When Roland woke up in the morning, it wasn't Tilly who attended to him, but an older maid.
As he stepped out of the bedroom, Chief Knight Carter was waiting for him outside the door.
"Your Highness," he said in a grave tone, "I must deliver some unfortunate news. Your Maid has passed away last night." "What?" Roland's eyelids twitched. Though he had anticipated this outcome, the thought still weighed heavily on his mind. After all, this woman had died because of him.
"She fell from the room's balcony. No fighting was seen at the scene, and the guards didn't witness any outsiders entering or leaving. So... it was likely an accidental fall," Knight reported, his gaze lingering on Roland's eyes with a peculiar intensity. Roland knew exactly what Knight meant. In Graycastle, the Fourth Prince's repeated attempts to force Tilly's hand were well-documented. In this era, it was common for Princes to engage in affairs with their maids. With scarce entertainment and virtually no nightlife, it was only natural to contemplate reproduction after a full meal. Not just for personal use, Princes and upper nobles would exchange women, even hosting reproduction parties. Thus, the chaos in the nobility's circles was no mere jest.
The Fourth Prince had already been relatively restrained in this regard. After switching to Roland, he didn't even touch women—except for Tilly, the other Maids were downright unremarkable. Moreover, after his time-traveling encounter with the Evil Demon's Moon, his mind was almost entirely consumed by farming plans, leaving no room to indulge in the romantic and luxurious life of a Noble.
"It's a shame," Roland said with a look of regret. "Let the senior maid who attended to me this morning handle Tilly's funeral arrangements. She's the new head maid." Carter nodded, bowed, and left.
Roland stepped into the office and immediately spotted the nightingale perched on the rosewood desk.
"What did you ask?" "Nothing. She killed herself the moment she saw me," she said, her voice tinged with despair. "It happened too fast—without a second thought." "You didn't manage to stop her?" Roland sidestepped and slumped back into the armchair.
"I bound her," Nightingale leaned forward, "who would've guessed poison was hidden in her teeth? I had to stage a fall as an accident." "I thought you were seasoned enough to accept payment like this?" "Hey hey, don't say that. Just because I didn't get anything from her doesn't mean I gained nothing," Nightingale chuckled, placing a folded paper in front of Roland. "Found in her room." Roland unfolded it—it was a family letter addressed to Tilly as 'sister,' filled with casual chatter. But he noticed the frequent references to the sea: the beauty of coastal views, her favorite beach time watching sunsets. The letter ended with a heartfelt question about her sister's return, expressing deep longing. Recalling the siblings' territories, Roland mused uncertainly, "The 'Three Kings Sister' of Port of Blue Waters?" "That's probably it. Your two brothers can't see the sea. I suspect Princess Jasmine of the Three Kings uses her sister as a pawn. Her suicide's calculated—she must've been trained for at least two years before being placed by your side." Roland sighed softly. The struggle for the throne wouldn't end so easily. Even if he didn't fight, he couldn't stay out of it. His siblings had no qualms about the crown. Such games would likely continue.
"Ah, someone's coming. I'll be off now, Your Highness." The Nightingale blew a teasing breath toward Roland before vanishing into thin air in an instant.
Though it wasn't their first meeting, Roland was startled by the daylight prank. He hesitated, tentatively reaching for the empty table edge, but his fingers were stopped mid-air by a soft hand. "Your Highness, this might upset Anna," the hand said. "Well, her ability is invisibility, not vanishing," Roland mused. "Otherwise, it would be too frightening."
A knock sounded at the door. "Your Highness, I'm Barov," Roland said, retracting his fingers and returning to his expressionless demeanor. "Come in." The Minister's Assistant entered the office carrying a large bundle of files, and before he could even settle in, began reporting on the week's political developments. Roland, too, gathered his thoughts and listened intently. After over a month of observing, he found himself able to follow the minister's pace, no longer feeling disoriented or completely lost as he had initially.
Overall, Border Town's finances showed some improvement, primarily due to selling ore and gemstone roughs to Willow Leaf Town, which earned nearly 200 Gold Dragons. After using this money to purchase food and pay wages, 90 Gold Dragons remained.
Barov is in high spirits too, with some extra cash on hand, so getting through this winter shouldn't be too tough.
Yet Roland was determined to keep him busy. "I will select a group of people from the populace to combat the evil beasts. They must begin training immediately. My Chief Knight will serve as the instructor, and I will provide him with the details. You must draft a procurement plan—these individuals must wear sturdy leather armor, carry a long spear, and have two sets of interchangeable winter clothing." "Your Highness, this... isn't it standard practice to temporarily conscript the populace for combat?" "A battle-hardened force without training is nothing but a rabble. Can sheer numbers scare off the beasts? They'll scatter in chaos." "Do you truly intend to defend Border Town to the death?" Barov asked hesitantly.
"If we can't hold out, we'll retreat of course, but I doubt we can't handle a few mutated beasts." "That would add to your budget," the other man said with a miserly grin that made Roland laugh. "These are necessary expenses—go ahead." He still had over three hundred gold dragons in his vault, mainly for the city wall construction. He'd personally funded the materials and parts for the steam engine from the blacksmith's shop, spending nearly twenty gold dragons on the first unit, and needed at least three more.
While it's true that steam engines fueled the First Industrial Revolution, this doesn't mean they were the sole catalyst. Historically, Britain's industrial expansion required a new power source to replace human and animal labor for mining operations. After James Watt's steam engine improvements, it quickly gained massive orders, and this innovation rapidly spread across all industries.
At this time, Border Town had no foundation for the Industrial Revolution, and it could even be said that industry itself did not exist. Therefore, Roland did not expect to make his first fortune by selling steam engines. Instead, he planned to deploy these machines in the North Mountain mining area for hauling ore and crushing stones. Once the mine's output increased, he would expand the scale of steam engine usage, effectively promoting industrial development from top to bottom.