Chapter 193 – A Change in a Girl's Heart

"Master is a real n.o.bleman!"

In the kitchen, the kitchen maid Irene Fourfingers said proudly to Maggie who followed her interns.h.i.+p, “Little Maggie, you will like this castle. I have never seen a Lord more n.o.ble than our master. He's born with such n.o.bility in him. We look up to him!"

 “Yes, Sister Irene.” Maggie nodded seriously.

In truth, Irene was speaking too fast that Maggie only understood the words "n.o.ble" and "master".

“Don't add too much flour, otherwise the pineapple bun will burn and it'll taste bad.”Irene stopped Maggie from pouring flour while saying, “We have a whole range of new types of bread in our kitchen, co-invented by Mrs. Abby and Mr. Rainier. Master liked them as well.”

She suddenly got close to Maggie's ear and said, “Every day Mrs. Abby makes a variety of bread flavors. If the Master doesn't eat it, we can eat some.”

Maggie was surprised, “Ah, master, servant, good bread?” Her snake text stumbled and had to be accompanied by gestures to make Irene understand.

"Hmmm, you'll understand Master's kindness and generosity later."

That night, Maggie did understand her Master's generosity. While eating in the kitchen, she was given a small pineapple bun. There was a lot of bread made that evening since the Baron had a feast for his two guests. Eventually, there was a lot of food left from the celebration and each servant had small pieces of bun to eat.

Compared to black bread, this curious white bread was the best food Maggie had ever tasted.

"Little maids, little maids, please keep up. It's already dark and there are snakes on the road." The patrolmen have announced that they will escort the youngsters back to their host families tonight.

 Maggie followed the patrol with great peace of mind.

She knew that the snakes only scared little children.

 After tasting the delicious pineapple bun, she kept whispering “Praise the Master”. Then she suddenly thought that she had eaten the pineapple buns, but forgot to leave some for Mrs. Harriet's family. Although boarding was compulsorily arranged by the town administration, Mrs. Harriet's family was really good to her.

"Would you like to form a mother-daughter contract with Mrs. Harriet?" She had thought about the matter for days.

As a nine-year-old whose parents were killed by mercenaries, of course she was sad and yearning for a family.

But in her heart, she also cared about her older sister, who was ten years older than her. Her taller, curly-haired sister. She always remembered what her sister said when she left home, “Maggie, when I come back, I will teach you magic. Let's be mages together, mages who can conjure  fireb.a.l.l.s!”

The next day, she just ran away from home.

Her sister has always been her most admired idol.

“Maggie, you're back.” Unconsciously, Maggie had returned to town and the kind Mrs. Harriet was standing at the door to meet her.

“Oh, yes. Mrs. Harriet, you don't have to wait for me every day.”

“It's okay. Come on in.”

That night.

The moon formed a crescent in the sky. Maggie was lying on her bed, thinking about the goodness of Mrs. Harriet's family and the delicious food of the castle. Somehow, the appearance of her sister in her childhood suddenly became blurred and distant while  some decisions quietly resurfaced in her heart..

“If Mrs. Harriet asked me again, I'd say yes……She's like my mother now.”

———

The air was fresh early in the morning and Liszt gulped in as much as he could.

He had begun his practice early, walked the dog and visited his territory — he was not in the mood to make friends with the n.o.bles in North Valley City. There were several birthday parties he was invited to. He had sent some gifts, but he did not go in person. 

After all, it was his brother Levis who was Coral Island's heir.

It was not required of him to a.s.sociate with other n.o.bles.

Blackhorse, with its head held high, stepped on the gravel road, unaware that its use would soon come to an end. Perhaps when Black Horse Island is revealed,  it will still learn that his master will still be his master today and tomorrow.

"The town lacks stonemasons who could sculpt or polish stones, or else the town and castle roads can't be lined with stone."

Liszt was accompanied by Isaiah. As he was a town official, one of his jobs was to report on Flower Town's progress.

“The stone road is a big project. The labor force in town should be used for urgent aspects.”

“Yes, sir, the autumn harvest has been completed, and roads and houses have been completed as well. I am arranging serfs to concentrate on reclaiming the wasteland in each of the villages. I am waiting for the next batch of 1,000 serfs to be delivered to take over on the fields and also so we can start sowing next spring. “

"How is the expansion of the Flame Mushroom workshop?"

“We have expanded to 20 mu, with a total of 50 mu. The serfs are now skilled at growing Flame Mushrooms and now we have double the output we had last time. We expect that in a month, the new shed will be able to double its output again.” Isaiah was delighted.

But he raised his doubts as well, "Sir, will the income of the Flaming Mushroom workshop be sent directly to the castle and not tothe town administration?"

“No, but with regard to the tax and welfare issues of mushroom serfs, the town's administration will arrange them while the castle will subsidize.” So far, the Flame Mushroom potions were all in Liszt's belly. 

Isaiah didn't ask again. It was expected for the Lord to not want others to intervene about the potions. 

Unconsciously, the party came to the Garden of Thorns.

The thornworm gra.s.s has grown into a four-meter-high thorn tree, leafy and very eye-catching. Two-thirds of the surrounding ring cl.u.s.ters are fast-growing magic thorns, and the remaining one-third is the fast-growing iron thorns. There is only a small place, left to the ordinary fast-growing thorns.

It was unknown if there were any new varieties of thorns developed.

Before Liszt asked, Isaiah said, “Sir, the thorn garden was originally 180 acres. With the birth of Ella, I have made 800 acres of land for the expansion. According to the present proportion, one-third is fast-growing iron thorns and another one-third for fast-growing magic thorns. “

He also pointed to the direction of the Thorns Ridge. “The fast-growing magic thorns and fast-growing iron thorns transplant to the edge of the Thorns Ridge has begun. There are not enough serfs,Sir. There are only 50 serfs currently responsible for the transplantation of thorns. I have calculated their workload so that about one-third of the road should be completed before winter. “

"Don't worry about the magic thorns and iron thorns, just grow as much as you can." With his attention focused on the magic and iron thorns, he has forgotten about the other thorn varieties.

Especially the poison thorns.

The poisonous thorns are very dangerous, but they can be extracted and made into poison, which can be applied to swords, lances, or to tips of flying arrows to be used in battles.