Autumn is getting stronger, and the cold breeze in the evening has completely replaced the once hot summer atmosphere. The wind from the northern plains blows through several treetops outside the office, shaking the crumbling leaves rustling in the sunset, and two more flying leaves are swept by the wind, spinning through the open windows, just landing on the desk, next to a fountain pen that is writing quickly.

Herty's attention was interrupted by the fallen leaf. She raised her eyes and looked out the window. Her hand that was signing stopped unknowingly. When she saw a group of migrating birds flying through the clear and high sky, the great consul of the Empire couldn't help but smile on her face and muttered to herself softly: "It's autumn again... I finally passed most of the time safely this year."

Then she snapped her fingers gently, and the window was closed by invisible magic. With the crisp sound of crackling, the autumn wind, which seemed too cold as the evening approached, was blocked out of the window. Hetty lowered her head and returned to the document that seemed to be endless. After confirming it again, she was about to sign her name at the end of the document.

But a sudden chill came suddenly, causing her hand, which was about to sign, to shake, and almost cut a deep ink mark on the paper.

Hetty was stunned for a moment, and the empire princess frowned and muttered with some amusement: "Can it be that Rebecca has made something again... No, she must have thought too much. Her project has been very stable recently, and she only approved an additional fund not long ago... Maybe she is too tired."

She laughed a little self-deprecatingly, rubbing her forehead gently, but her eyes couldn't help but fall on a filing cabinet not far away. The cabinet locked the fiscal summary for the first half of this year and the fiscal plan for the second half of the year, of course not all, only including the part of the documents that must be processed by her personally. Her eyes were taken back and swept over a piece of information that had just been sorted on the table. The parchment cover of the information was printed with clear large letters: "New Trade Memorandum on the Route to the Mainland (Northern Section)".

Among these piled documents, the economic river of the empire flowed, which was an unimaginable amount under the economic system of the old era, and a huge wealth that the former Ansu land nobles could not reach in their entire lives. As the ancestors often said, the money that flowed was money, and the economic system that could circulate quickly was like gold. As the great consul who personally managed most of the internal affairs, Hetty had a real understanding of this that others could not reach.

However, this huge wealth always comes and goes, and goes around the mainland routes and railway trade lines have indeed brought amazing income to the empire. However, each of the huge projects planned by the empire is an amazingly expensive big money-eating household, whether it is the resettlement project of the Holy Spirit Plain in the next quarter or the basic roads of the country, communications, energy projects, or the educational expansion of the East Gate next year, or the 115 projects led by Rebecca... Behind each project is followed by a budget statement that seems to be endless, "gold coins are like flowing water", and after seeping into these projects, there was no trace in the blink of an eye.

This sometimes even gives Hetty an illusion, as if it is not much different from when his family was in a downturn. Although the money he is circulating now is already an unimaginable amount of money he has flowed in at that time, he still flows in as much as he does every year, and the end result is still no money...

Some uncontrollable thoughts seemed to have turned around in her mind. Hetty smiled. She patted her face gently, letting herself jump out of these strange thoughts, and looked up at the clear sky outside the window. From this office, you can directly look at some high-rise buildings in the southern city. She saw a bell tower standing near the Imperial College, the church spire and the energy tower of the Magic Technology Institute stand in the background of dusk. There is a prosperous city area, where tens of thousands of people live and work, and there are visitors, scholars, and travelers gather in this city...

The "gold coins" that flowed and penetrated into projects did not really disappear. They left the most precious traces on this land: the order that ancestors tried hard to build, the kingdoms built by imperial citizens, these undeniable traces are much more valuable than the coins piled in a castle waiting for decay.

The book friends used the small book pavilion before.

...But the 115 project is really too expensive...

Unexpectedly, thinking about what had caused her headache recently, Herty's expression, which had just relaxed, was a little stiff again. She could only sigh helplessly, and her eyes returned to the next document waiting to be processed. At the point where the document was raised, a string of bold letters were clearly printed: "The Startup Plan for the Contracting Castle "Gate" Project".

...

When the Holy Spirit Plain approaches dusk, the Thorin giant tree, known as "miracle", will present a more dreamy and wonderful scene than the daytime. The last few rays of rays of rays in the horizon will slop under the canopy of the giant tree, and a huge arc-shaped "giant screen" interwoven in the narrow space between the canopy and the earth. As the giant screen gradually fades, countless vines hanging from above the giant tree will begin to emit soft fluorescence. The luminous flowers wrapped around the support pillars connecting the canopy and the earth will bloom one after another. A fairytale world will descend on this land in the evening. Even the wolf general who once had a heart of steel will inevitably want to indulge in this "fairy tale".

Bard stood on a suspended platform on the edge of the lower layer of the tree canopy, looking at the vines and glowing flowers that were emitting fluorescent light, watching them illuminate the "shadow area" that was sinking into the night like stars, and suddenly sighed softly.

A woman's voice that sounded cool and clear came from behind him: "Bad, are you thinking of your daughter again?"

Bud was startled by the voice. He turned around and saw General Margarita wearing a casual knight uniform standing behind him. The Supreme Military Chief of the Thorin area had a faint smile on his face, and there was no follower around him.

"General," Bud immediately stood up straight and saluted with a meticulous attitude, "Good afternoon."

"Relax, relax, now I'm resting, you're not working hours," Margarita waved her hand, "You haven't answered my question yet, do you miss your own daughter?"

"...For the sake of face, I want to cover it up, but since it has been seen, I can only admit it," Bard smiled reluctantly, "I'm a little...uncensored. She had liked this platform very much before, especially in the evening, which was one of the few public areas where she was allowed to move. Here you can see most of the Solin Castle and the plain scenery outside. She often said that it looks like the castle surrounded by giant trees in the story of the 'green fairy' that my mother told her when she was a child... But I had no idea what stories my wife had told her."

Margarita stood there, looking at Bud's eyes seriously, and after a long time, she shook her head: "Sometimes long separation is not scary. What is really hard to bear is that after a long separation, I finally got together, but after a moment of gathering, I faced another farewell. Although many times I feel that the stories told by the minstrels are too pretentious, I have always agreed with this sentence."

Bud opened his mouth, and finally nodded helplessly: "Who said no..."

Margarita looked at him, and after a moment of pause, she suddenly showed her serious look and raised her voice: "Fellow Bard Wendell!"

Bud was stunned. Although he didn't know what was going on, he still instinctively straightened his body and responded loudly: "Yes, General!"

Margarita had taken out a thick envelope from behind and raised her hand to Bud's hand: "Extend your hand and take your letter!"

"Letter from home?" Bud was a little confused. He subconsciously took the thing Margarita handed to him, but it was not until two seconds later that it was a letter. He blinked and stared at the cross-border stamps and verification marks on the envelope one by one. His eyes finally fell on the familiar emblem of the sword blade and the wolf head, which finally changed his eyes, and his voice was filled with surprise, "This... is this..."

"It's okay to go back and see it, but now you can open it and disassemble it anyway. Anyway, you should be able to think that this letter has been opened and inspected by more than one retrial inspector before it was delivered to you," Margarita nodded, "Your daughter sent it."

Bard finally confirmed that what he saw was not an illusion and that he was not a fake, but he still couldn't believe that he was not a ignorant country village man. He knew his special past and sensitive identity, and even more so how special his identity of his family in Tifeng was. On one side was the former wolf general, the dark cult, the current technical expert, the confidential personnel, and the other side was the current senior officer of a foreign country and the top aristocrat. Such a special situation could prevent the officials responsible for handling related matters from sleeping at night in any era. However, now... he actually received a "family letter" from Tifeng?

"I know what you are thinking, Mr. Bud Wendell," Margarita kept paying attention to Bud's expression, and she laughed at the moment. "It's not easy. There are too many sensitive links involved. You still have many historical problems. Whether Cecil or Tifong, there are people who are nervous and worried about it, but you should feel glad that there are still people who are willing to help you, and... we have a tolerant monarch."

Speaking of this, the female general paused for a moment before adding casually: "Okay, since the letter can be delivered, it means that Rosetta Augustus is okay too..."

"...I should thank everyone who helped, thank our Majesty, and thank you," Bud grabbed the letter in his hand excitedly, controlling the urge to disassemble it now, "I didn't expect it at all..."

"Let's talk about these later. You can find time to invite me to have a drink," Margarita waved her hand. "You should be more grateful for the peace between us and Tiphon now, and hope that such peace can last longer. As for now... do you want to take apart?"

Bard hesitated for a moment, and finally couldn't help it. He carefully opened the seal of the letter. While pulling out the letter paper, some light objects sealed by transparent wax fell into his hands.

It was a small golden flower sealed with wax. It was not a precious variety. It was found everywhere in the central and western regions of Tifeng. However, for the Wendell family, such small golden flower has a different meaning.

His eyes fell on the flowers that had been made into specimens for a long time. It can be seen that the skills of these wax sealing specimens are definitely not good. Any skillful aristocratic girl who sees such a specimen would probably think that it was ruining those beautiful petals. However, Bard knew that... the person who made these small specimens was not a "skillful" aristocratic girl.

He unfolded the folded letter paper and his eyes fell at the beginning

"Father, the golden Taitail flowers in Changzhi Manor bloom in summer. I picked the most beautiful ones and made them into specimens..."

The letter is very long, and I don’t know how long Andersha has been having trouble with these words... I’m afraid that several of the pens have been bitten to pieces?

A smile appeared on Bud's face, his eyes moved word by word on the letter paper. The dry words and sentences, the ink traces that were accidentally rubbed on, and the paper surface that was cut too hard by writing... seemed to be shining in his eyes.

Margarita just waited patiently, with a smile on her face. She was very familiar with the expression on Bard's face at this moment. She had seen the soldiers who bid farewell to their hometown and followed the Construction Corps to barren lands. They looked like this when they received their letters.

"There is another letter written by your father."

After reminding her, she calmed down again, and only the sound of flipping the letter paper and breathing were left on the edge of the platform.

Perhaps considering the passage of time, Bard finally increased the speed of reading the letter. Finally, after reading the last line of text on the letter, he carefully folded the paper and put it back on the envelope. He held the rough-crafted specimens in his hand and looked at them several times before putting them close together with the envelopes. He then raised his head and looked at Margarita: "Sorry, I have been watching it for too long."

"Compared with more than ten years, it's not long," Margarita shook her head gently, and was curious, "Did the golden flowers sealed with wax just now be sent by your daughter?"

"Ah...yes, that's a unique craft of Tifon. It requires a very special transparent wax. On our side, girls from wealthy families will make this kind of thing to show their agility. Depending on the flowers inside, it can send blessings to elders, friendships to friends, or even loves to their lovers... But Andesha has not liked this kind of thing since she was a child. She has always been clumsy in handicrafts, and can't remember what those flowers mean," Bard laughed, but he was still muttering, "Oh... Now it seems that her craftsmanship has really not improved at all, and I'm afraid she can't find her sweetheart..."

Margarita immediately coughed twice, then asked deliberately: "Since you think you are not doing well, can you give it to me?"

"That's not OK, Andesha gave it to me!"

Margarita looked at the former wolf general who had already made a fortune in front of her. After a few seconds, the two of them laughed at the same time.

"Okay, we've been delaying a lot of time," Margarita breathed softly, looked up at the distance, and nodded to Bud, "I'm going to have another thing that happened to meet a personification of Ms. Belltila. She asked me to send a message after seeing you, asking you to go to her lab after dinner."

"Beltira? OK," Bud nodded, then he was a little confused, "but why didn't she tell me directly... This is within the range of the Thorin giant tree. Who would she talk to? Just hang a vine directly."

Margarita shrugged: “I asked her and she said life needs a little ritual.”
Chapter completed!