Annan’s carriage was still some distance away from the manor before the viscount’s men stopped him.
He was the only one who was invited to enter the viscount mansion. The other three players on the carriage must wait outside.
Annan and the players accepted this request calmly.
It wasn’t that Viscount Barber wanted to trouble Annan with such a minor issue, having Annan walk over to humiliate him.
It was Viscount Barber being cautious.
He was already older than eighty years old; his physique was far inferior to youngsters in both brain and brawl. Even if he sat on a stool for a while, he would feel exhausted.
He could only act on experience through three dynasties, four wars, and countless power struggles in the past.
Indeed, Viscount Barber imagined him attaining total victory already.
Don Juan Geraint should have gone to the North Sea Territory’s most prosperous city, “Roseburg,” to take up the position as feudal lord. This was Noah Kingdom’s tradition. The feudal lords of various territories usually lived in the most economically prosperous areas.
Since the economy was booming in this area, there was at least one Silver Sire’s bishop guarding the district. It could effectively avoid the possibility of nightmares and strayed Transcended interfering with the feudal lord’s daily life.
But, the North Sea Territory was an exception.
The original central city of the North Sea Territory was the Freezing Water Port. As the feudal lord of Roseburg, Viscount Barber was just Count Geraint’s vassal.
However, following the incident that happened forty-five years ago, Freezing Water Port was gradually banned. The economy of the entire North Sea Territory declined; the archbishop summoned the local bishop back. Count Geraint no longer sent direct descendants to the distant North Sea Territory.
After all, Count Geraint was the Intelligence Director trusted by the king. He couldn’t leave the capital as he wished. The king gave the Geraint Family several hunting grounds and manors close to him. It was a clear intention that the king did not want the Crow Family (Geraint Family) to return to the Freezing Water Port.
Although a sea separated the Freezing Water Port and Chilly Austere Dukedom, it was geographically adjacent to Chilly Austere Dukedom.
Although the king trusted the Old Crow personally, he still had to be prepared for the Old Crow’s possible betrayal. The most thoughtful way was to deny him the opportunity to betray directly.
By not allowing the Gerant family, who held too many secrets, to return to Freezing Water Port, it could effectively avoid Chilly Austere Dukedom from sending spies to contact the Gerant Family.
After all, Count Geraint had a wife, who was from Chilly Austere Dukedom. This precaution was reasonable.
There was only a count leading the entire North Sea Territory. After the Freezing Water Port’s income shrank, the king handed the place over to the count’s most loyal follower, Viscount Barber.
In exchange, the young king also gave the Gerant family two royal guards.
Some years had passed since then. The old count had passed away.
The newly appointed count failed to control Alvin Barber through letters after being separated from a long distance.
After all, Viscount Barber had never done anything wrong.
He made Roseburg the new economic center of the North Sea Territory under the premise that the Freezing Water Port was banned, realigning the resources of the entire territory and focusing on the development of internal affairs. At the same time, he deliberately hijacked young talent from the Freezing Water Port to weaken that place. Viscount Barber’s means in altering the demographic continued to weaken the Freezing Water Port’s economy.
Finally… Thirty-eight years ago, the proxy bishop of the North Sea Diocese was summoned back. The king sent the first bishop here.
This meant that the desolate and remote North Sea Territory had completely restored its perfect trading function. The Silver Sire Church had certified this place as a diocese once again.
But this time, the bishop did not go to the Freezing Water Port.
Instead, the bishop went to Roseburg.
This meant that the entire North Sea Territory’s transportation, culture, military, and politics must be re-planned with Roseburg as the center. But, the viscount had never declared Roseburg to be the North Sea Territory’s capital city. It was a clever move.
In this way, although he did not get the title, he had grasped the North Sea Territory belonging to the Gerant family.
Even the Roseburg citizens thought they didn’t have a feudal lord. They always believed that Viscount Barber was their feudal lord. They had no idea of the count’s presence.
In the end, Viscount Barber crafted a loophole.
That North Sea Territory still belonged to the Gerant family.
That was why he kept troubling Annan even before he got the news of “Don Juan Geraint” arriving at Freezing Water Port.
If Viscount Barber managed to kill “Don Juan Geraint,” that would be the most desired result. Even if he failed, he just had to make this young noble admit defeat. At the very least, the viscount wanted to silence the little noble, stopping this young noble from going through the formal procedure and reclaimed his feudal lord mansion at Roseburg.
After all, Annan had the right to do so.
That was in full compliance with the formal procedure and rules!
Even if Annan’s feudal lord mansion wasn’t built, and the Gerant family had gone. But that also meant that Annan would remind the Roseburg’s citizens:
The authority and power which Viscount Barber held was stolen and illegitimate.
It was just that the viscount stole it too early. If he stole it 40 years ago, he would be recognized as a savior. Naturally, he would not be criticized by people. But now, this matter had long been forgotten by the people.
Once the Roseburg’s civilians began to doubt Viscount Barber’s authority, his plan would fall short.
The reason why Alvin Barber thought he attained victory in contending with “Don Juan Geraint” was that he had already imagined himself suppressing this young noble. This young noble would not dare to go against him.
His purchase evidence of Black Fire was utterly wiped. The witness and evidence were long gone. Funny enough, it was Annan destroying it himself rather than the viscount sending men to do it.
After Salvatore killed Gerald, he should return to Black Tower again. He won’t be able to return in a short time.
Viscount Barber’s grandson was approaching six years old.
I just need another year.
The ritual will be completed.
It was a long, complex, powerful, and unethical evil ritual to span his life.
First, Alvin Barber would have his son inherit his power for seven years and then murder the son. Then, he would let his son’s offspring inherit the same power for seven years and then murder the victim. After that, he would inherit the same power for seven years. All his grandson’s offspring would be murdered. By that time, no matter how many offspring there were, they could only live to seven years old.
The first stage of ritual will increase his lifespan by seven years.
In the second stage, it would increase his lifespan by 14 years.
But in the third stage of the ritual, he would die directly.
After that, he could take all his memories and reincarnate into one of the seven-year-old children in the third stage – the great-grandsons he had murdered. Then, he would bear the resentment and curse of the offspring and become a born Transcended. He would start with bronze and live a new wonderful life.
The only price was that he would be born castrated.
Because of this ritual, it came from the false deity “Rotten Man.” It was an evil deity wanted by Bone Burying Grandma and Old Grandmother for a long time.
He used to be a eunuch, so his ritual was usually related to himself or the offspring of others. The price was usually “being the same as him.” A considerable part of the ritual that spanned one’s life originated from him.
The old viscount let his first son and his wife give birth to offspring to conceal his doings from the public’s eye. In this way, nominally, his grandson would be disguised as his second son.
However, Viscount Barber never expected that the most challenging part had been completed.
But now, his “power” was starting to be unstable.
He must be worried that Annan might hide the Black Fire in the carriage. Worse still, there could be assassins and thieves sneaking in and searching for his unfavorable evidence while they were talking.
Although Viscount Barber did not know Justin’s curse, Justin didn’t know the old viscount’s end goal.
Poor Justin just wanted to be in service for another year and one month peacefully.
However, this goal was unreachable in the first place.
“Good evening, Master Viscount.”
Annan walked into the hall, looked at Viscount Barber, who was looking at him in shock. The corner of his mouth gradually rose.
“It seems that you know Don Juan Geraint. Do you know who I am? Oh ya, you have lived long enough, after all.”
If you do know who I am, that couldn’t be better.
Translator Notes: Really appreciate the Community and the Readers in achieving the first Discord Goal (having 20 discord members). To commemorate this milestone, our team decided to publish 3 chapters ahead of schedule. I have been enjoying the story so far, albeit there details being more robust and intricate. How about you guys? Please share your views in the comment and even in our discord. Especially, if there is any feedback to help me improve ?