Claude knew very well that he was an important target of the Stellin royal family. He might even be labeled as a threat and not loyal to the royal family.
The strategists of the ministry of the army believed that it wasn't the best time to attack Shiks. If he insisted on coming to the kingdom to reorganize Thundercrash and attack Shiks, everyone would be suspicious.
That was why Blancarte came all the way to Whitestag to meet with him in an attempt to figure out his plans.
Unfortunately, even after half a night of talking with him about why he wanted to attack Shiks, Blancarte still didn't fully believe him.
But that wasn't all that surprising. Before Claude revealed his plans, nobody would believe that he could defeat Shiks with just Thundercrash alone.
Claude decided to stay in Whitestag for a few days. He used his own name to set up a 3,000-acre manor and a 10,000-acre wood in the southern outskirts of the city, naming them Claude Manor and Claude Wood.
When Claude first transmigrated at the age of 16, the southern outskirts of Whitestag were filled with farms and orchards. Claude would often go to the hills there with his friends to hunt for rabbits and pheasants to earn some extra income.
However, during the kingdom's civil war, the Southern Suburbs was the first to be affected by the flames of war, and everything was destroyed.
The owners of the farms and orchards had either died in the war, been captured, or fled, never to return.
In the end, the Southern Suburbs became ownerless and was once again taken back by the administration of Whitestag as a state.
Claude brought his men to the southern suburbs to reminisce about his youth. Seeing the situation there, he decided to buy some property there, saying that he would have a place to settle down in Whitestag after he retired.
As for the palace-like mansion, he was only managing it on behalf of his mother. He didn't want to fight for ownership of it with his mother.
Blancarte accompanied Claude for two whole days. When he saw that Claude was indeed buying property for himself, he heaved a sigh of relief and left.
Firstly, he was busy with work. Secondly, he realized that Claude really didn't have any other intentions. He didn't even want to go to the royal capital. He didn't want to get involved in the conflict between his mother and wife at all.
All he did was send an eagle messenger to the royal capital and buy property in Whitestag. He felt that Whitestag was more attractive to him.
Blancarte felt that he and the king were paying too much attention to Claude. While Claude was already the highest commander of the region's military and had always been wary of the royal family and the royal court, he didn't have any enmity or ambition. Instead, he was quite satisfied with the current state of affairs of the kingdom and the region.
Usually, as long as he wasn't provoked, he wouldn't be a threat to the kingdom.
On the afternoon of the fourth day, Svenson rushed back from the royal capital and gave Claude a detailed report. He finally understood the cause of the conflict between his wife and mother.
Claude finally understood how his mother and daughter-in-law became the hottest topic of gossip in the royal capital. They even went to the king over the manor in the suburbs.
It was simple. When his mother brought Kefnie and her son to the royal capital in the latter half of the year before, the king kept his word and gave them a noble manor and a royal manor in the suburbs.
Hence, his mother moved into the residence with Kefnie and her son and began living in the royal capital.
Naturally, they enjoyed the bustling market in the royal capital and often went shopping and haggling over prices.
Originally, the two of them lived a comfortable life and felt that the royal capital was much better than the region.
But after half a year, as they got to know each other better, they found out that the nobles in the royal capital called them country bumpkins.
That was because no noble lady would personally go to the market to buy cheap goods and haggle for half a day with the vendors.
The nobles in the royal capital only bought the best and most expensive items. Apart from clothes and jewelry, most daily necessities were taken care of by their stewards.
It was a huge blow to his mother to hear such comments and tactful persuasion from the kind noble lady next door.
As her late father was posthumously conferred the title of an honorary viscount, her mother was also given the title of Viscountess Ferd.
Now, she felt that her and Kefnie's actions were a disgrace to the late Viscount Morssen and House Ferd. She was determined to change and assimilate House Ferd into the noble circle in the royal capital.
So, her mother hired a noble etiquette instructor, as well as housekeepers and servants that fit the standards of nobles.
Swensen and the other old servants from the overseas autonomous territories were either sent to the manor or made to learn from the highly paid servants and stewards, striving to reach the standard of a noble's servant. During that period of time, Swensen and the others were tormented to the point of suffocation.
Her mother then started hosting banquets and dances in the manor to entertain the nobles in the royal capital in order to spread the name of House Ferd.
The problem was that her mother was dreaming. Given her status as a viscountess of House Ferd, she didn't even have a place among the nobles in the royal capital.
Any nobles with a bit of status wouldn't accept her invitations. Even their own wives and children weren't allowed to attend.
Those who attended the banquet were all Honorary Nobles who lived in the royal capital for free. These people didn't have much else, but they were good at flattery. Their flattery made Mother very happy. So, Ferde Manor became a place for these Honorary Nobles to eat and drink for free. Every day, it was a mess. Mother once again became a joke among the nobles in the kingdom. She was called the muddle-headed old viscount madam.
This time, it was Kefnie who couldn't take it anymore. Claude was a hereditary count of the kingdom and she had the title of countess.
However, she didn't want to use that title because she was in a cold war with Claude, so she kept a low profile.
She hated the bustling scene of people coming and going at home, but seeing her mother being flattered by these honorary nobles, she could only force herself to endure it.
Her mother, on the other hand, only announced Morssen's achievements to the public, saying that he had opened a new sea route from the kingdom's mainland to the autonomous region but was wrongly accused and killed himself.
Now, the wise king conferred him the title of viscount, which was how House Ferd came to be.
In the end, the honorary nobles who came to eat and drink didn't know about the relationship between her mother, Kefnie, and Claude. They only thought of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law as lucky people.
A few of them even coveted Kefnie as their daughter-in-law, hoping to get both her and her wealth.
However, Kefnie already hated the foul atmosphere in her house and the nobles who ate and drank for free. She didn't give them any face at all.
So, a few drunken honorary nobles decided to use force. Their daughter-in-law, who didn't have much of a status, could only endure it and not do anything to them.
However, they ended up kicking a metal plate. The moment they tried to stop Kefnie from touching her, they were pressed to the ground by guards who came out of nowhere and given a good beating. Then, they were escorted to the nobles' court of justice at gunpoint. They were stripped of their titles for insulting a noble madam and thrown into the labor camp.
That incident scared away half of the honorary nobles who came to eat and drink. Only then did they realize that the muddle-headed viscount had such a powerful figure hidden in her house.
So, the honorary nobles who stayed in the mansion were very respectful in front of Kefnie and didn't dare to offend her in the slightest, which made the house a lot quieter.
But that only made her mother unhappy. She wasn't satisfied with Kefnie's title as a countess overshadowing her title as a viscount and scolded her for using Claude's unfilial title to bully the honorary nobles. Now, most of them didn't dare to come to the mansion to chat with her.
Usually, when her mother nagged at her for a bit, Kefnie would just bear with it and let it go. Claude knew that very well. Kefnie had a good personality. After living with his mother for so many years, she still had feelings for her.
However, her mother was getting more and more stubborn and insisted that everything be done according to her wishes. Otherwise, there would be no end to it.
For instance, when Kefnie tried to persuade her mother to stop entertaining the honorary nobles, she insisted that it was to give face to House Ferd. After all, they were all nobles of the kingdom. Even if they were honorary nobles, Morssen, who used to be the chief executive of the town, couldn't get close to them. That was the glory of House Ferd.
Then something else happened. Mother ran out of money.
As an honorary noble of the kingdom, she was entitled to an allowance every year.
For instance, an honorary baron was entitled to a hundred crowns and an honorary viscount was entitled to two hundred crowns. That allowance was given to her for life.
As it was a posthumous title, Morssen's allowance was transferred to her until she passed away.
If she had been a little more frugal on Mother's Day, the allowance would have been enough for her to spend the rest of her life in the mansion.
However, her mother wanted to revive House Ferd's reputation in the royal capital. She hired a noble etiquette instructor, a butler and servants that fit the standards of a noble, as well as some necessities and decorations befitting a noble's status.
Just the salary alone would cost more than twenty crowns a month. Her mother had no choice but to use her own savings to pay for it.
Her mother's savings came from the pocket money Claude and Angelina gave her when she was in the autonomous region. Bloweyk's bounty from before he left was also given to her for safekeeping. All in all, she had about two thousand crowns.
But living in the royal capital wasn't easy. The prices there were much higher than in Whitestag.
In addition, her mother spent lavishly on decorating the residence and entertaining the honorary nobles of the kingdom. In less than four months, her savings were all gone.
So, her mother remembered that Kefnie had a thirty percent share of the profits from the tobacco factory. That was an inexhaustible amount of wealth. She would get close to ten thousand crowns in a single quarter.
As long as she had that amount of money, her mother wouldn't have to worry about not having enough to entertain the honorary nobles of the kingdom.
So, her mother used the name of House Ferd to have Kefnie take care of the money.
Kefnie, of course, wasn't willing. She wasn't stupid and knew that Claude was only giving her the money because she bore three children for him.
She was Claude's wife and he said that the money was for her to manage the household. Back in Lanu, she was the mistress of Ferd Manor and the daily expenses of Ferd Manor came from the money.
Now that she was in the royal capital, even though she still lived in Ferd Manor, it was given to her by the king in the name of her late father-in-law.
Her mother had become the owner of the manor, so she couldn't stop her mother from doing what she wanted.
Be it hiring servants or entertaining the honorary nobles, it was all paid for by her mother and she didn't have the right to interfere.
However, the expenses of Kefnie and her two children, as well as the people she brought over from the autonomous region, such as Svenson, Staff Sergeant Kester, and the salaries of the old servants, were all paid for by her. Her mother didn't care about that at all. The two of them split the money rather clearly and Kefnie would also help them buy some daily necessities.
The reason for the cold war with Claude was that Kefnie hated Claude for being so heartless as to toss her eldest son, Tesoray, into the military camp without a shred of familial affection. Her plan to groom Tesoray as the new head of House Ferd fell through.
At the same time, she was worried about her eldest son's fate in the military camp. It was easy for a soldier to end up as cannon fodder on the battlefield.
Claude's conflict with Kefnie stemmed from her selfishness. For the sake of the position of head of the household, she refused to take in Bloweyk's twins.
At the same time, the arrival of his first love, Sheila, naturally alienated him.
But no matter what, Kefnie was still Claude's legitimate wife and a countess recognized by the kingdom.
She was extremely annoyed by her mother's demand that she hand over thirty percent of the profits from the tobacco factory. She felt that it was ridiculous for her mother to say that Claude was unfilial and then ask for her share of the profits.
Also, the tobacco factory was founded by Claude and the profits were given to her by him. What did it have to do with House Ferd?
Her mother was furious and had a huge argument with Kefnie. She felt that Kefnie was of lowly birth and didn't deserve to be a daughter-in-law of the noble House Ferd.
That angered Kefnie and she brought her children to live in a manor in the outskirts of the royal capital.
Once Kefnie left, her mother suffered greatly. She had no money on her and couldn't even afford the salaries of the servants and housekeepers in the manor, let alone entertaining the nobles.
As a result, the servants stole all the valuables in the house and ran away, leaving the housekeeper and a homeless cook in the mansion.
Her mother fell sick again and lay on her bed lamenting about her poor life, her disobedient son and her unfilial daughter-in-law.
Fortunately, the housekeeper did his job and went to the manor to look for Kefnie.
When Kefnie heard that her mother was bedridden, she decided to pay her a visit in case something bad happened to her.
But when she returned to the manor, she heard her mother berating her for dying a horrible death.
She immediately turned around and left, not wanting to see her again.
However, she was still Claude's mother, so she gave the housekeeper some money to take care of her and make sure nothing happened to her.
If things continued like that, her mother wouldn't be able to do anything without money and could only scold Kefnie in the manor.
But a month later, in October of the previous year, Arbeit, Claude's elder brother, came to visit.
Her mother was overjoyed to see Arbeit. She hugged him and said that there was hope for House Ferd.
It was said that Arbeit had left Whitestag to travel around the continent of Freia.
He suffered a lot and visited many countries to meet many scholars. He followed them and learned a lot from them. He was now a rather famous playwright.
Now that it had been more than twenty years, he missed his family a lot and decided to return to visit.
Who would have thought that when he arrived at the capital, he would hear news of his mother and come to meet her.
His mother was overjoyed when she heard Arbeit's story. She believed that her son had finally made a name for himself and could inherit House Ferd. He was the best candidate to be the next head of the house.
She wanted to hold a feast to celebrate, but Arbeit was in the same situation as her. He didn't have any money in his pockets and said that the journey back had emptied every single one of his pockets.
In the end, Arbeit decided to borrow money from Kefnie. He went to the manor and asked her to lend him a thousand crowns.
Kefnie knew Arbeit. She had seen him a few times in Whitestag and still had an impression of him.
However, Kefnie didn't have a good impression of him. Even though Arbeit tried to be nice to her, Kefnie didn't agree to lend him money and only gave him ten crowns.
When Arbeit returned, he instigated his mother to complain that Kefnie had taken over House Ferd's property.
The manor in the outskirts of the royal capital had been exchanged for House Ferd's five thousand acres of wood, which earned them more than three hundred crowns every year.
Now that Kefnie had taken over the manor, it was trespassing on House Ferd's property.
There had never been nobles in Aueras who would go to court over a property dispute. House Ferd was famous for being an exception.
It was the first time a mother-in-law sued her daughter-in-law in the kingdom, especially when both were noble ladies.
All of a sudden, all the newspapers in the royal capital made a big deal out of the lawsuit. Had it not been for Blancarte's warning, they might even have dug out Claude's background.
In the end, the king personally judged the case. Kefnie produced the evidence, which was the deed to the five thousand acres of wood in Whitestag with Claude's name on it.
Back when Claude and Angelina bought the wood, Bloweyk wasn't of age yet and Angelina was the one who acted as the head of the family.
Later on, Claude's status as a captain and a Knighthood holder was required to purchase the wood, so he was the one who signed the deed.
When Bloweyk grew up, he would pass the deed to him so that he could take over the family business in Whitestag and turn the wood into the family's property.
But Bloweyk didn't care about it at all and handed the deed to Kefnie.
So, the deed still had Claude's signature on it and it didn't belong to House Ferd.
Mother and Arbeit were stunned. They didn't expect such an outcome.
If the wood belonged to Claude, then the manor in the outskirts of the royal capital, which was exchanged for the wood, would naturally belong to him.
As his wife, it was only right for Kefnie to live in the manor.
The lawsuit ended in Mother's defeat.
Kefnie also completely fell out with her mother over the lawsuit and no longer cared about the manor.
Now, there were only two manors left in House Ferd, one in the royal capital and the other in Whitestag.
As they had no money, they had to pay the servants' salaries in the manors in Whitestag.
Mother could only blame herself for this. If she had been a little more honest and built an apartment in Whitestag, she would have been able to earn a dozen crowns a year from renting it out.
But because she wanted to save face, she couldn't even afford the monthly salaries of the servants.
She didn't dare to sell it since it was built to compensate House Ferd. All she could do was play dumb and pretend she didn't hear about the completion of the manors.