Scorched Stone City, Lady Falan mansion.
Talia and Lining, wearing maid uniforms, are packing up various things in the room, packing them and putting them in boxes for storage.
"Madam, do you want to take away the furniture on the second floor as well?" Talia carried the dressing box and walked down the stairs. He put these aside and packed them later.
"There is no need for the furniture on the second floor." Lady Falan sat on the wooden sofa and thought for a while before answering.
"Those things are too heavy, so just leave them here. Also, seal the things in Tia's room. She may come back to live in the future."
"Okay." Talia nodded, thinking of the silver-haired figure.
Speaking of which, Tia has been going to the Woodland for two years. I wonder how she is doing now, whether she has recovered her memory, and whether she is doing well there. I heard that the Woodland is very dangerous.
In early winter, Scorched Stone City is not too cold yet, and the fireplace Burn in the hall of the mansion exudes a faint warmth.
Lady Falan was wearing a long dress with a goose gold base and gold embroidery. She was sitting by the fire, holding a tea cup in one hand and sipping lightly while looking into the distance and thinking about some things.
She has stayed in Scorched Stone City for four years, and it is time to leave. Even though she has become accustomed to the life of constantly moving after living for several years, she still misses and thinks of some past events whenever she leaves the place where she is accustomed to live.
In the past few years, in addition to communicating with local horticulturists, attending gatherings and tea parties, and inspecting local plants, which she did every time, the biggest gain and change was that she accepted a special "apprentice", Sylutia.
Although she is his student, in the eyes of Lady Falan, this girl is also quite mysterious. She is very talented and has a very good personality, which makes Lady Falan a little curious.
Generally speaking, a person's personality is related to the environment in which he or she grew up, but Lady Falan couldn't imagine what kind of environment this girl grew up in.
If the other person is born into a very good family, there will be a kind of self-confidence and pride that radiates from the inside out, which is also what many people see as "nobleness". However, in Lady Falan's opinion, Sylutia's character has some cautiousness and delicacy. This is probably a habit that was spontaneously developed when he was faced with an unstable environment when he was a child.
But it would be wrong to say that Sylutia was born in a poor family. She does not have a strong desire for money and interests, nor does she care much about fame, wealth, or the pursuit of others. She seems to have a kind of innate wisdom and tranquility. These are qualities that can only be cultivated by a good family background, a good growing environment, and the influence of knowledge and education.
She has the shyness and purity of a young girl, but also has the foresight and wisdom far beyond her youthful years, making her teaching particularly worry-free.
Although she couldn't imagine how the other person's character and temperament were formed, it did not affect Lady Falan's love for this student. She had not actually thought about taking on a disciple before. After all, she was not someone who would be easily bound by various emotions.
It's just that this time, she did have some nostalgia for this student that she had never had before. She missed Sylutia's familiarity with the environment, the slight greenness of learning affairs, the talent of being smart and the occasionally cute expressions and movements when Sylutia lived here.
It is a foregone conclusion that she will leave, so I will leave this place to her. When she returns to Scorched Stone City in the future, she can also have a small home of her own.
Lady Falan stood up, came to Courtyard, and gave Lining instructions to lock and close the doors of the mansion.
"Is the convoy ready?" she asked.
"Ready, it's the convoy of "Oak Barrel Chamber of Commerce". They will be here tomorrow morning." Lining leaned over and answered.
"Very good." Lady Falan nodded, and then handed a golden Key to Lining.
"Send Key to the nearest "Four Seasons Alliance" branch and entrust them to keep it until Sylutia comes back and then hand it over to her."
"Okay." Lining took Key and left the mansion first.
The next day, early in the morning, carriages drove out of the mansion, carrying Lady Falan's belongings and treasures, and drove outside Scorched Stone City. At this time, Lady Falan stood in front of the gate of the mansion, took one last look, boarded the carriage, and left with the convoy.
The guards at the Anti Kingdom on the road looked at these trucks a little greedy, but due to the commander's orders, they tolerated them and allowed them to pass.
A month later, this team walked out of the area controlled by the Anti Kingdom and headed farther north. They would pass through several countries until they arrived in the middle of the continent, a small country near the north, which is the hometown of Lady Falan and the blooming wilderness of Bellflower.
In the depth of winter, the mansion where Viscount Xuefeng is under house arrest.
There are still a small number of guards belonging to Viscount Xuefeng here, as well as two Knight under his command, but the Anti Kingdom soldiers watching them outside the wall always have sharp swords hanging on their heads, which makes Viscount Xuefeng feel uneasy.
Fortunately, Haili and Fude left there before White Cliff City fell, and are now with him.
Haili and Fude are the daughter and son of Viscount Xuefeng. They originally studied in White Cliff City, but Viscount Xuefeng had a premonition that something was wrong and asked them to come back early, which also saved them from being trapped in the war of White Cliff City.
It's a pity that even he can't preserve the glory of his family now. He can only gather important people around him in order to survive this change and turmoil safely.
There is no need to think about becoming a noble in the future. If I can live in a quiet mansion in a foreign country for the rest of my life, I'm afraid it will be a good ending.
He stood in front of the window and looked at the night sky, thinking silently in his heart. Unfortunately, the current situation made it difficult for him to calm down.
These garrison soldiers came to him every three days, saying that things in Castle were incomplete, or asking questions about various strange issues. Although Viscount Xuefeng was not the kind of sociable noble, it was obvious that these Anti Kingdom Knight and soldiers wanted to gain benefits from him.
Although he has accumulated some money, if he is extorted like this every day, sooner or later he will not be able to pay back, and he doesn't know what face the other party will show at that time.
Thinking of this, his mood dropped again.
He didn't know when this situation would end, and how much price he would have to pay to take his family and guards away from Scorched Stone City and go to other places.
Just when Viscount Xuefeng was looking sad, there was a sound of footsteps walking upstairs quickly.
"Sir." The familiar guard reported to him.
"What's wrong?" Viscount Xuefeng took a deep breath, calmed down his mood temporarily, and turned around to ask.
"That group of the Anti Kingdom soldiers came again. They said there was a thief in the city who stole their things and might be hiding in the mansion where we live. They asked to come in and search."
Hearing this, Viscount Xuefeng was furious, but felt powerless. If he resisted now, there would be so many Anti Kingdom troops stationed in the city that they would have a reason to take action.
So I could only hold back my anger, pick up my clothes, and walk down the stairs.
"I know, I'll go over and have a look."
A few minutes later, he came to the gate of the mansion. At this time, many people had gathered in front of the gate. On one side were the guards of the Viscount Xuefeng family, and on the other side were a group of the Anti Kingdom soldiers smelling of alcohol.
The leader was a second-level captain. When he saw Viscount Xuefeng appear, he took a step forward and shouted angrily, "Hey, Master Xuefeng went to bed so early?"
"Yes, you are a high-ranking noble. We are just poor people growing in the mud. Of course, we cannot compare to your nobility."
"However, you went to bed early with your beautiful wife, but you never thought that the public security in the city is not good now. Some thieves are making trouble everywhere and stealing everyone's money. Since you were the lord here before, you must be very familiar with the situation of local thieves."
"We have searched all over the city, but there are no clues anywhere. Now we can only come to you to take a look."
"I hope Lord Viscount Xuefeng will not hinder our actions to punish criminals." After saying that, he waved his hand and let the soldiers behind him pour in from the gate.
"Stop!" Viscount Xuefeng ordered the group of people to stop, and then stared at the captain in front of them.
As if he had made up his mind, he spoke slowly.
"I know that Anti Kingdom's army is strictly disciplined, and I definitely don't mean any harm, but after all, this is my private residence, and there are many female family members inside, so it is not convenient to see too many outsiders."
"I will check on my own later to see if there are any thieves sneaking in and hiding. Please forgive me." After saying that, he whispered to the attendant beside him.
Afterwards, a few people took out the heavy iron box and placed it in front of the soldiers. Even if they didn't open it, everyone could guess that there must be golden coins inside.
Seeing this, the captain hesitated. If he could go in and search, there would definitely be more benefits. But judging from Viscount Xuefeng's reaction, if he continued to force him, he might start a fight. Even if Viscount Xuefeng's body was completely gone afterwards, he was only at the second level after all, so there was no guarantee that he would not have any accidents under the siege.
Considering this, the captain nodded.
"Okay, since Mr. Xuefeng is so sincere, we don't want to disturb him." After saying that, he asked his companion to lift the iron box and walked out of the door enthusiastically.
With this money, they can live freely and happily for a while, and maybe even save some money. Later, they can marry wives and have children in the area occupied by Regas, and become the new local aristocratic lords.
This is the biggest pursuit of many ordinary soldiers when they go out with the army. It is also because of the temptation of this kind of benefits that Anti Kingdom launched many wars in just a few years and recruited enough soldiers to serve as cannon fodder.
Since Anti Kingdom occupied the territory of Regas, the situation of the original Regas nobles has plummeted. Even though many people have transferred part of their property, their vitality has plummeted.
Just when Viscount Xuefeng was worried about his future safety, a Knight in white armor ran through the mountain roads and wilderness, rushing towards Scorched Stone City.
He is only one person, but his posture is high and his aura is eye-catching. The holy armor and feathers all show that he is different from ordinary soldiers and mortals, but an official Knight who has entered the third level. He is also "White Knight" who has completed the trial and possesses strong core abilities.