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How difficult is the promotion from Baron to Viscount?

The baronial title of the Angler family was earned on the battlefield by Colin’s great-great-grandfather after half a lifetime of struggles.

Since then, even though three generations of Barons from the Angler family had fought on the battlefield, with two of them dying on the frontline, the family’s nobility still had not been elevated to Viscount.

Although this was largely due to the high number of lords in the North Territory, the slow cycle of power transitions, and rampant class rigidity, it also highlighted the difficulty of noble promotion.

This time, Colin could not believe that not only did he inherit his adoptive father’s baronial position, but he also ascended to Viscount.

Amidst his surprise, Colin realized that his promotion was the result of a combination of several factors.

Firstly, most of the old lords in the North were wiped out by the combined forces of the two brothers from the St. Hilde family, and a considerable amount of land was reclaimed by the St. Hilde family, significantly reducing the difficulty for noble promotion.

Secondly, Colin was, after all, part of the campaign against the Trolls and gained considerable merits.

Although Colin’s role in the campaign was negligible, and one could even claim he was just along for the ride, Duke St. Hilde clearly did not want to give all the enormous credit to the leaders of the Dark Cavalry.

Therefore, being the only noble loyalty to Duke St. Hilde besides Marquis Garcia among those took part in that campaign, Colin naturally received special attention from the Duke.

Thirdly, it was unclear what role Marquis Garcia and Vera had played in this. If they both spoke highly of Colin in front of the Duke, then the promotion to Viscount wouldn’t be too much of a surprise.

In any case, Colin was on top of the world now!

Under his leadership, the Angler family had made significant progress and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they brought honor to their ancestors.

In the crowd of spectators, his sister Kaitlin was so touched that she was in tears, clenching her fists and holding them to her chest, presumably assuring their deceased father that he can now rest in peace.

After Colin finished his oath, an attendant brought forward a brand new suit of Viscount ceremonial dress.

The suit consisted of a deep red velvet coat and black trousers, with the crest of the Angler family embroidered on the chest and two silver stripes underneath the crest – the symbol of the Viscount rank.

Colin received it with both hands.

The attendant then handed over a ring and a ribbon exclusive to Viscounts, along with a piece of parchment with text in gold foil, stamped with the seal of Duke St. Hilde – on it was written the details of the newly granted land to the Angler family.

Colin, holding these items, again bowed to Duke St. Hilde, and then stepped back.

Kaitlin ran excitedly to Colin’s side, her joy almost uncontrollable.

But she also knew to behave appropriately for the occasion and spoke softly into Colin’s ear:

“Colin! This is amazing! Father would be so proud of you! After all these years, the Angler family has finally made it to a Viscount family! Let me see, where is our newly granted land…”

As Colin looked at his excited sister, his heart was somewhat calm.

After all, he didn’t identify strongly with the Angler family, and more importantly, he wondered whether his sister was truly happy for him, or she was just pretending?

Just as Colin was analyzing Kaitlin’s behavior, he realized that the joy on her face had suddenly frozen, replaced by utter shock and confusion.

“What happened?” Colin blinked, asking in a low voice.

Kaitlin spread the parchment in front of Colin incredulously, “Look at our new fiefdom…how could it be here?”

Only then did Colin look at the parchment in confusion, and then, he too froze.

How could it be here?

Could there be a mistake?

As Colin and Kaitlin looked at each other in bewilderment, the ennoblement ceremony continued.

The next name to be called was Cain Sudor.

The rightful successor of the Sudor family, whose relationship with Colin was rather complicated, walked towards the center of the hall with great excitement, knelt on one knee.

In the past two months, the rapidly changing situation in the North Territory honestly made Cain feel lost and scared.

But thankfully, he adhered to his dying father’s words and followed closely on the footsteps of his uncle, Count Uman, which enabled him to weather this crisis without major mishaps.

He even accumulated significant achievements!

In Cain’s eyes, if that annoying Colin could be made a Viscount, shouldn’t the Sudor family also be due a promotion?

However, just when Cain was eagerly awaiting the Duke’s official declaration, the Duke inserted his long sword into the marble floor beneath him and questioned Cain:

“Knight Cain, tell me, what is loyalty?”

“What?” Cain was taken aback, looking blankly at Duke St. Hilde.

The crowd suddenly fell silent.

Cain’s sister, Cynthia Sudor, who had been referred to as a “madwoman” by Colin, was also alarmed by the Duke’s question.

Her hands instinctively clenched, her consciousness alert to something amiss.

Colin, holding the parchment in his hand and looking at the dumbfounded Cain in the field, seemed to come to a realization and a cold smile crept onto his face.

“Loy…loyalty… is obviously… is…”

“Is what?”

Duke St. Hilde looked cold, his gaze sharp like an arrow, seemingly piercing through the pitiful knight kneeling before him.

Under such a gaze, Cain felt his mind go blank and stumbled over his words, unsure of what he was saying.

Duke St. Hilde tone was extremely cold: “You publicly demanded Charles renounces his Marquis position, was it out of loyalty?”

It’s over.

The Sudor family, it’s over.

This was the thought that ran through all the nobles’ minds present on the scene.

Apparently, Duke St. Hilde was dredging up old grievances.

When Cain was pushed to the forefront by Count Uman, many people guessed that he would pay a price for it.

Now, that price had arrived.

Cain thought that he could blot out his previous offence by “defecting” along with Count Uman.

But it was evident that Duke St. Hilde had no intention of letting the Sudor family off easily.

The honour and dignity of the St. Hilde family is not something that any minor noble could trample on casually.

Of course, the one who truly persuaded Charles to give up his Marquis position voluntarily was pressure from Marquis Garcia.

But, Marquis Garcia had enough clout to keep the Duke’s rage in check.

As for Cain Sudor, well, he didn’t have such capability and had become Duke’s target to exert his power.

A warning to others by punishing the offender!

The Duke watched the feeble Cain and sneered, suddenly speaking loudly:

“Baron Colin, you tell me, what is loyalty?”

All eyes in the hall suddenly turned towards Colin.

Colin was taken aback, but he quickly stepped forward.

He seemed to have a premonition about this.

“Your Grace, I believe, loyalty is unconditionally giving everything, not questioning the reason, not discerning right from wrong, and not calculating gains and losses!”

“Not questioning the reason, not discerning right from wrong, not calculating gains and losses…” Duke St. Hilde chewed over Colin’s answer, a hint of appreciation and a trace of implication flashed in his eyes.

Afterward, he threw the sword in his hand directly at Colin and ordered: “Good! Now, I command you to kill Cain Sudor immediately!”

“Yes!”

Before the nobles present had time to react, even while Cain was still kneeling dumbly on the ground, Colin had already caught the Duke’s thrown sword.

Then, without any hesitation, he swung it!

“Swish!”

A flash of silver light.

Blood splattered everywhere!