Camellia camellia

After the first snow of the year, the good weather is gone forever.

Due to geographical reasons, Thalia has an average of three days of snow and three days of rain every week, and the remaining day is also dark and dark without seeing the sun.This made Camelia, who was used to living in the Mirror Lake Manor, feel very bad, and even planned to leave for Brunstown in the south for a short stay.But because of the concern in my heart, I can't move a step, I can only stay here, hoping that her sun will reappear, push away the dark clouds, and dry the wet world that she has already fallen into.

As the lord of the land and the heir to the ruling power of Sicily, she couldn't get away from the busy official duties every day.Only every Sunday morning can let her mind relax, and before lunch, she can guarantee that she will not be annoyed by the chores of reporting back and forth.As her first personal butler, Katie actually has more complicated people to contact. Her task is to filter Camelia's daily schedule and the people she wants to meet, but this butler seems to be a little different , she seems to enjoy her work, she has never been seen to complain, and she has never had anything to get angry about.

Arava's servants seem to have developed a habit of exchanging with each other about the Master Steward's schedule for today before they get together to chew their tongues, and the Master Steward frowned on who and what happened.

Due to traditional reasons in Arava, although there is only one master to serve, the number of servants exceeds a hundred.

Camelia is well aware of this, but after all, because of "them", she has no chance to do something about it. In fact, she has long thought about reducing it, but she has nothing to do about it.In fact, it was because she couldn't do anything.The ancestors of Camellia had quite a lot of experience in how to run a manor, and the staffing of each place was perfect and impeccable, except that every vacant post could be filled immediately by someone if there was an accident anytime, anywhere, for the city of Chantalia As far as the Alava Palace with nearly 1/5 of the land is concerned, in addition to some self-sufficient products, only a few hundred Audikes can be invested every year to maintain the entire manor.

Such a system is widely used in all the estates of the Camellia family.To a certain extent, it has lightened the burden of the most important part of the economy for each master, but a more severe test is still ahead, that is, the binding force on the servants, how to manage these people is what Camelia really need to face.Although Arava has its own training system, the only person who holds the key in the end is Camelia herself.It's like a sword hanging above the head, if you want to move, you have to be patient and handle it with caution.

Due to the early death of her father, Camelia was young and did not learn the knowledge she should have from her predecessors.So it is not easy for her to get rid of "them" and support her until now.If it wasn't for this strong temper, maybe under the constraints of "them", she should live more comfortably than now.But after all, Camelia is not such a person who is better than An Yi, is she?

It was another rainy Sunday, and the car had just turned around the corner of Totas Street. Camelia, who was dozing in the car with her eyes closed, was shaken awake eagerly by Katie.She looked in the direction of the butler's finger, and a thin figure covered by a black cloak flashed past her sight.Although Camelia couldn't see clearly, she could feel her heart beating violently in her chest.Could it be... her?

No, it's impossible. If that person was her, why would she choose to avoid it?She was extremely firm in her belief that her lover would be eager to return to this place of rendezvous after finishing everything.But maybe something is wrong?Impossible, impossible.

Camelia's thoughts were a little confused.She let Katie stop the car, opened the door and chased after her.The cold wind rushed in, and she suddenly felt cold, and her brain, which seemed to be frozen just now, began to turn again.She got up and slowly got out of the car with a ruby-studded cane. She called Katie's name and waved her hand to signal that she didn't need to chase after her.

"Mirgatila has her own ideas. If it's her, she has her own considerations if she doesn't come to see me. Even if I'm anxious, it's useless. If she doesn't want to tell me, then I won't ask. I'll just wait for her If you are willing to talk to me, then I will listen carefully. Besides, what you saw just now may not be her. "

Katie thought for a while and nodded. "But I'm still very worried about Madam. If she really needs help, maybe we can also be her help."

"She is not a stubborn person. Mirjatila is very realistic. If she decides on one thing, she will do whatever it takes to achieve her goal. Just like her sword, she does not hesitate in every cut. I am attracted by her Attracted by her, she is too bright, even if she is compared with the morning star, it will not hide her brilliance with determination." Camelia put her hand on Katie's wrist, and a relieved smile appeared on the corner of her mouth meaning. "So, she will definitely come back to me, because that's who she is."

For the next few weeks, Katie watched in silence.Camelia didn't seem to care, and continued her work step by step.It has to be said that winter is the most difficult season for the entire Dominica. After this long winter, many mountain people who live on hunting have to become refugees because they did not store enough food. They had nothing, and they wandered around looking for small animals to eat and eaves that could withstand the severe cold.Of course, an experienced hunter will not be troubled by this. They will always prepare a house with a stove and bacon in advance. Even in the less fortunate season, they will use the money from the previous sale of furs. Come in exchange for food.The most troublesome problem now is those who are forced to live in the mountains and depend on the sky. They may be escaped slaves or persecuted people who cannot register in the village with normal status to receive subsidized rations.Fortunately, this autumn is a harvest season.She doesn't need to worry too much about the mountain people in Sicily, because each village still has a stock of wealth collected from them. Although each person can't share much, they will never starve to death.

As for those outsiders, she knew that she couldn't solve these problems. As the lord, she had to follow the rules of the game and catch those poor people who escaped from other territories and send them back.

I don't know how many people will die this winter. In Dominica, it is like this every winter, following the rules of nature.If the prey is not caught, and the energy cannot be stored to enter a deep hibernation, then only white death greets him.The heavy snow will bury everything, erasing memories and flesh from this world, and returning to a piece of pure white.

So it is almost the end of the year, and all the lords and ministers will gather in Parramatta on New Year's Day.And Thalia's celebration is arranged on the eve of the second prayer day, and there are too many things for her to worry about now.The more she gets to the end of the year, the heavier her body feels. It seems that three or four years ago, she could insist on sleeping only two or three hours a day, but now, her body is really not as good as before.Fortunately, the few big bosses around me are still in good health, and the tasks assigned to them will be completed cleanly, and they have also shared a lot of government affairs.Otherwise, even if Camelia had ten girls, she would not be busy.

The result of all this is actually the clearest in her heart. Nowadays, internal and external affairs, no matter how big or small, need her to personally intervene. It's not that she doesn't believe in the operation mechanism of her ancestors' generous gifts, but she feels that this is her responsibility. The resulting mistrust led to the current situation.Whether it is Sicily, Thalia or even the Arava Palace, she enjoys such rights, but she also has to bear the same weight of responsibility.If everything goes according to the old system, she needs someone to stand by her shoulders. If she lets go of external affairs, then Thalia really needs a lady to be responsible for internal affairs, so that she can operate flawlessly.But now these two personnel belonging to different branches are all under her command, even the loyal housekeeper who has followed around all the year round has noticed the seriousness of the situation.

Katie was older than Camelia, and she had experienced the regular work of the Duke and Duchess up close when she was brought to Arava by Mrs. Aryan.

"Kai, are you ready for the New Year's gift for my king?"

"It has been arranged. I will leave for Wangcheng on the [-]th of next month. I will go to check it in person on the [-]th. Please rest assured."

"I've worked hard for you during this time. After Thalia's celebration is over, let the previous substitute call..."

"Scott, master."

"Yeah." Camelia nodded, still buried in the scroll, the pen in her hand didn't stop. "Let Scott stand for you for a while and do what you want. I heard from Irina that you seem to have something on your mind recently, so just say what you need me to do."

"Okay, I will hand over the work to Scott." After thinking for a while, she stopped and turned to Camelia, still holding a stack of documents to be handed in. "I hope to get a letterhead for customs clearance to Midgard. The City of Twin Towers is my birthplace. There are some old friends there who haven't seen them for a long time. I want to visit them."

"Okay, I will write a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You can pick up the letter after you arrive in the capital. By the way, take my hand letter to John Sriley to get a thousand gold quarks. I will include the signed check in the letter." Send it over, you can use it on the road."

Quark is the common currency of Midgard. One thousand quarks can be worth 1 gold quark. According to the exchange rate of 1:1.3, these 1000 gold quarks are not a small amount, enough to be sold in St. Kearney, the capital of Midgard. Tom bought a house and added some servants.Katie lowered her eyebrows and said, "I'll be back as soon as I'm done."

"Yeah. Bring me Finn's construction drawings and budget later, as well as Mr. Vincent's approval after reading it. If you don't hurry up and finalize the deal before the price of copper rises, I'm afraid the project will be difficult to proceed." gone."

Katie sent the materials in her hand to the distribution room according to her instructions, and then went to the file room to pick up what Camelia wanted.When passing by the library, she accidentally saw Oliveira standing in front of the blackboard and writing something hastily, and sitting in front of him were a few familiar faces, that is, several key people who still lived in Arava. Thoughtful.Although she was far away, it was obvious that the atmosphere inside was anxious and silent.It was like a coagulated air, which made people feel extremely uncomfortable.She thought for a while, and left there decisively.

As the person who entrusted the ring of power to the previous Grand Duke Camellia, she had no reason to doubt his intentions.