A grand welcome banquet was held in the liege's residence. This was the first banquet of such a scale since the completion of the building.
Gwen was not a person who liked banquets. Although Heti and Rebecca were born into the orthodox nobility, they were not keen on banquets (of course, the main reason was that they were poor). But even if they were not interested in banquets, they knew the necessity of such activities in the upper class. A well-prepared banquet often had multiple political, economic, and even military significance. It could not only show the economic strength of the host, but also in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere to complete deals that might have required negotiation in other places. It was undoubtedly quite cost-effective.
Gwen still had not built a 'castle' for himself in the traditional aristocratic way. He preferred to live in a comfortable house. So even though the territory had developed, he only added and expanded a part of the liege's residence. He also planned an area on the open space around the courtyard to build ancillary buildings. In the end, the liege's residence would probably become a building between a castle and a palace. This was undoubtedly a very novel thing for the duchess and princess from the north.
In the main hall where the banquet was held, musicians from the Leslie region were playing comfortable and pleasant music. After a few light and short dance songs, the guests at the banquet began to eat at the huge tables on both sides of the main hall. Men and women in luxurious clothes, including members of the diplomatic corps from the Captical, the remaining 'new nobles' who were eligible to attend the banquet, and important officials of the Duchy of Cecil and their relatives, shuttled back and forth in the banquet hall. Victoria passed through them like a light snowflake and came to Gwen.
"How do you feel?" Gwen looked at the northern duchess in front of him and raised the wine glass in his hand. "This place should be very different from the environment you are familiar with."
"There are few nobles and more officials with real power. This is indeed very different from the aristocratic banquets in the north. And there are a lot fewer rules here."
"The red tape is oppressive. We did not pay so much attention to it back then. In my opinion, those young people who pursue the classical aristocratic etiquette can come and try our Cecil's buffet banquet. The real classical, of course, should of course learn from me, the ancients."
"… That makes sense." The duchess was startled for a moment and showed a somewhat stiff smile. Then she looked around at the clean and bright hall and the large floor-to-ceiling windows in the distance. She could not help but sigh. "Compared to this banquet, your 'castle' is more impressive. I have never seen a castle in this form. When you designed it, you did not seem to think of it as a fortress … and did not set up a barracks in the courtyard?"
Gwen smiled. "Barracks? My regiment cannot be crammed into the courtyard of a castle, and the old castles are damp and cold, and it is necessary to light a fireplace in every room to make them habitable. It seems to me that they are not as comfortable as this house, for I am a man of seven hundred years. "
"Then there is probably no other 'old man' in the world who is healthier than you," Victoria said helplessly. She was not good at joking, but in the face of a humorous elder, she had to be flexible. "I noticed that there is no fireplace here. Is this castle heated by magic?"
"The heat source is located in the fire element array underground. It relies on a set of copper heat exchangers to transmit the heat to the whole building. There are interlayers in the walls where metal pipes and brick paths are buried," Gwen explained. "Not only here, but most of the buildings in the city have similar facilities. There is a large heat source station in the block. Its heat can heat the whole block. I designed it."
Victoria's eyes widened slightly. "You mean … everyone's house in this city is as warm as here?"
Gwen nodded. "Of course, and in fact, some of the new buildings are warmer than here. The heat exchangers installed in this house are the first generation, and the design of the pipes is not as good as the later ones. I am preparing to replace it next year."
Victoria did not pay attention to Gwen's words. She just showed a look of disbelief. "Building such a thing in the whole territory … I am afraid it is not an easy thing to do, right?"
"It is indeed a little difficult, but fortunately, we have magical technology," Gwen said with a smile. He looked into the eyes of the duchess and saw every change in her expression. "And if we plan well, we can centralize the heating of the whole block in a uniform manner. In fact, we will consume less things. Compared to burning firewood and charcoal and freezing people to death every winter, don't you think this is better?"
The duchess did not speak for a while.
Cecil City, a rapidly rising city in the 'barren land', was incredibly advanced.
This city reminded her of the City of Thousand Towers, where she lived for a long time when she was young to study magic. The City of Mages in the Violet Kingdom was equally advanced. The ubiquitous magic power made the whole city as if it was alive and continuously operated in a complex manner. However, if she really wanted to compare, Cecil City and the City of Thousand Towers were so different.
This newly rising city may have less heritage than the City of Thousand Towers, and some of the grand buildings that had weathered the vicissitudes of life, but its advanced aspects went deeper into all aspects, even into every civilian.
Is this the power of magical technology? What exactly was Magic Engineering?
After a short silence, she finally said, "Since I set foot on this land, I have been thinking, thinking about what magical technology is. I thought that the walls of Firmrock Fort were magitech technology. I thought that the carriages were magitech technology. I thought that the street lamps and the heating system of this house were magitech technology. I thought that it was a type of magic, a new type of convenient spell … But now, it seems that it is more complicated and novel than I thought. "
Gwen did not say anything. He just nodded and let the duchess continue.
After a short silence, Victoria Wold spoke again. Wilde opened his mouth again. "Magical technology … is for ordinary people, right?"
"Ordinary people can indeed control it and benefit from it."
Victoria took a deep breath.
She did not ask Gwen about the principle of this technology. Such a childish question would only make her seem abrupt and shallow. She also did not ask whether Gwen knew what it meant to put the power of magic in the hands of ordinary people. She did not believe that the promoter of this technology did not think of this. She just silently thought for a while, and then seemed to change the topic. "You relied on it to arm your army and then defeated the coalition of more than 40 nobles in the south?"
Gwen smiled, and Rebecca's voice came from the side. "They took the initiative to attack!"
Victoria turned her head and saw the heir of Cecil standing by the side with a piece of cake. Her eyes were wide open, and there was a little cream at the corner of her mouth. Her face was full of pride, but the next second, the girl exclaimed, "Wow — Aunt said that I'm not allowed to interrupt today …"
"It's okay, we're just chatting." Victoria nodded to Rebecca. "You're very beautiful today, Marchioness Rebecca."
When Rebecca heard the greeting, she suddenly reacted. The girl who had defeated all the etiquette teachers and failed the etiquette class hurriedly put the cake aside and tried to salute according to what she remembered. "Hello, Duchess Wold Wold, you're also very … Eh?"
She finally realized what Victoria had just called her.
However, Gawain merely stood to the side with a smile on his face, watching quietly like an outsider who had grasped the situation in advance.
"Marchioness?" Rebecca stared, pointed to her nose and asked the duchess, "Are you talking about me?"
"Am I wrong? According to Ansu law, the first heir of a noble who has reached adulthood will automatically inherit the title of a nobility one level lower than the father before officially inheriting the title, "Victoria said while looking at Rebecca, but this was obviously not just for Rebecca to hear." Gwen? Duke Cecil has already opened up the land in the south that suits his title, so according to the agreement in the White Silver Fortress, the rights that the Cecil family should enjoy will also be restored. "
Her eyes finally fell on Gwen, and the latter just nodded lightly, indicating that he already knew about this.
The expression on the duchess' face did not change, but she sighed slightly in her heart.
Just like Wales back then? As Moen said, things that had already fallen into the hands of the other party were not considered gifts. For such an ancestor-level figure who did not need to care about the attitude of the Second Dynasty, the 'recognition' from Saint Sunil was worthless.
Rebecca was a little confused. She knew about the 'agreement in the White Silver Fortress' that Victoria mentioned because she was also there when the agreement was made. Back then, her ancestor took back the permanent development rights from seven hundred years ago from Francis II, and the Second Dynasty also announced that they recognized the title of Duke of the ancestor, but there was a restriction on it. Gwen? Cecil's title of Duke would only be his personal permanent honor and could not be inherited. Unless he could use the development rights to open up the minimum amount of land that suits the title of Duke in his lifetime, then the title of Duke of the Cecil family and the related rights would be restored …
Back then, the big shots in the White Silver Fortress seemed to think that it was impossible for the ancestor to open up a Duke's territory in his lifetime.
In fact, the ancestor did not open up a Duke's territory in the wasteland. He killed all the nobles in the Southern Border, which was completely different from what was said back then …
Rebecca, the new Marchioness Cecil, blinked her cute eyes. She was drawing formulas in her brain that was good at dealing with machinery and fireballs, trying to figure out the difference between 'unclaimed land after killing people' and 'true unclaimed land in the wasteland'. However, before she could figure it out, she saw that her ancestor was already casually chatting with the duchess. The ancestor did not seem to be surprised at all, and the duchess did not mention the details of the agreement at all …
Rebecca thought for a while and suddenly felt that politics was really amazing. It turned out that everyone could be shameless …
In front of Gwen, Victoria raised her glass slightly. "Now that the kingdom is in turmoil, with a powerful Guardian Duke guarding the Southern Border, everyone in the White Silver Fortress is much more at ease."
Gwen also raised his glass with a smile on his face. "That's great. It seems that an outdated old man like me is quite popular."
The two Guardian Dukes greeted each other, clinked their glasses in a friendly manner, and exchanged pleasantries. Their thoughts were completely opposite to what they said, and they left the most perfect picture for the reporters who were carrying the magic network terminal at the side of the hall.
Then Gwen was ready to leave. As the host of this banquet, he had more than one guest to entertain.
Him and Victoria? Wylde still had a lot to talk about, but he was not in a hurry. The really important things would be discussed after the banquet.
Looking at her ancestor who turned to leave, Rebecca waved her hand. "Ancestor, can I have a few more cakes today?"
Gwen did not look back. "Just don't eat too much."
"Ah! I know! "
A moment later, another plate of cake appeared in Rebecca's hand. The new Marquess was all smiles as she showed it off to Victoria. "You should try this — Bauer? Mr. Said's cake is as good as the meat he grills. "
How carefree.
Victoria? Wylde looked at Rebecca, at the girl who had smeared cream on her face and was not behaving like a Marchioness at all. He could not help but shake his head.
"Not eating?"
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