Don’t raise unruly people in extreme cold weather

Chapter 527 The Duke's Price

When a young nobleman who was once handsome and elegant turns into a bald man, it is predictable how devastated he will be.

"I'm very sorry about what happened to your son, but he has made an irreversible mistake, and the Collins family must take responsibility for it." After leaving the interrogation room, Perfecto met with the Duke of Collins, but the first sentence he said made the other party nervous.

Although the Duke of Collins' title was higher than that of Perfectocute, he did not put on any airs in front of the young earl, but expressed his apologies to Perfectocute in a very low-key manner.

The Collins family's assets are all in the empire, and this move to the north can be considered a serious blow to the Collins family.

Although the family title and political status have not been lost, the Collins family is now in the trough of decline due to the loss of the family's rich territories in the empire and the various industries run by the family in the empire.

As one of the three great dukes, the Collins family was unable to take back the seat of Speaker of the Parliament of Peers, which should have been held in rotation by the Duke of Gloucester. This had a huge impact on the political influence of the Collins family.

Coupled with the current decline, the Collins family is almost becoming the most declining among the three dukes.

Although the other family was similar, their Duchess was invited by Perfectocate to join the sugar factory project. Thanks to this relationship, their political influence was slightly restored, which was slightly better than the Collins family.

Under such circumstances, it is understandable that an unfavored heir of the Collins family would begin to seek help from unconventional sources.

After all, a big bird can fly into any forest. It is not surprising that the fool who was turned into a bald boy thought that believing in the evil god could help him and gain power, wealth and glory.

"Your Majesty, although I know that this matter has little to do with your Collins family, and it is because he himself did not have firm faith in the All-Father that things have become what they are now, there are some things you understand even if I don't tell you, and the Collins family will still have to pay the price for this matter." Perfect did not invite the Duke of Collins to a place where they could sit down and talk, but just talked with him in the corridor outside the interrogation room.

To be honest, this was not decent enough for two powerful nobles, but neither party in the conversation had any complaints about it.

Or it could be said that the Duke of Collins had no complaints about this, and Perfectoct just did it on purpose.

The Duke of Collins understood what Perfect meant, so he said readily: "The Collins family is willing to accept all due punishments, and the family is also willing to take responsibility for this matter."

If you lose, you must admit it; if you are beaten, you must stand at attention. A qualified imperial nobleman will not lose his dignity in such matters.

"Very good. If all the nobles could have this awareness, there wouldn't be so many troubles." Perfect nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "The rumors spread by your son have had a great negative impact on the order and stability of the North. The Collins family needs to make up for this. I believe the Duke will make his own decision on how to make up for it, so I won't comment too much.

Apart from that, as for the punishment, the Collins family was ordered to reduce their titles. This was a decision from Her Majesty the Queen.

Among your three sons, except for the eldest son, the other two will be stripped of their current titles, and they will also need to join the northern army and make meritorious contributions in the army."

When Perfectoct spoke of the Duke of Collins' "three sons," he emphasized the word "three."

However, the Duke of Collins had seven sons, three of whom were legitimate sons, and the remaining four were heirs or illegitimate sons. The offender was one of the four illegitimate sons. Perfecto did not mention his three illegitimate sons here on purpose, and the meaning was undoubtedly clear.

The muscles on the Duke of Collins' face twitched. Although he was prepared that the Collins family would have to pay a price for this matter, he did not expect that the price would be so painful.

Among the three sons, the two younger sons were deprived of their titles, which was not a severe punishment.

Although the Queen did not reduce the titles of nobles on a large scale in recent years, she basically maintained that there were reasons for the consequences and the punishments were well-founded.

So although many nobles were affected, overall they had no objections.

And for the Collins family, as long as the title of the Duke is not affected, everything else is a minor problem.

As for the two younger sons needing to join the army to make amends for their crimes, this is also reasonable. If it is said to be a punishment, there must be some performance and action. It is impossible to just drink three cups of wine, it must be at least twenty lashes.

But Perfecto only mentioned his three sons and did not mention the others, and the meaning was very clear.

That is, the four adopted sons do not exist, whether it is the one who has become a bald boy, or the other three illegitimate sons, none of them exist.

From this point of view, it is not difficult to understand why the guy who turned into a bald guy would want to believe in the evil god.

For the imperial nobility, adopted sons or illegitimate sons are not eligible to inherit the family business. Even the inheritance of the surname has to be discussed. In some critical situations, they will even be used as pawns to be sacrificed first to preserve the legitimate sons of the family.

And Perfectoct's meaning is easy to understand. He wants the Duke of Collins to deal with his other three illegitimate children.

This price is a bit too heavy for the Duke of Collins.

However, he also understood that this was already a lenient sentence. Otherwise, if the case was really investigated, the entire Collins family would be implicated and affected, and by then he would not be able to preserve his title and legitimate son like he did now.

So although he was very reluctant, the Duke of Collins still said: "I will let my two sons report to the army in the north."

"Well, very good! I'm relieved that you can understand this, Duke Collins. I will have someone take care of your son when he joins the army." Perfectcott exchanged a few more words with Duke Collins before turning around and preparing to leave.

But at this moment, the Duke of Collins suddenly asked: "Excuse me, can I go and see him? After all, he is..."

"My Lord, I must remind you that he is not, he is nothing, he is just a pagan who believes in evil gods." Perfecto said firmly, and her attitude was very clear. But looking at the sorrow and pleading on the face of Duke Collins, she thought for a moment and said, "But if my Lord needs to interrogate the pagan, I can give you five minutes."

(End of this chapter)