Darkstone Code

Chapter 1250 - 1248: You Have to Let Others Set Their Terms, Right?

"This is a setup!"

In an office of the Secretariat, an old noble stood red-faced with anger in front of the Duke. He never sent anyone to wreck the young Count’s shop. The other party directly pointed the finger at him—an overt framing!

He had every reason to be angry. He was wronged, accused of things he hadn’t done.

The Duke furrowed his brow, removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, looking somewhat exhausted, "He didn’t say someone else did it, he specifically said it was you. There must be a reason, don’t you think?"

Then he released his hands, looking at the old noble.

The skin around his eyes was already loose and lined with wrinkles, and his eyes weren’t as clear as those of the young ones, appearing filled with dark spots and blotches, very murky.

Yet it was these eyes that exerted great pressure on the old noble.

The old noble closed his mouth without speaking.

The Duke then brought up a prior incident, "I remember your daughter’s husband, Kipling, is that right?" After receiving confirmation, he continued, "Apparently, he was beaten up a few days ago. Someone said it was their nephew, and then such things happened quickly afterward."

"None of us believe this was an isolated event, don’t you agree?"

"Additionally...", the Duke slightly intensified his tone, "We all know what we should be doing right now and who our real opponent is, don’t you think?"

Uniting all the nobles to overthrow the monarchy had become a consensus among the nobles, supported by historical precedent.

For instance, when the Gafura Empire was founded, the first Gafura had promised the nobles he would maintain their original powers like in the Noble Council phase.

But soon the Imperial Family turned against them, and the nobles’ powers were gradually and thoroughly "confiscated."

Now, the Prime Minister has proposed to overthrow the monarchy, providing the nobles with a legitimate excuse. Whether this succeeds or fails, it poses no loss to the nobles and offers considerable benefits.

If it fails, only the Prime Minister’s ministers will be unlucky. The nobles of the Secretariat have long been out of the core of power, with nothing left for royal power to deprive them of.

If it succeeds, the Imperial Family withdraws behind the scenes, and the Secretariat and nobles regain power. Perhaps not all nobles will hold power, but if more nobles have power than before, it’s a victory!

Furthermore, rotation and election systems allow more nobles to access power, which is a positive development.

A fight without costs will never lack warriors, which is the situation everyone should maintain at this stage.

The Duke’s words carried a vague hint of intimidation. The old noble fell silent, perceiving that the Duke wanted him to endure it.

This left him internally dissatisfied. His shop was smashed, akin to someone slapping him abruptly, fast, with the entire Imperial Capital hearing the "smack."

Now, being told to endure it—how would others see him?

The old noble remained silent, continually maintaining his quietness while watching the Duke.

In terms of their status, the hereditary Duke indeed holds a higher rank than the old noble, but now they’re both powerless nobles, at most differing slightly in wealth matters.

It was precisely these wealth disparities that urged him to endure, yet he felt unable to do so.

The Duke, familiar with the noble’s character—being one himself—also knew that such a recommendation might not be quite appropriate.

After a brief contemplation, he decided to offer a way out, "I’ll talk to the young Count, and he will apologize to you in front of everyone and clarify that it’s all a misunderstanding!"

The expression on the old noble’s face softened a bit, and he slightly bowed, "Then I’ll leave it in your hands."

After seeing the old noble out, the Duke sighed and leaned back in his chair, holding the spectacle frame with one hand while picking up the phone with the other.

"Have the young Count come see me..."

At this moment, the young Count was trembling all over, not from any specific reason, but from excitement to the point of shivering!

The events of the past days, for him, were simply indescribable with the language he possessed. After all, there was no cultural crystallization of the word "爽" here, only "I feel trembling joy from inside to out."

The latter expression, although more detailed and intricate, lacked the directness, straightforwardness, and accuracy of the word "爽."

He had never felt this "爽" before. Knowing that those uncles and aunts, in their contention for titles, might still intend to harm him, he always felt fear.

After inheriting the title, he had never thought about revenge or anything. His mother hadn’t taught him these things, nor did she teach him what a noble ought to do.

Such as revenge.

He had contemplated doing it, but ultimately, he gave up until Lynch appeared, until this moment!

"The expressions of those people froze, they looked like they were dumbfounded!" The young Count, somewhat out of control, waved his arms as he described to his mother the events that occurred in the Secretariat.

When most of the nobles learned that the young Count was both vandalizing old nobles’ shops and running to complain, everyone looked like they’d seen a ghost.

To be fair, not all of them reacted this way; some older nobles remained quite calm about it.

It’s important to know that for a long period, nobles were not considered good people.

Surveying the history of the Gafura Imperial Capital, the top ten disasters causing the most deaths all originated from brawls between nobles.

Wars might have been banned for various reasons, but these nobles, initially bandits, horse thieves, and other violent gangs, are not the least bit genteel at heart.

They have always admired using violence to resolve issues. If not for the increasingly tough stance of the Imperial Family, they would even dare to show the Emperor an attitude.

This is why there are always some old folks who reminisce about the past while despising the present, thinking—people are too damn docile these days!

Even on the Federation side, there’s a saying that the original slaughterers of the Federation Mainland’s natives were Gafura people, not Federations, so the blame for the genocide shouldn’t be pinned on Federation people or the Federation Government.

Their reasoning is quite sound as well, as the actions were committed by criminals exiled from Gafura or Gold Diggers who voluntarily went to seek opportunities. Essentially, these were Gafura people.

Only the new generation after the establishment of the nation are Federation people, and these Federation people didn’t participate in any genocides.

This viewpoint cannot be said to be without reason. After all, the natives were nearly exterminated, and other than being seen as animals in the "Race Reservations" area, the first generation of "Federation people" after the Federation’s founding had never met a living native outside the reservation.

This really can’t be called a massacre.

Civilization is always built on barbarity; it should only be the guise of barbarity and nothing else.

Barbarity and violence are ingrained in people, and civilization never has been.

If problems can be solved with fists, who the hell would use words?

For the first time, the young Count felt the intense joy brought by resolving issues through violence, believing that he could simultaneously take care of five girls and give them the happiest moments.

The former Countess looked on with some concern at Lynch, who shook his head slightly, indicating with his eyes that he could handle it.

The phone rang suddenly, and after letting it ring a few times, the young Count walked over to answer it. His brow furrowed, and he eventually suppressed some emotions, saying, "I understand."

He hung up the phone, looked at Lynch, and the former Countess stood up to leave, thinking that this should be men’s time, and she wasn’t suited to participate.

"It was Felix on the phone..."

Felix is the surname of the Duke, and in addressing other nobles, especially the Patriarch, people use their surnames instead of their first names.

Only the surname can symbolize a family and reflect a noble’s status.

"He wants me to come over!" The young Count looked at Lynch, a bit uneasy, "Should I go?"

Lynch nodded, "You definitely should. As long as you remain in Gafura, you can’t avoid the Secretariat; you can’t avoid His Grace, Duke Felix."

"But you don’t have to worry too much about what he wants to do. No matter how he tries to persuade you, just tell him how your uncle bullied you, but the Secretariat didn’t come forward to uphold justice for you."

"If Duke Phoenix asks you to apologize or offer the other side an out, don’t refuse."

"But you have to state your terms, tell him, hand over your uncle to you for disposal, and then you’ll apologize!"

"And don’t forget, the assets that person stole from here!"

The young Count seemed to realize something. He paused for a moment, still a bit excited, "I get it, using harsh terms to refuse others is better than outright rejection!"

Lynch didn’t expect him to think this way, "As long as you’re happy."

Soon, the young Count was facing Duke Phoenix. As Lynch predicted, the Duke asked him not to act out temporarily and to prioritize the main current issues.

The young Count appropriately put forward his own demands, surprising Duke Phoenix somewhat, because in his impression, the young Count wasn’t a tough person, even though his title wasn’t ordinary!

However, what he said indeed made His Grace realize that there were still some issues within the Secretariat.

Previously, when others were scheming for the young Count’s title and family estate, the Secretariat didn’t make a sound.

Now that the young Count started to take revenge, the Secretariat wanted to stop it; this just didn’t make sense.

He actually acknowledged the young Count’s demands, using a worthless traitor and what he stole in exchange for peace between the two sides—it was a very good deal.