Chapter 524 Forced
In the dim room, a small cluster of candles gave off a faint light, preventing the inside from falling into complete darkness.
With this faint light, you can see that the walls of the house are covered with paintings.
A hand like a withered branch held scissors and reached to the side of the candle, snipping the wick short with a snap.
The candle became brighter, illuminating the face of the owner of this hand. He was an old man with a face covered with wrinkles. His eyelids were loose and drooping, almost completely covering his eyes, like an old man. It was as if his eyes were always closed.
"Alas!"
The old man sighed helplessly.
"Child, have you seen the portraits all over the room?"
"Yes, grandfather."
A very young voice responded to the old man, The owner of the voice was standing in the shadow by the wall. He was tall and straight, as if he had been trained for a long time. He stood there as motionless as a pine tree.
"The ancestors of our family are watching you."
"I can feel their eyes."
The old man nodded with satisfaction.
He approached a wall full of portraits. He may have noticed that one of the portraits was covered in dust, so he took out his handkerchief and carefully wiped it gently on the portrait.
While wiping, the old man said softly:
"Our family has thrived in this village since recorded times."
"We are rooted in the land here, we are the fruits of this land, we...are this land Children of the land. "
"I have always believed that nature has its own order, and the world also has its own laws, and human ethics is also part of this innate order and laws."< br>
“So the distinction between the noble and the lowly in our society is as natural as the sky covering the earth forever.”
“And our family...”
The gaze swept across the portraits
“We are undoubtedly among the noble ones in this land.”
“For hundreds of years, we have protected this land. , we develop this land, we manage this land..."
"The prosperity of the village cannot be separated from the hard work of our family. Under our management, the folk customs here are simple and the people live and work in peace and contentment..."
The old man's words made the man by the wall tremble slightly, revealing his inner excitement.
"Grandpa, I have always been proud of my family."
The old man nodded, "The family is also proud to have an outstanding child like you."
But he immediately changed the subject. , there was even a hint of ferocity in his tone: "Now, some people want to destroy the existing perfect order, trying to bring this quiet and peaceful village into a chaotic and disorderly future."
"Oh!" The old man sighed sadly, "This is a disaster, this is the collapse of civilization, this is... this is against the laws of nature."
The young man's body shook violently, but this time But instead of being excited, he was more frightened. He had already realized what his grandfather was going to say.
"Count Greyman, our lord..."
The old man's voice had a hint of choking. "He who is undoubtedly a noble person in our world actually...want to destroy this order."
"So unwise...such It’s unwise...”
The old man said it over and over again several times.
"He can't even see that it is the current order that supports the throne of the Graiman family. He can't even see that if he wants to destroy the order, will it be counterattacked by the order?"
"I Children, do you know? More than a hundred years ago, when the ancestors of the Gleiman family came to the Northwest Gulf, they were nominally lords assigned to Arda, but in fact they were sent here as prisoners by the kingdom. Alone, with no relatives, and being squeezed out by the neighboring lord families, it was us... we, the families who grew up on this land, helped the Graiman family establish a foothold in the villages in the northwest bay. The local families jointly created the throne of the Grayman family.”
The old man kept shaking his head, with an expression of regret on his face.
“The Graiman family also follows the ancient way of territorial governance and hands over villages and towns to us ancient native families. This is just a small reward for our loyalty. We also have the power of the lords. By extension, we have been diligently collecting taxes for the lord, and at the same time adjudicating various disputes in the countryside for the lord. It is we who ensure the normal operation of various affairs in the territory."
"And now. ...and now...cough cough cough!”
The old man was so excited that he coughed violently.
The young man came over in a hurry and gave him a slap on the back.
“Oh, I’m getting old. I didn’t expect that when I was in my dying years, I would see such an extraordinary lord from the Graiman family. He actually ignored the sacrifices our families have made for hundreds of years. Loyalty wants to take away our glory, our status, our wealth, and our prestige in the village.”
After hearing the old man’s words, the young man was silent and he lowered his head. Eyelids, it seems that there is a complex ideological struggle going on inside.
"This... this... although logically I cannot arrange my own lord, but Count Grayman's behavior is not ungrateful. He has forgotten how his family has secured the position of lord. He forgot how his family's wealth was accumulated, and he forgot who protected his family's honor."
When the old man talked about his excitement, his whole body trembled.
He turned around and looked at his grandson with hope.
"My child, your father should have talked to you."
The young man's body started to shake again.
"No, I can't do that, I...I swore to the lord that I would be loyal to him for the rest of my life."
His voice was trembling like his body, mixed with fear and struggle.
“Don’t force me, don’t force me.”
Seeing his grandson in this state, the old man picked up his crutch and pushed it hard on the ground. There was a huge sound in the small room. sound.
“Loyalty has a prerequisite, and what’s the point of unilateral loyalty? Now that Earl Grayman has betrayed us first, we continue to be loyal to him, and we are despising ourselves! A person who despises himself is doing so. Even the merciful Heavenly Father will not forgive him.”
The young man opened his eyes in fear, his eyes full of helplessness.
"You are forcing me, you are forcing me!"
"This is not forcing you! Remember, you are fighting for the glory of the family. We were born in this family and grew up in this family. Family, family has raised us and made us what we are, so we have to fight to protect him."
He came to the young man and gently touched his back, letting him gradually calm down.
“I know that this is a difficult choice, but among the families that are united with us, you are the only one who can shoulder this important responsibility.”
(End of Chapter)
< br>