Under current kingdom law, a noble title generally passes to the eldest legitimate son; the remaining sons become knights; illegitimate children have no inheritance rights.

In the early medieval period, many western regions practiced partible inheritance: daughters and sons both held rights to a share of their father's land and property, though the castle usually stayed with the eldest son.

By the mid‑medieval era—the stage closest to the Western Continent's present—female inheritance rights had been greatly weakened. Outside royal houses it was rare for a daughter to inherit a title.

Jane, even as her father's own daughter, might not inherit his lands. All the less chance for Novia, merely a niece.

So Luo Wei found it odd and asked, "Could there be some misunderstanding between you?"

"What misunderstanding? Everything I said is true." Jane fumed. "The Perkin family are basically a pack of brigands. They colluded with the Mansfield family and have already schemed plenty of minor nobles out of their territories!"

"The Perkin family's favorite tactic is sending a daughter to seduce another lord—first get his wife and children killed, then after she bears an heir, poison the lord too. They're rotten to the core!"

Luo Wei: "They can do that?"

Jane lowered her voice. "That rotten uncle kept sending my cousin to our house, saying she didn't like her stepmother and wanted to stay with her aunt. Really he wanted her to seduce my father—to anger my mother to death."

"No way?" Luo Wei was shocked. "How do you know?"

"I overheard it. My father and mother didn't believe me—told me not to talk nonsense!" Thinking of it again, Jane nearly exploded.

Luo Wei patted her arm. "Alright, alright, calm down. You've already exposed their scheme. They won't succeed."

As long as Jane's father didn't waver, outsiders' temptations were useless.

Besides, Luo Wei felt Novia might not even be willing.

She'd met Novia only once, but the impression was deep.

Setting character aside, Novia's strength and calculation were top tier among peers. How would someone like that willingly sell her body to seduce an old man?

From Jane's account, Novia sounded more like she was under family pressure.

In the end she took no action, likely persuading her father some other way.

Jane still looked gloomy. She confided, "What I'm worried about now isn't their schemes—it's that my awful uncle will help Count Mansfield attack our castle."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Yesterday I got a letter from my mother. That rotten uncle wanted my father to send troops to join the attack on Gorlu City, but my father didn't want war and refused."

"That was seven days ago. Now Gorlu City's gates have been breached—the Duchy of Serbanly's army is about to occupy it."

Luo Wei started. Was the Western Continent really about to erupt this fast?

"Where did you hear this? Why so sudden?"

Jane glanced around, then whispered, "You know Count Wesley—Vina's father. Gorlu City is their main seat."

"Count Mansfield had his eye on their territory long ago. He originally planned to divide Count Wesley's lands and wealth legally after his son married Vina. But once the engagement broke off, the Mansfield family just declared war outright."

Luo Wei frowned. "Why would the Mansfield family rush to seize land without pretext?"

"Because of the internal chaos in Serbanly!" Jane explained. "Last winter lots of people froze. Early January, news spread of refugees storming castles for grain."

"The great nobles sent knights to suppress them; the refugees fled into the mountains and turned bandit, raiding now and then."

"When the thaw came, the lords couldn't find people to farm and went to markets to buy slaves—but strangely, not a single northern slave trader showed up this year."

With no choice, the Duchy of Serbanly started rounding people up to work, and to guarantee enough food, the duke raised land taxes.

Under forced labor plus steep taxation, tenant laborers all over Serbanly fled in large numbers—the largest number fleeing were Count Mansfield's own subjects.

Because the Mansfield and Wesley lands border each other, most laborers ended up running into Count Wesley's domain.

Count Mansfield sent letters demanding Wesley stop receiving and return the runaways, but after the broken engagement relations were strained; Count Wesley refused.

By May, with spring wheat sowing just finished, Count Mansfield saw the busy season had passed and immediately petitioned the king for a campaign to "teach" his neighbor.

"That's how it happened," Jane finished with a sigh. "Our family estate is due south of both Mansfield and Wesley—different duchy entirely. My awful uncle asking my father to march was doomed."

"Your uncle is a Serbanly noble?" Luo Wei asked.

Jane nodded. "Granted a viscountcy there—but he manages it terribly. His knights are so fat they struggle to mount a horse."

"No wonder he wants your father's help."

"Ugh. Last winter my father also took in some refugees from Serbanly. I just hope they don't finish with Gorlu City and then turn around to hit us."

"They won't," Luo Wei said firmly. "They don't have the guts to fight two duchies at once."

Attack one and it's an offensive. Attack two and you get surrounded.

Even wastrels should grasp that.

Chatting with Jane the whole way, Luo Wei reached her dorm door still turning over the northern war.

If Jane hadn't mentioned the causes, she wouldn't have realized she had a share in it.

Why had the northern slave traders failed to appear?

Most likely because she captured their leader.

Luo Wei analyzed the war; her conclusion left her unsure whether to feel pleased or disappointed.

The clash between Serbanly and Gorlu City was a small local collision—unlikely to last long or sway the Western Continent's overall balance.

As she'd said before: within the next ten years the Western Continent would remain in a slow phase of order decay—not erupting yet.

Unless something that rippled across the entire continent occurred, or the Church's High Tower that controlled national populations suddenly collapsed—only then could the war expand.

But if that happened, flames of war would sweep the land; corpses would lie strewn across the wilds; blood would run so deep shields would float. The ones to suffer most would still be the laboring masses at the very bottom.

Does her road home really have to be built on blood and war?

With a heavy heart, Luo Wei pushed open her bedroom door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ patreon.com/BZDXG - Unlock a HUGE stash of advance chapters now! Dive deeper into the story ahead of everyone else!

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