In the hall of Duke Mason's castle, the court members were all together, they were talking about why the Duke would call them at this time, the sound of the courtiers talking made the whole hall buzz constantly, Duke Mason entered the side of the hall, he slowly walked to his lord's chair, and sat down with the support of his son Sir Ebel, the duke was getting old and in poor health, which made everyone treat Sir Abel more and more flattering, Soon a squire placed a seat on the left hand side of the Duke's lord's seat, and Sir Able sat calmly on the Duke's left hand side.

"Ask the messenger of the Count of Mecklenburg." Duke Mason wore his ducal gold crown, his silver hair draped over his shoulders, he wore a rich royal robe, and around his neck wore a precious gold pendant, an emerald the size of a pigeon's egg, which shimmered in the sun, setting off the nobility of the duke.

"Wow~~~~." The courtiers had heard this morning, that the landless Count Arold had taken the Slavic county of Mecklenburg, and at first they thought it was the nonsense of the commoners, but now it seemed to be true, and the hall suddenly lost order, and they could not believe that a low-class son of a rural nobleman could do anything to seize a county, how could they defeat the bloodthirsty and terrible Slavs without the strong support of the family or the fame of a wide network, Or is it that the current Slavs have become weak and deceitful?

"Squeak, squeak~~~." The door to the hall opened and was closed by the guards, and a messenger dressed in black lion heraldic strode in. Holding in his right hand a parchment letter, stamped with red wax, and the courtiers stood in separate aisles on the left and right, the messenger strode up to Duke Mason, knelt down on one knee with his cloak in his hand, and held the parchment envelope in his right hand aloft.

"The most honorable, the most famous, the most faithful of God, the elder of the nobility, the ruler of the Duchy of Mason. Lord Duke Mason. I brought news from the Count of Mecklenburg. The messenger knelt down on one knee before Duke Mason and spoke loudly to the Duke.

"Bring it up." Duke Mason raised his finger and pointed at the messenger in front of him, his eyes uncertain.

"Smack~~~." An attendant took the letter from the messenger. Then it was handed to Duke Mason. The Duke snapped it lightly with his hand. The red wax seal was split in half, and when the letter was opened, Arold was enthusiastically praising and touting Duke Mason, but the old Duke Mason found that Arold did not address himself as a monarch in the letter. And just using the neutral word of Your Excellency, which made Duke Mason's heart very uncomfortable, Arold gave him the title, and legally he had the right to withdraw it.

"Congratulations to Arold on taking the pagan realm, it's the glory of the Lord, isn't it, Archbishop Rist." With a false smile on his face, Duke Mason addressed Archbishop Rist, who stood to his left as the head of the courtiers in his hand, wearing a lenient bishop's garb.

"That's right, this is the glory of the Lord, I hope Lord Arold will not forget to establish a bishopric in the territory, if there is no suitable bishop, I can recommend a few for Lord Arrod." With a warm smile on his white face, Archbishop Rist addressed the messenger kindly, and stretched out his finger to make a cross at the messenger.

"Hmph, old fox, people haven't sworn their allegiance to me yet, but I made a calculation first." Duke Mason snorted softly in his nose, and was angry at Archbishop Rist's refusal to fully support him in his war with the Duke of Saxony, but Archbishop Lister played a pivotal role among the vassals of the Duchy of Mason, so that Duke Mason could not shake it, so he could only endure it.

"Lord Arrod, why don't you pledge your allegiance to my father, Duke Mason? Is it intended to be independent? Sir Able took the letter from Duke Mason, and he noticed the problem in the letter, so he raised the letter in his hand and said to the messenger.

"That's the case, Lord Sir Ebel, if you want Lord Arold to swear allegiance to Duke Mason, it depends on your attitude first." When the messenger came, he had already been instructed by Arrod, and he basically said according to Arrod's original words.

"Oh? What's going on. The Duke of Mason and the courtiers were curious, and they looked at Sir Able, much to Sir Able's slight embarrassment.

"Unless Sir Able lifts his oath to Lord Arrod, so that Lord Arold can swear allegiance to Lord Lord Mason." The messenger explained to the people.

"Oh, I see." The courtiers all suddenly realized, but they didn't expect Arold to have sworn allegiance to Sir Abel earlier, although Sir Abel is the first heir of Duke Mason, but he himself is not a duke at present, and having a courtier as a knight is indeed not in accordance with feudal law.

"I'll ask my son to break Lord Arrod's vows, so it's all right." Duke Mason accepted Arrod's reason for refusing to take the oath, if he blamed his son, it would be a little inappropriate, after all, Arold was not an earl when he took the oath, so he could not blame Arold for being unruly, but when he conferred the title of Earl of Arrod, Abel did not tell him that there was such a thing, which made Duke Mason a little annoyed.

"Who knows if he really captured Mecklenburg." But Sir Able could only smile bitterly, and thought helplessly, it seemed that the Earl of Arold was really dissatisfied with himself, and he could not tell his bitterness.

"I will send messengers and gifts to congratulate Lord Arrod on his ascension to the supreme ruler of Mecklenburgshire, to recognize him as a glorious earl, and to watch over the Christians under God's guidance." Duke Mason's vassals are thin, the more vassals mean that the strength of the duchy is strong, and the manpower and material resources that can be mobilized are abundant, since Arold is willing to accept his protection, then he also intends to have a good relationship with the young earl, and at this time, this young Arold is no longer the country aristocratic son when he first arrived at Mason Castle, he already has a decisive strength, which can make Duke Mason look at him differently.

Just when the Duke of Mason was about to send an envoy and choose a gift to congratulate Arrod, Sir Able was pacing in the courtyard with a frown, Arold's dissatisfaction had been revealed through letters, and at present, the Earl of Lauzitz was moving around in the court of the Duke of Mason to contact the courtiers, it was obvious that the Duke of Mason had run out of oil and was trying to get involved in the Duke's inheritance, and in the face of the Earl of Lauzett's aggressiveness, Sir Abel urgently needed the help of foreign aid, which made him regret his previous short-sightedness, But he was in a state of his own self, and all sorts of thoughts were converging in Sir Able's mind, and he was about to have a nervous breakdown, when he saw his sister Josie sitting in the gazebo with the maids in the courtyard.

"Hey, my brother, why are you frowning?" Josie was dressed in a long white dress with a braided headdress from Normandy, and was unusually beautiful surrounded by the maids, who rose to their knees and bowed to the first heir when they saw Sir Abel coming.

"Ha, my sister, what are you doing?" Sir Able walked into the gazebo and sat down to ask Josie.

"We are telling the princess about Lord Arrod of Mecklenburg." At this time, a lady-in-waiting in a long blue dress, after curtsily bowed to Sir Able, said with a shy smile on her face.

"Oh, I think you're the daughter of the guild leader Ramber." Sir Able was often able to meet the lady-in-waiting's father, an important blacksmith's guild leader, who was said to have spent a lot of money to get his daughter into the castle and become Josie's handmaiden.

"Yes, my name is Natalie." Natalie looked at the handsome and noble Abel in front of her, and felt that she could not breathe, and her face was red as if it was hot, and entering Mason's court made her feel so fresh.

"Cut, a commoner's daughter, dared to speak first." But Natalie's actions were met with the eyes of the other maids, most of whom were the daughters of courtiers, and even distant relatives of vassals, who seemed to them to be a very unusual thing for a commoner to become a princess's maid, but this commoner maid was still very bold.

"It's not a lady's job to talk behind other people's backs." Although the maids lowered their voices and whispered, they were still heard by Josie and Natalie, Natalie's face suddenly became uncomfortable, these arrogant noble-born maids did not embarrass her on weekdays, but Princess Josie's righteous words made Natalie's heart very moved.

"Hehe, Arrod has been out of the limelight lately." Sir Able smiled and said meaningfully to Josie.

"Ahem, you all go down." Princess Josie's cheeks were slightly red, and she stretched out her right hand and waved her hand to let the maids go down.

"Yes." The maids hurriedly curtsied, and then retreated from the pavilion with the corners of their skirts, as one of the important principalities of the empire, Duke Mason's court etiquette is also very complete, and the maids will learn advanced court etiquette from the south before entering the court.

"What do you mean by that?" When Princess Josie saw that the maids had left the pavilion, she pursed her lips and said to Sir Able dissatisfiedly.

"Ha, my sister, isn't that what you want? I'm happy for you. Sir Abel laughed, and as he looked at his beautiful sister, he suddenly felt that everything was solved, and that there could be a stronger political alliance than a marriage. (To be continued......)