Chapter 2: Serena… My Sweetheart

Luoling entered the room delicately.

This was her first time experiencing such a thing…

However, the bastard Lord had no intention of showing mercy; he grabbed Luoling’s tail and started moving immediately…

Enan transformed into a Fox-kin Knight, and Luoling’s sly fox nature was fully exposed before him!

The next day…

Enan woke up.

The Fox-kin girl in his arms still trembled with her lashes, as if she was having an uneasy dream.

[Luoling Obedience 40%—Submissive]

Enan reached out and stroked the adorable ear, the fluffy sensation spreading from his fingertips…

“Lord…”

Luoling’s voice was lazy and delicate, as if she had just woken up, but then her face flushed red in an instant as she seemed to remember something…

Enan ignored her.

He got up, dressed, and began his meal.

His daily life was still indulgent—one glass of red wine, one roast chicken, that was his requirement for every meal.

Enan had no intention of changing this demand.

Money doesn’t just increase by being stingy.

If saving money alone led to wealth, then all those who scrimped and saved for generations would already be rich!

But reality isn’t like that…

Even though the people of the territory were starving, their chests almost sticking to their backs, this was the life of a noble!

Luoling watched quietly from the side, already used to this…

Enan drank his red wine while pondering the affairs of managing the territory.

This land was just a Baron’s domain, inherited from ancestors.

It was equivalent to a large village with scattered farmland and woodland around it.

The fields were all tilled by serfs—they were the Lord’s property.

No matter how much grain they produced, it was only enough to barely survive…

If everyone was hungry, where would the strength to fight come from?

But war was imminent.

Judging from Serena’s various actions, it was clear she had been guiding the former Lord to weaken the territory…

This world’s technological level was low, and with the presence of magic and battle energy, everyone focused on those instead.

Of course, Enan wasn’t a science student; it was impossible for him to start an industrial revolution, especially when magic could do so many things.

Urine flow!

For example, flying in the sky—there was no need for technology at all…

Trying to develop technology would only be a waste of time!

A single first-rank warrior could slaughter over a dozen ordinary soldiers!

“Go inform the Council Hall… I plan to exempt the serfs from land rent for a year.”

Enan mused, “Next year, they’ll only need to turn in sixty percent of their grain—the rest they can keep or sell as they wish.”

Luoling was surprised by Enan’s decision.

She had thought he would remain immersed in luxury, ignoring the territory’s plight.

She didn’t know why Enan had changed so much, but she would carry out his orders obediently.

Enan just wanted to raise the serfs’ motivation; if they remained passive and lazy, the territory would never develop.

Looking at the eight hundred Gold Coins left in the storeroom, Enan wanted to cough up blood.

These coins had been forcibly seized, and even raising another army would be difficult…

Most of the money had probably been sent off to the Storm Territory…

The key problem was, now that he wanted to form an army, without offering great profits, no one would listen to him.

The people had lost hope in this big simp!

They had saved and endured just so their Lord could woo a woman? Who wouldn’t resent that?

Helpless, Enan sighed and picked up a pen to write a letter:

“Serena… My sweet, you’ve suffered waiting for me!

But alas, I can’t gather two thousand Gold Coins right now.

I plan to travel afar to sell the warhorses of the territory.

If I can raise the money at Viscount Weir’s territory, and purchase the local specialty Tulip Gem to propose to you, your father will surely see my sincerity.

Yet I am still two hundred Gold Coins short—so I can only shamelessly ask you, my beloved—your future husband—Enan.”

Enan applied the sunk cost effect from Blue Star: when people can’t bear to lose what they’ve already invested, they make worse decisions and throw in even more.

When Serena in the Storm Territory received this letter, she actually hesitated!

This silver-haired, red-eyed beauty didn’t expect the idiot would really go as far as selling warhorses at Viscount Weir’s to exchange for a Tulip Gem, a stone that could enhance magic power!

Selling the warhorses would further weaken the garrison of Silver Lake Territory!

Then, if he sent the Tulip Gem as an offering, it would strengthen her side…

It was truly killing two birds with one stone!

She discussed with her father, and neither believed such a simp would lie—they didn’t even consider the possibility…

So they lent the money directly!

When Enan received the Gold Coins in Silver Lake Territory, he grinned ear to ear.

As for the attached letter, he didn’t even read it—he threw it away.

The commander of the Silver Lake Garrison watched all of this in silence.

Had this damned Lord really turned normal after being beaten once?

Yuan, as a Retainer Knight of the Hill Family and also the commander of Silver Lake Territory’s army, was furious when he heard Enan was nearly killed by a mob.

If Enan died, the Empire would just send a new Baron, and everything he owned would go to some stranger’s lackey…

At best, he’d become someone else’s subordinate’s subordinate!

At worst, he’d be burned as a scapegoat when the new official wanted to make an example!

But he also knew his Lord truly acted like a scoundrel.

“Yuan…”

Enan played with the pouch containing two hundred Gold Coins.

“I want to re-equip the soldiers. War could break out at any time!”

Once Storm Territory learned they’d been swindled, they would surely come to collect their debts!

In any case, they were already preparing to attack Silver Lake Territory…

“Understood!”

Yuan knelt on one knee.

This Lord was already different from before—he was thinking about how to manage the territory.

“Your subordinate will see to it at once!”

“Mm… First, go round up those mobsters who attacked me before!

Now that the rebellion has died down, it’s time to settle accounts.

Let them know you can’t offend me without consequence!”

Yuan accepted the order and soon returned with a squad of soldiers, dragging back over a dozen of the mob who had attacked Enan.

They were bound tightly and knelt in terror before Enan.

Enan looked at them, his eyes cold.

“According to the Law of the Empire, any commoner who attacks a noble is sentenced to execution by lingchi for the whole family!”

The word “execution by lingchi for the whole family” made the mobsters’ faces turn deathly pale…

A few of the timid ones even collapsed on the ground, as if the waterworks couldn’t be shut off…

“Lord, spare us!”

One of the mobsters cried out.

“We were truly desperate—our children at home were starving—so we lost our minds!”

The others begged as well, and the Council Hall was filled with cries and pleas.

Luoling watched these pitiful people, unable to help feeling a bit of sympathy.

To be honest, these people had been driven to this point by Enan’s oppression.

Now that she and Enan’s relationship had changed, she wanted to try persuading her Lord.

At worst, she’d just be lectured by him again.

It was better than the hearts of the people drifting away…

If that happened, with enemies outside and chaos within, the territory would fall into ruin!