The Duke smirked as he said those words,
"Beautiful. Very beautiful. Your highness, your answer truly moved . I also believe that mutual interest is the way to go rather than simple blind loyalty. Then your highness, since the two of us believe in mutual interest. Pray tell , what can you give to make swear allegiance to you?"
Silence fell in the office as he observed the impassive expression on the prince's face.
Truth be told, he had already decided to throw his lot with the prince. So no matter what the prince said here, as long as it wasn't sothing particularly idiotic, he would still follow him.
'Of course the better the answer the happier and more devoted I will be.'
Hers was first and foremost a rchant before being a noble.
As a rchant, he had the boldness to invest in a promising stock, but he also had the decisiveness necessary to cut the tail at any mont.
Sol, unaware of Hers's thoughts, was seriously pondering. Though, even if he was aware he would still do the sa.
Sol believed in love and friendship. But such things couldn't be ford out of anywhere. As such, the most secure form of relationships was a common interest.
He had promised the Duke Highland to help him redress the situation of his family and accept Athena as one of his personal knights, with the chance of becoming his concubine.
But what did the Duke Traver need?
This was sothing complicated.
The ducal house under the order of Hers wasn't the strongest, nor did it have the most influence.
Because of that, they had basically no weakness. What's more, they were connected to the dwarf kingdom. Giving them more avenue
Closing his eyes, he began to accelerate his thoughts.
What did they need the most?
Money?
No, the Traver lacked anything but money.
Then, Sol grinned,
"Duke Hers, if I were to ask you. How strong are you compared to the other Dukes?"
"...?"
Hers tilted his head in wonder but still answered.
"In terms of power, be it myself as a Duke or our house as a whole, we are without a doubt the weakest of the four houses."
'As I thought.'
Sol grin didn't fade as he continued,
"From what I know, it seems like the number of bandits has exponentially increased the last few months. I suppose that it must be rather troubling for you, isn't it?"
If Hers couldn't understand what Sol was trying to imply now, then he would have wasted all his years.
,m "Indeed. Those bandits prove to be a true headache. What's more, we must pay more fees to the different ducal houses to get more protection."
"If I rember clearly back then it's how the king enticed the first Duchess right? Only, most of your rights were revoked during my father and Aunt tenure of power."
Hers gave a bitter "Indeed."
Back then, during the puppets King era, even though he wasn't the Duke, it didn't an that he was spotless. He had enjoyed the advantage his father brought and he now had to pay the consequences.
After all, who would have thought that soone like Mars would be born? The only reason that four houses hadn't been eradicated at that ti was that the Hero king was too kind and refused unnecessary bloodshed.
If the one with the blessing of luxuria had been Lilith?
He shivered just at the thought.
'Praise the goddess.'
As a hybrid dwarf, he could pray to any of the four goddesses without guilt, but he was still more partial to Avaritia. The goddess of Greed.
Sol snickered a little but didn't comnt further. Of course, there was no way he would give the sa amount of support as his great grandfather. He didn't wish for one of the next rulers after him to beco another puppet king or queen. Still,
"What do you think? I will give you my power and you will give your money. Pretty good right?"
Looking at the still grinning Prince, Hers sighed wistfully,
'Why do I not have a daughter or a granddaughter?'
The boy was still a little immature and inexperienced but it was nothing that couldn't be corrected with enough ti.
At the very least, the raw potential he had already shown would have been enough for him to throw his lot with the prince even if he hadn't been forced to.
Thinking so, he caressed his beard, one of the sources of pride, and stood up from his chair before kneeling down in respect.
Seeing this, the smirk on Sol's face gradually fell down before changing into a genuine smile. He wasn't the kind to humiliate those who decided to follow him and as such stood up.
Now looking down at the Duke that was kneeling, Sol feels a rush of pleasure flow through his body.
'I need to be careful to not let this feeling swallow .'
Pride was a dangerous sin for it could make you overestimate yourself.
"Duke Hers Traver. Do you swear allegiance to ?"
"I, Hers Traver, in front of the goddess luxuria do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his highness Sol Dragona Luxuria, his heirs and successors, according to law."
Like with Duke Highland, the oath needed no other witness.
This wasn't like in his old world where anyone could swear with impunity.
Here, swearing in the na of the goddess was a binding worth more than thousands of contracts. The one breaking his oaths would be imdiately struck down.
Thankfully, it was impossible to coerce people into taking oaths they didn't want from the bottom of their hearts. Trying to do so would also result in being struck down.
Thinking about the goddesses, his feelings of pride imdiately abated. He had no reason to be proud as he was now.
Neither Hers nor Tyr would have bowed to him if he wasn't the prince of Lustburg.
'I still need to beco stronger. Smarter. More experienced. In short, I need to continue growing.'
----
[Duke Hers house]
In another room belonging to the mansion, a short but mature woman was focused on a screen displaying the scene of the Duke kneeling to Sol.
"Oh~? It seems like I really underestimated him. Even if I didn't ddle, he would have obtained the sa result."
A smile blood on her face as she said that. Feeling pretty good, she turned toward one of the maids standing beside her.
This maid was different from the other in the mansion. Not only because of her long and beautiful silver-white hair, nor because of her well-toned body, but rather because of the running pattern covering her body from head to toe.
'Hehehe~! Seems like I did well in bringing her. It would be shaful if I couldn't give a gift to my godson on our first eting after all.'
"This promise to be interesting."
She couldn't wait.
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