Chapter 90: Bad News
Count Oden is dead!
Oden Fletcher, the famous general who guarded the northeast of the kingdom for decades and expanded the territory by hundreds of miles, is dead!
The person who brought this bad news was Count Oden's attendant in the House of Lords.
In fact, he was the son—or illegitimate son—of Count Odden, Charles.
This was the request that Oden made to Leon on the King's Road in Sarleon on the day after Leon became a baron. It was also the last time Leon and Count Oden met.
"I won't hide it from you. I have an illegitimate child... In fact, you have seen him..."
"I'm going back to Brave Shield, but I can't bring him in openly. I think you can understand that this will cause a lot of trouble..."
"So, I plan to make him a knight under your command. You can appoint him to be in charge of our liaison affairs, so that I can see him often..."
Charles, the illegitimate son, was only half a year younger than Oden’s daughter Joanna. Earl Oden probably found another lady to relieve his loneliness during his wife’s pregnancy…
This was not uncommon among the nobles of that era, but Count Oden was somewhat reluctant to let it go - he had been hiding his affair from everyone, not even his wife and daughter.
Because his wife was a high-ranking noble - a countess. When Oden was just a small reserve noble, he married a countess, which was somewhat like marrying into the family.
In fact, it was precisely because of the Countess's strong support that Oden was able to successfully build Brave Shield Castle.
Therefore, one can imagine what kind of status this famous general who is so famous outside has at home...
The continent of Pande is not the Celestial Empire. Here, daughters can inherit the family business, and their children will have complete legal inheritance rights and can inherit the inheritance of both parents.
But the illegitimate child could not inherit anything from Oden, including his surname, property, status or anything else...
Oden obviously cared about his only son and always kept him by his side as an attendant.
Of course, this is mainly because he cannot leave his illegitimate son in Brave Shield Castle... otherwise it will inevitably cause a lot of unnecessary disputes.
He also could not knight Charles because his wife would be present when the knighthood was distributed - the Countess was in charge of the management of the territory.
What Oden had asked Leon for before was that he hoped Leon could help his illegitimate son and let Charles become a sworn knight under Leon.
Oden would then "sell" some of the fiefdom to Leon - such as Fletcher Village.
Oden's 8% "dividend" was negotiated on the battlefield, and the Countess was unaware of it. Leon could use the dividend to "buy" Fletcher.
Finally, Leon transferred the fief to Charles as a knight.
In this way, Charles could legitimately become a landed noble.
By letting Charles pledge allegiance to Leon and be in charge of liaison between the two parties, he can frequently visit Brave Shield Castle. Oden can avoid unrest at home and see his son frequently, which is the best of both worlds.
Naturally, the lord was happy to help. Oden transferred the fiefdom to the knights under Leon, which was equivalent to strengthening Leon's strength.
After agreeing to Oden, Leon also asked, "Do you have an illegitimate daughter named Liva..."
Oden's face turned red at that time - that was before he moved away from Fletcher after successfully building Brave Shield Castle. At the celebration party in Fletcher Village, Oden was drunk by his men, and then he probably had a night of romance with a village girl.
But he moved to Brave Shield Castle the next day, and rarely returned to Fletcher since then, gradually forgetting about it - for the nobles of that era, it really wasn't a big deal...
It was not until a few years ago when Riva found Oden as an adult that Oden knew he had such a daughter.
But the village girl had died, and Riva insulted Oden after her mother's death - Riva hated this cheap father who had never fulfilled his responsibilities for a minute from beginning to end, and was unwilling to accept any help from him.
Later, Riva disappeared and Oden couldn't find her.
When Leon mentioned that he had met Riva, Oden breathed a sigh of relief and said that as long as she was alive, he would find her.
He also teased Li Ang, saying that the money that you, a shameless little thief, took from me was now taken away by my daughter, and this was a tit-for-tat.
——This was also the last sentence Oden said to Leon.
Seeing Charles, the image of the big and strong woman appeared in front of Leon again - she was imitating the manners of a noble woman at that time, saying "My family was once very famous in the arms trade... I am very familiar with the activities of the bandits in this area..."
At that time, Leon thought that Riva was Lehman 's wife. It was not until Oden mentioned it that he knew that Lehman's wife was called Joanna.
Charles and Riva look almost identical, and Oden's genes for big nose and small eyes are very strong.
"Charles, what's going on? Tell me everything. Don't leave out any details!"
Leon felt very disappointed. Earl Oden had been quite nice to him before, although it was mostly out of interest exchange and to win him over. But at least Oden's maintenance of the throne room in Sarleon City had proved that he was a reliable ally.
Moreover, Oden’s death will definitely cause a lot of chain reactions!
…
A few days ago, after Leon officially became a baron, Charles accompanied his father, Earl of Oden, to handle the final official business.
Count Oden was going to Qicha Fortress to hand over all military affairs of the previous war, and then lead his troops back to Yongdun Castle.
The person who took over the military affairs was Baron Eldred, the lord of Qicha Fortress, Lord Rainier's father.
This was mainly because the biggest achievement of the previous war was the occupation of a large area of land south of the Qicha Fortress, across the Sava River, and the construction of some fortifications.
In a sense, this is actually the result of Li Ang and his caravan...
Moreover, when Oden went to Sarleon, the troops he brought from BraveShield Castle were also temporarily stationed at Qicha Fortress.
There was nothing wrong with the delivery of military affairs itself, but when they completed the task and were about to lead the team back to Yongdun Castle, they encountered the enemy on the way.
To be precise, it was halfway to Serenmis.
It was a large Bacchus Empire army, almost entirely cavalry.
Count Oden asked Charles to take a detour and go directly to Macheath, and asked Charles to find a job under Leon so that he would not have to participate in the war.
This is certainly a father's love for his son.
Besides, Oden had been dealing with enemies composed entirely of cavalry for thirty years and had ample experience.
He still brought the troops he brought with him from the previous attack on Sava River Fort, with nearly 700 people in his hands. His current position was not far from Qicha Fortress, so Oden was not afraid.
After ordering Charles to leave, Oden turned his troops around and planned to lure the enemy to the Qicha Fortress.
The army of the Bacchus Empire did begin to pursue Count Odun, but Charles managed to escape the enemy's sight on a fast horse.
But Charles had always been with Oden, and influenced by his father, he had the courage to fight, and was unwilling to just run away.
So he turned back and headed for Sarleon City, intending to ask for help - Sarleon City had a large number of cavalry and was close to Qicha Fortress, so the rescue would be faster.
Perhaps it was good luck, when Charles just got around to the village of Yaragar near Sarleon City, he encountered a patrolling troop led by Lord Andrew.
Andrew is Godric's eldest son and the Lord of Ravenhold.
His name is the same as that of a certain arena owner - this is because such names are too common in the continent of Pendor, such as Wei and Ming in the Celestial Empire...
Although he has a very common name, Andrew's identity is not ordinary.
He led the Royal City Guards - a group of armed followers from the Fierce Lion Realm, all of whom were young nobles.
This unit is the king's direct guard. They are responsible for the security in and around Sarleon on weekdays and follow King Ulric himself in battle.
——Like ordinary knights, the king also has followers, but there are more of them...
The reason why Andrew was qualified to lead the king's guards was mainly because his mother had a high status - Godric's wife, Lady Felina, was the niece of the previous King Sarleon.
That is, King Ulric's cousin.
A princess.
This is also the reason why Godric was able to serve as the commander of the Royal Guard before - he was Princess Fiona's guardian knight and the prince consort.
So, although he was unpopular and was only a baron, Godric was actually King Ulric's brother-in-law and had a very high status.
Lord Andrew's flag is a pure red background with three golden fleur-de-lis.
The authentic Royal Guard flag.
The Sarleon Armed Guards are a very strong cavalry unit, just in time to rescue Count Oden quickly.
Andrew did not hesitate. He set out immediately after hearing the situation. Ensuring the safety of the area around Sarleon City was his job.
But when they arrived at Qicha Fortress, they did not see anything unusual, and the Qicha Fortress did not even have a beacon fire lit!
