Chapter VIII Marriage

The castle changed hands on the same day.

A castle worth 50,000 gold wit, Huey bought it for only one-fifth of the price.

The price of Fog Castle is never expensive.

On this day, the Dardanelles officially took over the castle and became the new owners of the castle.

But what happened next gave Xiu Yi a bit of a headache.

Originally, in his opinion, aside from the issue of the alchemy laboratory, the meaning of the existence of the Fog Hidden Castle was to live.

Even if it is a dwelling, it is enough to be able to live in it.

But apparently the ladies don't think so.

Christine, as a wealthy widow, has an amazing handwriting.

Screens carved from rare jadeite from the Frankish Empire, mural carpets and velvet curtains from the Georgian Empire, wardrobes made of fragrant wood, lacquered in the noblest colors, and various exquisite carvings were moved into the castle as decorations, and it took a lot of decoration to fill this large castle. Instead of using the most popular crystal lamp, the chandelier uses a rare jade ball, which can emit various colors of light such as red, yellow, blue and green at night, without consuming any energy, but the price is also surprisingly expensive, and Christine used hundreds of these jade balls to be carefully carved, and then inlaid them in various places.

With a few auxiliary lights, it is enough to turn the entire castle into a sea of colorful lights at night.

Due to the carving of the jade ball, these lights can even illuminate all kinds of strange images in the air.

As for the bed, Christine moved the bed in her bedroom directly and openly put it in Study's bedroom.

What this move means is already self-evident.

This behavior annoyed Lilith for a while, but she didn't know what Christine secretly said to her, so Lilith finally accepted it peacefully.

In addition, Christine brought thirty servants from the Rose Manor.

In her words: "The robbers you trained are better off being turned into nursing homes." Look at that guy, he's worthy of being a gardener, he's spoiling the flowers. The only thing they could do was feed the horses. ”

Speaking of horses, Christine even found four pure-blooded gray zebras. These grey zebras are now extremely rare, and the value of four such horses on the market is almost exactly 10,000 Jinvitt.

Huey calculated that the amount of money he paid for the castle was not even a fifth of what Christine had spent to decorate it.

Of course, such a huge investment has turned the castle into one of the most imposing and ornate residences in Winrington at once.

Every night, the Fog Castle is no longer vaguely mysterious, but like the most prosperous city center, with bright light piercing through the fog, even if it is dozens of miles away.

As for Lilith, she cleaned up all the flowers and plants that the Jacobs family had left in the castle.

Then the orchid of eternal night, which symbolizes eternity, the mandarin flower that symbolizes love, the longing grass that symbolizes happiness, and the imperial blood rose, which symbolizes bravery, were planted...... And so on and so forth, and so on and so forth, and the garden is set up like a paradise.

When it comes to the decoration of her own house, any woman is beautiful by nature, and even a man who is smart and has the right to speak has no say in this issue.

For Huey, the only good thing about this is that Christine and Lilith gradually come to some kind of unity in the process of negotiation.

Today, after all this effort, it is finally completed.

Sitting on the big chair in the main hall, Xiu Yi said tiredly: "I really can't believe that you guys are doing this kind of thing, even if I haven't done anything, I feel weak when I see it now, and you are still refreshed." ”

"People are always very energetic when they do what they like, just like you are obsessed with alchemy. If we give some special meaning to what we like to do, then we will be more motivated to work. Christine replied as she sat down beside him, Lilith to her right.

"What is the special significance?" said Huey, puzzled.

"We hope you enjoy it here, and I hope you can cherish the beauty and prosperity here, maybe that can remove the hatred in your heart and stop taking risks. The castle once gave you too many shadows, but Winrington wasn't Purgatory Island after all. We don't want you to go back to that dark and horrible hell of the past, you bought it, and ended up with memories of the past every day, and that didn't work for you. We can't change the pattern of this building, we can only change its interior. ”

This is Lilith telling Huey that she knew about the same thing as Purgatory Island Castle that day, and at that time she was determined to make this place different from Purgatory Island. For her, this was perhaps the best way to dilute the hatred in Xiuyi's heart.

Christine also said: "Of course, that is the best outcome, but I don't think it will work for you, at most it will make you look at the building with a normal mind." But we also give the castle another meaning. ”

"Another meaning?" Huey was a little curious.

"Yes, haven't you always wanted the Dardanelles to enter the upper echelons of the Empire?"

"Yes. ”

"So do you know how far you are from the real upper class?"

Xiu Yi shook his head, his understanding of the upper class nobles was actually stuck in the etiquette norms that the real Xiu Yi had learned at the Harden family earlier, as well as some words and deeds.

But when it comes to the real aristocracy and high society, his knowledge is still limited, on the contrary, Buckler is clearer because of his origin, but this person is obviously not good at summarizing, he may have been an insider, but he can't express the difference between high society and ordinary families in words.

Christine then said: "We all know that it takes a lot of hard work for a family to become a true nobleman. However, in order to become a high-class nobleman, you must first understand what an aristocracy is. Nobility, in fact, is an inevitable consequence of the hereditary system of titles. With the continuous increase of new titles and the continuous hereditary inheritance of old titles, a noble community gradually formed. In these communities, there are old aristocrats with a long history and new aristocrats who have just emerged, and it is the combination of them together that forms an upper-class aristocratic society. Marriage between nobles and nobles, intermarriage, is not the law, but it is stronger than the law. One of the most important ties that formed an aristocratic society was bloodline. Today it is difficult to say clearly how many of the big families in the upper class are not connected to each other. All families, to some extent, can even be said to be a family. Although some have fallen and some have risen, the bond that holds this formation together is always there. That's the power of bloodlines. Huey, you are very smart and capable, but there are some problems that you will never solve. For example, the Dardanelles family does not belong to any aristocratic family in terms of blood. You don't have any connection with them, even the most distant. ”

Xiu Yi was slightly silent, and he nodded: "You're right, Christine, I can't solve this problem, so do you have a way?"

"In any country, in order for a family to become a high nobility, it must have one thing - official recognition. The so-called official recognition is a clear knighthood or conferring of positions, and even includes territories. And this is the origin of the nobles and the nobles of the position. But since you're not interested in getting a title in the Reims Empire, the only way you can make the Dardanelles a member of high society is to become a special kind of nobility in addition to these three types of nobility - vassal nobility. ”

"Vassal nobles?"

"Yes. You must know that in the long river of history, there has never been a family that can prosper for a long time, and there will always be some families that will gradually decline. They have no great glory left by their ancestors, but they cannot turn it into edible rice and possessions that can be spent. Some aristocrats will gradually decline, and although they still retain the upper class of society, they are no longer much different from ordinary commoners in their bones. Perhaps the only consolation for them was that they still had a family crest in their hands to boast about, but beyond that, a small remaining piece of family fiefdom, and nothing else. On the other hand, there is a different kind of people, nouveau riche like the Dardanelles. He has money, but he lacks a way to enter high society, and he urgently needs a guide to enter high society. In this case, once these two groups of people come together, there is often a kind of transaction. ”

Xiu Yi understood: "Intermarriage?"

"That's right. Christine smiled sweetly: "This is the origin of the vassal aristocracy, and it is also the best way for the vast majority of non-feudal nobles to finally enter high society." Choose a down-and-out nobleman, intermarry with them, give birth to a son and a half daughter, and then take this opportunity to enter the upper class society logically. ”

"I see, so what does this have to do with the castle?"

"There is no family that does not have a prestigious estate of its own. The only way for the Dardanelles to enter high society was to find a down-and-out aristocratic family and complete the intermarriage. Before intermarrying, you need to have enough means to prove your strength, and there is nothing more eye-catching than buying a luxury villa. If you're big enough, you can let all of Winrington know about the existence of the Dardanelles. Winrington has a wealthy family, and there is no shortage of small nobles who have fallen down. The down-and-out aristocrats with daughters are looking around with their eyes wide open looking for families to rely on and work hard to continue to maintain their decent lives. And the Dardanelles, this nouveau riche existence, as long as you want to, it will undoubtedly become the fat in the eyes of many. You bought the Fog Castle too cheaply, which does not reflect the value of the Dardanelles family in the slightest. There will be many people who think that the Dardanelles want to make a difference in the Winrington family, but they are greedy for cheap and choose a castle that is in danger of death, and they will look down on you. ”

"So ......"

"So we're going to have another way to prove our financial strength. ”

"But that would be an announcement that I'm heading for the fourth floor of the tower. ”

"So there's a clear benefit to that. One: You may not live more than a year. Two: The girls will be widows, widows like me. ”

"No one would want to marry me. ”

"If there is a girl who really likes you, and you don't have a bad feeling for her, you can also make a promise to her, such as never going to the Tower for many years. Christine said with a smile.

"Are you trying to confuse me with the Dardanelles' future entry into high society?" said Huey. Speaking of which, Christine still doesn't want to enter the tower herself.

For this reason, she even did not hesitate to tie herself and Lilith to Xiuyi's body, plus an ethereal aristocratic girl.

Christine took Huey's hand: "Even if it's okay, Huey, I just don't want you to take the risk, I can give everything for this." ”

"I can only promise you that I won't take risks lightly...... At least until I'm done with what I'm supposed to do. Xiu Yi replied very seriously.

—————————

In the small hall, Buckler and Huey were talking.

"So, Christine means that you marry the daughter of a nobleman, achieve the goal of intermarriage, and then help the Dardanelles smoothly enter the upper echelons of the empire?" Buckler was a little incredulous.

Although Huey was only sixteen years old, he had reached the legal marriageable age.

Huey replied, "To be honest, I don't want to use this method to achieve my ends, but I can't refuse Christine's kindness right away, and most importantly, I have a different opinion on the subject." ”

"What do you think?"

"Christine thinks things too badly, and the fact that Cisseda Danielle is an alchemist and lives in the Fog Castle may scare some girls away, but it may also make some girls with ulterior motives desperate to marry me. I don't think I can make every girl fall in love with me, and I just need a transactional marriage instead of a big love. For many down-and-out aristocratic girls, perhaps marrying me was a reluctant decision, and widowhood was not necessarily a better choice...... In some cases, their future is free. ”

"You look at people's hearts very darkly, Huey, that's not good. ”

"Just to get the facts out, Brian, I see humanity better than you do, even though I'm young. Even a beggar will be loved, and being a widow is nothing, compared to the huge assets that are about to be acquired. Therefore, even if I openly declare that I will enter the tower in half a year, it will attract a group of girls who want to marry me. ”

"So what do you mean ......"

"There's no better way to find a woman I don't like so much and don't like me that much to be my wife. We can give her and her family a sum of money in exchange for a legal identification. As for my life or death, the other party doesn't have to care. Of course, this is time-limited. After the time passed, the parties dissolved the marriage. ”

"Bloodlines need children to enjoy and inherit. ”

"We won't have children, because all we need is to take this opportunity to enter high society, not to become a real blood noble. This is the biggest difference between us and other vassal nobles. ”

"How do you find such a woman?"

"We need a draft ceremony...... "Huey said thoughtfully, "the castle has been bought, and Haddin is contacting the shop." Since the Dardanelles are going to make a big difference in Winlington, there are some things they should do. Do you remember what the nobles' way of communicating was?"

Buckler smiled, "Do you mean the prom?"

"Yes, the best place to get to know the girls. Well, let's have a ball in the castle, with Christine here, and I'm sure there will be a lot of people coming to cheer for it, even some characters that we may not welcome. ”

"I'll tell Hodin to get this done. Buckler nodded in agreement.

Buckler went out, leaving only Huey in the room.

Xiu Yi didn't care too much about intermarriage with nobles, everyone took what they needed, and let others worry about it.

What he needed to focus on most now was the castle itself, another laboratory of Electra that he couldn't reach in front of him.

He believed that as long as he passed this hurdle, he would be waiting for him with some amazing invention of Electra.

So how do you uncover the secrets of the castle's interior?

Huey fell into deep thought.

————————————

The sale of Fog Castle caused a stir in Winrington.

The sensation is not only because of the fame of the Fog Castle itself, but also because of the people who bought it.

The inhabitants of Winrington soon learn that Fog Castle had been bought by a new nouveau riche family, and that one of the young heirs to the family who bought it turned out to be an alchemist.

It had been ten years since an alchemist had entered the castle.

This may mean that he will die soon, and there is speculation about how long the boy will be able to endure to explore the secrets of the tower.

Will he end up disappearing into the tower forever, or will he come out as a madman?

Some aristocrats even bet with each other about this.

In addition, there are some rumors that are also spreading, such as this young man, who seems to have a very close connection with the famous widow of a wealthy family. Someone in Royo had heard that the boy had become Christine's guest in the scene.

This made many people jealous, and cursed the name Cisseddar Daniel for disappearing into the Fog Castle earlier.

This would have done Huey a benefit: some of Christine's suitors who had learned the truth had become less desperate to kill him. They could have waited until Huey himself died in the castle before continuing to pursue Christine.

Of course, there are also those who can't wait and don't want to wait until that time.

"Cisdadaniel, what kind of kid came out of nowhere to capture Christine's heart? No, I don't believe there could be such a thing. ”

At a manor in Winrington, several well-dressed young men were talking.

One of the young men, who had a pocket watch on his chest, shook his head and denied such information.

"Bateson, you're too sluggish, that's true. My men told me that while in the city of Royo, the boy named Cethedadaniel lived in one of Christine's villas there. He lived there for a whole month. A tall, thin young man said.

"Maybe it's just an ordinary guest, and it doesn't mean anything. "The young man named Bateson didn't want to believe such a thing.

"So do you know that the Dardanelles once entered into a sale and purchase agreement with a group of material merchants such as the Doug Firm? Christine vouched for him with the reputation and fortune of the Weston family, so that the Dardanelles only had to pay one-tenth of the price to acquire sixty percent of the materials in Royo City. However, the Dardanelles played the trick of reprocessing, and they made a lot of money by processing the materials on credit into finished products, and then giving them to the material dealers at a discount. Another young man in a top hat said.

"How is this possible?" the man named Bateson cried, "How could Christine vouch for the Dardanelles so much?"

"That's right, and it's not just that. Someone saw the kid enter Christine's bedroom one night. Before that, that kid used unimaginable pursuit methods in order to pursue Christine, and his hand was simply extraordinary. ”

As soon as several young men sued about what had happened in Royo City, the young men who heard it were dumbfounded.

"Two days ago, the Dardanelles had returned to Winrington with Christine, but Christine had not informed anyone of her return. That night, the Dardanelles moved into the Rose Estate. I paid off a servant at Rose Manor, who told me that the next day when he went to clean Cisseddaraniel's room, he found that the boy was not living in his room at all. You know what that means, right? Bateson, everything that happened in Royo can be taken as a rumor, but here, everything is true. ”

The next day, Christine accompanied the Dardanelles family to buy the Fog Castle. According to the housekeeper of the Jacobs family, Cisdadenelle promised Christine that she would not easily enter the fourth floor of the tower, but Christine was not satisfied, and she ran away crying. It wasn't the first time the butler had known Christine, he said he had never seen Christine behave like that, and that no man had ever made her so out of shape. Another young man said that he had given the butler considerable benefits for the news.

The young man named Bateson was completely stupid, and he shook his head desperately: "No, it can't be, it shouldn't be like this! Only I am qualified to marry her!"

Several young men looked at Bateson with mocking eyes. One of them said, "You even heard the news of her return from someone else's mouth, Bateson, she didn't take you to heart at all." ”

Bateson sat limply in his chair.

The Earl of Bateson from House Banister has always considered himself the most promising of all Christine's suitors.

Unlike most suitors, most of them are second sons, although they are prominent. They covet Christine's beauty, but they also have other motives and purposes.

Bateson was different, his grandfather was Aldrick Banister, one of the four sanctuaries of the Empire, and he himself was the Empire's finest talent, young, handsome, dashing, and erudite. He is the eldest son of the family and the only legal heir. He has a genuine affection for Christine, not a coveting of her possessions.

Of all Christine's suitors, Bateson can be said to be the man with the most limelight, the most famous, the most capable, and the most promising and qualified to win over Christine. In a way, if it weren't for Bateson's crazy infatuation with Christine, maybe that Earl Karen Weston would have done it to Christine a long time ago. But again, Bateson didn't plan to help Christine take out Weston.

He hoped to use this threat to get Christine to submit to him.

But it turned out that he was wrong.

Christine actually chose a little-known subject to submission.

"She's crazy, she's crazy. Bateson's eyes showed despair. He never imagined that Christine had just gone out for a walk, and when she came back, she already had a place in her heart. She doesn't like so many children of the family, but she wants to choose such a nouveau riche child. Could it be that those extravagant romances really could touch her heart so easily?

Isn't there enough means to curry favor with her?

A deep sense of humiliation came to my heart.

"Bateson, you know that if any man here marries Christine, we'll only bless him. The family has family rules and will not stir up disputes because of such things. But this time it was different, Christine didn't choose any of us, and while we searched the world for Huy Glare for her condition, Christine's heart was taken advantage of by an upstart boy. It's unacceptable that everything we've done for her is now meaningless. A young man said.

"Yes, it is unacceptable, this is a shame for all the nobles of the empire, we have collectively lost to such a brat. Christine is a noble swan, and she must not be given to such a brat together. ”

"He's a few years younger than Christine. ”

"He doesn't deserve Christine at all. ”

Everyone, you and I are talking word by word.

"That's enough!" Bateson cried, his handsome face bruised, "He's going to die, I swear!"

"What are you going to do?" successfully provoked Baterson's hatred of Huey, making all the young people happy.

"I'll ask him for a duel, he can't refuse!" Bateson gritted his teeth.

This sentence put everyone's mind at ease.

Bateson is not only the heir to the family, most importantly he is also the grandson of Banist. At only twenty-four years old, he was already a sixth-level samurai. At this age, there are only a handful of people who can reach this step, looking at the empire.

If it weren't for Christine's heart, Bateson wouldn't have chosen a duel.

He understands one thing very well: duels will not help him win Christine's heart, but duels will help him eliminate his rivals.

"If that's the case, then Batesson, you'll have a chance in three days. A young man said.

"What chance?"

"The Dardanelles are about to hold a big ball, and Christine will be the guest of honor. Many prestigious families were invited, and the ball was very grand. ”

Bateson was stunned: "Including your family?"

"Yes, Bateson, I guess you didn't get the invitation. ”

Bateson's face turned pale.

He finally understood why he had only only now learned the news.

Because Christine didn't want him to come, maybe she knew from the beginning that if he did, it would be a big problem.

"Are you going to go?" someone asked him.

"If Christine hadn't invited you, it would have been a faux pas to go to the castle in itself, and in that case, it would have been even more ...... to ask the master for a duel," a young man hesitated.

"A faux pas, what's such a faux pas compared to the fact that I'm losing my favorite?" Bateson's face was already fierce and vicious: "I'll go, even if they don't invite me, I'll go!"