YM778.TV Chapter 472: Playing Hard To Get
"It is His Excellency\'s orders," a middle-aged man with sharp eyes replied. "So stop complaining."
"Hah… I don\'t want to smell like cows, chickens, and goats. The countryside is the worst."
"You\'re free to grumble for now but make sure to not say such things when we arrive at the Oswald Residence. If they have a bad impression of our visit, I\'ll make sure that His Excellency knows that it\'s your fault."
The skinny-looking man clicked his tongue but no longer said anything.
When they arrived at the Train Station, they were expecting to see undeveloped land, with not even a proper road.
However, to their surprise, the path they were taking had proper roads. Although it wasn\'t as grand as the roads in the capital city, it was still quite different from what they were expecting.
They came here thinking that they would be met with undeveloped land, but as they traveled through the Oswald Barony, they noticed that it wasn\'t as bad as they thought.
Spring was right around the corner, but the air was still chilly.
Even so, they could feel a sense of warmth as they looked at the happy expressions of the people that their carriage had passed by.
"I thought that the Oswald Barony had suffered last year, with its people not having enough food to last for the winter because of the bad crop yield," the skinny man commented. "But they don\'t look as if they had just suffered a hard winter. Did our informant give us the wrong information?"
"Impossible," the middle-aged man replied. "You know that they have no reason to lie. Perhaps the Oswald Family dug deep into their pockets to buy food for the people in their territory to help them make it through the winter days."
The skinny man pondered this a bit before nodding his head. A smile then appeared on his face when they thought about their purpose for coming.
"If that is the case, then I guess that their family will welcome us with open arms," the skinny man said. "After all, we bring them good news, as well as gold coins."
The middle-aged man smiled as well because they could already see them succeeding in their mission.
If they handled this perfectly then they would be properly rewarded, as well as praised by their Master.
A few hours later, the carriage they rented stopped at the gates of the Oswald Residence.
The two men stared at the house of the ruling noble and almost shook their heads helplessly.
The house was a mere two-story building, and it looked more like a warehouse than a noble\'s residence.
"Remember what I told you earlier," the middle-aged man said to his companion. "Don\'t say anything to mess up the negotiation, or I\'ll slap you silly."
"Don\'t worry," the skinny man replied. "I\'ll behave."
After getting his companion\'s assurance, the middle-aged man opened the gate and approached the door of the residence to knock on it.
All it took were two knocks before the door opened, revealing an old man, who was holding a newspaper in his hand.
"Good morning, Sir Oswald," the middle-aged man said as he bowed respectfully to the old man. "I came here to deliver good news from the capital. My Master has entrusted me with this letter to pass on to you."
The middle-aged man took a letter from his pocket and offered it politely to Luna\'s Grandpa, Philip.
A look of surprise appeared on Philip\'s face when he saw the seal on the letter.
"The two of you have traveled a long way," Philip said as he accepted the latter. "Please, come in to warm yourselves."
"We thank you for your generosity, Sir Oswald."
"Thank you for your generosity, kind Sir."
The two men entered the house and were allowed to sit in the dining room to have something hot to drink.
Irene served their guests some hot coffee to help warm their bodies.
They rarely received guests from the capital, and whenever it happened, they would always bring important news with them.
A frown appeared on Philip\'s face as he read the letter. When he was done, he placed it on top of the table before lighting his pipe in order to smoke.
Luna\'s father, Bruce, was curious about the contents of the letter, so he picked it up and began to read it.
Similar to Philip\'s reaction, a frown appeared on his face, making the ladies wonder what the contents of the letter were.
"What does it say?" Luna\'s Grandma, Rhea, asked.
"It will be best if you read it yourself, Mother," Bruce asked as he handed the letter to Rhea.
His two other wives, Irene and Briana, stood behind their mother-in-law to read the letter as well.
When the three girls finished reading its contents, Brianna placed it back on top of the table and smiled sweetly.
"Philip, I hope you are not going to say something silly," Rhea said in a tone that made her husband feel chills running down his spine. "You already know what I mean, right?"
Irene and Briana also looked at their father-in-law with solemn looks on their faces.
Seeing that the ladies of their families were practically glaring at him, Philip sighed before emptying the contents of his pipe and putting it down on top of the table.
"I\'m very sorry, but my granddaughter is already promised to someone," Philip stated. "She also loves that person, so I cannot agree to have her marry someone else."
The middle-aged man with a sharp look on his face nodded in understanding. But, clearly, he had no intention of backing down.
"Having someone to love is a wonderful thing, but you need to look at the bigger picture, Sir Oswald," the middle-aged man replied. "In the end, the Oswald Family is just a low-ranking member of the Nobility.
"If you agree to this proposal, I\'m sure that not only will your rank of Nobility rise, but you will also have a strong backer for life. Isn\'t this marriage alliance the perfect opportunity to help your family and your people prosper?"
Before Philip could even reply, Rhea snorted as she glared at the middle-aged man, who still hadn\'t given up.
"Tell that old fool that if he plans to play matchmaker, he should have done it years ago," Rhea stated. "My granddaughter already found someone she loves. We won\'t let you get in the way of her happiness."
Irene, who was Luna\'s birth mother, and Brianna, who treated Luna as her own, glared at the middle-aged man, who wanted to butt into their daughter\'s life.
Seeing that the ladies of the family were strongly opposed to the proposal of having Luna marry the grandchild of their employer, the middle-aged man smiled and took out a magic pouch from his coat and placed it on top of the table.
"This pouch contains 100,000 Gold Coins. This is the dowry for your daughter. If you think it is lacking, please tell me, so I can inform my Master to raise it."
After hearing the middle-aged man\'s words, Rhea couldn\'t help but look at their guest with disdain.
If they had come several months ago, then the possibility of this marriage proposal pushing through would have been high.
Rhea wanted to laugh out loud, but knowing that her waist would hurt if she did that, she refrained from doing so.
However, she used her walking stick to push the magical pouch away from the table with a sneer on her face, which made the middle-aged man and the skinny man, who was accompanying him, think that the Oswald Family was simply playing hard to get.