"Of course," Lucas smiled gently.
Catherine, who had been bracing herself for rejection, was instantly taken aback. The bitter expression on her face dissolved into astonishment. She hadn't expected Lucas to agree so readily.
"R-really? Is it really okay?" Catherine raised her head, looking at Lucas with slightly misty eyes.
With the passage of time, her resentment had faded considerably. Today's events had struck a chord, reminding her of the good things Kerrac had done for her—even if they were done with ulterior motives.
"It's nothing. You should go see him; he is your father, after all." Lucas stood up, walked over to Catherine, and handed her a handkerchief.
"Thank you." Catherine took the handkerchief and lowered her head, dabbing at the tears that were threatening to spill.
It was true; Kerrac and Tove were her family. Even though they had treated her like merchandise and a bargaining chip, they had still raised her.
"Go get ready," Lucas said with a warm smile.
"Mhm." Catherine nodded softly, clutching the handkerchief as she left the study.
Creak...
Right outside the study, Catherine ran into Lucy. Lucy had actually been waiting out there for a while, but since Catherine was discussing private matters with Lucas, she hadn't wanted to interrupt.
Seeing Catherine come out, Lucy immediately offered a few words of comfort. "Are you alright?"
"Are you here to see Lord Lucas too?" Catherine shook her head, her mood already much improved. She looked at Princess Lucy curiously, surprised to see her here as well.
"Yes," Lucy nodded.
"Is it about the Fourth Prince?" Catherine could guess the purpose of Lucy's visit.
"Yes. I heard Lord Lucas arranged some work for him, so I'd like to go see him," Lucy said with a faint smile.
Catherine nodded. She was well aware of what the Fourth Prince had done. From what she'd heard, Lucas was already being incredibly lenient with him—at the very least, he hadn't locked him away in some dark, sunless dungeon.
The two women said their goodbyes. Since it was already dark, Catherine would have to wait until tomorrow to visit the Security Department, where Kerrac and Tove were currently being held.
Knock, knock, knock... Lucy stood outside the door for a moment before knocking. Only after receiving a response did she push the door open and enter, wanting to avoid any misunderstandings.
"Come in." Lucas obviously knew Lucy was outside and had been waiting for her. With his current hearing, he had clearly picked up on their conversation outside.
Creak...
Lucy walked in, biting her lip as she looked at Lucas.
"Lucy, what is it?" Lucas asked, pretending not to know.
"Liam has been assigned some work, and I was wondering if I could go see him. Is that alright?" Lucy looked a bit embarrassed, but instead of lowering her head, she looked Lucas straight in the eye.
"No problem. The task I've given him isn't strenuous," Lucas said, a slight curve appearing at the corner of his mouth, his tone very gentle.
Of course it wasn't strenuous. The job Lucas had assigned him was merely assembling matchboxes. Compared to the knights who had been sent to the mines, it was a ridiculously easy gig.
"Thank you," Lucy said earnestly.
To Lucy, the person she hated the most was still the First Prince; after all, he was the one who had murdered her father. Her hatred for the Fourth Prince, conversely, wasn't nearly as intense.
"It's nothing." Lucas chuckled lightly, completely unfazed.
Shortly after, Lucy also took her leave.
"..." Lucas watched the door close and shook his head. To him, this was a trivial matter; he didn't mind at all. It was better to be sentimental than heartless.
It was like a family dog dying; people would occasionally think back on it. After all, they had spent time together, and the longing would naturally fade with time.
Annie's birthday today had triggered their sentimentality. Catherine and Lucy's reactions were simply manifestations of that longing. Having left the places they grew up in, a sudden wave of nostalgia had prompted them to subconsciously seek out familiar people and things to reminisce about.
Their hatred would eventually fade as well, ultimately turning into a feeling of complete estrangement.
He picked up the letter on his desk and resumed reading.
This letter was sent from the chaotic lands by Annie's older sister, Perry. It contained recent intelligence regarding the Second Prince, as well as a greeting for her younger sister.
"It seems the Second Prince is getting antsy." Lucas put the letter down, a faint smirk playing on his lips. He still had a fairly solid grasp on the situation in the East.
However, he had no intention of getting involved just yet. His current priority was to fully digest and consolidate the Western territories. Letting the First and Second Princes duke it out for a while was fine by him.
It wouldn't be a short conflict, and when the time was right, he would intervene with full force.
The next morning, just past eight o'clock.
Early in the morning, Lucy arrived at a workshop in the southern part of city. Attached to it was a courtyard complex housing people who had committed crimes. The Fourth Prince lived here.
The gates to the courtyard were tightly shut and guarded by knights. Along the top of the enclosing walls were coiled lines of barbed wire to prevent escapes.
Inside the courtyard, the Fourth Prince, Liam, sat heavily in a chair, his obese frame spilling over the edges. In front of him were stacks of pre-cut cardboard pieces—a new type of sturdy paper recently developed by the Research Department, ideal for packaging fragile items.
Next to the stacks were several small, rectangular paper boxes, no more than two fingers wide.
These boxes were assembled from the cardboard using a specific type of plant-based glue also developed by the Research Department. It was a grayish-white, sticky substance extracted from the sap of a tree found in the Forbidden Mountains.
These tiny boxes were intended for matches.
Yes, matches. Now that they had saltpeter and sulfur, manufacturing matches was a breeze. Matches would drastically improve the quality of life for the residents of Sedona City. After all, starting a fire for cooking was no simple task; matches would make things vastly more convenient.
"Damn that Lucas, making me do this menial manual labor," Liam cursed under his breath, though his hands didn't dare slow down. After all, his output directly determined whether or not he would get to eat tonight.
That was the rule. Only if the number of matchboxes he assembled met the quota set by Lucas would he be given food; otherwise, he'd go hungry.
Initially, the disgraced Liam had flat-out refused. The idea of a dignified prince having to exchange physical labor for food was completely unacceptable to him.
But after starving for a few meals, he had no choice but to obediently get to work. Because here, no one gave a damn that he used to be the fourth prince.
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