NOVEL NEXT Chapter 84: Those in-between days
During those days before Rian’s 15th birthday though, many things happened in Sedaveria and beyond.
Florence Sage stood close to Ayden in Ayden’s cloth-covered greenhouse, taking a look at the various plants that Ayden had been breeding and grafting.
Ayden explained the different properties of each small plot in the greenhouse, referencing back to his books. “…That said, I don’t have a clear understanding of your fief’s land and weather conditions.”
“The Sage fief has no shortage of water so drought resistance isn’t important for us,” Florence said. “A breed that requires more water is fine if it can provide a significant increase in yield.”
“Then take these back,” Ayden said, motioning to a group of wheat seedlings and another group of rice seedlings. “Your local soils will be different, so it’ll be best to experiment locally before widespread planting.”
Florence agreed. She asked Ayden about the breeding process. The two of them discussed how the spells used could be improved and the possible behaviour of these crops without the influence of spell-work. Florence had a much stronger magical background than Ayden, while Ayden had a stronger physical understanding of how plants worked (nutrients, ‘genes’, ‘chemical signalling’ and so forth). Together, they had lots to talk about.
The two of them naturally wandered out to the Rosewood experimental fields, where the Rosewood staff had planted some of the new varieties already. There were clear contrasts in colour and vitality between the fields planted with different varieties.
They were in the middle of talking when a certain person came over. Florence glanced back first and caught Prince Rian’s sour expression.
Prince Rian quickly relaxed his face and smiled pleasantly. “Good afternoon, Lady Sage, Earl Rosewood.”
“Hi,” Ayden said.
“Good afternoon, Your Highness,” Florence said. “I should excuse myself. Thank you for your time, Ayden.”
Prince Rian blinked innocently. “No, no, why don’t both of you keep talking, there’s no need to mind me.”
Florence: “…” If that was the case, why did you come out here? Prince Rian was quite the jealous child.
“No, Ayden and I have talked a lot. I’d like to return to my rooms to rest and think about matters,” Florence said.
“See you at dinner then,” Ayden said. “We can talk more later.”
Florence saw how Prince Rian’s smile cracked a little.
“Yes, that’ll be good,” Florence said.
Florence left, feeling a little helpless and exasperated. When would Prince Rian grow out of his jealousy?
Alexius was a growing boy. His servants kept a record of his height, and he was amazed that he used to be so much smaller! He was also getting stronger, both physically and magically.
Unfortunately, Rian was still taller and still stronger! No fair!
But enough about Rian.
Alexius was happy when he was able to pass moderate proficiency in nonverbal spell-casting. Count Aegean tested him and agreed he could progress to trying out some direct-magic manipulation under supervision.
“Prince Alexius, you’ve progressed very fast recently,” Count Aegean praised.
Alexius beamed. “Yes! I want Ayden to teach me flying and how to cast magical effects as soon as possible!”
Count Aegean: “…”
But enough about Count Aegean.
Another thing Alexius didn’t like about Rian was how Rian was getting rich by collaborating with Ayden Rosewood!
Yes, when Alexius was younger (a year ago), he didn’t like work and meetings. He still didn’t like work and meetings, but he liked money! It wasn’t fair!
During one of their afternoon teas when Ayden was visiting the Capital, Alexius firmly inserted himself between Rian and Ayden.
“Ayden, can we talk privately afterwards?”
Rian frowned. “I don’t think your nonverbal casting is good enough to start on direct-magic manipulation yet.”
Alexius ignored his annoying older brother. “Ayden?”
“Sure, we can talk.”
“What about me, Earl Rosewood?” Rian said.
“You’re older than Alexius,” Ayden said. “Be nice to him.”
Rian huffed, while Alexius giggled.
As promised, Ayden followed Alexius into his quarters, leaving behind his annoying older brother.
“I want to collaborate with you to make something!” Alexius said directly once they both sat down on facing sofas.
Ayden raised an eyebrow. “Sure. Do you have anything in mind?”
“No!”
Ayden’s lips twitched in amusement. “Let me think…there is something we could try to make together.”
Alexius leaned forward in anticipation. “Yes?”
“Swivel chairs.”
Alexius blinked. He tilted his head. “What’s that?”
“They’re chairs with wheels. No more scraping chair legs across the floor with these. You can sit on them and spin around.”
Alexius made a confused face as he imagined four carriage-like wheels stuck on each leg of a chair. “I don’t get it.”
“Hand me some paper, and I’ll draw it out for you.”
As Ayden drew and explained, Alexius slowly started to understand.
“Oh…! Oooh! But why little wheels? What if the chair levitated instead? I heard you and Rian are working on a flying carriage…”
Ayden nodded. “That’s a good idea.”
Alexius puffed up in pride. “Okay! Let’s do this!”
“Then let’s talk about the different things we’ll need to do…”
Yes, it was a work meeting, but it wasn’t that bad. Alexius was filled with excitement. Hah, take that, Rian!
Count Aegean was once again left with a servant holding a big box of delicious ingredients from the Rosewood fief, and no prince to tutor on yet another afternoon.
These days, Prince Rian had become unabashed about skipping tutoring lessons whenever Earl Rosewood came around. His two main excuses were that they were going to practice magic together, or they were going to talk business.
Technically, the two did practice magic together and did talk business together. However, Count Aegean was sure they did other things too. Why else would Prince Rian continuously update his privacy spells?
Count Aegean was conflicted. He benefited from Prince Rian and Earl Rosewood. They gave him their latest products. Earl Rosewood gave him a lot of food. Earl Rosewood bought a lot of seafood from the Aegean fief. And Earl Rosewood also motivated Prince Rian to study harder.
But they must be creating mischief together in private! Count Aegean didn’t know what exactly, but he could tell from Prince Rian’s sparkly eyes.
“My lord, shall I ask the chefs to cook something for you with these ingredients, or shall I put them in cold storage first?” the servant asked politely.
“Have them cook something. Prepare my carriage to return to the Aegean house.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Sigh, it wasn’t just Count Aegean who liked Earl Rosewood’s food. His family liked it too.
On a day after tax collection, Master Otto Silvercharm could be found in his office in the Rosewood summer manor, seated on his new swivel chair that Earl Rosewood made in collaboration with Prince Rian and Prince Alexius. He sat in a large office room with four other accountants plus his assistant and realised that this year, he didn’t feel as stressed about the Rosewood accounts.
It wasn’t his job to worry about the relative amounts of expenditure and income. His actual job was to make sure that their values were accurately recorded and catch out any funny-looking numbers.
And whenever Earl Rosewood needed more money, he’d find it somehow, either from Prince Rian’s pocket or by introducing a new product to the Sedaverian market.
Like these new swivel chairs that were much easier to use than traditional chairs. Otto’s version had wheels because there was something unsettling about sitting on a floating chair.
Compared to Earl Rosewood, who ran/flew around on various business, Otto’s life was much more relaxed. He had regular, stable work hours, with decent breaks and good food, and he even had holidays.
Speaking of breaks, it was time for his afternoon tea. As Otto got up and corralled the other accountants to go on their break too, he casually looked out the windows of his office. Earl Rosewood was walking out in the agricultural farm fields, inadvertently terrorising the farmers. A hardworking boy right there.
Otto didn’t mind Earl Rosewood’s actions anymore (for the most part). He headed to the tea room to enjoy his afternoon break.
The amount the Rosewood fief was paying in taxes had increased again. The Imperial treasury staff at the Imperial Palace were impressed when Master Silvercharm, Solicitor Carmine and Earl Rosewood handed over the relevant documents and gold.
After doing this, Prince Rian, Count Aegean and a group of Royal Guards came over.
“You didn’t need to walk all the way here,” Earl Rosewood said drily.
“A little exercise is good for the heart,” Prince Rian replied smoothly.
Then, Prince Rian and Earl Rosewood headed off together with the Royal Guards, leaving Count Leopold Aegean, Master Otto Silvercharm and Solicitor Charles Carmine standing outside the Imperial treasury.
“Good men, please join me for tea,” Count Aegean said.
They were all men of the aristocracy. They retreated to a drawing room in the Imperial Palace. Servants served them tea and snacks before leaving the room.
After some miscellaneous talk about the weather, the conversation inevitably turned to their charges/employer: Prince Rian and Earl Rosewood.
Just like other teenage boys, Prince Rian and Earl Rosewood made a lot of trouble.
They ruminated on the past, and Leopold Aegean sighed.
“Prince Rian was much more obedient before Earl Rosewood appeared. I’m afraid my hair will turn white prematurely!”
“Charles, I don’t understand how you can be so calm all the time!” Otto Silvercharm said, half in jest, half in seriousness.
Charles Carmine gave a small shrug. “In comparison to my older brother’s temper, Earl Rosewood is friendly.”
The three thought about Baron Carmine, the baron who had lost a duel against the 12-year-old Earl Rosewood. Unfortunately for Baron Carmine, that was still what most people recalled when mentioning him.
Baron Carmine had become more resentful as a result, and that made other people in the extended Carmine family annoyed, with some wanting to take the ‘baron’ title instead. In short, there was a lot of drama, which Charles Carmine avoided by simply not going home very often.
He, too, disapproved of his older brother. It was understandably humiliating to lose to a child. But the way Baron Carmine acted reinforced that fact in people’s memories.
“And, if I may speak honestly, we have benefited from Earl Rosewood,” Charles Carmine said.
Otto Silvercharm nodded. It was true.
“But couldn’t he and Prince Rian go about it in a less chaotic manner?” Leopold Aegean complained.
“I don’t think they can,” Charles Carmine said. “However, we must concede that you’ve had it the worse.”
Otto Silvercharm nodded again. It was true.
Leopold Aegean made a face. “And what do you think they’re doing right now?”
“Maybe a new product?” Otto guessed.
“Or a new law,” Charles said.
“Or they’re plotting to go recklessly flying,” Leopold muttered.
There was never a dull moment with those two boys around.
Prince Rian was ‘merely’ a stress-inducer for Count Aegean but was an unmovable pain in the side for Duke Schauss.
Duke Schauss had checked Cassiopeia’s contract with Earl Rosewood and Prince Rian multiple times and quietly gathered opinions from other experts. He didn’t want Cassiopeia’s magic to be tied precariously to such a document and set of rules.
He also wanted to know what had been said during that fateful meeting.
But the terms of the contract were clear. Any misstep in an attempt to break the contract could restrict Cassiopeia’s magic. The safest method was to get all three signors to agree to dissolve the agreement.
But it was clear that Prince Rian wouldn’t agree. Why would he, when he went to the trouble of setting up the contract in the first place? He must have revealed a secret, but Duke Schauss couldn’t guess what despite all of his private investigations.
Prince Rian was crafting a clear reputation for himself: soft and friendly exterior, but hard and sharp-minded interior. He knew when to show his soft side and when to show his hard side, giving a hint of what kind of king he would become.
Prince Rian showed his kindness with his Royal Healers’ Service
He showed his hardness by his subtle pressure on Duke Schauss to cooperate.
“…And now, I’d like to invite Duke Schauss up to speak about Sedaveria’s recent developments,” Prince Rian said with a smile. He stepped aside.
Duke Schauss hid his displeased edge as he carried his papers up to the podium. He turned and faced the group of local and foreign magical medical researchers, plus the serious Earl Rosewood also sitting in the audience.
“First, I’d like to welcome all to the first annual meeting on preventing communicable diseases…”
Queen Mira kept an eye on Prince Rian’s and Earl Rosewood’s activities.
She knew the progress of their flying carriages. She drafted and legislated new air traffic regulations for the Capital before the carriages could float over public roads. She helped Rian along with his Royal Healers’ Service. She agreed to finance some medical research projects chosen by Rian. She contributed aid when the Kingdom of Angio had a famine and Earl Rosewood sent some relief food over. She accepted the gifts that Earl Rosewood sent to the Imperial family.
As the days, weeks, and months passed by, the Capital Investigators found nothing new about Earl Rosewood’s background. It was as though he suddenly appeared out of thin air. But the lineage test (and subsequent secret tests) all showed that he was indeed the son of the late Roland Rosewood and Marie Rosewood.
His loyalty to Prince Rian remained unfaltering.
It was tiring for Queen Mira to remain suspicious of Earl Rosewood. Eventually, her resistance was worn down and she started to accept that Earl Rosewood was honestly in Rian’s faction. She had to admit that by having Earl Rosewood by his side, Rian was stronger.
With all the money and people that Rian had gathered over the last few years, he was more than qualified for the next step. His 15th birthday celebrations were going to be grand.
I hope it makes the time-skip transition a little softer ^_^
Thank you to ‘Ko-fi supporter’, lilbabydino, Sealunis and Turducken for the monetary support! And thank you to everyone reading, this story is now longer than Dao Of The Salted Fish O_O
Also, august finnitesimal drew more fanart! I quote:
August: imagine going through all that effort and then you wake up a girl again. ftmtftm king
Well, things are going to be different again soon~ See you in the next chapter~ (^_−)☆