After Howard informed Flandre about the situation, Flandre showed little concern, simply advising, “Don’t hurt Kaido.” With Windhaven Village continuing its regular payments, Howard decided not to intervene further.

During the morning meeting, Howard shared the news with Portia, who couldn’t help but laugh incessantly.

Portia ridiculed Golan, the Knight Squire, for his soft heart; having the upper hand, yet failing to seize the opponent’s title.

Howard smiled silently in response.

Also present was Alonso, who commented, “It’s for the best, Kaido has a terrible temper.” Howard nodded in agreement, finding truth in Alonso’s words.

Hof, who had been patiently observing the situation for a month, finally decided it was time to make a move.

However, all his actions were meticulously recorded by Portia’s network of spies and reported to Howard.

Howard had already been in touch with Mibo, aware that Mibo had now received reinforcements from his family.

When Hof issued his final ultimatum to Mibo, Mibo refused to comply.

In response, Hof waged war against Mibo, deploying his conscripted and vassal soldiers at Verdant Knolls.

Unfazed, Mibo sent a distress call to his relatives—a duke, who mustered an impressive force of over five thousand men to confront Hof.

Unprepared and lacking in intelligence, Hof’s men were shocked to discover Mibo’s formidable force.

Their escape was cut off.

During their retreat, Hof’s troops were completely annihilated by Mibo’s ducal relative.

Hof and Mambaton fled back to their territory, leaving two of Hof’s knights captured and two others on the run.

Subsequently, Mibo’s ducal relative, exhibiting his wealth and power, didn’t bother besieging Gokasu Castle.

Instead, he launched a direct assault.

Over five thousand soldiers stormed the castle, swiftly capturing it.

Captured and brought to heel, Hof found himself at the mercy of Mibo’s ducal relative, who couldn’t suppress a boisterous laugh while fiddling with Hof’s cherished elk bone ornaments.

The duke disdainfully stepped on Hof’s favorite possessions, taunting Mibo, “Ha! Mibo, you’re such a disgrace.

To think you were challenged by such a trifle, you’ve shamed our family. .

Luckily, your brother here was always the smarter one, smoothly rising to become a duke, preventing our family from being easily manipulated.

Mibo, you owe me thanks.

Had you inherited father’s earldom, our family would’ve been doomed.”

Mibo, a few years senior to the duke, could only offer an awkward smile, nodding in agreement to his brother’s words.

The duke’s men dragged in the bound Hof, attempting to force him to kneel.

Defiant, Hof refused, only to be kicked at the joints by the duke’s soldiers, forcing him to succumb to a kneel.

In this state, Hof was a sight of disheveled defeat.

His face was smeared with uncleaned mud, sweat, and blood from continuous battles.

His hair was unkempt, and although his armor remained, his helmet had been taken.

During his earlier resistance, one of his front teeth had been knocked out by the duke’s soldiers, leaving a noticeable gap when he spoke.

With his whistling teeth, Hof addressed Mibo, “Mibo, I never would have guessed that you, ousted from your earldom, still had an ace up your sleeve. I can’t fathom why, with such allies, you didn’t call upon them when Howard was against you.”

Howard had once posed a similar question to Mibo, who had responded that he needed Howard’s understanding and trust.

However, Mibo felt no need for Hof’s understanding or trust.

So, with an icy demeanor, Mibo retorted to Hof with just four words: “Figure it out yourself.”

The Duke snapped the elk’s antler, causing a crisp crack to echo through the room.

This was Hof’s most treasured possession, and he cursed at the Duke in rage.

The Duke’s soldiers responded by slapping Hof across the face.

“You lowly nobles delight in toying with things that don’t belong to you,” the Duke sneered.

“Such elk antlers require proper preservation, something beyond the capabilities of a mere baron like you. Look at this, due to your poor conditions, the antler has become so brittle, heh.”

At that moment, Ivan entered the room.

Mibo quickly motioned for Ivan to join him, then introduced him to his ducal brother.

The Duke nodded lazily and said, “I hope you’re stronger than your father. He was a useless man, barely managed to secure an earldom and then lost it. A real disgrace to our family.”

Ivan clenched his fists, causing them to crack, but restrained his anger under Mibo’s firm grip on his arm.

Mibo quickly changed the subject, announcing that Hof would be imprisoned effective immediately.

Hof, thinking he had misheard, exclaimed, “What? Just imprisonment? Not stripped of my title?”

Mibo nodded, explaining, “Yes, I made a promise to Howard. He released my son, so in return, I’ll leave him an empty city to conquer, giving him the chance to earn the title.”

Enraged, the Duke hurled the elk bone ornament to the ground and bellowed, “Mibo! You scheming non-achiever! Good for nothing but handing out titles! Do you think I traveled all this way just to do you a favor? If it weren’t for the sake of our family’s honor and my desire to expand our territory, I wouldn’t have bothered coming to help you! Mibo! You must seize the Barony of Gokasu for me!”

Mibo replied, “Brother, but I had an agreement with Howard, a verbal pact. If I take the title of Gokasu for myself, it would mean breaking my word and tarnishing my reputation.”

The Duke burst into laughter as if he’d heard the funniest joke in the world.

“Ha! Are you kidding me? Honor? Reputation? Do you even care about such things anymore? Do you even have any left?”

Ivan’s hand, which had relaxed, clenched into a fist again but was forcibly held down by Mibo.

Mibo whispered softly in Ivan’s ear, “Hold back, son. Your uncle is doing this for our family.”

The Duke pressed on, “Mibo, we’re not getting any younger. It’s time we sought some gains for our family.”

Mibo turned to the Duke and asked, “What if Howard holds a grudge against me? I already lost to him in the last war.”

The Duke scoffed, “So what? If he dares to challenge, let him come at me. A mere earl dares to be insolent in front of the Ferret family?”

Taking a deep breath, Mibo knew this was a rare opportunity – a baron’s title lay before him.

After a moment of internal struggle, he finally decided.

Mibo stripped Hof of his baronial title and, in turn, became the Lord of Gokasu.

Hof was utterly despondent, his capacity for scheming drained away.

Hearing Mibo’s declaration, his head suddenly slumped, like a stubborn person who had lost their pillar of support.

Staring at the stone tiles on the ground, Hof seemed to want to say something but ultimately decided it was pointless and closed his mouth.

With the loss of his baronial title and lacking any knightly status, Hof was reduced to a landless individual.

In this world, being landless stripped him of his noble status.

Hof had become a commoner.

The Duke, hearing Mibo’s proclamation, shrugged his shoulders, feeling a sense of satisfaction.

He considered his journey worthwhile and chuckled happily to himself.

The soldiers eased their grip on Hof, who then stood up.

His eyes, wide with a dazed look, turned to the Duke and asked, “My lord, where should I go now?”

The Duke pretended not to hear, and the others also ignored Hof’s question.

Hof repeated his inquiry, and the Duke, holding one of Hof’s collected walking sticks, pointed towards the door with a serious demeanor, “You should leave this place and do whatever you need to. The world of nobility is no longer within your reach.”

Hof departed.

As Howard was enjoying afternoon tea with Anna at Fernsouth Castle, also taking the opportunity to apologize for a previous unpleasant incident on the stairs, he received a confidential letter from Portia.

Howard found it somewhat unbelievable.

He called for Alonso.

Alonso, seeming to have embraced his role, had tailored a black-and-white butler’s uniform.

Responding to Howard’s summons, he arrived, bowed his head in greeting, and said, “What is it, my lord?”

Anna looked at Alonso in surprise, her facial features momentarily contorting in confusion.

She couldn’t fathom why Alonso would willingly lower his status in such a manner.

Howard instructed Alonso to fetch Portia, and Alonso promptly left.

Once he was gone, Anna queried Howard, “Alonso’s attire, was that at your request? I must say, it’s quite an odd request.”

Howard spread his hands, eyes wide and face the picture of innocence, replying, “You misunderstand. In fact, this is the first time I’ve seen him dressed like that too.”

Anna, finding the situation absurd, took a sip of her tea to compose herself.

“Alright then, why are you summoning Portia? And what about the letter you received earlier? What does it contain?”

Not wanting to upset Anna again and to somewhat make amends, Howard decided to share the details of the letter with her, adding, “The description in the letter was too brief. I need more detailed information.”

Updated from 𝑖𝘳.𝒸ℴ𝑚