The critical moment.

Marianne naturally refused to hand over the key.

She had become Scoke's mistress just to protect her own territory. Now with Scoke and the Howard brothers wielding absolute power in Gothingen County, and the rebellion on the brink of victory, with Conosa about to be driven back to the court of the principality, why would she willingly sabotage her own efforts?

But who was Damian? He was a young man who had long experienced various modern internet bombardments.

First, he had Gueir take the three children out, then he bent down, stared at Marianne, and said, "Madam, I know what you're worried about. But please think carefully. If you hand over the key, we can also be secret allies. I'll recommend you for a position at the court, your son can bear your surname, and even this estate can be fully preserved."

In short, Damian's message was simple: Scoke and the Howard brothers were about to fall, do you want to come with me or not?

Marianne continuously shook her head. She was just an ordinary rural noblewoman, dazzled by Scoke's rural power play, and failed to see what qualifications Damian, a mere knight's son, had to overturn the dominance of the two brothers.

"If you don't believe me, fine. But I'll tell you this: I've ordered three soldiers to cover nearby hornet nests with sacks. I know the watchtower is very sturdy, but I don't know how your flesh compares to hornets. It's said that after being stung by hornets, one's whole body swells up, becoming extremely ugly..." Damian chuckled coldly, displaying a typical villain's style.

But Marianne was truly frightened. Rather than being stung to death by hornets and then being thrown out like garbage into the wilderness, she'd rather... surrender to Damian.

Marianne reluctantly straightened up, lifted her skirt, revealing the iron key tied to her undergarments, closed her eyes, blushing deeply, "Take it, you deceitful rascal."

In the Middle Ages, women didn't wear bras or silk panties. So important items were often hidden inside.

Damian was shameless and didn't hesitate much. He stepped forward, hugged Marianne, then untied the rope and took the key.

Of course, to better retaliate against Scoke, Damian didn't rush while taking the key, and even "accidentally" touched many places he shouldn't have.

Once Damian left, Lady Marianne was left fuming behind him, muttering, "You little rascal, if I had known you were this deceitful, I wouldn't have helped you enter the monastery in the first place!"

In fact, Marianne had a good relationship with Damian's mother before. When Damian entered the monastery earlier, it was Marianne who mediated and helped the Bovendon family get rid of the burden of their youngest son.

On the other side, the wine cellar.

Scoke's treasure was hidden in his family's storage room, under a wine barrel in the wine cellar.

This was revealed by Scoke during a drunken boast in the monastery.

But he never told anyone which barrel of wine it was.

Damian entered the wine cellar with a torch. Several longbowmen had been searching inside for a while but found nothing.

Obviously, after taking a look himself, Damian wisely gave up on searching the wine cellar. Unless Scoke himself came, who knew where the treasure was?

Frustrated, Greb said, "Father, why don't we just bring that cheap woman here? With her son in our hands, can she still hide anything?"

"No need. Scoke is a cunning bastard, how could he not have anticipated this situation? Only he knows which treasure this key opens." Damian shook his head regretfully.

It seemed he had underestimated the cunning nature of medieval nobles.

Indeed, Marianne later confirmed that she also didn't know the entrance to the treasure trove. This key was a duplicate, usually used for storing wealth, all done personally by Scoke.

In that case, Damian had no choice but to give up on this estate and lead his reinforcements back to help his father.

In general, in novels, the main characters often have deceased parents, and the family is in decline, making it easier to develop the plot.

However, Damian had lived for 8 years, and not only were his parents well, but his elder brother had even gotten married.

First, the castle gate caught fire, and then there was a series of fights and killings in front of the manor. Most of the subjects had already had enough; the manor had been infiltrated by traitors.

If the lord had a good reputation, loyal subjects would naturally come to help, but Dean Scoke was a notorious scoundrel. Not only did he impose marriage taxes on serfs, but he also extorted various oppressive taxes from freemen.

However, during times of war, drought, or banditry, Scoke refused to let freemen seek refuge in the castle because they were "free."

If freemen wanted safety, they had to apply for protection and become Scoke's serfs. Even becoming a serf required handing over a portion of one's wealth.

As a result, when Scoke's manor was attacked, the people not only did not resist but secretly cheered for it.

Apart from the treasure vault, Damian hurriedly cleared out the armory and noble stables in Marion's estate and finally donned a suit of chainmail and could ride a horse again.

Great, he wouldn't have to be a donkey knight anymore.

After getting ready, in the deep night with the moon and stars sparse, Damian left the manor with his men.

Marion held her unlucky child, hiding in the room and crying continuously. Fortunately, Damian didn't care for illegitimate children without status and only tied up Howard's two legitimate sons like pigs and took them away.

The unfortunate widow suddenly began to doubt. With someone as action-oriented as Damian leading a group of robbers and bandits, could Conosa stabilize the situation again?

...

The hilltop.

The knights were cold and hungry, the deceased attendants unable to serve them to rest, and Damian, who had come to their aid and then left, was like a flickering hope that was once again extinguished for them.

Many people started discussing why not let the Countess return to the principality and marry the Duke's son to preserve the county of Gothingen?

It was just a political marriage; even if the Duke's son was an idiot, it wouldn't stop Conosa from seeking pleasure and enjoying herself, finding someone like Damian, a young and handsome monk, to amuse herself.

Why couldn't Conosa just accept it?

"I can't take it anymore."

When dawn broke, several disgruntled knights gathered together, led by a knight named Wagner, and blocked the Knight Commander Joan.

"Girl, let the Countess come out, we need to talk."

"Wagner, what are you trying to do?"

Joan was shocked; were these knights planning to rebel against the Countess?

Wagner looked to be in his forties or fifties, one of the older and more mature knights in Gothingen County. He roared angrily, his voice hoarse, "Give us an explanation! Why is that scumbag Howard in a position of power? How did he get appointed as the stable master? Tell us, whose fault is this?"

Whose fault?

Of course, it was the Countess Conosa's fault.

But was now the time to admit fault?

From Joan's perspective, admitting fault now would surely lose her the people's support.

"Do you want to be the stable master? Do you have the qualifications?"

Joan retorted angrily.

Wagner was straightforward in his admission, "Yes, I do want that. But do I have the qualifications? Perhaps you should reflect on whether you deserve to be the Knight Commander, or if your position is merely due to connections."

Such a blunt accusation immediately turned Joan pale.

Conosa's shortcomings in personnel appointments were now evident.

Some knights couldn't help but clamor for more land.

However, Conosa couldn't possibly agree to the knights' demands because she simply didn't have that much land.

Inside her tent, the Countess was in turmoil.

Even though she hated it in her heart, she couldn't help but pray, "Oh God, please let Damian come and save me. I'd rather marry..."

Just as the camp was in disarray, and morale was low, noises began to come from the forest, growing louder with time.

Conosa couldn't help but feel surprised. Could it be...Damian returning with reinforcements?