"Sister, are you... going to some place far away?" Cole Kant"s voice could be heard from behind Edith.
She continued sorting out her clothes without turning her head back to her brother. "Not very far away. I"ll just hang around somewhere in the Western Region."
He came to her side and asked again, "How long will it take?"
"I don"t know."
Cole started to look at the clothes piled on his sister"s bed. "You didn"t pick any formal dress, girdle or your favorite corset... Aren"t you going to visit some n.o.bles or attend banquets?"
Edith gave him a quick glance. "You"ve got stronger observation power now, but you don"t always have to tell the others everything you notice."
The boy winced at once and said, "You were the one who taught me how to improve my observation ability."
"Now I"ll teach you another thing. When you"re talking to a woman, remember to remain graceful all the time and choose your words carefully, understand?"
"But you"re my sister..."
"If I wasn"t, you would suffer a lot."
Cole shuddered and said, "I, I see."
"Good." Edith shrugged. "How do you feel working in City Hall?"
"It"s alright... Just like you instructed, I"ve never revealed my ident.i.ty as a n.o.ble. All I do there is just writing and recording, which are easy for me. But I really don"t understand..." He hesitated. "Why didn"t you put me in your department?"
Since Cole Kant had watched the artillery drill, he had given up the idea of returning to the City of Evernight. He and Edith had also moved from the Foreign Affairs Building to a s.p.a.cious house near the lord"s castle. Now they were official residents of Neverwinter. As a n.o.ble who had received a traditional education, Cole had found a job easily in City Hall. Including the hundred or so scholars and servants from the Northern Region, Edith managed to gain a certain status there.
These people would not stay here forever, but she knew that His Majesty would never reject more people from the Northern Region coming to learn the new system. The young king was thirsty for talents, and now the Northern Region was the only one that was willingly providing him with talented people. As long as her father kept on sending new people here, she would always keep her status in the new system of the king.
Edith smiled and answered Cole, "Because it"s not necessary and it may cause us troubles. The City Hall Director always keeps an eye on me. If I put you in my department and he manages to find out your mistakes, I"ll be faced with a dilemma. If we ruin the Kant family"s reputation, it"ll influence His Majesty"s opinion of me." She paused for a moment and continued. "Even if we don"t get along with each other, the others will still think of us as a whole as we share a common surname. So no matter what you do in the future, you"ve got to remember you represent the whole family, not just yourself."
The boy looked down with a contemplative expression on his face. Edith did not know how much he could understand, but she had said all there was to be said about this matter. Even when the feudal aristocratic order was totally replaced by Roland"s new system, their family reputation would still have a long-term influence on them and might even draw more attention to them in the short run.
Their common surname had replaced their n.o.ble ident.i.ties to become the most important thing for them now, just like the way the moon became the brightest thing in the sky after the sunset.
After quite a long while, he nodded and said, "I"ll be careful."
Their father had said that Cole was timid, irresolute and weak, therefore not a suitable heir for the Kant Family. He was worried that this son would not be strong enough to lead his knights to guard the domain as a lord, and if it was wartime, his style would easily put him in an invidious position.
Edith knew another point that the duke had never mentioned.
Cole Kant took after his father in personality.
If Timothy had never planned to ally with some less powerful n.o.ble in the Northern Region to break the existing order there, the Kant family would not have been able to get where they were today.
Now that they were no long a lesser n.o.ble family in some remote place of the Northern Region, their father thought a more capable child, Edith, was a better successor and thus had great expectations of her.
However, Edith was clear that Cole"s shortcomings were not going to hold him back in Neverwinter. On the contrary, being prudent, introverted and a fast learner meant that he would adapt well to the job in City Hall.
The moment she had known that a group of common people with snow powder weapons in hands had captured Timothy"s city in merely one day, she had realized that personal strength and courage were not that important as before. This was also why she had insisted on keeping her brother in Neverwinter to learn new things.
Cole casually picked up a long dress and lifted it in front of him, acting as if he were checking whether it fitted him or not. He asked, "Oh, sister. Where"re you going indeed? I don"t want to stay in such a large house alone. I"ll get bored."
"But it was you who asked me to buy a big house. It"s five hundred gold royals, which is quite expensive even for me. Now you think it"s too big?" Edith asked him in a cold voice.
The boy was startled and almost dropped the dress on the ground. "No... no... I"m very satisfied with this house."
"Wait until next summer. Our little brother will come here to keep you company." She glanced at him and found that the dress seemed to suit him well. "As for where I"m going, it"s a secret of Neverwinter, but it"s not something I can"t tell you. According to the old rules, you have to pay a price for this."
Cole hesitated, as he was familiar with this little game and had been tricked into doing many silly things this way. However, in the end, his uncontrollable curiosity still took over his fear. He said to Edith, "I want to know."
She smiled and said, "I"ll go to the Great Snow Mountain of the Western Region with some soldiers from the First Army."
He was surprised and asked, "You mean the source of the Redwater River? Is there anything special?"
"Some unknown demonic hybrid monsters or alien species. We"ll probably meet anything there." Edith said and then continued to describe the Taquila witches she had seen during the meeting. "Now we"ve entered into an alliance with those tentacle monsters. I can"t wait to witness our monster allies fighting against the monster enemies."
Cole listened with his mouth agape and then stuttered, "Wait... wait... Aren"t you afraid of those things? And His Majesty made a deal with some monsters? Even the demons don"t look that scary, do they?"
"So?" She threw up her hands and said. Not seeming to care much about her brother"s worries, she continued to ask, "Isn"t it a good thing for us?"
He could not believe what he had heard and asked, "A good thing? Sister, are you crazy?"
"What?"
"No, I mean..."
Edith sighed and explained, "Do you remember what we want to achieve by serving the king here?"
Cole replied with great care, "To achieve... greater power?"
She looked at him with s.h.i.+ning eyes and said, "Not exactly, but at least it"s not wrong. Greater power comes from a bigger domain and a larger population. If the ancient witches, some alien species and even the demons all rush to the king"s side, the power of this kingdom will extend from the human world to some alien lands. Do you understand?"
He gasped at what she had said.
She continued and said, "A lesser n.o.ble who owns just a village can easily remember the names of all his subjects, but a lord of a city can never do that. The diversity of the people in a domain indicates how vast the domain is... and I remember no king had ruled over any alien species in the history. This is the new opportunity our family wants to seek. We left the remote and backward domain for this, so why are you worried about it?"
Hearing this, Cole stood at the place for quite a long while before he could open his mouth and said, "But..."
Edith interrupted. "But they"re not our kind. That"s what you want to say, right?" She twitched her mouth and continued. "As long as His Majesty is still at the helm, he will be able to do whatever he wants with those alien creatures."
Her words made him sense a chill in this warm room.
"Now, it"s time for you to pay back." With her eyes squinted, Pearl of the Northern Region pointed at the long dress and said with an affected drawl. "Put it on and let me have a look."