Chapter 119 – Letter and Gift
Green Plains Duchy, Riverside Castle.
Herman Green landed on the walls of Riverside Castle aboard a giant eagle and was then led by the guards to meet with the Duke and Duchess of Green Plains. Herman Green presented the war report handwritten by Charlotte herself.
"Charlotte has been in a war?" José Mellerfield took the report in surprise and began to read.
The Duchess of Green Plains, Rosie Mellerfield, also came over curiously to take a look, and José Mellerfield made no effort to hide it from her.
In the war report, Charlotte spent almost half the text vehemently condemning the despicable and shameless nature of the city-state people, who saw her territory as poor and weak and thus ganged up on her. Forced into a corner, she had no choice but to take those city-states that bullied her and beat them to a pulp. Being bullied by a gang of thugs for no reason—this world was simply too terrifying.
Reading these words of highly dubious authenticity made the corners of Rosie's mouth twitch.
José Mellerfield also frowned slightly and said to Herman Green, "Tell me the entire course of your war."
Herman Green did not hide anything, truthfully narrating the cause and effect of the Northern Sokea War, as well as the details of the campaign, to José Mellerfield. From the news of the Northern Sokea front's intention to dispatch troops, to Charlotte's decision to take the initiative, to the surprise attack that breached the city, and then to the ambush set at Dorukocha...
Listening to this thunderous offensive, even José Mellerfield showed a look of astonishment.
When Herman Green mentioned that after Charlotte's first ambush succeeded, she repeated the same trick for a second ambush, Rosie was so shocked she exclaimed repeatedly, "How dare she? How dare she?"
After hearing the full account, José Mellerfield was also moved. Charlotte had indeed successfully exploited the inertia of thought on the battlefield. Putting himself in her shoes, José Mellerfield felt that even he might not have thought an opponent would set an ambush in the same place again.
However, after being surprised by his daughter's talent on the battlefield, José Mellerfield's voice turned grave. "The city-states on the Sokea Peninsula are not just a pile of loose sand. You've made such a huge commotion this time. If the other city-states join forces to retaliate, how will you respond?"
"This..." Herman Green said hesitantly, "Miss Charlotte said she needs the Duchy's aid. The Lanwan Viscountcy has few soldiers and generals, and the service period for the thousand knights you sent before is almost up. In the future, I'm afraid it will be difficult to resist the attacks of the Aiye Alliance."
José Mellerfield scoffed and laughed, "She started the war, and now she wants me to clean up her mess?"
Hearing this, Herman Green also felt a bit awkward.
At this moment, the Duchess of Green Plains, Rosie, stepped forward to help Herman Green out of his predicament. She said, "You can't say that Charlotte started this war. The enemy was invading in force, so Charlotte had to do something. Besides, you've said it yourself, no one from the Mellerfield family can be bullied by outsiders. So I think you should still send some reinforcements to help Charlotte."
José Mellerfield wasn't genuinely angry with Charlotte. After a little persuasion from Rosie, he nodded and said, "I will dispatch another fifteen hundred knights and three griffins to Lanwan to replace the thousand knights sent previously. However, you must remember to tell Charlotte to be more restrained. The situation in Oran is currently perilous, and the Duchy's military strength is tight. If she stirs up any more major trouble, it will be difficult for me to rescue her in time."
"Yes."
Herman Green agreed, then handed José Mellerfield the "Sea Serpent" that Charlotte had sent as a gift, along with an attached personal letter. Before Herman Green set out, Charlotte had habitually written a personal letter for Herman to deliver to her cousin Monica at the Quake Forest Earldom. As it turned out, when Herman arrived at the Quake Forest Earldom, he discovered that Charlotte had made a mistake. Monica was now Charlotte's sister-in-law and naturally lived at Riverside Castle. So, Herman brought the letter along with him.
Although Charlotte had boasted about the famous wine she had captured in her war report, José Mellerfield showed little reaction upon seeing the bottle. Instead, when he heard about the letter Charlotte had written to Monica, he couldn't help but sigh.
"You can take it to Monica."
"Alright." Rosie took the letter from José Mellerfield's hand.
During this time, Monica's life at Riverside Castle had been very dreary. She had already found out what happened on her wedding day. José Mellerfield had originally intended to have Mary secretly executed, but Mary's identity was special—she was the daughter of Viscount Chester's wife's sister, which made her a junior relative of Count Perode. Considering Count Perode's attitude, José Mellerfield had to choose to exile her, which served as an explanation to Count Philips.
However, this resolution left André extremely dissatisfied. Recently, his relationship with José Mellerfield had become particularly strained. Caught in the middle of this drama, Monica was heartbroken, but she didn't know how to handle it. She had never experienced anything like this before and had no one to confide in. It was only now that Monica realized how unfamiliar everyone in Riverside Castle was to her.
When Rosie arrived at Monica's room, the girl was sitting by the window, staring blankly outside, lost in a daze.
Rosie knocked on the door.
Monica came back to her senses and stood up to greet Rosie, "My Lady."
"This is a letter from Charlotte for you." Rosie took out Charlotte's letter.
"A letter from Charlotte!" Monica was both surprised and delighted. She took the letter, immediately opened it, and began reading in front of Rosie.
Charlotte's letter didn't contain anything important—no talk of war, internal affairs, or diplomacy. It was just a rambling account of trivial matters. For example, it had been rainy and damp everywhere in the Lanwan Viscountcy recently. For example, spring had arrived, and she felt sleepy every day. For example, she had planted roses in front of the castle, but Charlotte had never grown flowers before and didn't know if they would survive...
However, reading this aimless letter, Monica's eyes gradually reddened.
"Has the messenger who delivered the letter left yet?" Monica asked, sniffling.
"Not yet," Rosie replied.
"Please ask him to wait a moment. I need to write a reply to Charlotte," Monica said hastily.
"Of course," Rosie said with a smile. "You don't need to rush. He just arrived a little while ago. In any case, he'll have to rest before continuing on his journey."
"Mm." Monica replied, though it was unclear if she had heard.
Meanwhile, in the Lanwan Viscountcy.
"Is this the citizen soldier faction you've adapted for me?" Charlotte asked dubiously, looking at the booklet Ferguson had sent her.
Charlotte had given Ferguson three months to adapt the citizen soldier faction according to her requirements. In the end, Ferguson had produced an answer in less than a month.
"Yes." Ferguson, his face an unhealthy shade of white, replied.
Charlotte casually flipped through a few pages, then nodded and said, "Alright, I'll hand it over to Mr. Cliff Chapman for inspection. You can go back and wait for news first."
"Eh? You're not letting me go?" Ferguson stood up in shock.
"Why would I let you go?" Charlotte said strangely. "I haven't inspected the goods yet. After Cliff Chapman finishes his inspection and confirms there are no problems, I have prepared a batch of talented young people to actually test your transcendent faction. If the test shows it's usable, only then can I let you leave. Don't worry, I won't go back on my word about your money. Just go back and wait."
"No, I don't want to go back! Please let me go! I'd rather die than go back!" Ferguson suddenly shouted excitedly, his face filled with fear.
"What's wrong with him?" Charlotte looked at Ferguson's state and asked Jarod Garcia, who was beside her, with a puzzled expression. The Miracle Pearl Flower told Charlotte that Ferguson's fear was completely genuine.
Due to an injury, Jarod Garcia had not participated in the Battle of Dorukocha and had stayed behind in the Lanwan Viscountcy. His main job was to guard the forcibly abducted Ferguson to prevent him from secretly escaping.
"Mr. Ferguson seems to be a little afraid of dark, small rooms," Jarod Garcia explained.
"This guy has claustrophobia?" Charlotte felt a bit surprised. Then she added with a puzzled look, "But why did it only manifest after he's been living here for so long?"
"Uh, it's like this..." Jarod Garcia looked embarrassed. "Mr. Ferguson wants to go out for a walk every now and then. If I don't let him out, he screams and shouts that he's not feeling well. I thought he was just faking it, so I paid no mind. A few days ago, he tried to escape through the window, so I had the doors and windows nailed shut. After that, Mr. Ferguson's condition got worse and worse..."
"But you had him locked in a box and transported across half the Oran Empire before," Charlotte said strangely.
"At that time, whenever Mr. Ferguson woke up and knocked on the box, I would knock him out again and pour a sedative down his throat," Jarod Garcia replied without thinking.
To treat a claustrophobic patient like that, you're too cruel! Charlotte thought to herself. Then she turned to Ferguson, held up the booklet in her hand, and asked, "I can give you a large, bright room. Please tell me the truth, is this transcendent faction adaptation complete?"
Ferguson opened his mouth, and after a long pause, he finally said dejectedly, "It's half-finished."
Even if it was only half-finished, the efficiency of this work exceeded Charlotte's expectations. However, she still tossed the booklet in front of Ferguson and said with a stern face, "Then go back and continue your work. If you dare to try to deceive me again, I will lock you in a coffin and bury you in the ground!"
"Yes..." Imagining such a scene, Ferguson's face turned even paler. He tremblingly picked up the booklet.
Charlotte had Anna take Ferguson away but kept Jarod Garcia behind.
"Sir Garcia, has your injury healed?" Charlotte asked.
"It has healed," Jarod replied without thinking.
"That's good," Charlotte nodded. "I have selected sixty knights from the Lanwan Viscountcy guards, plus forty squires awaiting enfeoffment, to form an Ambratu city guard. You will lead this new guard and be stationed in Ambratu County."
After the service period of the nine hundred-plus knights Stanley had left behind ended, they would definitely return to their own fiefs. But it was different for their squires. They were not enfeoffed, they were commoners, and sometimes the knights only treated them as slaves. No one would care if they didn't return to the Green Plains Duchy. So, Charlotte set her sights on those squires. Squires had received years of military training and were rich in combat experience. More importantly, many of them had decent transcendent aptitude. Charlotte selected the one hundred with the best aptitude from over two thousand squires and rewarded them with a Rite of Awakening.
Unfortunately, Charlotte's luck was not good this time. Only thirty-two of them awakened. Charlotte had used Lady Winona's channels to purchase the transcendent materials needed for these one hundred Rites of Awakening in the Lesalei Kingdom, spending all of the thirty hundred thousand As she had seized. In the end, she only got thirty-two transcendent individuals. This result made Charlotte feel depressed for a whole day, and she still hadn't recovered.
Although they had successfully awakened, these people still needed to have certain merits before they could be enfeoffed as knights. These were the squires awaiting enfeoffment that Charlotte had mentioned to Jarod.
"Remember, do not interfere with the new governor's work. Without my order, you are only responsible for guarding against external enemies. Even if blood flows in the streets of the city, you are not to meddle in any of Ambratu's internal affairs," Charlotte instructed again.
"Yes." Although he didn't understand what Charlotte meant, Jarod still accepted the appointment.
Not long after Jarod Garcia left with his orders, there was another knock on the door of Charlotte's study.
"Come in," Charlotte said.
Cecilia pushed the door open and entered.
"Is there something?" Charlotte asked.
"There are two things," Cecilia said. "First, the Little Sassinian City-State has sent an envoy who says he wants to discuss cooperation with you."
"Oh?" Charlotte laughed. "After waiting for so long, they finally sent someone. I thought Eric's lobbying of the Little Sassinian elders had failed."
"Are you really going to give that economic aid to the Little Sassinian City-State?" Cecilia asked with some hesitation.
"Of course," Charlotte nodded decisively.
"But we are not exactly well-off ourselves..." Cecilia frowned.
"Don't be so stingy. When you go fishing, you have to prepare some bait," Charlotte smiled.
"Alright, as you wish." Since Charlotte had said so, Cecilia could only obey. "The second thing is... a princess has sent you a gift." Cecilia looked at Charlotte with a somewhat strange expression.
"Which princess?" Charlotte couldn't remember at the moment.
"Princess Lena Hollowin of the Gatu Kingdom," Cecilia said.