Chapter 1711 - 480: Armed Allies of the Great Graveyard (Part 4)

At the moment he heard this, the excitement on Edward's face did indeed fade a little, and a faint, hard‑to‑notice gloom flickered in his eyes.

There were some things he could say to Colin as a fellow member of the royal family, but were not fit to be said in front of outsiders, even household servants.

He subconsciously glanced at Punk beside him, and the latter, being very perceptive, immediately bowed and said.

"Your Highness, I shall first go and check the tools and samples we brought… Prince, please allow me to take my leave."

With that, he tactfully withdrew from the lawn.

Yang Andes naturally understood as well; without any need for a hint from Your Majesty, he smiled and said, "I'll go with Mr. Punk, and take the chance to discuss some details of the factory construction with him."

After speaking, he followed behind Punk.

Watching the two of them withdraw together with the guards around them, Edward finally cleared his throat and, in a casual tone, spoke his mind.

"To be frank with you, Prince Colin, the Duchy's internal situation… hasn't been very stable lately."

Luo Yan frowned slightly.

"Has… the King done something again?"

"It has a bit to do with King Ryan, but not that much; the main issue is still within the Campbell family itself."

He sighed, a trace of fatigue on his face, and walked out onto the lawn with Colin, continuing in a conversational tone.

"You should know that aside from me, Erin also has another elder brother, who is also my younger brother, Jelock."

"I've heard of that gentleman. Your relationship… has run into trouble?"

Edward gently shook his head.

"It has nothing to do with our personal relationship; our differences lie mainly in our ideas about governing. He has always regarded my father as his model, strictly upholding the Knight's traditions, just like Erin. But he's different from Erin: Erin understands how to adapt, whereas he longs for everything to remain as it was."

"For everything to remain as it was means…"

"Returning to the old order: merchants as the Lord's moneybags, peasants as the Lord's tools. Of course, they'll surely dress it up in another way—for example… saying they're providing security and shelter for farmers who've lost their land, even though they've never once let their own peasants eat their fill."

Edward bared his teeth in a half‑smile, as if mocking his younger brother's naïveté, yet also lamenting the capriciousness of fate.

Just as he was rallying the Nobles of Twilight Province to sideline the King, the King came to his turf and did the very same thing.

He quietly lit a fire in his backyard.

This foolish monarch!

Aside from his talent for playing dead, his knack for mischief was hardly lacking.

Luo Yan remained silent for a moment and gave him a sympathetic look.

"Every family has its own hard scripture to recite."

"Yes," Edward sighed and went on, "perhaps I should have been stricter in disciplining my younger brother, but it's too late to say that now. And… he's never been very fond of me; he was influenced more by our father."

"Ever since I succeeded to the title, he went to the North Stream Valley Earl's Territory. You should have met that Earl Derek, at the auction in this very manor."

"I do have some impression. That gentleman seemed to be a robust and powerful Knight." Luo Yan carefully recalled, and did indeed remember that Earl.

"His skills are not limited to Martial Arts; his scheming is deep as well." Edward's face darkened a bit, and he went on slowly, "My younger brother staying on his lands is very likely being stirred up by him. And now that Erin has gone north, he has an even more high‑sounding excuse—namely, to guard against remnants of the Green Forest Army slipping into the Duchy's borders. He even wants to transfer the Trident Knights there… Yet you and I both know that rabble has long since been finished."

Having said this, Edward fell silent.

He believed that with Prince Colin's intelligence, even without him spelling out every detail, he would be able to taste the complex flavors within.

Luo Yan certainly understood.

He pondered for a moment, sighed lightly, and in the end, from the standpoint of a friend, gently advised.

"You are, after all, one family. It's best to prioritize harmony."

Struggles over succession had always been soaked in blood and storms.

All the more so now that the Campbell Duchy stood at a critical turning point in history; not everyone was happy to see the ongoing transformations.

Edward gave a perfunctory smile; something like warmth seemed to rise in his eyes, yet perhaps not.

"I hope so. And I also hope that kid can wake up a little, and not do any ridiculous, laugh‑and‑cry‑at‑once kind of stupid things."

He was not a cold‑blooded man.

But if anyone sought to split his Duchy and obstruct the reforms he was pushing forward, then even if it were his own younger brother, he would never show mercy.

Luo Yan said no more and, without drawing attention to it, shifted the topic.

He had already seen on Edward's face the resolve he wanted to see.

The Kingdom and the Judicial Court, the Duchy and the "New Testament" faction… the two sides engaged in a clandestine game had already formed into two clearly divided camps.

Now it was only a question of who would fire the first shot.

If possible, he hoped that day would come a little later, so that the brave Campbell people might shed a little less blood.

The situation here was completely different from that on the Gana Continent. On the Gana Continent, the Lizardmen had nothing; a quick, sharp pain was better than a lingering one. But the Campbell people already had everything, and might not be able to bear the unbearable pain to Life.

Yet Luo Yan was equally clear.

Just like the ever‑changing Future in the Void Realm, not everything could neatly align with that so‑called "heaven's will" in the unseen…