Chapter 3 (2/2)

..·:*¨¨*.·:*¨♡¨*:·. 15 .·:*¨♡¨*:·.*¨¨*:·..

My mom was furious as expected.

As she beat me up, she explained that everything in there was being saved for my dowry.

I sighed in relief. In any case, I didn't plan to get married in the near future.

As for my little brother's portion, I could save some up for him again. He was still young after all.

…·:*¨¨*.·:*¨♡¨*:·. 16 .·:*¨♡¨*:·.*¨¨*:·..

Actually, the biggest success that we achieved in the battle was capturing Morgan himself.

During the conference, my ministers argued incessantly over what was the best thing to exchange Morgan for.

Later on the same day, I prattled all of this to Fruys as usual, but he only looked at me with a confused tilt of his ma.s.sive head. ”Why aren't you taking advantage of the opportunity to annex his whole territory? Especially while you have the momentum?”

His suggestion was a bolt of lightning that froze me on the spot.

But soon enough, blood began to rush into my head as my heart furiously pumped in a frenzy, resulting in a weird, heady sensation.

Fruys told me that he would help me in exchange for half of the treasure obtained as loot.

I waved my hand, and spoke very magnanimously, ”You take 70%.”

…·:*¨¨*.·:*¨♡¨*:·. 17 .·:*¨♡¨*:·.*¨¨*:·..

The northern area of Finanse's political web was presently preserved in a delicate equilibrium.

To use myself and Morgan as an example, my fief was weaker than his, so it would be easy for him to conquer our land. However, the first thing he'd have to worry about is indigestion, or whether he would be able to a.s.similate the newly-acquired territory into his original one without wrecking the state of affairs of both. Second, expanding his domain would inevitably attract the suspicion and wrath of other large lords who might even attack him from behind.

If other lords wanted to seize either of our territories, they would have to defeat both of us simultaneously if they did not want to face a similar problem as Morgan's.

As a result, powerful lords plundered and bullied weaker ones, but they had reservations about directly annexing territory.

But not me.

Those who were barefoot had no reason to fear ones who wore shoes.

We had nothing to lose. If matters continued on like this, we would either shrivel up and die from being squeezed and exploited repeatedly, or end up being subjugated by another lord. But if we fought-fought like our lives depended on it-there was still a possibility that we would survive.

I wanted to break away from this pitiful situation. I needed to rally the troops and brave danger, to free ourselves from a hopeless future with our own two hands once and for all.

Besides, I now have a dragon on my side.

…·:*¨¨*.·:*¨♡¨*:·. 18 .·:*¨♡¨*:·.*¨¨*:·..

The news that Morgan lost the battle had not yet spread.

I doubted that the people of his territory could even imagine the possibility of their lord losing anyway, much less consider it.

Our craftsmen mended the war chariots, and our men donned the armor we previously seized. As we rode Morgan's warhorses and disguised ourselves as his army returning from victory, we easily entered their fortifications, bypa.s.sed the catapults and watchtowers, and charged straight in, slaughtering our way directly into the barracks.

Fruys followed from behind, circling the skies and providing moral support to those down below.

Morgan's territory was easily captured in a single day.

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