Rose Empire

"I consulted Miss Lilith," Renee said, tilting her head. "Miss Lilith said that it is best for a Dragon Swordsman to undergo the Brilliant Ceremony when faint dragon scale patterns can be seen on both sides of the spine. This will maximize the chances of successful advancement."

"Really?" Charlotte became interested and reached out to take off Renee's clothes. "Let me help you take a look."

"I saw it in the shower yesterday," Leni said quickly.

"You can't see the things behind you clearly even with a mirror. Let me help you take a look." Charlotte insisted.

Renee knew that her young lady had bad intentions and was probably in love again. She held Charlotte's head and said with a smile, "Young lady, please stop making trouble. You will meet the Earl and Countess of Quick Forest soon. You'd better behave yourself and don't mess up your clothes."

Renee was more than capable of subduing her own mistress with one hand. Charlotte couldn't beat Renee, so she could only hug the little maid's fragrant neck and rub and kiss her to satisfy her craving.

After walking for a while, Charlotte and her party arrived at the castle of Earl of Quickforest.

"Welcome, dear Miss Charlotte."

A young man with short curly hair smiled and bowed to Charlotte as she got off the carriage.

"Thank you, Brother Alfonso."

Charlotte performed a skirt-lifting salute.

Alfonso Mellerfield is one of Monica Mellerfield's three brothers, the third son of Philip Mellerfield, and Charlotte's cousin.

"It's so rude of you to drop by so unexpectedly," Charlotte laughed.

"It would be rude of you to pass by the Earldom of Quickwood Forest and not come to visit Oak Castle," Alfonso said with a smile.

"Are Count Philips and Lady Simone home?" asked Charlotte.

"Father and mother went out for something and will be back in the evening..."

“夏洛特！”

Before Alfonso could finish his words, a clear voice suddenly sounded, interrupting their conversation.

Monica lifted her skirt and trotted over excitedly. She took Charlotte's hands and smiled: "Charlotte, you're here!"

"Sister Monica." Charlotte also smiled and held Monica's soft little hand.

"You've come at the right time. I just finished a painting. I'll take you to see it."

After saying that, Monica took Charlotte to her boudoir, leaving Alfonso Melfield alone, pretending to be an adult and entertaining guests seriously, with his hair disheveled in the wind.

Monica's boudoir was still full of the atmosphere of a literary girl, but the desk by the window was replaced by an easel, on which was placed a newly completed oil painting. In the painting, a black-haired girl who looked 80% like Charlotte was standing in a rose bush. The breeze gently blew the hem of her skirt, and the outline of a majestic castle could be vaguely seen behind her.

"Sister, did you draw this for me?" Charlotte remembered that Monica suggested that she replant roses in front of Viscount Lanwan Castle.

"Well, how's the painting going?" Monica asked.

Charlotte nodded and commented: "It's a very good painting, but there is just one problem..."

"What's the problem?" Monica asked nervously, crossing her arms over her chest.

Charlotte pointed at the castle and said with a smile, "I will definitely take my sister to Lanwan when I have time. My Viscount Castle is not that big."

"Is that so?" Monica laughed and nodded. "Okay, I must go and have a look."

Charlotte suddenly noticed that there was another painting next to the easel. The painting seemed to be covered with silk, but now half of the silk had slipped down, revealing a corner of the painting.

"What is this painting?"

Charlotte picked up the painting curiously and uncovered the silk. The painting revealed the true face of a girl with a face full of longing and happiness, wearing a gorgeous pleated tulle skirt. Judging from the surrounding environment with stars and petals flying, this was undoubtedly a wedding dress. More importantly, the girl looked very similar to Monica.

"Ah!" Monica exclaimed, snatched the painting from Charlotte, and hurriedly stuffed it into her bookcase.

Charlotte immediately understood that this was a picture that Monica had drawn of herself getting married. Charlotte couldn't help but laugh and asked mischievously, "Does Sister Monica want to marry my brother so much?"

"Don't say that anymore!" Monica covered Charlotte's mouth with her blushing face and said coquettishly.

How could Charlotte let Monica go so easily? The two of them laughed and played for a while.

Monica lay on the bed, panting slightly, and asked, "Is Charlotte here to attend the wedding of His Royal Highness Henry and Miss Anne?"

"His Royal Highness Henry? Henry Holloway?" Charlotte shook her head. "Why would I go to that guy's wedding? I came back because I heard my father was sick."

"Eh? Is Duke Luyuan sick? Is his condition serious?" Monica sat up in surprise.

Although the fact that Grand Duke Luyuan was seriously ill had not been publicly announced, it must have been a hot topic in the principality, but Monica didn't know anything about it. This girl could be regarded as a model of a lady from a wealthy family who was oblivious to the outside world and only wanted to get married.

"I'm not too sure, but there shouldn't be any big problem, otherwise my father would have asked me to go back a long time ago." Charlotte hurriedly comforted Monica.

In the evening, the Earl and Countess of Quaker Forest returned, and with them came Monica's other two brothers - the Earl's eldest son: Gerard Mellerfield, and the Earl's second son: Anthony Mellerfield.

The Earl and Countess were very happy to see Charlotte and immediately asked someone to prepare a banquet to entertain Charlotte.

Even if Charlotte did not speak, Count Philips could probably guess why Charlotte returned to the Principality of Greenfield, but he did not mention the news that "Duke of Greenfield is seriously ill", which has not yet been verified. As Jose Melefield's younger brother, Count Philips must stand firmly on his brother's side. Even if Jose Melefield is really seriously ill, the best choice for the Duke of Greenfield and his successor is to temporarily block the news and control the domestic situation.

At the dinner, in order to find a topic, Charlotte brought up a topic that made the Earl and Countess a little embarrassed - she, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Green Plains, was stopped and blackmailed on the land of the Earl of Quick Forest in the Duchy of Green Plains.

"These bastard priests!" Count Philips' face darkened. If this kind of thing were to get out, would he still have face in the aristocratic circle?

"Little Charlotte, are you okay?" Countess Simone asked with concern.

"Of course I'm not hurt. There are so many knights protecting me." Charlotte said.

"I will send someone to ask the people in the church and I will make them give you an explanation." Earl Philips assured Charlotte.

"No need," Charlotte waved her hand quickly, "I have asked my people to deal with the priests who blackmailed me. I hope it won't cause any trouble for Uncle Philip."

The punishment was, of course, to kill them all. Count Philip understood this euphemism. He shook his head indifferently, "They are just some hooligans recruited by the church. Is there any church that dares to come to my castle for such a small matter? If they dare to come, I still have some accounts to settle with them..."

Count Philips said the last half sentence with some gritted teeth.

Charlotte heard something, so she guided him, "It seems like the church has been in some trouble recently?"

After hearing what Charlotte said, Count Philips hadn't even opened his mouth yet, but Countess Simone couldn't help but yell, "It's more than just a little trouble, they are simply causing trouble everywhere..."

According to Countess Simone, the church's demon trials in the Earldom of Quick Forest have intensified recently. Those priests and priest apprentices who were temporarily recruited were catching demons or selling exorcism tickets everywhere, causing panic among the people. As one of the most important timber production areas in the Green Plains Principality and even the entire Orlan Empire, the Earldom of Quick Forest has a large number of lumberjacks and timber processing workers. Some of them are civilians, and some are slaves. They are the most serious victims of the church's demon trials. Those who resisted or were unwilling to buy exorcism tickets were arrested as demons and crucified.

Faced with exorcism tickets that they could not afford, or relatives who were about to be sent to the cross, these people could no longer bear it and finally chose to resist.

"We have quelled three riots of civilians and slaves in this month," complained Countess Simone.

Monica, who was in a good mood, did not notice that Charlotte had already noticed that Gerard Melefield's armor was stained with blood, and Anthony Melefield also smelled of blood. It seems that the "pacification" mentioned by Mrs. Simona was obviously not gentle.

Countess Simone felt that the riots of civilians and slaves should be entirely blamed on the church's inquisition, but in Charlotte's view, the slaves and civilians in the Earldom of Quickforest had a hard enough life to begin with, and Count and Countess Philips really treated them like livestock. The church's inquisition was at most a spark that ignited the powder keg.

However, in a world with extraordinary powers like this, is it possible for a spark ignited by an ordinary person to start a prairie fire?

Charlotte naturally did not voice her complaints about the Countess and she also cooperated very well with Countess Simone in condemning the Church.

After the pleasant dinner, Charlotte was naturally arranged to spend the night with her cousin in Monica's bedroom.

When leaving the restaurant, Count Philips suddenly said, "The current situation in the Green Plains Principality is a mess. You shouldn't have come back, little Charlotte."

Charlotte looked back at Count Philips.

Count Philips smoked his pipe and said nothing.

After a brief silence, Charlotte lifted her skirt and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your concern, uncle, but I have to come back."

PS: In the new month, please vote for me for free... The updates are so slow, and I still ask for votes. Nanzi is too shameless... Shame on me...

PS2: Thank you pm493 for reminding me, the above errors have been corrected.

Volume 74: Chapter 66 Chapter Artifacts and Impostors

Charlotte and her cousin huddled in the same bed and whispered to each other all night.

On the second day, probably to make up for Charlotte being stopped and extorted on his own territory, Count Philips gave Charlotte many gifts before leaving. In addition to some money, what Charlotte was most interested in was a furry little animal.

This little animal is the size of a palm, has short limbs, is covered with snow-white hair, has five furry tails that are larger than its body, and three sapphire blue eyes. It looks beautiful and cute.

Charlotte didn't know what species this little animal was. It wasn't because she was ignorant, but because this little thing didn't belong to any species.

If you look closely, you can find that the body, tail, and eyes of this little creature should belong to three different animals. These instabilities are perfectly combined together, as if they were born that way. If Charlotte hadn't known in advance that this was an artificial creature, she probably wouldn't have noticed anything wrong with it.

That's right, this is a man-made creature, known as a "strange beast" in the aristocratic circle. There are many kinds of strange beasts, in addition to the little mouse with five tails like the one in front of Charlotte, there are also small snakes with wings, kittens with sheep horns and fox tails, and so on.

Although these strange beasts look perfect, they are actually very fragile. They have almost no ability to survive in the wild, and they are easy to die of illness and have a short lifespan. However, these are not a big problem, because the strange beasts were created with only one mission, which is to be playthings for the children of the nobles.

A strange beast that is made beautifully and cute, or unique enough can be sold at a price that is no less than that of gold, silver and jewelry. Children of the nobility will occasionally show off rare and interesting strange beasts when socializing.

However, Charlotte was not very interested in strange beasts. What she was really interested in were the people and technology that made the strange beasts. In her opinion, putting two unrelated animals together like plant cuttings was as magical as a necromancer driving an army of corpses.

Charlotte asked Countess Simone, but it turned out that Lady Simone didn't know who made the strange beast. She only knew that it was a gift from a minor noble in the Kingdom of Cato.

This was not surprising, as the makers of the strange beasts were just a group of craftsmen who specialized in serving the nobility. They were too far away from the Countess's social class and were not worthy of Lady Simone's attention.

The closer you get to the riverside castle, the better the road conditions in the Green Plains Principality become, but a carriage is not a car after all, and the journey is boring and long.

It was not until three or four days later that the exhausted Charlotte finally arrived at the heavily guarded riverside castle.

Renee's father, Wolf Vonderen, the one-eared steward of the river castle, was a little surprised to see Charlotte come back, but he didn't show much surprise.

Charlotte stepped down from the carriage, lifted her skirt, and then went straight to the point: "Mr. Wolfe, I heard that my father is ill?"

Wolfe Fengderen also returned Charlotte's greeting respectfully, and then replied: "It is true. The Duke of Luyuan is still recuperating."

"Then can I see my father?" Charlotte asked again.

Wolf Vonderen nodded, then said hesitantly: "Of course, but now may not be the time..."

"Why?" Charlotte asked curiously.

"Because the Duke is meeting guests," Wolf von der Lehn replied.

"Oh."

The fact that he could still meet guests meant that Jose Melfield's condition had not yet reached the point where he was unconscious, and Charlotte felt a little relieved.

"Who are the guests?" Charlotte asked.

"Bishop Allen Fehrenbach, Count Albert Mehlerfeld." Wolf von der Lehn replied.

Allen Fehrenbach is the bishop of a secondary diocese in the Principality of Greenfield, and is considered the second most important figure in Greenfield after the Grand Duke of Greenfield.

Count Albert Melefield, in terms of blood relationship, can be considered a distant relative of Charlotte, as his great-grandfather and Jose Melefield's great-grandfather were brothers. However, Albert, who had followed Jose Melefield through life and death for decades, was also regarded as a confidant by the Duke of Green Plains, and was currently in charge of the Sean Camp that Jose Melefield had set up a few years ago.

Charlotte nodded slightly, then asked, "What disease did my father have?"

When asked this question, Wolfe Feng Delun showed hesitation, and finally did not say directly: "Let Duke Luyuan tell you."

Although she didn't get a direct answer, Charlotte was already 70% sure in her heart - Jose Melfield was not seriously ill at all.

"Miss, you are back!"

Entering the castle, the little maid Linda trotted over excitedly to greet Charlotte.

"I'm back. Did you miss me, little girl?" Charlotte smiled and pinched Linda's little face.

"Yeah." Linda nodded vigorously.

Charlotte paused slightly as she kneaded Linda's fingers.

"Why are you here?"

The shrill voice interrupted Charlotte's intimate interaction with her little maid.

Charlotte let go of Linda, turned around and saw that the person who was speaking was her stepmother, the Duchess of Greenfield, Rosie Mellorfield.

Charlotte immediately stepped forward and took Rosie's right arm, smiling and saying, "This is my home. Is there anything wrong with me being in my own home, Mom?"

Rosie felt cold at heart when Charlotte called her "Mom". After seeing Harvey Sherwin's eyes wide open, Rosie felt that what was wrapped around her right arm was not a young girl's body, but a poisonous snake.

"I'm asking you, shouldn't you be in Viscount Lanwan's territory? Why did you come back?" Rosie suppressed the turmoil in her heart and asked in a tone as calm as possible.

"Uncle Stanley told me that my father was sick and asked me to come back quickly to see him." Charlotte put the blame on Stanley without thinking.

Anyway, given the bad relationship between Jose Melefield and Perodua Melefield, it is impossible for Rosie to ask Stanley for confirmation.

"That guy..." Rosie gritted her teeth at Stanley secretly. She hated Perold and his sons no less than she did Charlotte.

"Your father is not in any serious condition. He just needs to rest for a while. There's no need for you to come back in such a hurry." Rosie said.

"My father is sick, and as his daughter, I should come back to visit him." Charlotte said with a smile.

Luo Qian had no choice but to say, "Your father is in the study. If you want to see him, just go by yourself."

"Eh?" Charlotte blinked in confusion. "Mr. Wolfe said my father is receiving guests and asked me to wait a moment."

"He has finished discussing business with the guests. If you go over now, it shouldn't disturb them," said Rosie.

"Ok."

Charlotte nodded and headed towards the study.