Rose Empire

Chapter 18: Celine and the Chance Encounter

When Eric and his party arrived at the castle of Baron Lanwan, dusk was approaching. Several columns of white smoke rose into the sky near the castle. It wasn't the warning smoke of a beacon fire but the cooking smoke from meals, as the rich aroma of spices wafting from afar could attest.

Costa couldn't help but tighten his reins and quietly swallow a mouthful of saliva.

However, at that moment, a young boy's voice suddenly rang out: "Father, it smells so good. There must be a lot of delicious food."

Following the voice, Costa immediately noticed another horse team approaching from the other end of the road.

The one who had just spoken was a small figure at the head of the horse team. The figure had short hair, wore leather armor, and was an excellent rider. At first glance, they appeared to be a lively boy, but upon closer inspection, the lack of an Adam's apple and the slight bulge on the chest revealed that it was actually a girl.

When her eyes met Costa's, the excitement on the girl's face instantly turned to disdain.

As the two horse teams met on the narrow road, they both tacitly pulled on their reins and stopped their horses.

The other horse team had come from the north, and their identities were self-evident.

Costa also recognized the tomboy opposite him. Her name was Celine Adkins, the jewel of the Adkins family. Her father was named Ed Adkins.

If Eric Scamario was the leader of the southern knights, then Ed Adkins was the head of the northern knights. Naturally, their horse team was composed entirely of northern knights.

The two groups stared at each other without speaking. Their gazes were filled with coldness, mockery, disgust, and anger, but not a trace of friendliness.

Ever since Costa, Celine, and other younger generations could remember, the knights of the southern and northern parts of Baron Lanwan's territory had been hostile, even hateful, toward each other.

No one could say exactly when or where this hatred originated. But whenever they met, they would immediately dislike each other. The southerners called the northerners fierce and barbaric, while the northerners called the southerners cunning and deceitful.

If Charlotte were here, she would surely provide an answer: this was one of the inevitable results of regional development imbalances under a primitive economic state.

The northerners, unwilling to remain poor, always thought about moving south for development. But the southern knights, in order to monopolize the already small trade pie, would inevitably band together to resist the northerners. Over time, this back-and-forth led to an irreconcilable grudge, which accumulated into hatred between the two groups.

Solving this problem wasn't actually that difficult. If Baron Lanwan could mediate and balance the interests of both sides, or if the baron was strong enough to monopolize the trade routes, the conflict between the north and south would naturally dissolve.

However, the previous Baron Lanwan was a fool.

"The northern paupers have arrived. Knight Adkins, are you bringing your whole family to the banquet because you're too poor and haven't had meat in a long time?"

In the end, it was the hot-headed Costa who broke the silence with a mocking remark.

"Costa, if a crybaby like you can come, why can't I? Looks like you're asking for another beating!" The tomboy named Celine on the opposite side wasn't about to back down. She drew the sword from her saddle and pointed it at Costa, shouting.

The sword was a full 1.7 meters long, clearly a two-handed greatsword meant for foot combat. Yet Celine held it with one hand as easily as if it were a wooden stick.

Having a sword pointed at him, Costa's confidence immediately wavered. Despite the girl being shorter than her own sword, in terms of combat prowess, even his cousin Eric might struggle to gain the upper hand.

Costa had once fought Celine and ended up bedridden for a month—there were witnesses who claimed Costa had cried on the spot and hid at home to recover because he was too embarrassed to show his face. However, he firmly denied such rumors.

Not wanting to lose face, Costa continued to talk tough: "The baron invited knights to the banquet. I'm a knight, so I can come. What are you? You're nothing. Why are you here to eat?"

"I…" Celine was left speechless, her face turning red. She indeed held no title.

"Enough, Celine. Put away your sword. Don't cause trouble in front of the lord's castle." A deep, hoarse voice came to Celine's rescue. It was Ed Adkins.

"Hmph." Celine snorted and sheathed her sword back into the scabbard on her saddle.

Ed Adkins didn't bother with Costa. Instead, he looked at Eric Scamario and said, "I'm surprised you southern knights actually dared to come to the banquet. Aren't you worried the new baron will hold you accountable for what you've done?"

Eric Scamario smiled lightly and replied, "You don't need to worry about our affairs, Knight Adkins. I heard the northern fields didn't yield much this year. You should focus on how you're going to survive the winter."

After exchanging barbs, both men felt there was no point in continuing the conversation. They led their respective teams side by side toward the castle.

Meanwhile, Charlotte had finished her conversation with Father Fado. She had asked him about the various knight territories within the barony, and Fado had diligently provided her with information about each knight and their lands.

At that moment, Jack Moore came to report that the knights invited to the banquet had arrived.

Charlotte instructed a servant to take Fado to the castle's main hall for the banquet while she went to change into her evening gown.

Although Fado didn't get along with the knights—whether from the south or the north—he still had to attend the banquet. The rich aroma of meat wafting from the back of the castle had already made his mouth water uncontrollably. His financial situation was even worse than that of the northern knights.

In theory, the primary income of the regional church came from tithes. However, tithes were levied on agricultural and pastoral products. The southern knights claimed they had long abandoned their fields, so they didn't pay tithes. After all, if they didn't farm, they didn't have to pay taxes. It made perfect sense.

The northern knight territories were too far from the church but too close to the Kanpei Mountains. The northern knights didn't voluntarily come to the church to pay their tithes, and Fado, who was too poor to even afford a horse, didn't dare to go and collect them himself. He was afraid that after trekking all the way there, he might not only fail to collect any money but also end up tied up and thrown into the Kanpei Mountains to be devoured by the bloodthirsty tribesmen.

As a result, Fado had to farm in addition to his prayers. Fortunately, no one dared to encroach on the church's land, so he could at least grow enough to feed himself. However, eating meat regularly was out of the question. Now that he had the chance to eat his fill, Fado wasn't about to miss it.

The bedrooms and dressing rooms on the second floor of the castle hadn't been cleaned yet, so Charlotte had to return to her carriage to change.

Renee picked out a white gown for Charlotte, but Charlotte shook her head and pointed to a cherry-red dress in the trunk. "I'll wear that one."

Renee didn't object and even helped Charlotte choose matching accessories and makeup.

Looking at herself in the red dress, Charlotte nodded in satisfaction. "Good. This color makes it hard to notice any bloodstains."

To get from the carriage to the castle's main hall, Charlotte had to pass through the area where the cooks were preparing food outdoors. As she walked past the food preparation area, she unexpectedly noticed a sneaky figure.

A small figure, about 1.6 meters tall, wearing leather armor and with short gray hair, but the curves of her chest and waist revealed she was a girl. The girl was taking advantage of the unattended food preparation area, grabbing meat dishes with her bare hands and stuffing them into her mouth. Her hands moved so fast that her cheeks were bulging like a hamster's.

When Charlotte looked over, the tomboy also noticed her and Renee's arrival. Just as Charlotte was about to ask who she was, the tomboy moved like a swift leopard, instantly leaping in front of Charlotte and covering her mouth with a greasy left hand.

Renee was startled and almost drew her silver chain sword, but seeing that the tomboy meant no harm and Charlotte wasn't struggling, she restrained herself.

Charlotte watched with amusement as the tomboy chewed for a while, finally swallowing the meat in her mouth before she could speak.

"Whew… that almost choked me," the tomboy exhaled, then said to Charlotte and Renee, "Don't make a sound. I'll just have a couple more bites and then leave. I haven't eaten since noon. I'm starving."

As she spoke, the tomboy grabbed a chicken leg and devoured it in one bite, leaving only the bone.

"You're here to sneak some food too, right? Here, try this meatball. It's really good." The tomboy kindly handed a meatball to Renee.

Renee was at a loss, unsure whether to take it or not.

Seeing Renee hesitate, the tomboy handed the meatball to Charlotte instead. Charlotte, however, graciously accepted it.

True to her word, the tomboy grabbed another chicken leg, stripped it clean in one bite, and then slipped away.

She really only took two bites.

"Miss, how can you not mind how dirty that was?" Renee complained as she threw away the meatball Charlotte had been holding and helped wipe the grease off Charlotte's hands and face.

Charlotte, still amused, said, "I wonder whose child that was. So reckless and clueless."

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