"La......"

With Marlene's singing in his ears, Bran squinted in pleasure while his fatigue disappeared.

These hands, which have grown calloused and are no longer young, have taken care of themselves since birth, and Bran also sees Marlene as family.

Then Marlene bent down to help Bran put on a purple dress with many buttons.

In the past thirty years, the aristocracy has blown the wind of luxury, and the more complex the costume, the better, so it is difficult to complete it alone, if it is in the Frankish court in the northeast, those court ladies even need four or five people to complete the costume once.

Only serfs wore the kind of cheap and convenient clothes that could be worn as soon as they got on their legs and stretched their waists (although Bran loved this convenience, he was often corrected by his grandfather).

Just as Bran was about to bend down to put on the shiny cowhide shoes, Marlene stopped him.

"Your Highness, you have forgotten that the Grand Duke said that when being served, nobles must not easily bend down in front of the servants, otherwise they will be despised by their subjects."

This tone is not accusation, but more of a pampering.

"This won't work, in case your back injury recurs, let me do this."

One room away, Bran could sometimes hear some of the movements in Marlene's room, such as the sounds of pain.

"Your back injury was caused by a fall that followed your grandfather to the court, and it has not been healing ever since. I'll do this myself. ”

Bran quickly put on his shoes and didn't give Marlene a chance to help.

After freshening up, Bran looked at the mirror, very handsome and confident.

When he grew up, Bran got rid of the pathology of a premature baby and inherited the family beauty.

Her grandmother was one of the most famous beauties in the Italian peninsula, and her father was married to a "noblewoman of the Frankish Empire" who was both beautiful and powerful in the middle of the continent.

All of these beauties were well inherited from Bran.

Bran has short sun-like blond hair, sapphire eyes, slender eyelashes, slender fingers like an artist's fingers, and very upright features.

After dressing up, Bran put on a silver ring engraved with the family motto and walked out of the house.

The morning air was very good, and after admiring the early sun for a while, Bran walked with his chest straight, first through the two courtyards, and came to the dining room, where the word "food place" was engraved on the wooden plaque outside.

Each house built in the manor corresponds to the "Palazzo Gauting", the main palace of the Duchy of Venice, which was once famous for its wealth and grandeur on the peninsula, with a ratio of about 200 to 1.

My grandfather's bedroom and study, the wooden plaque outside the door is engraved with "Imperial Palace", the blacksmith shop thousands of steps away is called "Sword Room", and the male and female houses separated by a wall are "atrium", which is divided into inside and outside, with male dependents living in the outer courtyard and female dependents living in the inner courtyard.

Only the two highnesses of the House of Chaman were free to enter and leave the inner court, even if there were no wives and concubines in it.

In the eyes of the peasants and craftsmen who were hired or bought, the kitchen was still a smoking kitchen, and the kneading of sand would not turn into flour, and the blacksmith would not produce gold.

The restaurant is close to the kitchen, so when it is served, the fresh food is still steaming, which makes people hungry.

There are three long tables in the dining room, one in the middle of which is the lord sitting, with two yellow wooden chairs carved with wood grain.

The left and right are two indulgent seats, and the one on the left is two ordinary seats with no patterns, given to the only nobleman of the duchy (manor), the baron and military governor "Carol Green", and his apprentice knight "Iron Mountain".

The long table on the right hand was left for Marlene's exclusive use.

A year earlier, at Bran's request, Marlene had been made a "Baroness of Venice" by Howard.

All the countries on the mainland have their own special positions for their subordinates.

The Duchess is a title unique to the Duchy of Venice, awarded only to "women", the same rank as the Baron, one rank higher than the Knight, and receives an annual allowance of silver coins from the Duchy.

But now there was no Duchy of Venice, and this vacant title could only make Marlene's total salary adjusted to "fifty silver rubles" per year.

The ruble is the mainstream currency of the peninsula and is used exclusively for "large transactions", with a higher value of the gold ruble.

As he sat down, Bran dropped a silver coin with his grandfather's head, which was then picked up by Iron Mountain and given to Bran.

The overthrow of the duchy had a lot to do with the light silver coin.

Howard, the seventh Grand Duke of the Principality, was less in charge of government affairs during his reign, but he claimed to be like his grandfather, the fifth Grand Duke "Shange the Dragon Slayer", he was still the "guardian of the peninsula", a famous family, and a delusional desire to intimidate the nations.

He participated in three "unnecessary" military conflicts, losing face.

A series of ransom reparations and a lavish life made the finances nearly bankrupt, and Howard repeatedly recovered the old silver coins, reduced the silver content in them, minted new coins, and collected the wealth of the people.

Grievances are rising. By the end of Howard's reign, the silver coins he issued were not wanted on the peninsula, and merchants quickly lowered their prices in exchange for other currencies or goods.

The depreciation is serious, and all kinds of rescue fiscal reforms have failed.

Howard relied on the Praetorian Guards handed down from the Shange era to repay debts to the merchants of the principality and the nobles who had debts, which touched the combination of the upper and lower classes, igniting the fire of anger, and the merchants and nobles found mercenary groups and bribed the knights of the Janissaries of the principality.

When the "spice flag" and "dragon slaying flag" of the principality's "High Court Palace" were taken down, the era of the Venetian Charman family, which spanned ten popes, came to an end after "two hundred years".

So Howard told Bran to carry the silver coin with him, and to be vigilant that one day, if Bran issued his own currency, don't follow his example.

……

In the dining room stood a thin young man serving wine.

Responsible for chopping wood, fetching water, and when it comes to meals, he is mainly responsible for handling dishes, pouring wine, and wiping the square table.

"Good day, Your Highness."

"Hmm."

Bran looked at the food on the table, which was a shallow silver plate brought from the Duchy, as well as various auxiliary utensils of various sizes, such as "chopsticks".

Bran asked the blacksmith to make it, and he was the only one who had it for meat strips or other food than a spoon or a knife and fork.

On a plate was fluffy white bread baked with wheat, a staple of Bran and his grandfather's daily meal.

Use it to dip in pâté or vegetables, or add cheese.

This was very common in the previous life, and Bran was tired of eating it, but it was a symbol of nobility.

A "baker" is a high-income technician in the city.

"Ovens" were only built by people of a certain status, and civilians were not allowed to build them privately earlier, because at that time the houses were mostly made of wood, and they were connected to each other, for fear of causing fires by baking them privately.

With the permission of the church or lord, the commoners took the grain to the designated oven to make bread and gave a portion of the grain in return.

Until 200 years ago, bread was the mainstream diet.

Because the demand is too great to handle the public oven, some restrictions are lifted and people with a certain status are allowed to build their own.