Early the next morning—
A small convoy of soldiers escorting several carriages slowly arrived at the entrance of Ron's Wonderful Flower Shop.
Lyle stepped out of the barbecue shop next door and walked toward the carriages.
Seeing Mia and Eileen disembark, Lyle bowed politely. "Princess Mia, Miss Eileen."
"Good morning, Lyle," Mia greeted him with a bright smile. "I'm going in to say goodbye to Big Brother Ron. Want to come?"
"I already said my goodbyes during his morning training. I'll wait for you here."
"Alright, then hop in the carriage first. Eileen and I will be out soon."
Mia and Eileen stepped into the flower shop and saw a nun seated at the tea table on the first floor.
They continued upstairs and found Ron and Nora having breakfast.
Nora quickly stood up and greeted the guests awkwardly but politely.
"Big Brother Ron, we're heading back to the capital today. Just came to say goodbye!" Mia said sweetly.
"Mm. Have you eaten?" Ron asked as he wiped his mouth.
"Yep! We'll be leaving right after this."
Ron nodded, stood up, and walked toward the study. "Wait a moment—I have something for you."
"Eh? A farewell gift?" Mia asked, curiosity sparkling in her eyes as she followed.
Ron motioned for her to come into the study and gave Eileen an apologetic glance, asking her to wait in the living room before closing the door.
"So secretive?" Mia tilted her head suspiciously.
Ron chuckled and pulled a chibi Ron puppet fruit from his [Backpack], handing it to her.
"…?"
Mia tilted her head, puzzled, as she took the puppet and examined it closely.
"A mini Ron doll? You could've just given me this downstairs—why make it such a big deal?"
She squeezed it a little. "It's so soft—what's it made of?"
Ron said nothing. Instead, he projected his consciousness into the puppet.
The next moment, the puppet's mouth opened and spoke in Ron's voice:
"Stop poking me, that tickles."
"Ah!" Mia let out a yelp and nearly dropped the doll.
She stared wide-eyed at Ron, then at the puppet, utterly baffled.
"Was… was that the puppet talking? Or was it you? Ventriloquism?"
"I'm literally sitting in your hands—who do you think it is?" the puppet replied again.
"Whoa!" Mia's eyes lit up in amazement. "That's so cool!"
"No matter how far apart we are," Ron explained, "I can use this puppet to speak to you. I'm giving it to you—take it back to the capital."
"If anything comes up with the hotpot restaurant, you can talk to me through this puppet."
"I'll also check in with it regularly. Saves time on sending letters—pretty convenient."
Mia's eyes sparkled, and she nodded excitedly. Then she asked, "Does the puppet need a power source? Like element stones or something?"
"This is a device that only a Chosen One blessed by the Goddess can use. All you need is the divine mark." As Ron spoke, he activated his divine sigil, revealing the glowing ear of wheat symbol on his forehead.
"I see…" Mia looked a little disappointed. "That's a shame. If other people could use it, this would be way more convenient than a teleportation array."
Ron shrugged with a grin. "Anyway, it's yours now. Put it away—I'm sure someone's still waiting on you."
"Okay~" Mia happily stashed the puppet into her storage space and followed Ron back out of the study.
"We'll be taking our leave then," Mia and Eileen said as they bowed.
"Safe travels," Ron waved. "And remember to take good care of Lyle for me."
"Don't worry, Big Brother Ron!"
After sending them off, Ron returned to his study and picked up the files that Guy had prepared for him.
When he gave Mia the puppet earlier, he hadn't revealed everything it could do. He'd even lied, saying only Chosen Ones could use it.
That was to hide just how powerful the puppet truly was.
Though the puppet itself had no combat power, its utility was far too great.
So for now, Ron had no intention of revealing its full potential.
Not even to his own sister.
Mia only knew that Ron could talk through the puppet. She had no idea he could also move the puppet's body freely.
A puppet limited to communication was only slightly more useful than a magic message scroll. With the added restriction of "only usable by a Chosen One," it wouldn't draw too much attention.
If it weren't for a related side mission from the system, Ron wouldn't have given the puppet away at all.
Thinking this, he tried linking to the puppet now in Mia's possession.
Because it was inside her storage space, the connection was weak and intermittent. He couldn't move the puppet's body—only use its vision to see.
It was like trying to stream videos with horrible Wi-Fi—nothing would load, and he could only manage some basic text.
Oddly, the puppet he left in the dimensional plane had no such restrictions. There, he could freely control it for farm work.
Maybe it's because that one was "system-generated"? Ron mused while peeking through the puppet's limited sight.
He saw something pink and white right in front of him.
All around it were scattered garments—fancy dresses, simple shirts, and... some clearly intimate items for girls.
Ron instantly cut off the link, face burning.
...Is this the real way to use a puppet...?
No. This indecent power... I'll just keep it to myself. No need to curse others with it.
Ron sat in silence for a moment, then made a firm decision: unless necessary, he would not give puppet fruits to others or turn them into someone else's puppet.
If Mia ever found out what it could really do, she'd be so embarrassed she might die.
I'm doing this for her sake, really!
Ron forced himself to refocus and flipped through the documents in his hand, pushing aside any more "unethical" puppet experiments.
The documents were all about factory and land approvals.
Thanks to his status as the Seventh Prince, the paperwork had been fast-tracked.
Factory workers were already being recruited. A parcel of land near the Darle River on the city's outskirts had also been approved.
Ron had submitted claims for land all the way from the Darle River to the base of the Manchester Mountains.
But because the area was too vast—even in a remote location—it couldn't be granted all at once.
So only the initial section selected by Guy had been approved for now.
Which was enough for the early phase.
Ron also had a prayer house built on the land, where the recruited nuns could live once they arrived.
With this, the preparations for Element Card production were nearly complete.
Now, he just had to wait for the nuns to arrive.
Once they did, he'd plant the Chameleon Radish, and everything could finally begin.