Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence - Chapter 703 - 396: Dog
Chapter 703: Chapter 396: Dog
The heavy velvet curtains kept the howling snowstorm out, leaving Frost Halberd City’s mansion so quiet you could almost hear the breathing of the flames.
The fireplace flickered weakly, and the dim magic lamps divided the room into light and shadow, with the only clear sight being the high-backed chair and the young lord seated in the shadows.
Louis wore a black silk shirt casually, his collar slightly open, as if he had just pulled away from the gentle atmosphere of a family banquet.
At his feet lay a snow-white Ice Wolf pup, half-squinting and dozing, yet still maintaining the keenest alertness to his surroundings.
Isaac stood quietly in the corner, the young man with a straight back, like a novice apprentice, with eyes full of reverence and tension.
Outside the door came the sound of chaotic footsteps.
Then came a creak, and Baron Morkan was led in by an attendant.
He was a far cry from two days ago in the tea room, holding a teacup, chin raised, full of contempt, claiming Louis was just a little brat.
Two sleepless nights, enormous fright, and waiting had thoroughly crushed his spirit.
His velvet suit, expensive enough to buy a small plot of land, was crumpled, his eyes were darkened, and his hair was as messed as if blown by a gale, almost pushed in.
The caravan was nearly a year’s output of Morkan’s territory, his entire hope for exchanging for winter provisions.
Worse still, he wrote to Gray Stone Fortress for inquiry, only to receive an icy reply: “You may ask Count Red Tide for his opinion.” He realized completely that he had been made a pawn in a political struggle.
Just as Baron Morkan crossed the door, he fell to the ground, his voice trembling: “C-C-C…Count…please save me…”
Louis raised his eyes, leisurely and slowly stroking the soft tip of the Ice Wolf’s ear, the pup hummed pleasurably.
Morkan mistook it for an impatient signal and crawled forward quickly, his voice becoming tearful:
“Ackman…he doesn’t play by the rules, doesn’t follow the noble way…Lord, I’m willing to pay, that batch is worth ten thousand gold coins! I-I will give you thirty percent of the profit, as long as you help me get the goods back!”
Louis’s hand suddenly stopped, the Ice Wolf raised its head and made a low, disgruntled whimper.
Louis sighed softly, but his tone was cold as the winter chill of the Northern Territory: “Morkan, what have I done that makes you disrespect me like this?”
Morkan jerked his head up, his face full of confusion and fear.
Louis stood up, his hands behind his back, pacing slowly under the dim firelight: “If you had agreed to join the Red Tide half a year ago…everywhere your caravan goes, it would bear my banner. It is not a decoration, but a shield.”
He turned back, his gaze sharp as a blade: “But you didn’t. You said you didn’t need Red Tide, you said you understood the rules between nobles, you said your connections were enough to make you filthy rich. And now?”
Morkan’s face turned ashen, his lips trembled: “I…I was…”
“Now you’ve lost your goods, lost your knights, only then do you think of me, a reliable friend in the Northern Territory.” Louis sneered, “Yet you still treat me as a mercenary you can negotiate a price with.”
Morkan’s voice was already without a pitch: “Lord, I…I just want to survive, just want the family to survive…I don’t hope for revenge, just for the goods…I’m willing to pay, whatever the cost…”
Louis turned, gazing at the fire jumping in the fireplace, his tone as detached as stating a fact: “Your cousin had his limbs smashed, buried in mud and snow to freeze to death. Your knight was split in half. Now you kneel here, yet you only think about how much that wagon is worth.”
You won’t even address me as Count Calvin.
Morkan shivered all over and finally burst into tears.
But at this moment, Louis turned back, his gaze falling back on him: “But I am a reasonable man. The Morkan family, after all, is part of the Northern Territory.”
Upon hearing this sentence, Morkan seemed to grasp a straw to save his life: “L-Lord…you’re willing to help me?”
“I will give you a letter,” said Louis, “in half an hour, Guard Gray will deliver it.”
Morkan looked up, a trace of hope appearing in his eyes.
“Take that letter,” Louis continued, “ride personally to Gray Stone Fortress, and hand it to Ackman.”
Morkan acted as if struck by lightning, his face instantly turning pale: “Lord, Ackman…that madman will kill me!”
“If you send a servant with the letter,” Louis said nonchalantly, “he’ll kill you then.”
Louis bent down, looking Morkan in the eye, his tone gentle: “You just need to show enough humility…enough sincerity…for my sake, he’ll return a portion of your goods.”
Better than losing everything, isn’t it?
Morkan trembled all over, finally kowtowing, his forehead viciously striking the cold tiles: “Yes, Count…for the family, I’ll go!”
Yet deep inside he remained stubborn, even cold.
He’s not kneeling out of respect for Louis.
The kneeling was because he had no way out, because Ackman was more likely than Louis to kill him instantly.
His mind was racing, as long as he could get the goods back, losing some money was acceptable, as long as he could keep his family, face could be forfeited.
As long as Louis was willing to act temporarily, Morkan could remain an independent noble, not needing to truly kneel under Red Tide’s feet.
Even though he was nearly suffocated with fear moments ago, he was still desperately biting his teeth.
Once past this hurdle, he would never bow down, he wouldn’t be Red Tide’s dog, nor truly submit.
When he raised his head again his eyes were red, his lips trembling, yet that hint of unwillingness and scheming remained hidden in his eyes, refusing to disperse.
