In addition to the documents of allegiance from the neutral knight territories, the defeated territories also rushed to send hostages in exchange for exemption. These were mostly the younger sons of the territory lords, or if they didn't have younger sons, they would temporarily sign documents to adopt a nephew with blood ties to send.
Soon, most of the knight territories involved in the rebellion were pardoned by Niu Zida, and the prisoners were released. Only Echeveria Territory had not sent any hostages.
"Is this a blatant challenge, thinking I don't have the strength to attack them?"
Three days had already passed. Amelie was now heavily pregnant and would give birth tonight. Yor and Aponia's bellies had also grown, but Misato Shizuku had only just conceived last night and showed no signs of pregnancy yet.
"Master, the situation may be a bit different. Echeveria Territory doesn't seem to have any descendants."
"Hmm? What does that mean?"
"The lord of Echeveria Territory is the leader of this defeat, Laudette of Echeberria. The Echeberria family is sparsely populated. The main family line died out, which allowed his branch to take over. Now, this knight is already 55 years old and still doesn't have a son. He recently married a beautiful young wife, supposedly to solve the issue of descendants."
"Not even a nephew?"
"Laudette is already the last male heir of this family."
Amelie introduced their family history, and Niu Zida understood why Echeveria Territory was unwilling to send even a male heir. There was simply no one to send, and it was impossible to fabricate one.
"No wonder Laudette, the knight of Echeveria Territory, was the leader of this punitive expedition. He probably had nothing to lose, so he wanted to gamble big."
"Echeveria Territory itself is a powerful territory within Dore Territory, with at least ten thousand registered Militia within the territory."
"Registered?"
"Due to the war, the population of each territory has decreased significantly. The actual population is unknown, but the previous registered Militia was around ten thousand, making it the largest knight territory within the territory."
"So, how many people are there in Dore Territory now?"
"I only know that my husband's direct registered population should be thirty thousand, but how many are left is unknown."
Good heavens, is the internal affairs of the entire territory so chaotic? The lord doesn't even know the actual population within the territory. Niu Zida felt that the entire Dore Territory was just a makeshift organization before.
"If that's the case, then we can only confiscate Echeveria Territory."
"However, the situation seems more complicated than that."
"Hmm?"
Seeing Amelie's wry smile, Niu Zida asked what was going on. Amelie then explained the intricate relationships within the territory:
"Laudette's wife, Seretina, comes from a noble family in the Principality of Heiserink, which is another neighboring country of Atair. The principality has always hoped to maintain a marital relationship with Echeveria Territory. Once Laudette is confirmed to have no descendants, they can use marriage to integrate Echeveria Territory into the Principality of Heiserink. If Master casually confiscates this territory, it might provoke interference from Heiserink."
"Will Heiserink send troops?"
"Probably not. They are currently at war and don't have much time. The war between the Atair Kingdom and the Fortini Kingdom has affected many surrounding countries. The Principality of Heiserink, as an ally of the Atair Kingdom, is naturally no exception."
While Niu Zida was still discussing the current situation with Amelie and the others, a servant suddenly came to report that Laudette's wife, Seretina, requested to meet with Niu Zida.
Niu Zida had the heavily pregnant Amelie carry him to the outer hall of the castle to meet Seretina. Seretina was a tall, beautiful woman with long silver hair in double helix buns, blue eyes, and fair skin, wearing a noble's favorite off-shoulder long dress, through which her slender, fair ankles could be seen. (From Knight & Magic)
After seeing Niu Zida, Seretina explained her purpose:
"Echeveria Territory originally had no descendants. I hope Lady Amelie can forgive him. If you can pardon my husband, Echeveria Territory guarantees never to rebel again."
Since Amelie was nominally the highest ruler within Dore Territory, Seretina naturally had to plead with Amelie as regent. Of course, as soon as she came in, she saw Niu Zida being carried by Amelie and understood what was going on. It seemed that the legend of the territory being controlled by a Goblin was true, and the fact that her husband, a noble knight, was defeated miserably by a Goblin was also true.
"But if you can't hand over a hostage, why should I believe your words?"
Amelie would certainly not believe such a promise. She directly retorted. Seretina looked at Niu Zida being carried with her beautiful big eyes. She knew in her heart that this matter could not be decided without convincing Niu Zida, so she said:
"If possible, I am willing to be a hostage in exchange for my husband."
"Oh, oh, oh, you and your husband have such a good relationship?"
Hearing that this beautiful noblewoman was willing to exchange herself for her husband, Niu Zida, who had been silent, suddenly looked at Seretina with a lewd smile and interjected. Amelie, who was carrying Niu Zida, felt somewhat dissatisfied. Aponia, Misato Shizuku, and Yor were not nobles and did not have any real conflict of interest with her by Niu Zida's side, but Seretina was also a noble. Amelie would have a natural vigilance towards such a woman approaching Niu Zida.
"So, may I ask if you can grant my request?"
"You and Laudette don't have children, yet you are so considerate of him. It's strange no matter how you look at it."
Niu Zida was not so easily fooled. There must be a reason for such abnormal behavior. Amelie, who was willing to submit to Niu Zida for her own benefit, was very reassuring, but Niu Zida found Seretina's unprovoked loyalty to her husband very suspicious.
"I'm afraid the Principality of Heiserink is also unable to spare any resources to manage the affairs of this territory, so they gave you instructions that you must stabilize the situation in Dore Territory, even at the cost of sacrificing yourself. In short, you must not allow Echeveria Territory to be taken back, right?"
Amelie sneered as she carried Niu Zida, directly exposing Seretina's intentions. No wonder Amelie's initial attitude towards Seretina was not very friendly. The two of them had a direct conflict of interest regarding the ownership of Echeveria Territory.
"So that's how it is."
Niu Zida looked at Seretina meaningfully and smiled. Seretina also knew that there was no point in pretending at this time, so she said:
"The condition I propose is that you guarantee my husband's safe return to the territory, and I am willing to stay in the territory as a hostage."
Seretina's beautiful eyes looked at Niu Zida seriously. She didn't expect this beautiful noblewoman to be so decisive. Honestly, Niu Zida had a different perception of these women. Could it be that these noble women are born political animals? For the sake of political interests, they never hesitate to sacrifice themselves at critical moments. Amelie was like this, and Seretina was actually like this too.