Edmund waited for Ariadne in her office while taking notes on his tablet. In the corner of the page, he had a drawing of his prototype train, and he was calculating how much he would need to make it on a large scale for transportation.

  Tapping his pen on top of a number clarified that he was frustrated by the number of people he would need for such an endeavor. They would need to have the population of the kingdom make it possible. The duchy alone was just land; it didn’t have a large population, as it was a buffer zone and a way to isolate the Chatzi population and their families. He looked up and crossed his arms deeply, putting his tablet aside.

  ‘We need more people.’ Edmund murmured.

  Ariadne entered her office, walked past Edmund, and sat in her chair behind the desk. She tapped her fan on the desk because she didn’t like how the young man ignored her.

  ‘Peasant, I would like to ask you for devices everyone can use; we need to increase trade and ?taxes.’ She held up her fan and pointed at Edmund.

  ‘I have some ideas; with the help of my students, we can make it faster than before, but that would not cause the kingdoms to turn against you?’ Edmund picked up his tablet and browsed.

  ‘We will not trade with Velvent or Lavan; instead, we will deal with the kingdoms in the north and do two versions, one for nobles and an affordable one for commoners. I need as much gold as possible before Velvent and Lavan notice what we have.’ Asione grinned.

  ‘Well, for the projects I’m considering, we require more personnel, which would also be advantageous for you because it would increase the number of soldiers.’ With an outstretched arm, Edmund handed Ariadne his table.

  ‘This is a better version of that thing you showed me that can chill water. As my name spreads with these tools that everyone can use, it will be a checkmate if I can make them use more direct-use tools. While speaking, she was scrolling through the tablet.

  ‘But even if that works, I think it's better to focus on increasing the population of the duchy first, security in numbers.’ Edmund taps the chair's arm.

  ‘I am ahead of you on this, peasant; your mind cannot comprehend how far I am. I need you to show me more branches we can go to, ' she said, lying back in her chair?.

  ‘I get it; you are smart; sometimes you just want to boost me.’ Edmund looked at her, confused.

  ‘What? Do you think I want to impress someone like yourself, peasant?' She asked.

  Ariadne ?used her fan to cover her face, showing just her deep-read eyes, making the young man embarrassed.

  Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

  ‘It was just a joke; I'm sorry.’ He awkwardly said.

  His eyes seemed lost; he couldn’t look directly at her like a force pulled his vision away from her intimidating eyes.

  ‘Hum… Right now, I have people spreading the word to the Chatzi who are still living outside the duchy, isolated in fear, that they can have a safe place to live and prosper.’ Ariadne, stud up.

  As she drew nearer to the window to watch the soldiers training, a young Chatzi who was performing pushups alone on the corner noticed her watching and stooped up and waved at her with a big smile on his face. She gave the young man a quick wave, and right after, Alan quickly slapped the boy on the arm, looked at Ariadne through the window, and bowed. This made her laugh.

  ‘If we can have someone of noble blood, it would be nice; healing is the only thing we can’t do with my devices; a healer assisting a doctor would improve the dungeon's survival rate.’ He taps his chin.

  ‘What are you talking about, peasant? Healing magic, something from legend, is not real.’ From the corner of her eye, Ariadne glanced at Edmund.

  ‘I am ahead of you on this, duchess; your mind cannot comprehend how far I am; I need you to fill the gaps or show me more branches we can go to.’ He looked back at Ariadnes and laughed aloud.

  ‘Trying to be funny, hum? Just get to the point.’ She smiled.

  ‘I know how to do healing magic; all we need are the nobles.' We could even use the batteries to speed up the process and help the mage.’ Edmund tapped his chin.

  ‘What?’ Ariadne suddenly turned around.

  ‘It’s no big deal, just some training and stuff.’ He sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘Eliza!!!’ Ariadne yelled.

  As usual, Eliza was waiting outside the office; she started with Ariadne’s voice and rushed inside.

  ‘What can I do for you, your highness?’ She quickly approached the duchess and bowed.

  ‘The peasant there will teach you healing magic.’ Ariadne pointed to Edmund.

  ‘But it is just a legend; is it possible, Edmund?’’ Eliza faced Edmund while holding her hands close to her chest.

  ‘Yes, it is not that hard if you put your mind to it, but wait, are you a noble?” He stood up and approached Eliza.

  Edmund seized Eliza's hand as he gazed into her eyes. Ariadne had a noticeable smile on her face. Eliza saw the duchess smile out of the corner of her eye, and that sent shivers down her spine.

  ‘Try to infuse me with pure magic without using an incantation to gather it.’ He gripped her hands.

  ‘What do you mean? Without an incantation, how am I supposed to gather magic? And I just know basic magic used to light a candle.’ Eliza gave Edmund a perplexed look.

  ‘The catch is that you must gather magic all by yourself to use healing, and healing magic accelerates what your body can do by itself. You cannot simply say, “Bla bla bla, heal." ’ Edmund releases Eliza's hands and steps backward.

  ‘Peasant, what you are saying is completely crazy; all the books I read say that what you are saying right now is impossible, but let’s try; I want results.’ The tip of Ariadne's right index finger touched her lips.

  ‘She only needs to practice with a rifle battery; cast a spell until the magic is gathered, then think back on the experience and try to recreate it to charge the battery with her hand.’ He hands Eliza a battery that he pulled from his pocket.

  Eliza takes the battery with both hands and nods to Ariadne. Edmund then starts to leave the room, and Ariadne uses her fan to hit the desk, which draws Edmund's attention and causes him to turn around.

  ‘You only leave when I say so, peasant.’ Ariadne put her two hands on the desk, looking at Edmund.

  ‘I’m sorry. What can I do for Your Highness?’ He bows to the duchess while lowering his gaze.

  ‘You need to train her daily; this is important.’ Ariadne reclines in her chair.

  ‘It was my fault that I didn’t say that. Don’t worry, Eliza; I will teach to the best of my abilities. Can I leave Duchess?' He looked at Ariadne.

  ‘Fine peasant, and Eliza, please serve me some tea.’ Ariadne gestured with her hand to Eliza.

  Edmund exited the office and began to go to his room, looking up and trying to think of a better way for Eliza to learn healing magic.

  ‘If I use the concept of the nail and create a conduit to make it easy to gather magic, it will help.’ Edmund talked to himself.