Chapter 529: The Returned Witch
Two days later, Kyle Sichi came to say goodbye.
“You could stay a few more days,” Roland offered. “King’s City is the center of the kingdom — best entertainment in Graycastle. Once it changes, you may not recognize it.”
“I am not you,” Kyle said, rolling his eyes. “I have no unfinished romance here. The laboratory and the plant need attention. If you want the gunpowder production line running properly, I should be back in Neverwinter.”
Roland watched him go and felt the mild depression of a man whose decent joke had been dismissed. The city’s atmosphere since the conquest had taken on a particular strangeness. First, a number of women had emerged to claim they were former lovers of Prince Roland. Then came the illegitimate children. He knew they were all fabrications — the prince they described was the original Roland, not him — but he could not say so, and the stories had a stubborn persistence that honest denials could not dislodge. The worse a story sounds, the more convincingly it explains away the denial.
Theo and the Rats were working on it. In the meantime, something louder was needed — news that would push the rumors off the public’s tongue and give people something more interesting to discuss.
“You seem very pleased,” said a cold voice behind him, “surrounded by so many women.”
Roland nearly choked on nothing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You know those claims are all false.”
“How would I know?” Nightingale said, with what sounded like genuine alarm.
“I thought you’d investigated every person who’d come near me.”
”…” A pause. “All right.” She materialized, sitting on the edge of the table, looking down at him with the expression of someone composing a careful answer. “I did investigate. But only because I was concerned for your safety — dangerous people sometimes try to reach the palace through false pretenses. Do you understand?”
“I understand completely,” Roland said, and worked to keep his face neutral.
“Good.” Then: “Most of them were lying. But Miss Kingfisher and Mrs. Rother — they were not.”
Damn Yorko. Roland cursed his old friend internally at considerable length before responding. He met Nightingale’s eyes and said, carefully and honestly: “The Prince Roland those two women knew was not me. You can tell that I’m not lying.”
She held his gaze for a moment, then looked away. “So it was a case of mistaken identity. They genuinely believed it was you, but it wasn’t.”
“I have never met them in my life.”
She seemed to settle. “Then why haven’t you ordered Theo to silence them? He said you gave no such instruction.”
“Because that’s exactly what they want — money to stop talking. Paying them only confirms the rumors.” He shook his head. “Violence would make it worse. The better solution is to overwhelm the rumor with larger news — something that gives people more to discuss than my supposed romantic history.”
“Larger news?”
“King’s City is to be renamed the City of Dawn. The City of Neverwinter in the Western Region will become the new capital of Graycastle.” He smiled. “That should keep the taverns occupied for weeks. The Rats are already feeding out fragments in careful sequence — first the rumors, then the official announcements, building gradually. By the time I leave, no one will be talking about the old stories.”
There were other announcements in reserve: no coronation in the immediate future, competitive recruitment of skilled craftsmen. Layered out correctly, the news cycle would keep running long after he was gone.
“So the smile just now had nothing to do with the women?”
“Nothing at all.” He tapped the list on the table. “This is why I was smiling.”
The chemical demonstration Kyle had led in the Alchemist Workshop had exceeded every estimate. More than three hundred twenty people from the Workshop had agreed to relocate to the Western Region — alchemists, students, apprentices. With their family members, the total came to roughly five hundred. Five hundred. The combined headcount of all five chemical laboratories and both production plants in the Border Area had been five hundred. One afternoon in King’s City had doubled it, and most of the newcomers were trained professionals who would need only minor adjustment before they could be put to work.
“But that’s not even the best part,” he said. He spread the list and pointed to the names at the bottom.
“Retnin… Rayleigh… Archer.” Nightingale read them slowly. “Aren’t those the Workshop’s chief alchemists?”
“Kyle accepted them.” Roland kept his voice quiet, the way you keep a good thing quiet when you’re still getting used to it. “He said he was simply reclaiming what was owed to him.”
The alchemists had expected him to reject them, or at least to hold them at a distance. The history between Kyle and the Workshop’s senior leadership — particularly Retnin — was not a warm one. But Kyle had taken them on, without ceremony or revenge, and Roland found that it moved him. There were people, even in difficult times, who took the right road. The kingdom would be improved by having them.
A rhythmic knock at the window. Something striking the glass from outside, once, twice, a third time.
Nightingale vanished through the window and returned a moment later with the gray falcon cradled in her arms. The bird looked startled.
“A secret letter,” she said.
Roland read it, and looked up. “We need to leave sooner than planned.”
“Is something wrong in Neverwinter?”
“No.” He tried to keep the grin off his face and failed completely. “Lotus and Honey are coming back. And Tilly’s sending new witches with them.”
Chapter 529: The Returned Witch
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
…
Two days later, Kyle Sichi bade farewell to Roland.
“Don’t you want to spend a couple more days in King’s City?” Roland jokingly asked, “This is the center of Graycastle, the best place to have fun within the Kingdom. If you miss it now, it may not be here next time.”
“I’m not you; I don’t want to have an unfinished romance here.” Kyle rolled his eyes and said, “There’s still a lot of work to do in the laboratory and the plant. It’s best for me to return to the City of Neverwinter if you want the production line of gunpowder to run smoothly.”
His reply made Roland depressed. After the situation settled down, the atmosphere in the city was a little strange: First, many women claimed to be his lovers, followed then by their illegitimate children. Of course, he knew these were all rumors. Nevertheless, he could not stop the rumors from confounding the truth. Especially, when his history was so notorious. No matter how bizarre the stories were, they would still sound convincing to some… He could only get Theo to come forward and compel the Rats to eradicate the rumors.
“Alright.” He was speechless for a while before he nodded and said, “I’ll arrange a paddle steamer to send you back to the Western Region. Thank you for your hard work over the past few days.”
“As long as you know it,” Kyle said while shaking his beard. He left after paying respect by covering his chest with one hand.
“This guy’s really ungrateful.” Roland twitched his lips but didn’t take it personally. He even started happily singing.
“You seem very happy surrounded by so many women,” said a cold voice behind him.
“Ahem…” He was almost choked by his own saliva. “What’re you talking about?! They were just trying to get some money out of me by saying that. I’m sure you know that.”
“How, how would I know?” Nightingale said in a panic.
“Oh? You really don’t know?” Roland retorted. “I thought you’ve investigated everyone here.”
“… Okay,” Nightingale revealed herself. She turned around and sat on the table. Staring down at him, she said, “I have indeed gone on an investigation. It was, however, because I was worried about your safety and afraid you’ll let dangerous people into the palace. Do you understand?”
“I understand,” he said, trying not to laugh. But, the next words Nightingale said froze the smile on his face.
“Most of their statements were false. What about Miss Kingfisher and Mrs. Rother? They were not lying!”
“Damn Yorko, I didn’t expect her to actually keep it in mind after the last cover-up.” Roland silently cursed the “old friend” a million times. While staring seriously into her eyes, he said, “I didn’t lie to you… The Prince Roland whom they were talking about wasn’t me. You should be able to tell that I’m not lying.”
Nightingale was feeling slightly uncomfortable being stared at and averted her eyes. “So, it’s a misunderstanding? They thought it was you, but you weren’t there? ”
“Of course not,” said Roland righteously. “In fact, I haven’t seen them before!”
She looked slightly calmer and said, “So, you’re just going to let the ladies who claim to have slept with you continue to make a scene? Theo said you didn’t order them to shut up.”
“Of course, it’s exactly what they want—to be paid to shut up. It’s too much to be violent, and it’ll just increase the suspicion of the people.” Roland was still unable to kill for this reason. “It’ll be easier distracting people with bigger news than forcing those women to stop.”
“Bigger… news?” Nightingale curiously asked.
“Yes, something they’ll be discussing for weeks.” He said smiling. “For example, King’s City is to be renamed the City of Dawn; the City of Neverwinter in the Western Region is to be the new capital of Graycastle, etc. The rumors will subside after I leave.”
Of course, there was more news, such as that the king is not having a coronation, as well as the competitive plan for skilled craftsmen recruitment… Cumulatively, this news should be able to fill up the public’s leisure time. Currently, the Rats were slowly spreading fragments of the news to the crowd. This followed the posting of the announcement of the City Hall in order to achieve the best publicity effect. It was expected these would be the topics of discussions in pubs for a long time.
“So, you weren’t happily smiling because of them just now?”
“Not at all!” Roland patted the list of names on the table and said, “I was happy because of this.” The chemical presentation led by Kyle was a huge success. The effect was better than he thought—there were more than 320 people from the association who were willing to move forward to the Western Region, including alchemists, students, and the apprentices. The final number was confirmed at around 500, including the family members. “That’s the sum of employees in the five chemical laboratories and two plants in the Border Area. Now the number is doubled in a blink of an eye and most of them are the proficients who could be assigned to work after some slight training. It’s the biggest accomplishment after we conquered King’s City.” He paused and said, “It’s not, however, what I’m happiest about.”
“What’s the thing you’re happiest about?” Nightingale asked curiously.
“Take a look at this.” He spread the list, pointing out the names at the bottom.
“Retnin… Rayleigh… Archer, aren’t they the Alchemist Workshop Chiefs?”
“That’s right, Kyle didn’t refuse them,” Roland softly said. “He said he had already taken back what belonged to him.” Roland thought Kyle would have a serious initial retaliation after learning about the argument between the Chief Alchemist and the Alchemist Workshop of King’s City; without even meaning to continue the hatred, Kyle had received the consensus he deserved and accepted the three of them on behalf of the City of Neverwinter. It warmed Roland’s heart to see there was still a group of people taking the right path in a tough time; the kingdom would definitely be continuously improving by having them in the realm.
Right then, a rhythmic knocking sound came from outside the window.
Nightingale flashed out of the window and came back to the table in the blink of an eye with the messenger in her arms. “A secret letter is here.”
“You scared it.” Roland shook his head. He didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry while looking at the stunned gray falcon on the table. He quickly glanced through the content of the letter lifted and said, “Ah… it was sent by Scroll. I think we’ll have to leave as soon as possible.”
“Is there anything wrong in City of Neverwinter?” Nightingale frowned.
“No…” he twitched his lips and said, “Lotus and Honey are coming back soon.”
“The two little brats…” Somehow Nightingale sounded unhappy. “Do we really need to leave in such a rush? After all, there are only two of them. Lightning and Maggie can always go pick them up. They’re much faster than the hydrogen balloon. They’ll reach King’s City within a day.”
“We could definitely do that if it were just the two of them,” Roland excitedly said. “However, the letter says Tilly’s sending along new witches.”