"László Varna... That's what he said?"

In the early hours of the morning, Count Eckert looked at the duke who had just returned, and his heavy expression made the little wizard and Lusen on the side also show a little worry.

"I always felt like he wasn't exactly telling the truth... Or deliberately hiding something. Loren bowed slightly, crossed his hands and folded his hands: "But at least he didn't lie." ”

There's a big difference.

Maybe there are wizards involved, maybe it's some mutant monster that I don't know about... It is difficult for an ordinary person like the Grand Duke of Varna to distinguish the difference, and he can only judge by his experience that the other party is using a power that definitely does not come from the material world.

Of course, such an outcome is not the most worrying for Loren......

"Duke, what is your decision?" Eckert stared at Loren with a serious gaze, "Did you give him any kind of promise?"

"No, I told Archduke Varna that I need to think it over and wait until tonight's banquet to give him a final answer. Loren shook his head and glanced at the Earl of Fort Fury, "What do you think, Eckert?"

"Two things. ”

Eckert's eyes shrank suddenly, and his tone was decisive: "First of all, we must evacuate from the Duchy of Boi as quickly as possible, and mobilize the forces of the entire Duchy to start preparing for war. ”

"If the worst-case scenario is that the centaurs will ally with the dwarves, or even the dwarves to weaken our vassals, then the only way to fight them is to gather the power of all Byrne - with our current forces, it will not work at all!"

"But... If Byrne withdraws, will Boi have to face the centaur invasion alone?" the little wizard asked worriedly, "Can they really resist the centaur attack now?"

"That's the second thing I'm going to say. Eckert bowed slightly: "If we withdraw our troops immediately, Boe will definitely not be able to hold on for long under the iron cavalry of the centaurs." ”

"Maybe Varna will be able to keep the centaurs out of Little Boi with the walls of a Thousand Hordes, but half of Boe is doomed to fall - the friendship between Byrne and Boe forged with iron and blood will be completely shattered in a thousand years!"

Speaking of this, Eckert couldn't help but sigh: "That's why Duke Varna has the audacity to ask you to ally with him - as he said, Byrne needs Boe too." ”

"Without the strong support from Boe, Byrne's particularity and importance in the empire will no longer exist, except that the strength will still be strong, the land will still be rich, we will no longer be different from the other principalities, and our prestige will be greatly reduced!"

As the words fell, Eckert silently looked at Loren, who was expressionless, like a pensive Loren, with a complicated gaze.

There is also a very important key point, which he did not say... That is the importance of this victory in this war for Loren.

This new duke is different from any of the previous Duke of Byrne - he is not a direct descendant of the Turin family, he is not the Count of the Red Blood Castle, he is not strictly a Knight of Byrne, and it is difficult to say whether he is even a "Byrne" or not.

Only by winning this war, with a hearty victory, can you block the voices of doubt from inside and outside the principality, and become the true Lord of Byrne!

That's right, the Grand Duke of Varna just saw through this ... Loren Turin, what choice does he have?

"In that case, why don't you just ask for help from the Empire?"

Andrew McAfee scratched his head and looked dazed: "Right now, there are three fully armed legions on the Boi border, and it can be tripled if you count the auxiliary corps - such a big thing, the masters of the Heavenly Dome Palace will not sit idly by, right?"

In a word, the whole room fell silent.

"If that's the case...... Ekt took a deep breath and explained as calmly as possible, "Since the Duke sent out his troops, all the sacrifices of Byrne and even Boe will be in vain, and even more dangerous!"

"The simplest thing is that all the merits and achievements will become the 'wise decision' of the Heavenly Dome Palace, and all the defeats are our 'unauthorized actions' - no one will care how much Byrne and Boe sacrificed for this war, they will only remember that it was the Empire that ended this war!"

"Isn't it......?"

"You'd better shut up. ”

The gray-eyed boy glared at him violently: "If you don't speak, everyone won't treat you as a dumb person!"

Surprisingly... McAfee didn't refute him, but his face froze, and he shrunk his neck like a frightened rabbit, and laughed awkwardly:

"Uh... You're right, I'd better go out and stand guard - in case anyone outside is eavesdropping. ”

In the stunned and confused eyes of a room, the cautious McAfee turned away "grayly", and did not forget to close the door with his backhand.

He ...... When did you get so scared of you?" the black-haired wizard couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know. The gray-eyed boy scratched his head, his expression more confused than the others in the room: "Could it be ......?"

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing!" Lusen shook his head vigorously and retreated back with a pursed mouth.

Looking at the slightly uneasy expression of the gray-eyed boy, Loren shrugged nonchalantly...... He is really not interested in this kind of thing with a strong "gossip" atmosphere.

"Actually... If Byrne does withdraw his troops, the most pressure will still be on the Duke of Varna, right?"

The little wizard tentatively said, "He's already suffered a crushing defeat, and he's paid a heavy price—if he loses Byrne's support again, will the other Boi question his rule?"

Or try to overthrow him and lead them against the centaur invasion with a new leader?"

"There must be a connection between things, and before you look at your own strengths and weaknesses, you must look at others. ”

As the words fell, Loren and Eckert looked at each other in shock.

"That's... It's all from Mentor Dalton Khand's notes, and I'm just repeating it. Being stared at by two pairs of eyes at the same time, Ain's expression was a little at a loss:

"I—Did I say something wrong?"

"No, you're right!" said Eckert quickly, with a sudden realization on his face: "There must be a connection between things, and before you look at your own strengths and weaknesses, you must first look at other people's - it's just right!"

"It's clear that the Grand Duke of Varna needs us more than we need Boi, and it's important to see that!"

Loren took a deep breath and nodded: "So everything before makes sense - he let the centaurs besiege us, saved us at a critical moment, and finally used this way of meeting privately to win me over......"

"Laszló Varna, he has only one purpose... That is to get the absolute initiative in this war, and make Byrne his alliance in name and vassals in substance!"

The little wizard's eyes widened in shock.

"He has just experienced a crushing defeat, his strength and prestige have been greatly damaged, and he is in dire need of foreign support, so he will lower his posture and seek an alliance with the duke, and exchange the 'reputation' of the victor after the war for Byrne's assistance!"

Ackert's face was solemn: "Duke, if you don't give him an answer immediately, it will definitely arouse the vigilance of the Grand Duke of Varna, and this is the straw for him to last retain his power as the Grand Duke of Boy, and he will not give up easily." ”

"If the soft ones can't come, they will come the hard ones!"

"It seems that tonight's banquet will be very exciting. The black-haired wizard's mouth hooked up a smile: "One day and one night... The Grand Duke of Varna will certainly prepare particularly sumptuously. ”

"I'm going to inform the others, and get all the counts and knights inside and outside the city ready, just in case. Eckert said in a deep voice: "It is important to be vigilant, but more importantly, we must not leave any handle on the Grand Duke of Varna, let alone us take the initiative to cause trouble. ”

"After all... This is the City of a Thousand Tents, not the Red Blood Castle. ”

Loren bowed slightly, he knew that Eckert was speaking to himself.

"However, the problem of the dwarves also has to be solved. Eckert frowned: "Fighting against two forces at the same time is still not good for us - if we can use diplomacy instead of war means, it will make this war much easier." ”

I agreed with both hands. Loren breathed a long sigh of relief and smiled indifferently:

"In this battle, let's let our Countess of Red Blood Castle show her might!"