Chapter 217: Chapter 179: The Marquis’s Choice
News of Robson’s victory spread almost instantaneously.
Thermopylae had been under construction for thirty years. Though it had yet to be fully commissioned for various reasons, some of its facilities were already in place, such as a small-scale Magic Letter Tower.
Generally, large fortresses or towns would have magical tools to maintain communications, like O’Neil Castle.
Of course, although Thermopylae possessed a functional Magic Communication Tower, it was not staffed with a Mage of the Magic Master level and thus couldn’t be operated.
Robson, as it happened, had one. And when it came to the news of the victory, Mage Norria was far more enthusiastic than Robson. While this wasn’t enough to make Prince Noah a household name in the army, it was enough to make up for his past mistakes on the Western Front.
With the military achievement at Thermopylae, there would always be a way to compensate for the previous matter of the Western Front. Public opinion, after all, was in the hands of the royal family.
Although the Grand Mage hadn’t rested in a long time, he still couldn’t wait to spread the news far and wide.
"Well? What are your thoughts?" Marquis Oscillate asked, looking toward Viscount Sriv. The latter was holding a battle report and a letter—the letter was from His Majesty the King.
"Is His Majesty asking you, Father, to help Prince Noah? To use the victory of this defensive battle to build momentum for him?" Viscount Sriv asked.
Viscount Sriv was the third son of the Edward family. To outsiders, he appeared gentle and good-natured, and he was one of the sons Marquis Oscillate valued most.
The path Marquis Oscillate had chosen for Viscount Sriv’s upbringing was no different from Prince Noah’s.
Back when Louis III was pacifying the country, he had relied heavily on the strength of the Algeria Kingdom. Therefore, after ascending the throne, Louis III changed the Frank Kingdom’s neutral foreign policy, showing a clear bias toward the Algeria Kingdom in many matters.
For example, the high-ranking nobles of the Frank Kingdom would often send their heirs to study at Algeria King’s College. In the past, they would have usually been sent to the Pope Country or the Tilia Kingdom.
Viscount Sriv, like many nobles of the new generation, began cultivating his reputation internationally from a young age, then slowly returned to his home country to further his career.
Now, Viscount Sriv had just graduated early from King’s College to rush back to the kingdom’s battlefields.
"It’s more than that... Look, what has he arranged for Robson?" Marquis Oscillate sneered.
Louis III was using the situation with Robson and the Fengman Clan to play one power against another. This was not difficult to see through, especially for a worldly-wise old fox like Marquis Oscillate.
He, after all, was a figure who had come to prominence during the reign of Louis II. Back then, Louis III had been nothing more than an overlooked prince.
After hearing his father, Viscount Sriv read the letter over again, but in the end, he still couldn’t figure out the scheme.
"Sigh..." Marquis Oscillate couldn’t help but sigh.
"Ah... I’m sorry, Father..." Hearing his father’s sigh, Viscount Sriv immediately rose, intending to bow and apologize, but Marquis Oscillate stopped him.
"Father? Right now, you are my subordinate!" Marquis Oscillate said with a frown.
Marquis Oscillate had always thought highly of this son of his, but frustratingly, his mind was sometimes sharp, and sometimes it wasn’t.
On many matters, Viscount Sriv was unable to see past the surface to grasp the essence of the situation. Moreover, for someone from a Marquis Clan, Viscount Sriv behaved a little too softly; he had lost the arrogance of youth at a young age.
But there was nothing to be done. Marquis Oscillate’s other children were each more extreme than the last...
The Edward family had been a prominent southern clan since the era of the Knight King, and with Marquis Oscillate’s generation, its power was at its zenith.
Marquis Oscillate had met Prince Noah, and though he was loath to admit it, he knew he was indeed no match for Louis III when it came to educating his children.
When the Edward family had reached this level, climbing any higher would require acts that violated moral principles. Marquis Oscillate only wanted the Edward family to have a soft landing after he was gone.
This was also why Marquis Oscillate ultimately chose Viscount Sriv. His other sons, while smarter than Viscount Sriv, were proof that sometimes, cleverness is not necessarily a good thing.
’I’ll just have to teach him slowly over time...’ Marquis Oscillate sighed inwardly. He believed that as long as Sriv applied himself, he would sooner or later come to understand these things.
To Marquis Oscillate, Viscount Sriv’s most precious quality was not his ability, but his steady temperament.
As long as he didn’t stir up trouble, the Edward family would remain at the pinnacle of power in the kingdom.
"As you command, sir!" Viscount Sriv said seriously.
"No need to be so serious...
Look at this letter closely. Louis is trying to push me to the forefront.
In the end, it’s a matter of a Silver’s lifespan. Louis is getting desperate; he’s starting to try anything," Marquis Oscillate said.
’Louis III wants to use Robson to provoke a conflict between myself and Marshal Grantham, but has he considered what might happen if Robson grows too powerful?
With the backing of the royal family and the southern faction, it’s highly likely.
Right now, the southern and northern factions appear to be evenly matched. That’s only because when the Fengman Clan defected to the southern faction, they didn’t bring many of the northern faction’s inland cliques with them. One could even say the Fengman Clan came over on its own.
If Robson becomes a major power in the Northern Three Provinces, no one will be able to restrain the Fengman Clan. When that time comes, what will the Fengman Clan’s former old friends and allies think? What will those northern inland cliques who sided with the royal family and Marquis George think?
The kingdom’s balance of power would shatter in an instant.
Unless Louis III is confident that he can establish a new political balance in the Northern Three Provinces in a short amount of time.’
"So, Father, what should we do?" Viscount Sriv asked, still lost in a fog and tinged with confusion.
"Where is Jeffrey now?" Marquis Oscillate asked.
Viscount Jeffrey was one of the figures Marquis Oscillate had put forward from the southern faction to head to the Northern Three Provinces this time.
"He’s already reached the Royal Capital. I’ve heard that the newly appointed Counts will all arrive before January," Viscount Sriv replied.
"Before January?"
"If it’s before January, then have them meet. Tell Jeffrey to wait until Viscount Robertson is about to reach the Royal Capital, then go out of the city to greet him. Tell him to handle the matter cleanly...
Since Louis wants to use me as his spearhead, then a spearhead I shall be." As Marquis Oscillate spoke his final words, a bright light glinted in his deep eyes.
He, Oscillate, had always been most skilled at redirecting an opponent’s force and capitalizing on the momentum of a situation.
Since His Majesty the King had presented him with such a timely opportunity, Marquis Oscillate didn’t mind making the most of it.
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