"The elves of Hidden Valley were unwilling to keep tangling with those sticky nuisances, so our Duke Apophis Breo could only retreat to his territory." Ruhl shook his head regretfully. House of the Junlin Lion had long been veterans at borrowing force to strike with force; dragging the elves into this had been something Apophis Breo had planned for a long time.
"Looks like my Duke Junlin miscalculated!" Roland said with a smile. He truly had not known about these matters back in Lagrange City. As a great hereditary lord with actual lands, the Junlin Family naturally had the right to declare war and make peace. They had neither the obligation nor the need to report everything to Roland.
"In essence, they succeeded!" Ruhl shook his head.
"How so?" Roland asked curiously.
"The Queen and the Junlin Family believe the elves' dominant position needs to change. If we are to become an empire, there cannot be a stronger force around us. There cannot be two overlords in one region! The elves... need to be weakened." Ruhl looked at Roland meaningfully.
"Hiss..." Roland drew in a sharp breath. Their bloodlines really were pure enough! Genuine Lagrangeans indeed!
"What exactly have you been doing behind my back???" Roland's mouth tasted bitter. As expected of great nobles who had clawed their way out of the political cesspool and breeding ground of the Lagrange Empire. When those two families came together, nothing good could come of it. No, wait! Three families! Roland would not believe for a second that the Vladivostok Family had not had a hand in this!
As the Hand of the Swift Current, a powerful political family that controlled half the empire's personnel appointments, no one would believe a family that had maxed out its political skill tree had not meddled