79 The Beginning Of The Dangerous Great Pettiness War.

"The relationship between the Duke of Plantaria and Railius Aurellion would always be one of fascination for many a historian to study."

"While they were both trusted allies who treated their subjects and other people well, they also seemed to give dangerous problems to each other out of spite."

"It seemed to be a fun competition between them even though if even one of these problems got out of hand, then terrible consequences would follow."

"And It all started with a childish joke that Railius played on Duke Ancel when he was but ten years old."

Levath Rammat, Historian and politician in the Kingdom of Athurus.

….

After the death of Nathos, Railius' forces, now reunited, finally crossed over the border between the Chavarian Empire and the Beastmen United States and into the lands of the Free Brothers. Despite losing one of his vice commanders, Railius was happy with the outcome. He currently had 1 uninjured grandmaster and 1 master fighter alongside 600 loyal men to help him in the trials to come, thanks to his alliance and secret agreement with the duke.

Vice Count Tyre Vask was in deep thought as he trotted with his injured limping army back towards his territory and reflected on what had just happened, looking at the system notification that had appeared.

[Dynasty Forced Side Quest 'The Duke's Intentions' Failed!]

[Dynasty History Second Event Failed 'The Traitors Family! Your position in the empire is now in doubt, and enemies surround you.]

[The Duke is now extra wary of you and will give you a hard time as his vassal.]

[Your incompetence has made the imperial family lose some trust in you.]

[Your lessened military forces and lack of allies had led to your neighbours coverting your lands]

This was a quest where he had to find out what the duke was planning to do after he learned that Railius could be in the area and got this event quest. Even when meeting the man, he could not get a good read on him. Even with his history and mannerisms being common knowledge, it was no wonder he could go toe to toe with the minister of war and emperor for so long in a political battle.

For a man who was against the empire would not just sit in the dark and let them consolidate their power more. He even got rid of corrupt Nadron nobles that could have been used in the future to help him and his allies regain control and maybe even reestablish Nadron out of what? Revenge for a fallen country? Would it not be better to keep those people around to be dealt with by the emperor? Why get your own hands dirty?

Even if no moves could be made, the ageing Duke of Plantaria seemed to be making no apparent moves towards his goal, only bringing those in that he could into a new faction in Nadron not aligned with anyone in the Imperial Capital whom he could influence to get his way though this would mainly be for preservation until he could convince the emperor of his loyalty.

What was worse is that even if Vice Count Tyre Vask was suspicious about the duke and wanted to deal with him, because the duke was right in where he thought House Aurellion would cross the border and even sent his own loyal grandmaster into the fray meant there was no room for any accusations to be brought against him.

The duke even organised some of the Beastmen tribes that are friendly with him to attack or at least march on his garrisons at the border to give them an excuse for their inaction, for House Gallomour had been in the area for thousands of years and spent a lot of time in establishing diplomatic ties with their neighbours. The ever politically astute Ancel and the descendent of the great spider of Chavaria Lucius Aurellion, Railius, came up with that plan together to give the emperor of Chavaria no reason to deal with him and even the emperor and the Chavarian Minister for War Amulius Lunaris would be impressed by the scheme.

The Free Brothers were also very hostile to the empire, and all imperials, if any, trespassed on their land, especially those who were armed and dangerous. It was likely they would be killed on sight.

In retrospect, the Vice Count thought that House Aurellion might even be killed just because of their origin. After all, each of the Pelican Guards, that damn unit that cost him so much and would give others so much grief, was one of the best-trained and armed soldiers he had seen in the entirety of the game.

He had lost nearly 700 knights and 600 spearmen in total, which is almost 7/10s of his elite troops. He would now have to replace them, and alongside the loss of a promotion and a poor political position being under someone who would be wary of him due to his connections to the imperial family while his dynasty and noble title were still intact, it could not be said that he was in the best position in the world.

He was also not a businessman who had a business in the real world; as a result, he would have to siphon off some of his territories wealth for his personal use, which would lower his already depleted resources in the game that could be used to increase his own power the game and gather more resources. To put it plainly, Vice Count Vask, despite managing to maintain his noble title and lands, was in a very precarious situation. His allies in the imperial court were on the verge of abandoning him, his liege lord was looking for any excuse to kill him and take his lands for his own or to give to a different vassal, and his neighbours looked on with hungry eyes at his lands waiting for the right time and justification to strike the Vice Count was like a young pup surrounded by hungry wolves and enemies that wanted nothing more than to eat him and swallow his lands for his own.

'Is the Duke of Plantaria a player?'

Tyre thought that the events he had just experienced seemed to be far too well planned and executed for it to be AI, even though the German player knew that some AI, especially those with high-ranking social statuses, were almost human-like in their intelligence, this plan just seemed to have too many bits to it.

'Why did Ancel help House Aurellion? What can the Duke get from House Aurellion that they can't get anywhere else?'

'An ally? The lord is a child who is only alive because of his father's best friend, who is a grandmaster and the religiously loyal Pelican Guards who fought with no regard for their lives, so that makes little sense!'

'How could a child, even if he was a genius, come up with such a deep plan! It would be almost impossible not to mention that House Aurellion has no knowledge of the local area, so they had to have been helped by the Ancel in some way for this sort of plan to go off without a hitch!'

'But a Duke, even one of a fallen kingdom and one of many in an empire, still seemed far too nice of a start for a player in Dynasties Online. Heck, even he who passed his first Dynasty History Event with flying colours, allowing him to become a landed noble, only got the title of Vice Count!'

"AAAHHHGGG, what the hell happened? My brain is hurting."

Tyre complained out loud, surprising some of his men and prompting Hewald to ask after the health of his lord.

"My Lord, are you okay?"

Hewald asked, seeing the uncharacteristic outburst of his master, who was stuck in his thoughts trying to come to terms with the recent events.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you Hewald. Let's return to our lands. I have a feeling we will be needed there soon! Oh, and watch out for any travellers. I think someone will try to stir up some trouble soon so they have a legitimate reason to intervene in our affairs. "

The Vice Count said seriously, preparing for the trials ahead, deciding that protecting his future was the most important thing. Once his power was stable, the disgruntled Vice Count would then look into the problems of the past and find out the truth of the events that had happened in recent days.

'Duke Ancel Gallomour and House Aurellion….'

'Don't think that this is over!'

'I swear to god that you will regret the day you subjected me to such humiliation!'

The Vice Count promised in his head, vowing revenge against both Duke Ancel and House Aurellion, blaming them for the poor position that he was in right now despite it being natural for both to move against him.

….

In Draichester, the capital of Duke Ancel's duchy and the centre of his powerbase being the main city in the lands that make up the personal demesne of House Gallomour, Ancel was sitting in his office on a soft blue comfy chair emblazoned on the chair was the symbol of House Gallomour that of a leaping dolphin.

Taking a last sip from the delicate crystal wine glass in his hand, he listened to Alfgeir, who had just returned from being treated by his physicians.

"After spending so much effort to plan House Aurellion's escape, you just had to send the bastards into the lands of The Free Brothers!"

"Are you mad!"

"You know as well as I do that The Free Brothers are as likely to help as they are to kill them!"

"If they die, all of our efforts would have been in vain! I even had to lose to that bastard Leon for this plan to go off without a hitch."

Alfgier complained, slamming his hand on the smooth, beautifully carved mahogany desk in front of Ancel. Even though he was silent during the negotiation and making of the plan with Railius for the sake of the duke's face and authority, he still wanted to air his grievances to his beloved lord. He was worried that this might put all of their plans into a tailspin, for he was quite looking forward to learning of the training methods of the Pelican Guards so he could create Ancel, a set of men comparable to them that would allow House Gallomour troops that could finally go against the imperial guard in a one on one situation.

"Wernt we the same?"

Duke Ancel asked, chuckling slightly with a toothy grin spread across his face, still relaxed as he ever, for he had faith in the boy who had managed to negotiate and strategise with him so well, not even flinching at Alfgeir's anger as they routinely had conversations like this the loyal Northman had long become the cunning duke's confident to bounce ideas off. It was not uncommon during these conversations for Ancel to send his loyal grandmaster into a momentary rage like this.

While Ancel knew from the initial conversation that Railius had good political insight and ability to negotiate, but it was the plan they made together after that which gave him the confidence that Railius could deal with The Free Brothers, who even gave him a hard time and showed the meticulous outstanding political plans that the young boy could make.

This is because many would think that Ancel himself concocted this scheme, but in actual fact, a lot of the small details that he overlooked were picked up on by Railius, turning their plan from one of dubious responsibility on the duke's part at best to a political masterstroke that even the godlike emperor and minister of war would admire.

From suggesting to get the Beastmen Tribes friendly and even those not friendly with them to attack his duchy, not only giving his own men an excuse for not helping the Vice Count but also delaying the Imperial army as well. To suggesting a battle of grandmasters to ensure no one could accuse Ancel of not putting in sufficient resources for the emperor's cause, all of these suggestions were the little lord of Aurellion's ideas.

For not even the imperial family themselves had sent a grandmaster figure to pursue the fallen noble lord of House Aurellion past the initial escape from the capital. Instead, the emperor used the vast resources at his disposal to initiate a great purge of the corrupt nobility to allow him to promote his own loyal men in their places, giving Ancel the perfect cover from any reprimands from the imperial court.

"Your grace?"

Alfgier asked, his eyes widening in surprise when he heard what the duke said, his more mucleheaded brain trying to comprehend the duke's words.

"I said, weren't we the same."

The duke said, retaining his smile as he leaned back with a lazy sigh into his chair as he continued.

"Just like with The Free Brothers, we were just as likely to kill that disrespectful little shit as they are now, but instead of dying, he managed to negotiate an alliance with us."

"Do you think that someone who managed to get me onto his side and concoct a plan with me that beat even that cunning emperor and minister of war in a political battle will die just like that?"

The duke said with his usual wisdom and thoughtfulness.

"Let's take even the worst outcome into account. That of his death at the hand of The Free Brothers. If he dies, then the emperor will have nothing to complain about and may even reward me. And even means that no one will ever find out about our deal, allowing me to sleep easy at night."

"So we have nothing to worry about.

The duke finished before a flicker of hatred and pettiness appeared in his eyes.

"Anyway, he forced me to pay for the food and drink he and that grandmaster ate. Did you know how much it bloody cost!? 20 gold! Somehow that little bastard managed to eat through 20 gold worth of fucking food within a few hours! This was the least I could do to get back at him and teach him to make me pay for his extravagance!"

"Do you know that a normal family could eat for years with that amount?"

The duke continued his lecture, letting out all his frustrations, only to be interrupted by Alfgier.

"Wait, you seriously sent him there because he made you pay 20 gold?"

Alfgier said, sighing while facepalming himself.

"Didn't I tell you I did it because if he dies, I can sleep easy?"

"Some people have terrible imaginations and think I only do things out of spite! Of course, that is wrong. I am offended you would even think that way!"

The duke said shamelessly in a sarcastic tone as he wondered how Railius would deal with the little present he sent his way.

Just like this, a deadly war of pettiness began between Duke Ancel and Railius Aurellion, where both men left hidden problems for the other to deal with and would later be remarked as one of the most eccentric yet trustful relationships in the early years of Dynasties Online as some of these little petty problems left by both of them could have had terrible consequences if not dealt with properly.