Herald of Steel

When Lord Parker sent Lord Bernard to the aid of Lord Kite, he did it with the hope that both sides would use this to familiarize themselves with how the other fought, thus helping them fight better as a single coherent fighting unit in the future.

Plus, Lord Parker was also interested to see if what he had read about the Margraves family troops was true, that they were almost as skilled as any ducal forces, especially when it came to naval fighting

Being a scion of one, such a bold statement inevitably pricked at his ego a bit.

But all such considerations were turned moot when Lord Bernard decided to ignore that objective, leaving Lord Kite to himself and instead setting his eyes on the bridge- the same bridge that was currently being overrun by Alexander.

As his ship approached the bridge and he saw their defeated forces running away, Lord Bernard quickly turned to order his right hand man, "Ser Robert! Have the captain change course. Head towards the bridge! We must not let it fall! It is the key to Phyrros Island."

"Tha…" The sudden and unexpected order caught the man to the right off guard, who could not help but blurt with a shocked look, "Shouldn't we keep to our orders? Acting on our own does not seem prudent. Especially not now. Lord Parker would not approve."

The man made sure to put emphasis on the last sentence, reminding his boss of who they were currently under.

After Alexander's takeover of the mansion, Margraves troop found themselves fully dependent on the Heeat family's stocks for food, and much more importantly, the ducal family's coin for their wages, making them in all but name be under their command.

Lord Bernard was very much under Lord Parker's mercy.

Not to mention the fact that the ducal lord had just gotten over his acrimony at the former's recent failure, a state that would not be prudent to destroy that so soon,

Hence this military man was of the mind that they should stick to their original plans- since Lord Parker wanted to them to go relieve Lord Kite, they should go do that, regardless of any other development elsewhere.

"Fool!" But Lord Bernard was of a different mind entirely, briskly brushing his hands to the air and rebuking the man with an enraged shout,

"Even you want me to suck on that bastard's imp of a cock! For how long? How long will we continue to be treated like his doormat? We are Earls! We have been one for the last three hundred years! We deserve better!"

It seemed deep inside the man really hated Lord Parker's guts, and the other man's mention of the name quickly worked to get him all riled up, as Lord Bernard actually found the ducal lord overbearing and much more than that, extremely pompous.

He perceived Lord Parker to be always looking down on him or his family, acting as if he was better than all of them, his nose always pointed up into the air.

And his holier than thou act ground Lord Bernard at all the wrong places.

So much so that as he recalled all the times he had to serve the man in bed, his handsome face twisted in disgust, causing him to clench his fists and grit his teeth in disgust.

"......"

Towards this outburst, his right hand man, Ser Robert only flattened his lips in exasperation, finding it extremely unprofessional for a man in such a station would choose to bring his personal feelings into a military campaign.

Whatever pride and other family matters Lord Bernard might have had, he felt this was not the time or place to vent it.

But then again, this very dashing man was not a military man, having almost no background training in it.

He had only gotten the job most due to his father as well as the circumstances of the time.

Basically, the guy was the family's ambassador to Lord Parker, chosen due to his beautiful, handsome face.

And the one who really commanded the Margraves troops was Ser Robert.

This was also why the impetuous Lord Bernard was even bothering to argue with the man in the first place, instead of simply ordering the troops himself.

Because he needed Ser Robert's seal of assent.

And this was also how Ser Robert found the courage to argue with the man who was several ranks above him in the social hierarchy, for one was a full fledged lord, the other a commoner, even if a highly decorated, high ranking one.

Thus, maintaining only a thin veil of courtesy, the stocky adjutant tried to persuade his lord in a soft, but cold tone, "It is because of this that we should go help Lord Kite. So that we can show off our strength to the Heeat family. Once they know the sharpness of our blade we will surely be treated with the respect we deserve."

Thus the man tried to argue that Lord Bernard would get all that he wanted just by following Lord Parker's order.

"Bah!" But all that got Ser Robert was a loud spat of disgust and an enraged look as the latter chimed up to rebuke, "What strength? What glory? Bah! Can't you see Phyrros Island is lost? Our forces have been overrun and are being chased by Alexander as we speak! We should go help them now! What is the point of going to reinforce Lord Kite? Just tell him to retreat."

The man did have a point there, Ser Robert would give him that.

There truly was little they could do that would help their family by going to Lord Kite's rescue.

Even if they defeated Alexander's forces there, then what?

The island was already taken.

So most likely they would only return to their camp.

Where was the glory in that? The honor? The riches?

Not to mention, Lord Kite did not even seem to be in too much trouble by the sound of it. He only asked for extra men to defeat the enemy quickly.

And Ser Robert understood all of this.

However being someone who had been brought up since childhood to always obey the orders given to him, the man found it hard to suddenly change himself.

He instinctively wanted to just turn off his brain and obey.

That is why even after Lord Bernard's rebuttal, the man kept on insisting, even adding in a slightly didactic tone, "Please recall that we have been entrusted with this order from Lady Linda."

This statement was a very subtle threat.

Everyone knew that Lord Parker's sudden favorable shift towards Lord Bernard was almost the sole effort of their future family head.

And everyone also knew it would not be good to defy her.

This reminder thus caused Lord Bernard's gaze to suddenly dim a bit, and his heart skipped a beat.

It was true that he was reluctant to go against that lady, given her influence as well as the favor she had shown him

However, that also did not mean Lord Bernard would be like a servile slave to her.

So that cautious thought only lasted an ephemeral second, as suddenly remembering something, his face morphed into an expectant glow and a glint of greed flashed in his eyes.

So patting the other man on his shoulders he flashed a charming smile, a sight so beautiful that it made Ser Robert's heart skip a beat for the wrong reasons,

And then he heard the other's sweet, honeyed tone,

"What is the point of going to save those damned ships? How many Adhanians can we kill there? A handful? Or perhaps not even that. That damned Kite must have killed been all."

"But look here! On the bridge! The enemy is completely defenseless. They are so focused on chasing the fleeing man, they have not even noticed us. Hahaha, all we have to do is land our troops next to them and we can smash their flanks in one hit."

"Routing the enemy and getting our island back! How does that sound for making an impression?"

As Lord Bernard ended, his voice turned sharp and pitched with longing, while his eyes seemed to dazzle Ser Robert, who upon hearing it all also could not help but seriously consider disobeying current his objectives.

The offer sounded very tempting. Especially given how easy it all sounded.

"If we can take the island… Lord Parker will surely have to pay attention to us. Then our family will…" The man found himself subconsciously muttering.

So the man quickly started to convince himself, and soon even the only thing that was holding him back- a string of reluctance born out of habit, was snapped as Ser Robert convinced himself it would not be prudent to lock horns with someone of Lord Bernard's caliber.

Given the societal structure of the time period, it was not easy to go against someone as high in the tiering ring as Lord Bernard.

So fearing the man might simply choose to dismiss if he disagreed, the adjutant nodded with a curt shake, and thus the ships soon began to veer towards Alexander.

Who in the heat of the battle remained completely oblivious to the approaching peril.

The snake was poised to strike.

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