Volume 8 Chapter 1 Part 1

Chapter 1: Treaties

「Lord Vilar… 」

Theo bowed his head reverently towards the throne of the Castle Unicorn where no one was sitting now.

Siluca watches him do that with solemn feelings in her heart as the Lords of the Artuk Treaty gathered in the throne room and did exactly the same thing Theo did one by one.

Soft moonlight poured in through the open window, and a night breeze with the scent of sea salt mixed into it blew in, making Siluca feel as if the sweat that had soaked heavily into her robes was drying refreshingly.

Looking back, today was an extremely hot day. However, the fierce battle that took place on this day made it hard to forget.

Aiming to take advantage of the Artuk Treaty’s army that was surrounding Castle
Unicorn, Milza Kuches, the Viceroy of Dartania stormed out of the castle after being confined in it with his army for over a month, with the intention of attacking and defeating Theo.

The camps of the Lords of the Artuk Treaty that were standing in his way were defeated one after another, and Milza finally invaded Theo’s main camp.

Milza easily broke through the solid defense network built by Siluca and managed to reach Theo himself, challenging him to a duel to the death in front of all of their soldiers.

Despite Siluca’s protests that it was not necessary for him to do so, Theo ended up accepting the gauntlet that Milza threw at him.

Milza was a warrior rumored to be the strongest on the continent, and in terms of his raw abilities, he was definitely stronger than Theo, so he was probably hoping to overwhelm him and end the duel quickly. However, Milza was exhausted from all the previous fierce battles he had to go through to reach Theo, and even the power of his Crest was now inferior to Theo’s after he distributed it among the many of his subordinate Lords. After all, Theo had been preparing and training for this moment, while Milza and his soldiers stayed complacent for a whole month.

Theo fought relentlessly and was able to outmaneuver Milza and draw out the duel until his physical strength was exhausted and he could no longer move. This is definitely not a way of fighting that can be praised for bravery. However, it is an unmistakable fact that he defeated the Viceroy of Dartania and claimed his Crest for himself.

Theo’s feats of valor not only in today’s battle, but throughout the entire campaign to retake Artuk from Dartania have been truly unparalleled. That is why Siluca made a suggestion before all of the Lords of the Artuk Treaty: a suggestion that Theo should be the one to represent the Artuk Treaty in paying respects before the throne at Castle Unicorn, previously owned by Vilar Constance.

After a long moment of silence, Theo turned around to the other Lords.

「Theo Cornero, Earl of Sistina. 」

The current leader of the Artuk Treaty, King of Selvis, Lassic David, slowly walks up to Theo and kneeled at his feet.

「I believe that the time has finally come for me to give the Crest that you’ve entrusted to me back to you. 」

Lassic’s expression was so bright that anyone could see that he was waiting for this moment to happen for a long while now.

「If none of you have any objections towards it… 」

Answering that, Theo looked around at the other Lords.

「I believe that right now, no one is going to have any objections towards you becoming the Treaty’s new leader. 」

Queen Edochia of Haman said with a lustrous smile on her face. While everyone else was wearing armor, she is the only one wearing a sky blue dress studded with the pieces of expensive jewelry.
「It is clear to everyone that the Duke of Sistina is the one who’s suitable to be the leader of the Artuk Treaty. As such, I would also like to offer my subordination to you, Lord Theo. 」

Edochia then turned her gaze to check the intentions of the other Lords. The hem of her dress spread out, and the smell of her perfume wafted up all the way to Siluca.

「I would also like to be subordinate myself to Lord Theo. 」

The first person to speak up was Serge Constance, the Earl of Regalia. When everyone else heard him speak, the entire throne room was filled with a bit of a buzz.

Although Serge was standing on the other side of ten room with the rest of the Lords, he is actually Vilar Constance’s younger brother and the current head of the Constance family. He is so weak in battle that he has currently been given a mocking nickname of 「The Fugitive Earl」, but even though he once allowed Regalia to be captured by Dartania, he managed to take it back from the invaders and he also participated in the final battle against Dartania to recapture Castle Unicorn, so his reputation has been restored now.

And since Theo was once subordinate to Vilar, it can be argued that he is Theo’s new master, based on the bloodlines alone.

「However, I would like to abandon Constance’s family name and take on my mother’s name, Strea. 」

Serge continued, surprising everyone present at the scene even more.

「Brother! 」

Igor Constance, Serge’s younger brother, raises his voice in a panic. It seems that the two did not discuss it beforehand, and it was something that Serge wanted to do on his own together with his contracted Mage, Eret Harukas. Siluca guessed that Eret was probably the one who came up with the idea in the first place.

「From today onwards, you will become the head of the Constance family. 」

Serge looked back at his brother and declared as such.

「In that case, I would also like to subordinate myself to Earl Theo Cornero. 」

Igor was silent for a while, but then a resigned look appeared on his face, and he nodded with a sigh.

「That is, of course, if you don’t mind having me as your Subordinate Lord, Lord Theo. 」

Igor looked back at Theo and bowed to him deeply.

Even if the Crests of both Serge and Igor were to be combined together, that would still not be enough for either of them to rule over Artuk or Regalia.

Therefore, the only way for Igor to take over Artuk as the new head of the Constance family was to receive the Subordination Crest from Theo.

「Alright, I accept you. 」

Theo nodded approvingly.

「Well then, Earl Igor Constance will take over Artuk as the new head of the Constance family, and Earl Serge Strea will take over Regalia. 」

Siluca dared to speak to everyone present in a businesslike tone.

「Veltava will stay in the hands of Viscount Petr Morba, and Kirchs will remain in the hands of Viscount Yorgo Dalaras, and Haman in the hands of Edochia Karaha, while Falvis will stay under the guardianship of Baron Radovan Torias., who will report directly to Lord Theo. 」

The named Lords bowed as Siluca was listing their names to show obedience to Theo.

「And of course, Earl Lassic David will continue to rule as the Kind of Selvis and Ozer. 」

「Leave it to me. However, I’d like to announce a slight correction of that statement. Instead of me, I would like one of my subordinate Lords, Viscount Cassin Rajo, to govern Ozer. Is that okay with you? 」

Lassic made an offer to Theo.

「Yes, I’ll accept that arrangement as well. 」

Theo nodded approvingly. He had no reason to refuse, since Moreno, Lassic’s contracted Mage, informed him about this in advance already.

After making Ozer into a vassal state of Selvis, Lassic placed Viscount Natalia Rajo Maudry in charge of Ozer as its new Queen. However, the Maudry family was originally under Theo’s direct control, and Natalia should also be under Theo’s direct control as a result… but she refused to subordinate herself to him.
With no other choice, Lassic planned to have Natalia return her Crest, install her eldest brother Cassin as the head of the Rajo family, and give him Ozer as the territory to rule over once again. It’s not because he was looking for someone to replace her, but he was doing that because he wanted to take Natalia as his wife.

He will also raise the child she has with Neman Maudry until he becomes an adult and will inherit the Maudry family. If the two of them will have a child of their own, that child would then become an heir to the David family.