Chapter 606: Father and Daughter
Duke Calvin Kant walked into the Castle of Jadeforest to find his daughter already waiting.
“My dear—”
“Why are you this late?” Edith’s arms were folded, her notebook already open. “I wrote to you a month ago. We need to meet every requirement the First Army makes. Every one.”
The duke lowered his outstretched arms. “I notified Earl Haier in Deepvalley Town immediately and sent the butler to supervise the arrangements. Isn’t that sufficient?”
“It shows more sincerity if you come yourself.” She glanced up from the notebook. “Besides, this war against the church is not a routine matter. It can’t be treated as one.”
“Earl Haier’s domain—”
“Father.” Her voice cut clean. “The nobles are going to disappear. You’re still worrying about domains and feudatory. I thought the Hawes and Lista rebellions would have settled that in you.”
The duke cleared his throat. “I thought at minimum my daughter would give me a hug and tell me she missed me before starting in on business.”
“Did I?” The corner of her mouth moved. “So you weren’t in your study calling me a bastard — an ungrateful bastard who bites the hand that fed her — and stopping yourself from smashing something only because it was too expensive?”
Calvin’s mouth opened. Closed.
Who told her?
Before he had found any version of a response, Edith stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.
“Welcome to Deepvalley Town, father. Satisfied?”
His anger dissolved before he could decide what to do with it. He stroked her hair and felt something complicated he hadn’t been expecting — pride, certainly, but also a wistfulness that lived alongside it. His first wife’s daughter. Her mother had been nothing like this — quiet, gentle, a creature of accommodation. Calvin himself was not like this either. He had wondered sometimes, privately, in moments of irritation, whether Edith could truly be his. And then she would turn and he would see her mother’s cheekbones, her mother’s eyes.
She was his. She had simply become something he hadn’t planned for.
When she pulled away, her face had already moved back to business. “You smell terrible. There’s scented soap from Neverwinter — try it before dinner. Better than cassias.”
“There’s no hurry about that.” He looked around the hall. “Where is Earl Haier? He should have been here to greet me.”
“I sent him back to his suburban mansion.”
“What?” He stared at her.
“He was ignoring His Majesty’s orders and your own. If I hadn’t arrived when I did, he would have driven away the advance troops entirely.” She shrugged. “Some people can’t bring themselves to open their eyes to their situation. I don’t waste time on them. I sent him home.”
“But he just — handed over the castle?”
“Not voluntarily.” She smiled — not the practiced noble smile, the real one. “But I had the First Army with me. They conquered King’s City in a day. Twelve knights don’t impress them.”
Calvin thought, watching her: she’s changed. Not that she had ever been soft. But there was something in her face now, some brightness that hadn’t lived there in the years he’d been watching her navigate Graycastle’s courts. She had always been the Pearl of the Northern Region — it had never been warmth that made her shine. Now he wondered.
She was happy here. Or near it.
He felt a flicker of envy at that, mixed with the complicated gratitude of a man who has managed something he didn’t entirely understand.
Perhaps losing the forms of noble power had freed her from something the forms required.
They moved to the study. He drank two cups of black tea before he trusted himself to ask practical questions.
“So we wait here for His Majesty?”
Edith opened her notebook again. “We work. Food, horses, fabrics, medicinal herbs — all of it to Deepvalley Town. His Majesty also sent a new cipher: iron ingots and copper ingots, as much as the Northern Region can supply. The more, the better.”
He wants to drain the whole Northern Region, Calvin thought, but didn’t say it. Instead: “Do you truly believe Roland can defeat the church?”
She considered that for a moment — not dismissively, but carefully, as though it were a real question deserving a real answer. “He may not destroy Hermes entirely. But stopping the church from coming through Coldwind Ridge? That he can do.” She paused. “What he needs most right now is time.”
“Time for what?”
“You haven’t seen his factories.” She looked at him directly, the way she looked at a problem she had already solved in her head and was now waiting for everyone else to catch up. “A bullet doesn’t care if you’re a knight, a mercenary, a Judgement Warrior, or a true believer. It kills everyone the same way. And a factory produces thousands of bullets a day. A blacksmith with ten apprentices can make ten suits of armor and thirty swords in a year. One factory produces in a single day what would take that blacksmith’s entire year for swords — and then the same amount the next day, and the day after.”
Calvin opened his mouth. No words arranged themselves.
“After they’ve killed the knights with swords, the extra bullets go to citizens learning to hold a rifle. One month of training makes a soldier. Three months makes a soldier who won’t break under fire.” She set down her quill. “His Majesty will win as long as the First Army holds the defensive line. By the time the church sends a new army, Neverwinter will have trained another and re-equipped it. But the Judgement Army can’t learn to use a sword in three months. They’ve been doing it their whole lives and they’re still slower than bullets.”
The duke sat with that for a long moment. “Well,” he said finally. “I’ll believe you.” He refilled his tea. “But then — if you think so highly of him — why have you never replied to my letters? I wrote to you about marrying him.”
Chapter 606: Father and Daughter
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Edith had already waited in the hall when Duke Calvin walked into the Castle of Jadeforest.
“My dear daughter…”
She interrupted him ruthlessly. “Why are you so late? I wrote to you a month ago, telling you to cooperate with the First Army in assembling and war preparation. We need to meet all their requirements as much as we can.”
“Yes, I notified Earl Haier in Deepvalley Town immediately, and then sent our butler to supervise the matter. Isn’t it enough?” the duke said with his open arms poised in mid-air.
“Of course,” folding her arms across her chest, Edith said disagreeably, “it can show our sincerity better if you come here in person. Besides, the war against the church is very important. We can’t take it more seriously.”
“But after all it’s Earl Haier’s domain…”
“Come on father, the nobles are going to disappear, and you’re still fussy about the issues of domains and feudatory. I thought you’ll be more decisive after the rebellion of Hawes and Lista families.”
Duke Calvin was embarrassed and said, “I thought my daughter would at least give me a hug and say she missed me, instead of talking about the business before we sit down.”
“Really?” Edith laughed. “So you didn’t lose your temper in the study, calling me a bastard, and said I was an ungrateful bastard who bit the hand
that fed her. If I’m right, you must want to smash something but stopped because it’s too expensive.”
The duke choked. “I…”
“Damn it, who told her?” thought the duke.
Before he figured out how to respond, Edith had already walked toward him and wrapped around him with her arms. “Welcome to Deepvalley Town, father. Satisfied?”
His anger dissipated instantly. A mixed feeling struck him when he stroked his daughter’s hair.
Sometimes he just did not know how Edith became such a talented, beautiful lady today. She was his first wife’s daughter, but Edith’s personality was quite different from her biological mother’s and his. He almost doubted if Edith was his own daughter if it was not the resemblance she bore to his late wife.
When they hugged, however, the duke again felt that they were related by blood. She was still the Pearl of the Northern Region who was raised by himself.
After a while, Edith dreadfully pushed him away, saying, “You stink. I suggest you should go to get a shower first. I bring some scented soaps from City of Neverwinter. Try one. It’s better than cassias.”
“There’s no hurry about that.” Calvin looked around. “Right, where’s Earl Haier. Why didn’t he greet me in the hall?”
“I told him to go back to his mansion in the suburb.”
“What?” The duke looked at his daughter in shock.
Edith shrugged and said, “He cares nothing about His Majesty’s will or your orders. If I didn’t arrive there in time, he might have pissed the advanced troops off. Not everyone can see clearly their present situation. Some of them
may not even have the nerve to open their eyes or minds. For them, I won’t waste a second. The wiser option is to drive him away.”
“But he just handed over the castle and towns obediently?”
“Of course not, but I have the First Army.” She smiled. “And it conquered King’s City in one day, so what do you think a dozen of knights can do about them?”
“I don’t know whether it’s an illusion or not, Edith has changed a lot in the last two months. Her smile is more sincere, not the kind of the noble’s fake smile which she puts on in public. And there’s a glow in her eyes, which I haven’t seen it for many years since she grew up,” Calvin thought.
He realized that she loved her life now. At least she was happier here than in the Northern Region.
The change made him a little envious, accompanied with complicated feelings.
Maybe just like what his daughter had said, they did lose some of their rights after being deprived of their status as nobles, but it also freed them from their territories.
Now there was a great future in front of her. She could go to places other than the Northern Region and experience a different life.
After returning to the study, Calvin drank up two cups of black tea and let out his breath. “So now we should stay here and wait for His Majesty?”
Edith opened her notebook and said, “Not exactly, there’s a lot we need to do. We need to deliver all the materials, such as food, horses, fabrics, herbs and all other necessities for the war to Deepvalley Town. And I received a new ciphered letter from His Majesty. He said the iron ingots and copper ingots have to be delivered here too. The more, the better.”
“So he wants to loot the whole Northern Region,” the Duke thought secretively. “Do you really believe His Majesty Roland can beat the
church?”
“He may not be able to attack Holy City of Hermes and eradicate the church totally. But it’s not a big deal for him to stop the church entering the kingdom from Coldwind Ridge.” She paused for a while. “What His Majesty needs most is time now.”
“Time?”
“You haven’t seen his factory, so you don’t understand how powerful City of Neverwinter is,” Edith looked at her father and said, “and no matter who you are, a knight, a mercenary, the Judgement Army or a fervent believer, everybody shows no difference in front of bullets. Factories keep producing these bullets. Besides, it only takes a few minutes to teach a citizen how to use firearms and bullets to kill enemies. After one month’s training, they can become a soldier and go to the battlefield to kill enemies. And three months, they’ll become the indestructible First Army.”
“What… is your point?”
“Father, the production speed of bullets is much faster than the growth rate of human beings. It’s different from swords and armors. A blacksmith with ten apprentices can make ten suits of armors, 30 swords in one year. But one factory can produce thousands of bullets in one day. After killing the knights armed with swords, they can give the extra bullets to those who want to be a knight. The next day, these bullets can be sent to citizens; One month later, the amounts of the bullets can turn this city into a ghost town.
Calvin opened his mouth but did not know what to say.
“It’s normal that you don’t believe me. After all, these things may sound a little absurd. But I saw how they deal with their enemies with my own eyes when I participated in the First Army’s Tooth Extraction Campaign,” Edith said slowly, “so His Majesty will win sooner or later as long as the First Army can hold the defensive line. Three months later, City of Neverwinter will train a new army and produce the weapons they need. But the new Judgement Army may not be able to learn how to hold their sword in such a short time.”
“…” After a little while of silence, the duke opened his hands and said, “Well, I’ll believe what you said. But why do you not reply to my letters if you have such a good view towards His Majesty? I mean… to marry him.”