Women only affect my ability to spread the fire

After spending these days together, Russell got to know his princess slave girl very well. He knew that she was simple-minded and would not put on such a face unless she really had other ways.

Francine also understood this. Francine's sarcasm failed and was ridiculed. She was furious and wanted to jump up and fight with Eleanor, but she had no body.

With no other options, Francine began racking her brains to think of ways to tease Eleanor.

Without considering his sister-in-law's feelings at all, Russell spoke curiously: "Huh? Eleanor, do you have any other ideas for getting yourself a body like the royal Burgoyne?"

The master asked a question, and Eleanor, who had been trained to be very well-behaved, immediately lowered her head and became submissive.

Her Royal Highness explained, "My Lord, the Church has a ritual called 'Receiving the Holy Eucharist.' They can use divine magic to summon a body and use this 'Holy Eucharist' in religious ceremonies to represent the Lord's suffering."

When Russell heard this, he felt that Eleanor's idea was totally unreliable.

Eleanor's spell of preserving the soul through the heart was obtained by the Black Princess from the devil. In other words, her soul has the breath of the devil. If such a soul drills into the so-called "holy body", God knows what will happen.

This was just a technical issue; Eleanor didn't consider the political issues at all.

At present, the atmosphere of impending storm between the Usedom royal family and the church was smelled by a newcomer like Russell. It seemed that a royal soul using the "Holy Body" could indeed bridge the rift between the royal family and the church.

If there really were a situation where demons were invading, Usedom, who was forced to unite under external forces, might really have to compromise and accept such a plan.

But in times of crisis, at least we need to find a man of great talent and vision to play the role of savior.

While thinking this, Russell glanced at Eleanor, who was simple and had a princess-like temperament.

Eleanor didn't realize the rudeness in Russell's eyes, but gave him a big smile.

—Well, at least not Eleanor.

Look at Usedom now, its people are peaceful and demoralized. They must not have experienced any strong external pressure in the past 24 years.

Therefore, the royal family and the church would probably be even more intolerant of such an existence. They should be eager to overwhelm the other party instead of compromising with it.

In Russell's opinion, with things getting to the point where even a landless knight of low status like Friedman (if he had a higher status, he wouldn't have been unable to get land 24 years after the retreat) has started to take sides, there must be an irreconcilable contradiction between Archbishop Cluny and King Frederick.

Russell did not express his guess aloud. He did not want to discourage Eleanor, the slave girl who was now very well-behaved and obedient under him. It would be better to let her continue to be naive.

As if she had sensed Russell's thoughts, Rosalyn tapped lightly on the box, rebuffing Francine's sneer that was about to come out of her mouth and quietly defusing the argument.

"Huh? Communion?" Margaret was stunned, then shook her head and sighed, "Usedom has made some progress in recent years. Whether it's the Communion ceremony or His Majesty the King's Black Guards, I've never heard of them before."

Russell always felt a little uncomfortable when he heard Margaret, who was only in her early twenties, express such mature and sentimental words about the changes in the world.

Just as Russell was about to say something to comfort Margaret, someone came to visit.

Walking in front was the trembling old cattle herder Ernst, who now came to greet Russell every morning and evening - this regular activity replaced his old morning and evening prayers.

Although Russell did not want old Ernst to regard him as his master, old Ernst seemed to be determined to do the right thing.

This also forced Russell to carefully time his frolics with the ladies. Imagine if a devout old cowherd with all his teeth had accidentally caught his "master" and the ladies in an amusing act, he wouldn't have fainted or even died from the shock.

Mark also feels gratitude and respect for Russell, although meeting Eleanor makes him feel a little uncomfortable.

However, Eleanor, who had been quickly matured into a young woman, made Mark feel that he had no real sense of facing his daughter, so he often accompanied his adoptive father to Russell's place. For Russell and his group, Mark was also a frequent visitor.

Similarly, Eleanor, who didn't want to recognize a second father, didn't know how to face Mark - just look at how chaotic the relationships in the royal family are - so Eleanor also acted like an ostrich, and the two of them tacitly turned a blind eye and never even said hello.

This time, following Mark were several knights who looked very reserved. Russell recognized them. They were all knights whose vitality had been drained away by the Black Princess, and this was their first visit.

After being welcomed into the house, the knights felt even more uncomfortable. They looked at the lady with a pair of wolf ears - this was undoubtedly a princess - standing obediently behind Russell like a maid. They wanted to turn around and leave, wishing they had not seen this scene of the royal dignity being destroyed.

Some secrets are kept secret by everyone and can even be passed around as gossip, but once they are exposed, everyone will lose face.

Those who knew wished they didn't know, and those who saw wished they hadn't seen. Like defeated quails, each of these knights dared not raise their heads. They lowered their heads desperately, wishing they could bury them in the sand.

Russell saw the knights' embarrassment and finally understood why the knights were very enthusiastic when he visited them these days, but never dared to come to his room.

Originally, Russell thought that these people were two-faced people who said one thing in public and another in private. Now it seems that the problem lies with Eleanor.

Russell finally understood how shocking his actions were in the eyes of the locals.

In order to ease the knights' embarrassment, Russell took the initiative to speak up for them and said, "Uh, Mark, you brought them here to visit me, is there something going on?"

When these impoverished knights heard Russell calling His Royal Highness the Prince (even though he was just a prince in distress) by his name, they were not so panicked.

Perhaps this Lord Russell is of such a noble status that it is natural for him to boss His Royal Highness the Prince around, and it is also natural for him to have Her Royal Highness the Princess as his maid.

The knights hypnotized themselves in this way.

At this time, Mark answered, "Well, yes, I heard that you were asking around about the black market in Gritzburg. I also asked the knights on your behalf. The reply letters they received from Gritzburg contained some information about the black market, so I brought them here."

Margaret became excited when she heard that these knights brought clues about the black market.

Russell's eyes lit up as well: "Oh? Please tell me."

The author says:

Author's Note: Thanks to Bloodthirsty Bronze Bull for the tips and coins;

Thanks for the tips and coins without nicknames;

Thanks to reader 1697116370 for the coin

161 Black Market Clues

The new capital of the Usedom Kingdom after the Great Retreat was just a small, inconspicuous city in the eastern part of the kingdom, without any large-scale black market.

However, after the Great Retreat, with the influx of refugees from the west and a large number of knights, food quickly became scarce.

In order to solve the problem of food shortage, His Majesty Frederick issued an edict - prohibition of alcohol.

The black market sparked by Prohibition is a commonplace phenomenon that has occurred countless times throughout history.

The knights who still had some extra money and had obtained certain privileges by following His Majesty the King on his hunt in the east were already accustomed to drinking. In addition, the disgraceful military defeat also required a lot of alcohol to help them sleep peacefully, so they were full of desire for alcohol.

Those landlords who had originally stockpiled large amounts of grain smelled a business opportunity, and with the prohibition causing alcohol prices to remain high, they naturally plucked up the courage to take the risk of providing alcohol.

The two sides hit it off almost immediately.

The royal court's new arrival and the decline of its prestige due to military defeat forced King Frederick to cede some power to the original citizen class of Gritzburg and recruit many local people as royal officials to manage Gritzburg.

Under the cover of these local tyrants, the black market was initially established in a semi-official form.

Later, as King Frederick's prestige gradually solidified, some merchants and traffickers began to establish a vast network underground in the city in order to circumvent law enforcement and supervision.

This network involved all kinds of people, including peddlers, thieves, stolen goods dealers, witches, heretics, and some people who could not gain a foothold in orthodox society.

Some knights even had to take shady missions in the black market to make a living in order to maintain the appearance of themselves and their families.

It is obvious that the knights who now appear in front of Russell are more or less involved with the black market, otherwise they would not be able to obtain information about the black market.

Looking at their eager eyes, there is no doubt that these knights want to whitewash themselves by getting close to powerful people.

Even though Mark is a prince of questionable origin, and even though Russell is a man from a foreign country with unknown background, they find it difficult to suppress their "ambition".

These down-and-out knights are actually willing to bet on Mark or me. It seems that the environment in Usedom is really stagnant and too depressing.

Russell thought with some emotion.

Russell speculated that this black market had never been banned, perhaps because a large number of knights were involved in it, so the royal family and the church did not want to mobilize the entire family to rectify it.

Later, after the Gu-breeding, a "Night Emperor" appeared in the underground world of Gritzburg. It is said that he is a mysterious leader with extraordinary courage, outstanding strength, ruthless means and a mysterious identity.

At least these knights in front of Russell who wanted to speculate were not qualified to know his identity.

Russell felt that the so-called "Emperor of the Night" on the black market might be the black glove of Sir Friedrich.

Otherwise, it would be hard for Russell to imagine how big a person's heart could be to dare to give himself such a childish name in the underground world of the royal city.

For example, Eleanor flew into a rage when she heard the word "Emperor of the Night". It was an indignation that the royal dignity was ignored, which contrasted with Mark's complete indifference.

However, the news brought by the Cavaliers immediately changed Russell's mind.

Because the "Emperor of the Night" was said to have been captured.

"I heard, I heard that the false king of the night was captured by the Inquisition in the black market."

A knight was so frightened when he saw Her Royal Highness the Princess was furious, but when asked by Russell, he still plucked up the courage to speak hesitantly, and he was quite clever to call him "fake king".

Hearing this address, Eleanor's frown finally relaxed a little. If she didn't also hate the Inquisition, Eleanor would have applauded the capture of this false king.

"The Inquisition's actions are not a secret, and many people know about it." The knight glanced at his companions. "It's just that it happened a few days ago, and I received the reply relatively late, so I only learned about it."

Two other knights nodded in agreement with his statement, confirming it.

"So, do you know where the Inquisition has imprisoned this false King of the Night?" Russell asked.

The knights all lowered their heads, and only one knight said, "Yes, it's the Weinard Farm, a place where serious criminals of the Inquisition are detained."

Eleanor exclaimed, "Ah? Wenard Farm?"

Eleanor only knew that Wynand Farm was a place that her mother, Queen Adelaide, hated, but she had no idea that it was actually one of the important locations of the Inquisition.

Eleanor couldn't help but exclaim when she thought that she had tricked her brother into the Inquisition's prison, and that he was holding a serious criminal like the False King of the Night.

"How do you know that's where the Inquisition detained serious criminals?" Russell asked curiously.

"I, uh, my brother is the Knight of Judgment—" The knight hesitated for a moment, not daring to lie, and then he lowered his head.

Your elder brother is a Judgment Knight, and your younger brother works in the black market. You two brothers are the protectors of the black market, right? Doesn't the letter from your brother mean you need to stay out for a while?

Russell pretended not to understand the knight's implication. "Alas, even the brother of the Knight of Judgment has to go to the black market to make a living. The situation in Usedom is really not optimistic."

Russell had originally considered recruiting a few local tyrants to facilitate his operations in Usedom, but these knights who colluded with both internal and external forces made him lose interest, so he decided to maintain an employment relationship.

Russell then took out some gold coins he had plundered from Heinrich's estate, gave them to the knights as a reward, and sent them away, promising that he would find them again if he needed any information in the future.

The knights counted their money and left happily.

Looking at Mark, Russell took the initiative to ask: "Speaking of which, what are your plans, Mark? Are you planning to return to the royal family?"

"Royal family? What is the royal family? I, Mark, only have one father!" Mark said firmly, and he pulled old Ernst's hand.

"Hmph! How dare you!" Eleanor, already irritated by the Night Emperor, heard Mark also disparage the royal family. The princess, who always considered her bloodline to be the most noble, couldn't help but shout, "How dare you speak so harshly about the noble Burgoni!"

Mark gave Eleanor a cold look and turned his head away, as if he was too lazy to argue with her.

Francine couldn't help herself. She imitated Eleanor's tone and scolded loudly, "Huh! How dare you! How dare you speak to your own father in such a tone!"

162 Decision

As soon as this statement came out, the effect was extraordinary.

The scene fell into an awkward silence.

Margaret was having a very hard time holding back her laughter. She leaned over Russell's back, buried her head in his neck, and her body began to tremble slightly.

Eleanor's face flushed with anger. She was angry and anxious. She didn't want to admit that Mark was the father of this body, but she couldn't find the words to refute Francine.

Mark couldn't hold it in any longer, and his face flushed as well - being tricked by his biological mother into having sex with her and giving birth to his sister and daughter was a dark history that he didn't want to recall at all.

Mark saluted Russell awkwardly, then fled with his adoptive father, old Ernst.

Even more embarrassed than Mark was Rosalyn, who was speechless for a moment after hearing her sister's rude words.

When Rosalyn finally recovered from her shock, she gently stroked the soul box and said with a smile, "Francine, I don't remember raising you to be such a rude child. We must have a good talk later."

As she spoke, Rosalyn's fingers nimbly danced on the staff.

"Ah! Sister! I was wrong! Francine was wrong! Ah, it hurts! Ahhhh! I shouldn't have taught you how to punish souls! Ahhhhhhhhh——" Francine quickly admitted her mistake.

Then she was made to scream and beg for mercy by Rosaline. Finally, her voice stopped abruptly, and it seemed that she had fainted from Rosaline's punishment.

"I'm sorry, Eleanor. My sister is ignorant. I apologize to you on her behalf." Then, Rosalyn gave Eleanor an apologetic smile and bowed formally to apologize.

However, Rosaline underestimated the lethality of her smile to Eleanor. Her spells could directly punish souls, and Eleanor was of course very afraid of her.

Especially during her previous training, Eleanor had suffered a lot from the soul spells cast by Rosaline.

This caused Eleanor to be naturally afraid of Rosaline, and she didn't even realize that she was subconsciously getting closer to Margaret.

Eleanor trembled with fear when she saw Rosalyn's "gentle" smile. In her opinion, Rosalyn's smile was no different from the one when she was "educating" Francine.

Rosalyn waved her hands repeatedly, "No, no, no, no, it's okay! It's okay, I don't mind, I really don't mind, really!"

Eleanor first subconsciously hid behind Margaret, but was still surrounded by insecurity.

Finally she dived into Russell's arms.

Returning to the familiar and generous embrace of her master, the little slave girl Eleanor finally felt at ease. She breathed a long sigh of relief and subconsciously rubbed Russell's chest with the majestic mountains on her chest to seek comfort.

Russell clapped his hands and tried to smooth things over: "Alright, stop making trouble and tell me what you think. Should we go straight to the Wenard Farm?"

As soon as Russell finished speaking, he felt Eleanor in his arms arch her back, humming softly and nodding.