Of the three, Count Perella held the highest status. As a fief-holding noble with real power, he was not someone a court-appointed marquis could compare to.
But everyone understood that one of Hussein's tasks was surely to keep Count Perella in check.
From the Royal Capital's perspective, even if Derek were allowed to grow unchecked, at most Saint Myra Province would gain another count.
But if Count Perella continued to expand, he could retreat and turn his lands into a countdom, a state within a state.
Or he could advance and carve out territory to declare himself a duke. Wouldn't His Majesty the King have worked for nothing then?
Forget legal legitimacy. If the Perella Family had the strength, they could certainly find ten thousand valid reasons to inherit some ducal title.
But the King's interests did not necessarily represent Marquis Hussein's interests.
From the very beginning, the three of them had tacitly marked out their respective spheres of influence.
It went more smoothly than expected, and the territories were larger than Derek had anticipated.
At first, he had thought Marquis Hussein had taken a major step back.
But when he saw the blank spaces on the map, he understood.
Enemies could also be friends.
More than just the three families present were qualified to divide this cake.
Count Perella represented the Northland Nobles. The territory he marked out was sizable, but it was meant to be divided among dozens of Northland noble families.
Everyone had contributed during the war. Kicking them out when it came time to divide the spoils would cause an uproar.
Even as the representative of the Northland Nobles, Count Perella had only limited authority to decide who got a little more, who got a little less, or even to push out one or two families.