Arnold pursed his lips and lowered his eyebrows in thought, he hadn't thought about it either.

"If you want some practical benefits......," Louis spread his hands, as if helplessly, "then, we can sign a secret agreement for the distribution of the interests of the Vortagan Territory, and I can give a part of the share to the Leng Shan Territory." Of course, you'd better not open your mouth, and I'm not going to pay too much for a fool like Sharp. ”

"But wouldn't that leave a handle on it?" Arnold was cautious, preferring to doubt everything in order to avoid being fooled by Louis, "If others knew of the existence of this secret treaty, it would be easy to suspect Sharp's death." ”

"How could it be. Louis shrugged his shoulders and looked nonchalant, "First of all, I will never admit the secret covenant, and if this thing is revealed, the Snowren collar will never admit a word on it." Moreover, the Snorren Collar and the Cold Mountain Collar have always been closely related, and there are many places for cooperation, and this thing will not necessarily implicate Sharp. ”

"Really?" Arnold was not convinced of Louis's confidence, but he didn't mean to remind him, "I will keep this condition for now, and if there are no accidents at that time, then we can sign this secret contract when I return from the imperial capital." Of course, if I think of other conditions, we can discuss them at that time. ”

"No problem. Louis smiled, looking sincere, "Then I'll leave this matter to you, cousin Arnold." ”

Arnold gave Louis a deep look, and then left the church without looking back.

————————————————————————

"Louie is in a hurry to get rid of Sharp, this matter is suspicious no matter how you look at it, maybe something happened to make Louie feel that Sharp has a very big threat to him, so he has to borrow my hand to solve Sharp. ”

In the room filled with black mist, Arnold paced as he spoke to the magic crystal in the center of the mist.

"Not necessarily, his target could also be you, my stupid brother. Serena's voice came from the magic crystal, "Sharp may just be a decoy to blame you, and if you do kill Sharp, then Tamska gets a perfectly reasonable pretext for war." ”

"I've thought about this possibility...... Arnold muttered, biting his nails unconsciously, "but I think it's unlikely, now due to the problems faced by Northway, Tamska also has to focus most of their energy on the side of Vodahara City, they don't have the strength to start a war against the Cold Mountain Territory, and even if they ignore Northway, from the perspective of the combat effectiveness of the army, it is difficult for the Snowlons to be the opponents of the Cold Mountain People, not to mention that this time they have to take the initiative to attack." So, I don't think it's very likely that Louis is targeting me. ”

"So, if this possibility is removed, what do you think would make Louis anxious to get rid of Sharp?"

Arnold frowned, he had been thinking about this question for a day, but still hadn't come up with a reasonable answer.

"Now that Louis's position in the Snowren Territory should be secure, and the potential opposition Count Rota Gunther has been eliminated by him, there is no reason for him to have such a sense of crisis. Or did he just want to take the opportunity to kill Sharp just to avenge his revenge two years ago?"

Pacing and talking to herself in the room, Serena could feel her brother's anxiety even from a distance.

"Judging by Louie's character, it is not impossible. Didn't you say that? That guy is a very grudgeful person, and even the first time you see him, you will get the impression that he is small-minded, mean, self-righteous, and that such a character will turn over old accounts and revenge, and it is not surprising. ”

"Character...... Arnold thinks back on Louie's performance in the past two days, and there is indeed such a possibility.

But it's unsettling to think about it that way. Arnold was still not at ease, "Even if it is just for revenge, he must have some intention in choosing to let me help, otherwise he could have chosen other more secure and quiet ways to solve Sharp, why do he have to have anything to do with Leng Shanling?"

"Maybe the Snowren Collar is the same as the Cold Mountain Collar, and it is not stable. ”

"Huh?" Serena's sudden words made Arnold vaguely think of something, "You mean, Louis is also worried about the problems of his vassals, so he wants to pull me through this troubled water, so as to divert the conflicts in the territory?"

Arnold quickly thought of the Count of Helkasi, Louis was about the same age as him, and the older vassals in the realm always liked to dictate to the young lords, relying on seniority to meddle in the decisions of the lords, and the lords hated such people the most, but often had nothing to do with them. Therefore, in order to deal with these guys, Arnold and Louis had to be careful to get rid of these opponents without completely detonating the contradictions and not letting the other party control the situation.

Louis dealt with Gunther, Count of Rota, although the timing was good, and when the vassal in the domain had just ended the confrontation and could not provide support, he quickly eliminated Count Rota, but his methods were a little excessive, except for Gunther's son Andrew, the Fergus family did not leave a single survivor. Perhaps from Louis's point of view, such revenge on the Fergus family, who had raised the flag of rebellion against him in the first place, would have given him the pleasure of revenge, but it would have been an extremely dangerous sign for the other vassals.

This was not the case with Tegman, because the execution of the Evelyn family caused panic among the vassals of the Cold Mountain Domain, and finally led to the end of exile.

And Louis probably felt such a danger, in order to avoid suffering his uncle's bad luck, he planned to take action first, get rid of Sharp, who was the most threatening to him, to ensure that his position was completely secured.

This is the most plausible explanation.

Arnold took a deep breath and slowly pressed the air out of his chest.

"It's a hassle to be missing information. He frowned, although he figured out the key to the matter, Arnold still didn't relax, "The reality of Northville, and then Tamska, we really don't know much about what happened on their side, we have to think of a way to ensure that we can understand the general situation on their side, so as not to lose the opportunity in the game with these two families." ”

"It's easy to say, but if you really want to do it, it's not an easy thing to do. Serena quickly poured cold water on him, "And, instead of thinking about this kind of thing, you better think about how to deal with the situation in the imperial capital, my naïve brother." ”

Imperial capital......

Arnold's heart became heavier and heavier, and there were too many things pressing on him, that is, the shackles attached to the seemingly honorable title of Duke of Cold Mountain.

"Even if I leave tomorrow, it will be a month before I get to the imperial capital, and on the way I have time to think about it. ”

"I hope so. Serena's voice sounded rather perfunctory, "But you're going to go on the road with that girl from the Timska family?"

Arnold couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, he just casually mentioned the matter of going to the imperial capital with Michelia, but he didn't expect her to remember it so carefully.

"Hmm...... What's wrong?" Arnold tried to keep his tone as usual, although he had nothing to do, but he still felt inexplicably weak under his sister's questioning.

"Judging from the reports I received here, it seems that you met our cousin once, and you had a good conversation?"

Arnold felt his back sweating, and he felt extremely curious, not only Louis knew about this, why did even Serena in Lionheart Castle know about it, was his privacy so insecure?

"This ...... After all, it's a relative......"

"Louis was also a relative. Serena's cold voice interrupted Arnold mercilessly, "You don't seem to have a good time talking to him. ”

Arnold sighed helplessly, he had almost given up.

"Well, it's better to be with her. But how do you know so clearly about my side of things?"

"Are you worried that I'll find out when you're doing something outside behind my back?"

"I've never done anything out there behind your back. ”

"yes, what about Lily?"

Arnold didn't dare to fight back.

"It's disgusting, my wretched brother. Serena's tone was slightly disgusted, "It seems that I was right to send Lily to spy on you. ”

"Huh?" Arnold was stunned and turned around the room, "Lily has been spying on me?"

"That's right, you know, Lily made it up through my soul, so to a certain extent, I have a heart with her, and I know exactly what is going on on your side. ”

Arnold gritted his teeth, he had thought that Lily had left his side for some other reason, but he didn't expect that he was spying on him in the shadows.

"So, she's here now?"

"That's right, she's been with you since you left Cold Mountain. ”

"I'm leaving the Cold Mountain Territory?" Arnold was slightly surprised again, "You sent her...... Help me, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Didn't you tell you that you actually behaved outside?"

Arnold was powerless to refute.

"In short, if you want to go to the imperial capital, you must have someone to rely on. Titus is brave, but his mind is not flexible, and the goal of the Blood Cross is too big, and the more people there are, the less they can entrust secrets. Lily is different, no one knows she exists, just be careful enough and she can do a lot of things for you. ”

"And where is she now?" Arnold's eyes were still scanning the room, cautiously staring at every corner, as if Lily was hiding there.

"You want to see her?"

"That's right. ”

"Then wait for the evening, you know, the Daredevil, the creature is the best at it......"

"It's 'night raids'. ”