Alinur's Despair

Northern Great Plains, human territory.

On a vast plain in the southwest stood a small castle, its walls low, its defensive equipment sparse, guarded only by several squads of soldiers in light armor.

Surrounding it were thousands of acres of thriving farmland, where many slaves toiled bitterly under the watch of several soldiers.

There were quite a few such settlements across the Northern Great Plains. Back then, in pursuit of noble titles, large numbers of young nobles from various nations had traveled thousands of miles to this barren land, carving out territories and founding families.

Alinur was among them, once the eldest legitimate daughter of the Solomon Family.

Unlike the others, however, she had not come here to develop a territory for a title. More than anything, she had wanted to prove that she was no worse than Roland—perhaps even better.

Yet after so many years of development, her former lofty ambitions had long been ground away. Forget Roland; compared to some of the other outstanding lords of the Northern Great Plains, she fell far short.

More than a decade had passed since she arrived on the Northern Great Plains. Though she had barely managed to earn the title of baron, she knew full well that most of the credit belonged to Junot's support.

Without the several powerful experts Junot had sent her, along with the millions of gold coins he had supplied over time, let alone becoming a baron, whether her territory could have survived until now was uncertain.

Meanwhile, with no one's support, Roland had become the continent's youngest founding monarch in merely twenty years. Now, he had even destroyed the Terra Kingdom, reaching heights she could scarcely dream of attaining.

The gap between them was more than heaven and earth—the difference between an ant and a dragon.