Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 513 Political Marriage
Olde Coffman closed the crystal screen of the magic brain instrument, sat down at the solid wooden desk and let out a long sigh.

After secretly searching for a long time in the spellcaster forum, he finally spent nearly half of his hard-earned points and a copy of the Kofman family's secret eight-ring high-level improved spell to get what he wanted from Mr. Man in the Mirror.

After a long silence, he turned on the magic brain instrument again without giving up, entered the login code of "Earth-loving One", and re-entered the forum's separate chat channel. The code representing Kel'Thuzad was still gray, indicating that the other party had not entered the forum at all during this period... He didn't know whether he had seen the message he sent.

Yes, Mr. Kel'Thuzad, as the mage lord who commands the North and the Principality of Saint Valen, will be officially crowned king soon. He is probably too busy with mundane affairs right now to have any chance to check the forum messages.

Bang!
The heavy door of the study was suddenly pushed open, and a woman wearing the standard armor of the Barclay Royal Knights rushed in with vigorous steps, standing in front of Olde with her hands on her hips, an angry look on her face.

The two wizard apprentices guarding the door hung their heads dejectedly, as if they were terrified that they had not been able to stop the other party from breaking in.

Alder sighed and waved his hand for the apprentice to close the door again and leave.

"Great-grandfather, why did you express your request for marriage to the northern mage lord without my consent?"

The female knight had obviously vented her anger before her visit. Although she still had some anger in her, she was still able to maintain her composure. As she paced back and forth, her waist-length jet-black hair swayed, revealing a hint of deep green from time to time.

"Diane, how long has it been since you dyed your hair? Didn't you use the magic dye I sent you on time?" Older frowned and said unhappily.

"That hair dye smells terrible. Besides handling government affairs, I also need to frequently visit the Knights Templar to urge my subordinates to practice combat skills. How can I have the time to fiddle with my hair all day?"

The female knight loudly defended herself for a few moments, then suddenly came to her senses and shouted angrily, "Great-grandfather! You're trying to change the subject again! We were clearly discussing a political marriage. Please give me an explanation!"

Olde sat motionless in a high-back chair. He just raised his hand slightly and snapped his fingers. A stream of dark green light shot out from his fingertips and hit Diane's temples at high speed, instantly dyeing her long dark green hair into dark black.

Diane didn't react for a moment. Her left hand had just subconsciously pressed on the hilt of the sword at her waist when she was hit on the forehead by the spell, making her already unhappy expression even more embarrassed and annoyed.

"You are no longer the leader of the Royal Knights. As Her Majesty the Queen of the Duchy of Barclay, your every word and action is closely watched by countless eyes. Do you really want the secret you have concealed for over twenty years to be made public?"

Diane gripped the hilt of her sword, slumped over, and sat down across from Olde. "So? You're planning to marry me off to a powerful figure from a neighboring country just because he's a spellcaster like you. Can you keep this secret for me?"

She paused, then sarcastically asked, "If the marriage is successful, do you intend for me to marry you and then take control of domestic politics yourself... or will the Northern Lord voluntarily leave his duchy and come to Barclay to become a powerless and idle prince?" Olde's hand, about to stroke his beard, froze in mid-air, and he coughed awkwardly. "I think you're blinded by anger. This is only a marriage in name only. You won't go to Saint Valen... and the new king certainly won't come to Barclay!"

He paused, then explained gently, "If it weren't for you, why would I risk offending a powerful mage lord... and flatter him by asking for a marriage? A secular marriage is a burden to high-level spellcasters, not to mention that once offspring are born, the magical bloodline will be diluted, making it difficult to improve one's rank, and even risking a decline."

Diane blinked, her anger suddenly turning into joy as she whispered, "So, the reason you gave up on striving for the Legendary rank and chose to marry your great-grandmother and give birth to your grandfather was because..."

Older's face flushed, a rare moment, as he interrupted, "Striving for the Legendary rank is extremely risky, with a one in a hundred chance of success. Compared to such a risky endeavor, cultivating a qualified heir to the kingdom is clearly more rewarding. Don't forget... before I became a spellcaster, I was the Prince Regent of Barclay!"

"Before you planned to propose a marriage, you condoned and allowed the Northern Lord to brazenly invade our border and attack Carlo...in order to build closer ties with him and gain his trust?" Diane was puzzled. "Then why did you then ask me to write a letter publicly condemning his brazen invasion? Isn't that inconsistent?"

"You still have a lot to learn about political tactics... I'm doing this to discredit you, to make people think that everything is the personal opinion of me, the one in power behind the royal family. That way, even if I'm rejected, it'll only be me, an old man, who'll be embarrassed. Since we're both on the same forum... ahem, members of the same secret organization of spellcasters, he won't mind too much."

He explained a great deal, but his great-granddaughter still had her brows raised, a look of discontent on her face. She said bitterly, "The fact that the Kofman family possesses the blood of the ancient High Elfs was no secret among the royal families of the southern states. But... it just so happened that your bloodline reverted to its ancestral lineage! If those centuries-old stubborn people in the Golden Forest of the East knew about this, you know what would happen to you!"

Diane turned her head away and said stubbornly, "So what if they knew? Do the elves of Lorien still dare to invade the human kingdom? After the Dragon War, they were forced to return to the Golden Forest in disgrace by the High Wizard Council and the human coalition. Although the Federation and the Church are now completely at odds, the alliance between the southern countries still exists."

"Short-sighted! After the Union formed an alliance with the Northern Lords, the Church's influence in the South will crumble. Without the Church's checks and balances... the secular nobles of the various nations will no longer be able to profit from swinging back and forth between wizards and the Church as they did for the past few hundred years. The elves will certainly not directly invade the southern nations, but if those old guys really asked for people, the Wizard Council and the Union would definitely not side with Barclay after weighing the pros and cons. Would I dare to refuse to release them then?"

The blood of the ancient high elves is so rare that the elves who have survived in the Golden Forest of the East for hundreds of years have not had a royal member with atavistic blood since the Dragon War. This has completely led to the frequent internal struggles and power changes in the elven royal family, which was already difficult to reproduce. Descendants like Diane who have atavistic blood are worthy of Lorien's efforts to obtain them, even if they have the mixed-blood identity that they hate the most.

If it weren't for Harvey, the suddenly rising lord of the North, Olde would probably have chosen to sacrifice his most beloved great-granddaughter, whom he had raised as his only heir, in exchange for the help and support of the High Wizard Council and the elves. After all, he had no other choice.

"Although the Northern Lord is a spellcaster, he's also a promising young king. If the marriage between the two countries can be successfully concluded, with his influence in the Union and the Southern Territories, he will definitely be able to protect you from the invasion of the Eastern Territory. Furthermore, Saint Valen is currently formidable... Actively submitting to him would also allow Barclay to avoid the ravages of war."

Dain was shocked. She stood up and pressed her hand on the table in disbelief. "You mean, the Northern Lord... the new King of Saint Valen is planning to declare war on the neighboring countries? What is he going to do?"

"Hehe... Just wait and see. At the latest after winter this year, his covetous magic army will attack the Principality of Arred and Isengard!"

(End of this chapter)