"Ruin?"
"Yes, milord". Charlotte replied excitedly.
"Why are you so excited?"
"Of course I am!! There is a high possibility of finding treasures in ancient ruins. We can get rich overnight"
"Hahaha". Riz laughed when seeing Charlotte excited. This is one of the few moments where she showed her emotions.
Riz then continued with his question. "Did you forget that your lord here is rich? How much wealth is there that can move me?"
Charlotte ignores Riz's arrogant remarks. 'Yeah, how can I forget that milord has a lot of sources of income'
Exploring the ancient ruins is one of her ambitions. She can't miss an opportunity to embark on an adventure.
Truth be told, Charlotte actually is quite annoyed with her lord who doesn't seem to take interest in exploring the ruin.
Multiple questions rise in her mind. 'Wouldn't a boy usually get excited going on an adventure? Isn't an ancient ruin a perfect opportunity for it?'
As she keeps thinking, Charlotte comes up with a perfectly reasonable conclusion. 'Poor milord, perhaps he is too busy to enjoy his life'. She looks pitifully at Riz with her sad eyes.
"Why are you looking at me like that". Riz saw Charlotte looking at him as if she was looking at an abandoned cat.
"Nothing milord, but I think we should try to explore the ruins. Maybe we can find abundant wealth to fund your road network project". She is trying to use a project fund as a basis to attract his attention.
She knows that his road project does not have enough funds to start with. Furthermore, She also knows Riz attached importance to this road project.
She was not stupid to not know the benefit it will bring to the territory. This is the most expensive project Riz has ever made.
When looking at the estimated cost of the project, she was stunned by its exorbitant amount. It can make even a royal family go bankrupt.
Riz halts his steps the moment he hears Charlotte's words. He turns around and sees Charlotte smirking at him indicating that she knows his thought process well.
Riz stood there unmoving for some period of time probably weighing out the pros and cons.
He decided to give in to Charlotte's persuasion, he smiled back at her. "Fine, you got me. Let's do as you said but we must first find some historian to identify what kind of ruin is this".
Charlotte happily jumped when she heard Riz's approval.
"Don't be too happy. I will send the letter to my teacher first. It probably takes a while to find some expert in history".
"Alright, milord"
Riz turned his head toward Elric. "Ordered the workers to collect the limestone and clear up the scene".
"Yes, milord".
"Ohh...one more thing. Don't let them spread the news about the ruins here or I will kill them".
"Yes, milord". Elric was frightened hearing the threat. Once again he reminded himself that Riz is a nobleman.
Riz's easygoing and approachable nature often confuses the commoner. His clothes and manner are the only clues they use to distinguish him from commoners.
Riz and Charlotte returned to Henry's mansion. Later that night, he wrote a letter to his teacher explaining the situation.
He dispatched a messenger to send it tomorrow morning. Now, all he has to do is wait for Stuart to come.
....
Six days later.
Riz and Charlotte are standing in front of Henry's mansion to greet them.
"Why are you here?". Riz asked Charlotte who is standing beside him.
Before Charlotte could answer, Riz interrupted her. "Forget it, I know why you're here. You just can't wait to enter the ruins, aren't you?".
She pouted. "I don't see any problem with that".
Ignoring her mutter, Riz directed his attention to the two silhouettes that walked toward them.
Stuart finally arrived in Rafoldrod. Together with him is his friend who is also a historian.
"It's been a while, teacher".
"It's been a while since the last time I saw you. You have to run around here and there"
"Hahaha, well...I have a lot of business to take care of. By the way, why don't you introduce him to me?".
"Ahh..yes, yes. Let me introduce you, this is Mr Arden Daniel, a historian that I know".
"Nice to meet you, Mr Arden. My name is Rizieri. This girl is Charlotte".
Charlotte greeted. "Nice to meet you, Mr Arden".
"It's an honour to meet you, milord and you too young lady. I have heard from your teacher saying that you accidentally found a ruin. May I ask where is it? Did you let anybody enter it?" asked Arden right away.
He is a busy person and does not like to waste his precious time. As a historian enthusiast, he will never come to personally meet someone. This time is a special case.
A new ancient ruin was discovered and tons of information waiting to be unearthed. When Stuart came to find him and showed him the letter, he packed his baggage at once.
"Hahahaha, don't worry. I have ordered my knight to seal the area. Nobody touches anything. Although there is someone who can't wait patiently and tries to break in". His eyes shift to Charlotte on his side.
Charlotte just shrugged.
Two days ago, she tried to break into the ruins. As a result, she was grounded by Riz until Stuart came to Rafoldrod.
Arden breathed a sigh of relief.
The common mistake that most people make when they find a ruin is to enter it recklessly.
"You're a lucky young lady. Most people died at the entrance of the ruins", Arden just dropped a bombshell on Charlotte.
Riz is trying his best to hold back his laugh as he sees Charlotte's face turn white. Her expression was so priceless.
Charlotte just stared angrily at Riz.
Arden interrupts their interaction and hastened them. "Hurry up, let us not waste any time and go right away. The sooner the better".
"Alright, let's go". Riz, Charlotte, Stuart and Arden get into the carriage. The knights escorted them to the ruin.
Inside the carriage, the situation is a bit awkward as there is no topic to talk about. Riz himself is not an extrovert, he doesn't know how to start a conversation with others.
'Why does it take so long to arrive? This is so awkward'. He wants to seek Charlotte's help to get rid of this awkwardness.
To his despair, she has long entered her dreamland and she even used his shoulder as a resting place for her head. Riz can see her saliva smearing his shirt.
'Well, it would be weird if she didn't feel sleepy. She was so excited about the ruin that she hardly slept'
Charlotte is the only one who can act with such disrespectful behaviour toward him and get away with it.
"She is really close to you, huh?". Stuart breaks the silence.
"I guess so. Why do you ask?"
"I have met a lot of young noblemen in my life but none of them treat their personal maid like you".
"Then how do they treat them?"
"Hmm...Like a tool, I guess".
"Tool? Specifically how?". He is quite interested in other nobleman lifestyles.
Due to his busyness, he doesn't have much contact with other nobles. The banquet held by Ryntum is the only time he makes contact with others. It is not enough to judge their character with just one meeting.
"They use their maids by any means they like. To them, their maids are just human toys that they can throw away and find a new one. After all, there is a variety of humans to choose from the populace".
"I see, I never know this kind of thing is common".
"It's a common practice, especially in Hajdu, Vofors and Baroks. They encourage their children to do that on the basis of building their confidence".
"What a twisted way to educate your children".
"Exactly, when I meet you, I am grateful that there are still noble families who didn't treat people like an animal in this kingdom".
"Maybe because Ryntum is a militaristic family. We work with commoners frequently".
"Perhaps. I hope that you won't change once you have power. I have seen a fair share of people turn into a completely different person the moment they hold power".
"I can't make a promise that I won't change. After all, I am just a normal man, not astounding as you thought".
"Hahaha, you're too humble, Riz". This is the first time he heard a nobleman call himself normal.
Flaunting is a noble's natural habit, it doesn't need to be taught. They instinctively know how to do it.
Their conversations were interrupted by a knight knocking on the carriage's window.
"What is it?"
"Milord, we have arrived"
"Alright". Riz gently shook Charlotte's body.
"Mmhm..". She reluctantly wakes up from her dream. Charlotte looked at Riz and asked. "What is it?".
"We have arrived". Inform Riz.