Chapter 20
‘I’m late!’ Argyll, the Rubelin’s secretary, quickened his steps toward the conference room. It was because he was late for an important meeting, one attended by Rubelin’s madam and all of the vassals.
Argyll rushed into the meeting hall breathlessly. Most of the attendees were already gathered in the conference room. And in the center, Elisha, who was now the respectable madam of Rubelin, sat in a dignified manner.
With her dazzling blonde hair that flows down to her waist, clear green eyes, and small red lips that resembled a flower blossoming on her face, she resembled a warm spring appearing in the midst of the cold and snowy north.
Elisha made eye contact with Argyll, who was quietly entering the conference room. Instead of greeting him, she just smiled.
‘Milady is generous today too.’ Argyll smiled awkwardly at Elisha and hurriedly sat at his seat.
Elisha had a knack for making the people around her feeling comfortable. Ironically, she also possessed enough dignity and grandeur that could overwhelm other people despite her small and cute figure. Everyone in Rubelin knew that she didn’t gain that authority for nothing.
After Richard’s departure, Elisha studied and tried hard to prove her usefulness to Albert. When Elisha demonstrated her excellent ability and exceptional intelligence in managing territorial affairs, the duke’s vassals, who originally ignored her despite her status as a lady of the house, began to recognize her as their madam.
Surprisingly, the Rubelin’s knights also acknowledged her as their mistress and swore their loyalty to her. As time passed, Elisha became more skilled in managing the territorial affairs and took over the responsibilities of Albert, who was now bedridden.
“Since everyone is here now, we shall start the meeting.” Albert’s aide, Aaron, announced the beginning of the meeting.
Elisha opened a document containing the details about the agenda for the meeting that had been organized in advance. The first item on the agenda was presented by Antonio, who is in charge of the food supplies.
“Compared to the amount of the food supplies we have preordered and imported, the demand is in all likelihood higher so we predict that a lot of people will probably starve until the next coming spring.”
The northern land was barren, but not to the extent of causing this severe food shortage. However, in the most recent summer, there was a severe drought, the kind that happens only once in every few decades, which led to the food shortage.
“Hmm, as expected, it turned out like this.”
Elisha nodded with a calm expression, as if she had expected it. Then she suggested an alternative solution that she had in mind.
“I heard recently that the southern land was attacked by a group of pirates seeking food, and the damage was severe. Contact the southern lords and inform them that we’re willing to sell some farming tools and weapons to them. The payment should be in the form of food supplies instead of gold.”
The iron ore from Rubelin was desired by everyone due to its excellent strength. Moreover, the weapons and iron tools made by Rubelin were manufactured using the advanced methods. Therefore, many people preferred the weapons and agricultural machinery produced by the Rubelins.
Knowing that, Elisha instructed the young residents who lost their source of income due to the drought to help with jobs related to the manufacturing of those tools instead of growing crops to pay their annual taxes.
The experienced blacksmiths were instructed to train their new apprentices in earnest. All the simple chores were done by the apprentices. Meanwhile, the complicated tasks, such as shaping the iron using the hot forge, were done by the experienced blacksmiths since they were dangerous. It was customary for the apprentices to do the simple chores for years while learning the complicated tasks from the experts before they could take over.
At first, the blacksmiths reacted negatively toward Elisha’s order. Nonetheless, they were soon convinced by Elisha’s words and followed her order eagerly. In the beginning, the work pace slowed dramatically since the expert blacksmiths needed to teach the apprentices while working.
However, after some time, the working speed increased significantly after the apprentices mastered the skills necessary. As a result, the Rubelin Duchy’s warehouses were full of agricultural machinery and weapons at the moment.
“The south lords will likely accept this offer since it’s better to trade the extra food supplies for weapons that can be used to protect their territory rather than letting a bunch of vicious pirates snatch the food freely.”
The vassals nodded in admiration at Elisha’s suggestion. In fact, since Rubelin’s northern territory and the southern territory were far from each other, there wasn’t a lot of formal trade happening between the two lands. So, the idea of trading food supplies for weapons and farming tools was really incredible.
The vassals felt satisfied since the issue was solved efficiently, but Elisha still felt troubled. ‘We managed to solve the problem this way for this year. But what if it happens again later? It’s fortunate that the harvest is currently abundant in the south so we can overcome the problem by mutual trading. However, it is possible for the south to experience a terrible drought like us and be unable to trade later in the future.’
‘In the future, if the southern land also suffers from the drought, the south lords will naturally prioritize their territory first when it comes to food supplies.’ Thus, a fundamental solution for this problem is needed. Growing the crops in greenhouses might be a good idea. However, the greenhouses are too costly for ordinary residents to build and maintain them…
‘Maybe we should develop a plastic greenhouse or something like that.’
As Elisha was about to clear her thoughts and move on to the next agenda item, someone suddenly knocked on the door of the conference room.
“I beg your pardon for interrupting the meeting, but I have some urgent news.”
All eyes were on the servant due to his words. In fact, it was forbidden for any outsiders to interrupt the important meeting. This meant that the news was so urgent that the servant couldn’t wait until the meeting was over.
“Come in.”
With Elisha’s permission, the servant entered the room. He delivered the news with an expression full of joy. “The Arencia army has won the war and the war has ended completely.”
*****
A month after the news of victory was announced. Near the hideout of the remaining army of the Fyran Kingdom.
Richard’s men were wandering in the woods while looking for their master, who disappeared in a flash. After wandering for a long time, Thompson was trying to catch his breath against the nearby tree trunk. “Huff, huff…. Where the hell did he go?”
Richard often moved on his own. He always disappeared without telling them where he would go. Thompson, who was worried constantly about Richard invading the enemy’s lair alone and getting hurt, started nagging him again. “You should at least tell us where you’re going!”
After hearing Thompson nagging dozens of times, Richard reluctantly left a note before he disappeared this time. After Richard disappeared like that, his men always immediately followed in pursuit. However, by the time they reached the destination, the situation was already over and they just needed to clean up after him.
“Sir Thompson! There is a storm there!” One of Thompson’s subordinates shouted as he found something after looking around.
When Thompson looked at the direction his subordinate pointed, he could see that the leaves in the forest were flying toward one place. He immediately rushed there with all the rest of Richard’s men.
Not long after that, they reached a place that seemed like it could be the hideout of the remaining members of the army of the Fyran Kingdom. No, it was actually their hideout.
A huge storm in the center of the hideout was engulfing everything. Whether it was people or things. It was always an overwhelming and breathtaking sight. No matter how many times they saw it.
However, they couldn’t see Richard in there. Thompson raised his right arm to prevent his colleagues from advancing. “Stop! It’s dangerous to get any closer!”
They immediately took a few steps back.
At that moment, the huge storm stopped in an instant, causing flying people and things in the air to fall mercilessly towards the ground. In the midst of the loud screams and breaking sounds, a familiar young man stood calmly in the center.
He was a tall man with black hair and a pair of red eyes, resembling the color of the blood scattered in the wreckage. Unscathed, he walked out of that chaos. Despite the havoc he caused, he remained calm wearing an indifferent expression.
Thompson and his colleagues approached him.
“Young Master Richard!”
“Why did you leave on your own Young Master, without waiting for us? We should have raided them together!”
When Thompson started nagging him again, Richard replied while lifting one of his eyebrows and wincing, as if his ears were stinging. “You guys are too slow.”
“No, Young Master is the one who is too fast. Isn’t it too much to expect a walking commoner to match the speed of a flying prince?”
One of the subordinates, who was quietly watching the quarrel between Richard and Thompson, suddenly stepped in and delivered the news before Thompson’s nagging got any longer. “Young Master, some messengers from the capital have arrived a short while ago. They said that they brought a personal letter from His Imperial Majesty.”
“Okay, I’ll go right away.” Richard flew to the camp as soon as his subordinate finished talking.
Thompson heaved a sigh of frustration as he saw Richard’s back disappearing quickly.
*****
“Young Master, the messengers of His Majesty are waiting for you.”
When Richard reached at the camp, one of his men welcomed him, as if they had been waiting, and led him to a specific tent.
There were a few knights from the royal palace and Rubelin’s knights waiting for him in the tent. He then looked at the three unfamiliar people, who seemed to be the messengers of the emperor. “You must have had a hard time coming all the way here.”
“It’s not comparable to the hardships that Milord had gone through.” They bowed their heads in front of Richard respectfully. Then one of them handed the Emperor’s personal letter to Richard and said, “His Majesty wants to hold a grand celebration for Rubelin’s knights and the royal army, who fought for Arencia. His Majesty also wishes to award Milord personally during the ball, so His Majesty would like to know if there is something Milord wishes for…”
“Something that I wish for…”
“Yes, Milord can tell us anything.”
Richard laughed bitterly. It was ridiculous that the emperor, who was eager to kill him, was now trying to award him for his contributions. Out of habit, he touched the ruby pendant hung around his neck. He never took off the pendant for seven years. While his fingertips fiddled with the ruby pendant, he answered, “Go home.”
“Pardon?”
“I want to go home.”
“B-but His Majesty has prepared a grand celebration for Milord!”
“The celebration was also prepared for the royal army so it won’t matter if I don’t attend.”
At the same moment, the Rubelin’s knights who had finished cleaning up after Richard arrived at the tent. They were stunned to hear Richard’s words before they could even catch their breath.
“The Rubelin troops will return to the territory immediately.”
Richard’s words caused them to freeze in silence.
“To return as soon as possible, we’ll have to hurry up and clean up the remnants.” Richard muttered casually and left the tent, showing no intention of taking back his words.
(t/n: ugh, I was hoping for a lovely reunion in this chapter T_T)
(e/n: I thought they were hinting at it too when the servant rushed into the meeting…)