Warlord: King of All Clans

After returning to the Imperial City, Gulveig's body began to grow and he was now at least a head taller than when he left the River Bend.

After a period of sword training, although she still looks slim, she looks much healthier.

Paired with an exquisite and luxurious princess dress, she can be described as graceful and elegant.

However, she was not as intimate as they had imagined, and was even a little cold, which made the three of them feel uncomfortable.

Olivia looked at the little mouse standing high above her, feeling happy and a little disappointed. She could only bow her head and say, "Greetings, Princess."

Facing Olivia's disappointed look and Freya's puzzled look, Gullveig's eyes showed a hint of panic, but she still maintained the princess etiquette in formal occasions.

She didn't even return the greetings, but just nodded coldly, turned around and made an excuse to her father that she was not feeling well, then hurriedly took her leave under the escort of the maid and the Rose Knight.

Compared to the bewildered Olivia, Leo was more confident. He didn't believe that the little mouse had become estranged from them in just over a year. There must be a reason.

Knight Norin, as the chief of the princess's personal guards, had been guarding Gullveig all the time. Seeing this, he just gave her a reassuring look and followed the princess away.

After Her Royal Highness the Princess left, several powerful earls and dukes from the imperial capital gathered around her and started chatting with her.

Leo could only be patient and greet them one by one.

These great nobles in the southern border have never been to the remote northern border, and they look down on the barbaric and ignorant northerners.

They didn't know much about Leo, and had no interest in the adopted son of the Grand Duke of the North.

But at the palace dinner, not to mention the adopted son of the Grand Duke of the North, even the son of his mortal enemy would be praised as young and promising.

Of course, Leo didn't have a good impression of them. If he was a noble from the southern region, he would take this opportunity to curry favor with them, or at least make himself familiar to them.

But he is from the North and has nothing to do with these people. At most, they will meet on the battlefield in the future.

After the guests had left and everyone was seated, Charles VII whispered to Leo, "Be patient."

Leo had no idea what the father and daughter were up to, so he could only continue to pretend to be nice at the dinner.

At the banquet, it was natural to talk about the conflict between the north and the south.

Earl MacDonald in the south took advantage of the lack of troops led by Earl Gustav in the north and launched an attack. It has been almost a year now.

Earl MacDonald is a powerful earl ranked among the top ten in the South. The area of ​​territory he controls is comparable to that of the Great Earl in the North, but his population is twice as large.

The Earldom of MacDonald and the Earldom of Gustav are separated by only a mountain, but this Fabados Mountains is the alien version of the Qinling Mountains. The climate on the southern foot is warmer and more humid, and the land is more developed.

The area has a dense population, a developed handicraft industry, and many high-quality iron mines, which can be traded directly with the plate armor forging workshops in the southern cities.

Plate armor, which is rare in the North, is not uncommon in the Earldom of MacDonald.

Therefore, the MacDonald Corps had better weapons and equipment and stronger manpower, and for decades it had been eyeing Gustav's territory in the north.

This time, his two fully-strength legions crossed the upper reaches of the Dome River, easily defeated the local armed forces of Count Gustav's territory, and surrounded Stockorro, the main city of Count Gustav's territory.

But the people in the North were tough and brave. Half of the Earl's Legion of Stockro, with a group of militiamen, defended the city and delayed the arrival of the main force from the North.

The earl corps of the Gustav and Beboos families are now in a stalemate with the MacDonald corps.

Compared to Count Kurolov's independence in the eastern part of the North, Leo was more concerned about the war in the south.

After all, Isenpol is just north of Count Gustav's territory. Whether Count Gustav is defeated or recovers after defeating MacDonald, it is not good news for Leo.

Thanks to the news conveyed by the Duke's Palace, Leo had a relatively clear understanding of the situation of the war.

Under the feudal lord system, no matter how high the social productivity is, it has its limits. Earl MacDonald was able to lead more than 10,000 people to fight in the north for a year, but he probably reached his limit.

Leo and the Grand Duke of the North both judged that no matter what the outcome, the war would end this year.

But at this banquet, Leo felt something was not right the more he listened.

A marquis of the imperial capital wiped his mouth with silk and said dissatisfiedly: "These damn northerners actually formed an alliance with the beastmen and attempted to attack the south. Earl MacDonald's move is really gratifying. After this battle, the northerners will be able to feel the majesty of the empire again."

"Oh, kid, I'm not talking about you. Grand Duke Mitchell is still a good man, but he can't control his subordinates."

Leo couldn't help but remind him, "The one who allied with the beastmen was Count Kuroloff, and the one MacDonald attacked was Count Gustav. One is in the far east, and the other is in the far west. There is a difference of several thousand miles between them."

"It's all the same. It's to serve as a warning to others."

Leo could only bite the bullet and explain: "The orcs invaded, and the northern humans were also victims. The peace talks were also forced, and there were other reasons behind it..."

The Marquis of the Imperial Capital immediately interrupted Leo, "Orc invasion? Child, you are too young to understand the wickedness of human nature. This is just a lie told by the people of the North. No matter how strong those unarmed orcs are, how could they possibly break through the Wind God Fortress and enter the North? Moreover, before that, there is a more than ten-mile wide North Ice River. Did the 100,000 orcs come here by canoe?"

His words immediately caused everyone present to burst into laughter.

An earl echoed loudly: "Lord Marquis Elton is right! How can the beastmen fly over without anyone to pick them up? The people in the North are really despicable. It is unwise for Grand Duke Mitchell to let this happen!"

Another earl sighed and said, "Even if it was done by the earls below, the Grand Duke should not have negotiated with the beastmen. The thousand-year-old territory of the empire is gone from now on!"

Leo was speechless. After the Southern Territory Royal Family stopped allocating military funds to Aeolus Fortress, the standing army of Aeolus Fortress began to decline year by year, and it was completely supported by the Grand Duke of the Northern Territory. Now there were only a thousand elite defenders left.

For these one thousand elite soldiers, defending the Wind God Fortress is already the limit. It is simply impossible for them to fight outside the city and stop the orcs from moving south.

The North Glacier is frozen almost all year round, and for at least half a year the ice is thick enough for the orc army to pass freely.

These Southerners, who had never even seen snow, simply didn't believe that there were rivers in the world that people could walk on.

Leo said expressionlessly, "Even so, what does it have to do with Earl MacDonald's invasion of the North? He invaded first, and the Grand Duke negotiated later."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible! If the Northerners hadn't gone too far, why would Earl MacDonald attack someone else's territory? He is a Templar Knight who believes in the Holy Light!"

Several nobles from the imperial capital talked to each other, and Leo pieced together a southern version of the racial war.

The northern barbarians attempted to form an alliance with the orcs to attack the south. When the righteous Templar Earl MacDonald learned of this, he took the initiative to declare war on the fallen barbarians in the north and taught them a severe lesson!

As for the first half of the year, after Count MacDonald attacked Count Gustav's territory, the North was attacked from both sides and was forced to negotiate with the Western Army of the Orcs. It was not until the second half of the year that Kurolov formed an alliance with the Eastern Army of the Orcs. Such details in time can be ignored.

Leo looked at Charles VII speechlessly. Seeing him smiling, he asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, do all the people in the southern border think so?"

Charles VII shook his head and sighed, "People only believe what they want to believe, the facts are not important."

Leo was silent for a while. After arriving in the imperial capital, he planned to publicize the news of the undead invasion, stir up public opinion, and then urge the saints of the imperial capital to go north to join the war.

But now it seems that his words, when heard by the people in the southern border, must be another conspiracy of the northern border.

Seeing that if he opened his mouth to refute again, he would be attacked by the southern nobles, Leo had no interest in arguing with a group of pigs. He could only laugh and say "yes, yes, yes", and barely made it through the dinner.

Moreover, Leo also knows a little about political games. A welcoming banquet is not the time to discuss serious matters, and he cannot give the other party the feeling that he is suddenly attacking him.

We can only communicate clearly with Charles VII and other people in charge in the imperial capital in secret, finalize the agreement, and make everything settled before we can pretend to negotiate in public. It would be wrong to reveal any more information now.

After finally waiting until the banquet was over, Charles VII smiled and said to the Elf Queen and the River Bay Mission, "This welcoming dinner was hastily prepared and the hospitality was inadequate. If you have any further requests, please feel free to ask."

This is the fixed pattern of words at the end of a dinner party. Usually at this time, the guests only need to decline and give some compliments. After the polite exchanges, both the host and the guests are happy and go home.

What's more, these words came from the mouth of His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire, and any normal person would only be able to respond by thanking the Lord for His grace.

But when Freya heard this, her ears immediately pricked up. There is such a good thing?

As soon as Olivia saw her eyes light up, she knew something bad was going to happen, and she quickly covered her mouth, but it was too late.

She shouted, "Can I ask for anything? Ask your princess to come and sleep with me!"