"From now on, all my energy will be dedicated to the study of these ancient knowledge. You can hand over the positions of Speaker of the Small Council and Chief Administrator to others," Moroa said, suddenly remembering something after the details of the laboratory's construction were decided.
Upon hearing Moroa's words, Lynd immediately felt a headache, as he currently had no suitable candidate to fill the position of Speaker of the Small Council.
This position was extremely important, holding the greatest real power in the territory. In his territory, it was second only to him, above everyone else. When he was not in the territory, the Speaker could even temporarily act as the Lord. If it wasn't someone capable and truly trustworthy, they couldn't possibly hold this position.
"No, you will have to continue as Speaker for a while longer until I find a suitable replacement," Lynd immediately rejected Moroa's request.
Moroa did not compromise and said sternly, "No, I need to strictly supervise the laboratory's construction to prevent errors by the artisans. Moreover, the Speaker's duties have already taken up too much of my time, and I do not wish to waste any more time on such meaningless matters."
Lynd was equally unceremonious, saying forcefully, "It's easy for you to just drop everything, but all my current affairs would come to a halt. Whether you like it or not, you must stay in that position until I find a replacement."
With that, without waiting for Moroa to retort, he warned, "Don't even think about messing things up. If my territory's affairs fall into chaos, then I will strip you of your right to experiment, lock you out of your newly built laboratory, and give all your experimental resources to Qyburn."
"You…" Moroa was so angry she pointed at Lynd, speechless for a long time. Although she wanted to say something strong in defiance, her interactions over the past few years made it clear to her that Lynd could be very unyielding when deciding certain matters. Forcibly resisting him would only lead to her own disadvantage.
"Earl, Lord Moroa, there's really no need for the two of you to argue over this," Qyburn interjected, breaking the tense atmosphere.
In truth, Qyburn, deep down, would never help Moroa out of a bind; he would even be happier to see Moroa locked up for contradicting Lynd. In that case, he would be able to obtain Moroa's experimental resources and could freely study the mysterious knowledge under Moroa's control.
However, he knew very well that even if Moroa were locked up, it would only be temporary. Lynd would certainly release Moroa eventually. At that time, Moroa might not dare to retaliate against Lynd, but she would absolutely dare to target him. He did not want to become a casualty of their argument, so he could only offer a solution to resolve the conflict.
Qyburn said, "Actually, Earl, you have always had someone by your side who can replace Lord Moroa's position. There's no need to spend time searching at all."
Lynd and Moroa both looked at Qyburn in confusion. Neither of them had thought of who Qyburn was referring to.
"It's Earl Nameria," Qyburn revealed the answer directly, saying, "Earl Nameria should be Lord Linde's most trusted person. Her administrative abilities are sufficient to handle all the affairs of the Small Council. Furthermore, Lord Nameria's territory and the Earl's territory are now practically one, with many affairs intertwined and interconnected, indistinguishable from each other. Given this, why not merge them into one and treat them as the affairs of a single territory?"
"Merging territories is not as simple as you make it sound…" Moroa frowned and said.
"No! I did not say merge territories. The territories remain two separate territories, but the affairs are handled together," Qyburn explained.
"You have a point," Lynd nodded and said, "She is indeed a suitable replacement, but I wonder if Nameria would agree?" With that, he looked at Moroa and said, "If Nameria agrees, then you will hand over the administrative duties to her in the next few days. If she doesn't agree, you will remain in that position until I find a suitable candidate. The matter is decided."
After speaking, he did not give Moroa a chance to argue and turned to leave Moroa's office.
Upon returning to the mansion, Lynd informed Nameria about the selection of the Speaker of the Small Council.
Nameria did not immediately agree after hearing it, but instead said she would decide after consulting with the officials in her territory.
Lynd had no objection to this, only asking Nameria to give him a reply as soon as possible so he would have enough time to find a replacement for Moroa.
Although he had acted so tough just now, he knew very well that Moroa's mind was now entirely focused on those ancient and mysterious knowledge. Even if he forced her to stay in the Small Council, she wouldn't work diligently. It would be better to find a replacement as soon as possible so she could concentrate on the research of those mysterious knowledge.
Lynd did not stay in the territory for too long. After dealing with various miscellaneous matters, he left Summerhall again and went to Green Valley City, where he boarded a ship to sail downstream to Highgarden. He intended to hand over the winter horn in his possession to Velas.
However, this time he wasn't going alone; Nameria also went with him. This wasn't just because she was unwilling to wait for Lynd to return in the territory, but also because she had heard that there was a miraculous medicine in Highgarden recently that could help women conceive.
Lynd completely scoffed at this, but he did not mock Nameria's ignorant idea, because he could understand Nameria's strong desire for a child right now, and he also felt that in a world where all sorts of strange and supernatural things existed, perhaps there really was a medicine that could help women conceive more easily.
Since they were not rushing a mission, both of them chose a leisurely way to travel. They took the pleasure boat prepared for them by the Lord of Green Valley City and slowly drifted downstream. A journey that would normally take two or three days ended up taking eight days before they finally arrived at Highgarden.
Nameria took her people to search for that miraculous medicine in the town outside the city, while Lynd went alone to the castle to see Velas. However, he didn't only see Velas; Duke Mace's family had also come to the Godswood, where Velas often stayed, to see the legendary winter horn.
"Is this the winter horn? It looks very ordinary," Garlan and Loras, standing beside Velas, couldn't help but say in unison after Lynd took out the winter horn and handed it to Velas.
"What the eyes see is not necessarily the truth," Velas looked at the winter horn in his hand, then handed it to his siblings and other family members, letting them pass it around and take turns looking at it.
"Thank you for your trouble, Lord Linde," Velas bowed to Lynd.
Lynd smiled and said, "I also took this opportunity to tour the Eternal Winter Land and even saw some legendary beings. It was worth the trip."
"Lord Linde, did you really subjugate a troop of giants?" Margaery asked curiously.
Lynd replied, "Yes, they are all now settled in the Redemption Sanctuary, serving as Sanctuary Guards. If Lady Margaery has time to visit Summerhall, you can go to the Redemption Sanctuary to see them."
Afterward, everyone inquired about the Others, the Savage Tribes, and other matters. Although they had already heard Duke Mace recount the events of the Small Council, hearing it directly from the person involved was a different feeling.
After listening to Lynd's narration, everyone was still craving more, but they also knew they shouldn't occupy Velas and Lynd's time any longer, so they stood up and left.
"Father, please leave the winter horn with me for a few days, and then you can send someone to the Red Keep," Velas called out to Duke Mace, pointing to the winter horn in Duke Mace's hand.
Duke Mace hesitated for a moment, nodded, and handed the winter horn to Velas. Then he ordered a few teams of guards to protect the winter horn by guarding the Godswood.
After the others left, Velas had Fotimo push him to the small pool in the center of the Three-Eyed Raven tree, then placed the winter horn into the pool.
The moment the winter horn was placed in the pool, Lynd saw a flash of light emitted as magic dispersed. He then switched to his Glory vision and saw the illusion of Garth the Gardener raising a magical hammer, forcefully striking the winter horn on an anvil. With each strike, another layer of magical shell appeared on the winter horn, as if reinforcing the seal on the magic contained within the winter horn.
Lynd did not watch for too long and quickly withdrew his gaze. Velas then had Fotimo push him back in front of Lynd, and then told Fotimo to leave.
"Did you also bring the Dragon Egg you obtained in Summerhall?" Velas asked Lynd as Fotimo disappeared into the trees.
"I did," Lynd took the Dragon Egg from his backpack and handed it to Velas.
Velas took it, held it in his hand, and examined it carefully, saying, "It's alive, not a dead egg. It's just still sleeping. It's impossible for it to awaken in a short time."
Lynd nodded and said, "I know, someone told me."
"Is it the one in the Kingswood?" Velas guessed.
"You know her?" Lynd was somewhat surprised.
"I only learned recently," Velas said with a hint of admiration, "A very remarkable being, who has walked a different path from the Forest Children. Now she just needs a suitable opportunity to complete her final transformation."
"Final transformation? Becoming a deity?" Lynd said gravely.
"No," Velas shook his head and said, "If we're talking about deities, the power you and I possess now could also be considered that in the Dawn Age and the Age of Heroes. Deities are not rare; a tree, a river, could all be deities. Only truly Eternal beings are the most special. I can never reach that step, you might be able to, and she is only one step away from it."
"I didn't expect her to be so special in your eyes. Whatever kind of being she is, in my eyes, she is just my friend," Lynd said dismissively.
"Friends, we are also friends, right?" Velas asked.
"Of course," Lynd nodded.
Velas smiled, handed the Dragon Egg to Lynd, and said, "I might have a way to accelerate the hatching of this Dragon Egg. Do you want to try?"
Lynd took the Dragon Egg, thought for a moment, and shook his head, "No need. I think it's better to let it hatch naturally."
Lynd's refusal was not just because he knew very well that the Red Comet was the key to the Dragon Egg's hatching, and Velas's method would inevitably fail. It was also because he remembered Spark's warning, reminding him not to have too much contact with the Old Gods' Chosen, and Velas happened to be Garth the Gardener's Chosen or Avatar.
Seeing Lynd refuse, he did not insist. He then chatted with Lynd for a few more moments before preparing to end the meeting.
At this moment, a sea eagle swooped down from the sky. When it reached Velas's head, its wings vibrated slightly, spread out, and its body paused in mid-air before floating down beside Velas's chair.
Then, Velas took a letter from the sea eagle's leg, looked at it, then inexplicably smiled at Lynd and handed him the note.
It stated that Nameria had found Velas's secretly opened apothecary and wanted to purchase a few bottles of miraculous medicine that could help women conceive. The person managing the shop was Velas's attendant, who had seen Nameria before and knew her special status, so he did not immediately sell it to her. Instead, under the guise of arranging for stock, he first informed Velas to ask for his decision.
No matter how indifferent Lynd was to such matters, having such a private affair known by outsiders still made him feel embarrassed.
"I can guess your situation; it should be that you are too strong, and she is too weak, making it impossible for her to conceive your child," Velas quickly reined in his smile and then said, "Either you become weaker, close to Earl Nameria's level, and then you combine, at which point Earl Nameria's chances of conception would be much higher. However, I imagine you haven't tried this method, so you can only use another method, which is to make Earl Nameria's body strong enough in a short period to withstand your power, then your chances of conception would also be very high."
"Hearing you say that, do you have the ability to make Nameria strong enough in a short period?" Lynd looked at Velas in confusion and asked.
"Yes," Velas nodded, then rang a bell, calling Fotimo. He then had Fotimo go to his room and retrieve the bronze box from the bookshelf.
A moment later, Fotimo came back with a square bronze box, placed it on Velas's lap, and then turned and walked away to a distance.
Velas opened the box and took out four fist-sized glass bottles from inside. The bottles were all filled with a purplish-red liquid.
Even through the glass bottles, Lynd's eyes could still see that the liquid inside looked full of magic, and this magic gave Lynd a wonderful feeling of all things revitalizing.
Velas explained, "These are potions I made. As long as you let her drink one bottle when you and Earl Nameria rest, her body will become as strong as yours for a period of time, and her chances of conception should be much higher."
Lynd took the potions and looked at them, asking, "Do you have many of these?"
"Of course not many. It took me over a year to make them. Originally, they were meant for Fotimo to go to the Eternal Winter Land and find the winter horn, but because you were a more suitable candidate, they weren't used on Fotimo," Velas said earnestly, "The making of this potion is very complex, and it's a huge drain on me. I probably won't make any more, so if you use them, you need to choose the right time, lest they go to waste."
Lynd thought for a moment. Despite Spark's warning, he still put away the four bottles of potion, planning to have Moroa analyze their ingredients after he returned before deciding whether to let Nameria take them.
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