“Caudic, I disagree with your opinion.”
The first to oppose was the lord of the Northern Border, Lena’s grandfather—Duke Lars.
The gray-haired Duke Lars leaned back in his chair, his hands resting on the table. His tall frame took up most of the space at the round table, resembling a giant bear waiting for prey, exuding an aura of danger.
Although already in his seventies, for a high-level professional, this was merely a sign of aging, not advanced age; a normal high-level professional could live over a hundred years even without considering various potions and magic.
“First of all, the kingdom has never provided any assistance to us in the Northern Border.”
As Duke Lars’s gaze swept across the room, some guilty nobles lowered their heads. The kingdom not only failed to give any aid to the Northern Border, but it even secretly courted the nobles of the North. Not to mention that some merchants were covertly selling weapons and salt iron to the Demon Clan, which contributed to the Northern Border, being almost as large as half the kingdom, continuously being beaten down by the Demon Clan and forced to shrink back.
“Secondly, I do not believe that compromise can bring peace; conceding to an invader only makes them more greedy.”
Duke Lars’s voice was thunderous, yet he did not receive much response. Most of the nobles stood by the royal family, or at the very least, watched the situation unfold without taking a side. The Northern Border was not only being invaded by foreign enemies, but also embroiled in a civil war over the heir, and weakness was practically inevitable; the only question was how weak they would become. Would you care about what the meat on the dining table was saying? Although the meat appeared somewhat tough, the fresh bloodstains on it made the surrounding nobles lick their lips.
Caudic did not directly refute the arguments; instead, he clapped his hands, and immediately the attendants spread out a painting on the conference table.
The painting depicted an infant and a child appearing no older than ten, with two corpses holding weapons on the ground. The soldiers on the two armors in the painting, bearing the Lars family’s Northern Wind Bear emblem, were grabbing the hardship compensation from the slightly older child, while many corpses of starving refugees lay around.
Several nobles present began to discuss among themselves.
“Everyone, this is the Northern Border under the governance of the Lars family. When I heard the b
