Chapter 153: Important Figure

Yam glanced at Monica and Lily.

The two showed no unusual expression; in fact, Monica even smiled and nodded, displaying a friendly attitude. However, it was unclear whether she was representing herself or the Kasein Family. But Yam considered that the one sitting in the carriage at the moment was Marquis Visen, and thus realized that with such an important figure present, it was impossible for Monica to represent the stance of the Kasein Family— even if she could one day, that would be at least ten years later.

Yam quickly adjusted his mindset and then opened the carriage door and stepped inside.

“Marquis Visen.” Yam saw the man seated at the center of the carriage and promptly bowed.

“Sit.” Visen gestured for Yam to sit on the cushioned seat opposite him, then smiled and said, “Someone from the Senels Family came to find you, didn’t they?”

“I…” Yam was instantly gripped by alarm.

“No need to worry. I’m not here to blame you. Given the temperament of the Senels Family, it would be odd if they hadn’t come to find you.”

Marquis Visen’s tone was very calm. Although he didn’t sound angry, Yam didn’t dare to gamble on what the Marquis truly thought inside. So, he opened his mouth to explain, “Atork Senels did indeed come to White Mountain Territory, mainly to discuss future trade. Recently, the demand for grain in White Mountain Territory has increased significantly, so we wanted to purchase more food at a lower price.”

Marquis Visen did not respond immediately. He simply cast a deep gaze at Yam before finally saying, “From what I know, the grain price that Bayor Territory offered you was thirty percent lower than the market price, wasn’t it? Then, do you know why the Senels Family treats your Soderbell Family so well?”

Bayor Territory of Red Eagle Territory was only separated from the Bourbon Family after its downfall. It used to be called Swan Prairie, named so because it housed one of the three scenic sanctuaries of Red Eagle Territory— Swan Lake. The lake, shaped like an outstretched swan, had a surface as smooth as a mirror and shimmered like white feathers under sunlight, thus earning the name Swan Lake. Later, with many white and black swans on the lake, it became known that the Bourbon Family had introduced swans to it.

However, the beauty of the lake wasn’t its only marvel— the land surrounding Swan Lake was extremely fertile and suitable for farming. It wasn’t just the granary of Red Eagle Territory, but the top producer among the three great granaries of the Southern Region, and even ranked among the top five in the entire Tyrella Kingdom.

Essentially, Red Eagle Territory and the neighboring lands that didn’t produce grain had to rely on the grain output from Bayor Territory for sustenance.

Among the other six territories of Red Eagle Territory besides Bayor, only Forest Territory, Eaglehead Territory, and Red Soil Territory could barely be self-sufficient. Red River Territory, Gem Territory, and White Mountain Territory had to depend on grain transported from Bayor Territory to sustain their populations, with White Mountain Territory being the most dependent.

Yet since Lily took over White Mountain Territory, due to the connection between Yam and Atork, the food crisis there had been largely mitigated— although only mitigated. In fact, because White Mountain Territory was now building Westerburg and had purchased a large number of slave laborers, the food problem had worsened. Especially since they lost Andar Village and Mountain Ridge Village, the cultivable lands they once had had now gone to waste.

If not for Atork’s help, White Mountain Territory would already be deep in a food crisis.

Yam and Lily were not fools. They clearly understood this was a gesture of goodwill from the Senels Family— and this was precisely what Yam couldn’t understand.

“I don’t know.” Yam shook his head slightly. “Perhaps… because we are all your vassals?”

“Ha.” Marquis Visen suddenly chuckled.

But Yam could see clearly— Marquis Visen’s smile was filled with undisguised mockery toward him. “I thought you were smarter than this, Yam.”

Yam did not speak.

“Yam Soderbell.”

Yam sighed inwardly, but his expression showed little change, for he had already known that ever since that Knight’s Duel with Andre in Red River Territory, the Kasein Family had branded him as a member of the Bourbon Family. Whether he admitted it or not, he had to accept it.

In fact, now he must try every means to prove he truly was of Bourbon blood, otherwise, his whole family would not survive the wrath of the Kasein Family.

Because of these considerations, Yam had been contemplating ever since his secret meeting with Atork— when the day came to face Marquis Visen, how could he do so without revealing any flaws? He just hadn’t expected to meet Visen so soon. So, when Visen outright “called out his identity,” he wasn’t particularly shocked.

“I suppose you’re admitting your identity now, aren’t you?” asked Marquis Visen.

“Whether I admit it or not, does it really matter to you?” Yam countered. “Even if I said I wasn’t a Legacy of the Bourbon Family and that our surname only came after saving Baron Ster, you wouldn’t believe it anyway, would you?”

“No, I would.” Marquis Visen slightly shook his head and said seriously, “But like you said, from the moment you awakened the bloodline of the Flame Demon Hound, do you think the truth still matters?”

Yam froze for a moment.

Then he fully understood. “Indeed, it no longer matters.”

“Then, you should know why I’ve come to find you, correct?”

“The Bourbon Family’s secret vault.”

“You see? And you still claim not to be a Legacy of the Bourbon Family?” Marquis Visen shook his head slightly. “Very few people know about this. If you truly weren’t of Bourbon blood, you couldn’t possibly know. Yet you clearly understand why I came to find you. So, if you still say you’re not a Bourbon, that would not only be an insult to me, but also to yourself.”

Yam remained silent.

This answer had been his calculated move, also meant to divert Marquis Visen’s attention. According to Raven, the Bourbon Family likely had both a secret vault and an ancestral land where many clan resources were sealed. Since the secret vault’s location was already known to the Kasein Family, the Soderbell Family had no hope of accessing it. Therefore, the best tactic was to redirect the Kasein Family’s attention away from searching for the Bourbon Family’s ancestral land.

This was Yam’s first time dealing with an old fox like Marquis Visen.

He had no experience.

But he remembered a hunting principle his father once taught him— bait.

And “a Bourbon orphan must know the Bourbon Family’s secret vault” was the perfect natural bait— incredibly enticing. He could even use this to solidify the notion: “Yam Soderbell is a Legacy of the Bourbon Family who knows all its secrets.” Then, when he denied or even mocked the idea of a “Bourbon ancestral land,” the outside world would naturally receive the message: “There is no such place.”

Of course, coming from Yam himself, such words wouldn’t be convincing.

But if stated by Marquis Visen, the result would be different.

The Kasein Family needed him to open the Bourbon Family’s secret vault. But Marquis Visen was close to death. Whether the Kasein Family could preserve that Bourbon legacy afterward, Yam didn’t know. What he did know was that the Soderbell Family definitely couldn’t. So, since he was doomed to suffer a loss, he had to find another way to make up for it.

“Perhaps at the beginning, I also suspected it might just be a coincidence. After all, the Bourbon Family was already removed from the Sacred Bloodline Codex of the Hall of Spirits. But once I heard of your battle with the Forest Witches, I knew it could not be a coincidence.”

Yam raised his head, his face showing slight confusion.

He actually already knew that the Forest Witches wanted to kill him— they had even killed his older brother in the past— all because of that Demonic Sword. He’d heard that the Forest Witches had been lurking in Red Eagle Territory for a while, likely drawn by the Bourbon Family, as that sword had once belonged to them. But as for the root cause, Yam remained clueless. So the confusion on his face now was not feigned.

“Back then, the very first to attack the Bourbon Family were the Forest Witches,” said Marquis Visen gravely. “If not for them, the Bourbon Family would not have fallen so quickly, giving the other families the chance that led to the ‘Feast of Wolves.’”

“Feast of Wolves?”

“Do you know what your ancestors’ true bloodline was?”

Yam shook his head.

"Fire," Marquis Visen said in a deep voice. "The Fire of the Four Extremes. ...If it were only the bloodline of the Raging Flame Lion, do you think the Royal Family and the Golden Lion Family would have joined the affair?"

Yam was shocked. "Wasn't it said that the Karla Family and the Robert Family are not on good terms?"

He had always believed that the Golden Lion Family, led by the Southern Duke, and the Royal Family’s Griffin Family were at odds because the Royal Family had destroyed the Bourbon Family, who had been vassals of the Southern Duke—thus causing a rift between them. Just like now, because of the Karla Family’s inaction, the Western Region had been breached by the Aust Empire and plunged into chaos. The Siger Family, dukes of the Western Region, were nearly falling out with the Karla Family.

But from what Marquis Visen was implying now, the relationships within were clearly more complex than Yam had assumed.

"The Griffin Family and the Golden Lion Family are indeed at odds, but the Golden Flower Family, the Nibel Family, and the Robert Family are on good terms." Marquis Visen shook his head slowly and continued, "Besides, the Golden Flower, Griffin, and Golden Lion Families all possess bloodline advancement routes tied to fire. So if the Bourbon Family's bloodline imprint is the Fire of the Four Extremes, then two of the Tyrella Kingdom’s Three Royal Families fall short in comparison— even the Southern Duke does too. Do you think they'd allow a mere count family to awaken such a bloodline?"

"And if the two Royal Families and the Southern Duke didn't give their nod, do you think the Southern Duke’s other vassals would dare provoke the Bourbon Family?"

"So, clever as you are, do you still not understand why the Senels Family treats you so well?"

Upon hearing Marquis Visen’s final words, Yam’s face suddenly changed.

"They knew long ago that I’m... of the Bourbon Family bloodline?"

"Of course." Marquis Visen nodded. "That night during your Knight's Duel with Andre in the lord's manor of Red River Territory, Agley and I had already seen it. The two of us are the only remaining families in all of Red Eagle Territory who still remember the bloodline traits of the Bourbon Family. ...I value you because I need you to open the secret vault of the Bourbon Family. But the Senels Family knows nothing about this vault, so you can guess again why they value your family so highly."

Yam furrowed his brows. "Because we still have... value?"

Marquis Visen narrowed his eyes slightly but suddenly stopped speaking.

This made Yam feel a sudden wave of unease.

"Value?" Marquis Visen suddenly let out a cold laugh. "Seems they already know I'm dying. ...So, Agley is close to breaking through to Sixth-Tier? Then, have they promised you that they'll sign the joint declaration to support him as the lord of Red Eagle Territory?"

Yam was startled.

He hadn’t expected that a mere accidental phrase from himself would let Marquis Visen suddenly grasp the truth.

Nor did Marquis Visen wait for Yam to answer.

He simply chuckled coldly and said, "Then do you know who the first to betray the Bourbon Family was, back then?"

Yam’s heart skipped a beat.

He hesitantly asked, "The Senels Family?"

"Yes." Marquis Visen nodded. "After the Bourbon Family was attacked by the Forest Witches, they had already sensed something and thus made some preparations. Among them, they secretly sent a group of people to take refuge with the Senels Family— after all, during the height of the Bourbon Family, the Senels Family was considered the most loyal old dog under their command."

"But the Bourbon Family never expected that when their ancestral land, the Flame Maple Forest Manor, was set ablaze, the Senels Family directly interrogated the fleeing Bourbon members. Upon learning of a secretly hidden resource site, they slaughtered all the Bourbons who had taken refuge with them— not a single one was spared."

"The Senels Family was indeed very clever. After obtaining that batch of resources, they kept some for themselves and gave another share to the Golden Lion Family through Count Shuvaric. This ensured decades of peace for their own family and secured Agley the opportunity to break into Sixth-Tier."

"So, guess again— when you help me open the Bourbon Family’s secret vault, and then they use you to successfully replace the Kasein Family as the lords of Red Eagle Territory, you Bourbons... oh no, now the ‘Soderbell Family,’ do you think your family can still survive?"

Yam’s face turned slightly pale.

"I don’t know what else the Senels Family has discovered, but that doesn’t matter. They've had their eyes on Red Eagle Territory not just for one or two years, or even five or ten— it's been decades, maybe even over a hundred years." Marquis Visen sneered. "It’s just that they didn’t have a Sixth-Tier Bloodline User before, so they couldn’t become the lords of Red Eagle Territory. But if Agley successfully ascends to Sixth-Tier and I die, and they force the Kasein Family to step aside, then they’ll naturally qualify to become lords."

"In fact, for all these decades, they’ve been paving the way for this."

"Why don’t you guess again which other major figure is closely tied to the Senels Family?"

Yam was not a fool.

So the moment Marquis Visen said this, he already understood the answer. "Count Shuvaric."

"If the Senels Family could convince you to support them, then it must be because he told you about my secret deal with Count Shuvaric regarding Baron Ster. They probably even presented some evidence to earn your trust. But why didn’t you stop and think? Since this was a secret deal between Count Shuvaric and me, where did they get that so-called evidence from?"

Yam remained silent.

Because from what Marquis Visen said, he had essentially admitted to a secret deal with Count Shuvaric— which ultimately led to the death of Baron Ster.

"I couldn’t protect Baron Ster, because if I insisted on doing so, not just White Mountain Territory, but the entire Red Eagle Territory would be dragged into war," Marquis Visen said in a deep voice. "So what I could do was sacrifice Baron Ster to preserve all of Red Eagle Territory. ...Of course, I won't make any righteous excuses for myself—there's no need. In my view, if the death of one Baron Ster can guarantee the stability of the entire Red Eagle Territory, then it’s absolutely worth it."

"Besides, to be honest, I gave you a chance."

"A chance?" Yam frowned.

"If you had returned to White Mountain Territory directly from Gem Territory at that time, there would have been enough time to support White Mountain Territory. I had already arranged for someone to protect you in secret, because you are very important to me," Marquis Visen said calmly. "But unfortunately, you chose to return through Red River Territory and were delayed significantly by Atork. ...Now that you know the Senels Family and Count Shuvaric are collaborators, looking back on those events, don’t you find many suspicious points?"

"The Senels Family deliberately delayed our return to White Mountain Territory?"

"Of course." Marquis Visen nodded. "And let me tell you one more thing... Giggs Bole was killed by Atork Senels. His goal was to give you control over White Mountain Territory. ...So you see, his plan succeeded. Through you, he could exert influence over White Mountain Territory and remotely control the entire region."

Yam clenched his fists tightly, his eyes reddening instantly.

"I don’t know what other schemes the Senels Family may have, but I am very clear—once I die and they become the lords of Red Eagle Territory, the next family to be destroyed will be your Soderbell Family."

Marquis Visen did not speak any grand ideals, nor did he offer any benefits or promises. But precisely because he presented all the cruel and bloody truths so directly, it made the reality all the more shocking.

"I need the secret vault of the Bourbon Family."

"So, let’s make a deal, Yam Soderbell."

"What deal?" Yam lifted his head and looked seriously at Marquis Visen in front of him.

"You help me open the secret vault of the Bourbon Family, and I’ll help you deal with the Senels Family. ...Moreover, as long as your descendants no longer awaken the bloodline of the Flame Demon Hound, I will conceal the truth about your Bourbon Family lineage. From then on, the bloodline of the Bourbon Family will completely end with your generation, and your descendants will no longer have to fear the Tyrella Royal Family’s persecution. They will be able to live in this world under the surname 'Soderbell.'"

"In addition to that..."

"Once the Senels Family is destroyed, one-third of Bayor Territory’s grain output will go to your White Mountain Territory."

"Are you telling the truth?"

"Ha." Marquis Visen sneered. "Who do you think I am? I am Visen Kasein! I won’t sneak around like those rats of the Senels Family. ...Only relying on schemes and deception without any integrity—such people can never become true Bloodline Nobles. Yam Soderbell, compared to those ancestors of yours with the surname Bourbon, you are still far too naive."

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