Dinner was simple. There were ham, steak, fresh fish, vegetable salad, bread and butter, and ordinary cider. The servants lit candles in the room, and the simple wooden table was filled with food. Laing and Teresa sat on one side, while Aurora sat on the other. Laing also noticed that Teresa's official apprentice, Emma, stood behind Aurora like a maid.
No, it wasn't 'just like', it was' just like '. The apprentices of the Marvel Blue Council all started off as servants and servants to their teachers. Reality wasn't a fairy tale, and it wasn't like girls with magical talent could enter Platform 9 and 3 and enjoy their academy life after receiving an admission letter from Skyvault Castle. It wasn't like that.
After entering the council, the apprentices would start as servants or servants. Many apprentices would work from young to old. They would be servants and servants for the rest of their lives. At most, they would learn some level 0 spells and level 1 or 2 spells.
After a considerable number of apprentices were eliminated, the remaining ones would have the opportunity to receive magic education and lessons. It wasn't an easy life, either. They had to work as assistants to their mentors while receiving their education. I've already mentioned this before, so I won't repeat it here.
The large number of apprentices could only obtain a certain degree of freedom after they advanced to the elite rank and became official witches. At the same time, they had to start accepting apprentices and accept missions from the council or other nobles. They had to earn their own living expenses and research funds. Every wizard was a money burner. Someone once calculated that a wizard who wanted to reach the legendary rank or even the saint rank would need to spend at least seven to eight thousand crowns. Usually, they would need to spend more than ten thousand crowns, and it wouldn't be surprising if they spent forty to fifty thousand crowns.
For example, why was Veronica able to advance so quickly in the ten years since she came to Laing?
Laing was willing to spend a huge sum of money to help Veronica build a wizard tower. He had everything she needed.
He put down his pride and begged the high elf wizard (referring to Tegris) to teach her magic. At the same time, he tried to get a large number of books for her to study.
At the same time, he used a special method to continuously inject large amounts of his own spiritual energy into her body to help her cultivate. With the help of Laing's spiritual energy, it was difficult for her to be corrupted or negatively affected by the wind of magic.
As for the special method, well, you know.
Therefore, raising a Magus was indeed a very expensive thing to do. Very expensive.
At the same time, the rewards of successfully raising a wizard were also very amazing. What could a powerful wizard do? This point was already mentioned before, so I won't repeat it here.
All in all, Laing was really something. When he was just a baron, he could afford to raise Veronica's huge expenses. After he became an earl, he could raise two wizards at once. Looking at Laing and Teresa eating, Aurora's mind went round and round. No matter how much she disliked Laing, she didn't dare to say that she was dissatisfied with her son-in-law. In fact, if it weren't for the relationship between Teresa and Laing, the Empire's Royal Chief Wizard Galt and Chairman Margarita would have already taken action.
"Mother, what's wrong? You've only eaten a little." Teresa took the buttered bread from Laing's hand and pushed the soup in front of Laing. The sorceress wanted to enjoy the warmth of a family of three, but found that Aurora had stopped eating after eating a little.
"I don't have much of an appetite." Aurora forced herself to eat a few more mouthfuls. She squeezed out a smile and shook her head. "You guys eat."
Laing saw Aurora frowning slightly. Before he could say anything, Teresa immediately took over the topic. "Mother, are you not used to the food here?"
Aurora didn't say anything.
Clayon laughed inwardly. What no appetite? That was just an excuse. The real reason was that Aurora had lived like a princess for decades and was already used to a luxurious and refined life. This was a small village in the Bastogne Duchy. Even if the villagers had already taken out the best food for them, Aurora still couldn't accept the food.
The Garlan Witches loved luxurious life the most. This was the same for everyone. The only difference was that Veronica had lived a poor life in her early years, so she could accept good and bad. Teresa was also willing to endure when there was no choice after being taught a few times by Laing. Aurora, on the other hand, could not accept it. She had lived like this for decades. She ate the most exquisite food and lived in the best environment.
This was not a common problem for the Garlan Witches. The supreme mages of the Empire and the deans of the academies could all have their own private kitchens and specially provided food. It was up to them whether they needed it or not. Morgiana, the Lake Goddess Witch, needless to say, spellcasters always had privileges.
Laing deliberately did not let Aurora bring her private kitchen with her on this trip. By the time they returned, the specially provided food for the Sanctuary Witches had already been finished.
After the meal, the servants came in to clean and remove the table.
Outside the house, it was snowing heavily. The ancient land and villages of the Bastogne Duchy once again welcomed heavy snow. The white snow covered the distance as far as the eye could see. The fields and forests of Bastogne were dyed white. In the dark night, except for the torches outside the house and the patrolling army holding torches above the village, whether it was the night sky or the distant forest, everything was black.
Laing stood alone in front of the window, looking at the snow in the distance. His figure was as straight as a pine tree. Duke Musillon did not say a word. He seemed to be thinking about something.
Teresa stood up and walked to Laing's side to close the window. "Laing, it's snowing so heavily outside. Why are you still standing in front of the window?"
"I'm thinking about something." Laing shrugged.
"Even if you're thinking about something, don't think about it at the window." Teresa pulled Laing to sit in front of the fire in the middle of the big house. The sorceress whispered, "Mother has something to tell you."
"What is it?" Laing looked at Aurora.
"It's like this." Aurora swayed her slender black legs in front of Laing. "Laing, many nobles and knights in your territory are unmarried, right?"
"Yes, that's right." Laing nodded.
"Then, can you do me a favor? I have many official witches and even female councilors who are unmarried. "Aurora said without batting an eyelid." Can we … have a party? A bachelor party? "
"Uh …" Laing had a strange expression on his face after hearing this. He shook his head and said, "Lady Aurora, do you know Sally?"
"Yes, I do. What's wrong?" Aurora's mature and beautiful face was slightly surprised. "An official witch in the council, Sally Kohler. What's wrong?"
Laing smiled and talked about the past. When he was still a knight in Nord, one of his colleagues had once pursued this official witch. At that time, this official witch saw that Laing's colleague was a royal knight and agreed to get along with him first.
The first exchange was not bad. Both sides had a good chat and felt that they could get to know each other better.
That was when the knight's nightmare began.
Witches had high expectations for love. She wanted both parties to exchange at least one love letter every day. One time, the knight was out on a campaign and had no time to write a love letter. He ended up being black-faced and the witch demanded that he apologize with a bouquet of flowers.
Nord was only warm for three months of the year. The other nine months were cold and freezing. Where could he find flowers?
Seeing that there were no flowers, the witch's face darkened. In the end, the knight had no choice but to sneak into the palace's flowerbed that was enchanted by Aurora. He took the risk of being executed and secretly plucked a few roses. Only then was she satisfied.
After that, a famous theatre troupe from the Empire came to Nord to perform. Tickets cost ten crowns. When the witch said that she wanted to see it, the knight reluctantly paid for it. However, because he didn't pay enough, the witch ignored him for five or six days. On the day of the play, the knight personally rode to her residence on his horse and begged her for nearly two hours before she was allowed to come downstairs. By then, the play was already halfway through.
By the time the play was over, it was already very late. It was snowing heavily. The witch called Sally insisted that the knight be chivalrous and send her home. The knight had no choice but to brave the snow to send her home. He wasn't wearing a cloak and was drenched in snow.
The next day, the knight fell ill as he wished and was admitted to the Lady of Mercy's sanatorium.
"Isn't this … a little too much?" Aurora and Teresa furrowed their brows, especially Teresa. "Didn't she visit your colleague?"
"Yes, she went to see it." Laing nodded with a smile. "She went to Shalia's sanatorium and sat in front of my colleague's bed for two minutes. I was there at the time."
As he spoke, Laing's expression changed subtly. "Did you know? Looking at Madam Sally's expression when she visited, she was moved by herself. When she expressed her condolences, her words were filled with the happiness of being loved. I could tell that she was very satisfied by constantly tormenting my colleague. "
"But my colleague is not an idiot. After this incident, he found an excuse and said that it might not be suitable, and proposed to break off the relationship. Then, my dear Madam Sally was flustered and exasperated, and she spread the word that my colleague is a scumbag, a scum among men."
Aurora didn't know what to say.
Teresa didn't know what to say either.
After pausing for a moment, Aurora held her forehead helplessly. "No wonder Sally is still alone even though she's almost forty years old."
"After that incident, I didn't have any good feelings for you Garan Witches." Laing nodded with a smile. "I thought that I would never look for you witches."
"That's not right." Aurora immediately caught the core of the whole problem. "Then why did you choose to become partners with Veronica? Aren't you contradicting yourself? Where's your chivalry? "
Laing smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Humans can't escape the law of the true fragrance, but please be patient and listen to me first."
"As a man, I probably only have two tendencies when it comes to choosing a partner. The first is a consumer tendency, and the second is a helper tendency."
"The consumer tendency focuses on biology. I don't need her to help me with anything. Fair skin, beautiful long legs, stockings, high-heeled glasses, these are my biological preferences. In this case, I don't have high requirements for women. As long as they are obedient and help me with my physical and psychological needs, I will give them love and accommodation, care and a certain degree of tolerance."
Hearing Laing's words, Aurora, who was wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, immediately blushed. Teresa, on the other hand, thought of her own fashion preferences. She also nodded with a red face. "So Veronica satisfies your consumer tendency?"
"The second is a helper tendency." Laing ignored Teresa's question. "The helper tendency is also very simple. I need the other party to be able to help me in adventures, wars, and internal affairs. In this case, biology is not so important. But I want to emphasize that in this case, I will neither be a bootlicker, nor provide love and accommodation, nor will I take out real money for no reason. We are both independent individuals, and there is no clear division of labor. We are both equal."
"The Gallan Witches can't satisfy my consumer tendency, because witches like to be independent and have their own careers and magic to study. At the same time, they can't satisfy my helper tendency, because the Gallan Witches like to be coaxed by money and flattered all the way. After all, they are noble spellcasters, not ordinary people."
"Only Veronica is different. She is... different." Laing finally concluded. "Apart from her, Suria is also unique. She can satisfy both my needs at the same time. So when François proposed the engagement, I immediately agreed without thinking. But now it seems that Olica and Emilia have become like this. God knows what's going on."
"Then... what about me?" Teresa asked with some reluctance. "Am I that unbearable?"
"That's not it." Laing looked at the splashing flames in the fire and smiled. He shook his head. "When I first knew that my partner was you, I refused at first. But later I found that although you have a bit of a princess temper, you are generally not too bad. It's not to the extent that I can't get along with you. But if you didn't come to my territory and take the initiative to look for me, we would have been ordinary friends for life."
"Mr. Laing, you really have a lot of face. Do you know how determined Teresa was to take the initiative to come here to look for you?" Aurora said angrily. "Do you really think you are that great?"
"How great am I? Lady Aurora, you can go to the Old World and ask anyone. How great am I? " Laing looked at his mother-in-law with a cold smile. "What? You Garlan Witches are allowed to be picky, but I can't have my own conditions?"
"..." Aurora was speechless for a moment.
"Mother!" Teresa always felt very troubled. Why was the smell of gunpowder between Aurora and Laing always so strong?
"Lady Aurora, I want to say that in the marriage market, the essence is still men competing with men for women, and women competing with women for men." Laing stood up. "It's not men competing with women."
"So you agreed to hold a singles party?" Aurora said impatiently. Her mind was a little confused after being scolded by Laing.
"The reputation of the Garlan Witches in my territory is not very good." Laing shook his head. "I admit that a large part of the reason is that some men have tried to pursue the witches and apprentices, but they keep being frustrated. Therefore, they vent their anger everywhere and secretly spread unfavorable rumors about you. They can't wait to demonize you so that your reputation will be damaged. That way, they will feel better in their hearts. I will send people to deal with this. But at the same time, many small nobles and old guards have a very poor experience with the Garlan Witches and are dissatisfied and complaining."
"I will strengthen the management." Teresa said seriously.
"Very good. Long live understanding. When the time is right, I will arrange it." Laing lowered his head and thought for a moment. He then said, "By the way, Teresa, Lady Aurora, I have a request. Can you help me?"
"What request? If mother and I can do it, we will definitely help you. "Teresa also said seriously.
"Can you help me set up my own intelligence department?"
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