I am the one running the game

Chapter 895: Former Viscount Landon Friend in the Imperial Academy of Arts is no longer free
"Landon... Archduke???"

"Is it the Landon family from the Kingdom of Voss?" Flanders, who was at the Imperial Academy of Arts, felt a sense of absurdity.

He abandoned his last name, Langton, and became a free artist.

In his imagination, his art would spread among the nations. As for the original Lanton family? They were just a small noble family in a remote area of ​​the Kingdom of Voss.

Maybe one day, he will get some attention because of his fame.

Unexpectedly, I got a piece of news from a classmate today, that is, a grand duke appeared in the empire, called Grand Duke Lanton, and his duchy was the former Kingdom of Voss.

As for the situation of the Kingdom of Voss, Flanders naturally knew about it. In his opinion, it should have been destroyed.

It is a miracle that he can survive to this day in such a feudal and corrupt place. Even his hometown, in his opinion, is not as good as the remote villages in the Orei Empire.

"Yes, it is the Landon family that guards the Permafrost Mountains." The classmate gave a confirming answer.

Flanders felt as if the sky had fallen. What on earth had his successor, the wandering knight cousin whom he had never met, done?
In fact, he didn't think much of this cousin whom he had never met.

Wandering knights sounded romantic, but he knew that in fact, they were just a group of mercenaries and beggars.

How could one compare with him? He was even ready for the Black Soil Territory to be reclaimed by the Voss royal family.

Unexpectedly, the Black Soil Territory not only still existed, but also became the Principality of Lanton.

"Then...how did he do it?" Flanders asked.

"The Empire is moved by the loyalty of Grand Duke Langdon, he is a true knight."

"Whether it was the Kingdom of Voss being trampled by the false king's undead army or facing our attack, Grand Duke Lanton never retreated."

"Not only that, he also has to fend off the winter wolves in the Everfrost Mountains."

"In such a dire situation, he still persisted in preserving the last inheritance of the Kingdom of Voss. The Empire naturally wants such a loyal talent."

"That's why we surrender."

"At the beginning, Grand Duke Lanton naturally vowed to never surrender."

"Finally, due to the lives of the survivors of Voss, he chose to surrender and was forced to become a duke of the Aore Empire."

"After learning of Grand Duke Lanton's persistence and loyalty, the Empire granted the original Kingdom of Voss to Grand Duke Lanton as a duchy, making it his principality."

Flanders felt dizzy when listening to this story. It was so legendary...

What’s more important is that the other party was so lucky that he was promoted directly from a viscount to a duke.

If it was the Duke of the Kingdom of Voss, Flanders would have disdained him, but this was the Duke of the Orei Empire, a power that most people could never achieve in their lifetime.

In the entire Aore Empire, there are only three dukes, and they only have noble titles but no duchy territories.

But his cousin, a wandering knight, had become a powerful nobleman.

Nowadays, basically no one among the aristocrats has any territory, as all of it has been stripped away.

If I had not given up the title to the other party at the beginning, wouldn't it mean that I would be the one to become the Duke of Orre?
"By the way, Flanders, I remember that before you entered the academy to study art, you seemed to be a noble of the Kingdom of Voss? Do you know this Grand Duke Lanton?" his classmate asked.

If it were someone else, it would be nothing, but if it was Flanders who heard these words, it would be tantamount to murder.

Flanders' face almost turned dark. How could he not know that the surname he abandoned was Landon.

Even this position should have belonged to me.

But now, everything is gone.

Even if Lu Xingshi died suddenly, it would not be his turn. He gave up the surname Landon, which was equivalent to leaving the Landon family and had no right of inheritance at all.

"I don't know..." Flanders said in a muffled voice, obviously in a bad mood.

"That's such a pity." His classmate said regretfully, "But I also heard that the Imperial Family plans to send Princess Lina to the Principality of Lanton and let Grand Duke Lanton become Princess Lina's knight teacher."

As soon as these words came out, Flanders' expression suddenly changed: "How is this possible!"

"He is just a wandering knight. How can he be Princess Lina's knight teacher!!!"

Flanders cursed without hesitation.

"Eh? How do you know that Grand Duke Lanton was born a wandering knight? I don't think I told you that yet." The classmate was a little confused, but soon stopped dwelling on the question: "But you are wrong here."

"Even though Grand Duke Lanton was born a wandering knight, he has already condensed the seed of life and is a registered great knight of the empire."

"According to rumors, every time we fight against the Undead or the Empire's army, Grand Duke Lanton is at the forefront."

"His bravery is recognized by the empire," the classmate corrected.

However, Flanders' expression became more and more ugly.

"I know you love Princess Lina, but I still want to persuade you to give up." The classmate patted Flanders on the shoulder and said. "Wait...what do you mean?" Flanders didn't quite understand. He looked unhappy because his goddess was going to learn the way of knights from a wandering knight. This was too absurd.

But he heard a different meaning from his classmate.

When he was pursuing Princess Lina in the past, she was very supportive and never poured cold water on him.

However, his goddess would accept every gift from him, keep a distance from him, and said that she was just slow to warm up and they could just be friends first.

Princess Lina would also come to the Imperial Academy of Arts to study on weekdays, so there were many people, like Flanders, who were fanatical admirers of Princess Lina, and they all believed that they could pursue Princess Lina.

"Of course it's a marriage." This classmate was not Princess Lina's suitor, so he saw it clearly: "Grand Duke Lanton is very young, powerful, and loyal enough."

"But he is from the Kingdom of Voss. If we want him to be completely loyal to the empire, paying a princess is only the smallest price."

"Princess Lina is a perfect fit. Otherwise, why would the royal family allow Grand Duke Lanton to be Princess Lina's knight teacher?"

"Actually, it's to cultivate feelings in advance, and then arrange the marriage when the time is right." The classmate briefly analyzed the situation for Flanders.

But Flanders found it completely hard to accept, as it completely challenged his three perspectives.

"Impossible, this is impossible..." Flanders now wished he could go back and take back his dukedom.

"Tell me, could it be that wandering knight who forced Princess Lina?" Flanders suddenly said, "Yes, that's right, he must have coveted Princess Lina's beauty."

"This is not freedom!" Flanders' voice got louder when he said this.

"Calm down." His classmates were also shocked by Flanders's appearance. This behavior was indeed beyond his expectations.

As for Flanders' statement, he could only express his speechlessness. Grand Duke Landon didn't even know Princess Lina, and he might not necessarily look down on the so-called princess.

If the aristocrats gain power and the royal family holds real power, Princess Lina will still be valuable and may be worthy of Grand Duke Lanton's covetousness.

But it is not an exaggeration to say that the royal princess today is just a vase. Why would she want to be a vase for no reason?

However, his comfort did not calm Flanders down, but made him even more crazy.

In the end, I couldn't persuade him anymore and could only stay away.

"I didn't expect that Flanders was so obsessed with Princess Lina. I don't know what kind of magic power he has." After leaving, he couldn't help but curl his lips. He decided to stay away from Flanders in the future.

Princess Lina has many suitors, but probably no one is as crazy as Flanders.

This matter has basically been determined without any discussion, unless Flanders can get Archduke Lanton to refuse, but this possibility is not very high.

Flanders was the only one left, muttering absentmindedly: "No, I must go see Princess Lina and prevent her from becoming the apprentice of that wandering knight!"

"Only I am worthy of Princess Lina."

...

"No, what do they mean? Why did they raise the price for me at the last minute?" Lu Xingshi looked at the letter in his hand in confusion.

He was conducting research on winter wolves when he received an urgent letter from the Aure Empire.

It is said that a princess of the empire wants him to be her knight instructor.

"Why are you still being so arrogant? Are you crazy?" Lu Xingshi's face was full of disgust.

This was clearly a letter from the aristocracy, not the overall strategy of the empire.

The reason is very simple. It is nothing more than that the aristocratic faction does not want to be suppressed by the steam faction, and the royal family does not want to continue to be a puppet, so they want to use Lu Xingshi's power to regain their former power and glory.

So a princess was sent over to act as a bridge of communication, saying she was a knight's apprentice, but if Lu Xingshi used her as a RBQ, the other party would not mind, and would even be very happy.

But Lu Xingshi is not a sucker. How could he not see such an obviously loss-making project?

It's not like he hasn't done this kind of thing before.

"Do you really think that you can control me by sending a woman here? There is no such good thing in the world."

"The empire's aristocracy and the royal family cannot be so naive."

"Either this so-called princess is just incredibly beautiful."

"Either the princess is not the focus, and there are other plans." Lu Xingshi narrowed his eyes. There is no such thing as a free lunch. There are only traps.

As for using the princess to win him over, that's a bit too childish.

Using benefits to win over people is the real way to win over people. Even if you give a princess as a gift, she can only be an appendage of the benefits, not the main body.

The top leaders of the empire must be aware of Lu Xingshi's character, so it is possible that there is some hidden conspiracy involved.

"If she dares to come, I will return the goods to her."

(End of this chapter)