Zong Shen could not help but let out a cold laugh.
He could roughly guess what Jonathan was thinking.
Before awakening, Jonathan had not actually cared that much about the Great Cities under his direct control.
It was not because the Great Cities lacked value, but because he had lacked the corresponding understanding at the time.
Now that he had awakened, he possessed many privileges as well.
On that basis, the more territory he controlled, the greater his advantage.
Asking him to give up a Great City in exchange for Prince Carter now would definitely leave him unwilling.
His own ambitions had already begun to grow, and his privileges and exchange options gave him the confidence to expand further.
Setting aside family ties and Prince Carter's identity, Jonathan truly did not need to care about much else.
In short, he could not bear to part with a Great City.
Though that was what he thought, Zong Shen had no intention of yielding in his words.
"Heh heh, Your Grace still directly controls quite a few Great Cities."
"Give up one today, and sooner or later, you'll be able to seize several more from other grand dukes and neutral nobles."
"Your Grace should understand exactly what has happened to you."
Most of their conversation had not been muted.
That was because Jonathan's personal guards had developed a Loyalty-like system toward the grand duke himself.
Mai Raven, who stood beside Zong Shen, heard everything clearly.
He had been somewhat confused at first, but he soon picked up on a few things from the verbal sparring between the two.
"Damn it, Jonathan Pendragon actually became a Lord?"
He could not help grumbling inwardly.
That was right—he did not know what an indigenous awakening was.
He had assumed that Jonathan had already gained the