"You're that Roddy, right? I'm Catherine of the Bolton Family. There have been a lot of rumors about you in Efta recently. They all say that you've become the guest of Sally and Duke. Hehe, that's why those untouchables like to talk about it. I don't believe those messy stories … "
Roddy raised his eyebrows, not quite understanding what she was talking about.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm just interested in your past deeds … Well, do you have time to come to my manor for a good chat?"
As she spoke, she licked her lips with the tip of her tongue. Her fingers seemed to inadvertently brush across her chest, and her eyes were full of ambiguity.
Roddy was so frightened that he swallowed his saliva.
In fact, he was making a mountain out of a molehill. Most of the nobles in this era were very open-minded. At a banquet, young men and women who did not know each other would directly have a "one-night stand" … It was completely as common as drinking water and eating.
However, after the surprise, Roddy only felt that it was a little funny. He shook his head and said, "Miss Catherine, I'm just a baron of a marginal territory. Those things are just rumors. Besides … I'm already engaged."
"Hehehe, engaged, tsk tsk …"
Catherine's smile suddenly turned cold. Not to mention engagement, after marriage, the nobles would have children all over the place and have all kinds of affairs to find women. Roddy's reason was really lousy. She opened her mouth and was about to continue, but seeing Roddy's impervious appearance, she snorted coldly and turned to walk away.
Closing her delicate folding fan, Catherine took a few steps and came to the side of her close friends. These noble ladies, who were also wearing heavy makeup and lace corsets and long skirts, immediately surrounded her —
"I didn't expect Catherine to be rejected one day ~"
"Isn't your big breasts invincible? Why is it useless against this country bumpkin? "
"Go away, don't provoke me. If you're willing to bet, you must accept your loss. That set of jewelry is yours."
It turned out that Catherine found Roddy entirely because of the bet between her and her sisters. To put it bluntly, these resentful women were too bored. They found it funny to see a different existence like Roddy, so they "drew lots" to choose someone to tease.
"How is it? Tell me what it feels like! "
He's a complete idiot. My breasts are about to fall out, but his eyes don't even blink. I really wonder if he likes men … "Kathlyn held up her proud capital and waved the small fan in her hand elegantly." Those rumors are probably fake. This kind of person doesn't look like a noble at all. Look at his clothes, it's like he's afraid of people noticing him. "
"Heh, actually you're angry because you were rejected, right? It seems that our Catherine has never failed before! "
"Come on, I didn't even use my full strength. These men … are all like wild dogs. If you throw a little meat at them, they will come wagging their tails. Cut."
The Bolton Territory was one of the wealthier territories in the south of Eiffta. As the daughter of the liege, Catherine had a higher status among the women. Therefore, no one made fun of her after she said that. After all, in the eyes of the nobles, Roddy's existence was nothing more than a "joke."
Just laugh, and you can throw it away.
Of course, Roddy didn't know what the women were thinking. He was looking at the two liege lords who had just appeared in front of him. "Viscount An Ru, Count Bolachi," he greeted them warmly. "It's been a while since we last met. I was quite surprised by the 'gifts' you gave me."
He chuckled as if these two nobles had really given him some kind of treasure.
An Ru, who was about to say something sarcastic, suddenly had an interesting look on his face. He opened his mouth slightly and paused for a second. Then, he forced a smile and said, "Baron Roddy must be joking. But this time, are you here to help Sally and Duke? I'm afraid Baron Roddy won't be able to help with the Cohen Mountains. "
This was a tit-for-tat answer. Everyone knew what the other party was here for. Some things didn't need to be explained.
"The Cohen Mountains? You mean the mountains next to the Da Vinci Forest? Does it have anything to do with this hunting expedition? "
Roddy looked at him with a puzzled expression. His rhetorical question immediately made An Ru and Bolachi look at each other. But after some thought, they realized that Roddy wasn't faking it. According to the common nobles, the fewer people who knew about the Fuser silver mine, the better. If Sally wanted to keep the Fuse Silver Mine to herself without telling Rody, it would be normal for her to think whatever she wanted.
"Heh, I misspoke just now. My brain isn't working so well. The hunting expedition will begin tomorrow. I hope Baron Roddy will find something and enjoy … the pleasure of hunting. "
The two of them didn't bother to exchange pleasantries. They left after throwing out this vague threat. Roddy looked at their backs and sneered.
"With your little exploration knowledge … Tsk tsk."
He shook his head and sat down on an armchair.
At the same time, on the Cohen Mountains, about forty kilometers away from the meeting place, teams of slaves were digging deeper into the mines, accompanied by the shouts of the overseers. "Jingle!"
As the time requested by Viscount An Ru and the others was too short, the "support for the mines", which should have taken half a year to complete, could only be hastily propped up with wood. Outside every mine, there was a lot of wood temporarily stacked up. Obviously, they were waiting for the hole to be dug deeper.
The miners worked day and night, sifting out the rare thorium they excavated. Viscount An Ru's butler recorded it on the accounts and carefully put it away. Under the illumination of the torches, the overseers' urging voices echoed in everyone's ears. The situation here was similar to the other mines in the kingdom. Everyone was repeating the monotonous work.
But in a few of the mines, miners kept reporting strange things they encountered.
"Lord overseer, the rock layer suddenly hardened. It's all black stone. It's hard for us to dig …"
"Don't give me any f * cking excuses! We've been digging for so many days, and you're telling me that we can't dig anything?! "
"But —"
"Crack!"
The cracking of the whip interrupted the dissatisfaction of the miners, and inadvertently covered the light flapping of the pin-tailed sand cone in the air. Nata, the wood elf, who was riding on the giant bird, tried her best to widen her eyes, and with the help of her talent of night vision, she tried her best to remember the locations of the mines marked by torches in her field of vision.
Soon, the black shadow quietly returned to the brightly lit Pacaro City.
*****
"An auction?"
At the banquet, Sally frowned and looked at Viscount An Ru in front of her. After the long greeting ceremony, the main event regarding the ownership of the Fuser silver mine was about to begin. But she did not expect that the nobles would choose to auction it off.
"Baron Panini believes that it will be difficult for him to fully exploit the resources of the mine, so he is willing to auction it off. Of course, the final auction price will still be paid to you as taxes."
That sounded fair enough. But when she thought about it carefully, Sally's expression darkened.
The information on her side was incomplete, and her funds were not as rich as the alliance of nobles. Just these two fatal flaws were enough to put her at an extreme disadvantage.
Reject?
Currently, Sally did not have the power to veto everything. If she were to say 'no', then this mine would definitely have no fate with her, and her goal of coming to the Da Vinci Territory after expending so much effort would also be completely unachievable.
So now, she could only bite the bullet and agree. She looked at Roddy as if asking for help. But the latter was talking to the Wood Elf at the edge of the banquet, seemingly unaware of Sally's predicament.
"In an hour, we will directly hold the auction here. Everyone will be watching from the side. The list of lords who are qualified to participate in the auction is here. I hope that … Sally and Duke will have the expected harvest tonight."
Viscount Anru handed over a piece of parchment. His smile was very sincere, but the mockery in his eyes could not be concealed. This made Sally very annoyed.
The warm-up of the banquet was almost done. The music played by the band changed from a soothing concerto to a dance song. This meant that the entire banquet was about to enter the 'introduction' stage. Usually, the 'introduction' was initiated by the person with the highest status in the banquet. So when the music started, most people looked at the Lord of Eftar …
Sally was already in a bad mood. She could not help but frown when she felt the gazes around her. She had no interest in dancing at all. She was about to decline, but before she could say anything, Viscount Sienna appeared in front of her.
The heir of the most influential noble family in the south of the kingdom was elegant. In terms of "image," he could be said to be superior to all the other young talents present. Obviously, it was not without reason that he was like a fish in water in the nobles' circle.
Sienna's appearance seemed to be what everyone expected. The other nobles who were ready to make a move immediately gave up on the idea of inviting Sally to dance. Sienna looked around and gently adjusted his extremely eye-catching ice blue suit. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly with an undisguised smugness.
"Sienna? Lexridge? Feng? Milnor, may I have the honor of inviting you, the beautiful Lord of Efta, to join us in this grand banquet? "
Complicated and tongue-twisting words were a compulsory course for nobles to flatter each other. Sienna had no resistance against a powerful and beautiful girl like Sally. From the first time he saw her, all kinds of thoughts had popped into his mind. However, at this moment, he looked completely like a gentleman. Not only did he not kiss her hand to express his goodwill, but he also bowed respectfully to her.
To an ordinary noble lady, such an elegant young man would definitely be the first choice for a dance partner. But Sienna knew that … he would not succeed so easily.
As expected, Sally shook her head. "I'm sorry, I'm not feeling too well. I won't be dancing today."
Her reply was very stiff without any unnecessary modesty. But Sienna was not shallow. The smile on his face did not change, and he immediately replied, "I'm afraid no one dares to say that they are qualified to dance for such a grand banquet, right? If I may be so bold, with the beauty and wisdom of Duke Sally, I'm afraid you are the only suzerain present here who is qualified to be the first suzerain. "
The silent coercion caused Sally to frown slightly. A foreign feudal lord's son had come to her territory to flaunt his prowess. This was no different from a slap in the face. However, looking at the other party's attitude, it seemed that a direct rejection would be of no use.
This was the flaw of the young suzerain's lack of prestige. If Sally was half as powerful as her father, Angmar, she would not allow such a person to jump around in front of her now.
The nobles present looked at the two of them with interest. No one planned to stop them … Obviously, everyone was waiting for Sally to make a fool of herself.
But just as the two of them faced each other in silence, a sentence suddenly broke the silence.
***
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