Some of the things Ashley specifically requested needed to be stewed for an hour or two before they could cool down the stomach. Hitzfeld kept wandering between the kitchen and the dining room, and she also refused Walnut's help.
According to her, she hadn't done housework for a long time. No matter what, Hitzfeld Manor was the most familiar and intimate place for her, and there were always some things she wanted to do herself, which could not be replaced.
"bell--"
Suddenly the doorbell rang.
Everyone—including the two pets—turned to look at Hitzfeld.
"I come."
Hitzfeld took the rag to wipe his hands, picked up a pair of velvet gloves from the side of the sofa and put them on, "You guys eat first, I'll go take a look."
It wasn't until she changed her shoes and went out that Ashley and Walnut realized what was happening.
What followed was surprise and confusion.
Since when did she become so decisive?
It can't be said to be strict... Her image is destined to make it difficult for her to give people a real sense of oppression no matter how stern her face is, but that kind of light attitude is just a few words, a few changes in tone, and maybe some body language.
These are all different from her past!
They felt as if she had changed.
But I can’t tell exactly what has changed.
Hitzfeld didn't know that the changes in Elsa and her group had already shocked those closest to her. It was very windy in the mountains at night, so she carried an oil lamp to go to the gate.
There were two dim spots outside the iron fence, which should be car lights. Someone drove into the mountains to visit me.
who can that be?
Hitzfeld guessed secretly.
"Earl of Xieyang" is a very high reward, not to mention the official position that goes with it.
Director of Special Operations.
The Chief Investigator.
And that level 10 authority.
The security chief's authority is only level nine. Level ten authority means that she is qualified to know everything that Alwin knows. If she were to tell others about it, it would undoubtedly cause an earthquake in Wayne's officialdom.
But not now.
Blackwood City Hall didn't have the guts to open her bag, so they couldn't possibly know this. It would take some time for the news to get out.
According to her expectations, the treatment of "someone coming to visit her specially" should happen only after she returns to the house at No. 221.
They were almost at the door, and Hitzfeld didn't think too much about it. After hanging up the lights, he took the initiative to speak.
"Who's out there?"
There was something moving behind the car lights. She guessed it was a person, but because of the lighting angle, she couldn't see its specific appearance at all.
"My name is James." A man's voice came from there. He seemed to be stunned for a moment, and paused for a few seconds before answering the question: "This... James Lawrence! I came here specially to visit your Lordship. To be honest, I didn't expect it to be you who opened the door..."
"Don't be too happy too soon." Hitzfeld interrupted him, "I haven't said I'll open the door for you yet."
Hitzfell Manor was shrouded in ice fog, and outsiders couldn't even see the gate unless she wanted.
"I am here on behalf of my father."
Discovering that the young earl was not as easy to deal with as he had imagined, James decisively gave in and told her directly the reason why he came here.
"Lefay-Laurence?"
"good."
"Why did he ask you to come to me? You came just after I arrived today. How long have you been in Blackwood City?"
"It's been nearly half a month." The voice on the other end sounded a little bitter. "My father sent me here because he has a troublesome matter and needs your help. We guess that you will be appointed to a new position related to your past business, and you will also need some resources, so..."
The resources referred to are of course political resources.
This is as it should be. If you want to get along in this circle, social skills are more important than anything else. James believed that this was the Larence family's goodwill to her, and she had no reason to refuse him.
"Tell me how you can help first." But the other party seemed unmoved.
James began to wonder if she was stupid.
It’s not that he thinks she’s stupid… There’s no way a stupid girl could get to this position, but one has to know that the wisdom in doing things and the wisdom in getting around in official circles are not the same thing, and the fact that she has solved many cases doesn’t mean that she is good at being an official.
For example, he is also good at managing the mining area. Even his father said that it would be difficult for him to do better. But even such a James almost got into trouble when he just returned to Wayne some time ago. Because of a slip of the tongue, he was investigated by the Security Bureau.
But who made this matter related to this political struggle?
Remembering his father's advice that he must find out what happened to Prince Tenize no matter what, James suppressed his resentment and began to explain the commission in detail to the air wall.
"It's like this... In order to celebrate the return of Elsa Continent, the royal family has won over a group of nobles and plans to hold an exhibition with a number of antique treasures."
"The Fair?"
"It's... understanding the history through understanding the value of these antiques, which also include ancient coins from Aisha. It can be considered a trend-setting activity."
“And then something got stolen.”
"……how do you know?"
"You speculate that my official position is related to investigating the case. Apart from this, what other reasons could have made you come to me?"
"..."
"No one was killed, was there?"
"That's not the case. In fact, as you guessed, a batch of jewels donated by the royal family and nobles were stolen. We heard that the people in the Security Bureau were powerless. Of course, I don't mean to squeeze her. I just want to say that they may be short of manpower at this time and don't have the energy to waste on investigating such a small case."
"The Security Bureau has no energy, but I have the energy?"
"…You are different, Count."
James puts emphasis on the title, implying that she should understand that she is now a noble.
Compared with the evil crisis that could easily affect thousands of lives, a batch of jewelry and antiques is nothing. This news has not been made public yet. Even if it leaks out, the worst that can happen is that they are fakes, and the royal family will not be embarrassed.
So it really doesn’t matter if she can’t find it, but for a new noble with no roots, this is an opportunity, an opportunity to help her perfectly integrate into the circle.
Think about it... that batch of jewels also included donations from nobles. As long as she committed herself to helping, how many connections could she open up at once?
It was a win-win situation, and they didn't want to gain anything from her. In fact, the commission itself was just an excuse for James to get close to her.
She shouldn't have refused.
"I do not want to go."
"So...ah? You don't want to go?"
James continued to speak as expected a second ago, but suddenly he was stunned, unable to imagine what he heard.
"I heard that the Larence family is very good at controlling the direction of the wind in Wayne."
There were faint noises coming from within the icy fog.
"I suggest you go back and ask your father whether the intelligence he gave you is comprehensive."
After saying that, she took down the lamp and walked back on her own.
"Count Hitzfeld? Count?"
James was so anxious that he was pacing around outside the icy fog. He couldn't understand why someone would deliberately refuse such a good offer?
Is it true that she doesn't like politics as rumored?
But no matter how much he disliked politics, he knew that once one had tasted the power, no one could return to ordinary life.
Working hard every day and having to depend on other people for everything you do is far different from a life where someone helps you dress and a casual conversation at the dinner table can decide the fate of countless people!
"Intelligence... Could it be that some important information has been overlooked?"
"Damn it, what on earth did she do during the time she was missing?"
Unlike James Larrence, who was destined to have a sleepless night, Hitzfeld yawned continuously just walking on the way home.
To be honest, she hasn't had a good rest for a while.
The days in the submarine were quite difficult. After going to Elsa, she experienced pursuit, assassination and going deep behind enemy lines. She only slept soundly for a few days in the Governor's Mansion in Neptune City.
But she soon started her journey to Colossae. After the long journey, she was not in a good mood.
I really miss the soft big bed at home.
Maybe it's not as soft as the mattress in the Governor's Mansion, but then again, no matter how good the bed outside is, it's not as good as the one at home.
She is so stingy.
There is really no ambition.
But she was not wrong to say that Lawrence's intelligence was wrong, because she really didn't need any connections.
This is different from the situation when facing the Chief Executive. She is nice to Fu Rong because her family is local and there is no need to make enemies with local officials.
But Port Wein...
To put it bluntly, if she wasn't worried about the impact on Xia, the most important thing she should do is to offend all the nobles.
Things are different now than they were back then. She is no longer the little detective who could be manipulated by others.
Sarah's "department" is usually attached to a department, and a "department" is rarely independent. The separate appointment of the "Special Operations Department" is unprecedented.
This means that she does not belong to anyone and is not affiliated with any department. In terms of administrative level, she is equivalent to the Security Bureau and the Review Group, and she also serves the king directly.
Do people from these two places need to curry favor with the nobles?
Not required.
The more they offend the nobles, the more stable their position will be.
Because of the Keeper Ceremony, he and Xia have formed an alliance with the Sara royal family. This is a more advanced relationship, closer to true equality - but Sara still hopes to rely on their influence to take over Elsa.
So she doesn't need to do this.
She could do whatever she wanted, and Alvin would let her do it.
"I finally gave in, dear."
A teasing voice came from under the hair.
"You regard her as a friend, so you are willing to give her face and act as a subject in front of these people..."
"You are so... gentle."
Chapter 6 Mentor k
Back in the living room, Hitzfeld casually answered a few questions like "Who is that?" before serving the last of the stewed beef brisket and old duck soup. He took off his apron and finally had a chance to enjoy some real food.
She didn't mean to dislike the submarine kitchen, but eating bread and grilled fish all the time was too greasy. As for Elsa, there was no food to speak of. Don't forget that it was a place that claimed that "all things have spirits."
Everything has a soul - let alone meat, even if she ate something like a baked potato, she doubted that it could talk to her all night before it was cooked.
So it's conceivable that she had no appetite in Aisha Island. Apart from resting well, she hadn't eaten properly for a long time.
After dinner, she still took care of all the housework.
It was still the same reason as before: she hadn't done these things for a long time, and if she didn't do them herself, she would feel excluded from this house.
That would make her very uneasy. After all, Hitzfell Manor was her only memory of modern society.
Ashley really hadn't spoken to her for a long time. While Hitzfeld was washing the dishes, Ashley did nothing but lean against the door frame and talked to her.
It was all meaningless nonsense, such as who he had beaten up in the knight training camp when she was away, what progress he had made during this period, what he wanted to buy but Walnut didn't allow him, and how disobedient Lily was, and so on and so forth.
Hitzfeld responded only every few sentences, occasionally asking about her progress in academic subjects and warning her that he would conduct thorough spot checks in the next few days so that she shouldn't think she could get away with it.
While we were talking, Lily lay down at the door to rest. By the time we had almost finished talking, the work in the kitchen was done.
After sending Ashley and the stupid dog to bed, Hitzfeld found a rag and a mop, filled two wooden barrels with half a bucket of water, and carried the water on a shoulder pole to go upstairs.
This was her unique invention - living in such a luxurious mansion and carrying water by carrying a pole was something that she had never seen before, not to mention it was unheard of even in the novels she had read in her previous life.
But there was no other way. If she planned to clean, she would have to carry two buckets with both hands, and she would not be able to do it after walking up a few steps. Although she herself felt that it was quite undignified for a great earl to carry water upstairs, she weighed the reality and chose the latter between decency and convenience.
Walnut finally couldn't bear it anymore and ran over to help her when she stopped to rest for the third time.
This time Hitzfeld didn't refuse. After all, she was no longer in a schizophrenic state. It would take a long time to clean such a big house by herself. If she planned to sleep tonight, she'd better allow someone to help.
