Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 411 The scapegoat

"Where are Lucia Sanx's troops?"

In the aristocratic club of the Rodel family, which is extremely prestigious in the upper-class circle of the royal capital, a middle-aged noble with elegant appearance, exquisite clothes, and exuding the fragrance of light perfume stroked his short beard worth thousands of gold and spoke nonchalantly.

His attitude seemed casual, but no one dared to look at his attitude truly casually - even if the person sitting opposite him was the Marquis of Woodroffe, the deputy master of the Order of Rodel, one had to always be respectful in front of the youngest duke of the dynasty.

Except for the Duke of Stanley in Moren City who was independent of the dynasty's noble lineage, there were seven dukes in the Golden Dynasty. After the Duoris family was stripped of their titles and exiled, there were only six people sitting in this position that symbolized the pinnacle of the aristocratic system for a long time.

Harvey, Hoyle, Rossetti, Kelly, Baldwin, Stevenson.

Six dukes, three from the old party and three from the new party, representing the six most powerful surnames under the royal family, six ancient, prosperous and glorious families.

It was not until the King of Elden, Radagon, crowned the seventh Duke, Morik Arnold, at the beginning of last year and transferred many of the lands and official positions that once belonged to the Duoris family to the Arnold family that the vacancy was filled again.

People at that time also criticized Duke Arnold's ascension to the throne. After all, the 35-year-old Duke had no military achievements, and his brief military career only included serving as Radagon's close guard in the Battle of the Moon Tree.

This would give others an advantage in the Golden Dynasty, which was founded on military power. Moreover, the Arnold family could not be compared with the other six ducal families. The father of Duke Arnold had just become a marquis. In terms of strength, he was not outstanding among the marquis families. How could he be qualified to lay claim to the title of duke?
You know, the title of duke is not just about having a larger family fiefdom or higher personal honor. Although the dukes of the Golden Dynasty are subject to a highly centralized state system and are not as powerful as the Duke of Calia, they still have a very significant influence on the government.

A duke usually holds the command of one of the dynasty's main legions at the same time - such as the Northern Guardian that Duoris once held, the Southern Guardian that Duke Hoyle currently holds, and the Commander of the Knights Rodel that Duke Rossetti holds. When a family possesses both extremely high status and extremely heavy authority, it will have a large number of supporters.

Most of the marquis families still have a strong degree of independence, but if you count further, there are countless earls, viscounts, barons, and knights who depend on them, and they are spread across many positions, heavy or light, throughout the dynasty. Of course, they will not betray the royal family for a duke's family, and this power often does not appear at ordinary times, but whenever necessary, each duke's family will show its significant influence on the court.

When Lucia wanted to exile the Duoris family when she was still a fledgling, she had already won the support of the two majesties, but it was still almost stuck in the court review. Now Godwin wants to promote the feudal bill, but because the three dukes of the old party are aloof and the dukes of the new party are strongly opposed, it has not been implemented until now.

Each duke does not represent himself, but a powerful force within the Golden Dynasty. When they unite their allies to form factions based on their own power and show clearer positions in higher-level confrontations, they become what the world calls the Old Party and the New Party.

But Duke Arnold did not rise to power through military merit or a background that was superior to his peers, but simply through his "political achievements."

What political achievements?
He served as governor of many places in the North, South, and East. He appeased the people after the rebellion. After returning to the capital, he was in charge of the banning of the arena and the handover of foreign slaves to the Ancient Dragon Dynasty. He also made outstanding achievements in bilateral diplomacy and trade.
Therefore, in the eyes of many Rodel people, Morik Arnold's actions can be summarized in one sentence - he is the dog of His Majesty Radagon at home and the dog of His Highness Lucia abroad.

With King Elden's power increasingly surpassing that of the Everqueen, and Her Highness Lucia standing out among her peers as a demigod and gradually showing signs of competing with His Majesty Radagon, how could one not rise to prominence if he could be a dog to both of them at the same time?
But those who are truly at the core of power understand that the existence of Duke Arnold itself is an attitude demonstrated by His Majesty Radagon.

In the short term, he compromised moderately with His Royal Highness Lucia and the Ancient Dragon Dynasty, provided opportunities to the nobles of the old party and the swing faction who wanted to rise to power but had no chance, and showed the world that he was no longer bound by military merit and background, but only pursued position and ability. Therefore, Morik Arnold was actually just a dog of His Majesty Radagon, and he himself believed so. Instead, it was Lucia who forced him to make many compromises that His Majesty was unwilling to make in person, which made him lose face and even be misunderstood by the world. In his heart, she was no different from his biggest enemy.

"The news that the dynasty has received is that they have just conquered the eastern part of the northern border and are planning to go north to join General Borealis and Neo, but..."

Woodroffe quietly observed Arnold's expression, checked the soundproof seal on the door of the private room again, and said in a low voice: "Our friends in the north have sent back some new news."

"North?" Arnold was stunned for a moment, and a hint of anticipation appeared on his face. "What news? Did Lucia finally lose?"

idiot.

Woodroffe laughed inwardly, finally confirming the judgment of the top aristocratic circles on Morik Arnold.

Although a duke has not yet held a military position and lacks direct access to war reports in the North, Arnold's status means that many people who want to know the public information will come to him and give it to him.

As a qualified person in power, one must not only hold on to the power that he or she possesses, but also pay close attention to the power that he or she does not have yet but can seize, because only in this way can they continuously expand the boundaries of their power.

The greater the power you hold, the more stable the power will be.

But Arnold just didn't understand such a simple truth.

It would have been fine if he didn't understand, but when he heard the ambiguous test at the end, his first reaction was not how a dynasty marquis could have "friends in the north", but he focused on the news itself, and was fully expecting that His Highness Lucia, who had humiliated him, would suffer a defeat.

After seeing the other party's reaction, Woodroffe was very clear that Arnold did not have the so-called sense of propriety, nor was he trying to act like a fool in order to play the role of His Majesty's lackey. Because with the information he might have and the position he was in, there was no need and no possibility for him to deliberately show such an attitude to test him.

So he is really stupid.

It's not easy to meet a real fool these days, let alone a big fool who is in a high position and can use his power to solve countless troubles.

Woodroffe was deeply grateful for this. Not only did he feel less resistant to being pushed to do this job, but he also became more "respectful" towards Arnold in his words and actions.

We are all destined to be scapegoats, but now there's a fool who's almost grabbing your hand and saying, "Brother, step back and let me do it." He's blocking all possibilities of dying for you without any explanation. Can't you still be nicer to him?
(End of this chapter)