A vast stretch of fields by the river was covered in Chinese milk vetch. The lush green plants had just been harvested and were now only a handspan tall. A flock of sheep lowered their heads to graze.
White clouds drifted across the sky, and the weather was not as hot as it had been in recent days.
A wooden dragonfly spun up into the air and flew off into the distance for a while before running out of steam and dropping into the grass.
A melodious laugh rang out. Maria, dressed in riding clothes, ran over, picked up the wooden dragonfly, and rubbed it vigorously between her snow-white hands. The new toy soared into the air once more.
The undersides of the wooden dragonfly's blades were painted in vivid colors. From the ground, it looked like several colorful rings nested inside one another as it flew.
The Grand Duke of Mainz had a great-grandson who was a little younger than Frederick. Many of the toys, including this wooden dragonfly, had originally been meant for him. Now they belonged to Maria.
A white sunshade with beautiful tassels had been set up on the grass below the riverbank, and a thick carpet had been spread on the ground.
Sophia took fruit, pastries, and lunch out of the basket and arranged them in the middle of the carpet. She was now lighting the stove on the stand beside it.
The weather was still hot, but Sophia didn't dare let her daughter drink chilled tea. It could upset her stomach.
Lighting the stove was simple. Once the charcoal was in place, all she had to do was point a finger at it and send out a little flame, like a blowtorch, until it caught.
There wasn't much money to be made selling matches in this world. Nearly half of all healthy adults could produce a small flame, so it was the Magic Lighter—with its finely crafted casing and exquisite decoration—that found a market.
Once she had finished, Sophia looked into the distance. Her parasol was still on the riverbank. Frederick had said he was going to paint, so she had lent it to him to shade him from the sun.
Frederick was currently using a charcoal pencil to draw a site plan for the Refugee Shelter Camp on a sheet of parchment.
He had been here for three days. Yesterday, he had asked Philip to arrange a meeting with the Grand Duke of Mainz, only to learn that the Grand Duke's entire family had gone on a hot-spring vacation. Philip had also been given authority to command five hundred of the duchy's soldiers to guard the territory, sell a rationed amount of grain from the warehouses, and conscript a certain number of laborers. At the same time, he had been instructed to have the relevant territories make preparations to guide the refugees and assist with related tasks.
It was obvious. King William wanted to ruin Frederick. The Grand Duke of Mainz didn't want to fall out with the Duchy of Bayern, and after doing so, look as though he was directly helping Frederick and defying the King.
So the Grand Duke's family had gone off to enjoy the hot springs in the middle of summer, leaving Frederick without a meeting. He had given Philip, who would bear the brunt of the work, several powers, and instructed other places to cooperate.
It was clear that the excuse was just the Grand Duke of Mainz's way of openly making life difficult for the King.
Frederick didn't care. Getting the job done was what mattered most.
Building the shelter camp was now the top priority. The Wessen Territory had already sent someone to notify him, and Philip was using his newly acquired authority to gather the people and supplies they needed.
For one thing, they would need a great deal of firewood. They couldn't just cut down any trees, either; they had to go to a woodlot where the trees had reached the right age.
To speed things up, Frederick had come to inspect the fields where the camp would be built. Once his people arrived, they could start work right away.
Sophia thought he had come out for an outing, so she had brought her daughter along.
But Frederick didn't have time for that. He could only let Maria play by herself.
Building a camp wasn't as simple as putting up tents. They had to think about food, drink, washing, toilets, and sleeping arrangements: where to store supplies, where to put the kitchen, where people would stay, and where to set up the latrines. All of it had to be carefully considered.
The architectural scholars in Weissenburg had provided a template, but it still had to be adapted to the site. For example, they needed to decide where the water would come from.
They even had to prepare a plan for what to do if someone died in the camp.
"What are you drawing?" Maria asked. After playing with the wooden dragonfly to her heart's content, she ran over and sat beside Frederick. There were exactly five of her fists between them—the perfect distance between a proper young lady and a gentleman.
The cloud shading the sun drifted away. Frederick handed her the parasol and said, "They're going to build a camp here."
"Are they building a new castle?!" Maria cried excitedly. "Can the castle be purple? The whole place is covered in purple flowers in spring. It's so pretty!"
Frederick shook his head and smiled. "No, just lots and lots of tents. Many people will stay here for a few days and then leave."
Whether or not Maria understood, she changed the subject. "Oh, will you come here next spring when the flowers bloom? The whole place will be covered in purple flowers, and there'll be little bees and pretty butterflies. It's so much fun!"
"Next year, this field will be planted with wheat," Frederick replied. "The purple flowers will be across the river."
"Huh?" Maria's beautiful eyes widened in surprise. "Why do the purple flowers and the wheat have to move?"
Frederick smiled. "Because they're good friends. Next year, the purple flowers will go visit the wheat, and the wheat will go visit the purple flowers. But then they'll both find that their good friend isn't home."
"Really?" Maria asked, unconvinced.
"It's true!" Frederick said solemnly. "Come here next spring and see for yourself."
Chinese milk vetch was the most common fallow crop in the area. It was sown in autumn, and when it bloomed the following spring and early summer, it provided nectar for bees. After flowering, it was harvested as livestock feed. In late summer, the entire plant was plowed into the field along with its roots, which contained rhizobia, to serve as green manure. Then the wheat was planted.
The fields across the river had already been cleared of beans and were being plowed. They would start planting Chinese milk vetch at the end of September.
Maria looked as if she was impressed, though she didn't really understand, and said "Oh" several times.
Just then, Sophia waved for the two children to come back and have some pastries.
Maria ran a few steps with the parasol, glanced at the riverbank under the blazing sun, then turned and went back to Frederick.
"Come on," the little girl said proudly. "I'll hold the parasol for you."
With that, she raised the parasol so it would shade Frederick too.
But its handle and ribs were made of wood, making it rather heavy. The little girl had barely held it up for a moment before her arm began to tremble.
Frederick took the parasol from her. He could hold it himself.
The servants brought over water for the two of them to wash their hands. Sophia told them to take whichever pastries they liked.
Frederick put a few pieces of gingerbread on his plate and set them beside him. He ate as he finished drawing the plan.
"Hm?" He looked at the gingerbread with a bite taken out of it and sighed. "This is so good."
People here had a tradition of using ginger to soothe the stomach,
Sophia handed him an apple tart filled with apple jam and drizzled with honey. Smiling, she said, "If you like it, have some more."
"Thank you." Frederick took the tart and set it aside. "I'll finish the plan first, then eat."
As he spoke, he continued refining the clay pipes connecting the water pump to the storage tank.
Maria was eating her apple tart with jam smeared all over her mouth. Sophia took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the corners of her mouth.
"Why are you eating so fast?" Sophia said. "You've got it all over your mouth."
Maria replied, "I thought the tart wouldn't taste good."
"Why wouldn't it taste good?" Sophia asked, puzzled.
Maria said, "Look, Mama. Frederick isn't eating it. Doesn't that mean he thinks it tastes bad?"
Sophia turned to look and saw Frederick sitting on the carpet, concentrating as he wrote and drew on the parchment.
She wanted to say something, but changed her mind. Her husband sometimes wore the same expression. Whenever he did, it meant he was dealing with something important.
Frederick suddenly realized he hadn't accounted for fire evacuation requirements in his original camp plan, so he made some changes.
Once he had finished revising it and put down his charcoal pencil, he heard Sophia ask, "You could leave all these tedious tasks to other people. Why tire yourself out?"
A trace of bitterness showed in Frederick's smile. He replied wearily, "I have no choice. I'm the only one left in the Weissen Family."
"I'm too young, and that puts me at a disadvantage. It makes it easy for people to get ideas."
"To stop my subordinates from getting those ideas, I have to do everything right and do it as well as I can. I need to lead them from one victory to another, until they're convinced of my abilities, admire me from the bottom of their hearts, and fear me enough not to harbor any other intentions."
He knew his own situation. Managing a territory wasn't simple.
The human heart was the hardest thing to fathom, and the most dangerous. He couldn't see how much people liked him, and he didn't have a core group of absolutely loyal summoned people to rely on. He could only work hard to cultivate the image of a child prodigy, so his subordinates would keep their faith in him—and, at the very least, think twice before betraying him.
"It must be exhausting, doesn't it?" Sophia said. She reached out and gently stroked Frederick's hair, feeling sorry for the boy, who was only a little older than her daughter.
Frederick managed a small smile but said nothing. He just watched the flock of sheep slowly approaching.
If he didn't want to become a fat sheep at everyone's mercy, he had no choice but to wear himself out like this.
Maria hadn't understood the conversation, but she had caught her mother saying Frederick seemed tired. Picking up on it, she said, "If you're tired, you should sleep more! Want me to sing for you? Father sleeps really well after hearing me sing!"
Frederick smiled at her. "Sure. I love listening to songs."
Maria immediately set down the candied fruit in her hand and began to sing.
Frederick knew she had a lovely voice, but even calling her singing heavenly didn't do it justice. Her cheerful song pierced straight to the depths of his soul, and his whole mood settled into calm.
He wasn't the only one. The flock of sheep and the sheepdog, which had approached nearby, heard the song and were immediately drawn over. They formed a ring around the carpet and listened quietly as Maria sang.
A little while later, even the birds came to perch on the crossbar of the sunshade and on the sheep's backs, while a few fluttered around Maria.
Sophia looked proudly at her daughter, while Frederick stared in shock. Her talent for Soul Magic was terrifyingly strong!
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