Luckily, there was Lockpicker Jacob setting up the group teleportation ritual.
Annan and his party did not return to Viscount Ostoff Dolgoruky to clean up the meaningless mess but teleported back to Frostwhisper Province.
This actually saved them the time of taking the subway back to the Grand Duke’s Residence.
Most importantly, before Celecia and Saint Alfonso arrived, Annan had to find a tailor to quickly alter the clothes.
Annan, now wearing a white robe that was light and soft, could reveal the cursed rune on his shoulder and relax a bit when he was alone with the players.
Endymion gifted a curse with a high priority to Annan.
Among all the curses Annan had mastered, except for “The Last Work: David” by the Man in the Mirror, “Endymion” had the highest priority.
Annan originally had a curse that ignored pain. He simply dressed himself properly and had Jacob transport them back, then personally arranged for Jacob’s induction into the Winter’s Hand… Despite so, Annan then began to feel a slight burning sensation in his left shoulder.
Fortunately, the intensity was not too severe, akin to the sensation of dipping one’s hands into warm water after returning from the cold outside. In fact, this level of warmth was quite comfortable, even warming up his entire body…
However, only three hours had passed.
If Annan covered the rune for 13 hours, it might become a “scorching pain”.
That definitely would not do. It was already similar to the curse “Lost Eye” that Annan rejected before, which would disturb Annan to a great extent.
However, non-Persistent Type curses generally had ways to release them.
For example, the “Butcher’s Knife” curse that Annan obtained at the beginning could no longer hinder him. Only in the beginning, when Annan was still at Freezing Water Port, was he worried about how to resolve this curse.
Starting from Roseburg, Annan no longer lacked enemies.
Although from the beginning, Annan had made a plan to use players to resolve the curse. However, Annan didn’t resort to that in the end.
After he had succeeded to the throne of Grand Duke, it was even easier for him to do things.
Each month, the Duke personally executed a death row inmate, and this was done publicly. Although it might sound somewhat cruel and bloodthirsty, seemingly having a negative impact on the reputation of the young Duke… Therefore, Zoya did not immediately implement it.
However, Annan believed that this plan should be positive for his current reputation needs—
Grand Duke Ivan was famous for his benevolent governance.
Of course, the Austere-Winter Dukedom’s benevolent governance had its limits.
However, Ivan did suppress many conflicts, but these conflicts were not fundamentally resolved. It was only because of Grand Duke Ivan’s charm and his outstanding governance methods that they were temporarily resolved.
But now, it was Annan’s turn.
Annan had only turned 15 a few days ago.
He did not need to follow Ivan’s path and continue to implement benevolent policies. He did not have the intimidating authority of Ivan, and would only turn into a puppet if he continued on the benevolent path.
What he needed was deterrence.
—After all, Annan was a “tyrant”.
Those opinions deeming him “cruel” were, in fact, inadvertently promoting Annan’s cause.
Annan was aware that a country could not be managed by only one person. Even the wisest king would work overtime until he died of exhaustion.
Since these nobles and ministers had been able to properly manage the Austere-Winter Dukedom in the winter year, it undoubtedly demonstrated their capability. This had already saved Annan a lot of trouble.
Annan did not need to cultivate a new team. He only needed to gain at least the superficial loyalty of these old people to restore the normal operation of the entire country.
Charm, deceit, conspiracy, intimidation… Among many methods, intimidation was the most direct and effective.
In other words, sacrificing a few to build up deterrence.
Annan couldn’t find a suitable candidate previously. But fortunately, this “candidate” delivered itself to his door, and he even brought the knife to kill them. It could be said that the service was quite considerate.
With the “honorable sacrifice” of the Northern Brotherhood, Annan decisively and neatly dealt with them in a ruthless manner. Showcasing his ability to control and command the Frost Beast troops and Winter’s Hand would certainly intimidate the rest immediately, deterring them from rash actions.
Subsequently, Annan’s monthly public executions would become a sort of “ritual.”
Under the influence of the winter year, the style of Austere-Winter Dukedom leaned towards that of Northern Europe on Earth, or perhaps Russia. The type of ruler who was slow in action and demanded evidence for reasoning was not favored; instead, a more brutal and autocratic tyrant provided them with a sense of security.
Annan planned to use this approach to satisfy the curse while demonstrating to others that despite his young age and seemingly frail appearance, he, as the Duke, was not to be trifled with and was, in fact, quite dangerous.
This approach of combining severity with leniency, being both strict and moderate, was essential to maintain a long-term deterrence over the nobles of the Austere-Winter Dukedom for a long time. It would ensure they worked diligently for Annan.
Then, once the players had grown stronger, Annan planned to gradually place his people into positions of power, replacing the current incumbents.
For example, replacing the Northern Brotherhood who were about to have their homes ransacked by Annan.
The Frost Beast troops had just started and hadn’t reached their destination yet. However, since the evidence against Count Urie was already secured… the others were inevitably guilty. Because a charge as serious as using cursed energy was something a border count simply couldn’t withstand.
And it wasn’t about a noble needing to present thorough and credible evidence to the Duke to denounce their actions—it was the Duke himself planning to take action against them.
The evidence just needed to be convincing enough to satisfy the public.
Coincidentally, the existence of the Northern Brotherhood was not a secret. Count Urie played a leading role in it, while Viscount Ostoff was the scapegoat pushed forward to face the consequences.
Now that Viscount Ostoff Dolgoruky had gotten into trouble, implicating Urie Frostwind who screwed up the entire operation, and the Grand Duke possessed the evidence against them, the claims that this incident was done by Count Urie alone and had nothing to do with other people would be invalid.
No one with intelligence would believe those claims.
This was the reason why Annan dared to leave Zorgen in the northern territory and let him confiscate and ransack properties at will.
Count Urie had conducted forbidden rituals multiple times, employed cursed energy technology, and attempted to assassinate the Duke… The entire northern territory was already doomed.
Count Urie’s plan was originally quite feasible.
If Annan was just an ordinary Silver Rank Transcender who had just arrived; if he did not bring these players who could be infinitely resurrected.
Even if Annan arrived with two of the “Ten Fingers”, the four curse energy users were enough to kill him.
After that, they could employ curse energy to extract the Austere-Winter bloodline.
On the eve of the Frost Maul Disaster, they acquired part of the technology to replicate the Austere-Winter bloodline.
Although both Annan and Ivan knew that they were indeed the bloodline of the Old Grandmother, in the eyes of these nobles, this solid truth was a one-way claim to consolidate their rule.
After all, Grand Duke Ivan had been frail and sick since he was a child. Many Austere-Winter family members had died due to assassinations and curses, and there were also Grand Dukes who were killed in the winter years. If they were the blood of the Old Grandmother, would the Old Grandmother just sit back and watch?
Since no one had cared about it before, why would they care about Annan’s murder now? Worse still, Rotten Man had already visited a few years ago. He had attacked Annan, but he was still alive and well.
Old Grandmother had been sleeping for nearly a hundred years, how could she suddenly wake up after Annan was killed?
After decades had passed, the truth would be blurred.
Moreover, the Austere-Winter family also had Maria and Dmitri. Killing Annan did not count as exterminating the Austere-Winter family — after all, the news of Dmitri’s loss of fertility had not spread.
It was a clever misunderstanding.
It could be said that these nobles were smart.
However, Annan didn’t have the time to resolve it.
He would eliminate them all.
Annan had talented individuals at his disposal — players who were fully monitored and had exceptional qualities made for an excellent choice.
These territories can’t be left ungoverned, after all.
Well, Suuankou has a pretty sharp mind, and so does Longjing Tea and Delicious Wind Goose.
How about finding a player later and appointing him as Count Frostwind?
Annan thought.
If everything goes well, I just need to pick a group of players who don’t like fighting and solving puzzles very much and let them switch careers to engage in city-building and simulation management games in the northern region.
…I’m going to be so busy.
I have to install my men in Winter’s Hand, the northern region, the underground world…
Sooner or later, the entire Austere-Winter will be replaced by Annan’s men.
By then, it might be possible to unify the five countries.
After all, Endymion seemed to really have the ability to rebuild and unify the Great Barrier. Although those were one-sided words, the specifics need to be verified separately.
However, if Endymion could really do it… Annan could at most unite with the Noah Kingdom and the Papal Kingdom. If the players were distributed well, the underground world could also join this faction.
At that time, I cannot let those who have done nothing (specifically the United Kingdom) take advantage for free.
Annan thought this and walked into the living room.
Celecia had already left the subway, which meant she was almost here.
Thank you for supporting our novels. Your comment, interaction, and just by reading the novels are a great support to us! Discover what unfolds next by accessing the chapters before anyone else! Your support means the world to us! Click here to access our support page.