Chapter 480: The Wedding
Three days later, the wedding of Chief Knight Carter Lannis and the Star of the Western Region, May, was held on the castle grounds.
The guest list included family members, the Star Flower Troupe, the City Hall, and the Witch Union.
In this era, a wedding was always witnessed by the church. Royal and noble ceremonies required a regional Bishop; nobles and merchants could manage with a High Priest or Priestess; ordinary citizens could pay a few silver royals for a Priest to preside. Those who could not afford even that simply lived together unwed.
There was no church in the Western Region. There was a City Hall. Roland had arranged for officers to issue marriage certificates and record registrations at no charge. Carter’s wedding would be the advertisement—the proof of concept for an institution that required no ecclesiastical blessing. He had already composed the slogan in his head: Convenient, legitimate, and free of charge.
When the bride appeared, there was a collective intake of breath from the assembled guests.
She was not a witch, but she was a star, and the crowd she drew was proof of it. Roland had to concede that Carter had remarkable taste. Without the knight’s extended lobbying and pleading, he would never have authorized the wedding gown—and looking at May in it now, he understood that the lobbying had been justified.
Carter, for his part, wore his black formal attire with a distinction that surprised even his friends. Standing together, the two of them looked like an illustration from a book about people who belonged to each other.
“They look wonderful together,” Anna said beside him.
Roland squeezed her hand. “We’ll have our day,” he said quietly. “And when we do, everyone will know you.”
She smiled, and said nothing, and the smile was enough.
Marrying a witch was easy. Earning the recognition of his subjects was not. That required absolute authority—the civil war ended, the kingdom unified, the throne secured. Only then could he marry Anna in a way that meant what he wanted it to mean: not as a lord’s private arrangement, but as a declaration. He would not have her compared to a nobleman’s kept mistress.
It would not be long now. The Months of Demons had ended; the town was readying itself for the spring campaign. Timothy’s throne would break before summer.
“The rings, please. Next—” The City Hall officer consulted his notebook, slightly uncertain. “—you may now kiss each other.”
The yard exploded.
Irene, standing with the rest of the Star Flower Troupe, grabbed the nearest person—Morning Light—and shook her, and then grabbed the next person, and called on everyone within reach to applaud and cheer. The noise built on itself.
“Just kissing,” Lightning said, wrinkling her nose. “My father gets kissed several times whenever he comes back from an expedition.”
“Coo—” Maggie, perched on Lightning’s head, carefully spread her wings across her face. The difficulty being that a pigeon’s eyes are set on the sides of its head.
“Your Highness—is this ceremony format really appropriate?” Scroll pressed a hand to her forehead.
“This is a special case,” Roland said, amused. “Not every wedding needs to follow this format. But this one is for publicity—the more memorable, the better.” He turned to Soraya. “You’re painting this. Every detail.”
“Already on it.” Soraya had not blinked since May entered. Her Magic Pen moved without pause.
At the center of the ceremony, Carter was visibly terrified. When his initial shock faded enough for him to be capable of movement, May stepped forward and kissed him herself.
The yard erupted again.
“His Highness—your blessing, please!”
Roland joined the newlyweds. He clapped Carter once on the shoulder. “Well done.” Then he turned to May. “May you be happy. Truly.”
“That—that’s it?” Carter blinked.
“That’s it. Now go home. Two days off.” Roland smiled. “Vader arrives this afternoon. Leave the rest to him.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” they said together, turning to each other with the same movement, as though they had already begun learning how to be the same thing.
The fireworks—rendered faithfully by Echo—closed the ceremony.
That afternoon, Barov and Karl came to the castle office to report on the Three Supplies Project.
“The water supply equipment is installed in all residential quarters,” Karl said, tracing the map with one finger. “More than half the heating pipes are laid. The power supply will take longer—the factory district will finish its installation soon under your direct guidance, but the four residential areas are still at the trenching stage. After your departure for Longsong Stronghold, that work nearly stalled.”
Roland nodded. There was nothing to be done about that; no one else could explain a circuit or walk a crew through electrical installation. Perhaps by April. Perhaps May. Then, at last, every house in the town would have light.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Now that the Months of Demons are over, heating can wait. The priorities are: power supply, and the construction of Kingdom Main Street. Power affects how efficiently we use every working hour; the Main Street ties the two cities together once the new city is established.” He paused. “After the Main Street construction crews are done, don’t dismiss them. We’ll need them to build the road down to the shoal.”
“The route toward the southern mountain area?”
“That’s the one. It will become the entrance to the sea.” When Tilly’s party returned to Sleeping Island, Lotus would come back to the Western Region. With Countess Spear’s help, a new path through the mountains would take months rather than years. “And once the City of Neverwinter is formally established, I want the construction workers enrolled as citizens. Confer citizenship as soon as the Main Street is complete.” He looked to Barov. “I’ll leave that to you.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Don’t reduce the pace of residential construction—push it outward, between here and the Stronghold, and onto the south bank of the Redwater River. I want the urban population to triple by year’s end.”
Barov breathed in sharply. “My lord—that would be close to one hundred thousand people.”
“The Western Region can support it,” Roland said. A city of twenty thousand inhabitants could sustain a suburban population of at least five times that; it was a well-established relationship, and with steam power reducing the labor required for basic supply, there was no ceiling he could see. “Take it as a goal.”
“And one more thing,” he continued, turning to the City Hall supervisor. “Electric light is already running in the factory district. Once the city construction is finished, I want the ammunition processing department—and the rest of the factories, eventually—operating in three eight-hour shifts, continuously. Calculate wages by the old daily rate. More hours, more pay. Begin promoting this now. I want those factories running without pause until we unify Graycastle.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Barov bowed.
Chapter 480: The Wedding
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Three days later, the wedding of Chief Knight Lannis Carter and Star of the Western Region May was held on castle grounds.
Besides family members, there were also members from the Star Flower Troupe, the City Hall and the Witch Union.
In this age, a wedding ceremony was always witnessed by the church. Weddings of royal families and the nobility were witnessed by a regional Bishop, while nobles and businessmen High Priest or Priestess. Ordinary citizens needed to go to the church by themselves and pay several silver royals to ask the Priest to preside over the wedding. Of course, people who could not afford it just lived together unwed.
Since there was no church in the Western Region, the City Hall was the wedding witness. Roland planned for the City Hall to dispatch officers to issue marriage certificates and do the registration for free. Carter’s wedding would be a great role model—he had already thought of the slogan, “Convenient, legitimate and free of charge”.
When the bride appeared in her wedding gown, everyone was impressed. She was not a witch, yet she was a big star, and this drew crowds. Even Roland had to admit that Carter had a good eye. If it were not for the publicity and pleading from the knight, Roland would not have shown the wedding gown.
Dressed in his handsome black attire, the bridegroom Carter Lannis looked extraordinary. The two of them standing together were like a heaven-made match.
“They look so great together.” Anna said.
“We’ll have our day eventually,” Roland squeezed her hands gently and said, “by then, everyone will know you.”
“Mmm.” She smiled sweetly.
Marrying a witch was easy, however, getting the recognition of subjects was difficult. It could only be achieved by those with absolute might and great prestige. Hence, the most fundamental thing was to subside the civil war within the kingdom and become the only king of Graycastle. After that, he could marry Anna—he did not want others to think that Anna was his hidden plaything, like previous nobles.
However, Roland believed that it would not be too long. Since the Months of Demons had finished, the town was fully preparing for the coming spring attack. Soon, there would be a fierce attack and Timothy’s throne would be destroyed completely.
“The rings, please. Er, next…” The officer from the City Hall was unfamiliar with the new wedding process written by Roland. He lowered his head to look at his notebook, “you may kiss each other now.”
“Wow!” Assembled guests broke into a round of applause, especially Irene, a member of the Star Flower Troupe. She excitedly grabbed Morning Light and swayed from side to side, and then grabbed others to clap and cheer for May.
“Just kissing,” Lightning twitched her mouth, “each time, my father returned from an expedition, he was kissed several times.”
“Coo…” Squatting on Lighting’s head, Maggie turned her head away. She put her wings in front of her face, however, the eyes of a pigeon are on both sides of the head.
“Is this wedding procedure really suitable, Your Highness?” Scroll put her hands on her forehead.
“It’s a particular case. Not every couple needs to do this,” Roland smiled. “After all, it’s used for publicity, the more attractive, the better.” Speaking of
this, he turned to Soraya. “You need to paint this moment in detail!”
“Rest assured, leave it to me.” The latter watched the two newlyweds without blinking, the Magic Pen in her hands was shining.
Carter was obviously nervous. After his initial shock had subsided, May stood on tiptoe and kissed him.
Applause broke out in the yard.
“Please welcome His Highness. He’ll give his blessing!”
Roland left the crowd and joined the newlyweds. He patted Carter’s shoulder and said, “Well done.” Then he turned to May, “May you be forever happy.”
“That, that’s it?” Carter hesitated.
“Of course! Now go home and rest. I’ll give you two days off.” Roland smiled. “Vader should arrive in the town this afternoon. Leave your work to him.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” the newlyweds answered in harmony, smiling at each other.
The wedding ended in the sounds of fireworks, which were simulated by Echo.
In the afternoon, Barov and Karl came to the castle office to report the progress of the Three Supplies Project to Roland.
“So far, the water supply equipment has been installed in all the living quarters and more than half of the heating pipes have been laid,” Karl said. He pointed to the town planning map and continued, “but the power supply will need more time. Except the factory district under your guidance will complete the installation soon, the four residential areas are still in the phase of trenching and slotting. After you went to Longsong Stronghold, this part of the work almost stagnated.”
Roland nodded and knew they could do nothing about it. No one other than him understood what a circuit was or how electricity operated. Maybe in April, possibly May, all the townspeople would have electric lighting. Roland said, “It doesn’t matter. Now that the Months of Demons is over, the heating can wait for some time. Next, the most important thing is the power supply program and the building of Kingdom Main Street. The former concerns the efficiency of time use, and the latter is the key to strengthen the relationship between the two areas once the city building is completed.” He continued, “In addition, don’t dismiss the redundant workers after finishing the construction of Kingdom Main Street. We need them to build the road to the shoal.”
“Do you mean the spot towards the southern mountain area?”
“That’s right. It’ll be the entrance to the sea.” Roland affirmed. After Tilly and her group returned to Sleeping Island, Lotus would come back to the Western Region. At that time, with the help of Countess Spear, it would take less time to break a new path in mountains. “In addition, once the City of Neverwinter is established, these redundant workers will be my subjects and I want to confer citizenship on them as soon as the construction of Kingdom Main Street is finished.” He turned to Barov, “I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yes, my lord!”
“Don’t stop the construction of communities. You can expand them to the space between the town and Stronghold or the south bank of the Redwater River. The population expansion remains to be a major priority, and I want to triple the urban population by the end of the year.”
Barov sucked in a breath. “My lord, that will be close to 100,000 people.”
“I believe we can afford them in the Western Region,” Roland said with a deep voice, “you can take it as your goal.”
Indeed, the Kingdom of Graycastle had population potential. A big city of 20,000 inhabitants could afford a suburban population of at least 100,000. The more prosperous a city was, the bigger scale the latter was—this phenomenon could also be seen in modern agriculture. There was no limit in
the Western Region, plus since the steam engine had come into use, there was no need to have so many people working on the material supply.
“Lastly, since electric lighting is now available in the factory district, you’ll need to switch to working eight hours a day in three shifts once the city construction is completed, especially the ammunition processing department,” the prince said to the supervisor of the City Hall, “The salary of each shift should be calculated according to the past daily wage. The more they do, the more they get. You can promote it from now on and I hope the factory can operate constantly until we unify Graycastle.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Barov answered and made a bow.