Since the fiefs and titles hadn't been officially revoked, the original holders were still the masters of those lands, but Fried intended to play lord of Valent anyway. He must have found it deeply satisfying, because he laughed until he could barely breathe.
"You know what? My wife's family (Glesia) was situated near Valent. When that bastard tried to threaten my wife into letting him swallow up Glesia, I snatched her away. It's been the best decision of my life ever since. Heh heh heh."
I drank my wine and listened in silence. I could well imagine how Baron Valent had felt when the bride he'd won after beating out his rivals—Ingrid, with whom he'd already completed the proxy marriage—was abducted on her way to his home.
Baron Valent might look like the victim, but he'd forced the marriage through to pressure Fried, who owed a debt to the Glesia family, so really, the two of them had just been trading sucker punches all along.
