Chapter 116 : Chapter 116
Chapter 116. A Cup of Tea Called... Trust
The next day, on the training ground.
“Relax your shoulders. Don’t tense them so much... yes, just like that...
Keep your eye, your sight, and the center of the target in one line... slow your breathing, don’t hold it... release your fingers naturally...”
Standing behind Young Duke Constantine, Eli patiently corrected his posture and explained the fundamentals of archery.
He truly could not withstand the young duke’s constant wheedling, and Sir Lucius seemed to have tacitly approved of the arrangement as well.
So he accepted this temporary role as an archery instructor.
Constantine was studying with remarkable seriousness. His little face was drawn tight as he did his best to imitate the movements Eli had just demonstrated.
His motions were still somewhat raw and stiff, but compared with the wild, forceful flailing of the day before, he had already improved noticeably.
Whoosh—
The arrow flew out and struck the target.
Constantine’s eyes lit up at once. “Haha! Wonderful!”
“Your Grace truly is a genius!” the steward attending at the side immediately offered his congratulations.
Even Eli was a little surprised. To think that after such a short session, the boy had already managed to hit the target.
Could I secretly be some kind of teaching genius...? He shamelessly gave himself the credit.
Just then, a guard hurried over, stopped at the edge of the training ground, and bowed respectfully.
Constantine lowered his bow and glanced at him.
“What is it, my defeated underling?”
The guard’s mouth twitched. “Reporting to Your Grace, Young Duke!
Baron Pendragon, Sir Lucius requests your presence. Please proceed to the study at once.”
Constantine’s little face immediately filled with reluctance, and he muttered, “Huh? Why is Uncle calling for you again... I’m not done practicing yet...”
Eli chuckled softly and lifted a hand to ruffle the boy’s soft golden hair.
At the sight of that, the steward at the side frowned fiercely. Truly outrageous. How dared he touch the head of a lion?
“All right, that is all for today’s fundamentals. The rest depends on your own practice, until it becomes muscle memory.
Train seriously. When I come back, I’ll be checking.”
With that, he wasted no more time and followed the guard toward the fortress’s main building.
When he entered the study, Sir Lucius was still seated behind that broad desk, with quite a few documents piled before him.
Without even lifting his head, he merely gestured with his pen toward the chair opposite him, signaling for Eli to sit.
Eli did as instructed and waited quietly.
Lucius did not make him wait long. After finishing the last document in his hand, he set it aside.
Only then did he look up and calmly turn his gaze toward Eli.
“Marquis Marcus will depart tomorrow morning with the delegation for the royal capital. Tomorrow, you will accompany me to see him off.”
Eli nodded to show that he understood.
Lucius continued, “Also, I have no desire to wait any longer for my elder brother’s formal order to arrive.”
Eli’s heart stirred, and he probed cautiously, “Sir Lucius, you mean...?”
“Summon the principal Frontier Lords to Thorne,” Lucius cut him off without ceremony.
“In my own name, I will issue an emergency summons.
Once they receive the order, they are to arrive in Thorne within ten days. I will personally hold a meeting for them.”
“At the meeting, I will formally announce the order restricting Frontier Lords and the forces under their command from leaving the Western Frontier without authorization.
And also... some preliminary plans and arrangements for the later recovery of the lost territories.”
At that, his gaze settled on Eli. “When the time comes, you will need to cooperate with me.
I will raise certain topics or make certain arrangements, and you will need to step forward at the proper moment to voice your support.
Or offer suggestions that ultimately align with my intentions. As for exactly how you should respond, judge the situation for yourself.”
The corner of Eli’s mouth twitched slightly. Was this not simply asking him to serve as a plant?
Take the lead in responding during the meeting, guide the other lords’ emotions, and steer their choices.
This knight really was becoming more and more practiced at putting him to work, with no trace of politeness.
Yet strangely enough, Eli did not feel much resentment or resistance.
After these past few days of contact, especially after Lynn’s identity had been confirmed, the sense of distance between him and Lucius, that separation of superior and subordinate, seemed to have lessened considerably.
“Understood, Sir Lucius,” Eli replied without hesitation.
Then he remembered something and added, “By the way, regarding Runestone City...
Captain Ron fought bravely and commanded skillfully during this suppression campaign. He truly rendered great service. Might it be possible...?”
Lucius seemed to have considered the matter long ago and answered at once, “Mm.
Some Frontier Territories lie in remote areas and have no raven routes, which makes the transmission of messages inconvenient.
I have already sent him out with several Golden Lion Knights to notify the Frontier Lords in those regions to attend the meeting.
Once he completes that mission and returns to Thorne... the letter of appointment for the Baron of Runestone City will naturally be issued to him.”
On hearing that, Eli could not help feeling somewhat astonished.
Lucius had actually revealed such an important personnel appointment to him in advance. That was undoubtedly a tremendous show of trust.
It meant that in Lucius’s mind, Eli was no longer some outsider who had to be constantly guarded against and calculated around.
To a certain extent, he could already be regarded as one of their own.
“Yes, I understand,” Eli replied respectfully.
With the serious matters concluded, Eli bowed and prepared to take his leave so he could return and continue instructing the young duke.
“Wait,” Lucius suddenly called after him.
Eli halted and looked at Lucius in confusion.
Lucius’s gaze returned to the documents on the desk as though he were merely mentioning it in passing, his tone perfectly natural.
“Go pour me a cup of tea from the cabinet over there. I’m a little thirsty.”
Eli: “...”
He had already grown somewhat numb to it.
Very well. He truly had gotten a little used to this Governor of the Western Frontier always giving unexpected orders.
From supervising his nephew to pouring him tea, Lucius really did make full use of every resource.
Accepting his fate, Eli walked over to the redwood cabinet at one side of the study.
On top of it sat an exquisite ceramic tea set and a small wooden tea caddy.
Eli opened the caddy. Inside was a dark tea of obviously excellent quality, exuding a faint, delicate fragrance.
He pinched out a small amount of tea leaves and placed them into a white porcelain cup, then lifted the silver kettle beside it, in which hot water had been kept warm all along, and slowly poured it into the cup.
The leaves unfurled in the hot water, and the tea gradually turned a clear amber.
After finishing, Eli picked up the teacup, turned around, and prepared to bring it to Lucius.
At the instant he turned, his gaze swept once more across the open tea caddy.
With the hand holding the teacup, he very naturally cocked his little finger ever so slightly, seemingly by accident brushing the edge of the tea caddy.
Tap.
With an almost imperceptible sound, the small caddy was “accidentally” knocked over by him.
Its opening tipped inward toward the cabinet, and some of the precious tea leaves remaining inside immediately spilled out.
“Oh.”
Eli let out a low exclamation, as if flustered.
His first instinct was to set the teacup securely in a safe spot on the cabinet.
Only then did he hastily right the tea caddy and quickly gather the spilled tea leaves together with his palm.
While gathering them up, he very carelessly slipped the tea leaves hidden in his hand into the pocket of his coat.
The entire movement was natural and smooth, as though he were merely cleaning up the mess.
Only after that did he calmly pick up the cup of tea again.
He walked to the desk and set it down steadily beside Lucius’s hand.
“Sir Lucius, your tea,” he said, his tone returning to its usual respectful composure.
“Mm.” Lucius did not even look up, merely responding at random as he continued reading the document in his hand.
Eli bowed once more, and this time finally withdrew from the study without incident.
The door closed softly behind him.
Inside the study, Lucius reviewed several more documents before finally setting down his pen and rubbing his brow with faint fatigue.
He reached for the cup of tea at his side and lifted it to his lips.
By habit, he blew on it once, then took a sip.
The instant the tea entered his mouth, Lucius’s usually calm and expressionless face twisted sharply into a frown.
Pff—
Almost instinctively, he spat the tea in his mouth straight onto the floor, an unmistakable look of disgust appearing on his face.
“What dreadful tea,” he muttered under his breath.
“The water temperature was wrong, the amount of leaves was wrong, and the brewing method and timing were an utter mess... this is simply a waste.”
He set down the cup, took out a handkerchief, and wiped the corner of his mouth. Looking at the murky, dull tea in the cup, he shook his head with a helpless little laugh.
Yet after laughing, he fell silent for a moment.
Then he reached out again and picked up that cup of tea he had just condemned as dreadful.
He lifted it once more and took another careful sip.
This time, he did not spit it out at once.
Instead, he let that far-from-pleasant taste spread through his mouth, as though savoring something entirely different.
And so, one sip after another, he calmly finished the whole cup of strangely flavored tea.
...
By then, Eli had already returned to the training ground.
Bathed in sunlight, he seemed as though nothing at all had happened. With a gentle smile on his face, he continued instructing Young Duke Constantine in archery.
“Yes, just like that. Hold it steady... keep your arm a little firmer... good, release!”
The arrow flew from the string and sped freely toward the distant target.