Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 847: Marquis Brandford

CH847 Marquis Brandford

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Marquis Brandford paced about in his study, resisting the urge to smash something against the wall or hurl it onto the floor, as certain members of the nobility would have done in his position.

The rumours surrounding the return of House Skywalker had reached his ears through his retainers, and they troubled him greatly.

Not because he feared the current House Skywalker, nor the fall of Viscount Dunhill, but because he couldn’t understand what it represented.

For one, the speed and seemingly organic manner in which the rumours had spread left him suspicious.

House Skywalker had been little more than a footnote in history for almost a century. He felt that either the Skywalker name still held tremendous influence, or someone was deliberately fanning the flames.

Regardless, neither possibility sat well with him.

Of the two options, he leaned towards—or perhaps hoped for—the latter. It wasn’t a favourable possibility either, but at least it gave him moves he could make.

‘If it is the latter, there are only a few organisations capable of doing this. Since this so-called Skywalker brat was sent here by the Emperor, then it is most likely the ‘Hands and Feet of the Emperor’ who are involved.

‘In that case, the Emperor is merely using the brat as a pawn to strengthen Imperial authority in the region.

‘As long as I step back and play along with the narrative, this Skywalker brat will shine on the frontier for a only few years, earning praise for the Emperor. Then, once attention has shifted elsewhere, things will return to how they have always been in the North-East,’ Marquis Brandford mused.’

Unfortunately, there was no reliable way for him to be certain. Unless he travelled to the Imperial Capital to meet influential figures at the heart of the Empire—perhaps even the Emperor himself—and carefully probe for information.

‘But if I am wrong… if the Skywalker name still holds the influence it once did, and the Emperor didn’t send the brat here because of some agenda, but simply because he is a Skywalker… then I will have a major problem.’

Throughout history, the Skywalkers had been known as the Guardians of the Empire and for their unmatched martial prowess.

‘If the influence of House Skywalker as the Guardian of the Empire still persists, then there will be old allies of that damned fallen house who will reach out to aid and support the brat.

‘Also, if the boy truly inherits the blood and will of his House, then his combat prowess will be significant, and that will no doubt attract other talented and powerful individuals to his banner.’

Marquis Brandford did not overlook an even worse-case scenario—one in which both of his fears proved true.

Count Skywalker was indeed a talented and powerful individual who either already had, or would soon gain, the support of other talented and powerful people and organisations, and this was precisely why the Emperor had placed him in the North-East.

If that were the case, the newly reborn House Skywalker possessed the potential to grow rapidly within just a few years and overtake House Brandford.

Marquis Brandford never wanted to see that happen.

The Marquis looked at the portraits hanging upon the walls of his study—those of the most important patriarchs in House Brandford’s history.

There were three such portraits.

One depicted the progenitor and founding patriarch of House Brandford, while the other two were of patriarchs who had lived within the last century—that is, after the fall of House Skywalker.

Before those two, the founding patriarch had been the only one deemed worthy of being honoured upon the wall throughout the family’s previous one hundred and fifty years of history.

However, during the century following the fall of House Skywalker, two of the four patriarchs who succeeded him had distinguished themselves by bringing such tremendous growth to the House that it rose from a Barony to a revered Marquis House.

These two celebrated patriarchs achieved their success by devouring the remnants of House Skywalker’s holdings.

At the time of House Skywalker’s fall, the Brandford patriarch had served as the chief steward of House Skywalker.

Once the descendants of House Skywalker had fallen, the Brandford patriarch used his position and access to embezzle House Skywalker’s holdings throughout the Empire.

These embezzled lands, properties, and funds became the foundation upon which the later revered patriarch built, elevating House Brandford to the rank of Marquis.

Thus, aside from the House’s founding patriarch, its next two most revered patriarchs had fuelled the great rise of House Brandford upon the corpse of House Skywalker.

As such, the return of a claimant to House Skywalker was, in itself, already an unwelcome development for the current Marquis Brandford.

If the reborn House Skywalker were allowed to grow, it might eventually reach the point where the new Count Skywalker would demand the return of his House’s holdings—something the Marquis could never allow.

He couldn’t even return them if he wanted to, as those holdings had become the very bedrock of House Brandford.

To return them would mean nothing less than tearing out the very foundations upon which House Brandford stood.

Then there were the political implications.

If the current House Skywalker truly had the Emperor’s support, then House Brandford’s dream of becoming the Ducal House of the Empire’s North-East was all but dead.

For years, Marquis Brandford had made moves towards becoming the Ducal House of the Empire’s North-East—a title that had once belonged to House Skywalker.

In fact, House Skywalker hadn’t merely been a Ducal House; it had been an Archducal House, standing on the same level as the Princes of the Empire.

At first, when Marquis Brandford’s father tried to push for this elevation in rank, the central aristocracy told him that the North-East was not large enough to be considered Ducal territory—even though it was only slightly smaller than one of the existing Duchies.

It was for this reason that Marquis Brandford joined the Frontier Stronghold. He had planned to use the Stronghold as a platform to reclaim territory lost to the Great Berserk Beast Forest and obtain the land needed to make the region worthy of becoming a Duchy.

However, about a decade ago, Marquis Brandford discovered to his dismay that the real reason his House had never been granted the title of Duke, despite effectively ruling over the North-East as one, was because the central aristocracy had no intention of handing House Skywalker’s title to any other noble House.

Especially not to the vermin that had risen at its expense.

In that moment, all the effort Marquis Brandford had poured into becoming the Stronghold’s Commander unravelled before his eyes.

Yet even then, the man refused to abandon the hope, for it had been a dream long cherished by his father before him.

Realising that the final roadblock was no longer land but politics, Marquis Brandford stepped down as Commander of the Frontier Stronghold and installed Viscount Dunhill as his puppet commander while he focused on ingratiating himself with the central aristocracy.

After more than a decade of effort, just as Marquis Brandford believed he had eroded House Skywalker’s influence within the central aristocracy and made House Brandford synonymous with the North-East in the eyes of these powerful nobles, the Emperor returned House Skywalker.

It was as though the rug had been pulled out from beneath him just as he was about to reach his goal.

Marquis Brandford hoped the new Count Skywalker was merely a publicity move by the Emperor to ease fears within the Empire regarding the Great Berserk Beast Forest.

So long as the matter was settled, then even if he never became a Duke, it was unlikely this new House Skywalker would grow enough to threaten him.

However, if the young Count truly had the Emperor’s support, grew rapidly like the Skywalkers of old—or worse, both—then it wouldn’t be long before Count Skywalker either came to reclaim his family’s holdings and honour from House Brandford, or was supported by the Emperor in reclaiming his family’s Duchy, placing him above the Marquis in the noble hierarchy.

Both were outcomes the Marquis could never allow.

Marquis Brandford hesitated and continued pacing because he simply didn’t know which of his deductions reflected reality.

If his hopeful deduction—that the Emperor’s use of House Skywalker was merely for public relations—proved true, then he still had hope of becoming a Duke. However, he couldn’t act rashly against the new House Skywalker, as doing so would ruin the Emperor’s plans.

But if his worst-case scenario proved to be the truth, then he needed to act quickly before the young Count had time to grow his power and military strength.

Whether receiving the Emperor’s backing to become a Duke or arriving at his doorstep to reclaim House Skywalker’s embezzled holdings, Count Skywalker first needed to build his influence and forces.

If the Emperor’s goal was merely public relations, he couldn’t move to curtail Count Skywalker’s growth. But if the Emperor’s intentions were something else entirely, then he needed to suppress the Count’s rise for the sake of his own survival.

Marquis Brandford paced for almost an hour before finally coming to a decision.

***

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