Chapter 191 - Cim of Thrones????

  The next day was harvest day, and I woke up bright and early after a sweet dream of teaching my dragon child how to py Cat’s Cradle, but we kept tangling up our fingers on the string.

  This time, since it was cold outside, I set up a rge gmping tent for us to stay in while we waited for the chef and his assistants to finish circling the fields with incense burners while chanting prayers in the usual harvest ritual.

  Though the tent wasn’t exactly snug since the entrance was rolled up to allow us to view the ritual, I had set up a few space heaters to ward off the worst of the upcoming winter’s chill. More importantly, the tent was on a wooden ptform, so our feet stayed warm and dry.

  Since Prince Baiyu was eating breakfast with us, the staff had prepared a nice little buffet with hot soups, steamed eggs, stir-fried meat and vegetable dishes, fresh fruit, and, of course, rice. I thought it would be okay to have one rge table for us to eat together, but Fengying said the others wouldn’t feel comfortable dining with the prince, so instead we had several smaller round tables, with me eating with Prince Baiyu and Schor Wu while the others seated themselves freely.

  We ate heartily while chatting about this and that. Soon enough, the ritual was completed and the kids and I set off to harvest the rice.

  “Each pnt has an enormous number of grains! I can’t wait to see how much exp I’ll get!” Mo rubbed her hands together as we walked to the rice field that we had pnted first and was thus the first to be harvested.

  The pnts stood in orderly rows, each one lush and with stems bent under the heavy weight of countless ripened grains. The once-green leaves had turned a golden hue, indicating their readiness for the harvest. As a gentle breeze swept through the field, the pnts swayed in unison, creating a lovely rippling effect across the ndscape.

  “Let’s get those levels!” I said.

  The kids went to their pces and I took out a sickle. After mentally selecting a stack of empty sacks in my inventory, I waved the sickle at the pnts which then disappeared as if by magic. Simultaneously, a sack of rice and a pile of crop residues were automatically added to my inventory. The sack of rice would be sent to the cn ter while the crop residues were the remains of the rest of the rice pnt, which I could ter use to make mulch, compost, or animal feed.

  Each swing of the sickle drained my energy bar, and I stopped when it was nearly depleted, which only took a few minutes.

  Job done, I waited until the others were finished and we returned to the tent together. There, Demon Chef and his assistants were making a special harvest day treat for all of us: fresh crepes with chocote, fruit, nuts, whipped cream, and honey.

  “By the way, beware of eating dairy products from outside,” said Schor Wu as we ate our crepes.

  I got a strawberry and cream crepe while most of the others opted for peach crepes, except for Lari who got a pure chocote one.

  “Because milk spoils easily?” Kharli frowned. “Other pces don’t have refrigerators like Teacher’s house, but rich people have ice boxes.”

  “No, that’s not what I meant. You see, children can easily digest milk. Adults cannot. The three of you came of age this year which means you might not know.” Schor Wu smiled mischievously. “Drinking regur milk as an adult causes…”

  She bent to the side and whispered into Kharli’s ear.

  “No!” Kharli’s eyes widened and she quickly whispered something into Mo’s ears.

  “What is it? Tell me!” Lari turned to Mo, but after Mo whispered in his ear, he drew back and made a face. “A stomach ache is bad enough, but diar-”

  “Don’t say it out loud! People are eating!” Mo rolled her eyes. “Mind your manners, can’t you see there’s a royal here?”

  Prince Baiyu, meanwhile, was looking up at the tent’s ceiling, while eating his peach crepe pretending not to hear.

  “Our milk is special since it’s probably from spirit animals,” I said to the kids. “No need to worry about digestive problems.”

  “It’s true,” said Prince Baiyu. He gestured with a fork. “I wouldn’t dare eat this outside of Emberstone Farm. Cream and milk are just for children in the cns.”

  Shaking my head at the inelegance of the conversation, I got up to request another crepe. They were just too good!

  As, when breakfast was over, Prince Baiyu had to leave. I walked him to the edge of the farm where we said our goodbyes. This time, my household and the royal guards had the decency to give us a little bit of privacy.

  “I’ll be back in twelve days. I’m missing you already,” said Prince Baiyu.

  “Take care of yourself.” I threw my arms around his neck and we kissed.

  When we drew apart, he brushed a stray lock of hair from the side of my face. “Twelve days will feel like an eternity.”

  Unable to speak, I nodded, squeezing his hand one st time before letting go.

  With one st lingering look he took the skies, the royal guards following behind him.

  The kids approached me after they saw him leave and cheered me up by keeping me company until lunchtime when I went back to my [Ranch House] for a nap to replenish my energy.

  During the next few days, we harvested the rice and then moved on to the vegetable fields before hand-picking the tea. Prince Baiyu came by for another visit and left after a few hours, but not without bringing some good news with him. His parents had not only given permission for him to accompany me for the [Finding the Fertile Fields Enchanted Encve] quest, but they were also coming with us.

  In addition, the Lady of the West and her consort sent us the supplies we would need for a winter trip to the frozen mountains of the northern continent. These included quilted jackets, woolen socks, gloves, hats, scarves, warm boots, and quite a number of white fur-lined garments which Fengying identified as made of rare and expensive demon ermine.

  Two days before the end of the harvest season, we finished bringing in all the rice, tea, and vegetables, which gave us some time to rest before the winter season started.

  After finishing today’s work, I was sending the kids off to Anwei with their allowance along with the staff so they could spend their money on whatever they wanted.

  But first, we would use up our energy by pnting [Rice] in the [Greenhouse]. Now that I had cleared more nd, the space around the [Greenhouse] was much prettier because I had put down some lovely stepping stones to make a winding path around it that also went to the main house. Decorative rose bushes and camellia trees lined the path, and there was a charming white ttice arbor with sweet peas climbing over it, all from the Cash Shop, so they were always in full bloom. We all trooped inside and went to the shelves full of seedlings.

  The interior of the [Greenhouse] was alive with pnt life and sunlight that filtered through its gss panels. At the center was an area full of top-grade garden soil in which tree saplings for the desert farm were growing, while on the sides of the building were separate areas for seedling trays and pnt pots, all of which were full of rice pnts. In one corner was a delightful tea nook with a round table and comfortable, overstuffed armchairs, though our current favorite spot for snacks was the [Herb Garden].

  “I think I’ll miss the desert,” said Kharli, apropos of nothing.

  I could tell from her frown that she had been thinking about this a lot. Unfortunately, I was convinced that there were more important things I had to do.

  Due to the looming demon extermination event, I had decided to spend the winter this year drumming up more support from the Bck Tortoise and Vermillion Bird cns instead of pnting more trees in the desert. In her st visit, Kharli had picked up the st of the [Lizardwings] and sold them to the cns.

  “The trees and pnts in the desert can survive on their own now that the rainfall has increased,” I said. “We need to focus on defeating the demon.”

  My apprentices all visibly shuddered.