Chapter 52: Forced Decision

Early the next morning, Julian again had the prisoners brought before him. Perhaps because of Charlotte, these people were no longer as silent as before. Under Julian’s questioning, they quickly confessed their background.

As Julian had guessed, these people’s destination was another territory bordering Twilight Forest – a place that was once the land of Julian’s enemies, now part of the Kingdom of Wester. They were members of the Zach family, the great nobles ruling that territory. This journey was to protect the Zach family’s heir, the boy under ten years old, and return him to his territory. The whole story wasn’t complicated. A few months ago, the Zach family’s old patriarch fell from his horse while hunting and hit his head, falling into a coma since then. As time passed, unstable voices gradually emerged within the Zach family. Although logically the heir should have stepped up to stabilize the situation, the old patriarch’s son and daughter were both minors. The first-in-line heir, the young son, was not even ten years old and couldn’t possibly lead a large family. Although the daughter, Christine, was already fifteen, she was just an ordinary noble lady and couldn’t handle managing the family. After all, “strong women” like Ophariel were very rare in the noble world. Most noble ladies at her age only knew pastimes like dancing.

The Zach family was a military family, traditionally ruling through martial prowess. Even if this noble lady wanted to lead the entire family, those below wouldn’t submit. The old patriarch’s condition worsened day by day, showing no signs of waking up. As time passed, the unstable voices within the family grew louder, eventually erupting into conflict.

Although the old patriarch had high prestige within the family, he was currently in a coma. Many people only listened to his orders, so most remained silent and observant regarding these conflicts below. In this situation, the old patriarch’s son was kidnapped by some family members who tried to use this method to seize power within the family. After all, this child was not yet ten years old. Once in their hands, everything else would be easy to handle.

Although these people’s plans were good, there were still some loyal subordinates guarding the old patriarch’s family. The men disguised as merchants before Julian were among them. They were originally the old patriarch’s personal guards. During the conflict, outnumbered, they had to protect the young master and leave their territory. They originally took the young master to the Bird family, hoping to gain their support. But unexpectedly, the Bird family also had ill intentions, similarly planning to control the Zach family by detaining the young master. So with no choice, these guards had to flee the Bird family’s territory with the young master again. They originally planned to return to the Zach family’s territory, find a hidden place to stay, then contact the old patriarch’s subordinates to launch a counterattack.

Fearing discovery by the Bird family, these people chose the inconspicuous small road through Twilight Forest. But unexpectedly, misfortunes never come singly, and they were still discovered.

What surprised them even more was that they saw the young lady who should have been by the old patriarch’s side here. How could this not make these guards excited and surprised?

After hearing their account, Julian and Ophariel exchanged helpless glances, both seeing the bitter smile in each other’s eyes. These guards truly lacked political acumen, actually hoping for other families to help. Although there weren’t any particular issues between the Bird family and the Zach family, they both ate from the same bowl of the Golden Trade Route. With such a good opportunity to strike at their competitor, how could the Bird family let it pass? Anyone with a bit of political sense would probably understand the stakes involved.

“Lord, we…”

“I already know about your situation,” Julian waved his hand, interrupting the other’s words. He stared at the man before him and said,

“However, I need to tell you that regarding Charlotte’s matter, I’m not very clear. In fact, I found her unconscious in the forest some time ago, so I rescued her. But after she woke up, she had completely lost all memories about herself, not remembering her identity or background. So I gave her the name Charlotte and brought her with me.”

“But my lord, I can be certain that she is indeed our Zach family’s young lady Christine. We…”

“You have no evidence to prove this point,” Julian crossed his arms, coldly looking at the other.

“Charlotte is my important subordinate, and you currently have no evidence to fully prove your claim.”

“This…”

The man opened and closed his mouth, his face anxious, not knowing what to say. Although this young lord was only in his early twenties judging by age, he spoke calmly and steadily, leaving no opportunity. He wasn’t skilled at being a persuader to begin with, and now faced with Julian’s words, he was anxious inside but couldn’t say a word.

“Taking a step back, even if she was once your family’s young lady, she currently doesn’t have her past memories. Even if handed over to you, it would be of no use.”

“But… but…”

The man frowned. He looked at his companions, then gritted his teeth and turned to Julian.

“Please let me speak with the young lady alone.”

“Of course, no problem,” Julian raised an eyebrow, revealing an elegant smile.

After watching the man’s figure disappear, Ophariel finally let out a long sigh.

“Honestly, I really sympathize with that old patriarch.”

“Oh?” Hearing this, Julian couldn’t help but look at Ophariel.

“How so?”

“These subordinates have no political sense to speak of. If what they say is true, then these people’s current situation isn’t good. They think they’re doing the right thing, but don’t know how to use the correct methods. Perhaps their loyalty is unquestionable, but everything they do will never succeed.”

Ophariel frowned, speaking with some helplessness. Then, she looked at Julian with a hint of vigilance.

“My lord, you’re not thinking of… helping them, are you?”

“As expected of my adjutant,” Julian raised the teacup in his hand, the corner of his mouth slightly curled.

“But this way, we’ll completely break with the Bird family,” Ophariel bluntly pointed out the core issue.

“My lord, you should remember that our current territory is a noble fief, and this fief belongs to the Bird family. If you do this, the Bird family will certainly become hostile towards you.”

Ophariel’s words weren’t without reason. The Bird family certainly knew that Julian, this so-called lord, had no goodwill towards them, but both sides hadn’t torn apart their relationship. Like Viscount Euwen’s visit this time, and the guard soldiers they sent afterward, it was just some small actions behind the scenes. On one hand, Julian hadn’t posed any substantial threat to them, and for a great noble family, it would be exaggerated and undignified to take big measures against unconfirmed dangers. But now, if Julian clearly wanted to help their opponents, the Bird family would have ample reason to deal with him. In the worst case, they might even take back Julian’s fief. Although there was an agreement between the two sides, noble fiefs and royal fiefs were ultimately different. In other words, even for royal fiefs, if a lord secretly colluded with other countries, the royal family would similarly take back the fief. If this matter spread, Julian wouldn’t have a leg to stand on, either morally or reasonably.

“And… honestly, I don’t have high hopes for our potential partners.”

Hearing Ophariel’s blushing addition, Julian smiled. This was Ophariel’s true opinion. As a princess, maneuvering between various forces had already become her proud skill, but that still depended on the people involved. If these people were ambitious, capable, and clever, this princess would definitely agree with his opinion. But the current situation was clear: these people had no political acumen at all. They only held loyalty to their liege but completely lacked the brains to complete their mission. Such people who were more of a hindrance than a help were the most dangerous.

As the saying goes, don’t fear a godlike opponent, fear a pig-like teammate.

Especially when the teammate truly believes they’re doing good, it becomes even more troublesome.

“By the way, what kind of family is this Zach family?” Julian put down his teacup and casually changed the subject to ask. After all, he had been away from this world for many years. When Julian was alive, families like the Birds were just emerging new families, and the entire system of the Kingdom of Wester wasn’t as mature as it is now. Ophariel died more recently, so she must be more familiar with the country’s nobles than him.

“This family is a new family that rose through military achievements,” Ophariel didn’t expect Julian to have thought so much. She quickly explained to Julian.

“They were originally just a small local noble family. Later, they achieved many merits in the war with the Kingdom of Kelter, so they were given this fief. The Zach family has always been known for their strictness, with each family head being a core figure in the army. However, thirty years ago, I heard this family seemed to have some problems and lost the royal family’s favor. After that, they’ve been declining. From what we can see now, they’re clearly still on a downward path.”

Hearing this, Julian nodded. A family that was gradually declining would naturally be taken advantage of by others. There was nothing strange about this.

Just then, the door opened again. Charlotte walked into the room with her usual calm and gentle smile. Behind her, those men wore dejected expressions, including the little boy they brought, whose eyes were red. Without asking, Julian understood that these people must have privately hoped Charlotte would remember her identity, but what they didn’t expect was that their young lady had already died, and the soul residing in this body now was completely different. Because of this, no matter what methods these people used, they couldn’t make Charlotte waver in the slightest.

“Master, I didn’t remember anything,” Charlotte smiled and bowed slightly to Julian, then answered. Hearing her response, the leading man’s face darkened. He opened his mouth wanting to say something, but finally just let out a long sigh and said nothing.

The time is about right.

“Since the matter has been clarified, we should talk about the main issue,” Julian said, crossing his arms and looking at everyone present with an elegant smile.

“Main issue?”

It must be said that these guards indeed lacked political cells in their brains. After hearing Julian’s words, they were all stunned. Main issue? What main issue? Weren’t they just talking to this lord about the young lady? Now this young lady clearly didn’t acknowledge her identity, and these guards had tried every means but didn’t see her waver at all. Even the young lady’s most beloved brother crying and shouting in front of her didn’t make her return to normal. So now these guards believed Julian’s words – it seemed this young lady had really lost her memory.

“Excuse me, my lord, what do you mean by the main issue…”

Hearing their question, Ophariel first helplessly pressed her forehead and let out a long sigh. Honestly, she had never seen people so slow to catch on.

But Julian obviously had no reaction to this. He just shrugged, then smiled and asked,

“May I ask, what are your plans next?”

“If the lord is willing to release us, we plan to return to the Zach family’s territory and then make further plans.”

“Make further plans?” Hearing this, Julian slightly raised his eyebrows. He looked at the little boy before him quite playfully.

“I think you probably haven’t anticipated what kind of situation you’ll encounter after you go back.”

“This… I don’t understand your meaning, my lord.”

They really don’t understand…

Looking at the confused attendant before her, Ophariel opened her mouth but couldn’t say a word. She had never encountered such stupid people. Compared to him, perhaps dealing with that Viscount Euwen would be easier.

“If you go back like this, you’ll definitely be charged with kidnapping the family heir, won’t you? Do you plan to just take this young master back to your territory and then be imprisoned?”

“That’s impossible!” Hearing Julian’s words, the leading man immediately shouted.

“We are the loyal subjects protecting the young master! How could it be kidnapping? We took him away to protect him from harm by those guys!”

These idiots…

Ophariel rolled her eyes. She looked at Julian. If she had any hesitation before, now she truly hoped her lord would cut ties with these people. They didn’t understand the consequences of their actions at all, and still righteously believed they had done nothing wrong. It would be better to just let them fend for themselves. Twilight Forest’s own development was just starting. Why ruin their future for such foolish people?

“But those people you mentioned don’t think so,” Contrary to Ophariel’s helplessness, Julian changed his posture, comfortably leaning back on the sofa, and continued speaking.

“Right now, you’ve left the Zach family’s territory, whereabouts unknown, while they are still in the Zach family. So, even if you know they’re lying, only you know that. To others, the family heir has indeed disappeared, and you took him away. No matter how you took him away, this fact is undeniable.”

“This…”

Hearing this, the leading man opened his mouth wide but couldn’t say anything more. Although he lacked political acumen, he wasn’t stupid to this extent. Julian had made things so clear that if he still didn’t understand the other’s meaning, he would be a fool.

“However, I do have a method that can help you achieve your goal,” Saying this, Julian stood up, walked to the group, and extended his right hand.

“I only hope you can make a deal with me…”

“An unsafe deal,” Only after the group left with their young master did Ophariel helplessly speak.

“My lord, do you really plan to do this? Don’t forget, there’s currently a group of Bird family people watching us… If we really do this, the Bird family will probably know everything in a few days.”

“You don’t need to worry about that, Miss Ophariel,” Julian returned with a smile after seeing everyone off.

“Stupid fools are easy to manipulate. Although we don’t have any agreement between us, I never intended to sign an agreement with them… As for the other issue, it’s not an issue at all.”

Saying this, Julian paused for a moment, then put away his smile and looked at Ophariel.

“Well then, Miss Ophariel, please go to Caster. As the lord of Twilight, I order them to participate in this operation.”