Tower

Click!

The door closed, and the carriage began to move toward the legacy.

There are ten minutes to eleven and we have an appointment of twelve-thirty at the spa.

It is a little early, but we want to see things.

We arrived in the city a few hours ago and held a meeting with a few people, but we were able to get one with Silver and his people.

They do not have time till tomorrow.

"Were you able to get anything from Gina Arryn?" Elias asked, and I shook my head.

"That woman isn't willing to let even a single word slip.

She is my second cousin, and we had good relations. I wanted to find out what the merchant guild is thinking about our proposal.

We sent one to them a few days ago and there will be negotiations with a merchant guild of two cities a week later.

It is pretty important, and I hoped to gain some insight, but the woman isn't willing to give even a single hint.

"I didn't have any success either; they aren't willing to talk business unless it is in an official capacity," Elias said, and I sighed.

"Silver is running a tight ship," I stated.

It wasn't so difficult when the Count was in charge. You could pretty much know anything as long as you know who to ask.

Since Silver took charge, he has replaced nearly everyone, including those in the merchant guild, and now they aren't willing to do something, that will cause them to lose their jobs.

Many had lost their jobs due to the loose tongue.

"Still, we need to try," said Elias, and I couldn't help, but nod.

There are people in the baronies providing Silver information. Not just the officials, but also the Barons themselves.

Silver knows things he shouldn't. It's clear, that people are providing him with information.

It had given him an advantage in the negotiations with us.

We would like some advantages too and one of the objectives of this trip of cultivate the sources, that will provide us with that.

Things are difficult, but we have several targets and I plan to succeed in at least convincing one.

Minutes passed, and the park came into view. I have never seen it before, but there is only one place in Greltheaven with a canal.

As we got closer, I saw the boats moving on it.

There are people sitting alone, couples, families and friends. They even have a musician playing the instrument and singing.

"I want to ride on those boats," I said. "We will," replied Elias with a smile.

Soon, the carriage crossed the bridge.

"Stop," I said to the driver, and Elias looked at me in confusion.

"Let's walk,"

He nodded, and we walked out of the carriage. It moved toward the tower while we walked on a beautifully paved road.

There are people everywhere, sitting on the small hills. On benches, picnic tables, and blankets.

There are lakes, walking trails, and cute shops, selling souvenirs and snacks. People seemed to having fun, seeing how their faces were glowing.

"We need a park like this," I said. We have built a few gardens, but no park.

It would be much cheaper in Lauryl, considering its soil is fertile. There is no power, like a wasteland, that stops anything from growing.

This means the maintenance would also be cheaper.

"Such an enormous expense wouldn't be possible before we build the wall," replied Elias, and I sighed.

Council had ambition for Lauryl and the first thing, they wanted to do was build a wall. We have a wall, but it is of the wood.

We need a real wall, like the one Greltheaven, and other cities have.

We need it, desperately, not only to defend against the Dane's advances but also against the monsters. If an especially powerful horde came, then Lauryl would be the only place we could take shelter in.

We need it as protected as possible.

Hun!

"What was there? It seemed to be protected," I asked and turned to the guards behind me.

We have our guards, but there are two in black uniforms, that Silver had provided us.

"It is a lake Baroness," replied the orc guard.

The answer confused me. There are lakes in the park, but they are not hidden. Some of these lakes are for show, not touched, while others have people playing in them.

"Why it is protected?" I asked, and his cheeks seemed to redden.

"It is an adult lake, my lady," he replied, clearly looking uncomfortable. This confused even me further, because it is an adult park. Those below fourteen aren't allowed here.

"We should check it out," I said, and he opened his mouth to say something, but closed it, seeing his partner shaking his head.

Elias, too, seemed curious and walked toward the protected lake, which is blocked by the veil of tall bushes, with guards at its entrance.

Soon we reached it and entered the inside unopposed.

Hun!

As we did, we stopped. The cheeks of both of us flooded red, seeing the scenes in front of us.

In front of us is a large lake; one of the biggest in the entire park.

In it and around it are people, like many other lakes, but unlike those people who are wearing proper clothes, these people here are walking around in their underclothes.

Showing so much skin, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Men, women, most of them are young. They are playing in the lake, some are swimming deeper into it, while some are lying on peculiar beds, bathing in the sun.

"This is human dominion for god's sake, not a land of elves!" I exclaimed, flabbergasted, seeing the scandalous scene.

Something I had never expected to see in the land of empire.

I wanted to look away, but having a hard time averting my eyes away from them.

They are having fun, without a care in the world.

Most of them seemed to be mid-teen to mid-twenties. Some of these people seemed familiar, a few I had recognized.

As I was looking at them, my gaze fell on the near corner of the pool, where two young couples were making out.

As we were watching it, a group of two women and three men in their late teens came from behind.

They quickly went to the cute store by the pool and selected colorful underclothes, which they called bathing suits.

They paid for them before going to the wooden boxes and came out wearing underclothes.

A minute later, they were in the lake with a group of friends.

"What in the damn world silver is doing?" asked Elias breathlessly. I could see the shock and worry in his eyes.

Our daughter is nearly the same age as some of these people and I don't know what I would feel, if I saw her with these people, wearing such clothes.

If someone had asked me before, I would have told them I would use sticks, but seeing these young people laughing and enjoying themselves, I don't feel that same resolve anymore.

"I think, we should leave or we will miss the time of our appointment," I said to Elias, who nodded blankly.

The scene seemed to shock him; he wasn't the only one. I am shocked too. It is something or even allowed anywhere in the empire.

On the way to the tower, we were quiet. We didn't even talk a single word.

It was only when we reached the tower that we pulled ourselves out of our thoughts and looked at the marvelous thing.

It is not the biggest building, I have seen. I have seen many, including the Mage Tower, some of which go over a hundred stories.

This is smaller than many, but the most beautiful.

The tower is twenty-one stories tall, with huge columns on every floor. Many of these columns have beautiful plants covering them, some have plants on them.

The tower is beautiful, but one would instantly notice a flaw.

The pale yellow color feels odd to the beautiful architecture of the tower. It is the color of the wastelands' soil, but when looked at it is long enough with the plants.

The flaw becomes a become strength.

The tower isn't completely covered by them. Some of its columns are covered so thoroughly that one couldn't see even a small part of it, but some columns are naked.

Some floors are densely covered in plants, but others are sparse

It creates a contracting visual. It fills one's mind so that one can think of nothing other than it.

There is also the faint smell. It is a mixture of hundreds of flowery smells that affect every part of the body and pull one toward the tower.

"Silver had really created something incredible," said the familiar voice.

I turned and saw Baron Husk, with his wife. There is also Baroness Leila and Madam Silver. She is looking at the tower with hate, but also admiration.

"He has," said Elias, before we walked toward the door of the tower.

Gasp!

We stepped through the enormous doors, and I heard the gasps. Only to realize I was one of the people who had gasped.

It is too shocking to not gasp in shock.

Seeing the tower from outside, I knew inside, would be incredible, but what I am seeing is still beyond anything I had imagined.

There are plants everywhere, beautiful plants like the work of art, releasing the smells that enthralled me.

These plants, and the smells, released from them meld wonderfully with the amazing art pieces, that are placed around the lobby.

"Luminous sylphwell, wyvern flowers, darkblo…"

I was looking at them when I heard the faint voice. Only to see, Lady Husk naming the plants.

The woman who only gossiped had effortlessly named these plants. I wouldn't have been surprised if it was Baroness Leila, but very much with Baroness Husk.

It seemed like, she was not a simple woman.

Seeing us, looking at her, she stopped, with her cheeks reddening.

"All of them are extremely rare plants. They consume emotion mist for food." She said, before walking toward the tree with dark flowers.

She was about to touch them when she stopped and moved her hand back.

She seemed to have felt something, seeing how her expressions changed. I am not surprised to see that. These plants are precious and there must be protection around them.

"Silver is going to earn a lot of money and influence from these plants," she said and began to look at the other plants in the lobby.

Of course, we knew that, and it was going to be one of the topics for the negotiations.

We want some of it.

A few alchemists in merchant states have contacted us.

They are willing to sell us potions with emotion essence and other restricted goods if we are able to provide them with the resources produced by these plants.

It will be hard to get them from silver, but if we did. Baronies will benefit tremendously.

We looked at every plant and wonderful piece of art. Many of these are popular, like the kavas portrait, in front of me.

It is from the collection of a house of silver. Their name was written on the metallic plaque below it.

There are many other pieces, and they are different sources. Including the House of Ashav and the House of Blackwell.

"He had turned this lobby into a freaking museum. Each one of these pieces is worth a fortune," said Elias, and I couldn't help but nod.

He is not talking about just the art, but also the plants. If anyone was able to steal, even a few of them; they would never need to work in their life.

We looked at them before unwillingly walked to the elevator.

We would have liked to stay further, but there's only ten minutes to our spa appointment.