Chapter 59 (1/2)

Translator: Sigma  Editor: Sigma

As the sun rose to the zenith at noon, the meeting was held as scheduled.

A white-haired noble aristocrat spoke first; he was a baron nearby. Although the title was not high, he had a scarily old age and high seniority. Including the late Sir Geerteng, even the oldest aristocrat in this area must respectfully call him “uncle.” In addition, he lived in the neighborhood, so he was most familiar with the situation of Geerteng. It was indeed quite appropriate for him to be the host.

The old man stood up quivering, and slowly recounted the glorious history and prosperity of the current situation of Geerteng. His rhetoric was quite sonorous and powerful: Don’t judge by appearance.

However, he was completely talking about nonsense. The viscounts of Geerteng in history were mostly not good at management, so did a glorious history have anything to do with this territory at all?! Could this place be described as prosperous as now that the fields were strewn with corpses of the starved?

“The old man is lying through his teeth! How can a territory be described as prosperous if there are people starving to death?” Sui Xiong was angry. “As he talks nonsense, isn’t this old man afraid of being sent to the hell after death?”

“For the aristocrats, there is prosperity as long as the nobility maintains the decency,” said Ray sneering. “Maybe he doesn’t have to go to the hell thanks to his old age. He is dedicated to retaining the aristocratic glory at such an old age, so most likely he will be taken to the Holy Kingdom of Noble Maids.”

“Accepting such a person? The God of Aristocrats isn’t picky at all!”

“Good gods accept good people, while evil gods accept evil people. Like attracts like,” Ray said lightly. “Is the Noble Maid herself a good one?”

Sui Xiong sighed wordlessly. Until now, he could not understand why people in this world would worship evil gods – evil gods and demons, are they different? Anyway, they seemed to be the same to him…

On the high platform, the old baron slowly introduced the background of the story, and then finally changed the topic into important things.

The former viscount of Geerteng died of an acute illness. The time between him falling ill and his death was very short, and there had been no time to soberly explain his will before the funeral. His succession was vacant because he did not have an heir or appoint an heir before his death. In theory, every descendant of the Geerteng family was eligible to compete for the right of succession.

When the old viscount was alive, Steele was the only one of the younger generation among his close relatives, and people felt that Steele was rightly the heir to the throne. However, when he suddenly died, a b*stard of his appeared from an unknown place, and he also held a set of good evidence that was enough to prove his identity.

Until then, people suddenly realized – it was no wonder that the old viscount had refused to explicitly grant the right of succession to Steeler because he had also hidden a b*stard!

Obviously, the old viscount wanted to pass the title to this b*stard. It was only that he had not yet found a suitable opportunity to let this b*stard appear in broad daylight.

In accordance with the rules, recognized b*stards had the right of succession. The secret document left by the old viscount did acknowledge the identity of this child, and so he had the right of succession. Had it not been too late for him to appear, the title would have been passed directly to Steele in the absence of the recognition from the old viscount.

So now the situation of the territory of Geerteng was awkward. On the one hand, it was a longstanding natural successor, and on the other hand, a more legitimate successor who had never been recognized, and the two sides couldn’t compromise. If the problem couldn’t be properly solved, a civil war was possible.

Of course, if not for Ray, Steele would have died long ago, and no one would end up supporting a stupid woman who could not do anything but seduce men even she was alive. She was, in fact, was not stupid at all, but was quite scheming.

Or the problem could be considered from another angle. If Steele didn’t have such a bad style and notorious fame, there would have long been aristocrats to propose marriage to her and support her. Once winning the support of an aristocrat whose status was no lower than the viscount of Geerteng, she could surely have the right of succession. A b*stard who had not been publicly acknowledged wouldn’t be qualified to compete with her for support.

All in all, it was a coincidence!

Although the old baron spoke slowly, he spoke clearly and explained the cause and effect of the matter in a long-winded way. He also specifically asked the aristocrats and representatives participating in the meeting, and finally ended his statement after making sure he had been understood by all.

Next, it was the fight for the right of succession between the two. This contention of the right of succession came in two forms: one of violence and another of non-violence.

Needless to say, the one of violence was a duel between the two sides, and the winner inherited the title. The loser should immediately get out of the place if they hadn’t died, and they should be deprived of the surname and lose their aristocratic status.

Sui Xiong was looking forward to a fight because the scene would look spectacular. However, the fight over the right of succession must be participated in by the people involved and they should not be replaced by others. Neither Romon nor Steele wanted to risk their lives fighting against each other, so a fight was unlikely.

In view of this, Romon actually also lacked courage. A cheater was also a bard and was an authentic adventurer. He not only had eloquence but also good fighting skills. If he had a one to one fight with others, then a trained and fully armored warrior might not defeat him, let alone an ordinary strongman. In contrast, even if Steele had learned some aristocratic fencing skills, how could she be his opponent?