Chapter 267 117 The Messenger From Boulder

Chapter 267 -117- The Messenger from Boulder

In December of the Holy Calendar 1445, Castel County welcomed the first snowfall since the beginning of winter.

As a coastal earldom, Castel does not snow every year, but this year's climate is obviously colder than in previous years. The snowflakes fell from the sky, dyeing the earth with a little white.

Five days have passed since Charlotte woke up. The rebels of the Legris family are still stationed in the upper reaches of the Dorne River. They seem to have forgotten to continue the attack. They have no intention of crossing the river and even built a long-term camp on the north bank.

Outside the North Port, the noble army summoned from all over the country has been prepared. Tents of all sizes are set up along the shore on one side of the Castel Bridge, and there is no end in sight.

On the coastline, shipping is busier than in the past. There are cargo ships setting sail at the dock of the North Port almost every moment, and new cargo ships are entering the port with sails down.

Strategic materials transported from various places gathered in Beigang, supporting the operation of tens of thousands of troops. The daily consumption of military rations alone was an astronomical figure.

The tense atmosphere could be felt almost everywhere in Beigang, and the approaching pace of war was so pressing.

Especially when more and more warships entered the port, military sailing ships from various noble families lined up in a row, and the row of black stone cannons on one side of the hull looked particularly oppressive.

For a time, the rumor that the young earl of Castel appeared at the noble meeting and summoned the nobles to prepare to go north to fight the rebels was also spreading in Beigang.

The eyes of all Beigang citizens were almost focused on the earl's mansion in the center of the city.

In the tavern, every drinker was betting on when the young earl planned to go out of the city to quell the rebellion and how many troops she had summoned.

Some said 20,000, some said 30,000, and some even said that 50,000 were summoned.

However, no matter how people discussed it, one thing seemed to have been reached a consensus in Beigang.

That is, although this rebellion in the north is huge, it will eventually be put out by the little earl.

The reason why people make this judgment is also very simple.

First, Castel mobilized almost all the nobles in the entire territory.

Even if the Legris family is full of martial virtues, it is definitely at a disadvantage in absolute strength in front of the coalition forces composed of more than three-quarters of the noble family private armies in the earldom and the elite troops of the Castel family.

Perhaps the nobles could not work together before, and the scattered northern land was difficult to resist the army summoned by the Legris family.

But now that the little earl personally appeared in the noble parliament, the nobles have also found the backbone.

A scattered territory and a territory with cohesive strength are two different things.

In the eyes of many people, the Legris family rebels stationed in the upper reaches of the Dorne River have missed the best time to capture the North Port.

On the other hand, as time goes by, more and more freight fleets travel to and from the Tulip Earldom.

Even the most obtuse merchants can smell something different, that is, the garrison of the Bolde family stationed in the Tulip Earldom seems to have begun preparing for war.

Considering the relationship between the Bold family and the Castel family, many people believe that the Duchess of Bold, who declared neutrality, may not really remain neutral.

Especially as time went by, there were also rumors from the direction of the Earl of Tulip.

It seemed that a drunk officer let slip in the tavern that the Duchy of Bold was also ready to join the war.

After this news came out, many people believed that this was probably some kind of agreement reached with the Bold family after the young Earl of Castel appeared.

As a Castel clan, the Bold family will no longer remain neutral, but will participate in the war as a lord to help Castel quell the rebellion.

Of course, in addition to these arguments, another completely opposite statement is also circulating among other nobles in North Port.

That is, there are still many people who believe that the Bold family is not for the purpose of quelling the rebellion, but is targeting the Castel family.

They are in the same group with the rebels.

There are also many people who believe in this conspiracy theory.

And the evidence they gave was that Earl Castel had been ambushed on his way to the territory.

The ambush was ordered by the husband of the Duchess of Borde, the third prince Philip.

These two statements were completely opposite and quarreled fiercely in taverns and various noble salons.

Until two days later, a noble who claimed to be an envoy of the Borde family came by boat from the Earldom of Tulip and asked to see the young Earl of Castel.

"My Lord, the Duke was very happy to know that you were safe and sound, and sent me to ask you if you need the support of the Borde family."

"As the backing of Castel, the Borde family is willing to help you quell the rebellion as soon as possible and restore order in the north!"

In the reception hall, the envoy said respectfully with a smile on his face.

Charlotte looked at the envoy of the Borde family expressionlessly.

After a moment, he said calmly:

"Oh? But didn't Bold declare that he would remain neutral in this matter?"

"My Lord Earl, at that time, the Duke didn't know your safety. There were rumors everywhere in the south that you might have met with an accident. The Duke declared neutrality for the sake of stability, but in fact... the Earldom of Tulip has been preparing for war."

The envoy replied respectfully.

As he spoke, he looked at Charlotte with hope:

"My Lord Earl, what do you think?"

Charlotte looked at him deeply, smiled slightly, and said:

"Your Excellency the Envoy, thank you for Bold's support, but... this matter is very big, and many nobles in Castel may not want to see the higher-level lords intervene. I need to discuss with the nobles and then reply to you."

After sending the envoy away for the time being, the smile on Charlotte's face completely disappeared.

She came to the window, looked at the densely packed spectacular military camp on the shore, and asked softly:

"What do the nobles of the territory think of the envoy from Bold? I heard that he seemed to have publicized his intentions before meeting me."

Behind Charlotte, Sebastian, who was wearing a tuxedo, said respectfully:

"Master, there are different opinions. Those who know the truth about the ambush in the Violet Forest do not believe them, but most of the nobles still believe that the Bold family is here to support Castel and help us quell the rebellion."

"Help us quell the rebellion? Ha, Sebastian, what do you think?"

Charlotte sneered.

Sebastian pondered for a moment and said:

"The Third Prince once wanted to kill you. He coveted Castel so much that he must not really have good intentions. Although no definite evidence has been found, I also think that the rebellion of the Legris family is likely to be supported by Bold."

"Yes, they must not have good intentions."

Charlotte sighed.

"Master, should we take the initiative? Or should we continue to investigate Bold's movements?"

Sebastian asked.

Charlotte pondered for a moment and said:

"Continue to investigate, don't act rashly for the time being. If Bold really wants to target us, the garrison of Earl Tulip and the rebels alone may not be enough. They must have other actions."

Sebastian hesitated:

"But...if they really want to attack us, the longer they delay, the more prepared they will be, right?"

"Don't worry, delaying is also good for us. After all...we are not without backup."

Charlotte said.

"Backup?"

Sebastian's heart jumped.

He followed Charlotte's gaze and saw that Charlotte was looking through the window at the sea outside.

That was the direction of the Falling Star Kingdom.

Sebastian's expression moved slightly, as if he was thinking about something.

At this moment, there was a sudden noise outside the hall, attracting the attention of the two.

Charlotte frowned slightly and turned to look outside the door:

"Sebastian, go see what happened outside."

"Yes, sir."

Sebastian bowed and left.

After a while, he came back with a strange expression:

"Master, something happened to the envoy of Bold. They were kidnapped outside the Earl's Mansion."

"Huh? Kidnapped?"

Charlotte was stunned.

Sebastian's expression became more and more strange:

"Yes, it was the Roman-Fol family who did it. They are now asking to see you outside the Earl's Mansion."

I didn't have time to finish writing, and I sent it twenty minutes late!