Mathilde looked back, looked at the end of the horizon, and let out a long sigh.

For some reason, her cousin suddenly decided to go to Vortage early to meet with Duke Æthelwolf of Northville and Duke Louis of Tamská. And the news that the emissary of Northville, Bishop Juan, also went on the road one step ahead of schedule to rule Northville and Tamska.

And Mathilde is also on the list of people on this trip. Arnold gave a relatively reasonable reason: whether Mathilde decided to marry the Duke of Louis or not, he could go and meet with the possible fiancé first, at least to provide some reference for Mathilde's decision.

Mathilde had no chance to resist against such an arrangement, and although Arnold had always been very generous, Mathilde knew very well that he actually had no choice.

And Mathilde is on the road with Titus Leslie, who is as famous as Cold Mountain's leader John Founner.

Although the former lord has now converted to the archangel and become a paladin, no one really sees him as an outsider, and has treated this brave general as he was originally a general. This time, Paladin Titus Leslie led fifteen hundred knights of the Blood Cross of the Figlaf family to serve as the Duke's bodyguard.

Along the way, Mathilde was bored, not only because the bad weather kept her in the carriage, but also because there was no one around her to relieve her boredom.

In the team of this trip, except for a few maids arranged for her by Mathilde's own Arnold, there were no women, and even her father Webster was left in Lionheart by Arnold, surrounded by almost all unknown people, and then thinking of his next fate, how could Mathilde be motivated?

As for Mathilde's troubles, Arnold did not feel them at all, and now his heart was a different feeling.

Stunned, and perhaps a little confused.

A few months earlier, he had been forced into exile on the same path, whispering like a vagabond, avoiding the eyes and ears of others, but a few months later, everything was different, and the father who had almost driven him to the point of extinction was exiled from the territory, and instead took everything he once owned and became the master of the Cold Mountain Domain.

The world is impermanent, isn't it?

So, in this volatile world, what kind of fate awaits you in the next second?

Facing the wind and snow, Arnold looked ahead.

The cold wind mixed with snowflakes hit him in the face, although he was regarded by his father as a weak guy like a girl because of his weakness since he was a child, but Arnold was born and raised in this land after all, everything here has long been familiar to him, especially this biting wind and snow, he has never been stranger.

The city before ...... Frecken reminded Arnold of a lost dog when he passed by a few months ago, and now he had absolute ownership of the city and the lands it depended on.

The original Earl of Frecken, Evelyn, was slaughtered by Tegman, and the territory fell into the hands of the Figlaf family. Ever since Arnold returned to Lionheart to inherit the Duke of Cold Mountain, many people have been asking him about the disposition of the Freken Territory from time to time.

There are a lot of people who want to get this territory, and these people are accusing the former duke of mutilating the Evelyns in support of Arnold's exile of Tegman, and on the other hand, they are suggesting that Arnold's territory should not be placed in the hands of the Figlaf family in such an illegal way.

Arnold only felt ugly about the actions of those people. Although he has the same selfish desires in his heart as those people, he still feels ugly.

Retracting his divergent thoughts, Arnold turned to look at Titus, who was riding behind him.

"Rest in Frecon City today. ”

Titus nodded, and took the duke's orders.

"That's right. Arnold frowned, as if remembering something, "The court mage that Ricken led was originally called...... What's it called?"

Titus was also stunned for a moment, as a martial artist, he usually didn't have much contact with those mages, let alone the court mages under Count Frycan.

"Archibald, Lord Duke. A young voice duly said, "He has been executed by Master Tegman for helping you escape from the Cold Mountain Realm. ”

Arnold and Titus followed the sound, and it was Ozzy Pildenor who was following Titus.

"Oh......" Arnold glanced at Oz and nodded silently, for this knight who had blocked himself in front of the Futagan Formation, and immediately surrendered after returning to the Cold Mountain Command, Arnold didn't care much about his past disrespect.

"Do you want to vindicate him?" Arnold's disregard did not make Oz care, on the contrary, he further said, "And the Evelyns, do you want to ......?"

"Watch your words, Pierdenor!" Before Arnold could speak, Titus scolded Oz, "As a member of the Blood Cross Knights, you should guard your duties as a knight, and you should not dictate to the lord!"

"Yes, I'm sorry, I overstepped my bounds. Oz bowed his head and admitted his mistake.

Arnold didn't say anything, just looked at the knight deeply, and he could feel that Oz was also a guy who was not willing to be lonely.

However, although there are some flaws, his own abilities are really useful.

Thinking about Oz, Arnold entered Frecon City. The soldiers at the gate knelt respectfully on either side, not even daring to raise their heads, and Arnold only glanced at them, and stopped looking at them.

Without staying much in the city, Arnold went straight to the mansion that had belonged to the Evelyn family, Earl of Friken.

After arranging the guards of the mansion, Titus came to Arnold's room.

"Your Excellency. ”

The sturdy paladin saluted Arnold, then stood motionless in the doorway.

"What's the matter?" Arnold looked at Titus's expression and roughly guessed what the other party was thinking.

After all, it is not difficult to guess that Titus Leslie is a person, and his ideas are really simple and pure compared to John Fonter.

"It's about...... Things to do in this city. Titus pondered his words and said cautiously, "What are you going to do with Fraken Collar?"

Arnold laughed secretly in his heart, when Oz raised this question just now, Titus also scolded the other party loudly, but in his heart, he was also worried about the disposal of Friken Territory.

So, now as soon as I find an opportunity, I'll come and ask this question right away.

"Why, do you want to get this territory?" Arnold said in a joking tone.

"No, I—I don't dare to think anything wrong......" Although Arnold said it in a joking tone, Titus was not such a humorous person, "It's just...... The fate of the Evelyn family in the end is really sad, since the Duke thinks that Lord Tegman's rule is too harsh and replaces, should he ...... Should we make up for the mistakes of Lord Tegman?"

Arnold's eyelashes blinked slightly, then lowered a little, words that Fanna would never say, but there really wasn't anything surprising about Titus saying them.

"It is indeed a very reasonable thing for the father to make up for the fault of the son. Arnold nodded, the expression on his face was indiscognizable, "I'll do this, but obviously it's not the right time, you can understand that, right?"

Arnold's unprecise words made Titus a little uneasy, but even if he was uneasy, he knew that he could not and should not force the other party to make a clearer promise.

"Yes, I see, Lord Duke......"

Arnold narrowed his eyes and stared at Titus, who turned silently.

"There's one thing I'd like to ask for your opinion. ”

Titus froze, and his turning movement stopped.

"It's about Ozzy Pildenore. Arnold's narrow eyes swirled with an eerie glow, "What do you think of that person?"

"A very good young knight. Titus said this assessment without thinking about it, "Whether it is swordsmanship, knowledge, or wisdom, he is the best among the young generation of knights, and Lord Tagman used to think highly of him, but ......"

Titus hesitated, looked at Arnold, and then said, "It's just his character...... Maybe it's a little imperfect. ”

"Oh, do you mean that he will abandon his old master's allegiance to me as soon as he returns to the Cold Mountain Territory?" Arnold could guess why he had hesitated just now just by looking at the look in Titus's eyes, "but if you think about it, it can also be said to be 'flexible'." ”

"This ...... You can say the same thing. ”

"I'm going to make Doug the captain of my personal guard and lead the Blood Cross Knights in the future. Gallup I don't count on it, he still won't surrender to me, and Oz are completely polar. ”

Tate's last words embarrassed Titus, who had promised Arnold that he would be able to convince the Gallup Knights for him, but in the end he couldn't do it. However, Arnold's first words made him more concerned than this.

"I know his loyalty, but wouldn't it ...... for him to lead the Blood Cross?"

He didn't say anything about the rest of the story, which was more or less to save face for Doug and Arnold.

"I know Doug is incompetent, so he needs someone to help him - do you think Ozzy Pildenor is up to the task?"

"This ......," Titus pouted, the question a little difficult for him to answer, "Oz's ability is adequate, but, as I said, his character ...... It's a little bit less than perfect. Let him help Doug lead the Blood Cross, I believe he can do a good job, but I'm afraid that in the end, the real leader of the Blood Cross will have some problems. ”

Arnold nodded with satisfaction, although Titus is a martial artist, and the things that use his brain are not very suitable for him, but this knight is not an uninformed person, and he quickly saw the problem.

"I'm worried about that, too, but after I became Duke in place of my father, there were too many people who were dissatisfied with me, and Hercasi was just one of them. If I want to govern the territory in a stable place, I am afraid that it will be very difficult under so much opposition. ”

Titus nodded awkwardly, he couldn't answer.

"It's the same with the Blood Cross, and there are quite a few people in it who are as unhappy with me as Gallup. So I had to find someone who could be loyal to me to replace the naysayers, and people like Oz may not be loyal, but they are better than those who oppose them. Of course, I am not completely excluding the naysayers, I can tolerate them, provided that the presence of these people does not bring the whole blood cross to my opposite. ”

Titus nodded stunned, he didn't understand why Arnold said these things to himself, shouldn't this kind of thing be discussed with Fonnar?

"It's hard to find capable young people now, and it's even harder to find people who are capable and loyal, but it's good to ......" Arnold suddenly showed a smile, a smile that made Titus feel uneasy, "Fortunately, my faithful knights, the Leslie family, can help me solve my problems." ”

Titus was stunned for a moment, then realized that Arnold had hit his sons with the idea.