Countess Marble stared intently at the reply from Duke Tywin.
Scholar Byrd stood behind the lady, not daring to utter a sound, much less peek out.
The Marbrand family has a very strict hierarchy, and the Countess has never been gentle.
After a long while, Byrd heard the lady's soft voice: "Scholar, come and see what the Duke means by this letter?"
"Yes, madam!" Sir Byrd replied respectfully.
The lady handed the letter to the scholar. The scholar took the letter and read it, and he too stopped breathing and could not utter a sound.
The lady's indifferent, cold voice rang out: "Scholar, what is the Duke's intention in doing this? His vicious dog bit his relative, and he's just going to remain silent?"
Baelder broke out in a cold sweat as he stared at the blank sheet of paper before him, devoid of any words.
What was the Duke's intention in doing this?
*
The most ancient and noble aristocratic lineage in the Westerlands is undoubtedly that of the Westerling family, from the seaside city of Cliff Rock.
The Westerling family fell into decline because the gold and silver mines in their territory were depleted early on. By the time of Earl Gavin, in order to covet the expensive dowry of the spice merchant, Earl Gavin married Sybil Spicer, who was not of noble birth.
The decline of the Westerlings today is the future of the entire Westerlands.
When the gold and silver mines of other noble families in the Westerlands also come to an end, their fortunes will decline just as ruthlessly. Those who laugh at and look down on the Westerling family now are merely the pot calling the kettle black.
The sale of Westerling family lands at bargain prices began as early as the Earl of Gavin's father's generation.
By the time of Earl Gavin's generation, the situation had become even more dire.
Despite the family's decline and worsening fortunes, there are still two formidable individuals within the Westerling family who have yet to have a chance to rise to prominence.
One of them was Sir Ralph Spicer, Gavin Westerling's brother-in-law who took over as acting lord after Gavin Westerling's departure. Sir Ralph Spicer was Hibel Spicer's older brother. He came to Cliffrock with his sister after she married Earl Gavin and was knighted by Earl Gavin, thus rising from commoner to noble without land.
Rover was a burly man with a fiery temper. While living in Lannisport, he had broken his nose in a fight, leaving it crooked to one side with a noticeable dent. He also had a neatly trimmed, short gray beard. Outwardly, Rover appeared quite fierce. In fact, he was indeed very fierce. However, in the hands of the gentle Earl Gavin, he was utterly powerless.
Ralph's preferred weapon was not a longsword, but a heavy axe. This indicates that he possessed astonishing arm strength.
Another formidable figure is Leonard Westerling, the eldest son of Lord Gavin, heir to the city of Cliffrock, Jenny's brother, and the Mountain's brother-in-law.
Leonard was a nineteen-year-old boy with a friendly smile. He was young, tough, and tall with very thick, naturally curly chestnut hair and an even thicker chestnut mustache, which made him look very manly.
Because his family's financial situation is deteriorating day by day, Leonard, despite being of marriageable age, still doesn't have a fiancée.
His situation was the same as his sister Jenny's: he was neither good enough for high-end jobs nor good enough for lower-end ones.
Besides his superb swordsmanship, Leonard also had a very distinctive character trait: integrity and loyalty!
Although the Mountain and Leonard had only met a few times and never greeted each other when they met before, remaining strangers, the Mountain now understood Leonard's character. Leonard was an absolutely trustworthy friend; entrusting matters to him wouldn't lead to betrayal.
In the timeline before the Mountain's journey, after Jenny married Robb Stark of the North, Leonard remained loyal to Robb. At the Red Wedding, Leonard attempted to release Robb's direwolf, Greywind, but he was shot several times by several Freys with arrows. In the end, Leonard threw himself into the river to die for his loyalty.
When news of the Mountain's twenty-two-man sweeping conquest of the Northern nobles reached Rocky Hill, Lord Gavin and Lady Sybil were terrified. The most excited and happy people were two courageous and responsible men in Rocky Hill: Sir Rover, the Mountain's brother-in-law; and Leonard, the Mountain's brother-in-law.
When Leonard heard the news of the Mountain's overnight sweep of the Northern nobles, he jumped up from his chair with joy, and his admiration for the Mountain began. And because of this, Sir Rover looked down on the weak Earl Gavin and began to value the Mountain.
When the news reached Cliffrock, Lady Jenny and Sweetmouth Rapht Clegane, who was escorting her to safety, had just arrived. They had traveled very quickly this time, on horseback, taking a day and a night plus half a day. Although Sweetmouth Rapht was all smiles on the surface, he was very annoyed inside. For such an important matter, the Mountain had made him escort the lady, thus depriving him of a great opportunity to drink blood with his sword and make a name for himself.
The thought of that guy named Chiswick swaggering around Lord Mountain, hacking and slashing people and breaking through cities made Sweet-Talking Ralph feel even worse.
That big-headed guy had only been following Lord Demon Mountain for a few days, yet he had already received such an important opportunity to make contributions and advance in rank. Moreover, all the soldiers he was fighting were his brothers, which made Sweet Mouth even more unhappy.
However, Sweet Talker's displeasure was quickly diverted, because the Mountain's actions—capturing twenty-seven knights of the North and 'inviting' them to Cliffrock for the Mountain and Jenny's family wedding—were a bit too much, and Lord Gavin became timid.
"Jenny, what are we going to do after you and Sir Gregor leave? Rocky City can't handle the twenty-odd noble families in the North!" Earl Gavin said with a serious expression.
"Now that we've taken back our land, we need to build our own garrison, with at least a thousand men," Jenny said calmly. She was no longer a young girl, but a woman with a mature charm.
Men possess a powerful magical ability to accelerate a woman's maturation!
Similarly, women have an innate talent for training men; otherwise, they wouldn't be called the school for men.
"We can get the land back and recruit a thousand soldiers without any problem, but what about the money to support them?"
"Sir Gregory said we're family, and he'll find a way!"
"Find a solution? There are no gold mines in his territory, and the Salot family won Golden Leaf Bay anyway; besides, a thousand men can't suppress the Marble family's strength, not even two thousand. Sir Gregor is too aggressive; he didn't even consult me beforehand! Sigh! We could have sat down and talked to Earl Damon before we started fighting!"
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"Sir Gregor and his twenty-two men were able to wipe out more than twenty noble families in the North in one night. Earl, what are you worried about?" Sweet-talking Raff said with a grin. He smiled happily, but he was actually very unhappy inside.
Because despite Lord Mountain's hard work, he received no praise from Earl Gavin, only complaints and accusations.
Sweet-talking Ralph wished he could draw the dagger from his waist and plunge it into the count's stomach.
Unfortunately, this coward was the Demon Mountain's father-in-law and also his elder, so he could only smile and talk to him, even though he was so frustrated that his teeth were itching.
"Sir Ralph, Sir Gregor's destruction of twenty cities in one night was not due to his true strength, but rather a trick... He underestimated the true strength of those nobles... The powerful forces of Earl Damon and others... were simply restrained and unable to be unleashed... Alas!"
Sweet-tongued Ralph, usually quick-witted and eloquent, was so angry at the count's weak and cowardly words that he was speechless!
Leonard said, "Father, you may be thinking a bit off-topic. Sir Gregor dared to attack them, so he's not afraid of their retaliation."
Sir Rover also said, "My lord, we don't bully others or act like villains, but if anyone tries to trample on us, we will fight them back. Now that we have Sir Gregor as our ally, we no longer need to fear them."
Lady Hibel remained silent, but Sweet-talking Ralph had already seen that she and Earl Gavin shared the same thoughts, and he was extremely displeased with the Earl and Countess.
"Count, Madam, Lady Jenny, I must go and greet Lord Gregor." With that, Ralph turned and left. He smiled, but inwardly he was seething with resentment.
"I'm going to greet my brother-in-law too!" Leonard said, and without waiting for his parents' permission, he went after Ralph.
"As an elder of Cliff Rock City, I should also go and greet our son-in-law," Luo Fu said, turning and walking away.
Earl Gavin said awkwardly to Jenny, "Jenny, what I said just now wasn't meant to be a sign of weakness, it's just that we..."
"Father, Gregor has already worked very hard, and his twenty-two brothers have worked even harder. Even if he has made a mistake, please don't complain to his face when he comes. He may not say anything, but his brothers will be disheartened if they hear it." Jenny stood up, smiling, her intellectual elegance exuding a mature charm. "Father, Mother, I will also go to greet Sir Gregor." Jenny turned and walked out of the hall.
Earl Gavin glanced at Lady Hibel, who pouted, and Earl Gavin called out, "Jenny, wait for me, I'll go with you."
Earl Gavin is someone who talks tough when things get serious, but when it comes to real action, he's not afraid. It's just that when things get really big, he starts to back down.