually merge into one.
What if I want to keep my life and status
At least for the moment, surrendering to Her Majesty the Queen is the only possibility. Anyway, she is at least the Emperor of the Cruz people. Although the temple is divided, she can barely be regarded as orthodox. As a result, subtle changes took place in the hearts of these fugitive aristocrats, and even including the Earl of Alcons, these upper-class aristocrats gradually began to fall to the surrender faction. At this moment, Brando’s disadvantage as an Eruin is particularly prominent. Before that, he could also demand these nobles in the name of faith. The Temple of Flame is a religion that spans the country and has lasted for thousands of years. It is deeply ingrained. Although there are huge differences between the Eruins and the Cruzes, they at least have something in common on this point.
That is, they have the same faith.
In the name of religion, people often ignore the differences between countries.
But this reason will soon become untenable, because after the threat of life disappears, the Protestantism established by the Silver Queen does not seem to be so unacceptable. The original difficult decision in this war has quietly become whether to reform or conserve the old. , People seem to avoid the identity of the Silver Queen, the Dark Dragon, intentionally or unintentionally.
In fact, it doesn’t need to be said by Flore, Brando is also very clear that the current situation is ultimately caused by the lack of legitimacy of the northern aristocracy. Temple, but did not betray the empire. Simply put, the woman deliberately put the royal power above the religious power. Although this approach is a bit unacceptable, it is not unacceptable to the nobles, except for those in the Flame Temple. Apart from diehard loyalty, no one wants to have trouble with the Queen on this issue, especially when risking their lives.
The northern nobles stand on the opposite side of Her Majesty because they are the supporters of the eldest son of the emperor, but these exiled nobles in the south have no such scruples. Who do you want to be loyal to
So this war was not based on the standpoint of justice and evil, light and darkness from the beginning. This is just a cover. This is a civil war. Brando has always been aware of this. He used this reason to fool Count Alcons and the others for a long time, but those imperial nobles were not stupid, and it was time to react.
It's time to give them a strong potion, Brando thought, he quietly listened to Flore's statement, in fact, what the wild elf girl wanted to say was almost the same as he had imagined—at least not as outrageous as the witch's civil strife. Unexpectedly, even he felt that these southern aristocrats were a bit too slow, maybe it was because they were scared by the Qiao Gendigang people or for other reasons, before he thought about it, they should have started making trouble long ago.
But he was not worried. After Flor finished speaking, he asked calmly: "So what are they doing now?"
The wild elf girl was taken aback for a moment and couldn't help but frown. In her opinion, the current situation was caused entirely by the negligence of the lord in front of her. These days, Brando has neither strictly controlled the news. , And did not prevent the nobles who fled from the front from entering the port-just forbid them to leave again-the nobles of the Cruz people also lacked restraint, and it could be said that they did nothing. In addition to maintaining the normal operation of the port, it is probably Send a messenger to contact the northern nobles, and the rest is to study the useless stone all day long.
As soon as he thought of this, Flor aroused a hatred of iron and steel, and felt that the lord in front of him had been idle all day since the establishment of the firs collar. Although the opponent Eruin had made a lot of achievements, In her opinion, it was nothing more than luck, or it was all due to the ability of Antitina and Miss Romance, otherwise it would still be a question of whether the territory could function normally. I thought that after he became the Earl of the Kingdom, he also served as the head of the envoy, and he would be a little bit constrained. He didn’t expect that he would still be like this, doing nothing, and would just push things to his hands. Such a lord, I am afraid that even she would do it. That's good.
And he was still a traveling mage, their actual master. This was a thousand miles away from the master in her mind. Flor couldn't help but snorted heavily: "What else can they do? Fleet Hanging above their heads, can the trash still fail to rise? Of course, they are arguing to see you, Lord Lord, presumably in their opinion, only Lord Lord you are the best to speak."
Hearing the resentment in the girl’s mouth, Brando smiled bitterly and shook his head, but the weakness and incompetence of those southern nobles still surprised him. He thought they would at least be tougher, but he didn’t expect Count Alcons to be even stronger. Just want to'negotiate' with him.
"Since they want to negotiate," Brando sneered in his heart: "It's just as they wish."
He looked up: "Where are they?"
"Just outside, they nominated a few representatives, hoping to negotiate with you." Fro replied sternly.
"Negotiating?" Brando was a little amused: "How are they going to play? What do they want to talk about?"
Flor sneered: "According to their statement, since the armies of Qiao Gen Digang and the Lions have returned to the empire, what is left is the civil war of the empire. It is no longer suitable for the adults to continue to intervene. They suggested that the adults send the fleet. Back to Eruin—Of course, your lord, you can still go to the imperial capital as an envoy."
"Oh? What about the Silver Queen claiming to be the Dragon of Darkness?" Brando asked deliberately.
The wild elf girl's face suddenly became a little weird, and she could see that she had resisted showing too much disdain, and replied: "They said this is too ridiculous, it may be a rumor."
"Haha," Brando couldn't help but smile: "What a rumor."
He paused and knocked on the tabletop: "If that's the case, let them come in and see me."
"Okay—" Fro blurted out, then froze, raised his head and stared at his lord: "Lord, what did you just say?"
"Am I not clear enough? Let them come in and see me!"
"But… "
The wild elf girl wanted to say, but don't you see all of them on weekdays? In fact, this was also the source of her anger before. It is not the first day that the hearts of the Southern aristocrats are shaken. In fact, they have hoped to negotiate with Brando more than once before, but Brando has never heard about it. Don't ask, I don't even bother to restrain these people, and look like they are free, and they also pretend to try not to cause too much turmoil in Fattan Port.
She originally thought that today should be handled in the same way, but she didn't expect that her own free-will lord seemed to be on a whim and was about to see these people again. In fact, in Flo’s opinion, what is the best way for these people to see, the best way is to arrest the most violent of them, and kill them. Given the timidity of these people, they are determined not to be able to turn anything. The storm is coming. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but looked suspiciously at the lord in front of her.
Brando waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, go and bring the guest who arrived at the castle yesterday."
That guest? Fro was taken aback for a moment before he remembered the man. He seemed to be from the northern area of Ludwig. He could barely tell from the appearance that he was a Cruze, but he had a lot of Faenzan. Lineage, in short, is a mixed race. When he arrived at the castle, he claimed to be the messenger of the Black Legion. He wore a thick cloak and covered most of his face. He didn't dare to see anyone, but Flor remembered that his lord at that time received it very carefully. To each other.
She was not a gossip woman, after hearing Brando's instructions, she just nodded silently, and was about to turn and leave, but Brando stopped her again at this time.
"Wait," Brando said, "I called you in just now, not specifically for you to deal with the nobles."
"What do you mean?" the wild elf girl turned around and asked.
Brando knocked on his forehead, as if thinking for a moment before repliing: "Just so, two things should be done together. You can contact Charles and ask him to come to me right away. Can you find him now? Tell him, I want to see Antitina, now, right now."
Flor nodded silently.
…
Fir Collar, Valhalla Fortress—
"Miss Shiduo, His Royal Highness the eldest son."
Antitina watched the prince and the scholar of the empire come out of the hall, got up and gave a salute. The eldest son was followed by the young men of the Knights of Folding Swords who had been placed under house arrest a few months ago. A group of more than ten people , Everyone is fully armed and ready to go. These young generations of Cruz’s noble descendants seem to have calmed down a lot after these months of tormenting, but perhaps because they are used to staying in Valhalla, for the lord of a small place, these empire’s proud young people There is no need to condescend to look down, but the lord who owns a fantasy fortress like Brando, they may not really be regarded as a mere earl of Eruin.
In fact, after several months of getting along with each other, they have at least roughly understood Brando’s strength, even on the surface, it is enough to be awe-inspiring, even those powerful and powerful earls in the empire. , I am afraid it may not be able to catch up with such a'little Eruin'. Incidentally, they respected Brando's deputy—or the staff, Antitina.
But that's all. Even if these young people are in front of the real royal family of Eluin, it is difficult to show such a respectful attitude. After all, they are just the royal family of a small kingdom, such as Eluin. Many of the small countries on the border of the empire are vassals of the empire.
However, the eldest son of the prince Lenaret himself, who was still the same as a few months ago, seemed a little taciturn, and rarely talked with outsiders. He just nodded and nodded slightly to Antitina's salute. He frowned slightly, as if I was thinking about any problems anytime and anywhere, and the brilliance flashing in my eyes couldn't tell people the details. He didn't speak, but the scholar Shiduo next to him had already spoken on her behalf: "Miss Antitina, is there anything important that you suddenly called us? Has the situation in the empire changed again?"
Antitina looked at these Cruz people silently, nodded and said: "There are some changes, but this is not the main purpose of today."
She paused for a moment: "General Mangrove has already contacted the lord of my house."
"Oh?"
These words seemed to ignite the wildness in Lenaret's heart, and the emperor's eldest son raised his head, and his slightly deep eyes lit up.
The time has come—