33 Guidance

Hearing what Lily said, the frown on Erin's face was immediately wiped away, and her eyes lit up like a little girl who just saw her greatest idol.

"How long has it been since His Majesty returned?" Erin asked.

"About an hour ago."

"Good, that should be enough time to settle down. Go check with Rose if it is convenient for us to pay a visit," Erin instructed before she caught a glance of the man who was still seated across the table.

The light in her eyes dimmed immediately.

"Should I come back later?" Marquis Johnson suggested with an awkward smile on his face.

"Don't bother. I will revise this proposal for you and send it to your residence. Take your leave," Erin answered coldly.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Marquis Johnson jumped up and took a quick bow before hurrying out of the room.

It was almost as though he would freeze to death if he remained in the company of this ice cold Erin for even another minute.

After the man left her room, Erin's eyes lit up once again as she elegantly started sorting out the documents on her table.

She still had some time before meeting her brother, and Erin had to make sure that she had everything sorted out clearly in her mind before that, in case she ended up taking more of his time than necessary.

Her time might not be as valuable, but considering the King's intellect, every minute of his needed to be put to good use!

It did not take long before Lily returned.

"Rose said that His Majesty will be free to meet Your Highness in an hour!" Lily reported the moment she returned.

"Is that so? I am already done here though…" Erin stood up and stretched her body a little. "Let us go take a walk in the Royal Garden! I heard the flowers bloom beautifully when it rains!"

Lily naturally did not refuse her master's wish, and promptly helped Erin put on a raincoat.

It was an elegant long cloak with a hood that revealed only the face. The exterior of the clock was made of animal skin for waterproofing, but also made the raincoat relatively heavy.

For a lady like Erin, it was not exactly the most comfortable of clothing, but it was necessary to prevent getting drenched in this rainy weather.

Lily put on a raincoat herself as well, before following Erin out towards the Royal Garden.

However, they had not even gotten anywhere near the garden when they saw Veronica ordering servants to move a large amount of items into a storeroom.

The items came in all sizes, but were generally boxes wrapped nicely with exquisite strips of cloth or silk.

At one glance, it was obvious that even the boxes themselves were expensive, not to mention the content within!

"What are these?" Erin's curiosity was piqued, and headed straight for the Head of Staff.

Veronica had been too engrossed with arranging the items, and did not notice Erin approach from behind. Suddenly hearing her voice from right behind her, Veronica let out a short shriek in fright.

"Sorry for scaring you, but what are these?" Erin apologised politely before asking once again.

"Your Highness!" Veronica regained her calm quickly and reached out for Erin's hand, clasping it with her own. "These are all gifts for His Majesty King Roland!"

"Gifts?" Erin turned to take a quick glance at Lily before turning back to Veronica.

The coronation was quite a while ago, and it was nowhere near Roland's birthday.

Were they congratulatory gifts for the Royal Fishing Company's one month anniversary?

No, that was too trivial a thing.

There was only one other thing that Erin could think of.

"Are these related to the victory achieved at the Battle of Dragontail Valley?" Erin smiled warmly upon recalling her brother's recent accomplishment.

These nobles were truly efficient at sucking up!

For their gifts to have already arrived when Roland only returned a few hours ago, they must have gotten news of the victory long ago.

As expected of the nobles, their intelligence networks were really impressive!

"Your Highness is wise as always. We have been receiving lots of them since a few days ago. I really need to go inform His Majesty about this and find out how to deal with these gifts!"

"I will be heading over to meet His Majesty soon, I can help you convey the message, don't worry about it!" Erin gave a rare warm smile.

Erin was not usually this friendly to the servants, but Veronica was the Head of Staff and had watched as Erin grew up. This created a different bond between the two, and Erin had largely regarded Veronica as something like a mother figure.

On the other hand, Roland who had kept to himself since young did not have much contact with Veronica, and thus their relationship was slightly less tight.

Even though Veronica was the Head of Staff, she still did not have the authority to repeatedly bother the King with every matter that occurred in the palace.

After all, Veronica was hired so that the nobles could focus on more important matters.

It was just that Roland was still relatively new to the throne, and she was unsure about how Roland wished to handle different things, which led to her feeling a little helpless in front of the huge stream of gifts.

"Thank you for the help, Your Highness! I would hardly wish to disturb His Majesty's rest after he just returned to Windfall City," Veronica nodded gratefully.

If it were anyone else, Veronica would have flatly rejected the offer, preferring to get things done by her own two hands.

However, Erin was simply too reliable!

If Erin mentioned that she would help to convey the message, then she would definitely do so.

In fact, Erin would probably be able to deliver the message in a way while incorporating details that even Veronica had overlooked!

After that brief exchange, Erin went on to the Royal Garden.

The Royal Garden was not enormous in size, but the plants and flowers within were extremely well taken care of by the gardeners, with flowers blooming all year round.

"Under the nourishment of the rain, the flowers had bloomed more beautifully than ever, yet it was also because of this rain that caused most people to miss this picturesque scene. What an irony," Erin lamented out loud as she walked through the garden.

"One truly cannot have the best of both worlds," Lily sighed as well.

"Yet I know of someone who is perfect in every way," Erin replied.

"His Majesty is truly one of a kind," Lily did not bother asking, but she was still extremely confident in her answer.

Admiring the flowers and chatting with Lily, the hour passed in a flash, and Erin promptly left towards the King's Chamber.

"I heard that you wanted to see me?" Roland inquired, his surprise apparent in his tone.

"Yes, there are a few matters that require Your Majesty's attention. But first, may I know if I handled my part of the plan satisfactorily…?" Erin was actually nervous as she asked.

"Your part of the plan?" Roland had to think hard about what she was referring to since Erin was being this vague.

But he eventually drew the link.

"Oh, that! The diversion of the floodwater was splendidly done! Even I would never have imagined such a thing to be possible. However, you were actually able to conceptualise as well as execute such a plan to perfection, allowing us to score a victory like no other. Well done!" Roland complimented.

Hearing this, Erin was speechless for a moment.

What was Roland talking about?

She was able to conceptualise this plan?

But this was clearly his idea!

With that, Erin thought back to how the situation was like during the first official meeting – when she first understood her brother's intention to use the diversion of floodwaters against the goblins…

When Roland had given her further instructions on how to divert the floodwaters from the Great Manta River, he had done so in an extremely roundabout manner.

All he did was to constantly shoot her a meaningful glance while discussing about the goblin issue, but he did not explicitly say anything related to the diversion of floodwaters.

Come to think of it, it might not be considered as a proper form of instruction. But if not for that glance as a hint, Erin would never have tried to divert the floodwaters into Dragontail Valley.

The complexity of the terrain was an extremely huge obstacle that had taken her days to resolve.

It was a project that would have caused disastrous consequences to the surrounding villages if there was even the slightest of mistakes.

Even Waterfall City might have been greatly affected if the floodwaters were not guided with extreme precision!

This plan was only possible because Erin had the option of enlisting the help of the finest spellcasters under the employment of the Royal Family, as well as that of her brother Timothy. But even then they had almost lost control of the floodwaters during the execution phase!

Yet everything had still worked out perfectly in the end.

Was it a coincidence?

Erin definitely did not believe it to be so.

It was definitely all calculated in Roland's brain as part of the plan.

There were far too many unknowns at that point in time. Yet considering the resources on hand, her brother was able to immediately think up a plan that could work perfectly!

At that time, Erin had been slightly confused as to why Roland did not directly give the exact instructions so that things could progress without any hiccups.

She had even thought that her brother was testing her ability, seeing if she would be able to find the solution to the problem.

However, now Erin finally understood after hearing Roland's words.

Roland was not deliberately trying to be vague, nor was he trying to test her.

He was trying to provide guidance to her, and wished for her to enjoy the sense of accomplishment that would never be possible from simply following orders!

Now that their father was gone, Roland was actually trying to fill the role of a father even on top of his already busy schedule!

Erin had no doubt that if she had made a wrong decision anywhere down the line, Roland would definitely have stepped in to intervene.

But thankfully she had managed to stay on track.

Thinking up to here, Erin could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes.

She definitely knew that Roland had never been interested in politics since young, and had always only been interested in pursuing the pinnacle of strength.

He was now forced into this position that he had absolutely no interest in. But instead of complaining about it, he silently took it upon himself to handle everything alone, not having anyone who could share his burden.

There was an aching feeling in her chest as Erin thought about how Roland not only had to bear the burden of the kingdom, but also that of the family!

How lonely must it be to be in his shoes?!

"Hahaha! You must be really relieved that things turned out well? It is just a small matter so don't cry about it! I knew you would not let me down!" Roland laughed as he saw tears streaking down Erin's cheeks.

Hearing his words, Erin shook her head gently in response, as though trying to shake away those negative emotions that were welling up within her at the same time.

Erin did not bother clarifying her thoughts, only letting out a laugh in embarrassment for not being able to control her emotions.

Since her brother had already gone to such lengths in order to help her grow as an individual, there was no need to expose him in any manner.

She quickly wiped away the tears on her face before looking back up at Roland.

In her eyes right now, her brother's figure seemed especially tall and mighty, as though he was a towering tree that she would always be able to seek shelter under.

No matter how rough was the storm that came at her in the future, Erin knew that she would never have to face it alone, and would always have this reliable person watching over her, ready to lend a hand if it came down to it.