The Right Decision

"The lord of White Flower Territory has found the Territory Token, but in order to keep it a secret from others."

"He only truly became a lord at midnight the day before yesterday."

Ian succinctly and casually recounted what had happened. While he was somewhat indignant about Finley's actions, he didn't have much of an opinion on the matter overall.

"Okay, so you don't want anyone else to know..."

Unlike Ian, Theodore was not so lenient towards Finley's behavior. After all, he had almost been cornered. If he had known about the Territory Token, he would never have recklessly rushed over to kill the Prince of Antir.

He knew what Finley was thinking: he was wondering if, after obtaining the Territory Token, they would simply oust Finley and replace him with someone more suitable.

After all, Finley himself wasn't exactly clean; he was quite ambiguous in his attitude when facing Prince Antir's messenger. If Duke Theodore really did get the Territory Token, he might consider it.

After all, at this point, replacing the leader with a suitable person would not only secure the new lord's loyalty but also provide a more stable and proactive position in the upcoming situation.

More importantly, if Theodore had known about the Territory Token, he would never have taken such a dangerous step as storming the Royal Capital.

He would rather hold out for a few days, setting up defenses and ignoring the attacks from the Kingdom of Lorinvik, keeping the enemy pinned down in the Royal Capital.

In this way, he could hold out for at least five more days, preventing the Prince of Antir from advancing an inch.

In that case, his rush in and fight Prince Antir could have been avoided, instead of ending up like this...

Does he have a wife or children?

Count Ian hesitated for a moment. He knew what Theodore wanted to do; he wanted to know Finley's specific situation.

According to the principle of bloodline inheritance, as long as Finley's child is of a suitable age, Theodore can simply send someone to kill Finley and let his child take over.

This inheritance process will take no more than seven days.

This kind of thing is not uncommon among knights, since the next knight can be produced very easily by relying on the inheritance of bloodline.

Even with so many knights missing under Duke Theodore's command, most of them had to be filled by the children of these dead knights.

Otherwise, if we relied on selection and recommendation, it would probably take more than a month just to find suitable candidates.

Moreover, even if the quota is determined, the selected person still needs to spend time becoming a knight, which is too time-consuming. No one in power can allow such a position to remain vacant.

"I'm sorry, Lord Finley was very young and unmarried. He was originally engaged, but he was killed in the war by someone from who knows where."

Count Ian was very careful with his words; he did not say that the fiancé was one of those affected by the war instigated by Duke Theodore, which resulted in his death, but only that it was a war.

Without a wife, there are naturally no children, and in this world, illegitimate children are generally not considered in such struggles for lordship.

The most crucial point is that you have no way to confirm whether that illegitimate child is truly illegitimate; there isn't such an effective and convenient method of confirmation here.

The most common method for confirming bloodlines in Antir is to check the progress during inheritance; those who complete the inheritance quickly are undoubtedly illegitimate children.

Obviously, at this planning stage, one cannot expect any illegitimate child to come out and say, "I am an illegitimate child, you should kill my father right now."

Even if such a person truly existed, they wouldn't believe it.

"Then he was quite prescient."

Theodore frowned upon hearing this, knowing that he couldn't attack Finley for the time being. He paused, then brought up another matter.

"Let's leave that aside for now. The crucial matter now is something else entirely: Prince Darian wants to negotiate with us."

He stopped and looked at Ian, who had the same smile on his face Theodore Ian.

This is because they both know that the basis for the negotiations is that neither side can gain anything more through violence, or that it is not worthwhile to do so.

Now, since Ian is still at the second tier, the basis for this negotiation has long since tilted in Antir's favor.

"I must stay in the Royal Capital for at least three months to tame the territories here and gain their blessings. After that, no one will be able to question my position."

"As for the matter in Lorinvik, I'll leave it to you. It's best to resolve it within a month... half a month, I believe in your abilities."

"Antir still needs you to manage it."

"If we can maintain the boundaries of our territory as much as possible, I might be able to reach Tier 3 when everything is over."

Theodore took over Antir, and Antir's power was not significantly weakened afterward, which was enough to support his reputation for advancing to the third tier.

By reorganizing the entire Antir system and making proper arrangements for the lords, Theodore will be able to reach the third tier in just ten years.

"This is the best decision I've ever made."

Theodore recalled the trembling of his hands all night when he decided to rebel, and even now, he was glad he had made that decision.

In White Flower City, in the lord's castle, Finley showed no sign of the relaxed smile that comes with knowing everything was over; instead, his expression was heavy.

He realized that he seemed to have no way out and no choice, but as things stand now, maintaining the status quo might be the right thing to do.

But if he had kept to the status quo, he would be dead as dead as can be right now.

Fran sat across the long table, not mentioning the most crucial matter, but Finley himself had a premonition.

He no longer wanted to get involved in Fran's affairs. In the past, he would have definitely reported it to Duke Theodore and let the duke make the decision.

But his status as lord depended on Fran's help, and more obviously, Finley couldn't possibly renege on his debt.

As Second Order Mage, if he dared to renege on his debt, Fran would tear him apart without hesitation, and even Duke Theodore couldn't protect him.

If he didn't renege on his debt and listened to Fran, then he wouldn't be sure whether Fran had considered his situation carefully and protected him.

After all, he couldn't bear Duke Theodore's wrath, not to mention the matter of Count Ian.

If he were to make a mistake at this moment, Count Ian would definitely want to skin him alive.

But the truth is, he almost had no choice but to take another path. After Fran arrived, she just stared at him for a few moments without saying much.

Finley sighed deeply. To be honest, he really didn't want to betray Duke Theodore, but things were already beyond his control, and there was no use thinking about it.

There were even many signs before this. Fran was going to help him bring his territory into the Alliance, so what was the point of helping him find the Territory Token? Was it necessary?

Within the Alliance, the lords are generally quite obedient. Only when a family is truly destitute will a neighboring lord take over its territory or make other plans.

Living a life of constant fighting and death in a place like Antir is something that even the lords of the Alliance wouldn't dare to dream of.

Once you join the Alliance, other forces certainly won't dare to provoke you, after all, it's the Alliance.

In this situation, the combat power boost the lord receives is somewhat negligible, and Fran has no need to send anyone to find it.

The reason Fran had the motivation to send the ' Elan ' brothers to find them is probably only...

"I'm asking you not to obstruct the flow of those messages. What are you going to do?"

Finley was stunned for a moment when he heard Fran's question. He knew exactly why this order was given; it was tantamount to directly breaking ties with Duke Theodore.

It's important to understand that wartime information control is something all lords must do well. If they do nothing and let rumors fly around, they will definitely be punished when others report them.

After all, the public's perception determines who receives the territorial blessing, so generally speaking, they are very strict about public opinion here.

Finley was in a bit of a dilemma until Fran spoke up with a laugh.

"Finley, what are you hesitating about? Are you still thinking of going back to Duke Theodore and continuing to be his lord?"

"I remember what I promised you: to register your territory as part of the Alliance."

Finley sighed deeply, his hand gripping the table relaxed for a moment, and he slowly replied:

"Yes, Your Excellency, I will obey your orders."

Fran nodded in satisfaction. She didn't actually mind making their relationship a little clearer now, as it would also help maintain Finley's loyalty to her.

"Finley, you may call me your lord now."

"Remember to maintain the resonance state of the territory; only in this state will it truly be effective."

Finley was not troubled by this, but rather slightly surprised, because it meant that he was going to break away directly from Count Ian's command, which was not a good thing, especially for Count Ian.

It's important to understand that when you're in a state of Territory Resonance, calling another lord your sovereign is tantamount to submitting to them. In a small place like Antir, a lord can only have one de facto sovereign; the rest are simply sovereigns nested within each other.

As soon as he shouts that, Count Ian will lose the blessing of the Hundred Flower Territory.

"This..." Finley hesitated to speak out because he clearly knew Fran wasn't the lord; would calling out have any effect?

"Just shout, don't worry."

"My lord," Finley finally called out; he had no choice but to.

At the moment he shouted, he clearly felt that his de facto monarch had truly appeared before him.

"You did a good job, Finley. Just continue as I instructed."

Fran was very satisfied with Finley's cooperation, and Finley was also satisfied with his decision at this moment. At least for this moment, the decision was really correct and did not displease Fran.

As for the future, he didn't know, because he was no longer capable of making any decisions as significant as those made today.