The King's Follower [Rebirth]

Although he was dissatisfied, Edward didn't think too much about it. The awarding of noble titles is a university question. Many nobles themselves are ignorant and half-knowledgeable, but they have more knowledge to make a similar judgment. However, one The specific reasons why the subjects received such titles are unclear.

Edward only thought that Stephen didn't know the inside story, and he also understood that he and William were blood-related brothers, but their status was very different. It's the Earl. Speaking of it, it's very rare for an illegitimate child born to his mother to live under the same roof as his legal heir. For a while, he couldn't accept emotionally that he couldn't get the same treatment as William's illegitimate brothers. , is also justifiable.

So Edward patiently explained the reasons for this arrangement to Stephen, and finally said: "The conferment of titles must be in accordance with the law, especially during the period when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has just been crowned. Leaving others the handle to question his rule, giving people the impression of nepotism. Although you are a viscount now, it does not mean that you cannot become an earl or duke in the future. You are still young, and the war is not over yet. After making military exploits, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will naturally be promoted to your title."

Stephen grabbed the parchment again and held it tightly in his hand, with a gloomy expression on his face, without saying a word, Edward knew that he didn't take his explanation seriously in his heart.Edward sighed inwardly. He felt that what he said had reached this point, and there was really no need to continue explaining, but he couldn't really let it go. After all, Stephen was William's brother. Hearing from William, after he and the king completely fell out in his previous life, He was also once driven to the point of near desperation by the king, led a team of less than a hundred people to fight a bloody road, and went to a safe place after several twists and turns. At that time, Stephen followed him faithfully and without complaint .From this point of view, although Stephen's mind is too sensitive and narrow-minded, he is still the brother William can hand over his back to. Edward does not want their brotherhood to be wiped out by these seemingly unnecessary details.

However, before Edward continued to explain, Stephen spoke again: "This man," he pointed to one of the names, "Chris Garcia, I remember he is a sub-orc, and he already has a noble title, he is a count."

"Yes." Edward nodded, "What's wrong?"

"You want to make him a duke?" Stephen's tone was full of puzzlement and shock, "Isn't a title of earl not enough? Now you want to make him a duke? Are you sure? I thought only members of the royal family can become dukes." Duke! And now you give that title to a sub-orc!"

"My God, Stephen." Edward paused, suppressing his dissatisfaction, not letting them show in his tone and expression, "First of all, the title of duke is not only granted to members of the royal family, but the Grand Duke is , There are many dukes in the empire who don’t have the surname Lancaster. You will know them when you enter social situations. Secondly, according to the laws of the empire, the granting of titles will not be based on whether the recipient is an orc or a sub-orc. He is biased and favors one over another." He explained solemnly, "And over the years, Earl Garcia, as a military commander, has made great contributions to the victory of the frontline battle. It can be said responsibly that among the ten victories, Eight times it was because Earl Garcia commanded properly. Although he is not very old, his combat achievements are enough to allow him to be promoted to a general officer and be promoted to a title."

Stephen exhaled heavily from his nose, like a mocking sneer, as if he thought Edward's explanation was just a pretentious and pretentious one. "I see." He forced a smile.

Edward wished he was being overwhelmed, but the smile was dark and uncomfortable.

"I see." Stephen repeated, putting the parchment back on the table, "I'll take my leave first." He left the office without looking back.

Edward watched him leave quickly, feeling a bad premonition in his heart. It was hard for him to imagine that such a fussy, inferior and arrogant boy would become William's right-hand man and fight side by side with him, but he couldn't say What, I can only tell William about this, and let him comfort his younger brother.

William did not express his opinion immediately, but the list of conferments did not change in any way. In fact, Edward had already figured out that William was a man with a firm stand and would never compromise on major issues.

Soon came the day of the coronation.

For this coronation ceremony, William sent invitation letters to the leaders of all countries in the entire Salman continent to test the attitudes of the countries towards Cuthbert's new ruler. Fortunately, more than half of the people were optimistic about William and came to watch the ceremony , expressing recognition of William's legal status and legal rights.

William wanted Edward to crown himself, but of course this was impossible. Edward was just an ordinary senior priest, and the only one who could crown the king was the Pope.However, Edward found a job he could do at the coronation ceremony, standing beside the Pope, holding the tray on which the crown was placed.

The coronation ceremony was long and trivial. They rehearsed for a whole week, with their eyes closed, knowing where William would stand and what to do at every step.However, when this day really came, standing in the resplendent auditorium of St. Leman's Cathedral, watching the Pope put a luxurious crown on William who was kneeling right in front of him from the plate he was holding. On the top of his head, William, who was wearing a blue gold-rimmed robe embroidered with the king's emblem, sat on the throne with a solemn face, took the scepter handed over by the Pope himself, and put on the king's ring, Seeing that everyone in the auditorium stood up to salute William and shouted long live, Edward still felt a burst of heartfelt excitement, as if his soul had been touched, and he couldn't stop trembling all over his body.

After the coronation ceremony, the knighting ceremony followed immediately. The new nobles who were about to be knighted all wore formal dresses that suited their future identities. When they heard their names read by the ceremony officer, they stepped forward and knelt down In front of William, he kissed his toes, and then William pressed his sword lightly on each of the man's shoulders, asking if the man would give his [-]% loyalty, and after receiving an affirmative answer, he would Hand over the official document conferring the title to the other party.

Edward had been standing by William's side all the time. When it was Stephen's turn to step forward, he saw that the other party had a not-so-obvious dejection and absent-mindedness on his face. It seemed that he was very dissatisfied with the arrangement.

Edward took this matter to heart, and when the coronation ceremony was over and everyone returned to the palace to prepare for the dinner, he expressed his concerns.

"Here, many things are different from the previous life." Edward gently rubbed his stiff neck for William. Although the weight of the crown was nothing to the orc, he kept the posture of looking straight ahead for too long , the burden on the neck is still not small, "In the last life, I did not take you to Somerset. You and Stephen were alone and helpless in the capital, and could only depend on each other, and they have been together ever since. You have a very deep bond. Emotional foundation, it can be said that at that time, there was no one else to rely on and trust in your world except each other. But in this life, you are brought by my side, and your attention is divided by many other things. The importance of Stephen It has been greatly reduced, and the status gap between you is getting bigger and bigger. You are the beloved brother of the crown prince, and he is just an ordinary illegitimate child with no family background. I think he must have felt this, which is why he is so uneasy and sensitive. "

William sighed for a long time: "I feel sorry for Stephen."

Edward shook his head: "I'm not accusing you of not caring about him. As an elder brother, you have treated him very well. I'm just telling you the difference between your two lives. He saw it as the only life-saving straw, but you didn't feel sorry for him. It's true."

"Thank you for comforting me." William grabbed his hand, put it on his lips and pecked it, and then stuck it to his face.

Edward touched his face with the other hand, thought for a while, and said this sentence: "I don't want to provoke the relationship between you brothers, William, but, I think, the relationship between you two lives Different ways lead to different results, you can't trust Stephen in this world like you believed in Stephen in your previous life, even if you are brothers."

William was taken aback: "Do you think he will betray me?"

Edward hesitated without nodding or shaking his head, but he still said, "I just think he might not be as loyal as you think."

William was silent. He was not a person who didn't know right from wrong. He could see the jealousy and dissatisfaction in Stephen's eyes. It was just that in his previous life, although he was the king's illegitimate child, he didn't get much preferential treatment, and those jealousy and dissatisfaction had been experienced by them together. After so much suffering, it turned into a deep brotherhood, and in this life, from the very beginning, the gap between the two was shown in front of Stephen in an almost cruel way. Rationally speaking, he really couldn't guarantee that Stephen could still As loyal as in previous life.