Chapter 300 - Educate Our People

Yvonne looked around the familiar room that she had been inside numerous times by now.

Glancing at the tapestry of the map of Rosenhyde mounted on the wall, she nodded as this would be useful for what she was about to speak to her father.

Butler Limo brought glasses of cold water for his Master and Young Miss before he exited the room and would stand outside to guard it.

Rutherford watched his daughter gulp down the cold water and smiled.

'She cannot bear the heat.' He shook his head at his delicate child.

Sometimes she was willing to train under the hot sun's rays while at times she could not bear the heat even when she was inside the house.

This daughter of his was an anomaly which even he could not make sense of at times.

The little girl did not realize that her father was trying to decipher the great puzzle named Yvonne St. Claire.

Wiping her lips with the handkerchief, she prepared to speak about the matter at hand.

"Papa, do we have any business dealings with the Southern part of the Kingdom?" She questioned without beating around the bush.

She did not want to waste time trying to make small talk as she needed to practice her piano skills after their conversation.

'Today is the last day to practice leisurely before the 'Evil Grandmother' comes to teach her classes from tomorrow.' She recalled the gentle face of her Piano tutor which was a facade to hide her scary personality.

Rutherford was confused when he heard her question as they had never discussed matters regarding his business before.

"No, St. Claire's do not have any business connections in the South." He answered with skepticism evident on his face.

"Why do you ask?" He retorted with an inquiry of his own.

In response, Yvonne gave him a bright smile to alleviate his suspicions as she shook her head.

"Just curious…" She chirped while trying to maintain that childish look on her face.

'Because the plague that hits this Kingdom originates from the Southern fiefs.' She recalled the details in the script which was the reason for her weird and sudden curiosity in this matter.

"Do we have any means of contact with the people who live in the south?" She added while tilting her head.

By now, though he was curious to know why she was asking such strange questions, Rutherford did not hesitate to answer them for her.

"Most nobles stick to their own fiefs and do not visit other fiefs unless they are invited." He explained which proved the pride each nobleman had, preventing them to travel unannounced.

'Nobles aren't my concern right now.' Yvonne's lips curled downward as her focus was more on the commoner population.

"The commoners?" She prodded further.

'They were the ones who were most affected during the plague.' She sighed at the sad state in which many had died in the story she had read.

"The distance between our fief and the Southern fiefs is too large and would cost them a large number of coins to travel so I doubt that many would make this long journey unless they belong to merchant groups." He elaborated in order to make her understand the situation better.

'That is good in a way…' She nodded to indicate that she had gotten his point.

When the plague hits the Kingdom, her biggest concern was that people would move from one town to another which might spread the plague faster due to them acting as carriers.

Though they might not realize it they would be the leading cause of others getting infected by the disease.

"Why do you ask?" Rutherford repeated his query when he saw her lost in her thoughts.

'I might as well speak to him about this.' She decided but at the same time, she could not reveal everything to him no matter how much she trusted him.

"As you already know, I helped the Marquess with the policy concerning the plagues." She began and found him nodding in reply.

"So I was wondering how you would deal with this situation if we ever faced a plague?" Her inquiry seemed reasonable to her father who let out an 'Ahh' sound.

Her childish curiosity was laced with a genuine concern for the people of their fief which impressed the father.

He had never given this a thought so it took him a few seconds to formulate an answer for her.

"First would be to get physicians to check on the sick citizens and treat them." He declared his solution to the problem they were discussing.

"How many residents in our fief, Papa?" She interrogated in a deadpan tone while blinking her wide amethyst eyes at him.

"Over six hundred families amounting to about a thousand people." He replied as he had ordered for a census to be taken a few years ago.

'The number might have increased now.' He did not mention this part to her.

"Are you expecting a few physicians to check on over a thousand people? And how many clinics do we have in the fief?" She kept throwing questions at him.

'I'm glad they know what a clinic is!' She scoffed as explaining that would take another few seconds.

Rutherford froze when he heard her first inquiry as it would most certainly be unrealistic to expect just a few physicians to look after so many people.

"Two clinics, one in the south and another in the north of our fief." He answered the second half of her inquiry.

'So he understood my point fairly quickly.' She nodded, pleased with the way their conversation was progressing.

This caused her to compare this conversation with the one she had with Marquess Samed and rolled her eyes when she thought of how she had to spoon-feed her tutor at times.

"We need another one at the center to reduce the strain on the other two clinics in times of distress." She suggested as this was the only thing they could do.

Rutherford remained silent and watched as she rubbed her chin in contemplation.

'She will make a great leader with her brilliant ideas.' He thought but shook his head as such a thing could never happen in their Kingdom.

"We can get Mr. Toone to recruit more physicians if needed as three clinics would suffice for now." Yvonne continued, ignorant of what her father was thinking.

'The King must be planning to build the new hospitals soon so we will not have to worry about that.' She remembered that she had proposed this point in the changes that needed to be made in the policies of the Previous King.

According to what she had read, the plague wouldn't affect their fief but it's better to stay safe than sorry.

This was why she decided to talk to her father in hopes of preparing their fief and taking preemptive actions to avoid getting caught unprepared when the plague arrives.

'Now onto the next part.' The little girl decided and glimpsed at her father who remained silent as he took in all of this information.

"Can we educate our people about better health etiquette?" She inquired as this was needed, plague or no plague.

Basic cleanliness was needed to deter the spread of germs which causes common illnesses which might turn fatal if not treated on time.

"Explain yourself." Rutherford instructed while rubbing his chin.

He paid attention to what his daughter said and his brows furrowed with each sentence she spoke.

Washing hands before meals, maintaining cleanliness in their surroundings, throwing the daily waste material in a secure location, and other things which were common in Yvonne's old world.

This was what the Earl heard from her.

"We can also recycle and reuse things instead of throwing them away after a single use." She added with enthusiasm as she was eco-friendly and loved to promote her thoughts with others as well.

'I guess I have to explain this part.' She realized when she saw her father's confused face when she used the words 'Recycle' and 'Reuse'.

Her in-depth explanation ended with him nodding as what she said made sense even if this was something he had heard for the first time in his life.

"If something can be used again, why not do it?" She proposed with a wide smile.

Rutherford chuckled when he saw her in such an enthusiastic mood and gestured for her to continue what she wished to say to him.

Thus the father and child spent the afternoon discussing various ways to bring about changes which would certainly improve their future.