Chapter 74

Chapter 47: Days of Ease and Comfort

Percival was sentenced to work in the central foundry smelting metal, that kind of work where he had to bare his chest and sweat profusely.

But he didn’t feel unhappy about it.

“I never liked being a hunter anyway. Fighting with people isn’t my thing, and I don’t have that talent. Compared to that, I prefer fiddling with new gadgets.”

These were his exact words. Perhaps that’s why Madame arranged for him to learn at the central foundry.

My lie was never exposed because two days later, my period came as it always did.

It was heavy as usual, but I didn’t stop training with the Duke. Every morning, I persistently sought his advice on mastering the manipulation of Order Force until I was utterly exhausted, only then would I go for lunch.

Madame remained silent on the matter, neither supporting nor discouraging me further.

She just kept making different kinds of desserts for me every day.

Clothes almost always got damaged. Pei Luo’s wardrobe was mostly filled with exquisite and beautiful dresses, which were obviously expensive. Sometimes, it felt quite painful.

But there was no other way.

In the afternoons, the Duke usually stayed at the central foundry. On one hand, he was supervising the progress of Thirteen Moon’s procedures, and on the other, he seemed to be secretly investigating something.

I would take a nice nap, and after waking up, practice alone in the castle grounds.

During this time, I got to know the hunters better.

The Schantel army’s Third Platoon was responsible for guarding the castle. Captain Hoover, a burly man with a beard, was someone who appeared rugged but had a thoughtful mind. He had worked for the Duke for over ten years. Before that, he was the son of a hunter and often shared stories about hunting silver wolves in the snow when he was young.

Sometimes when I was tired, I would sit with them and listen to their idle chatter. They seemed very comfortable around me and never called me Miss Hildegard, always addressing me as “little Pepi.”

Whenever they saw me, their expressions were always happy, especially Captain Hoover, who said he had watched me grow up.

Though I couldn’t recall those moments, it made me think that although the Third Platoon was smaller in number compared to the First and Second Platoons, its members were undoubtedly the Duke’s most trusted.

Once, we talked about Varal.

“That damned scoundrel tried to escape the other night. Luckily, Bella stopped him. He’s a traitor who sold out his master, but he’s tough. He wouldn’t talk no matter how much we beat him.”

“Scumbag! He dared to attempt to assassinate our Schantel Castle’s little princess! Killing him ten thousand times wouldn’t be enough!”

Hoover’s expression was particularly fierce when he spoke.

I tilted my head in thought.

“Perhaps, hitting him wasn’t painful enough.”

“…Do you have any ideas, little Pepi?”

“Make someone use smoke. Smoke him out.”

Hoover suddenly understood.

“Yes! We found many pipes in his room! Hey, you, go tell Bella immediately.”

A hunter who was about to leave was called back by me.

“Give me some of those pipes.”

“What do you need them for?”

“It’s a secret.”

I placed my index finger to my lips and winked playfully.

…………

I spent most evenings reading quietly.

After finishing “A Comprehensive History of the World,” I picked up “The Rules of Order” from the Duke’s bookshelf.

This book gave me an initial understanding of energy in this world.

According to the book, life requires energy, which is generally categorized into three types.

Physical energy for survival, spiritual energy for faith, and order energy for rules.

Only when both exist can something be considered a wise life form.

And once a life form grasps the rules through order, it becomes power.

Order force is the power of creation. Life uses the source of the world through rules to create fire, water, wind… and so on.

Interestingly, in the next few lines, the abyss was mentioned.

The original text stated, “[While creation is opposite to chaos, chaos comes from the abyss, devouring everything in darkness.]”

Something about this intrigued me.

Humans did not possess order force before the era. Those who had order force were the vanished alien races. Humans acquired order force much later.

The book glossed over this point, barely mentioning it, making it hard to draw accurate conclusions.

Regardless, I gained a deeper understanding of order force, which will make using it more fluid in the future.

Occasionally, I would read knight novels from Pei Luo’s bookshelf to relax.

However, the plots were mostly dull, and the protagonists were all cut from the same mold: noble knights clad in shining silver armor riding sturdy unicorn-like beasts. Most of them were righteous and despised evil.

He was also skilled in swordsmanship, cutting through obstacles and slaying the heads of major villains in the story, eventually marrying the noble princesses.

It was practically a realistic version of an overpowered protagonist.

Perhaps because it was Pai Luo’s book, the story often unfolded from the perspective of the princesses, constantly expressing their admiration for the handsome knight.

That must have been her girlish heart.

Time flew by swiftly, and the climate gradually became colder.

Life in the castle was certainly much more comfortable than in a small village. The living conditions were considered top-notch in this world, with each meal being so abundant that it made me feel happy. I no longer had to bathe in the creek; although the water was cool, it was still quite pleasant…

There were always maids waiting at my bedroom door, ready to fulfill any request I had.

I felt that this could lead to some bad habits…

During this period, my growth rate stunned the Duke. The formation and resilience of ice blades became increasingly proficient, and I could vaguely make out proper shapes.

My sparring sessions with the Duke also became easier. Of course, this was partly due to him holding back, but my progress in combat was evident to everyone.

Carlos visited the castle twice during this time. He would arrive in a hurry and lock himself in the study with the Duke, doing something unknown before leaving shortly after, giving me hardly any time to speak.

Of course, this was also because I didn’t want to talk to him.

However, every time he came, he brought me Ousamilu cakes to eat. So, I secretly decided that if he brought them again next time, I would reconcile with him.

I might as well ask him what he has been up to lately; Duke Scarlidge wouldn’t tell me, and Lady was just as clueless as I was…

Speaking of Lady, there was one thing that troubled me.

She worried too much about me.

Every morning, she would wake me up on time, decide what clothes I should wear, comb my hair, and not allow me to sleep in even if I wanted to.

She was very strict about meals, not letting me eat too much or too little… This was just my guess. Then there was taking napkins, using utensils, eating, leaving the table, and all the other dining etiquette rules. If I did anything wrong, she would start nagging me.

Despite all the delicious food in front of me, I had to chew slowly, and who knows how uncomfortable this made me feel.

Not only at the dining table, but in other aspects as well, since I kept doing things poorly, she eventually spent some time each day teaching me etiquette lessons.

“Girls should behave properly when they go out.”

This sentence marked the beginning of my nightmare.

Posture, sitting posture, body shape, bowing, speaking… Lady began to train me in devilish ways from every angle, leading me to mistakenly think that I was being overly dramatic recently.

Afterward, whenever it was time for etiquette training, Lady and I would first play hide-and-seek in the castle.

I’m not sure if Pai Luo had also played countless rounds of hide-and-seek with Lady, but she always found me easily.

Then she would make a little girl-like smug face.

Over time, I realized that resistance was futile, and the only way to escape this torment was to learn these things quickly.

So, my attitude became much more serious, and now I can barely meet Lady’s standards.

In short, life during this period was comfortable and relaxed.

Except for one memorable incident.

One day, Lady took me to a clothing store in the commercial street to have custom-made clothes. On our way back, something unexpected happened.

The carriage was blocked by a crowd in the round square, and I wondered why so many people were gathered. Suddenly, screams echoed from afar.

Lifting the curtain, I saw a blazing fire.

There were many people bound to wooden racks, wearing tattered clothes, with large piles of dry grass under their feet, which were ignited by people in black robes holding torches.

The flames spread to the people, and their agonized screams were chilling.

I heard conversations among the crowd.

“What are they burning?”

“They seem to be heretics, those wicked people who don’t revere the gods…”

“How terrible… But heretics deserve to die.”

“I heard they were merchants from Silgaya.”

“Can merchants be heretics?”

“That’s true…”

Those people quickly turned black in the fire, their bodies twisting and struggling, their throats scorched by the heat, emitting inhuman cries, and eventually falling silent in pain and despair.

A priest stood beside them, clasping his hands in prayer.

“Oh noble goddess of sin, please send down the flames of sin to punish these evil-doers…”

“Stop looking.” Lady pulled down the curtain. “You’ll have nightmares.”

“Okay.”

Only after the carriage had turned onto two streets did I suddenly realize that those burned to death were the merchants we had captured.

Apart from this incident, my days in the Cold City were generally comfortable and relaxing.