BXBX NOVEL Chapter 3 - Having Cinderella Tonight!
Compared to the Duke’s domain where he grew up and lived before gaining his own fief, it was not even comparable.
However, at least this was his own kingdom.
There were many things that needed to be rebuilt and revitalized, and Richard had a lot of work to do.
Just as he returned to the castle, the tax officer from the town, Harvey, came to request a meeting.
“Let him in!” Richard waved his hand casually and walked toward the reception room.
The reception room was simple, with a few rattan chairs, some sofas, several round tables, and a few potted plants placed on a wooden side table by the wall—nothing more.
This viscounty used to belong to another viscount who was killed on the battlefield a few years ago. Since he had no heirs, the territory was confiscated.
Of course, this land originally fell within the domain of Richard’s father, Duke Gewen, so when it was confiscated, it simply reverted to Duke Gewen’s direct control.
Over the years, the castle had fallen into disrepair due to a lack of management. It had been tidied up just enough to be usable, as Richard did not have the time to deal with these details for the moment.
The most important thing in front of him now was to gain killing points through hunting to enhance his own strength.
Secondly, he needed to quickly grasp the situation in Long Eagle Fief and develop a reasonable plan for its growth.
So, when it came to his office and living arrangements, those matters could be postponed for now.
As long as it was sufficient, that would do.
As a servant brought in some juice, a middle-aged man with oily hair, wearing a brown shirt, walked in briskly.
“Viscount!”
Richard took the documents handed over by the man, glanced at him, and eventually motioned him to sit down.
“Tell me about the situation!” Richard said as he casually flipped through the documents. “Have you gathered the statistics?”
Harvey quickly nodded with a flattering smile:
“Yes, yes! The population of our fiefdom is roughly four to five thousand people…”
“Roughly?” Richard frowned, tapping the unclear numbers on the document. “Do you think this is the result I want?”
Harvey was drenched in sweat.
“Viscount, we’ve never done a detailed census in Long Eagle Fief, so it’s difficult to get an accurate count right away.”
Richard was speechless. He took a deep breath to calm himself.
“Go on!”
“Yes, yes!” Harvey wiped the sweat from his forehead, relieved that he had narrowly escaped for now. “I’ve found the literate ones you asked for—five or six of them…”
“Five or six? Even this number isn’t clear?” Richard interrupted.
“Six, but one of them isn’t very literate…”
Seeing that Richard didn’t respond, Harvey continued.
“The rest are mostly serfs, tenant farmers, with a few free citizens, one blacksmith, and one tailor.”
Richard frowned.
“In such a large Long Eagle Fief, there’s only one blacksmith and one tailor?”
Harvey lowered his head, not knowing what to say, thinking that it wasn’t really his fault. After all, it’s up to the people to choose their trades, whether to be a blacksmith or tailor.
“Oh, right, Viscount, according to rumors, there are dwarves in the forest. If we could gain their allegiance, we might not lack blacksmiths!”
When he finished speaking, he even looked at Richard with an expectant expression, as if waiting for praise.
Richard was utterly speechless, his face turning serious as he said sternly.
“From now on, I don’t want to hear words like ‘roughly,’ ‘five or six,’ or ‘rumors.’ Understand?”
Could these words actually appear in a formal report from a tax officer?
This is absolutely ridiculous!
Harvey was stunned, blinking his eyes and nodding with difficulty, thinking that this new Viscount was really hard to please.
Yet, given that the other party was the second son of a powerful duke, even without that background, just being a real power Viscount was enough to make Harvey not dare to show any temper.
Richard continued.
“In five or six days, you couldn’t even come up with an accurate headcount. Do you collect taxes with the same casual attitude? If I were such a tax officer, wouldn’t it be easy to pocket some for myself without anyone finding out?”
Harvey, already nervous, was so frightened by these words that he slid off the chair to the ground, his face pale.
“Viscount, I—I—I swear! I dare not embezzle a single coin. Please investigate thoroughly!”
“Stand up! Look at what a state you’re in now!”
Richard, fed up with these fools around him, couldn’t be bothered to say more and reprimanded him:
“I won’t investigate what happened in the past when I wasn’t here. But now that I’m the lord of this viscounty, you’ll do things exactly as I say. Understood?”
Harvey quickly stood up, trembling and nodding.
“Yes, my lord!”
“Tomorrow, gather everyone in the fief at the square. I need to address them. Also, in the future, pay attention to your appearance. You’re a tax officer, not a butcher. If your clothes aren’t tidy and your hair isn’t washed, don’t come to see me!”
Richard looked at Harvey with a face full of disdain.
Harvey noticed Richard’s disgust and cautiously took a step back before bowing his head and saying, “Yes! I will follow your instructions!”
“Get out!”
Richard waved his hand to dismiss him.
After Harvey left, Richard picked up the juice on the table, but remembering how close Harvey sat to it, he lost his appetite.
He called over a maid, “This grape juice is a reward for you. Bring me an apple juice.”
The maid didn’t understand why the lord, who usually loved grape juice, suddenly changed his preference today, but she didn’t dare ask and took the juice away.
Once out of Richard’s sight, the other maids looked at her with envy, “That’s the grape juice the Viscount touched! You’re so lucky!”
The maid with the grape juice happily hurried away, fearing her colleagues might snatch it from her.
In the reception room, Richard walked to the balcony, took a deep breath, and dispelled his earlier negative emotions. When he turned around, he saw Cinderella still standing outside, so he called over three maids.
“You two, take her to bathe and change her clothes! Dress her up nicely!”
“Yes, Viscount!”
Two maids stepped forward to lead Cinderella away, their eyes filled with even more envy and jealousy than before—jealous of Cinderella’s beauty.
Although Cinderella hadn’t been fully cleaned up yet, her figure and the face she washed by the river already made her shine like a pearl in the dust.
At this moment, Richard ordered the remaining maid to call the cook over, intending to have the deer he had just hunted roasted.
Deer meat is excellent; it invigorates the blood, replenishes energy, and strengthens the kidneys.
He planned to finally enjoy Cinderella today, having held back for so long that this vigorous body was truly at its breaking point.