The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

The past between Melissa and Lady Penelope had become an old tale within the Castle.

Lady Penelope criticized Melissa for not being able to stand her. Backed by the Marquis, she was untouchable and had to move out of Tulip Castle.

Li Si Te, however, felt that, in truth, Lady Penelope was too harsh—it had been over ten years, and she was still incessantly complaining.

Moreover, in those ten years since Melissa’s death, Lady Penelope still hadn’t been able to move in, because she was now at odds with the new Earl’s wife.

“You’re lucky to have come back today; the Baron’s daughter isn’t in the Castle, or I would have been the first to turn around and leave. That woman has a kind of odor on her that makes me uncomfortable. Only your father could tolerate her. Now the whole Castle is filled with her scent, and I can’t stand to stay for a moment,”

Li Vera sat beside Lady Penelope and, hearing this, clung to her arm, swapping her usual assertiveness for a coquettish tone, “Grandmother, if you dislike Tulip Castle, you can come to my Falcon Town; I have a very beautiful manor there, and a hot spring that you’re sure to love.”

“My dear girl, as a noble lady, you must possess proper bearing. Look at yourself, nineteen years old and you still haven’t found a suitable other half. This is because you’re not ladylike enough.”

“Grandmother is right, Li Vera; you need to learn to be a lady, not to ride horses and bear arms like us,” Levis teased, and then said to Lady Penelope, “Grandmother, if you think the Castle has a bad odor, I can put out more air fresheners.”

“This isn’t something air fresheners can fix. Two women in succession entering our home have already drained me. I don’t want to visit the Castle unless absolutely necessary,” Lady Penelope said before turning her head to speak to the Butler, Louis, who stood at the ready, “Louis, you will help me pass these words along to the Baron’s daughter, right?”

Her words carried a provocative undertone.

Louis smiled amicably, “Madam, as you know, I much prefer to keep my lips sealed.”

“Boring Louis, ever so dull from youth to old age,” she said.

Ever since Lady Penelope entered the Castle, the entire conversation revolved around her. Of course, about eighty percent of the conversation was also dominated by her.

Li Si Te could only offer an awkward yet polite smile.

It wasn’t until the Earl returned from outside and announced that the dinner could start that Li Si Te was released from that highly uncomfortable atmosphere.

A banquet at Tulip Castle was obviously incomparable to one held in a small Castle in Fresh Flower Town.

Simply in terms of the number of guests, there was no comparison.

At tonight’s banquet, basically all the Nobles in the Castle were seated, including the Earl’s family, family tutors, the Knight Captain, and a few Earl followers who were guests at the Castle, amounting to sixteen Nobles in total, comprising Honored Knights, Barons, Viscounts, and Earls.

With Lady Penelope at the banquet, there was no chance of a dull moment as she kept the conversation flowing at all times.

Li Si Te focused on enjoying the food, and although he never quite accustomed himself to the Western style of eating, it was delectable compared to the rough fare in Fresh Flower Town. He did not participate much in conversation and few sought him out for a chat, thus, just like in the memories of his previous life, he became an invisible presence in the Castle.

However, in the past, he had wanted to interject but found no opportunity.

Now, he simply had no interest in doing so, for after all, he was but a transmigrator using another’s body; he couldn’t immerse himself in the Tulip Family and could only stand by as an observer, calmly dealing with everything and keeping a low profile, doing what was appropriate for the era while focusing on his own development—perhaps, one day, he could live freely, without the need for secrecy.

The day after the banquet ended, Li Si Te awoke early because he and his siblings were to set sail with the fleet to visit their ailing grandfather, Marquis Merlin Taro, on Red Crab Island.

“Convey my sincerest regards,” the Earl also got up early and had breakfast with his three children.

As a son-in-law, he should have visited in person, but his current status was that of an ex-son-in-law, estranged from the Long Taro Family, making it inconvenient to visit anymore.

Lady Penelope had already returned from her walk, her tone desolate, “Levis, Li Vera, Liszt, send my regards to Marquis Merlin as well. I remember him as a handsome and elegant noble, strong and outstanding. But a few years have passed, and he has fallen ill to the point where he can no longer work, even stepping down from his position as captain of the Court Fleet.”

“Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the natural laws of the universe, mother, you shouldn’t dwell on it.”

“Are you trying to tell me that I’m also a damned old hag?”

“Why would you think that, when I am hoping that you live past a hundred years old?”

“From the two women you married, it’s clear you can’t wait for me to die so you can have some peace. No one to bother you from doing whatever you want on Coral Island.”

The Earl could only put on an awkward yet polite smile.

Liszt, with Marcus and a castle servant following behind, carrying his luggage, bid farewell and together the siblings headed to the dock, a part of Coral City. Calling it a city, Liszt preferred to think of it as a “giant latrine,” with the sour smell of fermenting feces pervading every street and alley.

For this reason, the Tulip Family’s production of richly fragrant Tulips, that were widely popular with city dwellers.

The citizens who were out and about would pin a Tulip on their chests to neutralize the nauseating odor on the streets.

Putting aside the smell of feces.

In terms of grandeur, Coral City could not compare to even a small county town in Liszt’s hometown.

There were no tall buildings or mansions, just sporadic wooden houses next to stone ones, expanding constantly along streets of varying widths. Shops lined the streets, and hurried pedestrians inevitably stepped on various fecal matter—residents always liked to dump their waste on the road.

If it was just a pile of dog feces, one could of course choose to sidestep it.

But if an entire street was covered in dog feces, the correct approach was to frown and tread upon it.

Thus, layer upon layer of feces, through constant trampling, merged with the road surface, creating the city’s unique “shit roads,” naturally reeking.

Why was sanitation so appalling?

Because the commoners were too busy making a living to care about cleanliness; nobles lived in castles on the edge of the city and didn’t care about the filth.

The only consolation was that Coral City was just an island city with a limited population. The amount of feces produced, weathered by nature, was still bearable.

If it were a larger city, it might well have drowned in its own excrement.

“Could it be that the Elf’s abilities limit their vision, leaving them unable to think of using feces as fertilizer for farming?” Liszt pondered while looking at Coral City, his imagination running wild, “Perhaps I could collect all of the island’s feces and haul them to Fresh Flower Town, and on the outskirts of town no, on the outskirts of the town, build a few biogas digesters.”

He understood the principle of biogas digesters, but using biogas for lighting or cooking was a bit tricky.

After simple fermentation to use as fertilizer was the quickest method; the barren soil of Fresh Flower Town, comparable to loess land, was indeed in dire need of fertilization.

“But the transportation is inconvenient, hauling a load of feces by carriage would cost more than the feces themselves better forget it, don’t pollute my Fresh Flower Town. It’s best if the town’s feces are produced and consumed locally.”