I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 99 Delayed Wedding

The process was hasty, but the dinner was sumptuous.

To avoid any further complications, Luc was knighted by Baron Berry, whom he had just met, within less than an hour of entering the castle.

Dean Pierre was the first to offer his congratulations, followed by the Freeman attendant, and then two men who claimed to be Knights of the Imperial Household also came over with smiles to congratulate him, but Luc could detect subtle dissatisfaction and hatred on their faces.

However, the two of them quickly eliminated most of their hostility towards Luke.

After everyone finished congratulating, Luc formally donated half of the land of Tiha Village to Dean Pierre to show his loyalty to God. Pierre was deeply moved and praised Luc's piety.

He then sincerely told Baron Berry that he only hoped to grow old with Lady Douce and did not want to covet Baldwin's territory, and begged the Baron to take back the remaining fiefdoms.

If Luc hadn't known in advance that this was a trap set by the three of them, he might have been fooled by the expression on Berry's face. His blue-gray pupils were full of shock, his slightly widened mouth had just the right arc, and even the facial muscle movements were just right, neither exaggerated nor weak. He was pretending too much, as if he was completely unaware.

After pretending to persuade Luc for a while, and seeing Luc's resolute attitude, Berry could only sigh heavily and reluctantly took back the remaining territory.

However, the kind-hearted baron could not allow a loyal, great and pious knight to be without any fiefdom, so he generously gave Luc the Twerf Bridge and the Tihar Mill, along with a third of a mile of land around them.

This time Luc did not refuse.

Happy to everyone!

Luc accepted the two small territories with a heartfelt smile.

Luc had his reasons for asking for these two places.

The Twerf Bridge is the only bridge from Cooper Castle to the north. He has already established a relationship with the Hoffman caravan. If his trade can grow bigger and bigger, the caravans traveling across this bridge will surely increase. Collecting bridge tolls is just a convenience. The real reason is that Luc will have the right to decide who does not have to pay the bridge toll.

In this era, no one dared to build an extra bridge across a river without the lord's consent.

The mill is simple.

Except for the lord, everyone else, whether freemen or serfs, who wants to use the mill must pay mill money!

With the legal ownership of the mill, Luc could expand and renovate it, turning it into a water mill and saving mill costs.

Don't underestimate this point. As an important means of production, the stable income brought by the mill is quite considerable. Luc has always had a plan in his heart. If possible, he hopes to use the convenience of the water mill to invest in more mills in the noble territories in order to earn more money.

He took the knight sword given by Berry. Yes, every knight lord needs to give the other a sword. As to whether it is a sword, it all depends on whether the lord is generous and wealthy.

It was obvious that this sword was far inferior to Henry's knight's sword, but Luc still put it away respectfully.

"By the way, Knight Luc, from today on, you are also my vassal. Just a month ago, I followed the Earl and the Duke to suppress the rebellion in the south. But you should also know that the enemy was not completely defeated. It was just because of the approaching winter that we had to withdraw our troops. We will continue the campaign next year. Therefore, you are also obligated to follow me to fight!"

Luc had just put his knight's sword on his waist, but he froze when he heard Berry's words.

Go on a crusade?!
"Sir, you should know that I don't have any fiefs and cannot organize soldiers."

"No, you don't need to organize the soldiers. You and your two followers are enough~"

Baron Berry interrupted Luc with a smile. Looking at his gaze, Luc suddenly realized - was he just going to burn his bridges?
"Of course, you have a point. After all, three of us wouldn't be of much use. How about this? Since we can't go on the expedition, we can contribute some funds to it. Forget Telf Bridge, but we can use the mill gold from the first three years in Tiha as funding. What do you think?"

Looking at Berry's forced smile, Luc finally understood what was going on.

Pierre, there was no agreement with Baron Berry at all!

In other words, he used some methods to force Baron Berry to award him two fiefs.

So much so that the other party has been brooding over it. Berry doesn't care about a remote place like Twerv Bridge, but he will never let Luc get the mill for nothing!

Anger rose in Luc's heart. He didn't expect that dividing up Baldwin's land still couldn't satisfy this greedy jackal!

"No problem, it's my honor." Luke calmed down and finally nodded in agreement.

"What a loyal warrior! Come, let's drink to your generosity!"

The sweet wine was drunk in one gulp, and the two men chatted for a while. Having achieved his goal, Berry no longer mentioned the issue of conscription and turned to leave.

The dinner lasted until midnight. Led by the servants, Luc moved into a side room. At his request, Ryan and Hans lived next door.

The knight was canonized and the territory was divided, but until Luc went to bed, he never saw the real owner, Duce Baldwin.

According to Pierre, Du Si will not arrive at Cooper Castle until half a year later. After all, Baldwin has just passed away, so it is not appropriate to arrange the wedding immediately.

Only then will it be a true wedding for two young people who have never met each other.

Of course, Luke would not wait for the other party foolishly, and prepared to set off back to the mountains tomorrow morning.

Berry and Pierre did not care where Luc had been living.

"Wife, are you going to have a wife so soon?"

Luc lay on the soft bed, staring at the dark ceiling, feeling endless emotion in his heart.

Is it appropriate to exchange one's marriage for a title?
Luc had no answer in his mind.

No matter how many mistresses or illegitimate children a nobleman has, at the very least, he has only one wife.

This is the church's rule and no one will violate it.

That is to say, for the rest of Luc's life, unless Dus dies, she will always be his wife.

"I wish I were better looking."

Luc murmured something, then turned over and fell asleep, feeling drunk.

……

At noon the next day, Baron Berry prepared another luxurious lunch for Luc. After the meal, the excited Ryan and the satisfied Hans said goodbye to the Baron and Pierre.

After Pierre and others left one after another, Freeman's attendant suddenly came up to Berry and quietly told him about the conflict between Luc and John in the tavern the day before.

"Sir, Knight Luc hasn't been crowned yet, yet he's acting so arrogantly in your fiefdom. Isn't that a bit too much?"

"Shut up, Furman!"

The short but strong Berry suddenly narrowed his eyes and interrupted Freeman's words. He looked Freeman up and down, which immediately made the personal bodyguard tremble with fear.

"No matter what, Luc is also a knight. Even if he has not been knighted, he is still a knight of Upper Lorraine, while John is just a lowly commoner!"

"What's wrong with a knight teaching a miller a lesson?"

Berry, of course, wasn't speaking for Luc. The senior noble smacked his lips and said, "I know John gave you two wolf skins, but you have to understand that John is just a dispensable substitute. It's not worth it for you to accuse a nobleman to me for him. If you can't understand this, you will always be a squire. Do you understand?"

As Furman nodded repeatedly, Berry turned and left, leaving behind a few words:

"There's no need to keep John. We'll get rid of him soon. The reason is that he embezzled the people's grain."

At noon that day, Deaf John was hanged in front of the castle gate amid the people's jubilation and shouts of justice for the Baron.

Luke, who had not walked far, turned around and looked at Cooper Castle, patted Ryan on the shoulder. Unlike Ryan's surprised and happy look, Luke's eyes were particularly solemn.

(End of this chapter)