Lord: I have built a witch's sanctuary.

An hour later.

Lorraine returned to the White Wolf outpost, emanating a chill from his body.

This trip was uneventful.

He sat there for fifteen minutes at the entrance of the Snow Eagle outpost, but apart from getting a bellyful of cold wind, he didn't see a single person.

However, he paused slightly when he pushed open the gate of his own outpost.

Outside the once deserted outpost, a rather elaborately decorated snowmobile was now parked.

"Young Master! You're back!" Anna saw Lorraine and, as if seeing her pillar of support, quickly ran behind him. "This young lady said she came to see you."

Hearing the noise, the blonde woman in front of the beast-drawn carriage slowly turned around.

She didn't have the typical delicate and coquettish manner of a noble lady; instead, she exuded competence and composure.

Although her body was wrapped in heavy winter clothes, it was still impossible to hide her voluptuous and mature curves.

Upon seeing Lorraine, she nodded politely in greeting, a perfectly appropriate smile on her face.

"Good day. You must be the new lord here?"

"I am Olivia, the pioneering baron of the neighboring Snow Eagle Territory."

"Just now, while I was patrolling the borders of my territory, I noticed traces left by someone who had visited over there. Then, I observed the signs of the demonic fire reigniting here, so I took the liberty of coming to pay a visit."

Lorraine nodded imperceptibly, returning the courtesy with a nobleman's demeanor: "Lorraine, may I ask what brings Miss Olivia here?"

"I'd like to discuss a business deal with you."

When the topic turned to business, Olivia's expression became serious.

She waved to the servants behind her, took a fine cloth bag, and then gently opened it to show it to Lorraine.

Inside are golden seeds.

"This is the 'Cold-resistant Barley No. 3' that I improved and bred."

"They can survive in permafrost and yield twice as much as ordinary cold-resistant crops. Unfortunately, my outpost has limited arable land, making large-scale cultivation impossible. And as for the family..."

She paused, a self-deprecating smile curving her lips:

They believed that it was a waste for nobles to personally go to the fields, and they cut off my supply lines.

"But I believe that in this wasteland, food is the only hard currency."

She looked at Lorraine, her gaze intense:

"It would be a huge waste of resources if these seeds rotted in the warehouse."

"Your Excellency Lorraine, it appears that your place is undergoing reconstruction. If you have a solution for the transportation or planting issues, I think we can cooperate."

Just as Lorraine was about to speak, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from afar.

"Miss! Miss, slow down! Wait for me!"

A middle-aged man who looked like a butler came running over, panting. When he saw Olivia chatting happily with Lorraine, his expression changed drastically.

He repeatedly bowed and apologized to Olivia, then pulled her aside.

"Miss! How can you just start talking to a stranger like that!"

The butler lowered his voice: "I sensed something was off when I saw the direction this person was coming from, so I specifically sent a messenger hawk to investigate. This person... is that infamous bastard son of the Frostwolf family!"

Olivia remained unfazed: "An illegitimate child...so what?"

"Oh, my dear young lady! You're supposed to be a noblewoman, how can you have absolutely no political sense?" The butler stamped his feet in frustration, whispering through gritted teeth in her ear.

"He's a discarded son of the Frostwolf Clan, stripped of his inheritance and exiled here to fend for himself! I heard that because of his lowly birth and his insolence with the matriarch, he's been ostracized within the clan, and now he's penniless, so much so that even the clan's supply caravan won't stop here!"

The butler glanced at Lorraine, his face full of disdain:

"That kind of person is a political jinx! If you get involved with him, not only will your family blame you, but he might even drag you down with him! Get out of here, whatever you do, don't give him the seeds. What does that poor bastard know about agriculture!"

"You already knew I couldn't be bothered with all that politics," Olivia said calmly. "As far as I'm concerned, I'll help whoever can help me promote these seeds."

"Even if he were the Earl himself, it wouldn't make a difference."

"My young lady, her background is secondary," the butler said anxiously, his brows furrowed.

"Look at this environment. Apart from a basic magic fire, there isn't even a witch's tower. With the size of that magic fire, there's no place to grow food around it, so we can only grow it outside."

The butler swallowed hard and said earnestly:

"Your hardy barley is very precious. Planted in a place without the sturdy defense of the Witch's Tower, it will be uprooted tonight when the demonic tide comes. It won't even grow big."

"We don't need to waste resources on a place where we're doomed."

Olivia's hand, which was holding the seed bag, paused slightly in mid-air.

She glanced around the outpost without making a sound.

Indeed, as the butler said, there is a lack of even the most basic defensive facilities here.

But Olivia did not show any disappointment.

She simply straightened her cuffs, slipped the bag of seeds back into the depths of her sleeve, and instantly switched her expression back to a polite smile.

Olivia turned around and walked back to Lorraine, her tone carrying just the right amount of apology:

"Your Excellency, it's really unfortunate. The butler just reminded me that the seed activation process for this batch of improved seeds is not yet complete. If they are exposed to the cold wind now, it may affect their viability."

It seems I won't be able to leave them for you today.

"In that case, I'll take my leave."

Olivia turned around briskly, but before getting into the carriage, she seemed to suddenly notice something, her brows furrowing slightly. Pointing to the back of the carriage, she said to the servant:

"By the way, the road conditions on the way back are bad. The axle kept making noise when we came here. For safety reasons, let's unload those two bags of flour and smoked meat from the ballast compartment at the rear of the truck to lighten the load."

The butler was taken aback. He was about to say that the axle wasn't broken, but when he saw his young mistress's icy gaze, he immediately shut his mouth and quickly carried the food down.

"Your Excellency Lorraine," Olivia turned her head, her tone relaxed and natural, "taking these things back would be a burden. If you don't mind, please leave them here and help me deal with them. It will save me the trouble of transporting them back to the warehouse."

Lorraine gave Olivia a deep look. He knew, of course, that the butler had pulled Olivia aside and they had been talking for so long, so it was unlikely that it was about something as trivial as the awakening of the seed.

But he didn't show any dissatisfaction, he just smiled and said:

"Since it is Miss Olivia's 'request,' then I will accept it without hesitation."