Imperial Throne

Chapter 96: Funeral

Although it was still noon, the sky appeared rather dim.

Two consecutive days of overcast weather, perhaps it was fate offering a meager mercy to the White Mountain Territory.

Because today, White Mountain City was holding a funeral.

"Thank you all very much for gathering here today, to attend the farewell ceremony for the two most important people in my life."

"Eighteen years ago, I lost the first most important person in my life, my mother."

"And three years ago, I once again lost two of the most important people in my life, my second brother, John, and my third brother, Joel."

"Today."

"Or to be more precise, eleven days ago."

"Two more of the most important people in my life passed away one after another."

"Giggs Bole, my eldest brother. He was a gentle, clumsy brother who spent much of his time caring for my second and third brothers, and of course, for me. To him, family always came first. As a result, he rarely had time for personal training or to learn the skills of managing a territory. My father even once worried that he wouldn’t be able to become a competent lord."

"It wasn’t until three years ago that I became certain, he really couldn't become an outstanding lord. But he could absolutely become a qualified one. Because he chose to treat the people of the territory as his own family, and was willing to spend more time learning and thinking, just like how he had once taken care of us family members..."

"Ster Bole, my father. Perhaps he wasn't a good father, because he didn't have enough time to be with us or to teach us. But he was definitely a good lord, because he spent all that time governing the territory. To him, the territory was far more important than family, so I used to hate him when I was a child."

"It was only three years ago that I clearly realized that my hatred had stemmed purely from my immaturity."

"My father, in fact, was protecting his family in a different way..."

Red Eagle Territory was relatively conservative, so the household retainers of the territory naturally adhered to the custom of burials.

As such, there were four cemeteries in White Mountain City.

Two of them were large public cemeteries, located respectively in the eastern cemetery of the city and on a mountain about two kilometers away from White Mountain City.

Another was the southern cemetery of the city, which catered exclusively to the wealthy.

The last one was the Bole Family’s private cemetery, located on the rear hill of the City Lord's Manor.

However, not every Bole family member was qualified to be buried there.

But Baron Ster and Giggs were definitely qualified.

At this moment, the funeral was being held in the rear hill cemetery.

A large number of people had come to attend the funeral.

Ion, Yam, and Akar were naturally present.

Roda was there as well, along with the more than ten veteran soldiers who had followed Ion and Roda from Mountain Ridge Village to the Eastern Mountain Territory, and then climbed back to the White Mountain Territory.

In addition, there were representative residents from White Mountain City, villagers from Plain Village, Old Mountain Village, and Fisher Village, as well as the reinforcement representative from Bayor Territory, Atork Senels, and the Household Knight Commander of the Billy Family, who represented the reinforcements from the Gem Territory.

Altogether, more than a hundred people.

Although Lily had not issued any orders, every household in White Mountain City still hung a white cloth outside their doors.

The entire city was in mourning.

As he listened to Lily delivering the eulogy and sharing memories, Yam felt a sense of surreal detachment.

To the people of the White Mountain Territory, Wister was a good lord, this had become a collective consensus.

But was Baron Ster truly a good lord?

Yam had seen how this lord, when the territory lacked sufficient funds, had ruthlessly dealt with all the wealthy merchants listed on the Death List through bloody and brutal means.

That incident had served as the spark, and so when the war broke out three years later with enemy invasion, the remaining wealthy merchants were the first to flee White Mountain Territory, not only because they feared defeat and looting, but also because they feared that if White Mountain Territory won, they would be next on the burial list.

And in the end, their fears proved not to be unfounded.

Many merchants, and even middle-class workshop owners, became the first group of sacrifices in the post-war recovery of White Mountain Territory under Lily’s management, those who were lucky left with one-third of their assets; the greedier ones retained only half.

As for those who wanted money more than life, Lily made sure they never had to struggle with that choice again.

After the eulogy concluded, the burial began.

Supported by her pregnant belly, Lily threw two bundles of rosemary into each of the two graves.

Then, a long line of people began following her lead, tossing rosemary into the graves. Some chose to throw white chrysanthemums or white lilies instead.

After returning from the rear hill path to the City Lord's Manor, Lily had already instructed the cooks to prepare a sumptuous banquet.

Everyone who attended the funeral could participate in the feast.

However, in order to prevent villagers and members of the middle class unfamiliar with etiquette from offending the Bloodline Users, the feast was naturally divided into an inner and outer section.

The outer section was the gathering place for commoners and was hosted by Ion and Roda.

After all, whether it was Plain Village, Fisher Village, or Old Mountain Village, none of them were strangers to Ion. As for the representative middle class from White Mountain City, their opinions were not worth mentioning.

The inner section, on the other hand, was hosted by Yam.

Originally, Akar should have been present as well, but Ion was concerned that the assassinations had not yet ceased, so he instructed Akar to guard the door outside Lily’s room.

"My condolences." Atork gently patted Yam’s shoulder to express his sympathy.

"Baron Ster was a lord worthy of respect. And Giggs... he was an interesting person. I apologize for the offense I caused due to my previous misunderstanding of him."

"I understand," Yam forced a smile. "Before having substantial interaction and deep understanding, it’s indeed easy to misunderstand him... I did too, actually. But he was truly a very good friend."

"I know," Atork smiled faintly. "I also spent some time with him."

"By the way, after hearing about Baron Ster’s passing, my father had a caravan load a shipment of goods onto a boat. It's expected to arrive in White Mountain Territory in about a month. Aside from some food, the shipment also includes a batch of slaves, which I think your territory urgently needs now."

Faced with Atork’s goodwill, Yam had actually wanted to refuse.

But the war with the three lords of Fertile Plains had only just ended under the mediation of Marquis Visen and Count Shuvaric, which was also one reason the funeral for Giggs and Baron Ster had been delayed until today.

After all, Lily wanted to redeem her father’s head from the Eastern Mountain Territory.

Thus, White Mountain Territory was indeed in dire need of various supplies and labor for reconstruction. In the end, Yam couldn’t refuse and could only express his gratitude.

"My father said, if there’s anything else needed for the reconstruction of White Mountain Territory, feel free to contact us. We’ll try to conduct trade at a fair and reasonable price," Atork sighed helplessly.

"I’m sorry. As you know, sometimes even we lords can’t fully command the merchant guilds and caravans within our territories."

"I know." Yam nodded.

He thought again of Giggs’s father-in-law, that man, Sherry’s father.

Lily had sold all of his assets to Monica, and Monica had sent over goods of equal value, she didn’t take a single profit from it.

Upon hearing the news of Baron Ster’s death in battle, she even sent another shipment of equal value.

Later, Lily disguised this batch of goods as compensation, claiming that Sherry’s father had met with an accident and Monica, feeling deeply guilty, had sent it in reparation.

No one could forgive a traitor.

No one.

But the sins of Sherry’s father should not be paid for by the innocent Sherry, so everyone tried to keep it from her as much as possible.

Especially because she was now the widow of Giggs, in fact, she also held inheritance rights to White Mountain Territory.

However, she must first become a Bloodline User before she could automatically acquire her rightful position in the succession order.

Her position in the line of succession was even higher than Yam's: if Sherry did become a Bloodline User, she would automatically become the second heir to White Mountain Territory.

When the feast ended and everyone had left, Yam did not rest immediately.

He went to the small study in the manor.

This had been the room Giggs used to entertain "trusted people." After the performance of the "father-son conflict" with Baron Ster was no longer necessary, this room had been abandoned.

Recently, however, it had become Yam’s private study, where he supplemented his knowledge and studied to behave more like a Bloodline Noble.

But tonight.

At this moment.

There were already two people waiting in the room for him.

Ion Soderbell.

Akar Soderbell.

His father, and his younger brother.

This would be their first family meeting since the founding of the Soderbell Family.

...

"Rumble—rumble—"

The sound of wheels turning echoed especially loudly under the cover of night.

A luxurious yet understated carriage, pulled by six white horses, soon arrived in front of a manor.

The escort team of over a hundred soldiers, stationed in front and behind the carriage, quickly formed ranks and began setting up perimeter defense as soon as the carriage came to a stop.

As the carriage door opened, Anna, dressed in regal splendor, finally stepped down.

Without glancing sideways, she strode forward.

Walking ahead of Anna was a young man.

His blood and energy surged intensely, practically boiling without the slightest concealment.

The waves of heat radiating from his body drove away the chill of the surrounding night. Sixteen guards wielding halberds flanked him, surrounding Anna in the center and driving away all who tried to approach.

"Miss Anna." A Bloodline Knight blocked the front entrance of the manor. "It seems the Lord has no intention of summoning you."

"I know." Anna nodded. "But why should I wait for him to summon me?"

"Huh?"

This Bloodline Knight, now the last remaining one in Gem Territory, didn’t even have time to react before he was pounced on and pinned down by the young man in front. The sixteen guards immediately thrust their halberds into the Bloodline Knight’s body.

"If that Second-Tier Knight Commander were here, I might have waited for Akar to return. But what are you? How dare you block my way?"

Anna continued forward without pause, stepping over the corpse of the Bloodline Knight. Before she could even act again, someone had already pushed open the main doors.

As Anna entered, the guards who followed her quickly flooded into the City Lord's Manor, ordering the defenders inside to surrender.

Without a Bloodline User to command them, and being merely guards assembled with money, they had no will to fight and quickly chose to lay down their weapons and surrender.

Anna moved through the manor as if it were unguarded and soon arrived at the top floor, pushing open the door without the slightest hesitation.

Baron Hess, lying in bed, turned pale the moment he saw Anna walk in. "You... how are you here!"

"You’ve really disappointed and saddened me, Father." Anna sighed.

"After my two good brothers died, you didn’t summon me to inherit Gem Territory, but instead wanted your foolish brother, my stupid uncle, to inherit it? He’s not even worthy."

"It was you!" Baron Hess, now as thin as a skeleton and no longer bearing any of his former vigor, shouted, "You poisoned me!"

"Father, you seem to forget that while I lack potential in bloodline aptitude, my talent in pharmacology is quite exceptional. If not for this ability, do you really think Marquis Visen would have agreed to let Burton marry me?" Anna sighed again.

"But unfortunately, I still haven’t been able to develop a poison capable of killing Bloodline Users above the Third Tier, otherwise, things would be much simpler."

"Your uncle... and your two brothers... it was you, wasn’t it!"

"Yes." Anna nodded without hesitation. "Oh, not the second brother. He died from his own stupidity, and couldn't even distinguish between male and female wolves. He slaughtered all the pregnant female wolves in the Demon Wolf Den. Even a common hunter knows not to kill pregnant wolves and cubs."

"You..." Baron Hess’s face twisted with anger. "Even if Shuke wasn't, Andre was your elder brother! And your uncle..."

"A brother and uncle who lust after their sister and niece?" Anna shook her head. "Father, you must admit, the Billy Family has no normal person besides me."

"You’re not normal either!"

"It doesn’t matter. I won’t argue with a dying man." Anna gave a sweet smile.

"You’re destroying the future of the Billy Family! You’ll ruin the Billy Family, ruin Gem Territory!"

"No. You wouldn’t understand." Anna shook her head. "Did you know? I once wanted to be a good daughter, a good wife. But you all ruined my life. You sparked my ambition, and now you blame me? Even now, all you care about is preserving your worthless territory, about keeping the Billy Family stuck here in Gem Territory, playing the role of this miserable lord."

"You’re merely a caretaker lord. How could you understand my greatness, which far surpasses yours?"

"Gem Territory is nothing more than a stepping stone to me."

"If Monica wants it, then I’ll give it to her, she just has to trade Red Eagle Territory for it."

"You’re insane!" Baron Hess grew agitated, coughing violently and even spitting blood. Yet his bloodshot eyes remained fixed on Anna. "Your child carries the Kasein name! How can you trade that! No matter the exchange, it all belongs to the Kasein Family!"

"Who told you my child is Joshua’s?"

Baron Hess froze.

Anna looked down with a loving expression, gently caressing her belly. "Joshua? He’s not even worthy of me bearing his child."

"You really are... insane!"

"Insane? Maybe." Anna stood with a trace of boredom. "Red Eagle Territory has been cloudy lately. I think tomorrow will also be a good day for a funeral. Still, although you treated me poorly, I’ll still leave you a sprig of rosemary."