Chapter 400: Appointed as an Earl

While Dalaran was busy suppressing rebels and reclaiming lost territories in the Northern Provinces, Prince Andrew, the leader of the rebellion, who had already been brought back to the capital, was undergoing a public trial before the royal court and all members of the nobility council.

Prince Andrew was accused of violating ancestral traditions and betraying the kingdom. However, due to external forces behind the scenes, his punishment was lenient—he was only stripped of his status as heir to the throne and granted the honorary title of court earl along with a manor, sending him to live as a leisurely nobleman in the Eastern Provinces.

Many subjects in the kingdom found this punishment rather unbelievable. It was a grave crime of treason, yet merely stripping him of his heir status and exiling him from the capital seemed excessively lenient.

Yet all those involved in the trial declared the outcome absolutely fair, and most agreed with the judgment!

Soon after, the rebellion in the Northern Provinces was also quelled. Donald personally led troops to bring the main culprit to the capital.

In the end, the rebel nobles led by the Macbeth family and Lord Grie were sentenced to have their noble status and hereditary lands revoked. The leaders were executed by hanging, while the others were exiled.

As for the fates of these three families, who had resorted to rebellion out of desperation and madness, most nobles paid no attention. What concerned them was the vacancy left by the loss of these three territories.

These territories were Castle Stone, Town of Distant Hills, and Lord Grie’s lands. Even Lord Grie’s lands, though the smallest, were still substantial, not to mention Castle Stone and Town of Distant Hills, which were even more valuable!

Donald ignored these power struggles. On the day he arrived in the capital, he went to the royal palace’s sacred grounds to meet the two royal spirits.

From them, he learned the truth about Andrew’s treatment. Due to the scarcity of pure-blooded members of the royal family, in order to preserve sufficient pure lineage, Andrew’s life was spared despite his crime of treason.

King Celt VII secretly intervened, abolishing the family’s secret magic passed down through Andrew and erasing his memories from age ten onward. Now, Andrew was a fool with the intelligence of a ten-year-old, reduced to nothing more than a breeding tool to expand the royal bloodline.

King Celt VII, known for his decisive and ruthless nature, could never tolerate such descendants who betrayed the kingdom and their family. However, because of the harm caused to the body by their family’s secret magic, the royal bloodline had become increasingly diluted. In this generation, only Andrew and Duri were pure-blooded descendants; the other branches were insignificant.

Thus, Andrew was spared his life. But perhaps living in such innocence now is even happier for him—better than living in ambition and hatred, right?
Donald reflected on this, thinking that in life, one inevitably faces various external distractions. Being healthy, having enough to eat and wear, and living happily every day is the greatest pursuit for most people, whether in this world or in his previous life on Earth!
With the support of the two Royal Spirits, His Majesty the Fifteenth, and various military forces, Dury Selte had confirmed Andrew as the next king, with the coronation ceremony set to begin in March.
That evening, at the celebration banquet held in the palace, Dury happily served as the host, chatting with the kingdom’s high officials and nobles in the hall.
When Donald entered the banquet hall, the future king immediately apologized to those around him and came forward to greet him personally.
“Dury, you’ve finally made it!”
In response to Donald’s joking words, Dury replied with a pleased expression.
“It still can’t compare to your ease! Having such a great territory and a group of loyal and capable helpers—even the king would envy you!”
Even though becoming king was a certainty, Dury still refused to put himself in a superior position. He cherished his friendship with Donald greatly!
Moreover, through his father and Master Colin, a member of the royal clergy, he had already sensed that this young mage’s future was beyond the limits of the kingdom of Selte. Therefore, maintaining a pure friendship with him brought immeasurable benefits to both him and the kingdom!
“Don’t forget, you’re also a great hero today. I’m sure your reward has already been given. Though I know you probably don’t care much given your current situation, it’s still a way for our royal family to express our gratitude!”
Donald nodded. These minor worldly rewards really didn’t matter to him, but since he hadn’t fully transcended the mundane world, he still had to consider those around him and his future descendants.
Speaking of descendants, this was a concern that had been bothering Donald recently.
His current focus was on striving to reach a semi-divine state. Before becoming a legend, he had already nearly perfected his divine bloodline throughout his body. Now, he had reached the realm of a perfect divine body, with the next step being to ignite the divine flame.

At this point, in terms of both the strength of his soul and body, he was no less than a pure-blooded legendary upper-tier dragon. Consequently, his chances of reproducing were extremely low—likely requiring ten or even decades to successfully have a child. Once he ignited the divine fire and became a demi-god, he would essentially become an immortal being, making it even harder to leave descendants! Therefore, during this period, aside from handling territorial affairs and entering the House of Time to build strength, his most important research topic was how to increase the reproduction rate and conception chances of powerful long-lived species. Besides Donald himself, the researchers included the senior lich Chikofield, as well as the elder mages Messel, Chris, and Hentia—each of whom had made unique contributions in this field, especially Chikofield, who had conducted numerous biological experiments to restore human identity. Of course, the subject of these experiments was the unfortunate Bronze Dragon King Nozdorm, as he was both a powerful dragon and a being with divine bloodline—perfect candidates for this research. Fortunately, thanks to Donald’s innovative artificial insemination method, Nozdorm only needed to provide his blood and semen from time to time, without having to awkwardly mate with various female test subjects! The advanced alchemy laboratory in the newly built alchemy factory provided an ideal environment for such experiments. After Donald left, some progress had already been made by the researchers remaining in the territory. After chatting with Duri for a while, Donald sent him off to socialize with others, as after all, he, the prince, was the main focus of the day. Soon, as the old king, who had been too unwell to go out often, made a rare appearance with the help of servants, the celebration banquet officially began. Before the banquet started, there was an award ceremony for those who had contributed to quelling the rebellion. The first to be honored were outstanding military personnel and some local noble youths; most of these young people received knighthood or material rewards. Although the rewards were not substantial for true nobles, they represented a significant step forward for these young people!

Next came the rewards for several high-ranking members of the allied forces, including Count Dawson, the overall commander. Since Count Dawson’s reputation and status already placed him at the level of the kingdom’s highest generals, there was little more he could be granted. Instead, he was awarded the vast Viscountate of Far Mountain Town as his family’s fiefdom. As for Lord Gryff’s domain, which was much larger than ordinary lordships, it was divided by the royal family into three knightly domains, which, along with several other knightly domains that had fallen vacant after rebellions, were distributed as rewards to other meritorious individuals. Those who received these rewards were generally satisfied, but many nobles present were eyeing the biggest piece of the pie—the fate of Castle Stone, the capital of the North County. At this point, the main event arrived: Prince Dury, the host of the banquet, stepped forward. “In recognition of Baron Merlina’s repeated efforts to save the kingdom from crises and his significant contributions, as decreed by His Majesty the Fifteenth, Donald Merlina is hereby granted the title of Count of the Kingdom, and Castle Stone is bestowed upon him as a sacred and inviolable territory, in honor of his achievements in combating magical disasters, fighting orcs, and quelling rebellions within the kingdom.” Rising from baron to count represented a huge leap. In ancient times, when humanity still lived in city-state societies without a centralized monarchy, a count, as the ruler of a region, was equivalent to a modern king. Thus, noble titles began to undergo a fundamental change at the count level. Below the count, no matter how wealthy or powerful one might be, they remained local minor nobles. Above the count, according to Donald’s understanding, they were regional lords who, aside from being subject to the constraints of the royal family, had complete control over their own territories, exercising autonomy within their lands—essentially ruling their own small kingdoms. Take the Macbeth Viscount family as an example. Although they controlled a city like the capital of a county and possessed vast family lands, almost as large as some counts’ territories, they lacked a hereditary count title. As a result, their family could never rise to the ranks of the great nobility. That’s why the Macbeths valued so much the opportunity to unify the North and become great nobles, even going so far as to risk rebellion for it. Donald hadn’t expected the royal family to give him Castle Stone. In fact, Dalarn already had the conditions to establish a city, thanks to its economic strength and large areas of unused land. But since Donald, as the lord, disliked the noisy and chaotic urban atmosphere, he had never considered doing so.

However, with a ready-made city at his disposal, Donald is confident in transforming Stonehold into a true Dalaran-style city—a beautiful place with a peaceful, comfortable, and tidy environment and excellent living conditions.