Candlelight flickered over the letter spread across the desk. Its neat handwriting reflected the cautious, steady temperament of Bradley, the old butler who had written it.
Duke Calvin's gaze fell on the opening lines. His expectations for this son were modest.
But as he read further, his casual expression gradually faded, and his brows slowly drew together.
"Far outperformed the other frontier fiefs?"
Agricultural breakthroughs, with crops ripening ahead of schedule?
Housing problems resolved more efficiently than in established fiefs?
Not only had demon marrow ore been successfully mined, but a systematic mining plan had also been drawn up?
Even slave management had been refined beyond reproach?
The section about grain production supporting another 1,500 slaves, in particular, gave him pause.
He straightened in his chair and glanced at Bradley's signature.
Had the writer not been Bradley, the family's most loyal old butler, he would have suspected someone had bribed him.
Still, his eyes never left the letter, and he continued reading.
Duke Calvin soon realized that Louis's leadership showed not just in his policies, but even more in his personal charisma.
He had not relied on the family's prestige. Instead, his own abilities had won the wholehearted allegiance of everyone in his fief.
This was especially apparent when Duke Calvin read about the residents of the Red Tide Fief and their almost fanatical respect for Louis.
"Fanatical? Was it really that extreme?"
Even the duke had to admit that, as far as he knew, very few lords in the entire Ironblood Empire could achieve that.
He had originally intended to leave Louis to fend for himself in the Northern Frontier while squeezing the last bit of usefulness out of him.
Who would have thought the boy would actually make something of himself?
My "more children, more blessings" plan was right after all, Duke Calvin thought smugly.
It was like drawing prizes. Draw often enough, and a few wins were inevitable.
He kept reading. When he reached the section about demon marrow ore, Duke Calvin's gaze paused briefly, a glimmer of interest appearing in his eyes.
The sales rights to the demon marrow ore would be ceded to the family in exchange for support, while Louis retained the processing techniques.
"This boy certainly has ambition."
Of course he knew what that meant.
Louis did not want the family to have too much control over him. He was trying to preserve his independence.
The duke gave a cold chuckle. "He certainly has some nerve."
But he did not resent it.
On the contrary, he was even beginning to find it interesting.
The Red Tide Fief lay in the Northern Frontier. It seemed barren and desolate, but with proper management, it could become a powerful regional force.
Louis's willingness to hand the sales rights over to the family showed that he understood he still needed the Calvin family's protection.
But his refusal to surrender the processing rights meant he was preparing for the future.
Once the time was right, the economy built around demon marrow could break free of the family entirely and even gain a voice of its own in the future market.
A frontier lord born into a noble family would usually choose to depend on that family completely, yet Louis had not.
Still, that alone was not enough to make the duke view him in an entirely new light.
Louis had yet to establish a firm foothold in the Northern Frontier, and the profits from the demon marrow ore had yet to fully materialize.
With conditions in the Northern Frontier constantly shifting, his future remained uncertain.
Even so, Louis had indeed given him a pleasant surprise this time.
What interested him most was Louis's potential. The Red Tide Fief's meager resources were hardly worth his notice.
Perhaps it was time to reassess this son's value.
He held the letter and tapped his fingers against the desk, his gaze moving over the lines.
Bradley's glowing assessment had exceeded his expectations, even leaving him with a surreal sense that he had misread something.
But regardless, the facts were before him.
Louis, a child he had never thought worth his attention, had demonstrated greater ability than expected on the barren land of the Northern Frontier.
Most importantly, the Northern Frontier was simply too far from the Southeastern Province.
Though the Red Tide Fief's lands held enormous potential, they were far too distant from the family's heartland. Supporting it with all their strength was clearly unrealistic.
As it stood, the Red Tide Fief was like a seed that had yet to sprout. It held potential, but also great uncertainty.
Too much support might well make Louis chase quick results, leaving him unable to adapt to the Northern Frontier's harsh conditions.
Besides, judging by Louis's stance on the profits from demon marrow ore, he did not seem to want the family meddling too much in his fief.
Sitting at his desk, the duke turned his gaze back to Bradley's letter.
"Maintain the family's influence without interfering too much..." he murmured, tapping the desktop lightly.
He would provide financial support, but not much. He decided to allocate another 1,000 to 1,500 gold coins.
That amount would be enough to keep the Red Tide Fief stable, but expansion?
Louis would have to find his own way to earn money and work out how to make his fief support more people.
He needed to learn to increase revenue and reduce expenses, rather than coast along on the family's funding.
Keeping him short of money and forcing him to think was the only way to reveal his true abilities.
Some military support was needed too. The duke decided to assign him two more squads of knights.
Ostensibly, they would protect the demon marrow ore mine. In truth, they would give him a trump card, preventing someone from crushing him before he could get started.
Those troops could not accomplish much in the Northern Frontier, but at least they would keep any random band of marauders from overrunning the Red Tide Fief.
If Louis truly had talent, the knights at his disposal would be enough to stabilize the situation, and perhaps even serve as the foundation for a force of his own.
But if he could not protect his fief even with that support from the family...
Then there would be nothing more to discuss. He would not be worth further investment.
As for skilled personnel, Louis could manage agriculture, handle infrastructure, and even plan mining operations. That already showed he had some aptitude for administration.
The duke would only send a few alchemy apprentices to help him master the basics of refining demon marrow. He would have to figure out the rest himself.
He needed to win people over, trade his limited resources for cooperation, and learn to swim through the mire of reality, rather than sit waiting for the family to spoon-feed him.
As for political backing, he would give Louis no official support, but neither would he restrict his dealings with the Northern Frontier's powers.
Whom he allied with and how he established himself locally would be entirely up to him.
On one condition: he must not cause trouble for the family.
It was like placing a chess piece on a battlefield and seeing whether he could charge into the fray or be trampled beneath someone else's feet as a stepping stone.
If he could not withstand even that much pressure, it would prove Louis had never possessed any real ability. His death in the Northern Frontier would be only natural.
He would not waste resources on a useless child.
He had plenty of children anyway. What did it matter if one or two died?
The family had never lacked descendants. What it lacked were people with ability and ambition.
But since Louis had made it this far and earned such high praise from Bradley...
That proved he had some ability, along with a measure of pride.
Good. Then show me what you can really do.
Before you continue