Chapter 984: Chapter 429: Why Couldn’t It Be Me? (Part 2)
"Why can’t I do what you can? I just haven’t had the chance! If the Lady chose me as the Divine Chosen Champion, I could do it too!" Antelme bombarded with questions. Seeing Laine deep in thought, he continued, "Laine, many things are not exclusive to you; I hope you understand."
"Many Great Nobles in the Kingdom think like this, right?" Laine caught the implicit meaning in Antelme’s words.
"Indeed, Laine, not everyone is far-sighted. If everyone were smart and far-sighted, His Majesty Arthur wouldn’t have desperately resisted against a Greenskin army thirty times his own number, Savior Ludwig wouldn’t have rallied all Imperial people to resist Chaos when the capital fell, and even Emperor Carl Franz, if he was as far-sighted as many hoped, wouldn’t have narrowly won after being at an 8:4 disadvantage in the first round of votes against Boris Todbringer for the throne."
"If everyone were far-sighted, the world would still be under the rule of High Elves, and there wouldn’t be Charlemagne’s Empire. If everyone was far-sighted, would the Knight King Taylor simply comply when His Majesty Ludwig invited Brittania to merge into the Empire, leveraging the mighty achievements of the Great Holy War and the prestige of the New Empire’s 200,000 elite troops?" Antelme continued, "Your cousin favors you, won’t tell you this, but I’ll tell you, there are many people like this, they love to use results to retroactively prove causes and processes in their favor, assuming they see through others, but in actuality, they can’t even see through themselves. Fortunately, at least from your current actions, there’s not too much flaw they can pick, though there are definitely many who have opinions in their hearts."
"Sadly, this type of person is in the majority." Laine chuckled bitterly, "Many people desire some change; few are willing to make any change."
"That’s all I’ll say." Count Kuileu Antelme gestured for Laine not to send him off; he whistled, a Pegasus descended from the sky, carrying the Count away.
Left behind was Laine, who fell into deep contemplation.
The Grey Knight Primarch extended his hands, feeling the overwhelming power within him, sparks and lightning of Spiritual Energy danced joyously in his palms, these hands can serve many purposes, but Laine chose to use them for protection, to safeguard what he cherished, his family and loved ones, humanity, and order. He had grasped the Warhammer and killed enemies countless times over the years, a choice he decided to continue in the future.
His actions were never for personal desires or family interests; he felt no guilt for this.
This was enough.
...
The holiday time at the villa in the woods was always particularly short. Before fully enjoying the brief leisure, Laine returned to internal affairs, handling endless state matters personally, including preparations and selection for the army’s expedition. The granary built by the Count was already stacked high with military provisions; trade caravans from the Dwarves of the Gray Mountain Range and Wood Elves of Aisloron arrived in succession, laden with goods, arriving full and departing full.
Gradually, summer arrived, the scorching sun replaced spring’s warmth, roasting the earth, and the midsummer night conscription festival was approaching. This year, the eagerness of peasants—more actively enlisting than anyone expected—was beyond imagination. Those with no worries about food or clothing would loudly discuss this, bringing themselves or their children to the Count’s castle for selection; everyone longed to join the army, not fearing death, but fearing a lifetime as a lowly peasant, with the rare free-person status only obtainable through the Count’s command and recognition.
But before all this, Laine first needed to inspect the goods.
After Veronica and her apprentices from the Imperial Royal Wizard Academy spent three months engraving demon patterns and constructing a Magic Array, the Light Magic Riding was nearly completed by summer. This included adjusting the degree of Magic Overload, automatic construction and engraving of Magic Arrays, internal refurbishments, and magical experiments within the Light Magic Riding.
Now, assembly was complete, and soon Veronica could stand on this powerful war machine for combat.
Under the scorching sun, Laine took his female courtier Teresa to Veronica’s Dawn Wizard Tower to observe the practical power of the Light Magic Riding.
The female sorcerer was somewhat displeased, initially discontented with Laine giving priority to Veronica for the Light Magic Riding, yet upon personal experimentation, she found Laine’s priority wasn’t entirely favoritism towards Veronica but rather due to magical adaptability.
Manufactured by the Imperial Royal Wizard Academy’s Bright Academy, in principle, Light Magic Riding is initially allocated to Light Mage, and then spread to the Great Wizards of the entire Royal Wizard Academy.
Thus, Veronica, adept in Light Magic, got accustomed to this mighty war machine swiftly, whereas Teresa, primarily an Ice Element female sorcerer, inherently had theoretical magic difficulties, and Ice Magic not belonging to the Magic Eight Winds further troubled her utilizing this war machine.
To illustrate, Veronica and her witch apprentice group could complete the construct in three months; Teresa and her witch apprentice group might need three years, especially as her Wizard Tower was only half-built, her witch apprentice group hasn’t arrived, during times of resource and energy demand, thus renouncing contention for the Light Magic Riding’s ownership with Veronica, simultaneously coercing Laine into signing numerous unequal agreements, including a solo three-day magic supplies procurement to Boldro.
"Teresa, you seem unwell. Is there a problem with your meditation, or is it the weather?" As they walked near the castle, Laine asked his female courtier, noticing Teresa’s weak spirit.
"The weather, particularly this heat, I think you understand." Teresa looked pale and held Laine’s arm, wearing a simple, fresh ensemble of a white wave-patterned shirt and black tight straight pants with black pointed heels, exuding a neat, executive aura.
Surya was kind to the two witches; after returning to the territory from the Empire journey, she formally bestowed upon Teresa and Veronica the status of female courtier, reporting to the Kingdom, hence they could legally stay beside Laine, and if they had offspring, they would be recognized as legitimate bastards, except without inheritance rights, enjoying noble privileges and powers.
To put it simply, Teresa and Veronica had a "position" in Laine’s backyard, without suitable cause, they couldn’t be arbitrarily expelled or stripped of female courtier status.
In Brittania, the Empire, or the Southern Realm, it’s well known nobles have many lovers; the female courtier system is a compromise within the noble structure for powerful nobles, meaning one wife is allowed, but there can be multiple female courtiers.
Charlemagne married five wives and five concubines in his life, Francois, besides Julius and Surya, has three legitimate bastards, and Vamil von Rukov, the Emperor the Prince-Elector of Wolfen, has, apart from two sons Oleg and Vasily, two female courtiers and N lovers, six legitimate bastards, and ten unrecognized illegitimate bastards!
"In this season, we, the Ice Element wizards and sorcerers, are all in this state. If it wasn’t for checking Veronica’s Light Magic Riding, I might stay all day cooling off in your brother’s forest villa." Teresa nodded with considerable resentment, "Contrary to me, Veronica’s Mana is most vigorous in summer, and when I’m strongest in winter, she likes nothing more than burrowing under blankets with books, meditating, sitting by the fireplace warming up, or inviting you to roll in bed."
"What is wizard’s Mana like?" Laine asked curiously.
"Then let me explain in detail the Mana Reserves and methods of Magic Chanting."
