"Indeed! I can take Varian back directly, and then launch the next plan to make Varian recover as soon as possible. If I can deal with the Black Dragon Princess, then the result will only be that the great hero of the Alliance, Edmund Duke, has once again thwarted the evil conspiracy. I will refresh my reputation that has reached the limit. I have proved myself once again, but what about Varian?"
Jaina was suddenly speechless.
right!
What about Varian?
Perhaps from now on, in the eyes of the people, Varian will become the coward, the "little" king who can't even protect himself and needs the older generation Duke to save him.
People might say, "Ah! Lord Edmund is still reliable at the critical moment!" Then what? Will Varian, who is already in his twenties, once again play the role of the weak person under the protection of Duke and other seniors?
Duke continued to explain his point of view: "History has repeatedly proved to us that a famous teacher alone cannot produce a truly outstanding student. Take Arthas for example. He was taught by Uther, the greatest paladin recognized by the entire Alliance. However, he had never experienced any setbacks or hardships. However, due to his stubbornness and prejudice, he was seduced by evil and made mistakes step by step under the idea of 'for the people', which led to the complete depravity of his soul. In the final analysis, it was because he had never suffered and his journey was too smooth."
Speaking of Arthas, Jaina also fell silent.
Jaina had once admired Arthas, but fate had missed her, so she and him were just childhood friends.
Even so, Arthas's fall still deeply touched her.
She chose to listen silently.
"Good fortune cannot train a person. Blindly protecting him is actually harming him, not doing him good." Duke sighed: "Facing the Scourge, which can expand its army indefinitely, the Alliance's foundation is still too weak to withstand any turmoil. We can't even give Varian a few thousand soldiers to turmoil. The best we can do is let him feel the atmosphere of the battlefield, and that's already the limit."
"I checked secretly. Varian is in a strange state where his soul is split, but his body is duplicated and split into two people. In this rare state, he can put aside the halo of the king and experience life and death as an ordinary person, understand what friendship is, and taste those things that he could never learn when he sat on the throne. How could I interrupt his growth?"
"If he can recover, this rare gladiator experience will become one of the most precious treasures in his life. And Valeera and Broll will become his most capable helpers in overcoming difficulties in the future. This is also the best training I can do for Llane and Anduin for Varian!"
Duke's words shocked Jaina.
She really never thought that Duke had such good intentions.
It can be said that it was because of the trust of Anduin Lothar and Llane Wrynn that Duke rose like a comet, and then transformed from a comet into the brightest star in the sky.
Along the way, Duke, who had achieved success and almost controlled the entire alliance, did not abandon the Stormwind that nurtured him. Instead, he used this roundabout way to cultivate a better and more outstanding king for the Stormwind.
Treat others as you would like to be treated and repay kindness with kindness.
Sure enough, this is the Duke I am obsessed with!
Jaina's heart was a little intoxicated, but unfortunately, she and Duke were not the only ones here at the moment.
Duke's words were not just for her.
Five meters behind Duke, a figure bowed to him and said, "I admire the Grand Duke's foresight and dedication. I will convey this to Regent Fortagan."
"Mathias Shaw, you just need to be careful not to let irrelevant guys intrude into His Majesty Varian's trial field. Keep at least half a day's distance from them, and pay special attention to Vali LS Gunnar. Her skills are not inferior to yours."
Mathias, the head of Stormwind's Intelligence Division 7, was also the most trusted intelligence chief of the Stormwind royal family since King Llane. This time, it was him that Bolvar sent to oversee the matter.
On the surface, he reports directly to Bolvar, but as smart as Mathias is, he certainly knows who the real boss in Stormwind is.
In front of Duke, he knew that it was impossible for him to become Duke's confidant, but he still completed every order of Duke meticulously.
This is good for him, for Bolvar, and for Stormwind.
After bowing his head and agreeing, Mathias disappeared into the air.
"Jaina, enough acting. No king wants to be deceived or fooled. Once Varian arrives in Theramore, or the people we sent to follow him are discovered, you will show up and tell Varian the truth."
"Understood. What next?"
"After that it's time to make plans for Valentine's Day."
The Valentine's Day plan is, of course, a super-large-scale plan. If Duke hadn't said it, no one would have thought that Duke would do this. Of course, Jaina's focus is not here.
"Hehe! I thought Valentine's Day was set up just for me. And you made me wait for you for ten whole years, from a young girl to an old maid!" Jaina put her hands on her hips, looking angry.
"Eh? Old maid? Where is she?" The bastard Duke made a gesture of looking into the distance, pretending not to see anything: "There is only one ageless and eternally beautiful 18-year-old Kul Tiras queen around me. What old maid? I really don't see her!"
Beauty fades with age. If Jaina were the old princess who had waited for Duke for more than ten years and became an old ms., she would probably be furious.
Life is eternal and age has no meaning anymore.
With eternal life, one's appearance and body will be fixed at the age of eighteen, the peak age of the human body.
As a result, their appearance has deteriorated over time. In recent years, Jaina and Ilucia have even had to secretly put on makeup to make themselves look more mature.
Perhaps, this is also a kind of happy trouble.
I don't know how to continue to deceive people in the future, so I will just take it one step at a time. However, Duke's remedial measures still don't make Jaina angry.
After a gentle kiss goodbye, Jaina left.
As time entered mid-January, more news began to ferment within the Stormwind.
The Duke had previously promoted the reduction of power among the lords. After nearly two weeks of coordination and discussion among the nobles, the nobles, led by Countess Katrina Anrestor, finally fought back against the Duke.
After several meetings with King Varian, who seemed like a fool, sitting in Stormwind Keep, King Varian, who had been in a daze, suddenly announced to Bolvar's surprise that the nobles' fiefdoms were sacred and inviolable. If the power of the vassal was to be weakened, it would be a challenge to him and the kingship of the entire human world. He hoped that Duke would withdraw his decision, otherwise he would consider Duke's status as Grand Duke.
This is a stone that has caused a thousand ripples.
During this era, although there were many events that affected the royal dignity, the biggest of which was the patricide of Arthas, the royal power that had been deeply rooted for more than 2,800 years still deeply influenced the vast majority of the people.
They blindly believed in the king and firmly believed that their loyalty to the king and serving the lord were their natural duty.
Therefore, the matter of righteousness and justice is of great importance.
Back then, Llane and Anduin had discussed that if Duke wanted to establish his own kingdom, he would be allowed to do so. That was something that only the small circle of the highest level of the kingdom knew. Later, when Llane died, he left behind a will that said Duke had the right to dismiss the king. In the minds of the people, this was more like Llane's expression of fairness and modesty. No one thought about how everyone would react when Duke really fulfilled the above terms.
The people only know how powerful their own Grand Duke is, and all their pride is based on the Stormwind.
It is precisely because in the past twenty years, Duke and Llane have been intentionally or unintentionally built into the image of a close relationship between monarch and subject, and Duke has been portrayed as the most loyal subject in the world. Although Duke has never been aware of this, there is still a certain restraint on Duke invisibly.
It's a question of image.
Now that the current king Varian has issued such a declaration, it is absolutely disadvantageous to Duke. After all, Duke is still nominally a subject of Varian.
The Duke said he wanted to limit the power of the nobles, but the King turned around and said he would not give it to him. If a dispute breaks out, it will not be a blessing for the Stormwind no matter what.
At least in terms of public opinion, the direction of the wind has become a little chaotic.
In the secret room of Stormwind Keep, Bolvar kept apologizing to Duke: "I'm sorry! I'm sorry Duke! It's my fault! But I really can't think of any way to stop them from meeting His Majesty. His Majesty is soft-hearted, and I don't know why he suddenly agreed to issue such a declaration. Well, I will go and persuade His Majesty again."
Duke grabbed Bolvar and said, "No need to go. I don't care what your Majesty does. As long as you can put your grudge against me to rest, I will be happy."
"Grudge…" Bolvar sat down dejectedly. "Well, I must admit that after you came back, I had complaints about you. The previous king was assassinated, and it was Lothar and I who supported him most of the time. Of course, I know that you were trapped outside for the sake of the Alliance and even for this world, but I still feel a little uncomfortable."
"Well, I'm sorry, I have neglected the development of Stormwind over the years." Duke also sighed.
"Please forgive me for getting a little mad at you after you came back. After all, I was thinking that if you were here, this wouldn't have happened. Now that I think about it, I was just making excuses for my own incompetence."
Bolvar is still the Bolvar who is hailed as the role model of the Paladin, brave enough to take responsibility for his actions.
Duke patted Bolvar's shoulder gently and said, "Everyone has his own strengths and weaknesses. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Anyway, now... the other King Varian has been found and is safe."
"Then, Your Majesty, what should we do now..."
Duke has a bit of a headache too!
The historical Varian split and then merged into one, which was quite unscientific. The Black Dragon Princess's attack patterns were so diverse, how could he tell that it was a magic that could restore Varian to his original form, rather than the famous Deep Breath?
In reality, there wouldn't be such a striking reminder as "Onyxia took a deep breath".
God knows whether it was a big breath of dragon or just an ordinary puff of foul air.
After all, Duke had only let the four dragon kings take the lead to finish off Deathwing last time, and he only finished off the enemy at the end. Duke himself had no experience in directly fighting against demigod-level dragons, so many things could only be tried once. With system data, he would have a more accurate judgment.
Duke pondered for a moment, and finally said, "This is an evil spell. The most convenient and quickest way is to find the caster. Fortunately, we all know where she is. This is why I have been secretly promoting the plan since my return."
Bolvar's eyes lit up, but then he thought of something: "There is another question, about His Majesty's declaration..."
Duke smiled mysteriously: "If you want to destroy it, you must first make it crazy. During this period, as long as I am alive, you don't have to worry about me."
Bolvar thought of the nobles who gathered around the Black Dragon Princess like sharks smelling blood, and he couldn't help but grit his teeth.
On January 20, Duke was summoned by King Varian to Stormwind Keep, where he engaged in a heated debate with the "conservative" nobles in front of the king.
The topic revolved around the rights and obligations of vassals and even the king's power.
"The God-given royal power! Your Majesty's power is bestowed by God! It is sacred and inviolable! Your Majesty extends power according to God's will. The nobility is your Majesty's arms and fingers, so the nobility's power is also sacred and inviolable!" Countess Katrina sanctified the power of the nobility at the very beginning.
"Royal power is not innate. Without the struggle of Emperor Thoradin 2,800 years ago, there would be no Arathor Empire and no Seven Kingdoms. Moreover, the Arathor Empire has perished, and the Kingdom of Stromgarde, one of the Seven Kingdoms, has also perished." Duke responded by quoting from classics.
"That's because God has withdrawn his favor on these two countries. Edmund Duke, do you dare to say that there is no God in this world?" Katrina asked sharply.
Generally speaking, the debate between idealism and materialism is just bullshit. No one can convince the other. When science is not sufficiently developed, it is really a mess if idealists try to lead the topic in a direction that materialism cannot prove.
Unfortunately, this is Azeroth, a world where souls can be seen with the naked eye and even gods frequently appear. Although humans do not believe in the moon goddess Elune, most of them know of her existence. In addition, there are mysterious people such as mages, warlocks, and priests, resulting in a strong market for the theory of "natural kingship".
As Katrina finished speaking, all the nobles, even the neutral knights, nodded.
She said that Duke had no good idea in the debate, and could only explain his position from the perspective of the different requirements of social progress and productivity development on the aristocracy of the new era. For example, what impact would prohibiting the circulation of goods and increasing circulation costs have on society?
Unfortunately, this kind of thing sounds believable, and everyone knows that it is correct, but breaking the interest chain of the old interest groups is a big deal that makes the nobles jump up and down.
Duke, please help us make money!
But if you take back the money you give us every year, then you, Duke, will be our enemy!
Besides, the timid Varian was probably under mind control. Whatever Duke said, Varian would just say "turtle chanting sutras" and not listen!