Chapter 148 Meeting

The Winchester clerk returned to the antechamber, where the knights were still waiting for him.

"That person seems to be the city lord's distinguished guest," a knight asked proudly, "are you acquainted with her?"

"She's the daughter of a marquis." The Winchester clerk smiled gently. "I know her, but she might not know me. Let's go."

When they walked a distance and passed a bookstore, Winchester's clerk suddenly stopped and said, "Excuse me, everyone. I have to go see if the poetry collection I want has arrived. Please go ahead and don't delay my afternoon duty."

"Haha, you scholars, seeing books is like seeing women, you can't even walk!" A knight said jokingly, "Come on, let the chief clerk spend some time with his poetry collection."

The knights left with a laugh, and Winchester the clerk walked into the bookstore, entered through the front door, and left through the back door. The shopkeeper, an old man with a freckled face, dozed off at the counter, not even snoring, and he was completely unaware of the noise.

When he came out of the back door, his face changed, and he went into a house in the back alley. When he came out again, he was already the suave and elegant Earl Winston de Mordo in military uniform.

Winston climbed over the eaves and walls, and in just a few minutes he came back, climbed over the wall quietly into Jiangyou's backyard, walked into the small restaurant through the back door, and heard Vivian's epoch-making speech.

His heart was filled with sourness, his eyes were full of smiles, and he couldn't help but applaud. Then, he walked around the screen and said, "Long time no see, Vivian."

He winked at Vivian's servants, and the maid immediately understood and took the guards to the back door, leaving the private space to the two nobles.

"Brother Winston!" Vivian's eyes widened. She took two steps at a time and lunged forward, headbutting him like a lamb. She didn't behave like a lady at all. "Where have you been all these years? I missed you so much!"

"I went to a few places and did some insignificant things." Winston caught her steadily. "You're a Marquisate who's about to enter politics. How can you be so reckless?"

Vivian pouted and muttered, "You're the only one who would call me that."

Vivian's father, the Marquis of Nantwich von Leicester, was a well-known playboy in the Duchy of Huntington. In addition to his wife, he also had many lovers. This was not uncommon among the nobility.

Nobles often married out of considerations of alliance and family power, with romantic interests often cast aside. There were even cases where couples engaged in separate affairs, each with numerous romantic debts.

The Duchy of Huntington was a medieval feudal state, and it shared all the usual feudal ailments. While the nobles enjoyed their leisurely lives, they were particularly particular about bloodlines. Within a family, only children born to a legitimate wife could inherit the title and territory.

As for those illegitimate children outside, they naturally have no name and no status... Unless these illegitimate children are recognized by the noble couple, their bloodline is confirmed by blood magic, and they are brought into the family to be raised, then they can be recorded in the family genealogy.

This was a custom inherited from the Kingdom of Derman in the Duchy of Huntington. Children born to legitimate wives were called "legitimate children," while illegitimate children recorded in the family tree were called "bastard children." Bastard children held a higher status than nameless, unnamed illegitimate children. While they could not inherit titles or lands, they could hold a family position and earn a generous salary.

Although the people of Huntington still have some discrimination against boys in their bones, they do not prohibit women from inheriting titles, entering politics or showing up in public. There is only one unwritten rule - aristocratic women who want to enter politics must have a husband.

Since there is little love between aristocratic couples and they are mostly involved in interests, these illegitimate children are often brought home and raised together with the legitimate children. Because they have been deprived of the most important inheritance rights and have no possibility of rising to the throne, they can only have a rich and luxurious life by relying on the legitimate line of the aristocracy, so they will be loyal to the family.

Therefore, when the concubines' children grow up, they will become the helpers of the direct line, becoming the direct line's guards, housekeepers, or confidants who do dirty work for the direct line in secret, which can be regarded as adding a lot of help to the family.

The Marquis of Leicester brought back many illegitimate children, but his only legitimate daughter was Vivian, a daughter born in his old age. It was a foregone conclusion that Vivian would inherit the title. The only question that remained was whether she would inherit the title of marquis, or be downgraded to inherit the title of earl... This all depended on the King's wishes.

The title of Marquis of Leicester also dates back to the time of the Kingdom of Derman, and has been passed down through the family line without a downgrade. However, the current Marquis of Nantwich is a politically vacillating fence-sitter, displeasing His Majesty the King... and certainly not particularly well-liked by the die-hard supporters of Baron Neumann and his old clan.

As a result, most people bet that Vivian would probably be used by His Majesty the King as a "chicken" to scare the monkeys, and a series of storms of downgraded succession might start with her.

Over the years, the health of the Marquis of Leicester, whose body was hollowed out by alcohol and sex, has been deteriorating. Vivian urgently needs to strengthen her own strength - to find a suitable marriage partner for herself, so that she can step into politics and fight for her own world.

The partner chosen for her by the Marquis of Leicester was naturally an old noble relative of the Kingdom of Delman, but Vivian herself had other plans.

She had been close to Winston since she was a child, and had even lived in Earl Saka's territory for a long time when she was little. Although Winston was seven or eight years older than her, this age difference was not a big problem in this magical world with many immortals.

Of course, Winston himself was not unmoved.

"Don't be too anxious." Winston's tone was gentle. "Baron Neumann is not a good partner. Choosing him means choosing the opposite side of the king. This is not a wise move."

"That's because someone suddenly disappeared..." Vivian complained softly, but before she could continue, she heard clattering footsteps coming from the kitchen. Then the skeleton shop owner pushed open the door and walked in hurriedly and noisily with a tray in his hand, followed by a familiar knight attendant.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting! Here are the freshly baked roast meats and rice rolls!" Jiang You looked closely and found that the number of noble guests inexplicably turned from one to two, while the servants had run to the backyard. She was a little confused and curious, but still put the dishes on the table with a stiff face.

Jericho, who was serving the dishes, looked at Winston and his eyelids twitched violently.