Emperor of Steel

“I am Baron Aron de Bazo. I have been commanded by sir Marquis Mayers.”

When Luke entered the lobby room, a middle-aged man got up from his seat and bowed.

‘A subordinate of Mayers?’

Luke didn’t say it outright, but Luke had a bad feeling about Aron.

Reina, who was trying to save the refugees in the past, was exhausted and fainted right before the residence of Marquis Mayers.

It was because of the political position that he held, and it was understandable. However, Luke didn’t like the way he had treated a powerless woman.

“For what is it that you have come here?”

“First of all, congratulations on your victory over the territory. Count Monarch had been one of those of the Imperial nobles who are despised.”

“Hmm…”

“And so, we are very pleased that Rakan’s great descendant, the young Lord, have won.”

‘Such a late greeting.’

It had already been over a month since the end of their battle with Count Monarch.

All the small lords had sent their greetings very quickly after the incident. But these people were just sending it now.

Even if he was one of the three major nobles, such behavior couldn’t be considered as anything other than pure arrogance.

It was a kind of act that revealed their fangs.

“It is an honor to be congratulated by Marquis.”

“Yes, and our Lord has hastened us to relay this to you, a massage.”

“A message, what could that be?”

Luke could guess what it was about but decided to stay quiet as if he didn’t know.

And Aron, with an expression of ‘surely he had no idea’, said,

“The Emperor will probably send the young Lord a congratulatory letter, we suppose.”

“And so?”

It seemed to have been related to the Imperial office and the war.

It was pretty expected, listening to what Aron had to say, Emperor Rudolf seemed like a very sneaky, wicked man.

For the Emperor to send in a congratulatory letter was probably because of the collateral they held, the family member, and they just saw the Emperor’s relative, the past Lord Monarch being blown away in the South.

‘Surely he wants to talk about something else.’

Luke just listened to what he said, and Aaron was continued to deliver the information he had.

“Our nobles have found that the letter, which would be sent to the young Lord, will grant him the title and appoint him as a Lord. However, there was also another statement that he would greatly appreciate if the young Lord will assume the role in the military to prove his capabilities in the Imperial Army.”

“That, that!”

Hans, who was standing behind Luke, wasn’t able to control himself.

The young Lord was going to get his title as a ‘Lord’, but the other part of the letter was rather troublesome.

To enter the Imperial army meant to perform military service.

Young nobles had to enlist in the army, so they could fulfill their duty and give honor to their family. However, that was unacceptable for the Rakan family.

It wasn’t because of the relationship they had with the Imperial family.

Luke was the sole heir of the Rakan bloodline.

Also, he wasn’t married yet, so his position couldn’t be passed down since Luke had no offspring.

And the act of asking Luke to perform military service looked very intentional.

As of the moment, the Baroque Empire was frequently in border disputes with the Volga Republic or the Holy Arthenian.

And in the time of conflicts, normal people, as well as nobles, often die in battle there.

In other words, they intend to destroy Rakan’s sole heir.

“The letter says that the envoy of the Emperor would come directly. It’s too late to stop them since they are probably half way here already, they’ll be here by next week.”

Hans couldn’t help but clench his hands out of anger.

It took around 100 years for the Rakan to spread and flourish from their stagnant stage, but now they wanted to put a stop to that.

Unlike Hans, Luke was just calm.

“And why tell me of such matter?”

At the question of Luke, Aron smiled and answered,

“You can place your hand on our side of the nobility. The military service itself is very difficult to prevent. However, it is possible to prevent you from being placed at the frontlines.”

“Hmm, so you want me to join the nobility?”

“That is the condition, but there are other things as well.”

“And what would that be?”

Luke asked Aron. Aron took quite some time to respond,

“We heard that the young Lord is selling some of the Count’s areas that had been earned through the war.”

“And so? I am only trying to handle the region that we can afford to take care of.”

Luke deliberately announced the facts of the situation.

The idea was to sell them as expensively as possible, and as expected, the neighboring lords were fighting against the others and asking for the land to be sold to them.

“Please turn over the eastern part of the Nair River to our Marquis.”

“What?!”

Hans blurted out.

The eastern part of the Nair river was a very large area and half of it belonged to the past Count.

Besides, it was located on the east side of the Lamer Shimazer river.

‘He didn’t pick up a knife, but it is like a clever theft.’

Luke was a little shaken and yet he asked Aron,

“Are you sure about that?”

“Isn’t the land too much to rule anyway? And for the territory given over to us, we will be providing you with safe military service.”

Aron smiled while saying that.

Aron couldn’t help but smile because he was confident that Luke would surely accept his request.

“Okay. We’ll think it over and get in touch with you.”

Contrary to his expectation that Luke would accept it immediately, Luke delayed his answer which made the smile on Aron’s face fade away.

“Young lord, there isn’t much time. You need to think fast and make a decision now…”

“A quick decision isn’t necessarily the right one, right? Please go now. And thank the Marquis for giving me a notice in advance.”

The conversation ended there.

Luke left the flustered Aron in the lobby and stepped back into the banquet hall.

“Young Lord, what are you going to do?”

“I have no intention of following the proposal of Marquis Mayers.”

It would have been better if the Marquis had made a proposal about invalidating the war and giving up the Count.

Hans looked at Luke and nodded, but he couldn’t help but ask the young Lord.

“Are there any good ways to avoid that military service?”

If they were too sick or too injured to fight, their military service could be postponed or if they were lucky, they could be exempted from it.

But for the nobles, who valued such activities since it gave honor and dignity to their families, such an act was considered to be cowardly and shameful.

And the shame would be greater for Luke since he was a descendant of the warrior Rakan.

‘But since I am the young Lord, I need to make a realistic decision.’

Luke was trying to cut off his relationship with his ancestors. His act would definitely be considered as a loss of reputation.

Hans would definitely support Luke if he made such a decision.

The honor and dignity of the family was going to be damaged. However, that was better than risking the life of Rakan’s sole heir.

“Another way? Is there a need to think of that? The others are going, I will go too.”

“Huh? Are you really going as well?”

“What would others think if the descendant of a brave warrior is acting like a coward?”

“Is that really what worries you?”

“Hu, didn’t you see my skills? It isn’t a huge deal, so there is no need to discuss it further.”

Luke went into the banquet room and had a good time with Reina.

Hans couldn’t help but look frustrated seeing the young Lord.

‘What are you even thinking?’

He had thought of the same question numerous times, but that question had frustrated him now more than ever.

After releasing a long sigh, the deep wrinkles on the forehead of Hans vanished.