Chapter 78: The Green house deal
Around two weeks passed before anything particularly interesting happened.
Father and Alex still hadn’t returned from the border.
The war continued dragging on somewhere far away while I remained trapped managing an industrial district that seemed determined to double in size every time I looked away.
At least the train was working.
That alone felt miraculous.
By this point the railway between Aldric territory and Blackwater Hollow had become a regular part of daily operations.
Supplies moved between territories.
Workers traveled back and forth.
Ore, steel, and equipment constantly flowed along the rails.
The entire system was functioning better than I had expected.
Which honestly made me nervous.
Nothing I built ever worked this smoothly.
Finn had departed earlier that morning to inspect Blackwater.
Which left me temporarily alone.
Alone meaning with Lillith so not actually alone.
I was never alone.
I currently found myself standing inside the manor kitchen experimenting with the chili peppers.
The greenhouse had worked.
The plants had survived.
And after two weeks of careful cultivation, I finally had enough peppers to make something I had been craving for years.
Spicy curry.
The smell alone nearly made me emotional.
Memories from my previous life surfaced immediately.
Restaurants.
Takeaways.
Street food.
Actual seasoning.
I carefully spooned some rice onto a plate before adding the curry.
Then sat down.
Lillith immediately sat beside me.
Of course she did.
She stared at the dish suspiciously.
"What is that?"
"Curry."
"It smells dangerous."
"That’s generally a good sign."
I scooped up a small spoonful alongside some rice.
Then took a bite.
Instantly—
Pain.
Wonderful pain.
My tongue burned.
My eyes watered slightly.
The familiar buzzing heat spread through my mouth.
And somehow—
I loved every second of it.
For a brief moment I started thinking about all the other foods I could recreate.
Spicy stews.
Sauces.
Marinated meats.
The possibilities were endless.
I lifted another spoonful.
Then suddenly—
My arm stopped moving.
I looked down.
Lillith had grabbed my wrist.
The grip felt like steel.
Before I could react—
She redirected the spoon straight into her own mouth.
Silence.
I stared at her.
She stared back proudly.
Then her expression changed.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
The confidence disappeared first.
Then the pride.
Then the realization arrived.
A few seconds later her entire face went red.
Her eyes widened.
A small strangled noise escaped her throat.
Then she immediately created a stream of water above herself and dumped it directly into her mouth.
It didn’t help.
At all.
The panic only grew.
"L-Leon—"
She pointed accusingly at the curry.
"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!"
I stared at her blankly.
"...You stole it."
"YOU MADE IT!"
The distinction apparently mattered greatly.
Lillith looked moments away from declaring war on the peppers.
I quickly grabbed a cup of milk from nearby.
The moment I handed it over, she practically inhaled the entire thing.
Several seconds passed.
Then her breathing finally stabilized.
Slightly.
"My tongue still burns."
"That’s how spice works."
Lillith narrowed her eyes.
"You have harmed your precious wife."
"It was literally all your doing."
"You should compensate me with snuggles."
"I’m too busy."
Before the argument could continue—
A servant entered the kitchen.
The young man looked slightly confused seeing a future duchess glaring at a bowl of curry like it had personally insulted her.
"My lord."
I looked over.
"Yes?"
"You have a visitor."
A visitor?
That immediately narrowed the list of possibilities considerably.
A few minutes later I stepped outside the manor.
And immediately saw Cedric.
Again.
At this point I was starting to suspect the man materialized whenever money was involved.
The merchant representative greeted me with his usual smile.
"Lord Leon."
"Cedric."
"I hope business has been good."
"Considering the amount of gold you’ve stolen from me recently?"
Cedric looked deeply offended.
"I prefer the term invested."
Naturally.
The two of us began walking through part of the industrial district while Cedric explained the purpose of his visit.
Apparently rumors had started spreading throughout the kingdom.
Lots of rumors.
The railway.
The trains.
The reclaimed mine.
The factories.
The industrial district.
The weapons.
The steam engines.
According to Cedric, merchants now regularly traveled specifically to Aldric territory just to see whether the stories were real.
Most left more confused than when they arrived.
Eventually Cedric stopped near the greenhouse.
His eyes shifted toward the structure.
Then back toward me.
"Actually, that’s the main reason I’m here."
I frowned slightly.
"The greenhouse?"
Cedric nodded.
"The corporation has a client."
That immediately got my attention.
"A wealthy one."
That got my attention even faster.
Cedric folded his hands neatly.
"Someone in the capital requires a cost-effective way of preserving tropical plants year-round."
Interesting.
Unlike Duke Rosthwall’s request to cover half a duchy with railroads—
This sounded achievable and profitable .
I opened my mouth to ask more questions.
Then a familiar voice interrupted.
"So what’s happening?"
Lillith emerged from the manor.
Seemingly chugged enough milk to fill a pool trying to get rid of the remaining burning on her tongue.
Cedric politely repeated the explanation.
The moment he mentioned the capital—
Lillith immediately pointed toward me.
"He accepts."
Silence.
I stared at her.
Cedric smiled instantly.
"Wonderful."
Then before I could ask any follow-up questions—
He started leaving.
Fast.
Very fast.
Within moments he was already halfway back toward his carriage.
I stared after him.
"...What just happened."
Lillith looked extremely pleased.
The feeling of déjà vu hit me immediately.
A year ago.
The steel contract.
The exact same situation.
She heard the words capital and accepted on my behalf.
Again.
I slowly looked toward her.
"You did this before."
She laughed.
"You’re coming with me again."
I sighed.
I probably would’ve accepted anyway as the request sounded reasonable.
I just would’ve preferred more information first.
Still—
I found myself smiling slightly before reaching over and patting her head.
Lillith immediately froze.
Then her entire face brightened.
She leaned directly into the touch.
Hard.
My hand practically got trapped there.
More pressure followed.
Then even more.
Apparently I wasn’t allowed to stop.
A few workers passing nearby immediately turned around and walked away.
A couple days later preparations were complete around the same time Lillith had to return to the capital.
Several workers had been selected for the project.
Multiple wagons carried materials unlikely to be found easily inside the capital.
Glass.
Steel fittings.
Pipe sections.
Specialized tools.
One entire wagon carried nothing except a steam engine and its components.
The thing occupied nearly all available space by itself.
Naturally I also brought my rifle.
And ammunition.
Maybe it was paranoia.
Maybe it was experience.
Either way—
I felt strangely uncomfortable traveling without it now.
The realization was probably unhealthy.
The caravan slowly departed Aldric territory shortly after sunrise.
Snow covered the roads.
The winter air remained cold.
Workers guided the wagons while horses pulled supplies toward the capital.
Meanwhile I found myself sitting inside a carriage alongside Lillith.
The journey had officially begun.
The journey toward the capital passed surprisingly peacefully.
Mostly because Lillith had discovered a new topic to obsess over.
Her birthday.
Specifically—
What I had gotten her.
She sat across from me inside the carriage while the winter landscape rolled past outside the windows.
For the past twenty minutes she had somehow managed to steer every conversation back toward the same subject.
"So?"
I looked up from the notebook I was reviewing.
"So what?"
"My birthday gift."
"No."
Lillith narrowed her eyes.
"You didn’t answer."
"I know."
She leaned forward slightly.
"What did you get me?"
"It’s a secret."
The response immediately caused her to freeze.
Then her eyes slowly widened.
"You got me something?"
I blinked.
"Obviously."
For a moment she simply stared at me.
Then a smile spread across her face.
A dangerous smile.
The kind that usually led to trouble.
"You actually bought me a gift."
"I didn’t buy it."
She started to look down.
"What?"
"I made it."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Then Lillith practically vibrated in her seat.
"You made it?"
"Yes."
She launched herself onto me immediately after.
The next several minutes became unbearable.
She immediately began guessing.
Incorrectly.
Every single time.
"Jewelry?"
"No."
"A weapon?"
"No."
"A wedding ring?"
"No."
"A bigger wedding ring?"
"There wasn’t a first wedding ring."
Lillith ignored that.
By the time the Royal capital of the magneto finally came into view, she was still trying to figure it out.
Lillith had agreed to house all of my workers inside the Nightbane residence while we remained in the capital.
In exchange—
I had agreed to stay an extra week.
Looking back on it, I probably should’ve negotiated a bit harder but I didn’t mind.
The workers were escorted toward guest quarters while equipment and materials got unloaded from the wagons.
Meanwhile Lillith remained attached to my arm.
As usual.
At one point she followed me through three separate hallways without saying a single word.
Just staring.
Eventually I stopped.
Then looked at her.
"What?"
"I missed you."
"You’ve been beside me all day."
"I know."
That apparently wasn’t a contradiction somehow.
—————————
The following morning arrived quickly.
Unfortunately it also meant Lillith had to return to the academy.
The carriage waited near the front gates.
Several Nightbane knights stood nearby.
Lillith looked deeply offended by the entire concept.
"I could just stay."
"No."
"Why."
"Because you have classes."
"I hate classes."
I pointed toward the carriage.
She sighed dramatically.
Then finally climbed inside.
The carriage slowly began rolling away.
For several seconds she stared out the window at me.
Then several more.
Then even more.
The carriage was halfway down the road before she finally disappeared from sight.
Peace.
Temporary peace.
I immediately headed toward the Grand Meridian Commerce Hall.
When I arrived I noticed the massive structure remained just as ridiculous as I remembered.
White stone.
Gold decorations.
Huge windows.
Thousands of people moving through the building at all hours.
The entire place really felt like the economic center of the kingdom.
One employees immediately recognized me.
She then hurried away.
A few minutes later I found myself seated inside one of the upper offices.
Lady Seraphina Valamere sat across from me.
The merchant queen looked exactly as composed as I remembered.
Elegant clothing.
Perfect posture.
The expression of someone constantly calculating profits.
"Lord Leon."
"Lady Valamere."
Her eyes immediately sharpened.
"I’ve heard interesting things."
That was never reassuring.
"The trains?"
"The trains."
She folded her hands together.
"The railway."
"The factories."
"The steam engines."
Then she smiled slightly.
"The rumors become more unbelievable every month."
I shrugged.
"Most of them are exaggerated."
"Not the train."
"...No."
"That one somehow sounds less impressive than reality."
That was fair.
For a while she questioned me about the railway network.
The costs.
The materials.
The maintenance.
The transportation capacity.
Eventually she leaned back slightly.
"I’d like to purchase several."
I already knew where this was going.
"No."
Her eyebrow rose.
"No?"
"Not right now."
She looked amused.
"Most people negotiate first."
"I don’t have enough workers."
That was the simple truth.
Building railways wasn’t the problem.
Building enough railways was.
I continued.
"Duke Nightbane has priority as well."
Seraphina nodded slowly.
Then her expression shifted slightly.
"Which brings us to the actual reason you’re here."
Finally.
The greenhouse.
"The client is the Royal Academy."
That caught me completely off guard.
"The academy?"
She nodded.
"The professors wish to maintain exotic plants and herbs year-round."
Interesting.
Actually—
Very interesting.
Many medicinal plants would become significantly more useful if they could be cultivated through winter.
The same applied to research materials.
Rare herbs.
Specialized ingredients.
I could immediately see why they wanted it.
For the next half hour we discussed details.
Costs.
Construction.
Materials.
Location.
Eventually everything was settled.
Before I left, Seraphina handed me a sealed letter.
"Show this at the academy’s rear gate."
I looked down at it.
Then back at her.
A faint smile appeared.
"It will make things easier."
I accepted the letter.
Then slowly smiled myself.
Because suddenly—
An idea occurred to me.
Lillith had absolutely no idea I would be visiting the academy.
The surprise on her face would probably be worth the trip alone.
By the time I returned to the Nightbane residence, the sun had already begun setting.
Work wouldn’t begin until the day after tomorrow.
Which meant I had one free day.
Perfect timing.
Lillith’s birthday.
I headed toward one of the storage rooms where several wagons remained parked.
After checking that nobody was watching, I pulled open one of the rear compartments.
Then carefully lifted out a large wooden box.
It was roughly twice the size of my head.
Heavy too.
I slowly set it down on a nearby table.
For a few moments I simply stared at it.
Days of work.
Countless adjustments.
Several failed prototypes.
And more swearing than I’d like to admit.
Hopefully she liked it.
Just as I reached for the lid—
Something slammed into my back.
Two arms immediately wrapped around my shoulders.
I nearly dropped the box.
"Lillith?!"
The girl laughed happily behind me.
"I knew it."
I turned slightly.
"Weren’t you supposed to be at the academy?"
"I came back."
"That’s not an explanation."
"It is for me."
Then her eyes landed on the wooden box.
Instantly.
Her attention locked onto it.
"What is this?"
I immediately grabbed the lid before she could.
"No."
Lillith gasped dramatically.
"IS THIS MY GIFT!?"
"It might be."
"It is."
"It might not be."
"It is."
I stared at her.
She stared back.
Then she pointed at the box.
"Open it."
"No."
"Open it."
"No."
"Leon."
"No."
"Leon."
I sighed.
Tomorrow suddenly felt very far away.
