Elder Guntor had admitted defeat before Lucifer and surrendered completely. Not even a full day had passed before Keilname County officially surrendered to Westirifer. The reason was clear: Keilname County no longer held any genuine loyalty toward the Lustbound Heaven Kingdom. They had only been displaying forced loyalty all this time. But when it came to the survival of the Keilname family's own bloodline, the choice was simple. For Guntor, bloodline came first and the kingdom came second.
This did not mean Elder Guntor was ungrateful. It simply meant the debt had already been repaid, and now they were finally free from the kingdom's grip.
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Around eight days before Lucifer and Elder Guntor were having their conversation, all of Westirifer's envoys had set out for the neighboring states. One of those envoys was Mitalda.
Mitalda had traveled to the Holycross Duchy along with the spy unit guards M and N. In addition to them, ten more members of the Viper Guards had accompanied her for security.
The territory of Holycross Duchy began at Westirifer's western and north-western borders. This duchy was truly beautiful, filled with scenic waterfalls, tranquil lakes, and mountains that resembled Westirifer's Gigori Mountain Range. In fact, the western section of the Gigori Mountain Range was known as the Holylesser Range because it lay within Holycross Duchy's territory. Beautiful rivers, swaying crops, and fertile fields made the landscape genuinely stunning.
Scattered throughout the land were numerous churches dedicated to the Goddess of Life and Fertility, which only added to the duchy's beauty.
After traveling for about four days, Mitalda completed her journey. She entered Holycross Duchy's territory through the Gigori Wall Town route from Serendity, Westirifer's capital, and headed toward its capital, Lumera. Two days later, she finally arrived in Lumera.
Lumera was not only the capital of Holycross Duchy but also a major pilgrimage site. Churches stood everywhere, radiating holy energy. Here, the people prayed in a unique way — they would have sex right in front of the idol of the Goddess of Life and Fertility inside the churches. That was their form of worship.
Seeing people openly having sex all around her, Mitalda felt her own pussy growing wet. She started getting aroused. It had been a full six days since she last had sex. The last time was during a group orgy at Westirifer's ducal palace. After that, she had been fully occupied with the mission Lucifer had given her. Now, arriving in Lumera, her control was beginning to slip. Still, she held herself back. She knew that negotiating with Holycross Duchy was far more important right now. Once she returned to Westirifer, all her desires could be satisfied.
Keeping her urges under control, Mitalda, along with M, N, and the Viper Guards, reached the ducal palace, where they received a grand and warm welcome.
The Duchess of Holycross, Aria Holygrill, and her main husband, Nad Kevlon, personally came forward to greet the envoys from Westirifer.
After some light pleasantries and formalities, Mitalda did not waste time. She spoke directly and told Duchess Aria how Lucifer had declared war on the City of Death, Morthveil, and its ruler — Pope Rotveil of the Church of Toxara. She explained that Westirifer was demanding the arrest and handover of all followers of the Church of Toxara and Rotveil who were currently living in neighboring duchies and states.
Upon hearing this, Aria immediately gave her consent. She assured Mitalda that not a single follower of the Church of Toxara would remain in Holycross Duchy, and any high-ranking members would be handed over to Westirifer.
The reason Holycross Duchy agreed so quickly was obvious. Their patron deity was the Goddess of Life and Fertility, while the Church of Toxara worshipped death and misery — a fabricated story created by Rotveil with no real idol. The Church of Toxara's sole mission was to spread pain and death across the world and to celebrate the deaths caused by their actions. Because their ideologies were completely opposed, Holycross Duchy sided with Westirifer without hesitation.
In truth, Holycross Duchy was no ordinary duchy. Long ago, it had started as the Holygrill family. Over time, they expanded their territory through their own efforts, brought prosperity to their lands, and eventually the kingdom noticed this growth and granted the family's matriarch the title of Duchess. Since then, what was once just the Holygrill family had become the entire Holycross Duchy. Currently, the matriarch was Aria Holygrill, who had thirteen husbands, with Nad Kevlon as her main husband.
Aria had five children in total: three sons — Nyx (73 years old), Stuart (29), and Harry (13) — and two daughters, Gloria (78) and Delya (81). When including the families of the others, the Holygrill ducal family was extremely large.
Moreover, their bloodline carried the Divine Blessing of Keria.
Keria was a divine valkyrie — the first human child born in Sinflare Augustiland. She was the offspring of the Goddess of Life and Fertility and the God of Light and Hope. In other words, Keria could be considered a divine child. Both of those gods were actually different incarnations of Amara Velmora, the supreme creator goddess of Sinflare Augustiland.
Thanks to the Divine Blessing of Keria, the Holygrill family possessed extraordinary fertility.
This blessing was no secret, and the Lustbound Kingdom knew it well. That was why the kingdom frequently summoned males from the Holygrill ducal family to serve as royal breeders. Their job was to impregnate women of the royal family. Successful impregnation brought them generous rewards.
One of the reasons the Holygrill family had been promoted to duchy status was that, over the past 2,100 years, their men and women had provided the royal family with many new heirs.
When it came to opposing the Church of Toxara, Holycross Duchy had always been ready to stand together with those who shared their values. Holycross was known for the power of life and fertility, while the Church of Toxara was known for death, poison, and misery.
As soon as Mitalda finished speaking and Aria gave her full support — stating that Holycross Duchy would completely stand with Westirifer in eradicating the Church of Toxara — Aria requested a little time to plan their future course of action.
After the meeting, two holy guards escorted Mitalda and her group to their assigned rooms.
Meanwhile, Aria remained seated on her ducal throne. She turned to Nad Kevlon and asked, "Honey… what do you think? I have agreed to support Westirifer because they are against Morthveil, the Church of Toxara, and Pope Rotveil. But do you think the kingdom will accept this?"
Nad Kevlon replied, "Not at all, darling. You are the Duchess, so I cannot interfere in your decisions. But if you ask my opinion, the kingdom will never agree to you siding with Westirifer."
"I don't understand why we even need to think about the kingdom," Aria continued. "Our Holygrill family existed long before this kingdom was even formed. We were already a powerful family on the northern side of the human lands. After the kingdom was established, we simply received some recognition and our family became a ducal house. The kingdom has always taken our people away as royal breeders, but what have they ever given us in return?"
"This duchy title?" Nad replied. "Aria, if the kingdom truly cared about us, knowing that our ideology completely clashes with Rotveil and the Church of Toxara, they would never have given protection to Morthveil City all this time."
Aria smiled lightly at Nad's words. "Nad, honey, don't belittle yourself by thinking you cannot suggest anything to me. Tell me what you truly think, and we will decide our next actions accordingly. As for the royal family and the kingdom… I have been watching their drama for a long time. Soon, I will give them an option: either we declare ourselves an independent duchy, or they personally eliminate both Morthveil and Rotveil."
Nad nodded and said, "Honey, if you'll listen to me, before making any big decision, speak with Lady Synthia once. She is the only Oracle Master in our duchy. Making any major decision without her consent would be wrong."
"If you don't mind me saying, Aria… even though you are the Duchess, Lady Synthia's words carry more weight in this duchy than your own decisions."
Aria smiled gently and replied, "There's nothing to mind. Having Aunt Synthia in the duchy is nothing short of a blessing. After all, she is the only one who can perform divine oracles and tell us what is good or bad for our family."
"Come then… let's go meet Aunt. After all, the future of both our family and the duchy is at stake."