Chapter 41

Duke Gels swore that he had never been as surprised as he was today in all his memory.

The sunflowers had just appeared in tens, and now another ten appeared.

Did the two children plant them?

Could they have planted sunflower seeds like sowing vegetables and then harvested a large number of sunflowers?

He had never heard of anyone being able to grow sunflowers.

Duke Gels had to carefully inspect and found that they were indeed sunflowers. He looked at the two children helplessly and asked, "More?"

His voice trembled a bit as he asked, lacking confidence.

"Many," Nalasha nodded.

At this moment, she did not intend to hide anything. If Grand Duke wanted to snatch them, she did not mind leveling the palace with Brother Murong, although she felt that Grand Duke was also very powerful.

"Can you tell me where you got them from? If you are not planning to keep it a secret," Duke Gels asked, slightly nervous.

"Danghun Lake, the lake where we found Mike's war pendant. There are large patches of sunflowers inside. Harvesting the sunflowers took more time than killing the multi-clawed monsters we ate and gave away," Nalasha gestured to show how large the patches were.

Duke Gels did not need to see the gesture to understand the situation and began to imagine.

Nalasha broke his fantasy with one sentence.

"Grandpa Gels, don't worry, Brother Murong and I have collected them all."

"None left at all?" Duke Gels asked urgently.

"Perhaps some were left behind!" Nalasha noticed Duke Gels' unstable emotions and did not firmly deny it.

Duke Gels realized he had lost his composure, took a deep breath, and calmed down. "I will report to the higher-ups. I will also take ten sunflowers. There are some matters that require 'her'."

******

When Nalasha and Gongsun Murong left the palace, they were given a badge template by the duchy.

This way, they could find craftsmen to make the badges according to the template when they returned home.

There were badges for the carriage, the door, the servants' chests, and other places like vessels and paper.

Every corner had to display which noble family it belonged to, which was very tedious.

******

When two and a half months of winter had passed.

When the estate belonging to Baron Gongsun was completed and the sunflower badge was hung, the entire capital was in an uproar.

Today, Gongsun Murong and Nalasha officially moved in.

The estate welcomed many nobles living in the capital, who brought gifts and participated in the banquet in the spacious hall.

Gongsun Murong and Nalasha had to be introduced to one noble after another by the butler.

Stover Rodney was indeed a competent butler.

After some nobles were purged, he now maintained good relations with almost all the nobles in the capital who were not purged.

He was not only responsible for the construction site but also for renting out the shops that were not yet built, managing the servants and the guards' training and cultivation.

Finally, he was in charge of contacting the nobles and other chambers of commerce.

He did all these things alone.

Even so, his wife was pregnant with their second child, nearly fifty days along.

Clearly, he still had extra energy and the current tasks did not keep him busy.

Many of the nobles who came to the banquet were very regretful.

Initially, they knew Stover Rodney was a good person.

Unfortunately, to avoid provoking the Bunier Chamber of Commerce, none of them made a move.

As a result, they watched as Stover Rodney found a new master, and the new master came to the capital and eliminated the Bunier Chamber of Commerce.

Now, even if they spent more money, they could not lure Stover Rodney to their family.

The nobles regretted for a moment, then were frightened.

Baron Gongsun's family badge was a sunflower.

A badge that had never appeared on the continent.

Were they going to challenge the gods?

***

Duke Gels also came, when a baron without a fief moved into a new residence.

This was unimaginable for others.

The common people who were moving back to tidy up their houses were shocked, and the lesser nobles began to calculate.

Only those who had helped Duke Gels purge other nobles understood why.

The title was not important.

What was important was that this baron's family had a genius mage.

And this young mage was not a well-behaved baby in the academy but a mage who had experienced battle.

Everyone was watching and waiting.

Waiting for various challenges to fall on the noble with the sunflower badge.

******

It was not until midnight that Gongsun Murong and Nalasha sent everyone off.

Princess Lucia stayed behind, choosing a courtyard for herself and moving in with a group of guards and servants, planning to live there permanently.

The next morning.

Gongsun Murong and Nalasha called the butler and the guards for a meeting.

The content of the meeting was very simple: they told the butler to continue managing the household, especially the children's school, ensuring they were picked up and dropped off daily and not bullied.

Then Nalasha took out thirty-seven beast cores and distributed them to the guards.

She told them not to follow her and Brother Murong anymore.

Instead, they should stay at home to guard the estate, practice diligently, and take time to help Princess Lucia train her guards.

This was the second time they were given beast cores, and some from the last time were not yet used.

Moses and the others held the beast cores with determined gazes.

These beast cores were more effective and expensive than those produced by crystal mines.

Miss and Master said not to buy contracts to save money, yet they gave them beast cores more precious than contracts for cultivation.

What they should do in the future was clear.

"Alright, now the last thing. Is the pond in the estate dug out?" Nalasha asked Butler Stover.

Stover respectfully replied, "As you instructed, the pond in the estate has been dug out. When choosing the location, I found a water source, which is right in the center of the pond, waiting for you to draw the water."

After Stover finished speaking, he began to look forward to it.

He wanted to see Miss cast water magic again, and once the pond was filled, she would have an easier time in battle.

"Let's go and see," Nalasha flew out.

The pond was built behind all the houses, about 100,000 square meters, roughly 300 meters by 300 meters, not very regular.

The pond was 12 meters deep and looked quite high from above.

In the center of the pond was a lid. When the lid was lifted, water slowly flowed out.

It seemed that Nalasha did not have to personally draw the water.

Nalasha flew over, looked down, and shook her head. "The water source is too small; it should be wider."

As soon as she spoke, the half-meter-wide water hole instantly expanded to over six meters in diameter, and a jet of water shot out, reaching ten meters high.

"Yay!" Nalasha waved her small fist. "There is indeed a larger underground river below, and once connected, the water flows out."

The butler and the guards watched in a daze. Was earth magic so fast to cast?

If they had known, they would not have dug the pond; they would have just had Miss come and walk around.

Digging in winter was a very labor-intensive task.

"It looks like the pond will be full soon, but where will the water flow?" Nalasha, who had connected the larger underground river, began to worry.

"Should we wait until the pond is full and then block it?" Nalasha muttered to herself.

The butler and the guards continued to look dazed.

The water jet, after losing its upward momentum, began to fall, forming an umbrella-like shape, creating a colorful pattern in the winter sunlight.

Nalasha flew to Gongsun Murong's side, sat on his shoulder, and watched the enchanting scene with a happy, sweet smile.

"Fish, fish," Stover's son, Nigel Rodney, pointed at the falling water and shouted.

He was now studying at the capital's first academy, in the magic class.

His teacher praised him for his talent.

But he did not become arrogant, even at six years old, knowing who had the better talent, with a Miss who could instantly cast large-scale spells at home, how could he be proud? He had to work harder.

Nigel Rodney finished shouting and, with a gesture, recited, "Under the guidance of the God of Magic, water spirits, who are everywhere in the world, please heed my call—Water Rope Bind."

A thin water rope appeared and wrapped around a fish, flying towards the shore. Just as it was about to reach, the water rope suddenly dispersed, turning into water droplets and falling.

"Nigel, don't be nervous. You were too afraid of failure, so you failed. Don't think about what will happen if you fail; just focus on how to pull the fish over. Come, touch this water."

As Nalasha spoke, the water rope reformed, wrapping around the fish and flying to the group, hovering there.

Throughout, she remained calm and composed, showing no effort, demonstrating the demeanor of a master.

Nigel nodded devoutly, though he always thought he was older than Miss, now was not the time to argue.

Seeing Miss's casual manner, he extended his hand to the water rope, closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he pointed at another fish in the pond, and a water rope appeared, wrapping around the fish and flying over. This time, he did not recite the spell.

The guards were surprised, and the butler looked disbelieving.

When did his son Nigel learn to instantly cast small spells?

Nigel had a blissful smile on his face. "Thank you, Miss. Water is like this. Understand it, and then make it move, not by controlling it but by guiding it."

"Right, you've made progress, Nigel. When you realize that you are water and water is you, you will be able to instantly cast large-scale spells," Nalasha said with a smile.

The people around understood. Miss had helped Nigel to perceive water, which is why he succeeded.

Is Miss already this strong?

I am water, water is me, using my heart to guide others to perceive the heart of water.

This is definitely a top-tier mage's ability, who has deeply perceived water.

Lucia, who had come to join the fun, was stunned, then blinked and looked at Nalasha. "To be as inclusive as water! Nalasha, I always thought you were ruthless and killed without hesitation, but I didn't expect you to be as inclusive as water."

"Exactly, hehe, I am indeed ruthless, and the number of people I have killed is not less than Brother Murong. Water can be inclusive and can also surge. I will be inclusive of what I should, and flood what I want to. Shapeless and formless, like a dream, like the heart."

Nalasha said softly.

The people around her pondered her words, finding them profound.

"Nalasha, why do I feel your thoughts are different from others?" Lucia, who considered herself knowledgeable and born into the royal family, believed she was superior to others.

So finding a friend was difficult; children of her age could not play together.

Only when she met Nalasha did things change.

It seemed Nalasha was as smart as her, if not smarter. Nalasha's happiness seemed simple and pure, but Nalasha was not foolish.

It was truly confusing.

Nalasha smiled innocently. "Hehe, it's all thanks to Grandpa Butler."

"Is it Stover Rodney Gongsun?" Lucia was very curious, saying the butler's full name and looking at Stover.

Nalasha shook her head gently, looking melancholy. "No, it's the butler who taught Brother Murong and me in the desert. He is sleeping now, but I believe he will wake up one day and continue to teach us."

"Ah? Is that so!" Lucia said with a hint of sadness.

The people around were also saddened.

So Miss and Master's demeanor and abilities were taught by one person?

And that person died before Miss grew up?

Butler Stover lowered his head. He always thought he was the best, but now he realized he needed to work harder.

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