my pokemon player.

Marquis Cross believed that he was no less capable than anyone else in his life, and his only regret was that he did not have a suitable successor.

After so many years, he had convinced himself to accept this fact, but Ryan's news hit him hard again.

It’s not that there are no excellent heirs in this world, it’s a pity that they are all other people’s children.

The more Cross thought about it, the more sad he felt. Freya's next words stabbed him in the heart:

"Not only us, but others are also shocked. Now people in Lion City are discussing this matter. Some people even say that Baron Ryan has the demeanor of your father in the past, and gave him the nickname 'Little Lion King'."

"If Baron Ryan's hair wasn't black, I'm afraid people would suspect that he was your illegitimate child." Freya joked with a smile.

The most distinctive physical feature of their Flame Lion family is their hair color. All members of the Flame Lion family have either golden or red hair.

For example, her hair is as bright and shiny as gold, and a few members have golden and red hair, but it can't be black.

"The little lion king." Cross muttered in a low voice.

Although he knew that Freya was joking, when he heard this, he subconsciously recalled his own emotional experience.

When he confirmed again and again that he had never had a casual affair with the black-haired woman, a hint of regret appeared in Cross's eyes.

That's right, unlike other nobles who were very secretive about their illegitimate children, Cross wished Ryan was his illegitimate son.

As long as Ryan is related to him by blood, he will hand over the territory to Ryan without hesitation.

What? Ryan's hair is black?
This is not important, and if you think about it from another perspective, this can also prove the excellent bloodline of Ryan's mother's family. After all, not everyone can surpass the bloodline of the Flame Lion family.

If all else fails, Cross can dye his hair black to support Ryan!
However, all this is based on the fact that Ryan is indeed his illegitimate son. Otherwise, no matter how outstanding Ryan is, he would not recognize an outsider as his son.

Cross is not the kind of noble who cannot have a son and can only adopt a son from a side branch of the family. He has many sons, and although none of them are very promising, they are still the bloodline of the Flame Lion family.

"Ah~"

Cross sighed lightly, feeling more and more bitter in his heart.

How great it would be if Ryan was really his illegitimate son. With the abilities Ryan had shown, he could not only take over his own territory, but he could even make the Flame Lion family go further.

What a pity! What a pity!

Cross's thoughts at this moment were the same as when Prime Minister Cao first met Sun Shiwan, except that he was almost about to exclaim, "I wish I had a son like Ryan."

Freya naturally knew why Cross sighed repeatedly, and she gently comforted him:

"Father, don't be too disappointed. Although Baron Ryan is very outstanding, my brothers are not bad either. They...they..."

Freya hesitated, and for a moment she couldn't find any good points in her brothers, so she could only say awkwardly:
"At least they respect you very much, and they are not like other young nobles who are ignorant and get into trouble everywhere."

When Cross heard this, his anger increased instead of decreasing:

"Respect me? How many times have they come to see me since I fell ill?"

"In the first two days after I fell ill, they came more frequently than the other, crying and wailing in front of me, fearing that I would pass the title to someone else."

"After they confirmed that I would not die for a while and had not decided on an heir, they stopped coming to see me. They didn't respect me at all, they clearly respected my title!"

At the end of his speech, Cross was so angry that he started coughing.

Seeing this, Freya quickly reached out and gently stroked Cross's chest, then asked the servant to bring a cup of tea and handed it to Cross personally.

Cross took the tea, drank it all, and then said to Freya with a look of satisfaction:
"Among all my children, you are the only one who is truly filial. You come to visit and greet me every day and chat with me to relieve my boredom. You are much better than those useless guys."

Freya smiled gently and said, "This is what I should do. I don't have the pressure of inheriting the territory like my brothers. I usually have more free time, so I naturally have time to take care of you."

Cross snorted coldly: "Don't speak well of them. They have a lot of free time, but they use it all for pleasure. As a father, I am not as good as those dancers and ladies!"

"Don't say that. How can those prostitutes be compared with you? Besides, didn't Brother Kate come to see you today?"

Hearing Freya's words, Cross became even angrier.

"Do you think he came to see me? This bastard got into trouble again and came to me to apologize. He is getting bolder and bolder. He even dared to tease Viscount Rigo's daughter. People even reported him to me!"

"Why do you think he's kneeling outside and refusing to leave? He wants me to intercede for him, so as not to offend Viscount Rigo and lose his support."

"This"

A conflicted expression appeared on Freya's pretty face. She really couldn't think of any words to defend her brother.

"He has so many women to flirt with, but he has to flirt with the viscount's daughter who wants to get close to him. Everyone knows that Rigo dotes on his only daughter. Isn't he pushing Rigo towards his competitor? He is such a fool!"

Cross said this with a look of disappointment. Obviously, he was not angry because Kate flirted with women, but was more angry that his son was not living up to his expectations.

"Perhaps Brother Kate wants to win over the other party through Viscount Rigo's daughter." Freya guessed.

"That's why I said he was stupid. There were countless ways to get closer to Rigo's daughter, but he chose the worst way."

"Does he think that if he sleeps with someone, she will follow him wholeheartedly? Little does he know that his behavior is trampling on the dignity of Viscount Rigo!"

Cross said angrily, wishing he could get up and whip Kate right now.

Freya saw that Cross was getting angrier and angrier, and his words were full of dissatisfaction with Kate, and a hint of hidden joy flashed in her eyes.

"Let's not talk about Brother Kate. Aren't we discussing Baron Ryan?" Freya deliberately changed the subject.

"I get even angrier when you mention Baron Ryan. If your brothers had half the ability of Ryan, I wouldn't have a headache choosing an heir."

"I don't ask them to subdue the Scourge Beasts. I will be satisfied even if they just occupy two towns."

Hearing what Cross said, Freya asked curiously:
"Father, why do you value the Scourge so much? In your eyes, even the merit of expanding the territory is not as good as conquering the Scourge?"

Cross nodded as a matter of course: "The merit of conquering the natural disaster is certainly greater than expanding the territory, just like Baron Ryan, if it weren't for Dragonite's participation, he wouldn't have been able to easily defeat the three-town coalition." "The natural disaster can be said to be the cornerstone of the territory and the best guarantee for the territory. Only by conquering the natural disaster can we occupy a place in this world of great strife. Without the natural disaster, no matter how big the territory is, it is just a moon in the water."

Seeing Cross praising natural disasters so much, Freya couldn't help but say in surprise:
"But didn't you say that before? Didn't you always teach us that the power of a group is far greater than that of an individual? No matter how strong the Scourge is, it is no match for the lion group?"

Cross looked a little embarrassed when he heard this: "Ahem, I just wanted you to realize the importance of unity, but it didn't work. Your brothers still don't like each other."

"Besides, the Flame Lion is our family's signature monster after all. As the clan leader, isn't it normal for me to brag about my own monster?"

Freya was speechless. She said helplessly:

"That is to say, the lion group is no match for the Scourge. No wonder you have been trying so hard to train the Staff-tailed Scaled Armored Dragon in the past few years. The Flame Lion King often complains to me, saying that you are too partial and don't even take it to train and fight."

"Oh, don't worry. In a month or two, it won't look for you anymore." Cross sneered.

Freya's eyes widened when she heard this: "What do you mean by that? Are you going to..."

Cross reached out and patted Freya on the head, saying unhappily:
"What are you thinking? The reason why the Flame Lion King came to complain to you is because these two months are the estrus period for the lionesses. As the lion king, he has to mate with most of the lionesses in the tribe."

"It was fine in the first few days, but it couldn't hold on for a long time. In the past, every time it reached this time, it would beg me to take it out for training and fighting, so as to get rid of the female lions in the tribe."

"I haven't had time to take care of it these days, so it came to you. Otherwise, with its lazy nature, it wouldn't be so eager to fight and train. When I decided to vigorously train the Staff-tailed Scaled Armored Dragon, it was the happiest."

After listening to Cross's explanation, Freya nodded in understanding at first, and then two blushes appeared on her cheeks as if she had thought of something.

Seeing this, Cross laughed and said, "Little Freya is shy. Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't say these in front of you."

"Let's talk about the Scourge again. I didn't lie to you. Although the Scourge monsters are very powerful, we can still defeat them if we gather the power of the lion group together."

"But we also have to pay a heavy price, not to mention that the deterrence and flexibility of natural disasters are not comparable to those of lions."

"If you let an enemy with natural disasters escape, you won't have a good life in the days ahead. That's why the nobles are so afraid of natural disasters."

"As long as there is a natural disaster in the territory, other lords will not dare to easily plot against you. Moreover, the life span of a natural disaster is very long, and it can protect at least three generations."

"That's why I responded to the royal family's call and conquered the three rebellious dukes, hoping to exchange my merits for a staff-tailed scaly dragon."

"I was lucky. My merits were just enough to exchange for a Staff-tailed Scaled Armored Dragon. At that time, the former king had not passed away, and the Staff-tailed Scaled Armored Dragon tribe was not controlled by the four major families. That's how I was able to tame a natural disaster."

"If it were now, no matter how great your achievements were, the four major families would not agree to give you the Staff-tailed Scaled Armored Dragon as a reward."

As Cross recalled the past, a proud expression appeared on his face, as if he was glad that he had caught up with the good times.

Freya didn't think so. She said seriously:

"I would rather exchange the Staff-tailed Scaled Armored Dragon for your healthy body. You are the most solid foundation of our Flame Lion Family!"

Cross shook his head. "You don't understand the importance of the Scourge to our family. Before I took over the territory, our family had three Scourges. Two of them died in the fight for heirs, and the remaining one died not long after I became a marquis."

"The Yanshi family is the master of the Southeast Province, but there is no natural disaster in the family. How can this not attract the coveted attention of other forces?"

"So I must tame a natural disaster beast for my family no matter what. Even if I am seriously injured and leave a root of disease, it is worth it."

Freya looked at the few white hairs that had grown on Cross and spoke slowly:
"Is it really worth it? Have you ever thought that even if you don't respond to the royal family's call, with your strength, you will be able to conquer the natural disaster sooner or later."

"Rather than the current situation where we have natural disasters but cannot fight."

Cross frowned: "What do you know? It's not that easy to subdue a natural disaster!"

"I don't understand, but I know that Baron Ryan, who is less than 20 years old, has already subdued two natural disasters."

"In my heart, you are stronger than him. You can definitely do what he can do!" This was the first time Freya confronted her father.

"." Cross remained silent.

After a while, he smiled bitterly and said:

"I was indeed too impatient at the time. I didn't want to buy a Calamity cub from the Merchants' Association because I thought that training a Calamity would waste too much time and expose the weakness of my family. I also had a high opinion of myself and thought I was invincible and couldn't possibly get hurt."

"I have been reflecting on this for the past two years. If I had trained the Scourge cubs while ordering people to look for the adult Scourge, there might be more than one Scourge now, and I wouldn't have to lie in bed like a waste."

Speaking of this, Cross felt a little sad and melancholy.

But he quickly hid these negative emotions and changed the subject:

"Forget it, there's no point in saying this. Lions never regret not catching any prey. They just cheer themselves up and continue looking for the next prey."

"So stop dwelling on the unchangeable facts of the past and think more about the future. Let me test you. If you were the leader of the Chamber of Commerce, how would you deal with Baron Ryan, the rapidly rising neighbor?"

Freya thought for a moment, then answered decisively:

"I will take advantage of the fact that Baron Ryan has just finished the war and has not yet digested the results of the battle to take the initiative to attack, defeat Baron Ryan in one fell swoop, and turn him into a vassal of the Chamber of Commerce."

Cross' eyes lit up, and then asked: "Why did you do this?"

"The reason is simple. If I don't defeat Baron Ryan, Baron Ryan will swallow me up. Judging from what Baron Ryan has done, he has great ambitions."

"In order to realize his ambition, he will never let go of Guanhai City, the money bag, and will send troops to occupy Guanhai City sooner or later."

"So I can only defeat him before he grows up. In fact, the best time is when he just takes over the territory. The longer we delay, the greater the threat he will pose."

"Now is my last chance to defeat Baron Ryan. If I miss it, I will just be like a poisoned monster, silently waiting for death."

As soon as Freya finished explaining the reason, Cross praised loudly:

"Well said! You are worthy of being my daughter. You see things clearly. It's a pity that you are not a man and cannot lead a lion group."

Hearing Cross's praise, Freya was very happy on the surface, but she was secretly complaining in her heart:
"What's wrong with being a woman? It's not just male lions who can be lion kings. Female lions can also lead a lion group!" (End of this chapter)