Guidance

It was a quiet and serene night. Stars filled the skies above the entire planet, shining like a cradle studded with gems.

Blue Lion City sprawled on the plains. Most of it was dark, like a sleeping unmoving child, but a touch of light would occasionally appear somewhere. Yet those were not the eyes of the sleeping child awakening from his sleep, but the palace of Blue Lion City.

In the royal bathroom, there was a large bathtub, and Richard lay in it with his eyes closed.

The bathtub was filled with water, kept at a temperature of about 45 °C. The temperature was higher than the normal human body temperature, however it was not too warm for a hot summer night. The pores on Richard's skin slowly opened, and his entire body relaxed bit by bit.

Several maids were standing a few meters away from the bathtub, waiting to receive orders.

Further away, in the corner of the bathroom, a maid was heating smooth pebbles with fire. After roasting the pebbles till red, she picked them up with iron tongs and placed them into a bucket full of water on the side.

Shush. The hot pebbles dropped into the bucket, and large ripples appeared on the surface. Steam billowed out from the bucket, turning into a white mist of small water drops when meeting the cold air, thus releasing heat.

The mist lingered, maintaining the temperature in the entire room. The maid could not help but break out in perspiration. However, she dared not move much less make a noise, lest she disturbed His Highness.

Richard, who was in the bathtub, suddenly opened his eyes.

A maid asked tentatively, "Your Highness?"

"Hmm," Richard responded.

"Understood." The maid nodded, a gleam of light flashed in her big eyes, and she quickly approached Richard.

Walking to the bathtub, she bent down to take a porcelain jar from a bamboo basket. She then poured the bathing cream made of herbs and rose petals from the jar on her hands and spread it.

She stood up and carefully applied the bathing cream onto Richard's skin. She gently rubbed and massaged him, also rubbing away his fatigue with her gentle touch.

Richard closed his eyes again.

The massage continued for 10 minutes. Richard could feel his tense muscles relax, so he waved gently.

The maid who was massaging him understood his meaning and said in a low voice, "Yes, Your Highness." She then moved further away from the bathtub.

Swoosh. Richard stood up, walked out of the bathtub, and stepped onto a non-slip wooden board on the side. The water droplets on his body quickly rolled down to the ground, wetting the floor.

The three maids swiftly stepped forward, one of them carrying a bucket with her. She walked to stand behind Richard and poured water over his body.

This time, the water was around 30 °C, which was lower than the human body temperature. However, Richard did not find it cold to the touch. Instead, his expanded pores closed slightly, and his relaxed muscles and skin instantly tightened, making him feel totally refreshed.

Another maid took a large dry cloth and quickly wiped Richard's body. After wiping him clean, the last maid came forward and helped Richard put on new clothes and boots.

When everything was done, Richard stepped out of the bathroom.

The remaining maids cleaned up quickly and left one by one.

Late at night, the lights in the palace had dimmed, leaving only a few on.

There was a row of low-rise houses at the northwest corner of the palace which didn't match the overall architectural style of the palace, the place where craftsmen and male servants lived.

A small oil lamp was lit in one of the houses. Hans, the craftsman who Richard had ordered to create a windmill, was squinting at the blueprint laid out on the table, his nose almost touching the scroll.

After staring at it for a long time, Hans frowned, fixed his gaze on a part of the blueprint and said, "What exactly is this? Why can't I understand it?! This is terrible, I didn't ask His Highness back then. If I can't make the windmill, then…"

With an anxious expression on his face, Hans turned around and walked toward the shed outside. There was a wooden frame erected inside the shed, but it was shoddy. He had worked the whole day to make a simple turret.

Hans reached out and touched something, talking to himself, "I still can't figure it out, what is this part for? If I place it here, won't it affect the rotation?"

Hans pondered for a long while but still could not get an answer. He walked back to the house in a depressed mood and looked at the blueprint scroll again with despair. Suddenly, his eyes flashed. There was a line of insignificant annotations on the part he couldn't understand.

"Wings, shafts, gears," he read them aloud, and his eyes lit up. This instantly cleared his doubts.

However, Hans frowned again and muttered to himself a little strangely, "I can't remember there being annotations on this part, why are there instructions now? Or were these already here, but I didn't see it? This is strange. No one has come in either, and no one would dare to touch His Highness Prince Richard's stuff. This…"

Hans looked around the room, which was quiet and empty. He glanced at the doors and windows. There was total silence.

"Well, no matter what, since I have figured it out, I should get down to work," Hans said. He then walked back to the shed and prepared to work overnight. After all, Richard had given him only one week to finish the windmill, and it was a very tight deadline for him.