Chapter 42 It's time to change boyfriends. He stared at me intently, his light blue eyes...
At the same time, Bourne, covered in blood, stumbled into the tower and knelt before Bernard, who was directing the catapults. "Master..." Bourne quickly stopped, pulling out a letter. "This is a secret report that just arrived. Rosie's men just found Hoya's body in the basement. She's been dead for a long time. So who came to our castle?"
Bernard's expression changed drastically. Several loud explosions suddenly echoed in the sky. Dozens of shattered farmland shot skyward, and a huge black bird flew overhead. Bourne cried out in alarm…
Bernard narrowed his eyes, snatched a catapult, and quickly operated it. With a loud bang, dozens of stones were launched accurately at the bird. Although the bird reacted extremely quickly, it was still hit on half of its body. Countless feathers, stained with blood, fell like rain, and more than a dozen shattered farmlands crashed back to the ground.
The bird's entire body fell in a straight line, and it was about to crash to the ground when it flapped its wings dozens of times with all its might, quickly regaining its balance and soaring into the sky again.
This time, the stone failed to hit it. It skillfully swayed left and right, dodging all attacks.
But the farmland it landed on could never be reclaimed; it could only fly away quickly, carrying with it regret and the remaining farmland...
When I woke up, I was already lying on the lord's large, soft bed.
"Don't move, you have a fever." Bernard put the ice pack that had slid off my forehead back down.
"How did I get here?" My head was throbbing.
“You fainted in the underground farmland and were carried back,” Bernard said succinctly. “And when you fainted, I fainted too, so we switched places again.”
"Huh?" I touched my face and upper body in surprise, and it really was back.
By the way, the voice he just spoke was his too, but I didn't realize it because I had just woken up.
Bernard said with a half-smile, "I've noticed that you switch back every time you get emotional."
Yes, last time I cried so hard in my dream that I woke up, and this time... I closed my eyes, "Why aren't you scolding me?"
"Does scolding you mean I can take back the farmland?" Bernard sighed.
I was slightly surprised. When did he become so nice? He's usually either mean to me or scolds me.
"Rest for a while, and let your fever break soon." He got up and left, pulling the bed curtains down for me.
I was so shocked that I couldn't fall asleep again.
Why is he suddenly being so nice to me?
Could it be that she's fallen in love with me? But how could that be?
Upper-class relationships are all about weighing gains and losses; they look down on people like me.
I am not underestimating myself, but simply stating the facts.
The day after my fever subsided, I went to the tower where I had directed the catapults. As far as the eye could see, everything was white. The snow had fallen even heavier these past few days, burying corpses and blood everywhere. There weren't enough people; the corpses hadn't been completely cleared, and the shapes of the snowdrifts showed the gruesome nature of the deaths. Wisps of black smoke still rose from the castle—the remnants of the burning of zombies.
That day, the zombie army repelled the orc mercenaries. Bernard ordered his men to scatter all the grass from the latrine onto the fallen guards, maids, and servants, while simultaneously chanting incantations to prevent the transformed zombies from harming their own kind. He then directed his generals to deliberately guide the zombies to bite the remaining corpses, turning them into zombies themselves, ultimately forming a massive zombie army.
The zombies, fearless of death, injury, and exhaustion, quickly routed the orc mercenaries. Countless orc mercenaries were bitten and turned into zombies, while the zombies simultaneously slaughtered the surviving orc mercenaries and the zombies in the castle. After the intense melee, a small group of surviving orc mercenaries fled in disarray. The large horde of zombies remaining on the battlefield were detonated under Bernard's command—Bernard sent men on flying birds to drop fireballs from the sky, causing massive explosions. Countless screams erupted, and flames soared into the sky… The fire burned for a day and a night without being extinguished, the wails seemingly echoing endlessly.
Amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and countless withered bones, they finally managed to preserve this territory.
My reputation in the castle had clearly risen; wherever I went, people would give way and bow. Everyone knew that the chief mistress had performed exceptionally well this time—commanding the catapults, directing the bombing of zombies, and if the general hadn't stopped her from going to the battlefield, she was no ordinary woman.
Just as I was about to go back to my room, I suddenly remembered someone, so I went to the dungeon to see Aifu.
Rosie, along with some of her illegitimate children, attacked me, and my newlywed wife was naturally thrown into jail.
“Lady Lana,” the dirty-looking Eve cried as she rushed to the fence when she saw me, “I am innocent. I really didn’t know about Lord Roshi’s attack.”
She saw me as her lifeline, knowing that her lord husband would no longer care about her.
“I know,” I said. How could a woman like her know anything about men? If I didn’t often switch into men, Bernard wouldn’t have told me about men.
"Please, Lord, help me. Please let me go. I'll be your maid."
“Ave, do you know Hoya’s true identity?” I asked her gently.
As Hoya's sister, Aifu should know something about Hoya, even if they were separated since childhood. How could she not have noticed that Hoya had been replaced?
Eve hesitated for a moment, bit her lower lip, and said, "I had some doubts, but I didn't think much of it. The castle is very strictly managed; it's difficult for even a stranger to sneak in, let alone an imposter."
"What aspects do you suspect?" I asked.
“My sister is aloof and doesn’t like to talk, but…” Eve hesitated for a moment before saying, “She’s naturally lustful and can’t live a day without it. When Lord Roshi isn’t around, she’ll seek pleasure with other women, and Lord Roshi turns a blind eye when they’re women. But three days before I left for your place, she suddenly changed. She became particularly interested in flowers and plants, and even ignored Lord Roshi, who was out all night. And in the past, she never missed Lord Roshi when he was having fun with other women.”
I secretly marveled; the people here seemed to particularly enjoy being in groups… and the women didn't seem to be jealous of each other. Of course, perhaps women simply didn't have the right to be jealous.
"Is that what made you realize Hoya's unusual nature?" I asked.
"And then there's..." Eve racked her brains, seemingly trying her best to please me, "She suddenly started keeping crows, which she had never paid attention to before. I asked her why she kept crows, and she said that crows can communicate with spirits and maybe they can help with something someday. I asked what kind of spirits they can communicate with, and she said that crows can sometimes lift heavy objects. I didn't understand, and besides, keeping birds isn't a big deal, so I didn't ask any more questions."
I suddenly remembered the farmland that blotted out the sky that day. She couldn't have taken it back by herself; only with the help of outsiders could she have done so.
Damn, why didn't I think of that back then? Farmland can't fly for very long. If we had given it our all, we could have caught up with it all. But at the time, we were besieged by bastards and half-orc mercenaries, so we couldn't afford to worry about anything else.
I wanted to cry but couldn't. Is this really fate?
The fake Hoya must have foreseen this, which is why he dared to seek fortune in such a perilous situation.
Before leaving, I comforted Aifu again and walked out of the dungeon.
In the garden, the cold wind was biting, making my hair and cloak flutter.
The snowflakes seem to be heavier than they were a few days ago; I wonder how many people are suffering.
Because of my stupidity, farmland was lost, and more people began to go hungry.
I feel deeply guilty.
“Lady Lanna,” Lady Jane’s voice sounded behind me, “you’re here. The lord is waiting for you for dinner.”
"Why are you waiting for me?" I turned around.
Mrs. Jane remained silent. I sighed and headed towards the stairs inside the tower.
After walking through the snowy corridor and into the warm restaurant, I was greeted by Bernard's displeased gaze. "Where have you been?"
"The tower, and the dungeon."
“What are you going to those places for? Be careful you don’t catch a fever again.” He frowned. “Don’t worry about Aifu, I’ll handle it.”
I hummed in agreement. After two maids helped me remove my snow-covered cloak, I sat down at the dining table. "You don't need to wait for me to eat anymore."
"Oh?" Bernard laughed. "Why are you throwing a tantrum at me?"
I said seriously, "I'm serious. I won't be involved in your power center, and I don't need any special favors."
"What's wrong with you?" Bernard waved away the two maids and walked up to me.
“I need some peace and quiet,” I said. “Too much has happened.”
Bernard tried to stroke my face, but I slapped his hand away. His expression darkened. "What's wrong with you?"
“Don’t really treat me like your mistress,” I stared at him. “I have a boyfriend.”
A strange look crossed Bernard's face. "Oh, who?"
“You don’t need to know who he is,” I stood up. “I need to think about the natural disaster right now.”
I took a huge pile of materials from the Imperial Study, found an empty room, and prepared to study all night.
After two hours of looking around, just as he was scratching his head in frustration, the door opened, and Bernard and several maids carrying bedding walked in.
“Since you’re planning to sleep here tonight,” Bernard shrugged, noticing my surprised look, “you should at least make the bed.”
"Do you know how annoying you are right now?" I looked up from the documents, annoyed by the interruption.
The maids holding the bedding all gasped.
I was taken aback—why had I suddenly become so impatient with him? He was a lord, and I had been so blatantly disrespectful. Perhaps I had been a lord for too long and had forgotten that I was now a mistress.
He smiled slightly when he saw my expression.
Several maids hurriedly stepped forward to make the bed, finishing as quickly as possible before leaving.
He gazed at me intently, his light blue eyes clear as glass, radiating an indescribable brilliance.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, feeling a little intimidated.
"I think you should find a new boyfriend."
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 16:57:56 on December 3, 2020 and 16:19:01 on December 4, 2020!
Thank you to the little angel who watered me with nutrient solution: Ayu, I'll take care of you (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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