City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 198: Intoxicating Power

The gates of Blain Castle opened, and the carriage went inside; giving a view of the beautifully decorated castle.
 
That horrible paint job my brother did in the castle had vanished, and its place was a simple brown color. 
 
Which looked very good.
 
Click!
 
The carriage stopped, and a moment later; the door opened by my sister, with many familiar people behind.
 
There is the madam, whose smile frozen on her face, as she looked at me. She is trying to smile like the rest, but can’t seem to, and it is making her look strange.
 
“Welcome to Castle Blain, Lord Count,” said my sister as the Count got out, with me behind him.
 
“I am honored to be here, Lady Silver,” he replied with a smile.
 
The Count could be charming when he wanted to be, and he knows how to use it with surgical accuracy.
 
I followed with them, mostly staying silent.
 
However, I did look around at my relatives and some seemed genuinely shocked seeing me walking behind the Count or my rise. 
 
I made eye contact with a few like Uncle Thompson, Gerald, and his wife Selina.
 
I want to talk to them, but this time too, I won’t be able to talk to them much. 
 
Though I had asked them to let me host them; they will be staying with me for the night.
 
“He is waiting inside, my lord,” said Leila. 
 
Count just nodded and walked toward the room, with Major Jarvis and I following behind him with Mage Beaumont. 
 
“Count Darrow,” Ignatius greeted. “Lord Blackwell,” said Count and shook his hand before sitting across from him.
 
I and Major Jarvis sat on both sides of him; like the two people around Blackwell.
 
One is a middle-aged man I didn’t recognize, and the other is a man with green skin. Colonel. 
 
He had special permission to enter the territory of the empire, but it was restricted to the Nakar Baronies.
 
“The news is disturbing,” said Ignatius with a sigh. “It is Lord Blackwell and unless it showed the signs of becoming threatening, we should keep it quiet,” replied the Count.
 
“I completely, my lord,” he accepted.
 
“I have called scout teams from Mirador Hold for extra help. I hope you will aid on your end,” said the Count.
 
“Certainly, my lord.”
 
“A scout team is coming from Amberhold; I have also hired a mercenary scout,” he said, and a frown appeared on his face.
 
“Mercenaries are fickle; they have a hard time keeping their mouth shut,” said Count, with a clear displeasure in his voice, but it didn’t seem to affect Blackwell as the smile on his face remained unchanged.
 
“This one is trustful; I know him personally,” he replied, and Count's expression eased.
 
Fifteen minutes later, both nobles walked out of the room.
 
The ceremony started not long after, and I finally got to talk to some of my relatives when Count Darrow moved to participate in the ceremony.
 
He is not a lord of Nakar baronies; technically it was Prince Grelt, but he had given Count his authority. 
 
So, here, he will act at the behest of the prince.
 
“How was the journey?” I asked Gerald. “Great. The city had changed so much since I was here last time,” he said, with a faint hint of surprise.
 
The Greltheaven is growing rapidly; every week, thousands of new people coming into the city and even they are not enough.
 
Count had been forced to increase the quota of non-empire citizens to meet the needs of the city.
 
He didn’t like the immigrants, but there was no choice but to accept them. He also understood growth of the city is more important than anything else.
 
The faster the city grows; the more money he will earn. He wants to earn as much as possible before leaving when that day comes.
 
I also need to leverage this growth with my businesses, and I am doing that. I am going all in.
 
“Lady Leila Silver, from today you are Baroness Silver; I hope you will work for the betterment of your people and all the citizens of our great empire,” said the Count, as the priest handed her the scepter.
 
“I will,” she replied.
 
The ceremony ended a few minutes later, and the party started. I once again moved with Count Darrow, mingling with guests.
 
Rarely did I get a few minutes to talk to the people I wanted.
 
“What was that secret meeting about earlier?” asked Leila, as we got the chance to talk. She is asking about the meeting we held with Blackwell.
 
“Something I can’t tell you,” I replied directly.
 
I can’t tell her; it is very sensitive news, and I can’t risk it coming out. If it came to know, that I leaked it; it would vaporize all the trust I have built with Count.
 
That would be a grave loss.
 
“Will it affect me and my territory?” she asked, to which I nodded, after some thought.
 
“Thank you,” she said, and I nodded and walked away, feeling two sets of angry eyes on my back.
 
When I came, it was just madam. Now, even my Uncle Raymond had joined her.
 
Well, I don’t care. 
 
I have achieved something. He could never dream of and there was nothing he could do about it other than get jealous. Which he is, so much that he wasn’t able to control it.
 
Soon, the party ended, and I sat down in the carriage with Count Darrow.
 
…..
 
I watched the Count’s carriage disappear before I sat on my own and a moment later; it was moving toward the Nakar baronies.
 
I had accompanied Count Darrow to the Mirador Hold after we had attended the ascension ceremony of the new Baron Lockridge last night. 
 
We went to Mirador Hold directly, instead of going back to Radcliff castle.
 
The Count had inspected the work and held a meeting with Commander Dane about the disturbances in the extreme magic region before leaving for Greltheaven.
 
I should be able to reach the castle by the evening. 
 
Gerald and Selina were coming in the evening, and it would look bad. If I am not present, there to receive them.
 
I pushed those thoughts and looked at piles of stones and other materials by the road, every few hundred meters.
 
They have started building the road on this side too, and they are working fast. While Valentina had officially said, the road would be built by mid of next month, privately she said it would be finished by the end of this month.
 
She might be able to achieve, especially on this side, where it is all wastelands.
 
It is much easier to build the road in a flat wasteland than the forest and the hills.
 
Soon the carriage entered the forest, onto the paved road from the gravel road.
 
It feels amazing to ride the carriage through the forest, where trees on both sides and nothing but a sound of carriage.
 
Occasionally, there would be a sound of a bird or animal, but just that.
 
I stopped reading the book and enjoyed the silence. I wish the person sitting next to me would do the same and would have done it. 
 
If not for being engrossed in a thing I had brought for her, she would use every minute to study it.
 
I didn’t disturb her and enjoyed the serenity of the beautiful forest.
 
To be honest, I like living here very much. 
 
Especially the power; I have more power than any noble here, and I could do pretty much anything I want. Even Major Jarvis will have to follow the orders that he doesn’t want if I press him.
 
It is so intoxicating that I want to stay here and not return to Greltheaven.
 
I had proven myself valuable enough that the Count would let me stay if I wanted to. He wants me to stay here and hinted multiple times in the past two and a half days.
 
Intoxicating as it may be, but this power is false.
 
It is not my power. If the Count willed it, he could take it all away in an instant. I don’t want to cling to such a fickle thing.
 
I will do my job, learn as much as I can, and return to the Greltheaven to my business.
 
That is where the actual power is.
 
Finally, I reached the Castle and before time; I had plenty of time before they arrived.
 
So, I worked. 
 
The Count had gone, but the work was still there. Thankfully, this time, I didn’t have to do it all alone; the two people he had brought were good with experience in administration.
 
That is why I asked Lola to follow around them and learn as much as she could.
 
Those people are professionally trained in administrative duties. There are a lot of things they could teach her and me.
 
“They are here,” informed Zela, as she looked up from her spell book.
 
I nodded and walked out of the office, waiting for them. I didn’t have to wait for long before I saw their carriage coming toward the gate.
 
Soon, it entered through the gate and stopped before the guards opened the door and Gerald walked in and behind him, Selina.
 
“Welcome to Castle Radcliff,” I welcome.
 
“Remus, you don’t have to come down personally,” said Selina as she looked around.
 
“Of course, I have to,” I said as I hugged them before leading them inside.
 
“I have heard a lot about you. The things you have been able to achieve, in such a little time, seemed amazing,” said Gerald with his voice full of amazement.
 
“Most of it is exaggeration,” I replied as I led them to the parlor.
 
“So, how’s Namdar?” I asked as we sat. “It is good,” he replied before his expressions turned serious.
 
He didn’t say anything, but I felt his privacy skill activating. Selina had also activated her privacy skill before the ring on her finger lit up, activating the privacy spell.
 
I also activated Privacy and turned to Zela and Stone, both of whom, took a hint and walked out of the parlor.
 
“The house is thinking about shifting the headquarters to Namdar,” said Richard directly.
 
My expressions turned serious, but they were not enough to show the shock I was feeling. 
 
The house is even thinking about means it is a big thing. 
 
If it happens, means the House of Silver has decided to play the neutral in the coming conflict. Namdar is going to be neutral, Helena Salazar had already her position loud and clear.  
 
Shifting the business there is going to be a costly affair, but if a succession conflict occurs, we would be quite isolated from it in the safety of Namdar.
 
The House of Silver will survive and if we play our cards right, we might even recover the loss and even thrive during the conflict.
 
It also means other things, like the House Leaning toward Gerald as its next leader. Namdar is not the only powerful place in an empire that declared itself neutral, there are two others.
 
Also, it is not without risk.
 
The Undead of Vris’alud had made it quite obvious that he had eyes on it, which is no easy threat.
 
“If it happens. You both going to have a shitload of responsibilities on your shoulder.” 
 
“I am very glad that I would be here in the wasteland, far away from house politics,” I replied, after a minute of silence, bringing the smiles on their faces.
 
Though it had only lasted for a couple of seconds before their expressions turned serious.
 
“I hope you will support the decision. If Grandfather had asked your opinion,” said Celina, looking at me in the eyes.
 
“You both know, I don’t participate in house politics,” I replied and could see disappointment clouding their eyes, but there was no bitterness in them.
 
“Though, if asked for my opinion between the three places, Namdar would be my choice,” I added, and the bright smiles bloomed on their face.
 
“That is all we ask,” said Richard.
 
 
Masterful Administrator Lv. 17

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