HTLCCBFT Chapter 172

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 172

“Your Grace?”

Fosse, who had kept his gaze fixed on Oliver, had noticed his distraction quite early.

For the ever-busy Duke, this was truly a rare occurrence. After waiting a brief moment without receiving any new instructions, Fosse couldn’t help but speak up.

Oliver let out a soft “ah” and instinctively looked toward Fosse.

Only after seeing the concern in the other’s eyes did he react, smiling as he said, “I was just thinking about matters in the royal capital.”

‘Does Your Grace wish to return to the royal capital?’

The question reached the tip of his tongue, but Fosse pressed his lips together and swallowed back what seemed to him an all-too-obvious answer, his mood growing heavy.

Across this vast kingdom’s lands, aside from the royal capital, what other place could possibly be worthy of the most noble Angel Duke?

Even Gregor, the largest city in the southern part of the kingdom, could never compare to the most prosperous royal capital.

The young Duke was surely going back.

To drive that damned Cameron from the throne that never rightfully belonged to him, and to place that crown symbolizing endless glory—studded with precious gems—upon those beautiful golden locks that outshone even the sun.

Completely unaware that his loyal butler had thoroughly misinterpreted his thoughts, what had been lingering in Oliver’s mind wasn’t the royal capital at all, but the Cat God right beside him.

The tall deity, possessing the same radiant golden hair as his own, sat quietly by his side just as he had every day before.

Unlike the Lord who was always full of “honeyed words,” this deity was clearly true to his word—whether walking through overgrown wilderness or sitting in lavishly decorated halls, his gaze remained fixed on Oliver, almost never wavering for even a moment.

Just as he had personally admitted: he was never interested in anything else.

But was it really exactly the same as before?

Thinking of what happened this morning, Oliver hesitated again.

Even he couldn’t explain why he had said those things to this simple, innocent big cat last night, nor could he find the right words to describe his current complicated feelings.

He had initially thought that his heavy guilt came from being a cunning human who had “defiled” the pure deity with lies.

But the Cat God’s peculiar change in attitude…

The golden-haired Lord’s eyes showed doubt as a belated realization slowly dawned on him.

—It was more like he had carelessly provoked a seemingly gentle and adorable but actually exceptionally dangerous beast, using the same attitude one would employ to tease a kitten.

While the atmosphere in the opulent hall remained subtle, the people working in the fields outside the castle distantly heard something.

“Hey.” A young slave, his skin dark from years of sun exposure, glistened with fine beads of sweat as he wiped his forehead. “Did you hear that?”

He casually asked his companion.

“Hear what?”

Another young slave, shorter and stockier but stronger, didn’t look up as he continued cutting newly grown weeds with his sickle, deftly placing them on the ridges to dry. “Stop looking around and hurry up with the cutting,” he urged impatiently. “You’re not thinking of slacking off, are you?”

“Of course not!”

He seemed offended, grumbling unhappily for a moment before frowning and hesitantly returning to the farm work with a doubtful expression: “But I really did hear hoofbeats…”

On the first day the Albury army arrived at Gregor city, among all the slaves, he had been the first to hear the movement!

At that time, he didn’t understand what those dense, heavy hoofbeats signified, nor had he considered wasting precious work time to report it to the steward.

But he didn’t regret it at all—in fact, he felt extremely fortunate.

They were still slaves living at the bottom of society, but everyone quickly realized that life under Duke Oliver’s rule was far better than it had been under Count McKenna!

Yes, better.

He never dreamed he would one day use such a word to describe his life.

His parents were slaves, which meant that from the moment he was born, he too belonged to this territory as a slave—property of the noble lord.

No different from the crops in these fields, the animals in the woods, or the livestock in the sheds—though of course, those were far more important than them. During these years of famine, the price of one ox was nearly enough to buy ten slaves.

And oxen only needed to eat grass—they could pull heavy plows while alive, and their meat could be eaten after they died.

Unlike oxen, slaves consumed precious grain and frequently fell ill.

For slaves, illness and hunger were their greatest fears: being sick was miserable in itself, leaving them weak and unable to work, which would earn them brutal beatings from the steward; hunger was their most constant companion—bearable at first with numbness, but becoming intermittently unbearable over time.

Their stomachs would burn with discomfort, their heads would spin, and they’d feel nauseous yet unable to vomit anything.

Of course: with empty stomachs, how could anything possibly come up?

If only they could survive on grass like oxen and horses… that would be wonderful.

At the end of each day’s labor, when they could only receive a bowl of thin bean soup and half a piece of hard black bread, the slaves couldn’t help but harbor such unrealistic hopes.

But they also knew they were actually quite fortunate.

Compared to smaller cities—like Laina, where even free citizens were starving and emaciated, let alone slaves.

Whenever someone couldn’t work anymore and was whipped by the angry steward, the steward would even love to shout this threat: “If I catch you slacking off again, don’t expect to stay in Gregor city! Next time merchants come, I’ll sell you to Laina!”

Hearing these words, they would always be terrified, enduring the whips that made their bodies convulse with pain while desperately begging the steward, promising to work as hard as they could, just to avoid being sold to Laina city.

In reality, even they knew this much: it wasn’t actually a decision the steward could make.

No matter how hard they tried to please him, if there wasn’t enough food by year’s end, or if the noble lord was in a bad mood and decided to reduce the number of annoying mouths that only knew how to eat during winter, they would definitely be sold to poorer, more terrible places.

No matter how difficult life was, they didn’t want to die!

Last winter had been particularly harsh for them: a large number of Albury refugees had flooded into Gregor city seeking shelter.

A fortunate few with wealth managed to secure residence in the town district after paying the exorbitant sanctuary fees.

Others who had exhausted all their resources were forced to sell their freedom at bargain prices, becoming slaves.

Winter already meant scarce food and work—and now they had to compete with these newcomers for survival!

The brutal cold left no room for extra compassion, especially for those perpetually trapped in misfortune: they could only watch as their living space and food supplies were severely squeezed by the newcomers, losing more familiar companions before spring arrived.

Yes, he had always believed this.

The young slave worked with great effort while his mind wandered uncontrollably.

It wasn’t until the arrival of the noble Lord that they discovered… freshly baked black bread could be so soft and crumbly, turning sweet after chewing, exceptionally delicious.

And he never realized he could eat so much—devouring four or five loaves in one go!

It felt incredibly extravagant.

While cherishing every bite of the bread, he naively thought… if he sold himself, the food saved over two years might be enough to buy half a cow!

After “calculating” this account, he couldn’t help but feel terrified.

Great God, he hoped the honorable Lord wouldn’t think the same way.

He prayed silently.

These days were truly too blissful.

Doing the same—or even lighter—work, yet being allowed to eat their fill every day.

Without the terrifying whips and curses that used to fall upon them arbitrarily, the elderly and women in poor health were assigned to other places for easier tasks.

Like his wife, who was assigned to raise chickens—hey, who would have thought the steward teaching them poultry-keeping was such a young girl!

“Ah!”

Just as his thoughts drifted, more people began hearing the heavy, powerful hoofbeats, triggering recent memories of “war.”

“There are horses, an army is coming!”

The slaves looked around in panic, their faces pale with fear, yet they stubbornly clung to their farming tools, not daring to set them down.

They all feared new enemies.

Though enemies might not directly harm them, they could burn down the fields they had painstakingly cultivated.

No one dared believe their luck would hold—that they might encounter a second invader who wouldn’t destroy their crops.

What they feared more was that these newcomers might harm or drive away the Lord currently in the castle, plunging their newly hopeful lives back into hell!

At the most terrifying moment, many instinctively chose to pray to the Goddess Havest enshrined in Gregor city’s Divine Temple, while only a few decided to trust the new deity.

The young slave was among them.

He prayed devoutly: “Please protect Gregor’s new Lord, protect that honorable person.”

Meanwhile, Oliver, looking through the window, also saw the solemn procession of knights and froze in disbelief.

……How could so many have come?

After a quick count, there were definitely over thirty—if he remembered correctly, the knight order before its forced disbandment had exactly forty members, didn’t it?

That was practically saying: aside from Noel and the other knights who had steadfastly followed him southward, all the others… were present.

Even from a distance, seeing the leader conversing amiably with the city gate guards and displaying friendly intentions, he still found it hard to believe.

Fosse had indeed confidently asserted before, ‘As long as it is Your Highness’s summons, they will undoubtedly rush here without hesitation.’

But Oliver had always believed that was merely the loyal butler’s overly optimistic bias toward him, stubbornly assuming all knights would be equally unwavering.

Although loyalty and courage had always been regarded as the most essential virtues of a knight, in reality, after the noble they originally served completely lost power and left the territory, knights who chose to serve other nobles would not face excessive criticism.

Let alone the fact that the disbandment of his knight order was orchestrated by the new king.

With even a shred of rationality, no one would blindly abandon everything they possessed—risking the king’s wrath and loss of their fiefs—to come to this unfamiliar southern city, unaware that he held the trump card of divine protection.

All just to pledge allegiance to their former lord, whose fate remained uncertain.

After a long silence, Oliver finally emerged slightly from his shock: “Fosse, come take a look… is it them?”

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