Chapter 331 The Downtrodden Nobles

"Heidi Howard's personality is somewhat similar to mine. She is not a lady who follows the rules, although she looks very much like a lady."

At the Howard family's cocktail party, Irene was talking to Milo in a low voice.

"But she is not as lucky as me. She has too many brothers and sisters. She and her sister are Sir Howard's eldest and second daughters, and today's heir Henry is the third child. But there are other children after them, and she is not valued much in the family."

"Unlike me. I'm the only child in the family, so everyone dotes on me."

Milo thought, It seems that you are quite self-aware.

"How long do you plan to stay in Europe this time?"

After talking about the twin sisters of the Howard family, Irene looked at him and asked in a low voice.

"It should be three months."

Milo smiled: "But we may have to go to Africa in the middle."

"Africa?" Irene was surprised and thought for a moment, "Is it because of your armed forces in Africa?"

Although United Global has never publicly announced that it is Blackburn's company.

Even in terms of shareholding and shareholder identity, ordinary people cannot tell that it is Milo Blackburn's company.

After all, it is somewhat unpleasant for a well-known rich man with a good reputation to own a mercenary company.

Therefore, the apparent shareholders of United Global are several companies in Boston.

But most of the upper class people know that this security company belongs to Milo Blackburn.

Irene naturally knew it too.

Milo nodded and looked at the twin sisters from the Howard family, who seemed to be walking towards this side.

"If nothing unexpected happens, next month or the month after, two African leaders will be supported by my mercenaries to take office."

"The French also want me to go there. And my country also wants to show our influence in Africa."

"Plus, I really wanted to go there and have some fun. So I decided to go."

Irene couldn't help but ask with concern: "That's Africa, you have to be careful about your safety."

"Ha, I know this better than anyone." Milo laughed and said, "There will be an American aircraft carrier fleet nearby. In addition, the ClA will also be prepared, not to mention that I have so many mercenaries there."

More importantly, he did not sense any danger.

This is the most important thing.

"Okay. I'm glad you know." Irene nodded, and Heidi Howard happened to come over at this time.

The two dropped the topic.

Next, the three of them started chatting, and the topic unknowingly turned to the Howard family's Howard Castle and life in the castle.

Heidi Howard calmly commented on her family's castle: "I think it's OK. My castle is not as big as the one Irene's family has in the Scottish Highlands. Besides, I grew up in a castle. Apart from some of my peers in the family, I only have a few friends. Irene is one of my few friends."

"You can ask Irene about this. I still have my sister to keep me company. Irene was even lonelier when she was little!"

Irene smiled and said, "It was like this when I was a child. Just like the princesses in fairy tales, we were curious about life outside the castle after leaving our families. I really didn't have many friends, and I mostly wrote letters to the friends I knew."

“When my father took me to other uncles’ homes, I would meet people of my age and we would play together in the garden. This is my most profound and happiest childhood memory.”

"Of course, looking back now, life in the castle is actually pretty good. There's no hustle and bustle of a big city. The peaceful, tranquil and quiet atmosphere allows me to relax completely and feel the beauty of nature."

"Yes, that is a very obvious feature of life in a castle," agreed Heidi Howard.

After that, she suddenly said to Milo playfully: "Mr. Blackburn, do you have a castle?"

Milo was confused and shook his head and said frankly, "I didn't."

This is really not the case.

None of his manor houses in the United States can be considered castles.

Castles are a feature of old Europe, created by former nobles by combining military bastions.

But this kind of thing is no longer necessary as modern firearms, especially artillery, have become increasingly powerful.

Heidi Howard looked at Irene, blinked her beautiful eyes and said, "Irene likes the comfortable life in the castle. Although her family has many castles in the UK, they are hers. I think Mr. Blackburn, you should at least have your own castle in the UK, a castle belonging to Blackburn. What do you think, Mr. Blackburn?"

Faced with this question, Milo subconsciously looked at Irene, only to see her smiling and shaking her head.

Milo smiled and said casually, "It's very simple, just buy one. From what I know, it seems that many nobles in the UK are selling their ancestral properties. Maybe there will be some good options there?"

He is right.

Although there are still many aristocrats left in the UK, it is almost the 21st century.

Many laws that benefited the nobility were basically abolished.

Except for the top group, or those who are good at business like the Marquis of Bute family.

Other British aristocrats and old European aristocrats lived even worse than some middle-class people.

But they wanted to maintain their aristocratic status, so they had to rely on borrowing to keep up the show.

Naturally, there was no good outcome in the end, and they could only make a living by selling their family property.

What they sell most are the magnificent-looking castles.

Hearing Milo say this, Heidi Howard suddenly said to him: "Mr. Blackburn, if you plan to buy a castle, I suggest you buy it in Scotland. Scotland has the largest number of castles in the whole of Britain, and they are generally better preserved."

"Scotland is known as the 'country of ancient castles'. In Scotland, there are more than a thousand castles recorded in history."

"And I remember that after a few families fell into decline, they sold their castles to our family. I saw a few castles when I was a child, and they were all very nice."

"If you are interested, I can ask my father. I often hear him say that it costs a lot of money every year to maintain these uninhabited castles and manors."

Milo was a little surprised. He looked at Irene and asked softly, "Irene, what do you think? Scotland is your territory."

"Eileen, your family does have more castles in Scotland. But given your relationship, it's not appropriate for him to buy the castles your family has, right? Perhaps Sir Ian would be willing to give Mr. Blackburn a few castles, but I think with Mr. Blackburn's financial resources, he may not want or need them." Heidi Howard said with a smile.

Irene smiled and said to Heidi Howard, "Okay, Milo. Then you can ask Heidi to ask Sir Edward."

The landlords did not have any surplus food. The lives of the great nobles were indeed much better than those of the lesser nobles.

The dukes have been able to maintain their previous dignity even now thanks to their large amounts of land.

But it has to be said that most of the castles they own are now actually negative assets.

Because castles are things that, even if you don't live in them, you still have to spend a lot of money on repairs every year to maintain their lifespan.

If a castle has not been repaired for more than a year, it will soon become dilapidated and become a ghost castle that is almost like a haunted house.

Maintaining the dignity of a castle is much more difficult than purchasing it.

Among the ducal families, the Howard family was in the worst situation.

After that, Irene looked at Milo and said softly, "Maybe you can pick one. It would be nice to go to Scotland."

“No problem.” Milo smiled, looking very pleased. “Miss Heidi, then I’d like you to ask your father which castles your family is willing to sell, okay?”

Heidi Howard readily responded: "Of course no problem, I'll go ask my dad!"

After saying this, the lively Heidi Howard stood up, lifted her skirt slightly, and walked slowly towards her father.

"The castles that Heidi and her sister were given were all in Scotland. I think she might want to get rid of these troubles."

Looking at Heidi Howard's back, Irene smiled sweetly and explained to Milo.

Milo smiled but made no comment.

"Erin, have some snacks, or you'll get hungry easily."

"Um!"

…

For the following time, Milo and Irene were unusually calm and leisurely. They sat together, and no one asked either of them to dance.

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Heidi Howard seemed to be restricted by her father and followed her father reluctantly to meet the ladies and girls from other families.

As the party gradually ended and the guests began to leave, Heidi Howard finally found Milo and Irene with light steps.

She smiled at Milo and said, "Mr. Blackburn, my father invites you over!"

"Okay, Miss Heidi, I'll leave Irene in your care."

"Don't worry, I will take good care of her."

Milo smiled and nodded in thanks, then stood up, straightened his clothes, and walked confidently and unhurriedly towards where Duke Edward Howard was.

Duke Edward Howard had also been keeping an eye on Milo. When he saw him coming, he explained to a good friend, then smiled and watched Milo coming over.

"Sir Blackburn, are you having a good time today?"

"Of course, thank you for your hospitality, today is an unforgettable day!" Milo exclaimed with a smile.

Duke Edward Howard smiled cheerfully and invited Milo to the sofa nearby: "Sir Blackburn, let's go sit down there and talk!"

“Yes, please!”

The two sat down one after another.

Duke Edward Howard went straight to the point and said, "Sir Blackburn, my daughter Heidi told me that you are planning to buy a castle in Scotland, right?"

Milo smiled and nodded: "Yes, Irene is Scottish, so I plan to settle down in Scotland."

He added humorously, "And Her Majesty the Queen has made me a knight. Although it is far inferior to you as a duke, I also want to own a castle and enjoy the life of an aristocrat."

Duke Edward Howard laughed in silence. Knowing Milo's strength, he knew that Milo was joking.

There are many nobles in Britain, but how many of them can compare to Milo?

Except for the Windsor family, perhaps there is no one. Even the Windsor family is probably not as rich as him.

In this era when capital stands at the top of the world, Milo can afford to buy and maintain hundreds of castles, let alone own one.

Apart from narrow-minded people who might express jealousy in private, who would dare to act like a noble in front of him?

As far as he knew, many earls and viscounts lived a miserable life and could barely afford to repair their family castles. The only fig leaf left was the title of "nobility".

Some even worse are directly defeated by reality and come to us for help.

Even the Howard family was struggling, let alone others.

Duke Edward Howard smiled and said, "Sir Blackburn, you are so humorous!"

"It just so happens that I have some castles in Scotland. They are basically uninhabited, and a considerable amount of money is spent on repair and maintenance every year. I have also transferred two castles over the years, and I have been planning to sell the rest. If you are interested, I will arrange for someone to take you to have a look."

Milo nodded happily: "Of course I'm interested!"

"When can I go and see it?"

Duke Edward Howard smiled and said, "Any time."

Milo nodded. "Okay, Sir Howard, then please arrange for someone to take my people to have a look later. Have them take pictures and make an album. I will make a decision in the next two days."

"Won't you come and see for yourself?"

"Just some old castles. I don't think it's necessary for me to go there myself. Maybe I'll go and see them when they are decorated, or when I go on vacation to Scotland."

Edward Howard was silent.

He realized once again that the young man in front of him had once been the richest man in the world.

Although starting this year, Milo's name is no longer on the Forbes list.

But no one thought this was Milo's downfall.

How could anyone fail, with more and more companies, more and more prestige, and more and more influence? Edward Howard knew that Milo should have been hidden by Forbes.

Just like these aristocratic families, and the Rockefellers.

No longer appears on media rankings.

How much money did this guy have? Was there any money in the Windsor family? Edward Howard was not sure.

But he knew that this guy must be richer than his family.

The Howard family has a very rich heritage and owns a large amount of land in London and its suburbs.

Estimated to be worth around tens of billions of pounds, he seems very wealthy.

Several of the top-ranked ducal families have about the same number of people.

But in reality, most of the wealth owned by these ancient nobles is real estate such as land, castles and manors.

The land is fine, the manor is nice, but nowadays the castle can be said to be a negative asset in many cases.

So don’t underestimate these dukes, each of them is worth hundreds of billions.

But the cash available is estimated to be less than 1 billion pounds.

"Okay. That's true." Edward Howard smiled. "Then I'll send someone to take your people to check it out?"

"Thanks."

"You are welcome……"

(End of this chapter)