Chen Huijie, I am not a good person anymore!

Abrana stared at the rose in her hand and suddenly felt mentally tired. Life without Roya was indeed very uncomfortable, but when would he come back?

In fact, as the leader of Deep Pool, Abranah knew very well that Deep Pool had developed because of the Iron Duke, but was also bound by him. How could a famous Grand Duke be willing to be his subject? It was nothing more than mutual use. "In order to give the people of Tara a better future" was a hypocritical statement no matter it came from Abranah or the Iron Duke Wellington.

There are only ambitions and conspiracies underneath the seemingly united alliance. Roya and Abrana both know that if they want Shenchi to really grow, they need an absolutely reliable Grand Duke. And this time he went there for just this purpose, to ensure that Shenchi has a Grand Duke who will never betray them.

More importantly, if his plan really succeeded, how would she reward herself, the future prince?

Chapter 59 Richard's Ambition

Roya, this is a name that frequently appeared on the tables of the dukes and grand dukes of Victoria within a week. Many grand dukes had actually heard that the Iron Duke had formed an alliance with a red dragon, but they were not sure whether the news was true.

The Deep Pool lineage to which Abrana belonged was expelled many years ago. The only member of the other branch of the Atelias family, Tallulah Atelias, is still missing. Until the Oak Forest incident, the Duke of Normandy and the Duke of Godottin both thought that it was Tallulah who had allied with the Iron Duke.

But Roya has now put Shen Chi on the table and used Abrana's identity to attract the attention of all the grand dukes. The Stanford of the Duke of Stafford and the Gastriel of the Iron Duke are both heading to Oak Forest County, and other grand dukes have also secretly sent out their own spies.

"Grey Hat, Snowrat, and Windermere's Shadow Troops are all active now."

Richard looked at the report in his hand. Hundreds of guards died in the Oak Forest County incident. Such a big thing could not be hidden from the eyes of the grand dukes. Now they even doubted "who is the leader of Deep Pool between Roya and Abrana". In fact, even he suspected that the actual controller of Deep Pool might be Roya.

"Your Excellency, the Chief of the Royal Guards, we have received a code from them. They said they will contact us the day after tomorrow."

"The day after tomorrow... that's a little too soon."

Due to the Duke of Stafford's physical condition, the Stanford was not traveling very fast and it was originally estimated that it would take more than a week to reach the border of Oak Forest County.

And based on the speed of a car, was that guy rushing over without stopping?

“Do you need to respond?”

"Well, reply to him and tell him that we are ready to welcome and negotiate with you and are waiting for His Highness Roya to arrive."

Stafford had given orders, so he naturally had to treat Roya with courtesy. After giving these instructions, Richard glanced at the guards beside him and signaled him to report the matter to the Duke of Stafford.

After the guards left, he reached out and gently patted the radio operator on the shoulder.

"Well done, Fox. It's worth it that I promoted you up here."

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be in my current position. This is what I should do."

Both Richard and Fox were Edward's former subordinates. However, after Richard was secretly promoted by the Duke of Stafford, he also promoted this good friend who once had a good relationship with him to the Duke of Stafford's intelligence department, responsible for sending telegrams on the Stamford.

"When the 'peace talks' are successful, you and I will have a bright future."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Fox gave a shy smile, and Richard felt much better. If he hadn't been concerned about his image, he might have laughed out loud on the spot.

After leaving the intelligence room, Richard, who was wearing heavy armor, felt a chill in Victoria in winter, especially as the wind was still strong on the Stanford. However, he saw Edward Seymour standing not far away, with a trace of sadness between his weathered brows.

"Earl Edward, are you worried about the Duke's problem?"

As it concerns the succession to the Grand Duke's throne, almost all the questions Stafford asked his descendants have been passed on. Everyone is guessing what the purpose of the Deep Pool representative, His Highness Roya's visit is. It could only be to discuss cooperation, but Duke Stafford would not ask such a simple question. Therefore, everyone is privately discussing that the Red Dragon messenger may have bad intentions.

But is this possible? Roya is just one person. He will be asked to disarm before meeting the Grand Duke. No matter how much pressure he puts on others, he is just a clown.

"No, Richard, Grandpa's question is too simple for me. I just...really regret coming to this battleship."

Edward's voice was low. As the person who was once recognized as the most likely to take over the throne of Grand Duke of Stafford, his only shortcoming was that he was too obedient. In this battle for succession, everyone knew that Edward was the last person to worry about, even if he knew the real answer.

After all, if Edward was really determined to inherit the position of Grand Duke of the Stafford family, then he would not need to answer any questions or think about any deciphering, nor would he need to prove himself. He only needed to find the Duke of Stafford now, and no one else would have anything to do with it. The Duke of Stafford would personally help Edward deal with all those who might target him and clear the obstacles for this grandson with the most potential.

"My eldest uncle, my second uncle, my father and his brother, my cousins ​​and I have never had a normal family relationship since I was born. Under the seemingly prosperous life, the interpersonal relationships are cold. I can't even see any family affection in their eyes.

"Whether they are brothers or fathers and sons, they all regard each other as the biggest threat. You know... My father actually knelt down and cried and begged me to tell him what Mr. Luo Ya was here for. It's ridiculous that a man in his sixties would do such a thing."

Edward clenched his fists, making a few crisp sounds. Richard gently patted the shoulder of his former master and now nephew to show his understanding, but he still couldn't help but smile.

"Relax, I'm sure you can't guess what the purpose of this visit by His Highness Roya from the Red Dragon is."

"?"

Looking at Edward's puzzled and confused eyes, Richard smiled and left the deck of the high-speed battleship, leaving him alone muttering to himself.

"Aren't you trying to use the mutual restraint between the dukes to achieve a certain balance?"

The darkness in the shadow disappeared after hearing these words, leaving only a laugh lighter than the sound of the wind. Only Edward was looking at the empty wilderness. He was not lying. If possible, he wished he would never board this battleship in his life. Especially after seeing the ugly appearance of his father and even relatives, he felt even more disgusted.

........................

Nights in the wilderness were no longer uncommon to Roya. After making sure that there would be no new codes coming from the Stanford, he did not stay for long. After eating and cleaning up the traces, he continued on his way. He needed to reach the Stanford before the afternoon of the day after tomorrow. Judging from the current speed, he would have to speed up. It seemed that he would have to eat breakfast in the car.

"Really? What's the point of being so busy? No matter whether it's good or bad in the end, Xiao Ke, Rosemary, and even Rafshine will be taken away by Kal'tsit, and I won't live long."

Throwing the code into the fire and burning it, Roya tapped the steering wheel with his fingers. He was still thinking about whether there were any flaws in his plan. The biggest variable at the moment was the existence of the Duke of Stafford behind him. He was not sure whether his actions would arouse the other party's anger and make the other party overturn the table in anger.

"I'm really... too idle. I always want to find something to do."

Comforting himself in this way, Luo Ya took a deep breath and adjusted his state.

"You must do your best, our Lord the Duke of Stafford."

Chapter 4: Three-party Movements (k)

"He actually chose to meet with the Duke of Stafford alone, and the Abranas even got into a fight over it."

After reading the Deep Pool report sent by the school officer, the Iron Duke couldn't help but frown. This was definitely beyond his expectations.

I thought the relationship between Roya and Abrana was unusual, but now it seems that Roya and Ravshini are having an affair, and Abrana used Ravshini as a threat and made him a pawn or a discarded piece to contact the Duke of Stafford.

But the Iron Duke's years of experience and keen intuition made him realize that the situation would never be that simple. Roya's actions and the conflict between Abrana and Ravshini were simply a mess.

After considering that Roya might be the one who secretly interfered with Victoria through Longmen, the Iron Duke deliberately made a note of it in the letter to Roya. This was also to make Abrana wary of him. In this case, Abrana had no reason to abandon Roya.

But when I think about the intelligence that said that the former deputy director of the Longmen Guard Bureau was indeed dead, and there were many witnesses, this matter is really a bit weird.

"Your Excellency the Duke, do you think this information could be..."

The staff officer's eyes showed only one meaning: the spies from the Iron Duke's faction who had infiltrated the deep pool were all sent away by Luo Ya, and only the colonel was left alone in the base. If these were false information deliberately conveyed by the instructor, it would be easy to understand.

But the colonel has always been loyal to the Iron Duke, otherwise he would not have been entrusted with the important task of helping Shenchi while monitoring Abrana and Ravshini.

“When you can’t explain something, don’t rush to suspect that the information is wrong, think about other possibilities.”

The Iron Duke tapped the armrest of his chair gently. He believed in the officer's loyalty to him, but he and his staff thought about it for a long time and still couldn't figure out what Roya and Aburana were going to do. If they really wanted to discuss cooperation with the Duke of Stafford, then why did Lavshini and Aburana fight?

What the Iron Duke cares about most is what's happening in Dayan. Dayan and Victoria are far apart and the family has never been concerned about other people's affairs. There is no possibility of interfering in Victoria's internal affairs, but Wei Yanwu once had a conflict with a red dragon and has a niece, Tallulah.

"In my opinion, it is likely that a certain Grand Duke deliberately passed the news of the existence of a red dragon in Victoria to Longmen. Wei Yanwu suspected that it was Tallulah, but it was difficult to investigate on the surface, so he asked Roya to fake his death and escape to investigate from Casimir..."

This is a fairly reasonable idea, but there are still many questions that cannot be explained, such as the prophecy of the Cyclops before his death and the purpose of Roja's actions at this moment. No, there is indeed an explanation that makes sense!

"You mean, Stafford has been in the game since the beginning?"

This made a lot of things clear, and the Iron Duke's chief of staff nodded in agreement.

"Yes, he had planted France as an undercover agent in the Deep Pool long ago. He naturally knew about the Cyclops' prophecy that Her Highness Abrana had heard. It is very likely that they used France's report as an excuse to bring Roya into the game.

"We had Longmen intervene and arranged for Roya to enter the Deep Pool, and now we have let Abrana and the Deep Pool escape from our control and cooperate with them. Ravshini and Abrana obviously have differences in this regard. Only this can explain the current situation."

Based on reasonable speculation and judgment, the Iron Duke also thought for a moment that this was the most likely truth. The fight between the dukes had never stopped in secret. Although the Duke of Stafford was old, he had seen a lot, and his long-term operation in Victoria was in some ways even deeper than that of the Iron Duke.

This also explains why Roya dared to go to the Duke of Stafford's high-speed battleship alone, because this was originally part of the plan that had been agreed upon long ago. It was just a process, and Abrana cautiously chose to let Roya go alone.

"And the key now is, how can we prevent these two forces from forming an alliance?"

"..."

The chief of staff chose to remain silent, which was rare. He had followed the Iron Duke Wellington for many years and was always able to give the most appropriate advice in the shortest time, either to solve urgent problems or to be extremely beneficial in the long run. But this time he needed to admit that he had been tricked.

The Iron Duke understood very well that if the facts were really as his chief of staff predicted, the master-servant relationship between the aging Duke of Stafford and Abramana would certainly not be mixed with disputes over power and interests like his, because the Duke of Stafford was too old and he no longer had so much time and energy to grasp power and intrigue. Behind this alliance was probably another gamble by the Stafford family.

If the bet is right, then the war can be launched in the name of the Victorian royal bloodline, and there will be no accusations on any grounds. After all, the red dragon has never been removed from the Victorian flag, and the Aslan royal family has never claimed that the red dragon's status has declined and he is unworthy of being the Victorian monarch.

"My soldiers, are they ready?"

"Yes, the Iron Duke's soldiers will always polish their weapons and be ready to clear any obstacles at any time."

"Then tell them to prepare to win the next war."

The Iron Duke's words made the staff officer break out in a cold sweat; he knew what it meant.

Twenty years have passed since Victoria entered the kingless era. All the grand dukes have been accumulating power openly or secretly. They are not interested in the throne itself. What about the king? Didn't he die easily on the execution platform twenty years ago?

What they want is to be qualified to lead the country forward. Whether it is a grand duke or a king, what confers status and title with real power is their own hard power and the ability to fight.

But everyone still has to have dignity, and everyone knows what the real foundation of a country is. If a civil war really breaks out, the initiator will definitely be the most unpopular and will be besieged by others. That's why the Iron Duke needs a Draco like Abrana even more, even though she is not actually from the Red Dragon royal family.

In this way, the situation will be reversed. Even if the Iron Duke starts a war, it can be said that he is maintaining orthodoxy. If other grand dukes dare to take action against him, they will have ulterior motives, although everyone has ulterior motives.

"Should we inform the school officer?"

"No, they will weigh the pros and cons themselves."

The Iron Duke looked at the vast map of Victoria in front of him. Losing Abrana and Deep Pond meant that he lost the legitimacy to start a war, but there is always an excuse for war.

As for whether he can win the final victory, can he be afraid since he destroyed Gaul in the War of the Four Emperors?

....................................

Just as Roya said in the code before, when the three hands of the clock overlapped at twelve o'clock, he also appeared in the field of vision of the Stanford. At this time, the Stanford had entered "It seems that in order to welcome the visitor from the deep pool, the atmosphere of the entire battleship is a little wrong."

"Who says it's not true? The Duke is surrounded by guards."

"Maybe there is also the task assigned by the Duke. I think the Earl and the others are very anxious. Apart from Earl Edward, who wouldn't want to inherit the position of Grand Duke?"

During the leisure time after dinner, several soldiers gathered together to chat. During this time, everyone could sense that something was wrong with the atmosphere on the warship. Since the trip to Oak Forest County was sudden, it was the first time that the earls who came to celebrate the Duke of Stafford's birthday had stayed on the warship for such a long time, and the guards they brought with them also set sail on the ship.

Those noble lords who were used to a good life could not stand life on high-speed warships. The guards under their command were basically disorganized and undisciplined except for some combat effectiveness. Many conflicts had occurred in recent days.

"My hometown is in the territory of Edward. Earl Edward is truly amazing. Have you ever seen any noble lord who is worried about the common people starving to death in the winter and distributes food to his own people, and also cares about farming issues in the spring?"

There were other people on duty at this time, and Fox, who was previously responsible for sending telegrams, also had some free time and chatted with a few brothers.

"I've never seen this before. Is it really that good?"

"That's right. Let me tell you, my sister is studying at university in Londinium, did you know that?"

"Nonsense, it's been more than half a year since this happened, and you want to tell everyone about it every day. Last time, before I even opened my mouth, you asked me, 'How did you know my sister is studying at Londinium State University?' I almost want to hit you."

Feeling a little embarrassed by what his companion said, Fox scratched his head and smiled shyly.

"I want to say that my sister's tuition and living expenses for college were all paid by the Earl. He said that my sister is a good student and should not be wasted. He even wrote a letter of recommendation personally."

"You are so lucky, why don't you follow Lord Edward and come here?"

"Isn't this Richard's captain of the guard? He and I both served under the Earl and we had a good relationship. But he was appreciated and promoted by the Duke, so he promoted me as well."

Fox's words made his friends around him smack their lips in amazement, their eyes full of envy. After all, this kind of thing can be said to be something that you may not encounter once in eight lifetimes. It is such good luck that it is hard not to envy.

"You boy...ah, Captain Richard of the Guards!"

Seeing Richard coming, several people stood up quickly. Although Richard had always been good to his brothers, they still had to abide by the rules at this time.

"Well, go back to your respective posts. You need to be careful and pay more attention these days. The Duke attaches great importance to this meeting. You also need to be careful of someone secretly causing trouble."

"what do you mean……"

"Keep an eye on the guards of those earls, and pay attention to Earl Edward's as well. Of course, I want you to protect the earl's safety. He brought too few people and is highly appreciated by the Duke, so he could easily become a target for other earls."

Unlike other earls who have their own guards, Edward's guards are basically helping to distribute food and firewood in the territory during the winter, so he only brought five or six Sarkaz people. Now that the Grand Duke is preparing to choose his heir, Edward, who has the most hope but is weak, is undoubtedly the most dangerous.

You know, Luo Ya will be on board the Stanford tomorrow, so everything must be arranged.

"Come on, Fox, go ask the guest when he will arrive."

"Yes."

Fox lowered his head and followed Richard away. The rest of the people always felt that there was something else behind Richard's words, but they couldn't tell what was wrong.

..............................

The sound of the telegram, Roya, who was already at the border of Oak Forest County, calculated the time. After the last reply that he would arrive at the Stanford at noon tomorrow, he changed the frequency again. Although he didn't wear a watch, the countdown in Roya's head could almost be used as a watch. Calculating the time, Roya once again received the code from the Stanford.

[The plan is well prepared. I will take control of the entire battleship in the first place.]

"Hope everything goes well."

Luo Ya couldn't help yawning as he allocated some supplies and buried the radio here as a preparation.

Although a lot of consideration and calculation was made in this plan, it was still a gamble after all. Every time Luo Ya thought about this matter, he felt that he was probably bewitched by Abulara.

Originally, I just thought that since I couldn't beat Abrana, I might as well let Lavishne stabilize Rosemary's condition while she waited for Kal'tsit to treat her. I could just consider it as working in Deep Pool to earn some travel expenses.

But later, Roya discovered that things were not as simple as he had imagined. The sisters Abrana and Ravshini were burdened with blood feud and pressure. If they took a wrong step, they would be doomed. He could not turn a blind eye, but he could not say why, so he had to find some reasons in his heart to convince himself.