Chapter 222
00-3 The Chaos in Kaldia"s Residence
"Haa?! Making a baby"s cradle within 10 days?!"
Within the workshop where the sound of saws, nails, and hammers striking could be heard, the chief"s loud voice that sounded like a roar was raised, drowning out the other noises.
The silence that didn"t even last for a moment occurred, and the excellent craftsmen who guessed the conversation during that time hastened their working speed.
Five years ago, the whole workshop migrated from the territory of Carlson as a new carpenter craftsmen. The workshop that consisted of 60 staffs at that time got new employees bit by bit as there were villagers who sought for jobs there, and now there are almost 100 staffs working there.
"That"s right! After that, please also do sleeping basket, washbasin, and clothes containers, and the others!"
I yelled out loud as the sound of their operation increased.
Even if it"s usual for me to visit this place, I feel like I"m standing in the battlefield. No, it"s not like the aura feels that dangerous to that extent, but the way I hold the conversation back and forth feels completely like the time of a battle.
"Oi oi oi, what"s up, what"s up with that?! What kind of a rushed work is that, you son-of-b.i.t.c.h?!"
"Please!"
"If you"re requesting for it, then we"ll do it! We can"t refuse the request from the lord!!"
The muscular chief replied vigorously, and his body built didn"t seem like as if he was making a fine woodwork.
"I"m saved!"
"And, just when the h.e.l.l did you take a bride, my lord?!"
"—Ah-, not yet… no, I"m a woman, though not quite satisfactory!"
When I reflexively yelled to give my answer, the sound of laughter bursted out from within the workshop. The chief laughed very loudly as he held his sides with laughter at the words "though not quite satisfactory". He then put me at ease when he told me that the building time could be finished within 3 days.
There are also many other things that need to be prepared.
"Bellway, I"m sorry for troubling you with the preparations for the move, but I want you to arrange for a wet nurse within the royal capital and the territory. Negotiate the wage up to 15 silver coins per month. After that, I want to hasten the migration to the royal capital to three days. Leave the arrangements for the house over there to Elise—aah, that"s right, Elise. Arrange the vacant room facing my room as if there will be someone using it, together with Mrs. Hortensia in the morning. Use the maids and have Tiara and Mefuri help you. …Luca! Sorry, but please bring this pouch to the women of Gairuju village. Get the needle and yarn to sew clothes put intise of the pouch. Aslan, convey a message to the military base. Increase the guards who will accompany the journey to the royal capital to five people. As much as possible, choose the people who have little brothers or little sisters."
I instructed Bellway, who was treated more like of a housekeeper rather than working a mere secretary"s job, to prepare the necessary arrangements; made Ratoka arrange the interior of the current house, and order the people who had nothing to do like Luca and Aslan to move this and that.
I feel bad for giving them a large quant.i.ty of work to do in addition of being originally busy with the preparation for my enrollment to the academy, but it can"t be helped as it"s something necessary to do.
"Elizsama, what kind of matress and other things should be prepared in the new room?"
"The matress and curtain will be the ones used by Earl Terejia. The tapestry should be brand new, and I don"t care about the rest. I have already asked the workshop to deal with the furnishings. In the afternoon, the villagers will come to help deciding their colors and shapes, so I"ll be counting on you until that time."
"Understood."
Mrs. Hortensia had a bewildered expression, but she bowed without asking anything and quickly went away.
I finally caught my breath after I finished issuing instructions at one go, but immediately, Gunther entered the entrance hall and said, "There"s something I would like to discuss with the lord…"
"Ah? What is this? I came here as Aslan called me out, but what kind of fuss is happening here? Is the lord bringing a bride over?"
Gunther who saw the chaotic situation inside uttered the same thing as the workshop"s chief. I replied back to him, "The one who"s going to take a bride should be you, shouldn"t it?"
Well, the lord"s residence right now is indeed in a condition where one can say so.
This spring, besides Oscar and Claudia"s safe and sound marriage, Gunther is also holding his wedding ceremony in this mansion while inviting all of the army members under the reason of, "This is how I can reward your allegiance up until now." And that was how the mansion residents who were still in the middle of tidying up got even busier than they were. Incidentally, there was also a christening ceremony for the newly arrived members of the village just the other day.
Finally, as soon as I felt like calming down a bit after arriving at the royal capital, I added two more carriages to depart to the royal capital 10 days later—naturally, there are some necessary preparations to be done—as absurd as it seems, since the lord is heading out, there was quite a hectic uproar. There was no right and wrong about it, though.
"Don"t make fun of Nadje."
"Then, I won"t tease Nadje. And then, anything else?"
"Ah-, that"s right. I saw the lord"s white-bellied green pigeon during the patrolling. It shouldn"t be in the office during this period of time, right? That"s why, I thought that I ought to tell you."
"A pigeon?"
That"s the white-bellied green pigeon used for any contact requiring a hurried response… If we are to compare its movement speed alone, it can be used for communication at a speed even faster than the most excellent red carrier pigeon.
Just where was it from? I instantly went upstrairs and when I entered the office, there were certaintly some bright blue feathers of a dove left on the plate.
I picked up the sealed letter right next to the feathers—and I opened my eyes wide at it.
"…The royal family"s seal?!"
Everyone knows of the Arxia n.o.bility, but it was the first time in my life that I saw the symbol in a letter for myself. I tore open the sealing wax that contained the royal family"s seal.
[There is an imperial edict for Countess Kaldia. If you would please quickly go and pay a visit to the royal palace.]These excessively simple sentences were written in its content that I opened in a rush.
After unintentionally crushing the letter with my hands which were under pressure and tossing it away, I dashed up to the stairs and ran down with all my power.
"…And that"s how, I apologize, but I need to go to the royal capital earlier than the initial plan."
"Haaaa?!" The residents of the lord"s mansion who were in a chaos raised their voices which were close to screams, but it couldn"t change the royal"s order.
"T, that, I understand, but… In regards to the additional arrangements, how should we proceed with them from now on?"
Bellway, who correctly understood the importance of the royal"s order even more than everyone else here, regained his composure in an instant and inquired me to give the instructions on how to proceed with the work smoothly even in my absence.
"I will leave the preparations for the necessary things to Mrs. Hortensia, and the preparations to load the items along with my luggage to Bellway."
"Me?"
"That"s right. …It can"t be helped for things to turn this way. There are some circ.u.mstances with details that I can"t divulge, but… everyone here is a part of my own body. I will put my trust that you won"t leak this story to the others."
I could hear the sound of someone swallowing their own saliva.
Since there might be the risk of a.s.sa.s.sinations and the others entangled in the story, I tried making it as clear as possible that I would be making this public much later on, but…
"—I am going to adopt a child."
"What?"
"I repeat, I"m going to adopt a child."
There was a momentary silence.
Followed by, "Whaaaaaat?!!" This time, there were clear screams full of chaos.