Chapter 398

The road from Pinghu Town to the Golden Oak manor is almost 70 kilometers long. It took Victor nearly 3 hours to reach the Golden Oak manor by riding the fast bird.

The housekeeper of the manor received Victor attentively and said that Nicole didn't come back. She stayed in Rose Castle tonight.

Victor filled his stomach at the Golden Oak manor and led twenty fast birds to Nicole's Rose castle.

Rose castle stands on the Bank of rose lake. It is a standard Baron castle, which is composed of ring wall, fortress, Castle courtyard, castle gate and moat.

As the power center led by the Baron, logistics facilities such as material warehouse, freight yard, cavalry stables, barracks, blacksmith shop and armament workshop have been built around Rosebud castle, and some civilian houses for craftsmen and soldiers' families.

With the farmers' development of the land around the rose lake, there are more and more houses here. With streets and shops, it has gradually formed a settlement of more than 9000 people. Then, the church sent the presiding priest to build a chapel, and the settlement was upgraded to a small town - Rose town.

Development collar generally develops in this way, but Qiang Mei town is personally planned by Victor. The layout of houses, streets, shops, squares, churches, landscape green belts and sewers in the town is similar to that of Pinghu Town, clean and tidy, taking into account the future development.

In fact, the villages, workshops, streams, reservoirs, pastures and farmland led by Baron finicos, as well as 600 mercenaries and 50 Fast bird light cavalry were run by Vic. He had promised Nicole to give her a rich territory.

Now, the promise has been fulfilled.

When victor and his guard arrived at Rose Town, it was completely dark.

When the captain of the guard in charge of the night watch heard the sound of the fast bird, he immediately came forward and personally escorted Viscount Randall to the suspension bridge of rose castle. He held up the torch and waved it across the street. Before long, the heavy suspension bridge was put down in a "creak" sound.

Victor crossed the suspension bridge. Nicole's housekeeper, joffrey, and several attendants greeted the host with etiquette, bowed and said, "Sir, welcome back."

"Where's Nicole? Did you sleep?" Victor took off his cloak, handed it to a castle attendant and stepped into the narrow Castle lobby.

Joffrey followed victor and said, "madam is resting in the fireplace room on the fourth floor. I'll send someone to inform her."

"No, I'll find her myself. Arrange accommodation for my guard, and then send someone to take care of those fast bird mounts." Said Victor.

"As you wish, my Lord." Housekeeper joffrey stroked his chest and left.

Four Castle attendants held up candlesticks and led victor and two guards into the wide Knight hall.

The knight hall is connected with the front hall. It is the largest room in the castle. It is mainly used for entertaining guests and receiving vassals. Long tables and chairs are placed in the center of the hall. A huge fireplace is built on one wall of the hall, which can heat the hall during the water season.

A huge bone stick was nailed directly above the fireplace.

That's Nicole's booty.

Originally, there was a skull specimen of an old ogre. Her subordinates took the monster's head and its weapons as the glory of the master and hung them in the most prominent position on the wall.

Ogres belong to humanoid monsters. Their facial features are similar to human beings, but they are more terrible and ferocious. Victor believes that hanging such ugly decorations in the knight hall is always uncomfortable. He insisted on burning the old ogre's head to ashes. However, Nicole likes the specimen very much because it is the witness of her love with victor.

Finally, the ogre's skull specimen was collected into the storage room of Rosenberg.

Victor glanced at the bone stick on the wall and secretly regretted that he had not burned its owner.

Following the spiral wooden ladder of the tower, Victor climbed to the fourth floor of the castle. At the entrance of the corridor, a valiant female trainee knight and two maid swordsmen saw the uninvited guests upstairs with the help of the light of candles. They put their long swords into their scabbards, bowed their knees and said, "good night, sir."

The female trainee knight has a capable short hair, a convex body, straight legs, slender and powerful, and her facial features are as deep as sculptures. Her tall nose and thick eyebrows and big eyes make her look a little less feminine and more strong temperament.

Her name is Lauretta. She was originally the secret Knight of Rose Manor. Nicole is the vassal Lord of the York family. Sylvia has arranged three retinue knights for her, and Lauretta is one of them.

Lauretta came from a humble background and was promoted to a trainee Knight by training her blood. However, as a secret Knight trained by Rose Manor, her personal strength and combat will are enough to crush ten Alice. However, at the age of 29, she has passed the peak period, and her combat effectiveness will decline with age. It is precisely because of this that Sylvia separated her and her two companions from the sequence of secret knights and followed a baron Lord.

The other two retinue Knights formed a family. Their husband Joe Mosen was canonized as a Lord by Nicole and served as the garrison officer of the territory, responsible for guarding the southern fortress. Only lovita is currently single.

Eh, Lauretta looks good, has a good figure and strong physique. The most important thing is that she has a simple background and is suitable for Nelson... Well, she's a little older and her blood is a little worse, but I have a recovery medicine, which can certainly help her resonate with 11 elements, enhance her strength and delay aging Victor looked up and down at the female trainee knight, smiled and said, "Lauretta, is Mrs. Nicole asleep?"

Lauretta was stared at by Victor for some reason, but she knew herself so well that she wouldn't misunderstand that the host was interested in her. She replied honestly, "I don't know."

"I'll see her myself." Victor nodded and said, "Renault, shack, find yourself a room to rest. Lauretta, you let the bathroom on the fourth floor prepare hot water. I'll take a bath later."

"Yes."

Lauretta waved. Two female swordsmen took the candlestick from the castle attendants. One LED Victor to Nicole's bedroom, and the other took Renault and shack to choose a rest room.

As soon as victor came to the door, he heard Nicole say inside, "honey, the door is unlocked. Come in by yourself."

When the oak door was opened, Nicole's beautiful back came into Victor's eyes. She had long hair and shawl, wore a nightdress, knelt down on the bench with bare fiber feet, and her body was leaning against the long wooden table, sewing a dress. More than a dozen green Sha candles in the crystal lampshade bloom soft light, and draw a charming and warm body curve through her loose and thin gauze skirt.

Victor closed the door, took off his boots, stepped on the soft wool carpet and stood quietly behind her for a while.

If Nicole felt it, she turned back and smiled at Victor sweetly, and was busy with her sewing.

"Are these all my clothes?" Victor went to the wooden frame, picked up his cloak and coat and looked carefully. The materials of clothes are particularly exquisite, and the workmanship is also very exquisite. There is no trace of needle and thread at the connection of cloth. It is a unique and cumbersome sewing technique.

"Honey, I didn't expect you to have such a tailoring skill." Victor exclaimed.

"When I sew the sleeve of this shirt, you can put it on and let me see if it fits." Nicole said as she threaded the needle.

Victor hung up his cloak and coat again, found a chair nearby and sat down to enjoy Nicole's skillful and smooth movements. "First, I went to the Golden Oak manor. The manor administrator said you were in Rose castle, and I ran to find you... Honey, why don't you do these things in the manor? It's much more comfortable than the castle."

Castle life is far less romantic than expected. Due to the need of defense, the windows of the castle are narrow and the space is narrow. In order to prevent fire, only the knight hall and a few living rooms are equipped with fireplaces, and random lighting is not allowed in the corridor. Therefore, the ventilation and lighting conditions of the castle are very poor, and it is dark and humid all year round. Among the straw on the floor, mice ran around, and the limited number of Castle attendants had to keep many cats and dogs to deal with these annoying thieves. The musty smell in the air is mixed with the smell of animal manure, so it's not worth mentioning.

Rose castle was designed by Nicole's brother Lord Anthony. It has nearly 200 rooms, enough to accommodate more than 600 people, but there are only 57 soldiers and servants resident in the castle. So many people can maintain the basic repair and fire prevention needs of the castle, which is not enough to maintain a clean and comfortable environment.

"Victor, you seldom talk to me about your family. Do you have a castle in your family?" Nicole asked softly.

Victor drew the little Baron's memory from his mind and shook his head "There is a castle. However, my father is a manor Baron canonized by the royal family. The castle belongs to the property of the royal family. It has a history of more than 100 years. There are many gloomy and terrible stories. It is said that some people will disappear without reason. I once saw a white bone with my own eyes. When the unlucky guy repaired the castle window, he accidentally broke his neck and waited for everyone It's been 15 years since I found him. "

"We live in the farm most of the time, but in the wind season every year, my father always takes his family to stay in the castle for a few days. He wants to meet the farmer, deal with some trivial things, or entertain the tax official of the kingdom. Anyway, I'm always afraid and never dare to sleep alone. Believe me, that's not a good memory." Victor shrugged his shoulders and looked shivering.

"Poor little victor." Nicole looked at Victor sympathetically, cut the fine spider silk on the copper needle with her fingernail, and skillfully tied a knot, "my father has the title of Lord of the York family, but he doesn't belong to his own castle. My mother was originally a tailor in the family, but she was accidentally favored by her drunken father and gave birth to me. As you know, I'm an illegitimate daughter..."

"Now, you are a noble Lord, a powerful knight, and the pride of your parents!"

"Don't interrupt." Nicole said angrily, paused and continued: "I grew up listening to the story of knight and castle. I dreamed of owning my own castle one day, whether as its master or hostess. Of course, my most fantasy is to become the hostess of the castle. I am responsible for managing the affairs of the whole castle: whether the tiles on the roof of the sentry building need to be replaced, whether the rainwater storage tank needs to be repaired, and urging the servants to put on the fruit trees in the courtyard Tie a small bell and drive away the birds that steal fruits. Well, I will also record the offerings handed over by the farmers in the tax book. When night falls, I ask the cook to prepare dinner and eat with my husband and children. Then let the maid pour hot water into a large wooden bucket, sprinkle fragrant spices and flowers and serve the husband to bathe. We may need a very, very large wooden bucket and then wash in the corner The edge is inlaid with material to make the barrel stronger and easy to break. "

Victor nodded and smiled, "it's a very luxurious thing to boil water and take a bath in the castle. It can be said that it's a privilege of the castle owner's family. My father will invite friends and guests to take a bath. It really needs a very large and strong wooden bucket."

"However, this privilege will be particularly ridiculous to the great nobles. They have many castles symbolizing wealth and power, but they like to live in comfortable and luxurious villas, just like us now."

Nicole glanced at Victor and whispered, "I woke up my knight's blood at the age of 14, chose Rose Manor, and was accepted as a disciple by Miss trisley to receive Knight education. My female companions marveled at the beauty and delicacy of Rose Manor and despised the performance of the family castle. I must cater to everyone's views, but I am always full of fantasy about the castle."

"Do you know why?"

"Because they have castles and I don't." While talking, Nicole sewed the left sleeve of the spider silk shirt and began to sew the other sleeve.

Victor was silent for a moment, smiled and said: "Baby, you now have Baron titles, castles, territories, loyal and heroic squires, knights and vassal guards, as well as hundreds of well-equipped and well-trained mercenaries. It took you more than ten years to realize the dreams of several generations. Your story was sung by bards everywhere and inspired countless young noble children. They rushed all the way to the man horse hills To realize your dream. "

Nicole's lips rose and said softly, "I still have you."

Victor said with a straight face, "honey, I must remind you that I have you. For my self-esteem, don't get it wrong."

"Well, my love, you have me." Nicole sniffed, shook her head and said, "honey, you seem to be a natural aristocrat. When you opened up territory, living in a shed was like living in a palace. Later, Randall led to build the first castle, but I didn't see how happy you were. The castle seemed worthless to you."

"The castle in Pinghu Town made me happy for two days. The freshness passed, and I had to worry about money." Victor spread out his hands and said, "the development Lord is always short of money."

Nicole smiled and said, "I haven't worried about money."

"Baby, I'm here today to tell you that your good days are over." Victor said fiercely, "from now on, you have to worry about our money bag."

Nicole put down her shirt and asked excitedly, "tell me."

"Er... Help me sew my sleeves." Victor put his hands on his chin and said, "we can talk about the mercenary first."

Nicole nodded, continued to sew up her sleeves and said, "I'm going back to Rose Manor this time to teach the wolf fighting skills and Eagle lion fighting skills to the tusk army. Mrs. Katrina greatly appreciated these two fighting skills, and she asked me to take a message for you."

"What did she say?"

"She thinks it is most appropriate for the mercenary corps to maintain the scale of 500 people. She hopes to discuss this issue with you face to face."

Victor thought for a moment and said, "there are reasons for family politics, but I believe Katrina's military vision. However, it's not time for us to make a statement..." he paused and asked, "does Lauretta have a marriage partner?"

"No." Nicole looked at Victor warily, raised her eyebrows and asked, "what? Do you like her?"

Victor coughed and explained: "It's Nelson... Duke of York wants to marry this guy. He values the influence of Randall family on the grand Legion strategy. You know, I can't refuse Duke of York and Katrina because of Anna. I'm afraid other vassal Lords will make similar requests, which will offset the pressure brought by Duke of York's marriage with Randall family. If this is true Like that, Nelson will have a lot of fun. "

Nicole said, "I see what you mean. Miss trisley is Mrs. Sylvia's guard knight, and you are Mrs. Sylvia's intimate partner. In fact, our Randall family is the direct lineage of Rose Manor. Lauretta was born as a secret Knight of Rose Manor. Lord Nelson married her as another lady, which is in line with our position." Then she smiled and said, "I'll find a chance to ask Lauretta's opinion."

"I hope she doesn't dislike Nelson." Victor smiled and asked, "do you remember my instructor Barrett?"

"Of course, he's missing." Nicole said calmly, "I won't ask what you didn't say."

"I was just about to tell you about it." Victor thought about it and said, "Barrett was ordered by me to secretly set up a large mercenary regiment. They will explore the development direction of the Legion in actual combat. Only when I get detailed information can I talk to Katrina about various problems of the mercenary regiment."

"In addition to Barrett's large mercenary regiment, I have more than a dozen small mercenary regiments specializing in smuggling goods."

"Smuggled goods?" Nicole glanced at Victor suspiciously.

"Yes..."

Victor told the origin, progress and conception of the golden regiment in detail. With his narration, Nicole stopped her needlework and opened her mouth slightly.

Victor finished at one breath and asked expectantly, "honey, what do you think of the golden mission plan?"

After a long time, Nicole murmured: "In order to sell coffee at a high price, you decided to risk smuggling goods? And because the scale of the smuggling caravan is too small, you designed a public carriage? Then, you are not satisfied and plan to annex Sophia's chamber of Commerce? Next, you want the powerful lords of the United Kingdom to jointly operate the gold mission? So, the double headed lizard joint-stock chamber of Commerce in the man horse hill is also part of your plan?"

"That's right." Victor nodded rather proudly and said, "tell me what you think."

Nicole's eyes flashed and asked, "so Mrs. Sylvia doesn't know your plan, miss chebman doesn't know your plan, Sophia doesn't know your plan, only I know?"

Victor was speechless. The golden mission plan was far more shocking than water conservancy projects. Nicole was actually concerned about this kind of thing.

"And Lilia knows." Victor scratched his head and said: "Sylvia wants Sophia to stay in the man and horse hills, and I don't want her knight to interfere in Randall's affairs. The plan is to separate Sophia from her men and let her men obey our orders and concentrate on running the gold regiment. When Sophia knows that she has been calculated, she will inevitably anger Lilia and Nelson. Lilia is under a lot of pressure and she doesn't like it I hope you can take over the matter suitable for taking care of the golden group. Of course, she is also the manager of the Randall family. She will help you deal with all kinds of affairs when I am away. "

"Like the Lord's wife?"

Victor smiled, "you are my Lord's wife."

"Then why didn't you tell me earlier?" Nicole narrowed her eyes and asked with a smile.

Victor was prepared for this problem. He said confidently: "at the beginning, the smuggling caravan was just a small thing. I didn't expect that my money making plan would become more and more huge. Lilia and Nelson couldn't resist. Now only my wife can share this responsibility for me."

"Really? I'll think about it." Nicole smiled cunningly, lowered her head and focused on the needle and thread in her hand.

After a while, Victor asked cautiously. "Honey, are you angry?"

Nicole shook her head, picked up the sewn shirt, stood up and said gently, "try it, I'll sew for you."

Victor changed into the shirt, coat, trousers and cloak made by Nicole, looked at himself and Nicole in the mirror, and felt warm, "it fits very well. I like it very much."

Nicole put her arm around Victor from behind, put it on his cheek and said, "I'm the vassal Lord of the York family. I can't accompany you to the king's coronation, but the dress I sewed by myself will stick closely to you."

Victor trembled in his heart, turned to hold Nicole in his arms and said emotionally, "honey, you are the first person to sew clothes for me..."

"Nonsense. Did you change those clothes?" Nicole leaned against her lover's arms and joked with a smile.

"That's different..."

Before and after Victor's crossing, his mother died early, and no one had selflessly sewed clothes for him. Until now, he realized that the unknown Nicole had always been his most important person.

"I heard a story. The farmer took his two sons to work in the field every day. His wife prepared food for her husband and sons at home, and the farmer and son ate and slept as soon as they came home. Day after day, year after year, one day they came home and saw hay on the table. The husband and son were shocked and asked the woman if there was something wrong with their mind? But the wife said, "you never told me that you don't eat hay!"

Victor sighed, "we tend to ignore the people who care most about ourselves."

"Do you want to hear me now?" Nicole asked softly, staring into Victor's eyes.

"Yes, I want to!"

"Honey, don't let Sophia come back." Nicole shook her head, hugged victor and said, "she'll take you away from me."

Victor was stunned and said with a bitter smile, "Nicole, you have no confidence in me?"

"Do you have confidence in yourself? Hum, you are fascinated by Judy and Gillian at once. Sophia is more beautiful than both of them." Nicole snorted, stroked her lover's face and sighed, "this is also the place where you fascinate high-level female knights. Those who don't always want to have, and those who lose always want to get back. Every footprint we leave is precious and related to the golden field in the future, including love."

"Sophia has stood at the door of the element sea, but her career is about to collapse. The only thing she can grasp is you, the Randall family. She will make herself fall in love with you and occupy you, which is tantamount to owning the Randall family. She will try her best to drive me away. Mrs. Sylvia knows this, and I know that she will do so." Nicole hugged Victor, trembled and begged, "honey, don't let her come back to you."

"OK! I won't let her come back." Said Victor firmly.

"Really?" Nicole raised her tearful eyes and asked anxiously, "what about Mrs. Sylvia? We must have hindered her layout."

Victor hugged Nicole and said, "there will always be a way. I can always think of a way."