141 – Battle of Waine Plains (14)

At that, the duke smiled and said.

“I can understand your suspicions, but Winnie von Hellsman is the bastard of Earl Hellsman. It’s been a long time since I received recognition again.”

I didn’t expect it to be this much agitated, but it’s no way that they even prepared the right documents…

After all, it is not easy because he is an old man who has safely kept the position of duke for over 70 years.

“Is that so? If so, show me the proof.”

“Wait a minute. Inspector Winslot has the papers, so I’ll show you.”

After a while, an inspector named Winslot came in and handed me the papers.

The document said:

[Sern von Hellsman’s bastard, Winnie von Hellsman, orders to enter a monastery to walk the path of a priest. At the same time, the moment he enters the monastery, he orders that from now on he abandon all his worldly status as a priest in front of Deus, who is no longer a noble. – Abbot Lynch von Dweil- December 5, 410 Deus]

As long as the abbot’s name is included, this document becomes an official identification card proving that Winnie von Hellsman is the bastard of Count Hellsman.

Therefore, it is impossible to call him an impersonator other than Count Hellsman’s bastard, as I first asked.

Duke Architel looked at me and said, ‘If you have nothing to say, let’s talk about something else.’ is making a face…

This paperwork alone will not stop me from conspiring to cause a rebellion by sending a priest to Maxburg.

The duke, unaware of my feelings, looked at me and asked with the corner of his mouth slightly raised.

“No matter how much Count Hellsman’s family lost their territory and declined… Shouldn’t you apologize for treating Winnie as an unscrupulous bastard pretending to be a bastard, and for considering me a piece of scum for supporting such an unscrupulous bastard?”

I said nothing for a while, to pretend I was caught off guard.

“Well, I understand your reaction. Certainly, since ancient times, lords like me have hired the right guy to pretend to be a bastard in order to expand their power. However, I am not that shameless, Count.”

The Duke is using this situation to claim compensation for his honor as much as possible, and is doing his best to attack me in order to reduce the amount of compensation he must pay or the size of the territory he must cede.

From the outside, this situation may seem unfavorable to me, but…

At the point where the Duke of Architel tried to eat all of Count Hellsman’s estate, your family made an irreversible mistake.

And that mistake…

“I apologize for doubting Her Highness and Sir Winnie. In that case, may I ask you one question?”

“Okay, ask me anything. There are plenty of means to prove that he is the bastard of Hellsman.”

At that, I asked in a questioning voice.

“The Golden Rule of Europe has this provision. As a member of an aristocratic family, a person who inherits or recaptures a territory is regarded as a legitimate successor to the legitimacy and title as the head of the family, regardless of the son or daughter.”

The duke nodded his head as he listened to me, as if he hadn’t grasped my intention yet.

“Yes, so if we had won this war, wouldn’t Winnie be the rightful Earl of Helsman?”

At that, I replied with a snort.

“It can’t be. Because in that article, didn’t it say that you must be a member of a noble family, and you can inherit the title after recapturing the fief? But Sir Winnie, no, Winnie von Hellsman, who pretends to be Hellsman’s illegitimate son, abandoned all worldly status the moment he entered the monastery.”

At that, the duke put on a dazed expression, as if he had been hit in the back of the head with a baseball bat.

I must have never thought that I would refute with this logic.

I continued to push myself so as not to give the duke any more time to think.

“When he entered the monastery, he completely renounced the Hellsman bastardship. In the process, of course, he lost all of his right to inherit and justification for the Countess of Hellsman. But do you think you can claim the right to inherit the territory just by the mere fact that the blood of Count Hellsman flows through the body of the author?”

“Count Ciel von Kreuttel! However, the Helsman family has long since been cut off by your former master, the Count of Nantes. So anyway, wouldn’t it be awkward if Winnie, who inherited Count Hellsman’s blood, claimed the countship?”

The duke’s words were not wrong.

This is because in this era, there are times when even a bastard who is forced to give up the right to inherit is ruled that the right of succession is automatically restored only when the family line is severed, and the title is inherited.

As soon as I heard that, I laughed openly and said.

“Only if the family line is severed. And the members of the Hellsman family are still unclear. That said, it cannot be said to be unequivocally disconnected. Nevertheless, His Highness claimed the right of succession by converting only Winnie von Hellsman, who had left as a priest.”

“However, it has already been five years since the Hellsman family lost their title! Aren’t they already dead or out of contact?”

“It doesn’t matter, Your Highness. The important thing is that His Majesty uses the cause of the revival of Count Hellsman’s family, whose family has not yet been severed… It is said that he seduced and corrupted a priest who belonged to the church. How disgraceful is this? This is unthinkable in my family!”

I said that, but most clerics who were born as bastards cut ties with their families only on the surface, and most of them live in orphanages with the support of their families.

Because, those who lived a luxurious life as nobles could never live like honest monks, eating only rye bread or porridge and praying for 10 hours a day.

In addition, families usually apply with a sense of guilt for sending bastards from aristocrats to such a place and the expectation that they might become high-ranking clergymen like bishops.

However, Duke Architel’s face began to turn pale as if he had noticed that he was in a very bad situation.

I continued to speak in a voice as if mourning the fall of our bastard son, with the feeling of putting an iron plate on his face.

“Even, when I did this expedition, I heard that nobles with all the titles of France and His Majesty the Emperor were supported with money… In other words, to corrupt a priest who made a vow to dedicate his life to God… All I can say is that the emperor helped… This is very unfortunate… ”

“Nonsense!!!”

“Otherwise, how could Winnie von Hellsman, a faithful vowed monk, return to the world alone and become corrupted? Again, Your Highness, risking life and death on such a prank, went to war… How are you going to reward our knights?”

Personally, I feel like I want to say thank you to His Highness, the Duke, who will be dedicating more rewards and lands for such a clumsy prank.

No, on top of that, to the point of wanting to say goodbye to His Majesty’s kindness, which he had chewed up, to the point of bringing in reinforcements from Franchi, saying that the territory had been taken away.

Besides, if you spread this well and season it, it will be possible to even engage in political swindling inside Franchi to drive responsibility…

The price will be borne by His Highness Duke Akitel, who was defeated in this war.

Later, when the bastard or daughter of the Akitel family comes into exile unofficially in our manor, I even feel that I should be kind to them.

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Just when I was grateful for the mercy of the Duke, who was willing to give me a just cause, money, and land, the Duke let out a big sigh and said,

“damn… As you said, it was because I was far from my own greed… However, His Majesty and the other nobles had no intention of doing that.”

“Is that so? If that’s the case, other nobles will claim alimony just like me… ”

Having said that, if Aquitel becomes too weak from the point of view of the other nobles in France, I will not receive alimony because I am worried that I will take advantage of the opportunity to absorb the remaining territory of Aquitel.

Instead, they will pressure you to give up all your principal. If that happens… even if we extort compensation from the duke, it will be a while before we receive the money.

Then there is nothing you can do Instead of reparations, the only option is to receive a fiefdom.

“We will tell you our requirements, Your Highness the Duke. As compensation, we ask for 600,000 gold coins and the extradition of Winnie, who pretends to be the illegitimate son of Count Helsman, and the entire northern part of the Duchy of Akitel.”