Chapter 360
360: Receiving some benefits
When Han Shuo and Helen returned to the army station, it was just as she had said—her family’s trusted aides were completely oblivious to Ferrodias’ actions. He’d obviously been acting in his interest, and Helen’s actions were written off as arresting and suitably punishing him.
Ferrodias’ original plan was to capture and bring Helen to Marquis Kekaru of Helon Duchy. After Helen, the pillar of her family’s army, disappeared, Kekaru would be able to defeat the Helon Duchy’s army and become the duke with Benedict Sackville’s backing.
After Han Shuo and Helen returned to the stationed army, they didn’t openly appear before the army. That was mostly because Han Shuo had plenty of methods to privately meet Helen.
After dealing with Ferrodias, Helen began traveling back to the nearby Helon Duchy. She had prepared her cover story of being attacked by assassins on her way back. Because no one except her people had survived, the news of the revolt hadn’t been divulged.
The next day, Han Shuo stealthily followed the army troops back to Helon Duchy. The Helon Duchy was as powerful as a province in Lancelot Empire. It too had five cities and more than ten different sized towns. Helon City acted as the capital city of Helon Duchy, located in the center of the duchy. The other four cities were each owned by the four marquises, although one was still reeling from their marquis’ death at Helen Tina’s hands during the previous civil unrest.
Marquis Kekaru was the lord of Seagate City, one of the four cities of Helon Duchy. Although he hadn’t revealed any intentions of revolting during the previous unrest, he’d suddenly decided to rebel this time. This person had apparently waited patiently for the perfect moment for a long while now.
Han Shou and Helen returned to the Helon Duchy together. Along the way, Helen gathered her private army, totaling thirty thousand troops, Helon Duchy’s most elite cavalry regiment, and all led by Helen’s most trusted family aides.
Seagate CIty was an unavoidable stop on the road back to Helon Duchy. After marching for two days, Helen’s army finally approached its gates.
Since Helen was a woman and a famous fire archmage, she had always stayed within a spacious and luxurious chariot pulled by four war-horses.
Left behind the carriage was a Helen whose white neck had just been violated by Han Shuo before he left. A constant burning sensation kept coming from her violated neck, causing her heart to tremble and her face to blush. In annoyance, she could only spit on the floor and lightly say to herself, “This damned brat! He really is a damned pervert. I really don’t know if I can deal with him until after he has taken care of my enemies. Ai, meeting him has really put me at my wit’s end. How annoying!”
A few minutes later, Helen’s army troops slowly stopped in front of Seagate City. A sentinel had already alerted Seagate City of her arrival beforehand. Thus, Marquis Kekaru, who was within the city, should’ve received the news of her arrival.
At this time, Kekeru was in a small building in front of the city gate. He had a dark expression on his face as he listened attentively to his trusted aides who talked unceasingly, remaining silent himself.
He was attired in noble robes, and was of noble stature. His gray sideburns give him away as past his prime. Clearly, he did not have an outstanding appearance. But his outward appearance hid a pair of calculative eyes that seemed like he never ceased pondering.
“Sir Marquis, Ferrodias has died and the plan has most likely failed. Right now, you can be considered the biggest threat to the duke of Helon Duchy. Furthermore, that vicious bitch has never concerned herself with sentimentalism and likely knows that you are the instigator. You must not let her into the city, otherwise, we will definitely die as part of a bloody revenge.” The Seagate City administrator did his best to persuade the marquis.
“Yes father, this bitch is famous for her viciousness. If her elite army enters the city, our army will have no way of suppressing her. We can only borrow Seagate City’s defensive strength to stall and prevent her from entering the city. During that time, we can ally with other nobles before finally entering an official war.” Kekaru’s son, Kesega, was clad in luminous knight armor and did his best to persuade Kekaru as well. Nevertheless, Kekaru remained wordless as he walked back and forth while his eyeballs darted to and fro. It seemed that even he had become extremely anxious, losing his typical decisive nature.
“Father, hurry and make a decision. They will be arriving soon.” As the time ticked away, Kesega anxiously reminded him again after seeing Kekaru remain silent.
After a long silence, Kekaru deeply exhaled and said, “Open the gates and come welcome the duke with me. You guys cannot make any mistakes whatsoever!”
“Sir Marquis. This could cost us our lives!” The administrator hurriedly protested in fear.
“Don’t worry, even if she knows it was me, she doesn’t have any proof. Hmph! I’ve been in charge of Seagate city for so many years; both nobles and citizens support me. If she dares act against me without evidence, the citizens will not approve of her. You don’t need to worry, she shouldn’t dare openly take any action against me. But, if she still decides to use assassins like last time, we only need to be more vigilant and it will still be fine.”
“Furthermore, the time is not yet ripe for us to rebel. We could suffer a huge loss to the family forces she holds in her hand, and there’s no certainty we will come out victorious. But even if we do come out victorious, the conflict will just weaken Helon Duchy even further, and we’ll become the weakest among the seven Grand Duchies. Instead of such a result, we should continue controlling Seagate City and wait for a better opportunity.” Kekaru said to the two people.
After thinking about what Kekaru said, the two, although still unwilling, knew that his analysis was reasonable. Furthermore, knowing how futile it would be for anyone to try and change Kekaru’s decisions due to his decisive nature, they did not continue trying to persuade him.