The familiar voice drew everyone’s attention.The door to the meeting hall opened gently, and Charlotte, dressed in a black noble dress, appeared before everyone.
Sebastian was the first to react. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the NƟvelFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.
The flame elf stood up from his seat almost instantly, his expression filled with delight.
“Master!”
He promptly knelt on one knee, placing his right hand on his chest in a salute.
Seeing the girl who had entered, the knights and nobles closest to the door were momentarily stunned.
Then, they too rose and bowed.
“Countess!”
“Countess!”
“Countess…”
Respectful voices echoed through the meeting hall like a series of reverberations.
As if a chain reaction had started, the nobles and knights in the hall rose like a field of wheat swaying in the wind, bowing one after another.
“Countess!”
Charlotte’s gaze slowly swept across the hall.
She nodded slightly, acknowledging their respect, and then moved forward, heading to the front of the meeting hall.
The knights guarding the entrance instinctively stepped aside.
They stood on either side, holding their ceremonial swords high, looking respectful, with their heads held high, closely following behind Charlotte.
As Charlotte entered, the nobles naturally stepped aside, making way for her to walk straight to the front.
Charlotte calmly walked through the crowd, with nobles on both sides bowing their heads in salutation.
She reached the front of the meeting hall and glanced, half-smiling, at the viscount of Leon-Castell, who had also stood up.
The Old Viscount trembled as he bowed, his expression respectful and excited.
“Countess!”
Charlotte looked at him silently for a few moments, nodded slightly, and then naturally sat down on the main seat.
She looked around the hall and spoke warmly.
“Everyone, please sit down, no need to stand.”
At Charlotte’s command, the nobles slowly sat down.
The hall was now extremely quiet, in stark contrast to the previous chaotic noise.
It was evident that, although Charlotte had only been in Castell for a few months, her efforts in eliminating the infiltrating bloodbornes had already established her authority among the nobles!
At least… she had established authority among those still rallying under the Castell banner!
“Where were you all in your discussions? Oh, right, don’t mind me, this should be a temporary noble meeting called by Sebastian, correct? Continue your discussions; I’ll listen for a while.”
Charlotte adjusted her position on the lord’s throne for a more comfortable seat and spoke.
“Master…”
Sebastian slowly rose, his crimson eyes falling on Viscount Leon-Castell, smiling lightly.
“As you can see, we were just listening to Viscount Leon-Castell’s proposal to form a temporary regency cabinet!”
Charlotte’s gaze naturally fell on the Old Viscount.
Her expression showed no displeasure, only a hint of curiosity.
However, under her beautiful blue eyes, Viscount Leon-Castell felt immense pressure.
The Old Viscount immediately stood up again and hurriedly explained.
“Countess, please forgive my presumptuousness.”
“In these days when you had not appeared, there was unrest in the territory. My proposal was merely to unite the strength of the Castell nobles…”
“Of course, now that you are safe and sound, there is no need for a regency cabinet. After all, you are the cornerstone of Castell.”
Charlotte nodded slightly.
“Viscount, there is no need to be so anxious. As the lord of Castell, I understand your actions.”
Then she looked at Sebastian.
“Sebastian, you have been representing me in managing the territory these past days. Please continue to chair today’s meeting.”
“Yes, Master.”
Sebastian respectfully saluted.
His gaze returned to the nobles in the hall, now filled with greater confidence.
“Master is here. I believe none of you still have doubts about the Countess’ authority, right? Now… is everyone ready to follow us and fight against the Lagrisse family’s rebels?”
Hearing Sebastian’s words, the nobles in the hall exchanged glances and then gradually nodded.
“Since the Countess is safe and sound, we naturally will fully support her in quelling the rebellion.”
“With the Countess present, all the rumors in the territory are dispelled. We are willing to follow her and suppress the Lagrisse rebellion!”
“Our Valais family has already assembled 800 soldiers, ready to fight for Castell at any time!”
“Our Lonn family has assembled 1,000 soldiers, ready to follow the Countess into battle!”
“All for Castell!”
“…..”
Even Viscount Leon-Castell at the front spoke respectfully.
“The Leon-Castell family has also assembled 600 light infantry, 200 heavy infantry, 200 archers, 100 cavalry, and three extraordinary knights, all awaiting the Countess’ command…”
The nobles in the hall expressed their loyalty, reporting their troop numbers one after another.
Listening to their pledges of allegiance, Charlotte nodded slightly, her expression satisfied.
However, contrary to her outward calm, her mind was in turmoil as she sat on the lord’s throne.
Especially after hearing that several towns in the northern part of Castell had already fallen.
Good grief…
From the discussion, it seemed that the Lagrisse family in the north had indeed rebelled.
How long had she been asleep?
Charlotte had no idea what had transpired in her territory during her absence.
After waking from the secret chamber, she changed clothes and came straight to the council hall, guided by the Blood Summoning, only to hear Viscount Leon-Castell proposing some regency cabinet. Everything else was a mystery to her.
Nevertheless, she didn’t rashly interrupt the meeting.
Her slumber was a secret.
Although she didn’t know how the nobles discovered her absence, and her stand-in Nice was nowhere to be found, as the lord, she couldn’t show ignorance of the territory’s affairs.
This would undermine her authority and, over time, arouse suspicion among some nobles…
Charlotte trusted Sebastian’s abilities.
Since she had delegated power to him, she decided to sit back and listen, trying to piece together the situation.
Thus, Charlotte became a listener.
As the nobles discussed, guided by Sebastian’s deliberate explanations, Charlotte gradually understood the current state of Castell…
First, she had been asleep for about four months.
In the third month of her sleep, a significant event occurred in the territory.
One of the three viscount families, the Lagrisse family, had attacked “her” while she was inspecting the Castell silver mine, using mercenaries.
Of course, the Lagrisse family had attacked not the real “her” but her stand-in, Nice.
Afterward, the Lagrisse family raised the banner of rebellion.
They initially claimed that Castell had been usurped by nobles led by the Leon-Castell family and launched the rebellion under the guise of “purging traitors.”
Gaining support from neighboring lords, the Lagrisse family then questioned Charlotte’s bloodline, claiming the real Charlotte was dead, and the current Charlotte’s rule was illegitimate and tyrannical, justifying their war against the Count’s family.|
Within a month, they had gathered over 10,000 troops, capturing several cities in northern Castell, with the conflict spreading southwards…
Had it not been for Viscount Remisio and the kingdom’s army stationed at Silver Mine City, and his repeated warnings to the rebels not to invade Castell’s silver mine, threatening royal intervention, Silver Mine City would have likely fallen as well.
But even so, the rebels had severed communication between the Count’s house and Silver Mine City, and Northport had nearly lost contact with the silver mine.
After the Lagrisse family declared rebellion, Sebastian immediately summoned the nobles to raise an army in Charlotte’s name to quell the rebellion.
Subsequently, various lords led their troops to Northport.
What happened next, even if Sebastian and the nobles didn’t discuss it, Charlotte could more or less guess.
Indeed, before falling asleep, she had delegated the territory’s management to Sebastian, but she only directly controlled the land owned by Castell.
Feudalism wasn’t like the centralized administration of her previous life, a lord’s control over vassals wasn’t as strong. Although many nobles had pledged loyalty to Charlotte, she was Charlotte, and Sebastian was Sebastian.
In Northport, Sebastian could directly command the city’s troops, but he lacked effective control over the nobles who answered the call.
Only Charlotte, only the Castell family, could truly command the nobles.
Charlotte had been missing for too long, and rumors had spread throughout the territory. In such circumstances, unless Charlotte appeared in person, Sebastian could hardly gain the nobles’ support.
Even if he did, uniting them would be difficult.
Today’s meeting was called under such circumstances.
Sebastian wanted to consolidate the nobles’ forces and form a united army to suppress the rebellion.
Without Charlotte’s presence, the summoned nobles were reluctant to submit to Sebastian and cede the leadership of the united army.
Under these circumstances, Viscount Leon-Castell, leader of the loyalist nobles bound to Castell, proposed forming a regency cabinet.
Thinking this through, Charlotte couldn’t help but glance at the Old Viscount, who was now fervently discussing battle plans with Sebastian.
In hindsight, she had somewhat misunderstood the old noble.
Indeed, in the absence of the lord, his actions could be seen as a power grab.
But having lived in Myria for over a year, Charlotte wasn’t ignorant of the noble system.
Even if Viscount Leon-Castell had his own motives, if she hadn’t shown up, forming a regency cabinet would indeed be the quickest way to consolidate the nobles’ strength.
Many things are hard to judge clearly. The fact that Nice, the stand-in, had been kidnapped, directly leading to her substitute’s disappearance, was unexpected!
Even though Nice’s whereabouts were unknown, Charlotte could still feel a connection deep within her soul.
That guy was still alive.
“Countess, we have finished our discussion. This is the rough draft of our plan. Please review it.”
Viscount Leon-Castell’s words interrupted Charlotte’s thoughts.
She nodded slightly, taking the parchment recording the battle plan from him.
Looking at the numbers on it, Charlotte was somewhat surprised.
“You’ve mustered 35,000 people?”
Viscount Leon-Castelle respectfully replied.
“Yes, a total of 45 noble families responded to the call, each bringing at least 100 conscripts and 20 private soldiers. The noble army has gathered 22,000 people.”
“In addition, 13 noble families are on their way, including three barons, which should bring about 3,000 more conscripts. In total, we have a noble army of 25,000.”
Sebastian nodded.
“Excluding the frontline garrison, Castell can mobilize 2,000 regular soldiers and 3,000 conscripts, along with 5,000 mercenaries.”
“All together, we have 35,000 troops.”
Charlotte: …
Goodness, casually mustering this many people from a county! She could almost believe this was an entire kingdom in her previous life!
No, even in the Middle Ages of her previous life, mobilizing such an army wasn’t easy. The mobilization ability in this other world truly defies common sense…
“Countess…”
Viscount Leon-Castell stepped forward respectfully.
“Our forces are three times that of the rebels, giving us a numerical advantage. Moreover, although the rebels’ core is the elite private soldiers of the Lagrisse family, over 80% are conscripts and mercenaries, with weak combat capabilities.”
“Currently, the rebels have reached the upper reaches of the Dorn River in the north. I suggest we consolidate our army and immediately march north, stationing on one side of the Dorn River to prevent the rebels from crossing, while training our troops and seeking opportunities for battle…”
“Baron Angus de Wale, who has distinguished himself in the Crescent War, can be appointed as the commander to lead the army.”
After listening to Viscount Leon-Castell’s suggestion, Charlotte pondered. She glanced at Sebastian and said.
“Sebastian, what do you think?”
Sebastian sighed.
“Master, I have some experience in managing the territory, but leading an army into battle is not my expertise.”
Charlotte nodded slightly in understanding.
Indeed, even she was inexperienced in warfare. Especially in an extraordinary world, and with everything happening so suddenly…
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