"Master, the lady found the sapphire mine. The Duke has sent people to investigate!" Victor came out of the room after bleeding and saw the guards rushing in.
"Sapphire mine?" Victor clenched his fists.
"Yes, sapphire mine, what should we do now?" The guard was very worried. The young lady was already favored, but what if the Duke had other thoughts?
"Get ready, I'm going to send blessings to my sister."
"Master?"
"Go quickly!"
"yes."
The guard breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing the young master's confident look, he must have a way to deal with it. In any case, the young master is the heir, and no matter how good the young lady is, she can only marry to another family.
In fact, Victor was not as relaxed as he appeared. As soon as the guards left, he went back to the room to torture the seriously injured middle-aged woman. He only felt happy when he saw the other person begging pitifully for mercy.
As soon as the news of Princess Vivian's discovery of the sapphire mine spread, the whole north was in a state of excitement, and Duke Klein even rushed over to check it out in person.
Three days later, Duke Klein led a hundred knights and guards to Lavia. Although the land in Lavia had already been assigned to Vivian's name when she came here, Duke Klein believed that the sapphire should belong to the entire family.
Of course, Vivian had no intention of occupying such a large mine. After all, her personality was that of an obedient and sensible daughter. However, with the mine, he could negotiate deals with the Duke and deepen his influence, so it would not be a disadvantage.
"Father, you are here!"
Vivian smiled and held Duke Klein's arm. Duke Klein touched her hair and said lovingly: "You, I haven't seen you for three months, and you have lost weight."
"Father, you have worked hard. It is not until today that I understand that being a lord is such a tiring job."
"But you did a good job, I'm glad."
"Well, satisfying my father is my greatest wish."
The father and daughter were talking and laughing. Victor saw this scene from a distance and was so angry that he bit his lip.
"I've met my father, sister."
"Well, you're here, let's go up the mountain together and have a look."
"Yes, father."
The three of them walked side by side. The Duke's attitude towards the two children was obvious. He was gentle and loving towards his daughter, but stern towards his son.
Victor's chest rose and fell more and more, and his heart was almost overwhelmed by anger. Sure enough, as long as his sister is around, his father will never see him!
Everyone finally arrived at the foot of Chilala Mountain. The road up the mountain was uneven and winding. It was very inconvenient to ride a horse and had to walk.
Vivian was in poor health and was out of breath from exhaustion just halfway through. Evans immediately squatted down and carried her up the mountain. Evans is Vivian's escort knight, so no one says anything about their closeness.
Finally arriving at the entrance of the mine, the three knights guarding there quickly came over to salute, and then led everyone into the cave. It was an unusually large cave, with sapphires everywhere inside. Everyone looked at it in admiration.
Sapphire is extremely rare. Not only is it highly abrasive and hard, it also does not degrade over time and is more expensive than gold mines. The Klein family owns two mines, copper and iron, and now with the addition of sapphire, they are no longer the poorest and most backward among the four dukes.
For hundreds of years, because the cold climate in the north is not suitable for people to live in, in order to expand the territory and increase the population, the Klein family has spent a lot of manpower, material resources, and financial resources to develop to this day.
Now with Sapphire, the Klein family can not only support a large number of troops, but also make the city more stable. In order to seize the border Earl's copper mine, he did not hesitate to seduce Maivis to betray the family.
After all, Duke Klein is a selfish person. He couldn't see the pain of his two wives, no, even if he saw it, he wouldn't care. After all, nothing is more important than expanding the family's power.
After seeing the size of the mine with his own eyes, Duke Klein was very satisfied and sent a hundred knights to take charge of the mining. As for the result of the competition between the two children, of course the daughter wins. After all, luck is also a part of strength.
Duke Klein stayed in Lavia for one night, and Vivian confessed her request to him, which was the freedom of marriage.
Duke Klein agreed without hesitation. Instead of letting his daughter get married, it would be better to stay by his side to exert greater value.
Before going to bed, the real Vivian appeared, and she couldn't help but be very excited after hearing what happened during this period.
"Thank you, Lord God. If it weren't for your help, I might have to repeat my mother's life in this life."
"From now on, you and I live together, and you can feel it no matter what I do. When Victor changes his ways, I will return his body to you."
"Lord God, please rest assured, as long as I can make Victor better, I will do my best."
"What a good boy. By the way, what do you usually like? If you have made a great contribution this time, the Duke will definitely reward you."
"Well, I like gems, dresses, famous paintings, and delicious food. Wouldn't it be tacky to say this?"
"No, it's very cute."
The two talked all night long and didn't fall asleep until dawn.
The next day, Vivian accompanied Duke Klein back to the mansion, and the mine development was handed over to others, and the rest of the matter had nothing to do with her.
Victor went back to the territory to do the finishing work before returning to the Duke's Palace. Along the way, he was thinking about how to get rid of Vivian. Originally, many people in the family were opposed to him becoming the heir. Now that Vivian has made a meritorious service, they will definitely take this opportunity to suppress him.
Damn it, what do I have to do to kill her!
While Victor was indignant, Vivian was visiting a jewelry store. The Duke specially set aside a day to go shopping with her. As long as she took a second look at something, the Duke would buy it with a wave of his hand.
This kind of favor quickly spread throughout the north, and many nobles secretly made up their minds to win over their eldest daughter, even if they couldn't get married, they still had to have a good relationship. Therefore, after Vivian returned home, she received countless invitations every day, such as tea parties, birthday parties, poetry gatherings...
She was not interested in such a party, so she returned her body to its original owner and let the real Vivian go out to relax.
Five days later, Victor returned home. Vivian did not dare to face him and gave her body to the Lord God. To this day, she cannot accept the fact that her biological brother killed her.
After dinner in the evening, the Duke said: "Victor, Vivian, get ready and accompany me to the royal capital in three days."
"Yes, father." The siblings replied respectfully.
The four great dukes will go to the royal capital every year to attend a meeting of nobles during the New Year, firstly to report on the development of the territory, and secondly to express their loyalty to the royal family.
Duke Klein used to keep a low profile when attending noble meetings, mainly due to the remoteness of the north and its backward economy. Therefore, he is the one with the smallest military strength among the four great dukes, and the royal family is quite relieved.
Now that things about the sapphire mine cannot be concealed, increasing the number of troops while reassuring the royal family is the top priority of this trip.
"Madam, how are you doing recently?" After Duke Klein explained the matter to the two children, he turned to look at the quiet lady.
"Much better. When I go to the Royal Capital this time, can I-" Mavis has never been to the Royal Capital. He missed the coming-of-age ceremony because of illness. Later, he had no chance to marry into the Duke's Palace.
"The Duke's Palace is entrusted to you." Duke Klein seemed not to see the expectation in his wife's eyes and said calmly.
"I understand, just go ahead."
Mavis lowered his head silently, and Vivian couldn't help but advise: "Father, if you have this rare opportunity, take mother with you. If chaos breaks out in the north after the master has been away for a month, it means they have betrayed your trust."
"Can your body support a long journey?" Duke Klein asked Mavis after thinking for a moment.
"Yes, I will bring the doctor just in case." Maivis's eyes suddenly brightened, and her voice was two pitches higher than usual, which showed that she was really excited.
"Then let's go together."
After the Duke finished speaking, he stood up and left. Mavis looked at Vivian movedly. She is only twenty-six years old, but she feels as old as fifty-six years old. All this is thanks to her ruthless husband. If she were more sincere, she would not be so cautious.
At the end of December, Vivian and others came to the royal capital, and their residence was still the Winter Palace. On New Year's Day, a banquet was held in the palace, and all the nobles from earl to above were dressed up to attend, and the scene was extremely lively.
