Su Qin spotted the Earl's daughter from far away, standing outside the city gates and craning her neck in anticipation.
Su Qin immediately rode over.
Delia looked at Su Qin and suddenly noticed that his armor was covered in blood.
Her heart lurched into her throat.
Su Qin approached, slowly dismounted, and reached out to embrace Delia. Although he did not understand why she had fallen for him, that unmistakable loyalty score could not deceive his eyes.
The Earl's family might have designs on him, but after weighing everything, he was still prepared to accept the marriage alliance!
Whatever their designs, loyalty was enough to explain everything!
[Delia Royce (publicly known as: House Runestone): Effective attributes: Leadership: 10, Politics: 20, Intelligence: 25, Charisma: 22, Martial prowess: 2. Inheritable bloodlines: Targaryen bloodline (??? talent), Royce bloodline, Velaryon bloodline, Mormont bloodline, Stark bloodline! Loyalty: 94 (utterly devoted)]
She had the strongest civil administration abilities of anyone Su Qin had seen. More importantly, there was that terrifying power in her bloodlines!
House Royce, just how many great noble houses were you connected to?!
Delia gazed at Su Qin with her dreamlike purple eyes. Their lips touched lightly before they drew apart.
"Baron of Gulltown, Runestone welcomes you." Delia embraced Su Qin, then stepped back.
Su Qin kissed the back of Delia's right hand. It was etiquette.
"I got an interesting little trinket. I'm going to give it to you."
Hearing that Su Qin was giving her a gift, Delia immediately looked into his deep black eyes.
Eyes like those were very rare too!
"What gift?"
"Turn around and close your eyes."
Delia immediately turned around. Su Qin brushed aside her long, straight black hair, revealing her snow-white neck.
Su Qin felt inside his clothes and took out a necklace.
[Magic item: Golden dragon necklace (blue). Can anticipate and warn of hostile intent within 10 meters (heats up). Contains one active/passive defensive spell that can form a magical barrier, blocking one physical or magical attack! Exchange price: 100 gold coins!]
He had exchanged for it through the system long ago! This gift suited her!
He slowly put it around her neck.
Su Qin walked around to face her. "You can open your eyes now."
Delia opened her eyes to find Su Qin gazing tenderly into them. She slowly lifted the necklace with both hands.
"If it heats up, it means someone nearby intends to harm you."
Delia lowered her head to admire the treasure. The main body of the necklace was made of gold, and the golden dragon's eyes were pitch-black!
The necklace itself was a golden dragon, fashioned entirely from gold. Its tiny scales gleamed in the sunlight. The dragon's eyes were two small, unidentified gemstones, and those little black gems sparkled too. The eyes kept turning! The dragon's face was majestic and lifelike!
Delia slowly raised her head and said to Su Qin, "There's no craftsmanship like this anywhere in Westeros?!"
Their eyes remained locked... a long time passed.
Su Qin smiled at Delia, and Delia smiled back. Only the two of them knew how many questions and answers those smiles contained.
They had concealed extremely important information from each other!
Delia pulled Su Qin into the carriage, which slowly headed toward Runestone's castle!
After getting out at the castle, she took Su Qin's hand and said, "I'll take you somewhere wonderful!"
It was an exquisite garden. At its very center stood a weirwood carved with a bleeding human face, with a clear pool beneath it.
The roots beneath the weirwood were thick and sturdy. It had to be a good place to sleep. Su Qin tossed his armor beside the pool.
Beneath the weirwood, two people kissed passionately.
"Su Qin, be gentler... it hurts..."
Soon afterward.
The two stood bolt upright beneath the weirwood, their clothes disheveled. Su Qin's face was covered in marks from her nibbling.
Delia was much the same, with little rose-colored marks on her face and neck.
But they stood trembling beneath the weirwood!
The Earl's wife, her hair pinned up, paced back and forth before them with a willow switch in hand.
Their secret tryst had been discovered!
The Earl's wife looked at Su Qin, and he lowered his head.
Then she looked at Delia, who lowered her head too.
"Look at you two! You haven't even held your betrothal ceremony, yet you dare do this... such... shameless things beneath the glory of the Old Gods!"
"Ser Su Qin Herculys, do you think our little princess is easy to fool?"
Su Qin immediately lowered his head. How could he dare admit that! Though it really had been quite nice!
The willow switch lashed Su Qin's exposed arm several times, serving as a formal warning!
The Earl's wife looked at Delia again. "Look at your face and your neck. What will the maids think when they see them? What will people say about you if word gets out?"
"Ah, the Earl's daughter sneaking off with her fiancé before marriage! At least wait until after the betrothal for word to get out!"
She raised the willow switch, originally intending to strike her arm. Seeing the little expression on her daughter's face, she hesitated, then angrily struck her bottom instead.
"Hurry back and wash up!"
The Earl's wife looked at Su Qin, almost laughing in her anger. After another moment's thought, she said:
"The Earl plans to hold your betrothal ceremony in four days and announce it before all the nobles. Both of you had better restrain yourselves. And you, Delia, are not allowed to lose your chastity before marriage!"
The two exchanged a glance and smiled.
Early the next morning, the Earl of Runestone summoned Su Qin.
Su Qin sat opposite the Earl of Runestone.
The Earl of Runestone was signing some documents. He had many matters to handle.
Excluding Gulltown's 3,000 square kilometers, most of Runestone Territory's remaining 7,000 square kilometers consisted of plains and hills. Groundwater was also plentiful, so grain had always been its mainstay resource, though it did not lack industrial resources either!
In this era, because of productivity limitations, grain was tied to silver coins. Gold was actually very precious. A gold coin was only the size of a thumbnail and one millimeter thick.
The Earl of Runestone glanced at Su Qin. "In seven days, I'm going to attend Jon Arryn's oath-taking ceremony and swear allegiance to him!"
Su Qin was a little puzzled. He still did not know that the old duke's decision had been settled!
He had passed over Elys Arryn, who had Targaryen blood, and chosen Jon Arryn!
Yaron glanced at him. "In fact, as one of the ancient bloodlines, House Runestone-that is, House Royce-was and remains one of the greatest houses in the Vale. Our position is very important to Jon!"
"After considering everything, I decided to swear allegiance to Jon. This was also the result of joint discussions between House Royce, House Stark, House Mormont, and House Targaryen!"
"House Targaryen is declining by the day. They must compromise with the regional powers!"
"Have your questions been answered, my honorable Ser Su Qin Herculys?"
Su Qin nodded. There had probably been a great many compromises involved!
Then he thought of another question. Jon was going to rebel, after all. Would he strike directly?!
So he asked.
"Will Jon make a direct move against the Dragon Party at the oath-taking ceremony?" Su Qin phrased his question in rather more mature political terms.
Yaron smiled. "The Dragon Party?"
He put down his quill, looked at Su Qin, and smiled. "It seems your political instincts are quite good?"
"If he dares attack the Dragon Party nobles directly, it means openly going to war with the Targaryens! Right now, his weapons, armor, arms, warhorses, and the trust of his allies are still insufficient to support such reckless behavior!"
Yaron rose and walked over to the window. "In fact, the Dragon Party's public leader in the Vale is currently the Marchioness of Ironoaks. Her maternal grandmother was a Targaryen, and her bloodline enjoys greater favor with the royal family."
"But after Jon took in Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon, the royal family and the Dragon Party realized that certain houses could no longer restrain their ambitions and had begun plotting rebellion!"
"Of course, as things stand, the marchioness will also be forced in a few days to swear allegiance to Jon Arryn, who possesses a pure Andal bloodline!"
Yaron smiled at Su Qin, who was listening intently.
Su Qin continued asking questions.
"Then why betroth the Earl's daughter to me? I don't think saving your life was enough to make me a landed noble."
"Besides, my rank is too low. Wouldn't the Earl's daughter marrying beneath her station damage House Royce's prestige and honor?"
Hearing this, Yaron turned around and smiled at Su Qin.
"It wasn't our decision, but your fiancée Delia Royce's own decision. The moment she saw you below the tavern, she came up and whispered to me, asking me to make you Baron of Gulltown! She told me she wanted a marriage alliance with you!"
Su Qin was greatly astonished! He kept looking at the Earl!
"And many of my political measures are guided and constrained by my daughter's thinking." The Earl of Runestone smiled helplessly.
"Of course, I do so willingly!"
"I admit that my daughter is more capable than I am!"
Su Qin was rather shocked. It seemed Runestone's real decision-maker was not the Earl of Runestone, but Su Qin's fiancée?
Did that make Su Qin a man living off his woman? There were some differences, but it seemed much the same...
"In fact, you've done very well! After reflecting on ourselves, we old nobles feel that our current thinking treats the people far too harshly. We want to seek a new path! Although we're royalists, we're also different from the royalists!" the Earl continued.
Su Qin was somewhat shocked and puzzled. "A new path?"
There was rather a lot of information to take in today!
Yaron walked over and patted Su Qin's shoulder. "I won't tell you too much. The great houses of the North, such as Stark, Karstark, and Mormont, are steadfast political allies we can trust!"
He waved a hand.
"You resemble my eldest son in some ways. You both cherish the people like your own children, though you're cleverer and a better fighter than he was..."
"As a father, I'm proud of the courage he showed in protecting his father to the death! He is the pride of House Royce!"
"Come, have a couple of drinks with me..."
Yaron pulled Su Qin over to the table, and the two began drinking. Yaron told Su Qin about his visits to brothels when he was young, or some of his eldest son's deeds.
Su Qin also told him some adapted stories or little folk myths, and the two talked and laughed freely.
What else could men talk about but battle and power, women and fine wine!
These were reasonable pursuits that accorded with human nature. Some awakened women were the same!