Chapter 7: Count Oka

Hanover Province, Border City.

Today was the day the representatives of the Three Great Nobles of Hanover Province would arrive in Border City for their meeting.

Before the representatives arrived, Vera and Mustafa performed a final check of the arrangements, following Anke’s instructions.

Although Mustafa still had not accepted Anke’s proposal to borrow money, he diligently carried out the tasks Anke assigned him, all while praying that the spirit of Princess Vanessa would watch over the boy.

“Mustafa, His Highness is the Lord of Hanover Province. Why must we be so cautious just to receive representatives from three noble families? Shouldn’t it be an honor for these nobles to be granted an audience with His Highness?”

Vera’s concept of aristocratic relations was still stuck several hundred years in the past, in an era of “Divine right, absolute monarchy.”

“It’s simple. Times have changed. Noble bloodlines cannot compete with practical power. As I once told His Highness, out of the entire Hanover Province, the only place he truly controls is Border City. Therefore, His Highness is merely the Lord in name. The Three Great Nobles, who have controlled Hanover Province for years, are the actual lords. In Hanover, we are the outsiders.”

Mustafa ordered his men to check the silk ribbon decorations for the welcoming ceremony.

After confirming there were no issues, he placed a checkmark on his list before continuing his conversation with Vera.

“The actual lords?” Vera pondered. Human rules were complicated, harder to understand than those of wild beasts.

“Yes, they are the lords in every practical sense. This is also considered the fundamental trial of the Black Cross Kingdom’s Selection of the King. His Highness must rely on his own strength to reclaim the rights to his territory from these nobles. Otherwise, he is just holding an official title of Lord.”

“A winner selected through an extreme environment is indeed the best successor to the throne,” Vera thought, considering it from a monarch’s perspective.

“But given His Highness’s current situation, winning the throne will be extremely difficult. Setting aside the other competitors, the local nobles within his own territory alone will not stand by and watch His Highness grow powerful.”

“Haha, the situation isn’t quite that dire. In fact, the local nobles are also afraid of our Highness.”

“The local nobles are afraid of His Highness?” Vera didn’t understand how Mustafa had reached such a conclusion.

“Because His Highness possesses something they fear…”

At that moment, Kano ran over to notify them to head to the city gate. Mustafa immediately stopped talking. “It’s time to go. You will see the answer with your own eyes soon.”

“Alright!” Vera responded.

However, she continued to wonder. ‘Why do those local nobles fear Anke when their strength is so much greater than his?’

……

A convoy escorted by knights and militia sped along the dirt road through the forest.

Hote, the representative of the Oca family and the second legitimate son of the household, sat upright in a luxuriously decorated carriage.

A silver incense burner hung in the carriage, emitting a faint fragrance as the vehicle swayed. Hote’s thoughts drifted back to the moment before his departure.

“You must handle this meeting with the Fourth Prince with extreme caution. Not a single mistake can be made. You must not antagonize the Fourth Prince, but you must not befriend him either. Just treat him as if he were an ordinary stranger.”

Hote’s father, the current head of the Oca family, Count Charlie Oca, had given these earnest instructions to his second son.

“Father, why do you want us to be so careful with the Fourth Prince? He is a laughingstock even in the Royal Capital. Now that he’s here, he just has a title of Lord and a dilapidated Border City. Why should we care about him?” Hote had asked his father with a shrug.

“Exactly, Father. My younger brother is right. The Fourth Prince only has Border City, while we control seventeen cities that are larger and wealthier than this place. we own almost the entire land of Hanover Province. Why be careful? Why avoid conflict?” Kerok, the eldest son of Count Oca, had echoed his brother’s sentiment.

“You are still too young; I don’t blame you. You do not understand the true purpose of the Black Cross Kingdom’s Selection of the King.” Count Oca shook his head.

“The true purpose of the Selection of the King is to choose the new successor to the throne, isn’t it?”

“That is only the surface. It is not a power game for princes and princesses — it is a scythe for the royal family to harvest power!” Count Oca turned around and tapped a spot on the map behind him.

“A scythe to harvest power? Against our family?” Hote looked at the location his father was pointing at; it was their family’s fief.

“Not just us, but almost all the local nobles. If royal descendants like the Fourth Prince want to compete for the throne, they must grow their strength. To do that, they will inevitably seize our land, our wealth, our farmers, and everything else we possess.” Count Oca explained solemnly to his two sons.

“If that’s the case, why don’t we just…?” Kerok made a throat-slitting gesture.

“Hmph, foolish! If the Fourth Prince dies, the entire Hanover Province will be branded with the crime of treason. The King could then directly mobilize the army to surround and suppress us! When that happens, our family will be completely wiped from this land!” Count Oca looked at his eldest son with disappointment.

“Father, I’m still a bit confused. If we don’t take the initiative to clash with the Fourth Prince, how should we respond if he chooses to provoke us in the future?” Hote asked, seeking guidance.

“You don’t need to worry about that. The First Prince has already sent an envoy to invite us to become his allies. He promised that as long as the Fourth Prince moves his troops first, the First Prince will immediately provide us with political support, making the Fourth Prince the traitor first! When that time comes, even if the Fourth Prince dies, we will be fine! All we need to do now is endure!” Count Oca said, stroking the beard on his chin.

“Endure? Father, you are truly amazing!”

“It is getting late. Hote, set out immediately. Remember what I told you.”

“Yes, Father, I remember. I will definitely not let you down.” Hote had promised his father…

“Young Master, we have arrived at Border City.”

The voice of his assistant brought Hote back from his memories to reality.

The carriage stopped. Hote recalled his terrible experience the last time he visited Border City, where the stench had made him vomit.

He had prepared himself mentally this time; no matter how horrible the smell, he had to maintain the noble grace of the Oca family’s second son.

However, when Hote stepped down from the carriage, the expected stench did not hit him.

The ditches beneath the city walls that used to be piled with waste were now covered with stone slabs.

Several civilians were sweeping fallen leaves from the road leading to the city gate, and there were even children chasing each other and playing at the foot of the wall.

The “dilapidated Border City” of his memory now possessed a strange, vibrant energy.

“Young Master, it’s so clean here. Did the Fourth Prince from the Royal Capital do this?”

Hote’s assistant followed him off the carriage, also startled by the changes in Border City.

“It’s just for show…” Hote sneered.

However, as he looked at the improved state of Border City, his hands, tucked behind his back, unconsciously clenched into fists.