Chapter 1507: Sparring
Chapter 1507: Sparring
The order from the queen shocked the entire court.
All of them knew what it meant to send the royal army to the north. The ruler of the north was definitely Noel Ardagan. Sending the marshall as his subordinate would mean Noel could actually launch a coup d'etat with the troops the queen lent him.
In other words, he didn't have to dirty his own hands to become a king.
The meaning was different for Wendy.
This was a gamble. A gamble Wendy needed to figure out Noel's intention. And it was also a scheme that worked for her.
She knew that the Muivell Kingdom had been divided. Thanks to her, she managed to control the central and the west. Due to the defeat of the third prince, his influence had retreated, and the east would soon be captured by her sooner or later.
However, it was impossible to control the north. As long as Noel Ardagan was there, no one could touch the north.
Hence, he sent the marshall to the north. Instead of complete control, she sought cooperation.
In the end, the marshall followed Noel exiting the hall as a sign of their cooperation.
The marshall walked next to Noel Ardagan and said, "Congratulations on your new rank, Grand Duke."
Noel glanced at him with a serious expression. "Thank you."
The marshall could feel the meaning behind Noel's gaze. He remained silent for a minute before opening his mouth. "Originally, I was just a dog who could only do his job no matter who the owner was.
"But in the last few weeks, I started to think that your choice might not be a bad thing either."
"My choice?" Noel smiled. "Do you mean becoming a noble?"π³πΏππππ²ππ»ππππ₯.ππ π
"You know and I know which choice I'm talking about." The marshall shook her head. He was talking about Wendy.
If not for Noel, Wendy wouldn't even have become the queen. Duke Lorelei was the key to becoming the queen after all.
"She is a great queen. In the span of a few weeks, she is able to gain control over the central and the west. The east is just a matter of time.
"During the previous king's reign, it's thanks to him that everything fell apart. However, the former king was a wise man before he changed."
"I believe it's in your interest to stop talking about it." Noel shook his head helplessly.
"You might be right." The marshall closed his eyes. He observed Noel's expression before asking, "In that case, may I ask you to show me your strength?"
Here it comes. Noel had expected this exchange from the beginning. It was obvious they intended to test his strength.
Of course, Noel hadn't fully recovered. Thanks to Khalid and his Force Control, Noel was able to fix most of the damage, but it would still take one or two months before he fully recovered.
Noel frowned. "Your request?"
The marshall looked him in the eye and realized it was useless to lie in front of Noel. "My request. But it just happens to be Her Majesty's request. Also, I would like to tell you about one thing. She requests to be called Her Majesty. There have only been two female sovereigns in this country. The first one came 700 years ago, and Her Majesty is now the second person.
"Thanks to our custom, female sovereigns are rare, so we're too used to calling the ruler His Majesty."
"I will keep that in mind." Noel thought for a moment. "You might not want to test my strength."
"I actually do. Right now, there will be a conflict between you and the royal army. People doubt your strength. If you are able to demonstrate that strength, you will gain the necessary control over the royal army.
"Of course, part of me is willing to see how far the gap between a spirit transcendence and a spirit king is. However, the biggest reason isβ¦"
The marshall looked around, making sure there was no spy on this one.
"The other kingdoms, huh?"
The marshall's heart skipped a beat and felt relieved after realizing no one had heard it. After all, the royal palace was a place where even the walls had ears.
The marshall nodded. "Yes. Right now, everyone is racing toward you, but they still don't believe in your strength."
"Isn't that more like my problem, not your problem?"
"It might look that way, but the queen is in a serious predicament. In just a few weeks after her coronation, she is actually using her power to create a new nobility rank. The nobles obviously don't like it, even though they can't object to it either.
"Besides, by showing your strength, all the problems with your subordinates will be settled. You will also gain an advantage in negotiation. I don't think it will be detrimental to you."
He was talking about Incetta. The Sherveana family had begun to move. Of course, it would also stabilize Raincart's position in the Greenwood Kingdom after the words about his strength spread.
"I'm still against it. I don't want the commander who will lead the royal army to get injured. I'm not trying to act arrogant."
"I know. After all, even the two demonic humans who have the power beyond spirit transcendence can't even fight you. How about I call Duke Lorelei to help as well? Besides, it's not like you are unable to hold back, right?"
Noel nodded. "Fine. I will do it. However, the situation right now is delicate, so let's finish this as quickly as possible.
"You can gather your army before heading to the north."
"I understand. You will be quite busy after showing your strength after all. I will keep that in mind." The marshall nodded. "Then one last question. Grand Duke⦠Are you planning to destroy the kingdom?"
Noel's expression turned solemn. "There are a lot of grievances between me and the kingdom. Everyone knows that. But my goal hasn't changed since I awakened my spirits. My ancestors fought for humanity, and I will point my sword at the demons as well.
"If humans stand in my way, I will cut them down so that I can cut down the demons. My goal lies beyond that."
The marshall's body froze all of a sudden.
"Hmm?" Noel turned around. "What do you stop?"
"Ah!" The marshall shook his head. "I'm thinking about getting Duke Lorelei right away."