As the saying goes, heaven does not completely cut off a person’s path.
When Lind had already begun discussing with Lauri whether to join the bandits, an envoy from the Royal Capital arrived to find Lind.
The envoy stepped down from a luxurious horse-drawn carriage inlaid with sapphires, and the royal double-headed lion emblem on the carriage compelled Lind to kneel in respect.
The envoy, wearing a blue robe, hurriedly stepped forward to support Lind, kindly taking his hand and starting a conversation.
“Baron Lind Roer, I’ve been searching for you for a long time. Ever since I heard your territory was breached, I haven’t dared to rest for a moment, and here I am looking for you. Fortunately, the Goddess has blessed you, and you are safe.”
The envoy’s enthusiastic demeanor puzzled Lind. Could it be that he was some royal bastard lost to the world? The original owner’s memories didn’t mention this at all. Why was the envoy from the Royal Capital so enthusiastic?
“Your Excellency Envoy, if you have something to say, please do so. I still need to find a stable place for my subjects.”
The envoy from the Royal Capital clapped his hands and said, “Oh, what a coincidence! My lord, I’m here to grant you a territory.”
Lind was taken aback. Could it be that he really was a royal bastard? No way!
Then Lind watched as the envoy pulled out a scroll from his pocket and said to Lind, “My lord, I have good news for you. Can you guess what it is?”
“That I suddenly have a father I’ve never met?”
The envoy shook his head with a smile.
“That I have a title to inherit in the Royal Capital?”
The envoy still smiled professionally and shook his head.
“What is it then?”
Lind suddenly had a bad feeling.
“Congratulations, Baron Lind Roer! By the unanimous decision of Lady Saintess and Duke Lars, you are to become the son-in-law of the Lars Family.”
Then the envoy slowly opened the scroll in his hand, revealing a marriage contract.
Written on it was Lind’s fiancée, Lena Lars.
“What? I’m to marry Lena? Is this for real?”
Lind almost spat out a mouthful of blood; the unfortunate border noble at the end of the game turned out to be himself?
The envoy from the Royal Capital was still comforting Lind, saying, “Don’t be nervous; feeling dizzy is normal. Take a deep breath.”
I call bullshit!
Although Lind wanted to say that, he forced a smile that was uglier than crying and asked, “Your Excellency Envoy, is this marriage non-negotiable?”
It wasn’t that Lena Lars was ugly to the point of being unworthy; her looks must have been commendable to be chosen as a royal bride. It was just that in the later discussions of the game, Lena Lars was mentioned to have harbored dissatisfaction towards the royal family, leading her unfortunate father to rebel, ultimately resulting in a whole family execution.
For the current Lind, this was no different from a death sentence.
The envoy’s expression suddenly became serious as he said to Lind in a threatening tone, “Baron Lind, she’s the granddaughter of Duke Lars. Have you thought about the consequences of refusing?”
In fact, the envoy was a bit nervous himself. Lena’s reputation in the Royal Capital was already in tatters—she was branded as a shrew, a jealous woman, with the most common title being “the disgrace of the nobility.” Just this title had sentenced Lena to a death sentence in terms of her reputation among the nobility.
After the judgment of her marrying down, the attitude of the nobility in the Royal Capital was to avoid her like the plague.
The northern nobles also distanced themselves from her as much as possible, even many eligible young men in the north suddenly found themselves engaged overnight because there simply weren’t enough noble ladies, and some even eloped with other men.
The current situation in the North was quite complex, with the nobility’s attitude towards Lena being even more extreme than the nobility in the Royal Capital.
Therefore, the envoy was anxious to complete his task, and it wouldn’t be easy to find a big fool willing to take on such a burden.
Lind’s reaction made the envoy suspect that this nobleman fleeing from the border had caught wind of the situation, increasing the envoy’s urgency.
Looking at the subjects peeking from a distance behind Lind, the envoy suddenly had an idea and pointed at the stipulations on the marriage document, shouting, “My lord, think it over! If you refuse, the territory given by Duke Lars will be lost, and you and your subjects will continue to wander like this.”
“My lord, you wouldn’t want your subjects to go hungry and keep wandering, would you?”
Though Lind wished this envoy from the distant island nation would tone it down, he carefully examined the terms on the marriage document.
The agreement indeed stated that Duke Lars would grant his son-in-law a large expanse of territory, although it was still uncultivated wasteland, it was fertile land with abundant resources.
Was this truly for Lind? Not really, because Duke Lars specifically noted that while Lind was nominally the lord, the territory granted would be co-managed by him and Lena.
A lovely idea of co-management; Lind scoffed internally. The agreement mentioned co-management, but how simple would it be for Lena Lars, the Duke’s cherished granddaughter, to dominate an outsider son-in-law? This was merely a way to pass land to his granddaughter through a contract.
The subjects behind Lind all looked at him with eager eyes, and if he nodded, they could all settle down safely in the granted territory. Moreover, to the common folk of the Northern Border, Duke Lars was a far greater noble than the Emperor; matters of the North were beyond the Emperor’s control, but Duke Lars could. What reason did Lind have to refuse?
Lind knew he was being morally coerced; after taking a deep breath, he still said earnestly, “Alright, Envoy, I will sign the marriage document, but I have one request: our food is running low, and I hope you can provide enough food for my subjects to travel with me to the granted territory.”
“No problem, of course not.”
The envoy excitedly handed the marriage document to Lind.
“These knights will also escort you and your subjects to the land granted by Duke Lars.”
Lind’s request was nothing to the envoy; the meal expenses from any noble who entertained him along the way would be enough to feed Lind’s subjects.
The envoy secretly rejoiced that his guess was indeed correct; a noble who could flee with his subjects had a relatively high moral standard, making such nobles the easiest to deal with.
Hearing the cheering from the subjects and border troops behind him, Lind suddenly felt that marrying Lena Lars wasn’t such a big deal after all; at least he resolved the current crisis, even if it was tantamount to selling himself.
Then Lind carefully began to read the marriage document.
“What? I’m not even a son-in-law by default?”
Lind noticed at the bottom of the marriage document that after the marriage, Lena would actually change her surname, henceforth having no ties to the Lars Family. No wonder there was no mention of Lena rebelling against the Lars Family in future discussions.
“Of course, my lord. What are you thinking? This is marrying down, not taking a son-in-law.”
The envoy looked at Lind with confusion. Though being a son-in-law was quite common in this world since women also had inheritance rights, there weren’t many who aspired to become a son-in-law.
Lind reluctantly closed the marriage document. Alright, it seems he couldn’t shout to the Lars Family, “Oh no, the son-in-law of the Lars Family has been devoured!” with a crooked smile in the future.
Although nominally not a son-in-law, according to the terms of the agreement, Lind’s actual status after marrying Lena wouldn’t differ much from that of a son-in-law. It must be said that Duke Lars inadvertently solved the age-old dilemma of the son-in-law being devoured.
