Chapter 1335 - 572: Dropping the Punchline

Chapter 1335: Chapter 572: Dropping the Punchline

Good news? Laine frowned slightly, pondering what good news the Lake Fairy could possibly have for him.

Surya also turned her gaze to the Lake Fairy. Having spent much time in the Goddess’s company, the Knight-woman could already sense that the Goddess’s mood was somewhat complicated, yet on the whole still pleased.

"Mm." The Lake Fairy’s joy lasted but a brief moment before the expression on her face shifted slightly, as if she sighed, as if resigned. The Goddess circled the room once, letting the iris fragrance upon her body spill through the sunlit bedchamber, and only then did she slowly speak: "Leonais has agreed."

"Agreed?" Laine repeated the words. He reached out and gently pressed Surya’s shoulder, signaling his wife that she need not rise.

The Duke of Musillon needed but a moment’s association before he understood.

The air conditioning hummed within the room as Laine stood before the window, fingers pinching his chin. "This is... whose decision? Dalheid?"

"It is Baron Adheid. He is about to become Duke of Leonais." The Lake Fairy let out a soft sigh. The Goddess turned once in the air, then instead seated herself beside Surya, a strange emotion coloring her tone: "After numerous searches, the Duke’s Family of Leonais has concluded that they can no longer afford to wait. They have decided to support Dalheid’s nephew, Aldred’s elder cousin—namely Baron Adheid. With Richard’s permission, Baron Adheid is soon to be elevated as Duke of Leonais. He is a Kingdom Knight of about fifty years, and just recently he convened a council in Leonais Castle to deliberate the matter of the former Old Musillon Territory."

Laine nodded, standing at the window as he contemplated the chain of events. The Duke of Musillon raised his head and suddenly laughed: "Heh, my Lady, Surya, tell me—now that this resolution has passed, how will the Kingdom’s nobles view me? As some base thief, who couldn’t wait to feast upon a duke’s corpse the moment the man died?"

"Laine, don’t speak of yourself like that. Your claim is just." Surya sat at the head of the bed; constrained by her body’s condition, the Knight-woman could not rise, and could only comfort Laine in a gentle voice. "At present you hold a lawful claim to the Old Musillon Territory, and Leonais does as well. Thus, in reclaiming this land, you acted in accordance with the rules, and so shall Leonais within the agreed framework. You need not worry about accusations."

"Heh~" Laine shook his head with a bitter smile. He lifted his shoulders, his expression remaining unruffled. "Then, my Lady, what terms has Adheid laid down?"

"Aid in suppressing the rebellion, sufficient grain for three months, acceptance of a portion of their populace, and a sum of money." The Lake Fairy spoke simply: "A sum large enough. Baron Adheid’s expectation is fifteen thousand Gold Crowns."

The first two had been agreed upon, so Laine said little of them. But when he heard that Adheid actually wanted fifteen thousand Gold Crowns, the Duke’s expression changed.

"Fifteen thousand Gold Crowns? Hmph!" Laine’s face grew cold, thick sarcasm lacing his tone. "If he’s so capable, he should keep that land for himself, shouldn’t he? Does Adheid fancy himself so very able? If I refuse, will he then simply decline to cede the Old Musillon Territory? What does he imagine he can do? Restore Leonais to the glorious age when it boasted nearly ten thousand Knights?!"

"Laine!" Surya almost wanted to laugh at her husband’s words, though her tone held a touch of reproach. "Don’t speak so cuttingly, you’ll frighten the child!"

"Forgive me, my lady!" Laine hurried to sit at the bedside, gently taking the Knight-woman’s small hand in his own to show his remorse. Before his gentle, considerate, dignified wife, the Duke truly had no defenses at all, and hastened to apologize.

The Lake Fairy sat upon the bed. Seeing the harmony between Laine and his wife filled the Goddess with both delight and faint displeasure. She reached out and pinched Laine’s cheek. "Adheid is driven by necessity as well. That he should choose thus is hardly strange. Am I right, my Champion?"

"Necessity, my ass!" Laine sneered and rose at once. "Baron Adheid knows perfectly well that, since he cannot retain it, he might as well use it as leverage to squeeze a little more out of me—hoping to dig a huge sum from my coffers to patch his own bottomless fiscal Abyss. I understand his urgency for coin, but fifteen thousand Gold Crowns?"

"...But that is Sirulf’s Leonais, Laine." The Lake Fairy did not rebuke him. The Goddess’s voice was neither glad nor sorrowful, as though recalling something distant. "Sirulf and Landuin—a sorrowful elegy of fate. You are the one who inherited Landuin’s will and final wish, Laine Macado."

Laine’s gaze sharpened, the Duke’s eyes shifting from sarcasm to gloom. He let out a long sigh. "Indeed, I am the heir to Landuin’s will. Before Landuin faded completely, what he clung to, even at the very end, was the matter between him and Sirulf. On that account alone, I cannot press Leonais too hard."

Having spoken thus far, Laine instead began to laugh again. He said with a smile, "In truth, Adheid is shrewd. At such a time, were he a fool, he would surely be shouting that this portion of the Old Musillon Territory is a sacred and indivisible part of Leonais, that he would never cede it nor accept my claims. But Adheid is a clear-sighted man. He knows all too well what he most needs as the new Duke of Leonais, and what truly ails Leonais at its heart."