Blood Holy Scripture: True Ancestor Charlotte de Castel
Chapter 198: -16- Castel Domain_2

Chapter 198: -16- Castel Domain_2

"Count, you’ve had a tiresome journey. The Valley Family has already prepared a dinner. Please allow me to welcome you on behalf of the subjects of Barron Valley Domain."

Angus clearly did not enjoy social interactions.

When he invited Charlotte to the banquet in Valley City, his expression was serious and rigid, as if he were reading from a script, identical to the records found in the archives of the Castel study.

Charlotte did not respond directly to Baron Angus’s invitation but instead looked behind him:

"Is it only your Valley Family who has come?"

"Count, the Barron Valley Domain is a gateway from Violet Forest to Castel Domain and is relatively close. We received the news earlier. Other families are farther away and might not know yet."

"We knew you were traveling north through this route, so we came," Angus said solemnly.

Charlotte: ...

Was that answer too straightforward?

Shouldn’t this be the time to perform well in front of the Lord and by the way, belittle those nobles who didn’t show up?

Charlotte gave the Baron an odd look, certain now that he was an honest man.

As for the other nobles not coming, she didn’t believe his reason at all.

Fooling an honest man, with so many family representatives in the convoy, Charlotte didn’t believe that no one sent a message before entering Violet Forest.

In the Transcendent World where magic exists, it’s quite convenient to use magic communication at the stations of the Magic Associations in cities.

However, no one coming to meet her was also normal.

This wasn’t a southern tour of the emperor from the Heavenly Dynasty, even being a count, the centralization in the Castel Domain wasn’t so high, the Lord’s control over his vassals wasn’t that strong.

This was a matter of come if you like, go if you don’t, no one is forced.

Besides, Charlotte had just ascended to her position, possessing little authority.

"Lord Angus, I appreciate your invitation very much, but... I’ve been delayed too much on this journey, and I do not plan to attend any banquets before I return to North Port."

Charlotte said gently.

Indeed, no more banquets.

Long before she entered Castel Domain, Charlotte had already decided that she would not attend any nobles’ invitations before she got back to North Port, the main city of Castel.

Actually, whether people came to meet her after entering the territory was irrelevant.

Every time the Bold Duke returned from abroad, not all the nobles flocked to the Duke Mansion like lackeys; he was a Lord, not a father.

But judging from the envoys sent by various families to her coming of age and ascension ceremonies from all over the Count’s Territory, these families indeed did not regard her very highly.

You have to know, Casimodo had sent messages to all the families in the territory.

And not for the first time, after the Blood Demon incident at Castel Manor, he had once summoned the nobles of the territory to come and "protect" him.

Of course, no one moved, and the response given was that the mage tower of the Magic Association in the territory was broken.

Charlotte could almost foresee continuing to attend various banquets within the territory, probably facing one act after another of false pretenses meant to humor a child.

Being disregarded meant being ignored, which implied disrespect and underestimation, entailing evasions and delusions, breeding ambitions, and so forth...

Charlotte was tired of these, having seen plenty of scheming at various banquets along the way, knowing the nobles’ best skill was pretense.

If possible, before returning to the main city, she did not want to enter any noble’s main stage, be in an environment constructed by others, receiving the first impression the others wanted to give her.

Even though the Castel Family archives allowed her to have some preliminary understanding of the nobles of the territory, the first impression was still very important, and the wrong first impression could easily lead to misjudgments.

She wanted to see what the nobles’ attitudes towards her really were, and also what these nobles were actually like.

She wanted to see, if she did not seek them out, how many would come to visit her.

Of course, the Valley Family might really want to invite her.

But since she had decided not to attend any nobles’ banquets, Charlotte naturally could not exempt this one.

Charlotte’s refusal clearly caught the middle-aged knight off guard.

He paused for a moment, clearly unsure of how to respond, scratched his head, then said in a deep voice,

"Very well, then, I shall serve as a guard and escort you to North Port together with Lord Sharon."

Charlotte looked at the middle-aged knight unexpectedly, now believing that he truly was loyal.

"Then I appreciate your effort, Lord Angus."

She displayed a radiant smile and spoke gently.

The bright smile clearly stunned Baron Angus for a moment. A smile full of charm and beauty always had great impact, even causing the usually reserved middle-aged knight to lose his composure momentarily.

But he quickly recovered and bowed his head respectfully.

Afterward, the Baron Knight mounted his horse again and, along with Baron Sharon, took position at the front of Charlotte’s carriage.

One on the left and one on the right, like two guardian deities.

"The Valley Family... At my coming of age ceremony, it was Baron Angus’s brother who came as the envoy, right?"

Charlotte lowered the curtain and asked.

"Yes."

Opposite her, Sherry was pouring a glass of milk for her while responding.

Charlotte nodded slightly.

Having the family head’s brother attend her coming-of-age ceremony was already considered high regard among all the noble family envoys who visited.

Baron Angus’s cavalry joined the Castel caravan, and Charlotte resumed her journey.

This time, the caravan did not take a detour to Valley City in the northeast but instead followed the main road of Count Territory straight north.

The merchant groups that had finally reached their destinations also bid farewell to the Castel family caravan, and their protection fees netted Charlotte nearly two thousand gold tanas in spending money.

Without the merchant groups accompanying them, the Castel caravan traveled even faster. According to Baron Angus, they would arrive in just three days.

Count Castel Territory was very large, extremely so.

As Charlotte knew, it was about a third the size of the Bold Duchy. The officially recorded area was around 120,000 square kilometers.

Looking at the map, the entire duchy was roughly shaped like an obtuse triangle with a 120-degree angle, with the obtuse side facing northeast. Its northern side faced the Star Moon Strait, where the capital, North Port, of the Castel Territory was located.

It was worth mentioning that the population of the Count Territory was said to be over five million.

When Charlotte first learned these figures, she could not help but be amazed. Truthfully speaking, this scale was entirely comparable to a duchy, even in a context similar to Blue Star where it would carry significant weight.

Of course, the Mireya World possessed transcendent powers, and administrative divisions were clearly much larger than in similar historical contexts on Blue Star. For instance, the population of the New Moon Kingdom was said to be eighty or ninety million.

But even so, Castel Territory was indisputably among the great nobles, and even if separated from Bold Duchy and placed within New Moon Kingdom, it was still a major power.

As the caravan headed north, more towns appeared along the way, and the roads became more populated.

The subjects of Castel Territory were evidently wealthier— even the peasants dressed similarly to the residents of the Outer City District of Bold City. Charlotte knew that in the countryside of Bold, the peasant clothing she saw was hardly distinguishable from that of beggars.

However, Charlotte was surprised to see that the pedestrians on the road changed expressions upon seeing the Castel family caravan. They stopped their work and either made way to the sides or moved away entirely, watching the caravan bearing the Castel Family Emblem with a complex and even hostile gaze.

"Why are they looking at us like that?"

Charlotte furrowed her brows, lifting the curtain and looking quizzically towards Baron Angus riding outside.

Baron Angus showed a moment of hesitation.

Seeing his expression, Charlotte felt a twinge in her heart.

"It’s okay, if there’s anything, just tell me."

She said.

Baron Angus hesitated for a moment, then spoke gravely,

"Count, actually... there have been some unfavorable rumors circulating in Count Territory recently..."

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