"He believed that every member of House Perast, whether legitimate sons, adopted sons, or even illegitimate children, had effectively left Salar... In other words, after Edgar, the second heir, left, under that unwritten noble rule that the closest blood relative could claim inheritance rights, he became the heir to Perast's actual interests." Liszt spoke with great difficulty.
Even the Tower Spirit, whose logical thinking was exceptionally stable, seemed stunned. That showed just how absurd this was.
Hill understood a little of it.
Although Count Perast had done many things and had even declared Edgar's status void... for certain reasons, before he died, the simple matter of removing Edgar's name from the Perast family register—a matter requiring joint confirmation from the current highest-ranking member of House Perast within Salar and the Noble Church—had never been completed.
In truth, although everyone involved wanted to delay it for a while, no one had ever intended to leave it undone forever.
Some people, especially the baron who had succeeded as head of House Perast, had hoped to damage the former count's prestige a little, so that people would not think that, despite holding all power now, he was still merely the former count's puppet.
The Noble Church's reasons were much simpler.
Even if no one acknowledged it, and Edgar himself spouted nonsense, the bishops of the Noble Church knew perfectly well who he was.
They delayed things to see whether there might be a better solution, one that would at least keep Edgar from truly becoming worse off than an illegitimate child.
The archbishops merely wanted to help their colleagues fighting on the front lines.
Although the Noble Church had withdrawn completely from Salar, those who had once sworn oaths to Perast were still tied to its chariot.
William was powerful enough that no