stonecrandall Chapter 63 Schemes
Chapter 63 Schemes
At this distance, Cecilia couldn't block the sword for the boy; all she could do was futilely call out, "Stop!"
Surprisingly, Vanillai really stopped.
Her control over the sword was incredibly precise. Even when she drew her sword with great force, she could retract it with unbelievable speed. So speed that Cecilia almost thought she had no intention of killing anyone from the beginning, but was just trying to force her to speak.
Vanilla's golden-purple eyes narrowed slightly, and the corners of her mouth turned up: "How wonderful, you see, now you're at someone else's mercy again."
The woman's attitude was cryptic; she didn't seem to be in a hurry to act. Cecilia suddenly realized something, her anxious expression vanished, and she looked at the woman with certainty, saying, "You have something to talk to me about. What do you need me to do for you?"
"You finally figured it out, my dear Cecilia. Although it's a little later than I expected, it's not too late now. You just brought me a new surprise, so it would be better if I offered some new terms." Vanilla's gaze swept over the wind sprite in her hand, seemingly not feeling that she should humble herself to ask for her help.
And that was indeed the case; from the very beginning, what she wanted was not to negotiate with Cecilia and get her to compromise.
The house arrest she's been under these past few days was an experiment in submission, and now it's time to see the results.
"Please tell me, Cecilia, are you a member of the Lawrence family?"
Her words contradicted Cecilia's initial assumptions.
She had initially thought that Vanilla didn't care about the answer to this question, otherwise she wouldn't have never asked it during the many days she had been under house arrest. But now that Vanilla had spoken up, there must be a reason. Cecilia was unsure how Vanilla wanted her to answer.
Vanila always said she wouldn't harm her people, and she initially did act that way, but tonight she didn't seem to be showing any mercy at all...
Cecilia looked at her, and Vanilla was also looking at her.
Although the latter was kind enough not to press for an answer, Cecilia knew she had to figure it out as soon as possible, because the battle had clearly exposed her identity, but Vanilla seemed oblivious and was still pressing her for an answer.
What kind of answer does she really want?
Cecilia had never thought of herself as so stupid.
She bit her lower lip tightly, completely absorbed in her thoughts, unaware that her lip had been bitten open and was even bleeding.
But the wind spirit saw it.
The little guy, exhausted and slumped in her palm, tried to wake her with his weak voice even though he was too tired to move.
But his voice was too soft for Cecilia to hear or respond.
The wind sprite had no choice but to scratch her palm with all his might. This gesture finally caught Cecilia's attention, and her downcast eyes were full of confusion and bewilderment.
Until she saw the wind sprite smile at her—the little guy could only think of this way to encourage her since they couldn't communicate in the same language.
Cecilia suddenly had a sense of déjà vu. She didn't know if it was because she had seen Wendy's phantom in the wind sprite not long ago, but she really felt that the wind sprite was smiling exactly like Wendy when she encouraged him to sing by the window.
Cecilia's wildly beating heart suddenly calmed down, as if she had found something to rely on. She took a deep breath and finally made her choice.
"I'm sorry, sir, I have no connection with the Lawrence family," she said.
Vanilla's expression turned into a half-smile, and she asked again, "With the evidence irrefutable, are you sure you really want to answer me like that? Cecilia, I've always been kind to you, and now I'm willing to give you another chance to change your mind."
"No need," Cecilia shook her head. "My lord, I don't understand what evidence you're talking about. I only know that I have absolutely no connection with the Lawrence family."
Vanilla's face darkened, and his eyes, sharp as knives, stared intently at her.
Cecilia was not intimidated by her gaze: "My lady, what I said is the truth."
Without warning, Vanilla suddenly burst into laughter, leaving Cecilia, who was still seriously considering her next move, completely bewildered.
The former probably knew that his current behavior seemed rather neurotic, and quickly regained his composure, though he couldn't quite hide the smile on his lips: "Ahem, very good. I hope you will remember your answer tonight and answer in the same way no matter what happens in the future."
Cecilia looked even more bewildered.
Vanilla didn't rush to answer her question, but instead said, "Alright, tonight's farce should end now, and your friends need to rest. Des, take these three away first."
The servant who was suddenly called out immediately responded and led the three boys, who were no longer able to resist, away.
Cecilia hesitated, her awkward expression eliciting a sneer from Vanilla: "Don't worry, it's all over. I won't lay a hand on them anymore. As for you, come with me."
Perhaps realizing that there was no point in refusing, Cecilia did not argue and quietly followed behind her, adjusting the wind sprite's position to prevent it from feeling uncomfortable when she moved around.
The little guy affectionately rubbed against her fingertips.
*
Vanilla led her to her study, where the documents on the table were still laid out, just as they had been before she left.
Cecilia kept her head down cautiously to avoid accidentally seeing anything she shouldn't.
"Don't be nervous. Since I brought you here, it must be so you can see these." With no one else around, Vanillari was clearly much more relaxed. She leaned back in her chair in a comfortable but not very elegant posture and took out a few documents from the drawer and threw them on the table.
Cecilia frowned slightly and picked up a book to read.
This is the Lawrence family's income and expenditure situation last year.
Upon seeing the huge imbalance between income and expenditure, Cecilia paused, "This..." This is a bit too far-fetched...
As if guessing what she was going to say, Vanilla leaned back and said, "This is a private account, different from the public account submitted to Lord Dekalapian. It records the Lawrence family's true situation. Although it seems unbelievable, it is indeed last year's income and expenditure."
"By the way, you should know about Lord Dekalapian's sudden change a few years ago, right?"
Cecilia was well aware that the boy had explained the current state of the territory to her when they first met, so she nodded.
"Since that's the case, I won't bother explaining. In short, Lord Dekalapian suddenly raised taxes in various regions for some reason. This had previously sparked protests from other families because the increases were far too much, almost exceeding what the common people could afford. Lord Dekalapian is usually easy to talk to, so one of the clan chiefs directly raised the issue." She paused here, looking at Cecilia, "Cecilia, do you know what happened to him?"
Before the latter could answer, she smiled and lightly traced a line on her neck: "He became the chicken in the story of killing the chicken to scare the monkey."
Cecilia's breath hitched.
"So no one dared to protest anymore. In any case, although this policy was cruel, Lord Dekalapian had carefully calculated it. The remaining resources were more than enough for everyone to survive, it was just that life was much more difficult than before. Unfortunately, the people in the Lawrence family's territory were not among those who survived."
Cecilia knew about this: "Because of last year's drought?"
"Yes. At that time, Lord Dekalapian for some reason offended the rain god. In order to show off, the god stopped the rain from falling in part of his territory. Unfortunately, the Lawrence family's territory, being on the edge, was the first to suffer from this drought."
As the matriarch of the Lawrence family, upon realizing that the harvest after the drought could not meet the tax demands of Dekalapian, she immediately went to see the great man. However, her arrival was too coincidental, as Dekalapian had just killed a demon who had offended the place, and his killing intent had not yet subsided.
Vanilla realized almost immediately that her request would not end well, so she said nothing and brushed off the audience with something else.
But what about taxes? Vanilla couldn't bear to watch everyone in her territory endure so many hardships only to die because of this, so she took it upon herself to use the Lawrence family's treasury to make up the shortfall.
However, this situation of only spending and not earning could not last long. The impact of the drought could not be completely offset in just one or two years. By the end of this year, the Lawrence family's granaries were completely empty.
Vanilla realized that things couldn't continue like this. Even though the Lawrence family had managed to protect themselves under her leadership and had even become the most prominent family, what good was mere superficial prosperity? She had to change the status quo.
But how can this be changed? Should she risk her life to defy the demon god's command?
Vanilare was not afraid of death, especially since this death was a sacrifice for her people. However, she loathed the powerlessness of not being able to change anything after death. What if her death did not earn Lord Dekalapian's leniency?
Just then, she spotted the boy.
This strange fellow seemed to be plotting something behind the scenes. It took Vanirali quite a bit of effort to figure out that his ambition was to overthrow the tyrannical rule of Dekalapian, which was truly unbelievable.
Even more incredibly, he managed to win over the heirs of the Gunnhild and Legnfender families, which made Vanirari reassess his value and ultimately conclude that this path might not be unfeasible.
Or rather, even if it doesn't work, she has to believe it does.
However, Vanilla carries the weight of the entire Lawrence family and everyone within its territory on her shoulders, so she must choose carefully and not really put all her eggs in one basket with the boy.
The best solution is to arrange for someone who has no apparent connection to the Lawrence family but is secretly entangled with them to join the resistance.
If the boy succeeds, the Lawrence family can gain a foothold in the new world through him; if the boy fails, it doesn't matter, it will just maintain the status quo. She can even use the pretext of betrayal by members of the Gunnhild and Legnfind families to annex them and solve the Lawrence family's current predicament.
But who is this person?
Just then, Vanilla met Cecilia, a girl who looked almost exactly like her mother.
(End of this chapter)
The author says: My friend: ...This is so brain-burning. It's really not easy being the head of a family. Doesn't Vanilla Rui get tired of thinking so much?
I:……
Friend: Huh? Why aren't you saying anything? Don't you find this a bit of a brain teaser?
I:……
Friend: (Turns head) Holy crap! When did you faint?!
*
Writing these things may seem to be burning the mistress's brain, but actually it's emptying my brain (I died on the spot).