"Lord Ironstone, Lady Vicky's letter of visit?"

Ronan sat in the main hall of the new castle and looked at the two letters in front of him.

One of the fire paints bears the stone hammer coat of arms of the family, where Lady Vicky belongs.

At this time, it had been five days since he returned to the Coldwind Collar, and the letter in front of him had just been sent from Blackstone City to the Coldwind Collar.

Lady Vicky is now in Black Rock and has not been able to see anyone.

Therefore, he sent a letter hoping to come to Hanfeng Ling a day later and get his reception.

In the letter, she revealed that the purpose of the meeting was related to the ruler of the northern provinces, the Earl of Draco.

These include the steel and coal mining business, as well as the recruitment of soldiers, and I hope to discuss them face-to-face.

"Count Drake wants Blackstone City to transport steel and coal mines to sell to the Silver Collars, and lead some soldiers to support the Ford family of the Silver Collars and attack the Hawke family in Dragon's Tooth City."

Ronan pressed his fist to his head, contemplating the count's intentions.

Previously, he had rejected the marriage request of the earl's daughter Eve, and this request was obviously requested by Count Draco.

After being rejected by herself, Eve did not leave, but continued to stay in the remote city of Black Rock.

Ronan knew that the impact of coming to Count Draco on his royal status was not to give up, but to make other arrangements.

And now, it's one of them.

Lady Vicky is in a remote area far from the political center, and is ignorant of the turmoil of the upper nobility of Triumph.

But Ronan understands the situation through Edson.

The Ford family of the silver collar and the Hawke family of Dragon's Tooth City are the most direct manifestation of the battle between the two sides.

Dragon's Tooth City is located at the junction of the Northern Province, the Central Province and the Western Great Plains.

Despite the lack of valuable resources in the territory, the important Insel trade route flowed through it, bringing rich commercial revenues to the territory.

And the unique geographical location also makes it a key area for the transit of goods in the three places.

As local lords and viscounts, the Hawke family were loyal to the royal party and the previous emperor, allowing them to firmly hold the dominance of the territory.

But now it is different, the era of the glory of the pro-king party and the emperor has collapsed with the new king ascending the throne.

The Hawke family in Dragon's Tooth City has also been affected by this, especially since he still chooses to side with the former pro-king party.

Just ten days ago, the Silver Lords of the north of Dragon's Tooth City, the Ford family, declared war on them.

It is claimed that the ancestors of the Hawke family relied on fraudulent means to deceive the Dragon's Tooth City from the ancestors of the Ford family.

Now it's up to them to erase the stain on the Ford family and reclaim Dragon's Tooth.

As a result, the lords of the two sides began a war, and a large number of lords and soldiers were conscripted to fight on the battlefield.

Normally, the feud between the two viscounts, although serious, was not enough to attract large-scale attention.

If the difference in strength between the two sides is not large, the nearby noble earl will soon intervene to mediate.

But that was in the past, and the current situation is that the viscounts on both sides are fighting more and more fiercely, and the scope of the battlefield is constantly expanding.

The eyes of the imperial aristocracy are focused on this.

A steady stream of supplies and soldiers is being transported to both sides of the battlefield to fill the hole of war.

Obviously, behind both sides, there are great nobles supporting and aiding, so that their battle is mired in an endless war of attrition.

The silver-collar Ford family has the support of a new alliance.

And behind the Hawke family in Dragon's Tooth City are the former pro-king party, Count Cobo and others in the Great Plains.

In the palace of Triumph City, the fragile balance still exists.

Under the influence of interests and face, the nobles of both sides are unwilling to be the first to tear their faces.

So the younger brother below chose to do it for them, fighting for them, and grabbing the territory and population.

As part of the new Alliance, Count Draco was of course involved.

In order to preserve strength, and at the same time not to irritate the other party's great nobles.

He will not use the main force of his Purple Spring City, but secretly and constantly recruit the forces of other lords in the northern provinces and send them to the Silver Territory to participate in the war.

As a member of this, Blackstone City is also on the list.

Among them are the subordinate cold wind collar, iron and stone collar and beech collar.

As the acting lord of Blackstone City, Ronan needs to coordinate the forces of these realm lords and send them to the Silver Realm to support the Ford family.

Of the two letters received, the other was sent to him by Finance Minister Adlich regarding a call to Black Rock City.

After reading it, Ronan found that the conditions given by Count Draco were extremely superior.

Not only pay for steel and coal at a price 20% higher than the market price.

Each soldier who went to the battle was given a daily quote of 10 silver coins during the war, and a pension of 5 gold coins was paid after death.

I'm afraid this is only for Black Rock City's special care, Ronan knows in his heart.

If you give this treatment to other lords.

The war between the Silver Collar and Dragon's Tooth City is not over yet, and Count Draco is afraid that he will be bald by the lords who participated in the war.

As for why he was given this treatment.

Undoubtedly, Ronan's identity.

Now, after Edson became emperor, he was constantly trying to master the power of the royal guard.

and co-opt the former pro-king party to balance the power of the kingdom.

As the current emperor, Edson's own brother, if Ronan participated in the war between the two sides, the news came out that he chose to support the silver collar.

It will undoubtedly further worsen the attitude of the once pro-royal aristocrats towards Edson.

His brother Edson is the current emperor, which is very much in line with Ronan's current interests.

There's no way Ronan can put him on the path of becoming a puppet of the New Alliance.

So it's not a big problem to provide supplies, but he can't go out of this soldier.

"You have to find a plausible reason to refuse, otherwise Count Draco is not a vegetarian, and how gentle he behaves now will be when he turns his face."

Ronan put down the two letters in his hand, and then checked the report submitted by Old Motou.

It is a summary of the development of the cold wind collar during this time.

The main construction of the town and castle has been completed, the steam room is functioning normally, and the trading center is officially connected to Blackstone.

The mining of the coal mine near the Winter Wolf Village is also going smoothly, and the barbarian savages no longer try to escape, and they are beginning to accept the current stable life.

"The barbarian tribes of the frozen soil, after a long time of searching, have also found a lot of traces."

Ronan was ready to find an opportunity to bring them together.

There is no need to rush to solve it this time, just to give the soldiers of the territory and Black Rock City an excuse.

It doesn't matter if it's a coincidence or not, as long as you can get by on face.

The fifth-order Lionheart Spear was already ready, and its level of perfection was much higher than that of the Scarlet Scythe.

Even with the force of a single blow, it is enough to penetrate the mountains.

The power that Ronan had now was not afraid of Count Drake's wrath, it was just to reduce the trouble.

Not only that, after this period of attempts, thanks to the blood recovery effect of the healing potion, he already had the first batch of holy blood parasites in his hands, with a total number of six hundred.

Just take advantage of this opportunity to throw yourself into the vicinity of the two battlefields to understand the actual effect.

If the magic crowdfunding works well, Ronan will consider continuing to make it.

After all, the most important thing is pure spirituality, with a little less.

He is now in the Kingdom of God every night, in addition to accompanying Isha, he is trying to find a way to continue digging into the spirituality of the Kingdom of God.

It's a pity that after the threat of the Black Death Spirit gradually receded, the origin of the Kingdom of God did not enter, even if he waited for death, he would not be bothered.

Ronan put away the two letters and the old Motou's report, then got up and left the main hall and walked upstairs.

When he arrived at the kitchen on the second floor, he looked at the busy work of the maids.

"How's the stuff going?"

"My lord, everything is going well, and I have prepared everything according to your instructions."

The head maid who was directing them, a woman with thick arms, a gray robe, a white turban, and an apron, who had wrapped herself tightly and bowed.

Her dress is the orthodox maid dress of this era, simple and conservative, looking gray and unaesthetic.

Ronan had considered changing the maid outfit to be more in line with his aesthetic, but later gave up.

On the one hand, the cold wind collar is indeed too cold, and there is no need to toss these maids.

On the other hand, no matter how beautiful the clothes are, they also need to be matched by models.

Ronan decided to let his eyes go.

But now.

Uh, it still doesn't seem to work.

If he dared to lock the door and let Alice wear that kind of clothes, she would most likely be kicked in the face with shame.

You can't bully Isa, in reality he and Isha are not that familiar.

Kasanna is out of the picture, so he might as well wear it himself.

Ronan went to the kitchen counter with his thoughts racing through his mind, examining the materials.

Today is Kasanna's birthday, and for that is why he needs to fulfill the promise he made when he left to give her a special gift.

Naturally, this also includes the indispensable birthday cake.

Low-gluten flour can be made by further grinding and sifting selected wheat flour, and gelatin slices can be boiled with the help of cowhide, fish scales and gelatin, etc., and then whipped with cream. Although sugar was expensive in this day and age, it didn't matter to him.

Ronan also bought a lot of dried cocoa beans brought back from overseas in Triumph City.

This is used in the Central Palace as part of cocoa drinks and medicines.

Now it's a good time to try making chocolate ahead of time to add flavor to your cake.

The temperature of the original oven was not easy to control, but Ronan started the preparation a few days in advance.

Methodically and methodically step by step.

He looked at the finished product with satisfaction, a decent chocolate fruitcake.

After letting the maids go to rest, he picked up the cake he had made and walked downstairs to leave the castle.

In the large garden outside the castle, on a cleared lot.

Kasanna, along with Alice and Isa, was warming up around a burning fire.

The novel experience made Alice pick up the firewood and poke the fire from time to time, blushing and looking at the sparks.

"Be careful, don't set the blanket on your body and hurt Isha."

Ronan walked over and patted Alice on the head to stop her movement.

"Ronan, here!" At this time, Kasanna on the other side hurriedly opened the blanket on her body and called out to him.

Seeing him abandon herself and run to sit next to Kasanna, Alice turned her head and puffed out her mouth in displeasure, and was comforted by Issa's funny touching of her head.

"What a big cake." Kasanna looked at the cake in Ronan's hand in surprise, then looked at him expectantly.

"Here's a birthday cake for you."

Ronan cut the cake into small pieces and brought it to her with a fork.

But Kasanna didn't move, still looking at him expectantly.

Ronan had no choice but to pick up a fork and pick up a piece of cake and put it in her mouth.

"It's delicious!" Feeling the delicate and soft sweetness in her mouth, Kasanna's eyes flickered, "It turns out that in Triumph City, do you eat this kind of delicious food for your birthday?" ”

"Not really." Alice, who had been watching them from the sidelines, retorted unhappily, "I've never had any birthday cake." Never! ”

She couldn't help but emphasize at Ronan.

Ronan gave him a roll of the eye.

At that time, he couldn't be the master at home, and he ran to the kitchens of the next people, and the ghost knew what kind of messy rumors would be made.

Isha shook her head at Kasanna, indicating that she hadn't eaten it either.

This made Kasanna's mood even happier, and she cherished the cake in her hand.

"It's all there." Ronan divided two pieces and brought them to Alice.

For Kasanna's sake, Alice decided to forgive him magnanimously and took the cake and shared it with Isa.

After eating the cake, Ronan took out the birthday present he had prepared for Kasanna from his arms.

Considering that it was only her fifteenth birthday, Ronan finally decided to give her a Q version of Kasanna doll of her own making.

After all, the needlework that Alice had practiced in the first place must not be wasted, right?

As it turned out, Kasanna was very satisfied with the gift and held it firmly in her arms and did not let go.

After the birthday party, put out the fire in the garden and clean up.

Back in the castle, Kasanna happily ran back to her room with the doll in her arms, threw herself on the bed and held it firmly.

When Ronan returned to his room, he found a puffed Alice sitting on the bed waiting for him, shaking her calves.

"Didn't I send you a doll a long time ago?" Ronan reluctantly sat down beside her.

"But they're all in Triumph now, and I don't have them anymore!" Alice quibbled.

Then her mood suddenly dropped, "Ronan, am I disturbing you and Kasanna, if it's true, you can tell me." ”

She remembered what her mother had told her that when her brother had a wife, he would begin to drift away from them.

It seems that there are suddenly many people in the family, and the impact on Alice is quite great.

Looking at her lifeless appearance, Ronan thought to himself.

Ronan opened the cabinet, took out a large doll one meter tall from it, and handed it to Alice.

"I've been ready for you a long time ago, so I'm not angry now, are you?"

Alice was pleasantly surprised to hold the big doll she looked, and the look of frustration on her face faded.

She rested her head on the big doll's head and took a deep breath lovingly.

But then the expression was a little strange.

"What's wrong again?"

"It smells of yours on it." Alice suddenly looked at him with disgust, "Ronan, did you ever hold it when you went to bed at night, sleeping with a doll that looks like your sister, it's so strange." ”

"Don't give it back to me." Ronan reached out to get it back, but she turned around and dodged it.

"No! To prevent the Alice doll from falling into the hands of Ronan's big villain, I'm going to get it back to the warm nest! Alice hurriedly ran out of the room with the doll in her arms.

(End of chapter)