Free Web NovelChapter 176: Chapter 101: Senior Sister Catherine and I Are Truly in Love (4)
"I am willing to offer Lakefront Town as a betrothal gift. Oh, and my fief, Silver Sand Bay Fishing Port. I know that I, Lynch, am of humble birth. Right now, I am just a minor Imperial Knight, unworthy of the Adela family’s prestigious name. But I can assure you that I will give my all to earn merits and will never fail to live up to Catherine’s expectations..."
Andis’s imposing aura faltered. He was completely stunned.
’I came here demanding compensation for my losses, and this brat turns around and proposes marriage?’
But in the next instant, his face was once again contorted with rage.
’A mere Tier One Necromancer of common birth like Lynch dares to ask for the hand of the Adela family’s rose? And he expects to use Lakefront Town and that pathetic fief of his as a betrothal gift?’
’What an absolute pipe dream!’
However, before Andis could speak, Lynch spoke again with utmost sincerity, "Uncle Andis! If you and the family truly feel that I, Lynch, am unworthy of marrying Catherine... then... then I am willing to renounce my surname and marry into the Adela family!"
The moment he said this, the entire crowd was stunned into silence.
Even the whispering officers and soldiers of the Tiger Roar Battalion stared with wide eyes.
’Renouncing his surname to marry into a noble family?’
For an Imperial Knight, this was practically the greatest sacrifice one could make.
’It must mean he’s truly in love with Lady Catherine!’
Catherine’s eyes widened even further, her face a mask of disbelief.
’How did things get so bizarre?’
’She’d zoned out for a second, and things had already fast-forwarded to him marrying into her family?’
Trembling with rage, she shot Lynch a murderous glare.
But Lynch maintained his attitude of one willing to sacrifice everything for true love. He gazed at Catherine with deep affection and said, "I ask for nothing else. I only wish to be by Catherine’s side and make her happy. Title, status, surname—I can give them all up. I only want Catherine."
Andis was completely thrown for a loop by Lynch’s "devoted lover" and "selfless love" combo.
’Damn it!’
’This brat... He’s completely blocked all my pre-planned lines about "demanding compensation" and "taking over the defense sector."’
’The man is willing to marry into the Adela family and bring two territories with him. How can I still try to forcibly demand Lakefront Town?’
’Wouldn’t that be no different from outright robbery?’
’What would public opinion be of him, of Andis Adela?’
’It would look far too shameless.’
More importantly, this brat had powerful backers of his own.
Andis’s expression flickered as he rapidly tried to figure out a way to break the deadlock.
Just then, a steady voice called out from behind him, "Battle Group Commander."
He instinctively turned his head and saw a man with a resolute face spurring his horse forward from the ranks of the Tiger Roar Battalion.
He was the commander of the Tiger Roar Battalion, a valiant general of common birth who had climbed the ranks step by step through military merit. He held considerable prestige within the battalion.
He glanced at Lynch, his eyes holding less hostility and more complexity. He then gave Andis a cupped-fist salute and said, "Battle Group Commander, with things having developed this far, I feel I must offer a word of advice. Although this Lynch is a commoner and his methods may be somewhat extreme, his feelings for the Young Lady... are truly sincere and genuine."
"Besides, the fact that he was able to restore order to Lakefront Town in such a short time shows he has some capability and daring. This proposal to marry into the family, while sudden, could be a good thing for the Young Lady’s reputation and for the Adela family if handled properly... It’s certainly better than letting this affair become a public scandal that’s difficult to clean up."
"Indeed, Battle Group Commander," another officer from a minor noble family advised in a low voice. "You know Lady Catherine’s personality. They are mutually in love, and if you try to forcibly separate them, it’s more likely to cause trouble. Since this Lynch is willing to marry into the family, his sincerity is clear... At the very least, from now on, Lakefront Town and Silver Sand Bay will logically fall under the family’s influence."
"That’s right, Battle Group Commander. I think the lad is serious, he’s even willing to marry in..."
"What’s done is done. It might be better to just..."
Several influential officers spoke up one after another to persuade him, and the tide of opinion quietly began to turn.
With so many of his core officers changing their tune, Andis, no matter how resolute he was in his own thinking, had to seriously consider their opinions.
Listening from the side as they went back and forth, seemingly deciding her marriage for her, Catherine felt like her head was about to explode.
She was about to speak but was silenced by a fierce glare from her uncle, Andis. "You be quiet for now. Stand aside and look at the mess you’ve made. Let me think."
He knew his niece had always been willful, but he never expected she would get herself into this kind of mess with a commoner Necromancer behind his back.
His gaze grew heavy as thoughts raced through his mind.
’Things have suddenly escalated to him marrying into the family. While it is certainly ridiculous, it seems... not entirely unacceptable.’
’This Lynch kid may be of low birth, but he has ability. There’s a reason Annabella and Raymond both hold him in such high regard.’
’If he really does marry into the Adela family with his two territories, not only would it be a good thing, it would also wash away the family’s disgrace. More importantly, it would resolve this whole mess between him and my willful niece.’
’As for being a Necromancer... that’s a legal Extraordinary Profession in the Empire!’
Having quickly thought it through, Andis looked at Lynch again, and his gaze held noticeably less anger.
’Hmm... he’s actually looking rather handsome, isn’t he?’
Although Catherine had just been given a gag order by her uncle, when she saw his gaze toward Lynch begin to soften, she knew that if she didn’t speak up now, the deal would be sealed. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Once her uncle verbally agreed to this marriage, there would be no turning back.
And just as Catherine was about to throw caution to the wind and reveal that there was nothing going on between her and Lynch,
Suddenly, a sinister cackle echoed out.
The sound was elusive, seeming to come from far away and yet right beside them, ringing directly in everyone’s ears.
"Heh heh heh... This marriage? I do not approve."
The moment the voice sounded, Andis’s pupils contracted. The Holy Light Energy within him instinctively surged, and he instantly entered a state of maximum alert.
In the next instant, a chubby figure strolled out from the shadows of a corner.
It was a fat man in a loose black Mage Robe. He had a round face and squinted eyes, giving him a somewhat amiable and friendly appearance.
But despite his size, his movements were exceptionally agile and elusive. In a single, ghostly step, he appeared in front of Lynch and looked at Andis with a mocking gaze. "Brother Andis, you’ve come all the way to my Red Ridge Mountain defense sector, yet you didn’t even say hello?"
As he spoke, a suffocatingly cold aura of death emanated from him, and even the air within a radius of several hundred meters seemed to turn colder.
At the same time.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE...
A faint tremor ran through the ground as the sound of urgent hoofbeats rapidly approached from the distance, seemingly thundering in from all directions.
Everyone looked toward the sound and saw billowing clouds of dust rising at the edge of their vision from Lakefront Town. Squadrons of cavalry were approaching from all sides, faintly revealing that they had surrounded the several hundred elites of Andis’s Tiger Roar Battalion in the area before the town’s entrance.
What was astonishing was the incredibly diverse composition of these several hundred cavalrymen.
There were human cavalry, centaur outriders, and Undead Cavalry. There were even dwarven cavalry riding goats and wielding War Axes or firearms, as well as a small number of goblin Knights piloting Mechanical Puppets.
A battle group banner fluttered in the wind at the very center of the formation. Its emblem was a chubby Skeleton head, with the words "North Wind Legion’s Thirteenth Battle Group" embroidered below.
Clearly, this was the banner of the North Wind Legion’s Thirteenth Battle Group.
...
