Walking out of the rolling violet forest, the view suddenly broadens.
What caught Charlotte's eyes was a vast plain. Standing on the hills, she could see criss-crossing river systems, dotted lakes and ponds, as well as reeds, haystacks, and shrubs interspersed between the water systems. and large swaths of farmland.
The winding stone road leads into the distance, cleverly connecting farmland one after another. At the junction of the roads, you can see villages with faint smoke.
Windmills of various sizes stand around the villages and in the farmland, rotating slowly. If you look closely, you can see farmers busy in the fields and craftsmen driving donkey carts filled with goods in and out of the windmill mill.
The clear sky is blue and pure. Occasionally, you can see a big black bird soaring in the sky and leaping between the water systems. It is a unique falcon in the North, and it is also the source of the Castel clan emblem.
What an infinitely beautiful pastoral scenery!
Charlotte could keenly feel that everything here exuded an aura of prosperity, far beyond the deep and lonely Violet Forest or the vast and sparsely populated countryside of the Principality of Boulder.
And if you look up to the extreme, you can even see the city and castle located in the vertical and horizontal water system in the northeast, surrounded by silver-gray walls.
Continuing to walk due north along the city, you can still see the beautiful scenery of water and sky at the end of your field of vision.
That's the sea.
Or to be more precise, the Star-Moon Strait facing the Fallen Star Kingdom to the north and south.
The Castel Territory is originally a territory near the sea.
Standing on the hills, Charlotte looked far into the distance. After leaving the forest, or because of the offshore location, the oncoming wind was obviously stronger.
Although it was far from being called a cold breeze, it was clearly beyond the scope of a breeze and blew her beautiful blond hair a little messy.
Charlotte smoothed her hair and looked at the paradise-like world in the distance with burning eyes, feeling a feeling of excitement in her heart.
She was finally here, in her territory.
From now on, wherever she looks, it belongs to Castel's land!
As the mighty convoy left the Violet Forest, everyone's expressions became relaxed and bright.
As soon as the convoy walked out of the forest, a knight in full armor came from a distance with more than thirty cavalry, and seemed to have been waiting at the exit of the forest.
Baron Sharon, who was leading the team at the front, obviously knew the knight. After exchanging a few words, he brought the knight to meet Charlotte.
The strange knight, led by Baron Chalon, came to the carriage and bowed respectfully to the carriage:
"Angus de Val, the commander of the cavalry of the Earl of Castres, is here to pay his respects to the Earl!"
Shirley, who was also sitting in the carriage, opened the gauze curtain for Charlotte, and Charlotte also saw clearly the knight kneeling on one knee.
This is a middle-aged man who looks to be about forty years old, with a determined expression.
Charlotte had studied the relevant information about the Earl of Castells in advance and quickly recognized the other party's identity through the name he reported.
Angus de Valais, one of the seventeen fief barons directly under the Earl of Castres, the contemporary head of the Valais family, and the knight commander of the Earl of Castres.
At the same time, he is also the gateway to the Castel Territory and the Violet Principality, and the city lord of Walai City.
The city Charlotte just saw on the hills was Walai City.
Looking at the resolute knight in front of her, Charlotte quickly recalled the archives she had seen in the study at Castel Manor.
The Valais family is one of the noble families in the Earl of Castel that supports the Castel family the most.
The contemporary head of the family, Angus de Valais, succeeded to the throne at the age of seventeen. He followed the Earl and Countess of Castells in the war for more than ten years, and participated in the Roman Campaign to repel the massive invasion of the Fallen Star Kingdom.
Angus de Valais himself is taciturn, does not like to socialize, and does not like to form cliques. His only hobby is sword fighting. He is a swordsman who is obsessed with sword skills and a serious knight, but unfortunately he has no talent. Jia, you can only be trapped in the rank of stars for the rest of your life.
Charlotte saw all this information in the files in Castel's study, and those files were all left by her father, the previous Earl of Castel.
Although it has been ten years, it still has certain reference value.
By the way, Baron Chalon's family, Leon Castells, is also one of the families recorded in the archives that has always been loyal to the count. This is something Charlotte only found out after carefully looking through the archives.
Of course, unlike the Valais family, Len-Castle's title is Viscount, and he is also one of the only three feudal viscounts in the Earldom of Castells.
The fiefdom of the Leon-Castle family is just northeast of Wallai City.
"With all due respect, Sir Angus."
Putting away her divergent thoughts, Charlotte said gently.
Her voice was gentle and gentle, neither overly enthusiastic nor distant, but just right at a level that made people feel comfortable and could not help but feel close to her.
After practicing the Bloodline Way of Spiritual Resonance for so long, even if Charlotte doesn't use the Dignity Technique or the Word of Charm, her level in this aspect is not low.
After receiving Charlotte's order, Angus stood up again, and then said in a deep voice:
"Your Majesty, you have worked hard all the way. The Valais family has prepared a dinner. Please allow me to welcome you on behalf of the people of the Valais Barony."
Angus obviously really doesn't like socializing.
When Charlotte was invited to Walai City for the banquet, she also looked serious and stiff, as if she was studying, exactly as recorded in the archives of Castel's study.
Charlotte did not directly respond to Baron Angus' invitation, but looked behind him:
"Are you the only ones here from the Walai family?"
"Your Majesty, Baron Valais is the gateway from the Violet Forest to the Castel Territory. The distance is relatively close, and the news was received early. The other families are relatively far away, so they probably don't know yet."
"We know you're coming north this way."
Angus said solemnly.
Charlotte:…
Is this answer too honest?
Isn't it time to show off in front of the lord and step on the nobles who didn't come?
Charlotte gave the baron a strange look, and was convinced that he was an honest man.
As for the reason why the other nobles didn't come, she didn't believe it at all.
As for the honest man in Hu Nong, with so many family representatives following him in the motorcade, Charlotte couldn't believe that none of them sent out the news in advance before entering the Violet Forest.
In the supernatural world with magic, it is very convenient to conduct magic communication at the magic association station in the city.
However, it was normal that no one came to pick her up.
This is not the emperor's southern tour. Even as a count, the degree of centralization of the Castel Territory is not that high, and the lord's restraint on his vassals is not that strong.
This is a matter of coming and going if you like it, and not coming if you don’t like it, and no one is forcing it.
Not to mention that Charlotte had just succeeded to the throne and had no prestige at all.
"Sir Angus, thank you very much for your invitation, but... I wasted too much time along the way, and I don't plan to attend any banquets before returning to Beigang."
Charlotte said gently.
Yes, I won’t attend the party.
Charlotte had already thought about it before entering the Castel Territory. She did not plan to attend any noble banquets before returning to Castel's main city of Northport.
In fact, it doesn't matter whether anyone comes to greet her after entering the territory.
Every time Duke Bold came back from outside, not all the nobles would rush towards the Duke's Mansion like licking dogs. That was the lord, not the father.
But judging from the envoys sent by various families in the Earl of Castells to attend her coming-of-age and succession ceremonies, these families indeed did not attach much importance to her.
You know, Quasimodo had summoned all the families in each territory.
And this is not the first time that he has been summoned. After the incident of the Blood Demon in Castel Manor, the nobles from the territory were summoned to come to "escort" him.
Of course, no one moved in the end, and the response was that the mage tower of the Mage Association in the territory was broken.
Charlotte could almost predict that after entering the territory and continuing to attend large and small banquets, she would probably also face a show of hypocrisy and subterfuge to make the children happy.
Not paying attention means not caring, not caring means contempt and belittlement, means prevaricating and flirting, means the growth of ambition, etc...
Charlotte was too lazy to do this anymore. She had attended various banquets along the way. She was also used to intrigues and intrigues, and knew that the nobles were best at disguising.
If possible, before returning to the main city, she did not want to enter the home court of any noble, and create the first impression of the other party that the other party wanted to give her in the environment created by the other party.
Although having the Castel family's files allowed her to have a preliminary understanding of the nobles in the territory, the first impression was still very important, and a wrong first impression could easily lead to misjudgment.
She wanted to see what the attitude of these nobles was towards her, and what the nobles themselves were like.
She wanted to see how many nobles would come to see her if she didn't visit them.
Of course, the Walai family might really want to invite her.
But since she decided not to attend any noble banquets, Charlotte naturally couldn't make such an excuse.
Charlotte's polite refusal obviously caught the middle-aged knight off guard.
He was stunned for a moment, obviously not knowing how to answer. After scratching his head, he said in a deep voice:
"Okay, then... my subordinates will serve as bodyguards and escort you to Beigang together with Lord Sharon."
Charlotte glanced at the middle-aged knight in surprise, and now believed that the other party really belonged to the loyalist faction.
"Then thank you for your hard work, Mr. Angus."
She smiled brightly and spoke gently.
That bright smile made Baron Angus obviously stunned for a moment. The smile full of good looks and charm was always very lethal, even the taciturn middle-aged knight lost his mind for a moment.
But he reacted quickly and bowed his head respectfully.
Then, the baron knight got on his horse again, and together with Baron Chalon, protected the front of Charlotte's carriage.
One on the left and one on the right, like two Dharma protectors.
"The Valais family...during my coming-of-age ceremony, the messenger who came was Baron Angus's younger brother, right?"
Charlotte lowered the gauze curtain and asked.
"Yes."
Across from her, Shirley answered as she filled a glass of milk for her.
Charlotte nodded slightly.
The head of the house's younger brother participated in her coming-of-age ceremony, which was considered high among all the visiting noble family envoys.
Baron Angus's cavalry joined Castle's convoy, and Charlotte set off again.
This time, the convoy did not take a detour to Walai City in the northeast, but went north along the main road in the earldom.
Those caravans that finally reached their destination also said goodbye to the Castel family's convoy and left. Along the way, they paid "protection fees", allowing Charlotte to make a small profit of almost two thousand quintana in pocket money.
Without the caravan accompanying them, Castel's convoy moved faster. According to Baron Angus, it would take at most three days to arrive.
The Earldom of Castres is large, very large.
As far as Charlotte knows, its size is equivalent to one-third of the Principality of Boulder, and the officially recorded area is about 120,000 square kilometers.
Judging from the map, the shape of the entire principality is roughly a 120-degree arc-shaped obtuse-angled triangle, with the obtuse-angled side facing northeast and the north facing the Star-Moon Strait, which is also where Northport, the capital of the Castel Territory, is located.
By the way, the population of the earldom is said to be over five million.
When Charlotte first knew these data, she really couldn't help but click her tongue. Seriously speaking, this scale is completely equivalent to a principality. Even if it is placed in a background similar to Blue Star, it is still a very important prince.
Of course, the world of Miria has extraordinary power, and the scale of its administrative divisions is obviously much larger than that of Blue Star's similar history. For example, the population of the Crescent Kingdom is said to be eighty or ninety million.
But even so, the Castel Territory is 100% a big noble. Even if it is independent from the Principality of Bold and placed in the Crescent Kingdom, it will be a big force.
The convoy went all the way north. Gradually, there were more towns on the way, and there were more and more pedestrians on the road.
The people in the Castel Territory are obviously wealthier. Even the farmers are dressed similarly to the residents in the urban areas outside Boulder. You know, in the countryside of Boulder, the farmers Charlotte saw were dressed the same as those in the suburbs. Beggars are almost the same.
However, what surprised Charlotte was that the faces of pedestrians on the road changed slightly after seeing the Castel family's motorcade. They stopped what they were doing and moved to both sides, or hid far away and used a He looked at the Castel family emblem on the motorcade with a rather complex and even hostile gaze.
"Why are they looking at us like that?"
Charlotte frowned, opened the curtain and looked doubtfully at Baron Angus riding a horse outside.
Baron Angus looked hesitant.
Seeing the other party like this, Charlotte's heart skipped a beat.
"It's okay. If anything happens, just tell me."
she said.
Angus hesitated for a moment and said in a deep voice:
"Lord Earl, actually...there have been bad rumors in the Earldom recently..."
