Riz has been stuck in the room for three days now. He has been busy with his proposal on agriculture in Bideford.

He had the servant send the food to his room and left the matter of the company to James. James has grown capable enough to handle the company for him without Charlotte's assistance.

Finally, on the fourth day, he finished writing his plan. He immediately goes to his father's office.

"Knock" "knock" "knock"

"come in"

"Father, I want you to see this", Riz handed over his proposal to Richard.

Richard looked at Riz's plan. The only thing that impressed him is probably the machinery that increases efficiency. He has no doubt about it. He already sees Riz's workshop full of this kind of thing. It is a magnificent sight to behold.

For the four-field system, since there's no data to prove it, he is not convinced enough.

To be honest, the proposal itself is not that great. If Riz handed over such a proposal to his professor back on earth, that proposal will go straight to the trash can.

It's a complete garbage proposal.

There is no preliminary data whatsoever. Only some introduction, hypothesis, thoughts and expected outcome.

What Riz is doing for the past three days is trying to write his proposal with correct words and sentences in a way that it can sound convincing enough to the reader.

"Riz, if someone else gives this to me, I will directly burn it", Richard said.

'Damn, he's worse than my supervisor'

"However...", Richard continues, "since you have proven your capability with that paper company, I'm willing to believe in your plan. I will give you the portion of the field northeast of the town. You can experiment with it. If the results are as you wrote in this proposal then I will implement it in the fief. As for this machinery....you can just find a blacksmith to make it for you but have you ever thought about the manpower that has been liberated?".

"We can order the adult to open more land and we can send the children to the school"

"School? Do you plan to educate them? Do you know what the lords fear the most?"

"..."

"It's when their subject has a book and sword", told Richard

"I don't think they will rebel if we rule them justly. In addition, we need a lot of talent in the future."

"We will talk about this public school stuff later. For now, just prove that your assumption is correct"

"Thank you, Father," Riz immediately left the office.

....

Tegrot City.

It is a city with a population of 36,000 people. It is located in the west of the Bagyarosia Kingdom bordering the Bishopric of Turtevekesia.

"Is what you said true?", asks an old man in his late fifties. He looks slightly fat, with a bald head. Despite his age, he is still strong enough to carry out the tasks as a lord.

"Yes milord, the timing was right." said the knight.

After the knight left, the old man sat on the chair in his office, pondering for a while. He is calculating his next move. The obstacle he needs to eliminate is bigger than he thought. Previously, he thought that he'd already succeeded but that has been proven wrong.

He reached out for the paper on his desk. When he saw the paper, he scoffed at himself. He might be old but he is not stubborn. By now, the parchment industry has basically collapsed. His investment all these years is wasted now. He didn't make any preparation and lost a lot of money in this unanticipated storm.

'One move and it shakes an entire industry.'ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

He starts writing a letter to his daughter, Maria Gyalcakes. She needs to prove that she is useful or else she will be eliminated. He thought that he didn't have to do anything and just wait for Robert to take the mantle but unexpectedly Riz was born with a splitting image of Richard.

Therefore, he decided to eliminate the threat early on. Chance was presented to them when Riz went out to the forest. Since then, it is hard to find a chance to strike him.

"Send this letter to Maria", ordered the count.

After the servant leaves, he is thinking for a while before deciding to write another letter.

....

"No...no way this can be true!!", Maria is looking at the letter sent by her father. The news in the letter is not confirmed yet. It is just a suspicion for now but the reasoning her father wrote sounds convincing enough.

"I need to kill him", resolved Maria. She can't let him grow and overshadow her son. Luckily, she has already started.

Maria called her servant, "Did you do as I ask you to do?"

"Yes milady."

....

In a room that is usually locked away, Richard stares at a portrait of a woman. The woman in the portrait is smiling gracefully. Tears can be seen in the corner of his eyes. He really misses that cheerful lady. Despite the chaos that she experienced, she keeps smiling as if the problem didn't bother her. She was strong and kind to her allies and ruthless to her enemy.

Richard personally saw how she ruthlessly killed the enemy that chasing her. The image that doesn't fit someone who bears the title of 'princess'.

For the past two years, Richard has been blaming himself for her death. He believes that he is responsible for her death.

The woman in the portrait is Richard's deceased wife and Riz's mother, Princess Evelynn Cerdeaux. There are two portraits of her in Ryntum's mansion. One in this room and another was kept away.

Richard decided to hide her portrait due to her identity. Even during her life, she never appears too much in front of the public.

"Milord, there is something I need to report", Edward

"What is it?"

"Maria is making a move toward young master Riz", Edward said. He called Maria by her name in front of Richard without fearing anything. He knows that Richard never regards Maria as the lady of the house.

Richard only treasures Josephine and Eve. Since Eve's death, he always reminds Josephine when they are alone not to encroach on Maria's interest. Josephine is smart enough to understand Richard's meaning.

Therefore, she starts to treat Riz indifferently and asks her children to do the same. Russell followed his mother's order as he himself is not interested in power. He rather spends his time doing art. Only Reina as stubborn as she could be, ignore her mother's order.

"It looks like she is getting restless. Perhaps because Riz has shown his potential now?", asks Richard.

Everybody knows about Riz and his paper. Everybody knows about the strange machine that he designs. The complexity of that alone makes the nobles awe.

Richard knows just how much Riz obtained by selling his blueprint and technical knowledge.

"I think so too milord! She tries to use the same trick again"

ραпdα nᴏνɐ| сom "You took precaution, right?"

"Yes, milord. I have. I have also identified all the rats in the mansion"

"Good, you can leave now. Just keep an eye on them. We will deal with them when the time comes."

"Yes milord"

After Edward leaves, Richard stares at Eve's portrait with calculating eyes. He then muttered, "Did she really thinks I wouldn't notice? They look down on me too much".

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