"Edith beat you?"
"Once. She is improving…"
"Maybe you just aren't improving." Adrian joked, earning a slight glare from Ela.
Adrian chuckled. Ela grabbed a pawn and moved it forward; Adrian responded by moving his knight. His free hand held Alex, as he had named him.
On the surface, the boy was the son of the late Lord Harrow, but the moment Adrian had first held the infant, he knew the child was truly his.
At this point, he didn't care that he was only 16 and had become a father so soon. It seemed normal compared to the killings he had done a year ago. He had accepted his situation, finding that facing things head-on allowed him to move forward more easily.
He looked down and saw the baby's grey eyes same as him, looking up at him. Adrian made a face, and the baby chuckled. Ela, after thinking for a few moments and making her move, saw this and smiled warmly.
"Do you still think the prince truly wants the islands?" she asked in a small voice, as if afraid others would hear, even though they were alone. And in his own keep.
"I imagine that's what keeps him busy and why he rarely shows his face." Adrian said, looking at Ela.
"Though that's just my thought. But the islands are too much of an opportunity to leave alone."
"Defending a land and invading it are two different matters." Ela commented.
"Indeed, that's why it won't happen soon," Adrian said. "Hopefully, not for a long time."
"Better if it won't happen at all... or do you want it to happen?" Ela asked him.
Adrian paused. He wanted to say no, but he didn't want to lie. There was a risk in attacking the islands, but if it succeeded, his territory would benefit greatly.
"I hope to better the territory... but I don't want to ruin people's lives to do it." Was all Adrian could say.
Ela looked at him for a moment before responding, "You are bettering your territory. It's already doing much better than it did under the late Baron."
Adrian smiled at that, made his move on the board, and said, "So, the tourney... it's a pity he is too young. Otherwise, I would bring him." He looked down at Alex.
It went without saying that if the child stayed, so did his mother. Ela looked at the board, trying to come up with a response.
"Then, milord should do well at the tourney, so that he will have stories to tell Alex when he returns."
"I will do my best. The prize purses should be good as well, it couldn't hurt to have extra coins," Adrian chuckled.
They continued to chatter until Ela told him it was bedtime for the baby, but not before whispering something to him.
"I have a surprise for you tonight." She kissed his cheek, winked, and left the yard. Adrian shook his head with a smile.
He spent the remainder of the day overseeing his territory. He checked the fields where new crops were being cultivated in newly cleared areas, then inspected the livestock and the stables.
He had planned to rear horses, and so far, the project was going well. Over the past few months, he had purchased both mares and stallions, while Darte took charge of learning how to breed and care for them.
Next, he checked the fishing operations. Becket, who had been incredibly enthusiastic, was working harder than anyone. He had even suggested creating fish ponds to farm fish, following Darte's lead.
Adrian liked the idea, but since they weren't particularly knowledgeable in that area, he provided Becket with a budget and let his motivation drive the work. Regardless, fishing had already become a boon to their two villages.
Cast nets had been laid in a way that didn't block passing boats. Adrian had worried about hindering others by obstructing the river, so he made sure the nets only covered a quarter of the river's width.
With food production increasing, the people no longer had to worry about hunger, they even had more than enough of a surplus to trade with Whitesand Town.
Aside from that, Adrian had opened a hunter's shop of sorts. Essentially, he had set up a store that accepted hides, leather, and other valuable materials from hunters. This allowed them to earn coins in addition to the meat they caught, ensuring that every part of the animal was put to use.
The shop provided jobs for workers to process the materials. He had even encouraged the women to knit and sew more clothing, promising to help them trade with the town.
As Adrian returned from Becket's place, pondering how to ensure the fish eggs didn't die so easily in the new pond, he came across the village's only tavern.
With the increase in activity and population, the tavern had become a frequented spot. Adrian hoped another would open soon to meet the demand.
He had heard rumors that one was already opening in the neighboring village, especially given the brewing plans he had in motion.
He walked to the large, newly built wooden structure behind the tavern. Hearing voices inside, he stepped in to find Coop discussing business with several older men. As soon as they noticed him, they immediately stood at attention and bowed.
"Milord!"
"Just passing by," Adrian said, waving a hand. He approached them slowly, eyeing a barrel filled with murky water. "How is the brewing situation?"
Brewing was one of the ventures Adrian hoped would become their signature trade.
In fact, he had been trying things he saw in his dreams from time to time, but they are always hazy, and never clear, there was one he hoped he could achieve, one that would greatly help in buildings things if he succeeded, but the dreams don't come at will unfortunately, and its always random so even after all this time, he hadn't made significant progress.
Pulling back to brewing, since they had wheat and barley, it made sense to produce ale to sell. They had the yeast and the necessary ingredients to make ale, the only thing they lacked was the expertise to properly mash, mix, and seal the batches.
Mashing the ingredients was standard, but that alone wasn't enough to make their ale stand out from what was sold in town. Adrian even hoped to produce wine one day, having kept his eye on specific seeds and processes Lord Nash had once mentioned. He planned to see if he could acquire them at the upcoming tourney.
The men exchanged nervous looks before Coop stepped forward. "Well enough, milord. We should be able to sell better ale than before…"
They were clearly on edge. Two weeks prior, they had sold a batch only to receive complaints about how terrible it tasted. Since the entire operation was funded by the Baron himself, those in charge were tip-toeing around him, working harder than ever to redeem themselves.
"Don't worry, I'm not expecting miracles. Tell me about your process." Adrian said, waving off their concern. He spent the next half-hour listening to their plans and techniques.
When Adrian finally left, he made a mental note to personally build the barrels for the ale. It had been a while since he had done any woodwork, and he missed the craft.
He passed through the village as the people bowed to him, and he liked to think that he had made their lives better.
He came upon an area where the village had expanded. Nearly a hundred new houses stood there, built so quickly because he had hired his own people to help the refugees, much to their gratitude. This collaborative effort also helped build camaraderie and kinship among everyone. He had initially worried that his own people would be wary of the newcomers, and vice versa, but his worries were unfounded as they quickly bonded.
Of course, the houses were built according to a layout plan; if he was going to turn this place into a town and eventually a big city, he needed to start planning the layout this early.
"Milord."
"Milord!"
People bowed and greeted him as he passed through the new area. As for the food situation, he didn't have any problems because he had made sure to expand production beforehand.
With the new refugees arriving that came from Creviceton, the population had increased by nearly three hundred. There were also newborns in the village, but honestly, growing a population that way takes a long time.
But what could he really do? Even if he put up a poster asking for people, they would only be attracted to the prince port city, not a basically isolated and small territory. He could only accept the situation.
Soon he finished his touring and heading towards the castle, when he reached the castle gates, he stopped and looked back toward the village, letting out a sigh of satisfaction.
Well, as they say, find joy in little things, at least the village and his people were progressing.
It was slow sure, but it satisfied him nonetheless. After all, it had only been a year.
He looked toward the yard, where Dexton and Colby were training a group of men and some few young women, he spied.
One of the measures he had enacted after the conflict with the Laluga clan was training his people, not recruiting them into his army, but simply teaching them how to fight and defend themselves.
The young men, and even women, could join the training in the yard every afternoon if they were free.
He even had veterans go out into the village once a week to teach self-defense.
Though, by the lesson he learned before, he made sure archery was at the top of skills taught to the people.
He even started stacking some arrows and bows after all this time.
That way, everyone would have at least some basic training and wouldn't put themselves at the front of danger. If a crisis like the Laluga clan conflict ever arose again, he could immediately form a semi-trained army of one hundred.
Though, "army" was perhaps too grand a word for just a hundred soldiers.
Currently, he only had about forty soldiers formally employed.
He could afford to maintain a standing army of one hundred right now sure, but it would drain the village. Because they didn't have a large population to begin with, pulling that many people from the workforce would hurt the territory in the long term.
This initiative was a good compromise.
He wondered if a time would ever come when he could command thousands of soldiers without worrying about stripping his territory of its people.
He could only look forward to the future.