The dining hall was not as I remembered it. The furniture had been switched out, the plates were more opulent, and the decor had been changed to something much better suited to an Archduchess’ mansion.

It was also completely not an expense I had allowed. But whatever, I now had a dining room that was opulent enough to have people over. People like these refugees of course. I took a seat at the head of the table, the others occupying seats from my right.

“So, can you tell me what has brought you to my lands?” I asked. I was pretty sure I had asked this before, only to get no answer. Hopefully I would get one now.

“Um…we wished to join your duchy, your grace.” Marcus replied. Join the duchy, you say?

“And you were permitted by your old lord to do so? Where are you from anyway?” I asked back.

“Cilanthra, your grace, and um, no. The Count was likely not pleased that we left…we uh, escaped, your grace.” Marcus replied, making it very clear what they were, refugees seeking asylum. Or something in the same vein.

Cilanthra. That was the main city of the nearby County. Lots of mines, smoke, and corruption. Not very good nobles. Very Xianxia to be sure.

“And how likely is it that the Count will be furious if I were to accept you in. Furious enough to declare war perhaps?” I asked.

Marcus exchanged glances with his companions nervously, saying, “The Count will be extremely furious, your grace, but likely not enough to risk engaging with the Blood General again.”

Ah, the Blood General thing again. I knew it referred to Aswelth, but what exactly did it mean…

“How powerful exactly, is the Count. As in what cultivation level?” I asked.

“Plantling, your grace. The Count is supposedly in the mid-Plantling level, though I expect that he has secretly long since crossed over to the Late Planting level. Furthermore, there are two other Plantlings in the County, an Early Planting General and a Mid Plantling eunuch. The eunuch is very old, your grace, and likely to die within the next few years. The General not so much. But all of them combined would not be a match for the Blood General.” Marcus said.

Except Marcus, I will probably let the ‘Blood General’ free at the end of today, so it would just be a little Sapling me and Kerrin against your hoard of Plantlings. I doubt the Count will have anything stopping him from going to war with me after that.

“And none of them will actually accost the duchy, your grace, It would require permission from their overseeing duchy to declare war on yours. And merely a few thousand miners are not worth the price for the Count.” Marcus continued.

Hmm, do I trust the unreliable source of information here, or do I verify it. Well, the answer is obvious, and the food has yet to be served.

“If you will excuse me, I need to verify a few things before I decide. The food should be along in a while, please, enjoy.” I said as I got up and headed out of the treehouse.

Snowflaking over to my private portion of the house, I removed the pebble from its hiding place. It had been a while since I contacted Duke Reinar hadn’t it?

“Altura.” Duke Reinar stated in his usual monotone voice.

“Father, I have come across a little problem.” I began, “Aswelth is almost done with the tunnel and thus will be free in the next few hours. But numerous refugees have arrived from the Cilanthra County asking for asylum. I was wondering what the likelihood of the Count declaring war over it was.”

“A tunnel?” Duke Reinar asked.

“Yes, I asked Aswleth to build it under the mountains as his last job. It should help connect the duchy to the rest of the Kingdom and facilitate trade.” I answered.

“Yes, that is a good idea. A tunnel would solve a lot of your problems. As for the County, how large is this group of refugees?” Duke Reinar asked.

“Very large, they are a few thousand strong at the very least.” I replied to a judging face from one Duke.

“Altura. Several thousand is not a ‘very large’ group. That is a small group of people. There is no need for you to worry then. The Count will not dare to declare war on such a small matter, the King still protects you, and you stand as heir apparent. The heir apparent is not someone a mere Count can challenge easily. The King will not allow such a challenge to his authority.” Duke Reinar replied.

Ah, yes. I was still under the King’s protection. That tenuous protection that seemed to have no limit and at the same time not do anything at all.

“Besides, the ancestor has finally agreed to take a more forward role in the family and should be arriving at your duchy in a few days.” Duke Reinar continued, his enthusiasm increasing by levels of magnitude.

“The ancestor? Do you mean the one that left the royal family, Father?” I asked.

“Yes, that one. Altura, you must impress him. If he decides to return to the family then we could finally be on the same level as the Duchies. Higher even with our connection to the Royal Family.” Duke Reinar commented, his greed for power showing through.

But I was more concerned about the cranky old monster coming to the duchy and what exactly that meant for my duchy.

“And what exactly will the Ancestor do once he is here? I don’t suppose you have any idea?” I asked.

Duke Reinar’s enthusiasm faltered as he said, “No…not at this moment. The ancestor has always been elusive. It was hard to contact him as it is.”- a ring was suddenly heard as another pebble seemed to light up somewhere behind him – “Now I must go, please do try to keep the ancestor in the duchy. It is best that way.”

I sighed as I put the pebble back in its place and exited the treehouse, crossing the old man sitting – wait. Old man? I suddenly turned my head quickly, finding myself face to face with a creepy old man with very distinctive green eyes.

“Greetings, descendant. I see that your father has been talking about me.” the old man, or should I say ancestor, said. The first thing I noticed was that he had the exact same eyes as the original Altura, and now me. But I had another dilemma, how did you reply to that? Just say hello back? Bow and give an ancestral greeting? How did you do an ancestral greeting?

“Tell me, what do you intend to give Aswelth when he leaves?” the old ancestor asked, not waiting for me to greet him back. Thankfully for me, I had given thought to this.

“I am going to reward him with the Military seed, do correct me if I am wrong, but all he has at the moment is the basic Soldier seed, yes? Then my Military seed should serve him well.” I replied, trying to act confident. Aswelth had been a great help to me and well, I felt that he was owed a little something for putting up with the original Altura.

Not only that, but from what little I could piece together from the original Altura’s memories, Aswelth had served as an exemplary general in the army. And now, as he was leaving, he deserved a reward.

“Good. If you are really going to go through with it, then I would suggest that you do so the first chance you get. It might be the pragmatic choice to wait for this thing with the refugees to be over until you release Aswelth from his bond, but emotion knows little of logic.”

“This man has been waiting for decades to be free, he might have no idea what to do after he is free, but freedom is his wish. Besides, giving the Commoner General freedom should earn you quite a reputation boost. Think about it, you have about five seconds before Aswelth enters from that door there.” the ancestor said before promptly disappearing. Just like flipping a switch, one second he was there, the next there was nothing.

And I had other things to deal with, to be exact, an Aswelth had just entered the treehouse.

Aswelth kneeled at the door, one knee touching the ground, the other raised as he held his left hand to his heart and said, “It is my pleasure to inform you, your grace, that I have completed my duties, the tunnel has been made”

I might have missed it if the ancestor had not pointed it out, but it was obvious. The way the words were framed, the fact that Aswelth was kneeling and the crowd watching from outside. Oh, yes, there was a crowd. Most of it was composed of members of the guard, but even more were joining by the second.

It would seem that I had missed something. Aswelth was at heart, a commoner, he was one of them. A commoner that had, by all accounts, risen far above his station, and had prospered for it. Nobles broadcasted how they would reward a loyal retainer. How loyal servants would gain great rewards. Of course, the rewards were never given, more likely the ‘loyal servants’ would die having just survived through life. Any objectors were quickly silenced.

But here was one that had cultivated all the way to the Plant realm, here was one that had completed his services and was asking for his just reward. And that was why the ancestor had asked what I was giving Aswelth, because the reward was not a choice. I had to reward Aswelth, and reward him well. Otherwise, I risked the people rebelling.

Hopefully, the ancestor and Duke Reinar were right, and the King would protect me from the Count. Somehow, I doubted that I would be able to say no to those refugees.

I summoned my staff, letting it touch Aswelth’s shoulders in something similar to a medieval knighting ceremony. The sad truth was that I did not know any other form of ceremony that would be applicable here.

“Aswelth Selrin, for decades you have served the House of Selrin, and served it well. But today, I, Archduchess Altura Selrin release you from your service. No longer may you bear the name Selrin, no longer may you be counted among its number. From this day forth, let your name revert to Aswelth Branner, let your affiliation fade. Let the Mark of Selrin no longer shield you, for as of this moment you Aswelth stand alone. Alone to bear your power and burdens.”

“But the House of Selrin has not forgotten your service, and for that you are owed a reward.” I finished and dived deep into myself, into the part of me that held my seed.

There within the phantom ground were three seeds. One germinated and thriving, but two that were dead to the world. Lightning, fire and ice covered them, caging their power. Mentally, I pulled up the rightmost seed, instinctively knowing that it was the Seed of Military.

I clenched my hands as pain racked my body, something pushing itself out from its very core, and then a seed emerged into the world. The lightning fell away, forming an empty crest in the air, then the fire formed a dragon that nodded towards the seed and disappeared, and finally a snowflake twirled above the seed before disappearing.

“For your service I award you, this seed, the Seed of Military, with hope that it will grant you great power and bring your cultivation to greater heights.” I said as a gasp spread across the crowd. The wind started picked up speed, the sky darkened, and a seed sped towards a Kneeling General.

The seed pierced into Aswelth’s body, and I watched as a small window opened into a very special place, there, a Plant dissolved into vapours of Qi that surrounded the seed and pushed it deep into the soil. The seed switch had succeeded. Now all that remained was for Aswelth to claim the fruit of his decades of effort.