Chapter 4: Declaring war

The castle hall.

After Christine had ushered everyone to their seats, the squire ushered in a knight and announced: 'Knight Jur Web, envoy of Baron Lorient, reporting for duty.

Although Christine had not yet officially inherited the title, it was already beyond doubt that she was the only child of Baron Stewart, so Knight Jour Weber took the lead in greeting her: 'Good morning, Miss Stewart, I am Jour Weber, representing Baron Lorient.

'Good morning, Knight Jour Weber,' replied Christine.

'Miss Stewart, I have a letter for you from Baron Lorient.

Knight Jur Weber took out a roll of parchment and the maid of honour, Anne, took it and handed it to Christine.

When it was unrolled, it turned out to be an official declaration of war, stating that the Baronies of Lorient and Stewart were now at war.

'Knight Jur, you may reply to Baron Lorient that I have received the letter,' Christine said, her expression unchanged.

I will certainly pass on your words. Knight Jur Weber bowed and left.

Christine handed out the parchment and said to the crowd, 'You should have a look too.

The people present read it in turn, and although their expressions varied, none of them showed any sign of cowardice.

There were many nobles in the different countries of the continent, and it was normal for them to have conflicts with each other. It was not surprising that when negotiations failed, they would call out their troops to fight.

According to the 'Treaty of the Nobles', if the nobles, including knights, were defeated and captured, their families could use their wealth to free them, and the captured nobles could not be killed.

The Treaty of the Nobles also stipulated that no title could be awarded without military merit. Although the requirements are not as strict now, surrendering before battle and retreating in the face of danger can be reported to the Nobles' Parliament for the stripping of titles.

Under such circumstances, no one would be seen to be cowardly.

Of course, the nobles also needed a reason to go to war, which was stated in the declaration of war.

It all began about two years ago, when Christine first appeared at a banquet given by the Count of Rennes. Oliver Lorient, the eldest son of the Baron of Lorient, was immediately captivated by her beauty and began to court her.

In fact, everyone present at the time was attracted to Christine's beauty, but the others were either married, of an inappropriate age, of lower status or in no hurry, so only Olivier Lorient took immediate action. People are different.

Admittedly, Olivier was handsome and fit, but what did that have to do with Christine, who rejected him out of hand.

But her rejection was interpreted by Olivier as a sign of shyness. He had to admit that a handsome face is extremely attractive even when it is cold, so Oliver continued to pester her.

When Baron Stewart saw this scene, he severely reprimanded Oliver for his behaviour.

Nobles have face to lose, and Oliver was naturally humiliated to be publicly reprimanded, which also tarnished the reputation of the Lorient family. Although it was his son's fault, Baron Lorient had to stand up and say something.

Normally that would have been the end of it, and it would have been a topic of conversation for everyone. But it so happened that Baron Stewart was having a blood impulse attack, and although he could normally control it, it still had an effect on his emotions. So he lashed out directly at Baron Lorient.

Your son molested my daughter and refused to apologise, and I'll let it go if you don't thank me, but you dare to speak harsh words? If you don't agree, let's have a noble duel.

This time, Baron Lorient was provoked.

To be honest, Baron Lorient was a fifth level magician. This level of combat power was considered quite good even among the nobles of the continent, after all, nobles relied more on inheritance than military strength. But Baron Stewart was a dragon vein warlock, so he couldn't really beat him.

Any professional can acquire a specialisation at the fifth, tenth and fifteenth ranks. As a mage, if you don't awaken the 'Instant Spell Casting' specialisation, you can only cast spells honestly. A warlock's spells come from talent, and not only are they instant, they don't require any materials.

Of course, the advantage of being a mage is that there are many types of spells, whereas a warlock only has a few. Once advanced, a warlock is no match for a mage. But the problem is that everyone is now at fifth level and the gap cannot be closed.

Another thing is that Baron Lorient only has one piece of magic equipment, but Baron Stewart is wealthy, so he has three pieces of magic equipment, which is even more incomparable.

As a result, Baron Lorient not only made his son Olivier apologise to Christine in public, but also made him pay a sum of money, which humiliated him greatly.

Baron Stewart is a Dragon Vein mage of the fifth order, and his wife is a mage of the seventh order. Under normal circumstances, Baron Lorient would have to endure this humiliation for the rest of his life, and since Baron and Baroness Stewart are both immortals with long life spans, his son Olivier would also have to endure it for the rest of his life.

But no one expected that Baron Stewart and his wife would suffer an accident at sea, leaving only their heir, Christine. This brought Baron Lorient's mind back to life.

He started the war while Baron Stewart was leaderless, occupied the other's land and doubled his territory. This was a chance to gain a baronial territory, and a 60% chance was worth the risk, not to mention that the chance of success was now close to 90%.

As for Christine, she was a genius, but she was still only a Dragonline Technician of the first order and a Mage of the first order. The growth of a Dragonline Technician depended mainly on years of hard work, and there was no shortcut. It would take decades to reach the fifth rank. A mage needed a lot of money to improve his rank, and without the support of a territory, he would definitely not be able to improve quickly.

In Baron Lorient's opinion, even if Christine really did reach the fifth rank in a few decades, by then he would have greatly increased his strength with the two baronial lands in his hands, so even if the other party did not die in the war, he would not fear retaliation afterwards.

Moreover, while it was considered rare for other noble families to have three or four children, it was the norm to have five or six, and it was not uncommon to have seven or eight or even a dozen. However, Baron Stewart's territory had only one heir, Christine, so if she could be killed in battle, it would be a permanent solution.

According to the Noble Pact, only direct descendants could take revenge and reclaim a lost territory. Otherwise, given the noble tradition of intermarriage over the centuries, most families would have dozens or even hundreds of distant relatives, and if they all had the right to seek revenge, it would be a complete mess.

As for the dragon and elf background of the Stewart Barony, it simply does not need to be considered. Formal wars between human nobles do not allow the participation of other races. As Christine is the heir to a human noble, she must abide by this rule.

Therefore, Baron Lorient declared war on the grounds that he had regained his face by humiliating him at the banquet.