The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 397 The Rules of the Nobles

After signing a series of unequal treaties with Yun Feng, Roland finally gained Yun Feng's forgiveness, but the extent of the damage was no less than cutting Roland's carotid artery.

"Never mind, Your Highness..." Omske patted Roland on the shoulder. Given Roland's character, it was already a miracle that he hadn't been beaten to death by Yunfeng.

"Sigh, my little treasure trove has shrunk by more than half again..." Roland shook his head, on the verge of tears. There was no way he could refuse the allure of wealth; those 100 kilograms of mithril were simply beyond his reach...

“Serves you right!” Omske and Adile exchanged a glance, and strangely enough, they both understood what the other was thinking.

"Ahem... Well then, we'll get back to work, Your Highness!" Adile coughed twice in a mature manner before preparing to slip away.

"Forget it, you two go ahead and do your work..." Roland looked at the knight training camp behind them with a sense of despair, and couldn't help but sigh at how lucky these knight seeds were! Two sixth-tier heroes were teaching them, so tell me, would they dare to make a move?

……

"What's wrong?" Nyx asked as Roland walked in, looking utterly dejected.

"Splash!" Roland didn't say anything, he just fell freely into the Nyx room, giving a pure, natural milk...

"Mmm~ It smells good!" Roland stretched his limbs, and the sadness and grief of being robbed just now vanished instantly. No wonder people say that the land of gentle pleasures is the graveyard of heroes.

"What's wrong, my dear? My husband?" Nyx sensed that Roland was preoccupied.

"Alas... I've met the wrong person! My dear, I was just robbed!" Roland almost burst into tears, but considering that it would make her face wet, Roland forced back her tears and could only rub her face vigorously.

"What's wrong? Can you tell me? Maybe I have a solution..." Nyx comforted Roland, pressing down on Roland's mischievous head. If Roland were allowed to run wild and left unattended, Nyx would soon be stripped naked.

“Oh, it’s like this…” Roland complained to Nyx, looking aggrieved.

“…I was clearly doing this for the good of the kingdom, so how could he… If I hadn’t signed a series of unequal treaties, he probably would have killed his lord on the spot!” Roland pouted.

“Well… dear Roland, it’s already a miracle you survived… His Majesty Yunfeng didn’t kill you on the spot, which shows he’s a well-mannered nobleman.” Nyx looked at Roland with a strange expression, his tone filled with indescribable pity. “Sigh… it’s just asking him to go through a bit more trouble…” Roland awkwardly turned his head away, avoiding Nyx’s gaze.

“Is that too much trouble for you? Even serfs in the fields wouldn’t dare to treat him like that… not to mention he’s a sixth-tier sage. Although sages aren’t good at fighting, they still deserve respect.” Nyx said seriously, his eyes filled with undisguised solemnity as he looked at Roland.

“We are royalty, but in essence we are still nobles, just the highest nobles in the kingdom. We cannot easily break the unspoken rules and regulations of the nobility. Although you are the king of the Kingdom of Lagrange, you forcibly imposed such a huge burden on His Majesty Yunfeng without consulting him… Alas!” Nyx sighed as he looked at Roland.

“If this were still happening when the empire was still standing, the nobles under your command would rebel! Besides, you were in the wrong to begin with, and no noble would stand behind you… Essentially, you violated the contract between nobles!” Nyx gently instructed Roland. She had already discovered that although Roland was kind to others, he was basically clueless about matters between nobles. This incident could have been avoided. If Roland had consulted Yunfeng, things wouldn't have turned out this way. In fact, Nyx felt that Yunfeng had already done more than enough; not betraying the kingdom was already a sign of loyalty!
Nyx silently ticked Yunfeng in his mind. Someone who remained loyal to the kingdom and the king under these circumstances was definitely loyal! Nyx's thoughts raced. After all, the king couldn't monitor every inch of the kingdom; someone always needed to extend the king's will! In Nyx's opinion, Yunfeng was quite good!

Roland paused, taken aback by Nyx's words. He realized he had unknowingly crossed the line of unspoken aristocratic norms. If this were to be taken seriously, it could be considered lord exploitation and oppression of his vassals—something that couldn't be discussed openly among the nobility! Even if everyone was doing such things, they would tacitly embellish and decorate it, unlike Roland who foolishly agreed without even a word…

"..." Roland broke out in a cold sweat. Luckily, this was a system character! Maintaining absolute loyalty to Roland! If it were a native nobleman from the Middle-earth... Holy crap! That would be a disaster!

People will take Roland's behavior as an insult. They may not say anything on the spot, but they will definitely gather their troops, summon other nobles, issue a proclamation, and march straight into the capital! After all, nobles are strange creatures who sometimes value their reputation more than their lives, and sometimes they can trample on their reputation at will.

Nyx looked at Roland's face, which flushed and paled in turns, carefully wiped away the sweat, and then said gently, "Do you understand? Have you thought it through?"

“Yes!” Roland nodded.

"Now you know how dangerous your actions are... As a lord, you should keep some distance from your vassals. Getting too close is not good for anyone!" Nyx pointed at Roland with her slender, jade-like fingers. She didn't want to say these things, as this situation might make her husband think that she was sowing discord between the lord and his subjects. But she couldn't stay silent, after all, her foolish husband was really as clueless as a blank sheet of paper in some aspects.

"Thank you, my darling!" Roland didn't say much, but gently pulled Nyx into his arms and held her on his lap.

Seeing this, Nyx knew that Roland had understood. She smiled, relieved that her efforts to remind Roland, despite the risk of causing marital discord, had paid off. It turned out that Roland was indeed very clever, but he had never been exposed to such matters before and lacked common sense about the unspoken rules among the nobility.

“Now that Renault has left with the caravan, we don’t know how their trip will go. We can’t let our guard down. This time is precious. We need to develop rapidly and try to spread our influence as much as possible!” Roland carried Nyx to the table and pointed to the Kingdom of Lagrange, which was not very noticeable on the map.

“It’s difficult. We don’t have enough nobles and subjects to grant out, and it’s unrealistic for the kingdom to develop and expand on its own!” Nyx shook his head.

(End of this chapter)