Warhammer Divine Throne-Chapter 678 - 301, Letter from the King

Mid-March, early spring, the winter wheat harvest is complete, and it's time again for the annual spring plowing. Scenes of spring cultivation can be seen throughout the Count's Domain of Glamorgan.

Meanwhile, in the main bedroom on the third floor of the castle, the Count is enjoying a leisurely afternoon tea with his fiancée and young maid.

Amelia is dressed in a black and white maid outfit. The girl has tied her golden hair up, and beneath her black pleated long skirt are beautiful legs clad in white stockings and black leather shoes. Having followed Laine for several years, she is now in her early twenties, standing gracefully like a lily.

Following Laine, Amelia gradually regained her vivacious and cheerful personality under Laine's protection. She even went to study at Winford College, receiving higher education and living a noble lifestyle.

The girl's cheeks flushed, leaning against Laine while serving him, occasionally stealing a glance at him, looking blissful.

All this was observed by the female knight Surya, who said nothing. She thought to herself that Amelia has been with Laine for a long time and has been well taken care of by him. After the big wedding, she surely planned to grant Amelia a title as a courtier and maid.

Today, Surya wore a grey lace blouse with pin leaf prints and a pencil skirt, wrapped in a long coat lined with white fox fur. Her slender and straight legs in black stockings stretched out from under the table, her delicate feet still adorned with her favorite bear slippers, and she held a teddy bear that Laine had bought her in Boldro.

Laine greatly adored the female knight's long legs in stockings, with plump thighs and slender calves. The transparent black stockings were made from Unicorn fur by Fairy Lake, with a soft and fine texture that was perceptible even to the naked eye. Because of this, the Count's hands and eyes were not entirely disciplined.

Surya gave Laine a sidelong glance upon witnessing his actions. Having grown up in the court, the female knight was accustomed to wearing stockings, as all the female Great Nobles did; it was a symbol of feminine nobility, while Laine clearly had a particular fondness for them.

"There seem to be fewer runaway peasants lately," Surya diverted the topic, turning her gaze to the envelope on the table, stamped with the King's seal and already opened. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"We've ingested nearly twenty thousand population in our Count's Domain during this period," Laine complained. The Count himself was dressed casually at home with a simple shirt and trousers, looking at the envelope on the table, and said with a smile, "Even twenty thousand pigs gone missing for a long time would catch even the dumbest noble's attention; not to mention people?"

"So... Laine, will you agree to His Majesty the King's request?" Amelia curiously inquired.

Laine stood before the table, contemplating the recent situation.

From the news he received, the peasant riots appeared to have been superficially quelled.

After Duke Bohemond went to the Kulona Royal Capital to arbitrate, the Kingdom's Great Nobles finally shifted their attention from negotiations back to dealing with the peasant exodus and riots in their respective domains, hastily returning home to witness their ravaged homes and warehouses, enraged beyond measure.

The rioting peasants were swiftly and brutally suppressed, hanged and executed en masse, with many villages losing even half their population.

The knights' harsh suppression quickly incited further waves of runaway peasants and riots. However, the rebels were no match for the knights, and after nearly a month of turmoil, peace was gradually restored.

What's left are countless devastated villages and abandoned farmlands, severely impacting the Kingdom's northern power. After quelling the riots, the Lords even found themselves lacking sufficient manpower to harvest the winter wheat. Hence, they resorted to issuing orders for fleeing peasants to return for the harvest, or even hiring manpower from Marinburg merchants.

Meanwhile, for those remaining peasants who hadn't fled, the Master Knights deliberated on the situation and granted a certain degree of tax relief to ensure they wouldn't starve.

This was inevitable, as there were few fools among the Knightly Nobility. Brittania's knights were taught the way of the knights from a young age; few would be foolish enough not to understand the peasants' relation with nobility. Peasants are the foundation supporting the nobles; the Lords' lands require people to cultivate them.

This is different from the Empire, where self-cultivating farmers aren't subject to such heavy taxation, meaning no noble would dispatch troops to protect them. These farmers have to arm themselves and protect their lives, a phenomenon absent in Brittania.

Regarding the peasant riots, the nobles also felt aggrieved; it was their villages and properties that were damaged, their guards who died, it was clearly their losses.

Northern nobles quickly noticed Laine was sheltering runaway peasants, integrating them to expand the population. After Laine took the lead, Duke Boldro Bodrick, Duke of Winford Francois, and Duke Bohemond of Bastogne also began doing the same and reaped the benefits, all secretly accommodating the population.

Under normal circumstances, the nobles would inevitably demand recompense; peasants are the property of nobles.