Chapter 4 The Baron in Distress
Chapter 4 The Baron in Distress
Hansel Abbott, an honorable baron of the Kingdom of Aldo, at least in the eyes of the commoners, he was indeed honorable, was now in a sorry state, running with a group of ragged refugees on a muddy countryside dirt road.
“Goddamn rebels.” He grunted again.
Just a week ago, the Grand Duke of Giles, known as the “Greedy Wolf”, had started a rebellion, and the King had been in a coma for days due to his malady, and the only one who could suppress it, the Grand Princess, had led her knights to the eastern highlands to expel the barbarians who had infested the kingdom’s borders.
Despite the fact that the ambition of the Grand Duke of Greedy Wolf was well known, the royal family’s strategy towards him was still mainly to appease him, and no one expected the rebellion to happen so quickly.
To make matters worse, Sir Hals, the commander of the royal guards, who has always been loyal to the royal family in the eyes of the public, is actually a hidden pawn of the Archduke buried in the royal capital, and has directly come to do a heart attack while the elite of the royal army is out.
The Abbott family has always given people the impression of being loyal to the royal family, and Hansel, who happened to be outside the city, was so scared that he didn’t even dare to return home when he heard the news, and fled to the highland direction together with his personal servants in the night.
The order of the whole Jingyao area seems to have collapsed overnight, all kinds of robbers seem to have emerged overnight, the city guards also began to big Suo perimeter, burning and looting, is simply the soldiers and robbers of a family.
Coupled with the fierce reputation of Archduke Giles, a large number of civilians and small and medium-sized nobles loyal to the royal family also began to flee to other places.
Hansel intermittently heard some rumors from the refugees that the rebels did not seem to find the king after storming the palace.
The royal party got the news at the last minute before the rebellion, and the martial arts students of the King’s Academy were urgently mobilized, along with a small number of royal personal guards to protect the king, who was still in a coma, and some other important members of the royal family, who ran away from the north city gate.
Hansel had seen the caravan with the royal family’s logo on the road, but he didn’t follow it like the refugees who were eagerly seeking asylum.
He had a vague feeling that something was wrong when they were still waving the royal family’s banner at this time.
He was now leading his servant Tommen on another road, which of course had quite a few refugees on it as well.
The wagon got stuck in a quagmire just now, and the servant Toman couldn’t pull the wagon out of it even after jerking the horse’s ass out of shape, and just as they were complaining about their bad luck, a group of robbers passing by took the horse and what little money they had left.
All the baron could do now was curse the rebels who had caused all this over and over again.
Just as the master and servant were planning to take a rest by the side of the road, an aristocratic style carriage with the family crest already covered up came up behind them.
As it passed them, a face appeared in the window that made Hansel’s usual immense revulsion now feel a little bit of inexplicable small affinity.
“Yo, if it isn’t Abbott.”
The flash of gloating on the other man’s face wiped out the little cordiality of a moment ago.
Granted, he was quite reassured by the team of heavily armed riders behind the wagon, which he decided to hitch a ride on anyway.
It could only be hard: “Matthew old friend, I’ve been robbed by a bunch of shameless bandits, for the sake of years of brotherhood, can you give me some help?”
Matthew smiled playfully, “What’s not to like? Can I let my good friend Baron Hansel Abbott mingle in the middle of a group of refugees covered in stinking mud like he is now? If this gets out, it would be a major blow to the image of our nobility.”
He said loudly in a very exaggerated tone while opening the door of the car, causing a group of refugees who happened to pass by to stop and watch.
“Thank you, I knew you wouldn’t leave an old friend in the lurch.”
Hansel got into the carriage, mentally vowing to taunt the other party back when they fell on hard times.
Matthew Stallman, Hansel’s classmate, but also his biggest nemesis throughout his student days, every time a debate tournament is held, you can always see the two men’s impassioned speeches in a tit-for-tat manner, arguing red in the face, the sky and the earth, and privately, they have been burying each other behind their backs countless times, and denouncing each other as insidious villains. Now, he had to run with the help of his nemesis.
“Things are unpredictable in the world!” Hansel sighed, then was thankful that his mother and sister, who had gone out to visit relatives, were not in the royal capital.
“Hansel, don’t be a crybaby, tell us what your plans are.”
Hansel straightened his collar and regained some spirit, “At this time of turmoil in the kingdom, naturally, I will go to serve under the banner of the Grand Princess, although my personal talent is low, but it is my Abbott family’s duty to solve the problems for the royal family.”
“Hmph, as usual, the crown, ah, also, I have this intention anyway, my Storman family’s loyalty to the royal family has always not been left behind.”
“I wonder if Her Highness the Grand Princess will take us in when we go to the barracks. Matthew, where did you come from before you fled?”
“I was checking the accounts in the manor outside the city when I received a notice from my father telling me to hurry towards the Highlands to join the Grand Princess.”
“On the way, I saw a caravan of royal emblems, why didn’t you follow it?”
“Didn’t you also not follow it over? With such a military chaos and so much fanfare, do you take me for a fool? You’re still underestimating people like before.”
The two of them were talking without a word, when suddenly the carriage stopped. The two people’s hearts were tightened, they wouldn’t run into rebels and robbers, right?
They heard someone outside the carriage shouting in a foreign accent, “May I ask if you are a member of the Stolman family? Can you get out of the car and meet me?”
Matthew and Hansel had to get out of the car, only to see an old man standing beside the carriage on the side of the road, who slightly owed a nobleman’s salute.
The old man introduced himself, “I am Baron Wakely Ford, the Chief Seal of the Earl of Gleiman’s collar on the northwest coast, greeting the two of you on behalf of my lord.”
“Greetings, I am Baron Matthew of the Stolman family, and this is Baron Hansel of the Abbott family. May I ask what can I do for you?”
“I traveled to the royal capital for an audience with His Majesty the King due to territorial matters, but along the way, I saw a large number of civilians fleeing north with their families, and they all said that there was a rebellion in the royal capital, so I would like to ask the two of you for the specifics of the situation.”
“Your honored guest came all the way here, I think you must have known something, it’s all because of that fellow Giles, he betrayed His Majesty the King.”
“Oh? It’s that Grand Duke His Highness who is known as the ‘Greedy Wolf’?”
“Yes, now that the royal capital has been occupied by his associates, I advise you not to go.”
“I haven’t come to the royal capital for nearly ten years, I didn’t expect to encounter such a big event as soon as I came, this Giles is really hateful.”
“Yes, the two of us are also afraid of falling into the hands of the rebels, so we intend to go to join Her Highness the Grand Princess, she is now leading the troops to drive away the barbarians in the area of the highlands, and with Her Highness’s ability, we should be able to return to the army to quell the rebellion very soon.”
“I don t know His Majesty …….”
“His Majesty should have been rescued. If you are willing, Lord Ford can go with us to the Grand Princess Hall, His Majesty was infected with an illness not long ago, and has left matters large and small to Her Highness.”
“Really? Well, then I will trouble you two on the way.”
(End of chapter)