Tager and Schward stood before
Lorist handed a signed document to Fatty by his side, his expression unchanged. "Tell me. Who was involved..."
Schward opened the blue folder in his hands and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Your Highness, Sir Schweig's wife Moiya, Steward Yuski's wife Sesla and daughter Korado, and Sir Lambert's wife Tailey. These three families' wives were the most frequent visitors to Lady Malek's residence. Just as you suspected, they visited at least three times within ten days or so, and they were deliberately ingratiating themselves with Lady Malek. According to our investigation, all three families' wives originated as Lady Elina's handmaidens in Maple Forest Manor, and Steward Yuski was also originally a servant from Maple Forest Manor..."
"What about Schweig and Lambert? How did they come to marry Elina's handmaidens?" Lorist angrily snapped the quill pen in his hand and threw it to the ground. He remembered these two knights — both refugees encountered on the northward journey who had joined the column and become guards in the guard battalion. When their battle aura cultivation broke through to the Silver rank, he had accepted them as family knights and assigned them to the
"Your Highness, Sir Schweig and Sir Lambert met their current wives while they were still guards on duty at Maple Forest Manor. When they later requested Lady Elina's permission to marry those two handmaidens, they were refused. Four years ago, after you took young master Lesket away and placed him in Baron Malek's knight estate, Lady Elina sent people to find Sir Schweig and Sir Lambert and agreed to give the two handmaidens to them in marriage. After the weddings, the knights' new wives convinced them to move their homes to Red River Plain, very close to Baron Malek's knight estate... I recall Sir Schweig once bragged in a tavern about how considerate his new wife was toward him. At the time, the Rock Fortress Corps was garrisoned on Red River Plain, and his wife had sold their house on Bountiful Harvest Plain specifically to move to Red River Plain so she wouldn't be separated from him — so he could come home on his days off. After getting to know Lady Malek, the two knights' wives, along with Steward Yuski's wife and daughter, frequently visited her for afternoon tea, making pastries, and outdoor picnics... The investigators responsible for monitoring young master Lesket's daily life hadn't found anything unusual in their behavior. Since they were wives of family knights, they had deliberately avoided monitoring their activities and hadn't paid much attention to their interactions with Lesket. It was only when we went to conduct the review that those two investigators recalled that young master Lesket's relationship with them seemed to be very good — every time they went to visit Lady Malek, the young master appeared quite happy..."
Tager's voice grew quieter and quieter as he reported, his head sinking lower and lower. This was a massive oversight. Lorist had strictly ordered Elina of Maple Forest Manor not to interfere in Lesket's upbringing and education, but through a simple indirect approach, Elina had still achieved her goal — and none of it had been detected. If Lorist hadn't grown suspicious about the frequency of visitors calling on Lady Malek in the surveillance records, all of this would have remained completely unnoticed. For Tager, who was responsible for the
"Who is this Steward Yuski?" Lorist asked coldly.
Schward glanced at the materials in the folder and replied, "Your Highness, Yuski was originally a servant at Maple Forest Manor. Because he was literate, Steward Hansk promoted him to a warehouse manager. His first wife was also a maidservant at Maple Forest Manor who fell ill and died after giving birth to their daughter Korado. He was known at Maple Forest Manor for being honest, hardworking, and dependable. After young master Lesket was placed with Baron Malek, Steward Hansk arranged a match, having Lady Elina give him Sesla — the head handmaiden in charge of the small kitchen — as his second wife. At the same time, Steward Yuski was transferred to Red River Plain as an official managing the servants of the eight knight estates, which gave him the opportunity to meet Lady Malek. Because his wife Sesla's exceptional cooking frequently earned them invitations from Lady Malek, the two knights' wives — Sir Schweig's and Sir Lambert's — came to know Lady Malek through Sesla's connections..."
"That's enough!" Lorist angrily swept the documents, ink, and other items off the desk. "They did a fine job, didn't they? Without anyone noticing, they wove an entire net around me. No wonder Lesket remained unchanged despite Lady Malek's strict discipline — he even learned to say one thing to your face and another behind your back..."
Lorist paced around the study with a dark expression. Fatty, Tager, and Schward all stood in silence. They knew Lorist was seething inside and had no idea when he would erupt.
"Steward Shrade," Lorist suddenly asked, "what do you think I should do with these people?"
Fatty sighed inwardly. "Your Highness, why bother? Young master Lesket has already been sent back to Maple Forest Manor — he's been punished. As for Sir Schweig and Sir Lambert, they were completely unaware. And that Steward Yuski — he truly is an honest, hardworking, and dependable family official. Everything was done by their wives, and their wives were following Lady Elina's instructions. If you punish them, they were neither aware of the scheme nor at fault. Even as head of the Norton Family, you can't simply take your anger out on innocent people. And punishing their wives..." Fatty smiled bitterly. "Your Highness, they were only showing concern for young master Lesket — there's no good excuse to punish them either. It would only damage your reputation and invite gossip..."
On the surface, anyone who heard about it would think Elina was simply a mother who cared about her son and sent people to look after him quietly — a perfectly natural thing to do.
Lorist paced around the study a few more times, unwilling to let the matter go, before finally stopping. "Steward Shrade, write a transfer order. Command Sir Schweig, Sir Lambert, and that Steward Yuski — along with their families — to depart for the Hanayabada Archipelago on May 1st next year for postings there. The term is ten years..."
Well, that was tantamount to exile. The Hanayabada Archipelago was far from the Galentea Continent, isolated overseas at a great distance — the sea voyage alone took over a month each way.
Fatty shook his head with a wry smile, understanding that Lorist wouldn't rest easy until he'd let off steam. "Alright, I'll write it up right away. What about their compensation?"
"The same as everyone else," Lorist replied, then turned to Tager. "Tager, for the next two years our family probably won't be sending troops anywhere. The great battle just ended this year, and our soldiers need time to rest and recover. So we can relax external intelligence a bit. Your job is to help Schward establish an internal security department. First, sort through all the relationships within our family. If there are any more like these — anyone with ongoing ties to Maple Forest Manor — give me their names. I'm sure when they all arrive at the Hanayabada Archipelago, they'll be delighted to have so many acquaintances for company."
"Yes, Your Highness." Tager and Schward snapped to attention and replied in unison.
After Schward and Tager had left the study, Fatty tried to console him. "Your Highness, this matter shouldn't be blown out of proportion and cause panic among the populace..."
Lorist sat down and rubbed his head. "Sigh, you don't understand. Back when so many people in the family opposed my marriage to Silvia, I felt something was off. And now it turns out that while I thought the family's fortunes were flourishing, someone had been weaving this kind of net behind my back without my knowledge. It truly shocked me. That meek, clingy little handmaiden has grown into such a scheming noblewoman — I never expected it at all..."
Fatty kept his mouth shut and pretended he hadn't heard. This was, after all, Lorist's personal family matter, and as the Norton Family's chief knight and chief administrative officer, he couldn't very well offer his own opinions and views so freely.
Seeing Fatty pretending not to have heard, Lorist laughed. "That's exactly why I'm cutting off every tentacle she's extended this time. The audacity — using her own handmaidens to win over my family knights. Well, they can go weave their handmaiden network in the Hanayabada Archipelago from now on."
"Alright, stop pretending you can't hear me," Lorist said to Fatty. "You need to push this along. Have Tager and Schward first screen all the personnel at Angry Bear City and Cherry Blossom Ridge Manor. Anyone with relatives at Maple Forest Manor is out, and anyone promoted by Steward Hansk as well. You're responsible for reassigning all those screened out to other locations. I need to guarantee Silvia and young Andbel's absolute safety."
Fatty's expression grew solemn, and he nodded. "Understood, Your Highness."
Lorist leaned back in his chair. "The New Year celebration is just a few days away. I expect
"Your Highness, rest assured — we're thoroughly prepared. However, Duke Kenmais and the others probably won't stay in the city manors when they come. They've all purchased plots in the noble district and built their own estates. Duke Kenmais's estate is the most luxurious and largest of them all — for the past month or more, materials and supplies have been constantly being transported there. According to his steward, Duke Kenmais plans to continue hosting balls and banquets at his estate after our New Year celebration, all the way until winter passes."
"That's just his nature — he loves a good time and the good life. The gold coins he spends on these balls and banquets could fund another entire legion," Lorist said resentfully. Sometimes he actually envied Duke Kenmais's hedonistic lifestyle. The man was utterly carefree — apart from the Snow Salt Trading Company, his attitude toward everything else was that if the sky fell, let Lorist deal with it. He had not a care in the world.
The year 1784 of the Galentea Continental Calendar arrived, and the Northern Territory's Norton Family hosted a grand New Year celebration banquet that lasted seven days and seven nights. This was the Norton Family's first New Year celebration in two years, during which they once again invested fourteen territory barons and seven honorary barons. Nearly a hundred honorary nobles from elsewhere were also transferred to become Norton Family honorary nobles, all because they had purchased plots in the newly developed fourth noble district on the eastern outskirts of Angry Bear City...
Seven days after the New Year celebration banquet concluded, Lorist hosted another banquet to preside over the wedding of his beloved disciple Schward and Duke Filim's beloved daughter Katarina. Before nearly a thousand nobles and guests who had come for the wedding, Duke Filim announced that he was combining the Podorichi mountain region from the southern province of the
Lorist was greatly surprised that Grand Duke Fisablen had rushed to the Northern Territory at year's end to attend the Norton Family's New Year celebration. But there was nothing he could do to refuse. After all, Grand Duke Fisablen was Princess Silvia's grandfather. Even though Princess Silvia didn't care for this grandfather of hers, Grand Duke Fisablen had come accompanied by Great Swordmaster Cindy, and Princess Silvia was still very dutiful toward the foster mother who had raised her. She was simply frustrated and helpless about the poor relationship between Great Swordmaster Cindy and Lorist.
When dealing with Grand Duke Fisablen during the time of the Central Four Duchies, one could still say they were just going through the motions — after all, they were all in the Andinak Kingdom's camp, and with the
But after Princess Silvia gave birth to little Andbel, Grand Duke Fisablen seemed to have truly become like Lorist's relative. This transformation made Lorist very uncomfortable, and he could only grumble internally about how thick-skinned the old man was — actually thinking of himself as an elder. But there was nothing he could do; he couldn't very well turn hostile and drive the man away. He had no choice but to greet him with a smile every day and serve him fine wine and good food.
Grand Duke Fisablen's visit to the Northern Territory for the Norton Family's New Year celebration did come with a generous gift — a purchase order worth nearly two million gold Forde. However, this time he firmly refused to agree to purchasing goods at four or five times the market price like last time, insisting on trading at normal market rates — otherwise, he would hand the order over to the Second Prince.
The Second Prince had just recaptured the eleven central provinces. The handicraft and daily goods workshops in the former Handra Duchy, Fulunduo Duchy, and Faker Duchy had always been thriving. Even though the artisans of Faker Duchy had been thoroughly looted by Lorist — a devastating blow — if Grand Duke Fisablen truly handed this two-million-gold-Forde purchase order to the Second Prince, it would serve as a driving force for restoring the economies of those eleven provinces. The Second Prince would certainly be overjoyed.
That old, crafty fox. Lorist sighed deeply. The Fisablen Family's defection to the Second Prince's side — placing them in the same Andinak Kingdom camp as himself — was indeed a brilliantly clever move that had rendered all his efforts to suppress the Fisablen Family completely futile.
Lorist understood perfectly well that Grand Duke Fisablen handing this order to him now was a gesture of goodwill. Duke Kenmais had long been unable to contain his drooling anticipation — even though they couldn't split a million like last time, a two-million-gold-Forde deal at market price would still net three to four hundred thousand in profit.
Grand Duke Fisablen delivered yet another heavy blow to Lorist. He proposed allowing the Snow Salt Trading Company to organize one caravan per year to the Eastern Wastelands Great Grasslands for a trade fair, conducting direct trade with the grassland barbarian tribes — with the Fisablen Family guaranteeing the caravan's safety...
Duke Kenmais was practically ready to grab Lorist's legs and beg him to agree. With red eyes, he said to Lorist, "Do you have any idea how much profit direct trade with the grassland barbarian tribes would mean?"
Lorist helplessly kicked him away and looked up at Grand Duke Fisablen. "Fine, you win. I agree to your terms."