Chapter 537 - Can We Talk?
Initially, Rutherford had been happy to hear that his child had come to meet him.
However, the joy on his face faded when he gazed upon the turmoil written over hers.
Today was her birthday yet she appeared to be troubled by something which made the doting father narrow his eyes.
'Who made her sad on her special day?' He growled in anger, deciding that he would have to ask his Butler to investigate after she left the room later.
Fortunately for him, he would not have to wait for long as his child had come here with the purpose of revealing the cause of her troubles to her father.
"Papa, can we talk?" Yvonne inquired while glancing at the desk filled with thick files laid on it.
Turning her eyes back to the man who had come to greet her, she saw him nod.
"Can we have snacks while we talk?" He questioned, implying that he was willing to talk right now.
Before she could even answer him, Butler Limo was called upon and given instructions which he rushed to follow.
Rutherford then walked to the couch and took his seat which made his child follow right after him.
The father and daughter sat opposite each other and there was silence in the room.
Yvonne had rushed all the way here but now she found herself at a loss of words.
'I now understand how Jax must have felt.' She realized that initiating this conversation was harder than she had expected it to be.
While she was trying to figure things out, the Butler returned to the room with a cup of fresh juice and pastries.
Grateful to her father's forethought, the little girl gulped half the contents of the glass before looking her father in the eye.
Rutherford had been observing her ever since she had entered the room and even now, he could see the hesitation written all over her face.
"What is it, Vonna?" He questioned in a soft voice to ease her anxiety and encourage her to speak her mind without any reluctance.
The matter at hand was of great significance and Yvonne did not feel lightened from the burden on her even after hearing his calm voice.
'Let's start with something simpler then.' She decided that easing into the conversation would be a better idea than dropping the bomb on her father.
The death of the Old Master was a delicate topic and she could not just bring it up without any prior preparations to soften the blow that might come to her father's heart.
"How is the state of the fief, Papa?" She interrogated and her face displayed her seriousness.
However, what Rutherford was assuming to be concern for the fief, in truth, was a struggle to find the right moment to make the shocking revelation to him.
Ignorant about the thoughts in her head, the Earl nodded his head as a smile formed on his face.
'Vonna is so kind and thoughtful.' He praised his child who was looking out for the people of their fief.
"The suggestions you have made… I think they will come in handy soon." His vague words stopped other thoughts as she narrowed her eyes at him.
Noticing the curiosity brimming in those wide eyes, Rutherford did not hide anything from her.
"A letter arrived last night," He began and there was a solemn tone evident in his voice.
The letter arrived was from their secret guards he had left behind in the Capital.
For the last month, the disease which had only affected three fiefs of the South had increased and every southern fief had come under its grasp.
If that wasn't enough, the sickness seemed to be permeating further into the Kingdom as new reports of the patients with similar symptoms were arising in other fiefs as well.
Thankfully, the King had already increased the number of Royal Hospitals so they were able to bear the load of the numerous patients who were popping up each day.
In the beginning, people were calm but as the growth of the disease was turning out to be so rapid, paranoia and panic were forming in the hearts of the commoners.
The earliest patients who were thought to heal after receiving treatment from the Royal Hospitals were dropping dead each day.
This further intensified the terror of the disease that was affecting the entire South at this moment.
Reports of the disease being discovered in the Central fief were troubling as well, for this meant that the other fiefs might be affected next.
Seeing the condition of things progressing in this negative fashion, around a few weeks ago, King Ophire had taken matters into his own hands.
The first thing he did was to summon his Ministers who were still in the Capital and had not yet had any contact with people from the South.
Lengthy meetings were said to be held in the Palace and the main agenda was to find ways to safeguard the other fiefs from getting infected as well.
The next was the Head of the Royal Medical Association who was given the task of forming a team of the best physicians to figure out what was causing the disease.
They aimed to find the cause, learn how it was being spread, and finally to create a cure at the earliest.
"Yesterday, the Head of the Royal Medical Association met with the King with the information he had learned thus far." Rutherford's jaw clenched at the end of that statement.
A plague was finally declared with the rapid spread and increasing death toll of its patients being too high to be controlled with ease.
As if he was already prepared to deal with such situations, King Ophire had announced a 'lockdown' for the borders of fiefs everywhere.
No person would be allowed to travel across borders at any cost.
Only the people working for the Royal Medical Association and those in connection with it would be permitted to do so as they would have to stay in contact with the Hospitals treating these plague victims.
Just yesterday the plague was announced and soon, the notice of sealing the borders would arrive in each fief.
The secret guard had hurried at full speed to inform his Master about the Royal Decree concerning the lockdown which would be initiated soon.
Thankfully, Rutherford did not have any urgent matters with other fiefs and this news did not shock him.
"Don't worry. I have sent a letter to your Uncle and he should have received it by now." He reassured that matters concerning CLOVER would also not be affected as he relayed this news to Viscount Marcus Valente as well.
Since Yvonne had already stopped distribution of CLOVER's soaps through the means of Ocular before summer even began, there would not be any need for them to travel outside.
The Valente and the Hagen family could stay cordoned off in their respective homes without having to travel anywhere for any purpose.
Since the Plantation, the factory for CLOVER, was too vast in size, storage of raw materials would not be a problem and they had enough to make more batches even with the lockdown in progress.
The Royal Decree would be here in no time but thanks to the suggestions his daughter had made in passing and he had thought them to be good and implemented them, his fief would not be affected by this lockdown in the least bit.
"The St. Claire fief will not have to struggle thanks to the new changes we have made." Rutherford was both happy that he had listened to Yvonne's suggestions and proud that his child had such foresight.
The changes he was talking about were the ones Yvonne had suggested on the day Howard had returned to the Royal Academy last year.
Along with asking for a vegetable garden to be planted in their estate, the little girl had many more requests and suggestions.
The biggest project she had revealed to him was the construction of storage houses throughout their fief.
Harvest seasons were good in St. Claire but as they bordered the Timara Mountains, an ice-capped mountain range, there were chances of either too cold winters or floods in summers when the ice melted.
Farmlands in those areas had seen some serious damage and had to purchase grain from other areas, increasing its overall cost and causing the commoners to suffer.
For this problem, Yvonne's solution was simple.
Building storage houses throughout the land allowed everyone to store their surplus and in times of need, they would not have to suffer too much.
Most grains could be stored for long durations of time, with wheat as an example of being able to be preserved for over thirty years if stored properly.
With Yvonne's suggestions and the experience of the farmers doing this for generations, the perfect storage houses were built according to the items being stored inside.
For over eight months now, those storage houses had been successfully filled throughout the fief.
Farmers had made their own and a few of the largest were owned by the St. Claire family.
The Earl got these built and filled so that in times of distress, he might be able to provide food for his people at a subsidized rate.
If this step hadn't been taken then during a shortage, a black market with hiked prices might emerge, causing disruption in peace and values of his fief.
Yvonne's main aim was to be able to feed everyone once the lockdown was initiated and people could not import any grains from outside like they might have done in the past.
However, while suggesting this, she had used the Timara Mountains as an excuse to avoid suspicion.
Thankfully, those storage houses would soon fulfill their purpose.
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