Chapter 545 - The Decree Was Announced
{Keeping in mind the wellbeing of the citizens, a Royal Decree has been declared and should be followed by every fief belonging to this Great Kingdom of Rosenhyde.
To hinder the spreading of the unknown sickness prevalent in the South, the Decree signed by the King states that all movement across borders is to be ceased, effective immediately.
The borders of every fief will be sealed and will only reopen upon receiving the decree of the King once again.
Any opposition to this Decree will be considered as rebellion against the Royal Throne of Rosenhyde and the consequences would be dire.
Your Majesty, The King,
King Ophire Rosenhyde}
The Decree once announced was accepted with a bow from every member of the St. Claire family and staff.
Rutherford, being the Earl and Lord of the St. Claire fief, had to sign on the 'Letter of consent' that the Official brought out next.
Inside the letter were instructions given by the King which needed to be followed during this time of distress.
Signing on this letter was proof that if any of the instructions mentioned were not followed then it would be deemed as treason against the Royal family.
Since the rules for this 'Lockdown' were mentioned in this letter, Rutherford did not hesitate to sign and promised to follow them without fail.
As the Royal Decree could not be handed over to anyone and needed to be returned to its owner who was the King, the messenger rolled it up and placed it back into his pocket.
The letter of consent also needed to be in the King's possession so that too was returned to the pocket of the messenger.
However, he handed to the Earl a bundle of copies which held information regarding the Decree announced and it even had the Royal Seal to prove its authenticity.
"Every town gets one copy." He reminded Rutherford about one of the instructions in the 'Letter of Consent' he had signed.
The copy of these instructions written in that letter meant solely for the Fief Lord was also passed on to him.
The Earl accepted the bundle and the letter before he nodded, revealing that he would complete these tasks at the earliest.
The messenger then bid farewell as his purpose here had been accomplished and he needed to return to the King without delay.
Therefore, Yvonne stood in the same position and watched as the messenger from the Palace mounted his horse once again and rushed away with the Decree he had announced and also the Letter of Consent that her father had signed.
The stiff atmosphere around them eased and everyone took a sigh of relief once the man was gone.
As soon as the man disappeared from their sight, Yvonne took off the robe that was covering the training attire hidden underneath it.
This robe had come in handy as it had concealed what was beneath it and she did not have to change her entire outfit before meeting the messenger.
"Thank you, Roselie." She smiled at her maid who had hurried to help her out of that sticky situation earlier.
The maid had arrived with a towel, the robe, and a pair of slippers for her to wear.
While she put on the robe and the slippers, her maid wiped her sweaty face to make it appear neat and dry.
Due to her quick thinking, Yvonne was able to keep her training a secret from the man who had arrived from the Palace.
However, to her surprise, Roselie shook her head after receiving her Miss' gratitude.
"Miss, I just did what Madam commanded me to." She explained as she was not the one who had come up with that solution.
This made the child and everyone around them look towards her mother who smiled gently, proving that the maid was speaking the truth and it was Raylene who had helped her out of that situation.
When Raylene and Rutherford were having their morning tea, the guards had come to inform them of the messenger's arrival.
Rutherford rushed to the main door of the mansion with his wife.
When they reached the entrance, Raylene recalled that for Decrees, everyone needed to be present which reminded her of what her children were doing at that moment.
Before she could give out any instructions, the messenger had appeared before them and she could not speak openly.
When Rutherford instructed the Old Butler and Butler Limo to gather the rest of the servants, she had come up with an idea to save her daughter.
The sneaky Countess thus pretended to hand over the task of bringing the Miss from her bedroom to Roselie right in front of the messenger.
At first, Roselie was confused as the Miss was not in her room but in the training area, however, she soon realized what the Countess was trying to say and nodded in acceptance of the command.
Thus, in the guise of calling her daughter from her room, Raylene had whispered what Roselie needed to do and sent her away.
The maid then rushed to her Miss' room to fetch the items necessary and sneaked out from the back door after which she hurried to pass them on to her.
Yvonne chuckled after hearing her maid's recollection of what had transpired before she nodded.
"You did a good job." She praised her nonetheless as, without her hasty efforts to follow the instructions, she would have gotten in trouble.
Therefore, she did not diminish the contribution of her maid in this incident and praised her before turning to her mother.
Raylene was smiling at her kind daughter when their eyes met.
'She's becoming so smart.' The situation was reversed in this household as the daughter was proud and pleased with the growth she was seeing in her mother's character.
Raylene's sharp mind had helped in keeping Yvonne's secret for longer and the child was grateful for this.
Therefore, she was not stingy and hugged her mother who accepted the embrace with joy.
Rutherford chuckled at what he was witnessing before recalling that there was much that needed to be done.
"Limo," He called out and the loyal butler appeared next to him in the next instant.
Butler Limo accepted the bundle his Master had handed over to him as he understood what needed to be done.
The messenger from the Palace had given them the copies of the Decree that should be spread throughout the fief to increase awareness of the severity of the matter at hand.
Before the sun sets today, the borders of the St. Claire fief will be sealed until further notice from the Capital.
Therefore, Butler Limo and the Old Butler were in a rush to arrange for these circulars from the Palace to be placed at every crowded town center so that more people would become aware of the situation in the rest of the Kingdom.
The flyer that the Royal Palace had prepared and sent through the messenger also explained the reason for the borders being sealed.
Thus, no one would panic once the borders were shut off and would not try to make a commotion about the same.
Just like the messenger who had arrived in the St. Claire fief, a different man was sent to each of the fiefs which had not yet had reports of anybody infected with the plague.
This way, each of those messengers could focus on reaching their assigned fiefs without worrying about anything else.
After completing their task, they would return to the Capital at once without sticking around for another second.
Those fiefs affected by the plague were already sealed the moment the Royal Medical Association had declared the disease was a plague and was highly contagious.
Therefore, the remaining fiefs were the ones who obtained the Decrees as sending messengers to the infected fiefs could lead to further spread of the disease.
The Royal Medical Association and its men were left in charge of looking after these fiefs and they would have to deal with the people inside it.
Right now, Butler Limo and the Old Butler were hurrying around, gathering the men who would be sent to the numerous towns inside this vast fief.
Each was given a flyer and also asked to make sure that the town elders would be explained about the situation.
Rutherford then spoke a few words to these selected men who would be traveling soon after they received their instructions.
Yvonne watched as those men hurried to the stables where they were assigned horses to travel with as they needed to complete this task at the earliest.
The men with their horses then left the estate but Rutherford's work wasn't done here.
The borders surrounding the fief needed to be shut and this was another task that needed his attention.
Thus, he hurried to his office where he would draft letters to his men guarding the borders with instructions on what needed to be done next.
The rest of the servants hurried to complete their chores that had been put on hold due to the arrival of the messenger early in the morning.
'He's going to work too hard from now on.' The little girl sighed when her father disappeared from her sight.
The plague had now officially begun and chaos would soon ensue throughout the land of Rosenhyde.
Shaking her head, she knew that her father's workload would only increase but there was nothing that she could do about it.
Therefore, Yvonne glanced at her maid who understood the gesture and escorted her back to her room where she would take a long and relaxing bath as she had nothing else to do for the rest of the day.
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