“...... So, allow me to summarize. ”

In the courtyard of the Red Blood Castle late at night, Charles sighed while wiping the wine bottle in his hand and placing it on the table, standing meticulously in the center of the long table with his hands behind his back, bowing slightly to the black-haired wizard and the earl on both sides.

Loren slumped lazily in his chair, his mind still recovering from his confrontation with Yuri Wirtz, and Charlotte snorted coldly, glaring his gaze, apparently expressing his displeasure at some uninvited wizard meeting with the Imperial envoy in private.

"In order to find out the true situation of Byrne, Lord Ully Wirtz, Grand Duke of Elemman, has secretly infiltrated the Red Blood Castle, hoping to obtain more neutral information from the mouth of Viscount Loren Turin......"

After a pause, the steward of the Red Blood Castle moved his gaze to the black-haired wizard: "To cover up his purpose of forcing the Turin family to have a showdown, and even standing on the side of the Heavenly Dome Palace for the sake of the duke title, completely abandoning Byrne's interests." ”

Looking at the indifferent Loren, Charlotte, who was slightly sideways, snorted coldly again.

"And His Excellency Loren, who 'had to' confront him, did not give the most direct answer. Charles continued, deliberately biting the accent on "that word":

"On the contrary, Your Excellency has extended an olive branch to the Dome and the Duke of Ellemont, hoping to reach a certain degree of 'cooperation' with each other......"

"Is there anything else you think needs to be added to what I've said, Lord Loren Turin?" Charles' gaze stared straight at the black-haired wizard's face.

"That's basically it, and there's no point in explaining it any more. ”

Raising his eyebrows, Loren shrugged nonchalantly: "If you insist on picking bones in the egg, what I said to Yuli Wirtz at the time was not 'cooperation', but 'compromise'... Well, if I'm not mistaken......"

"Compromise?"

Chewing on this word, Charlotte, who had an ugly face, stood up directly: "You want me to compromise with the Heavenly Dome Palace for the sake of a duke title and use the interests of all Byrne?"

"No, I suggest that after you become the Duke of Byrne, you will use Byrne's interests to compromise with the Heavenly Dome Palace... The difference is huge. Loren smiled indifferently and looked at Charlotte very naturally:

"My Earl, you are not the Duke of Byrne now, and even if you do, you are not qualified to represent the interests of all Byrne. ”

"You?!"

Charlotte, who was surging with blood, took a deep breath and stared at the black-haired wizard who didn't care, and Charles on the side also frowned slightly, surprised by Loren's behavior that was so "out of line".

"Ten minutes... For the sake of the Red Blood Castle owing you a favor, I'll give you ten minutes to explain your reasons or grievances. The countess, who was very dissatisfied, sat back in her seat angrily and stared at him coldly:

"Ten minutes... Now, immediately!"

The black-haired wizard crossed his fingers, his aching knuckles as if to remind him of the afternoon when he and Yuri Wirtz had confronted each other in the carriage.

"If we want to solve something, we must first figure out not where the contradiction is, but what is our identity?"

Taking a deep breath, Loren slowly spoke: "Or to use a more appropriate analogy, it is which side we stand on. ”

"Do you still need to ask?" Charlotte still looked unkind, and her voice was a little resentful: "I am the Earl of Red Blood Castle, and of course I represent ......"

"Do you know, no! Charlotte, you don't know. Interrupting the countess's words abruptly, the black-haired wizard turned his head and looked earnestly into her somewhat flustered eyes:

"A vassal of the Empire, a member of Byrne... Tell me, which side do you belong to?"

"I ......" Charlotte, who was still angry, just wanted to answer, but was suddenly stunned: "Which side does it belong to?"

"That's right, because it's already clear at the moment. The black-haired wizard spread his hands: "If you consider yourself a part of Byrne, you must stand with all the angry Byrne nobles and knights and join them in their rebellion against the tyranny and rule of the Empire;"

"And if you think that you are a vassal of the empire, then you must assume the obligation of being a vassal, suppress all voices dissatisfied with the Heavenly Dome Palace and the royal family in the entire principality for the empire, and if necessary, you must resort to force to kill the original vassals, friends and innocent people!"

Charlotte froze, sitting in her chair with her head lowered so that she could not see her expression, only her shoulders swaying slightly.

"Lord Loren, you're exaggerating, aren't you?"

Seeing such an uncomfortable countess, Charles, who couldn't bear it, couldn't help but interject: "No matter how dissatisfied the nobles of the Heavenly Dome Palace and Byrne are with each other, the situation cannot deteriorate to this extent!"

"Impossible?"

The black-haired wizard who asked rhetorically shook his head, and his eyes were still looking directly at Charlotte, who was sitting opposite him: "You might as well ask our Earl, is it what I said?"

"Earl......" Charles' incredulous side look.

With a slight tremor in her shoulders, Charlotte raised her head with a bitter expression: "Charles, he is right, and he is not exaggerating." ”

"How can this be?"

The black-haired wizard bowed slightly, expressing gratitude.

"At this morning's meeting alone, there have been no less than twenty Byrne knights 'volunteering' to make trouble, and the knights of the three southern lords have openly declared that they are only willing to pledge allegiance to the knight king who can lead Byrne to independence;"

Gritting her teeth, Charlotte, who was very embarrassed, said almost word by word: "The Will family in the west even directly asked me if I still consider myself a descendant of the Turin family and a descendant of the knight king!"

"The knights of the north are more polite because they have more contact with the Empire, but even in front of them, I still dare not show the slightest weakness. ”

"In fact, just today, if it weren't for Charles, your brother Ayton, the lords of Storm Fort mediated in front of the Southern Knights, they might have already begun to prepare for an uprising. ”

"After three generations of oppression, Byrne's patience with the Empire has reached its limit!"

Loren's eyes flickered when he heard Charlotte's exclamation, and he had a thoughtful expression.

"As the lord of the Red Blood Castle, a descendant of the House of Turin... I had no choice but to stand in Byrne's shoes. Charlotte looked at Charles desolately, and tried not to show herself a weak expression:

"If we don't, the Red Blood Castle and the Turin family will become traitors to Byrne, and become the lackeys of the Empire in the eyes of all Byrne knights, and everyone will be eager to get rid of us!"

"But if you do that, you will become the leader of this rebellion, and the Heavenly Dome Palace will never let you go!"

"The people of the lower city, the nobles of the city, the members of the House of Turin, and yourself... All of them will die without a place to bury, and their heads will be stuck in the tip of their guns!"

"We're Byrne, and Byrne is not afraid of threats!" Even at this point, Charlotte was still very unconvinced.

"At least a week, at most a month, 100,000 legions will knock on the side, and Byrne will be too late. The black-haired wizard shook his head: "Maybe we can defend one castle after another, and fight to the last man... But that doesn't make sense. ”

"Single-handedly confronting the entire empire will be Byrne's last elegy!"

Loren raised his head and looked at the countess who was still angry on the other side, and Charlotte, who was staring at her, was a little embarrassed, and snorted coldly to avoid her gaze.

"Otherwise?!" Charles asked again, "If you don't do this, do you want the Earl to become a lackey of the Heavenly Dome Palace, and an enemy of the whole of Byrne for the title of duke?!"

"Of course not. Loren got up from his chair and sat down to look at the steward of the Red Blood Castle and Charlotte in front of him: "The so-called title of 'Duke' is just a bait thrown by the Heavenly Dome Palace, if we are fooled, we will let them fiddle with it, and it will also set a very bad precedent." ”

"Let the Heavenly Dome Palace influence who the Duke of Byrne is... Such a precedent must not be set, otherwise there will be endless troubles!"

"Neither Byrne nor the Empire can be chosen, so which side should we belong to?!"

"It......'s very simple," Loren stared:

"We don't belong to any of them!"