This Heroine's Friend Has the Power of Botany

Chapter 237

The Compensation

"Uh, are we really going to just let this go? The duchess hasn’t come out for too long. It’s been a week already, and today is the deadline for submitting the new mission. If she doesn’t come out, we won’t complete the mission in time," a young man’s voice whispered outside. Despite their attempts to keep their voices down, everyone nearby could still hear them.

"The beasts are ready, but if we have to carry more than 30 large beasts ourselves, we’ll die before we get there. But Lord Aman said to wait outside, that she would come out on her own. So, we shouldn’t disobey orders."

"But what if she is so engrossed in her training that she loses track of time? We’ll be in trouble."

"In trouble? Everyone will be in trouble. Both Second Young Lord Aman and His Highness, they surely wouldn’t..."

"Wouldn’t what? They’re so strong that even if they did missions with the soldiers, they’d be fine. It’s just us who’d be heading to our deaths. And don’t even get me started on Duchess Ellie. She’s highly skilled and has handled beasts herself before. She’s not just a student who only sets up stratagems like us."

"I know, but what are we supposed to do? Do you want to disobey Second Young Lord Aman’s orders?"

"Uh, I...I don’t dare."

"See! Then what are you talking about? In the end, there’s nothing you can do. Ah! My Lady..." As they spoke, the tent suddenly opened, revealing the person they had been anxiously waiting for.

"Duchess Ellie..." The two felt a bit awkward, unsure if she had heard their conversation.

Ellie looked at them indifferently. It had been 12 days since she announced she would be in seclusion. Earlier, they had gone to submit the mission within the first 2 days, so the next submission time was 12 days later for the new week. She had been busy fulfilling her duties as a hunter, but she knew she had to return to handle this matter properly as well.

Hunters could leave and return if permitted, as many needed to buy additional equipment or potions, which took some time. Even so, having 2-3 people gone a day was not a big deal. Ellie had reserved time just the day before and traveled all night to make it back to Aman’s camp by early morning to ensure the mission would be submitted on time.

It was understandable that the other students felt pressured and scared, as they hadn’t seen Ellie at all. They only noticed that the food they brought was always consumed. In reality, it wasn’t Ellie eating it but the spores around the tent. She had instructed them to discreetly manage the food, making it seem like she was still inside.

"I’m going to collect the beasts. Please gather everyone else."

"Understood, my lady," the two stratagem branch students quickly ran off, as if afraid of being bitten from behind.

In no time, everyone gathered. This time, Ellie went with Prince Jason, Ryker, Aman, and Zoey, leaving Wint to guard the camp. This was because Prince Jason had matters to attend to in the city.

Upon arriving in the city, Ellie saw many students who had already completed their missions, seemingly on the last day of submission. It appeared their beast hunts were fraught with difficulty. If Ellie hadn’t made everyone wait...Aman could have submitted the mission within the first 2 days once again.

"We’ll stay in the city tonight and wait to deliver next week’s mission tomorrow," Aman informed Ellie, who simply nodded in response.

"Okay."

"So, by the way...how’s your training going? I feel like you’ve gotten stronger. Or...Did my brother sneak over and give you some magical item to help with your training?" Aman grinned, trying to catch her off guard.

His brother wasn’t care about Aman’s well-being, but with this girl, it was entirely possible his brother might have secretly come and aided her in training. Otherwise, why would he strictly forbid anyone from disturbing her training!? Moreover...despite training day and night, Aman didn’t feel as strong as Ellie seemed to have become. Maybe there was something he didn’t know.

Hearing Aman’s accusation, Ellie rolled her eyes.

"When you can’t beat me, you blame me for cheating, huh?" Ellie’s words made Aman froze. Yes! Her words truly hit a nerve with him.

"Heh, heh, do you think I care? A slight difference like this is nothing. I’m still stronger than you."

"Hmm? I’ll let you think that if it makes you feel better."

"You...Fine. You’re just talented. With my brother backing you up, you’ve got all the support you need. Tch! But don’t let the day come when he favors me more. On that day, you might feel bad that you can’t keep up with me."

Hearing Aman’s response, Ellie smiled to herself. However, as she turned away, she didn’t realize that her conversation had been overheard by the prince and Ryker. Zoey, on the other hand, didn’t pay much attention, having been taught by Wint to stay out of her masters’ affairs. But the prince and Ryker weren’t so detached.

Both were surprised by the interaction between Ellie and Aman. The two seemed very close, and Aman’s demeanor was different from what they knew. No! In fact, even Ellie’s behavior was surprisingly candid.

When caught eavesdropping, Ryker quickly turned away, while the prince, with his strong composure, merely smirked.

"It seems you and the second young lord are quite close. I’d like to see if you act the same way with the eldest young lord of the Setter family," the prince threw a metaphorical bomb into the conversation. If anyone else had heard, they might have misunderstood. Aman almost lost his temper, if he hadn’t heard Ellie’s retort that made him laugh out loud.

"Oh, I didn’t know Prince Jason had the same “curiosity” about my relationship with Brother Owen as the highborn ladies do. Besides...must I report my relationships to everyone? How I interact with my family, with the Second Young Lord Aman and the Eldest Young Lord Owen is my business."

Being reprimanded so shamelessly, Jason couldn’t help but clench his fists. No matter what...this girl had a sharp tongue. He merely felt that Ellie was being overly familiar with Aman, while treating everyone else like ants. If she were to treat him as familiarly as she did with Aman, it would be nice. But who would have thought that his words would make Ellie snap back so harshly!

Since the last time he was given a lesson, Jason felt like a new world had opened up for him. He realized that he had been a bit thoughtless and narrow-minded. He had just wanted to be careful. Many nobles had tried to harm him, making him prejudiced against them. Coupled with his instructor’s teachings that commoners were like his own children. So, shouldn’t the children think well of their parents? This made him come to believe that only commoners would be sincere to him. But it turned out that...even commoners harbored ill will towards him. Since then, he had spent a lot of time adjusting his thoughts.

However...Jason felt that the person who could help him the most was Ellie. Yet, she paid him no attention. During their travels, he tried to assist and protect her from beasts, but she still ignored him and rarely spoke to him. When she did, it was as if she was cutting him with a knife.

"I didn’t mean it that way. And I don’t need to be curious to see that you treat Young Lord Aman differently from me and others. How can I not think that your relationship is suspicious?"

"Don’t you wonder if I only act differently towards you?"

"Y-You!" Prince Jason knew what she meant. She was implying that she acted normally with everyone else but just didn’t want to interact with him. Seeing his embarrassed and flushed face, Aman couldn’t help but laugh.

"Your Highness, I think you should stay away from my sister-in-law. She seems to be very annoyed by you."

"Hmph! Do you think I want to get close to her? She’s just..." Prince Jason looked at the smaller figure. He wanted to say something hurtful but seeing her indifferent expression, he decided against further antagonizing her.

Aman raised his eyebrows at Jason’s behavior. The way he looked at Ellie was unusual. It made him want to gouge out Jason’s eyes for daring to look at his brother’s woman like that!

"Your Highness! Finally, you’re here!" Fortunately, before Aman could act on his impulses, a soldier ran up, out of breath. Jason looked at the soldier and then nodded at Ryker. They still had business to finish, and they only had 1 night and 1 day to do it. Otherwise, it might arouse too much suspicion.

He was here with Aman and Ryker to complete a mission. If the mission were submitted tomorrow, it wouldn’t matter much. But if he stayed any longer, the nobles planning to harm him might realize he was up to something.

Prince Jason turned to look at Ellie. He wanted to say something nice, but seeing Aman’s demonic expression beside her, he could only chuckle bitterly.

"See you tomorrow," he said before leaving. The way he looked at Ellie still annoyed Aman, but if he made a fuss, it might draw more of Ellie’s attention to that prince. So, Aman pretended not to notice and decided to report this to his eldest brother later.

If his eldest brother saw how much he was keeping an eye on his sister-in-law, he might think Aman was the best younger brother ever!

"Zoey, let’s go check out the shops," Ellie called to her junior scholarship student.

She didn’t want to wander around with Aman, who always looked like he was ready to kill someone. Besides, Aman probably wanted some time for himself too. And indeed, as soon as he had some free time, Aman immediately used teleportation to go meet the Setter family’s people, leaving Ellie in the city with Zoey.

This was the palace’s city zone, so there was no way they would let any harm come to Ellie. Otherwise, the Setter family would demand justice, and the consequences would be severe for the royal family. So...even if there were people who harbored ill intentions towards Ellie or the Setter family, they wouldn’t act openly here.

After Aman left, Ellie took Zoey to explore the city market. More than half of the shops were government-run, with some soldiers selling goods at slightly higher prices than usual.

Besides these, there were a few shops from various noble families, authorized by the palace to sell goods, which mostly the goods that the palace couldn’t provide.

"Is there anything you want? If there’s something you like, just tell me," Ellie said to the girl following her. Zoey simply shook her head.

As they walked through the market, most of the items were quite expensive. Zoey didn’t have enough money to buy them, and she didn’t want to disturb Duchess Ellie either, no matter how much she longed for those valuable items. Ellie saw the girl’s eyes and understood what she was thinking.

Ellie herself would have struggled if her botanic powers hadn’t awakened and proved useful. Ellie’s small brows furrowed slightly. Even though Zoey had pledged to be her knightess, the girl seemed to be doing thankless work. Zoey worked hard but didn’t earn any income. In fact, Ellie didn’t care much about Wint’s pledge to become her knight because she knew why he approached her. But with Zoey, it was different.

The girl had become Ellie’s knightess simply because she wanted to, without any familial benefits involved. So, it was no surprise that Zoey still faced the same hardships.

Ellie furrowed her brows slightly before pulling a money pouch out of her dimensional ring and tossing it to Zoey.

"Take this."

"Huh? What’s this?" Zoey was confused. She shook the pouch and heard the clinking of coins. Her eyes widened, and her hands trembled with excitement. She had never held such a large sum of money before. But her joy was short-lived as she realized the source of the money. Zoey immediately return the pouch to Ellie.

"My lady...what does this mean? I can’t accept this," Zoey insisted firmly.

"This is the salary for a knight-in-training. From now on, I’ll give you 10 gold coins per month for your duties."

"But I don’t want it! I’m not following you for money!" Zoey refused.

"Are you trying to embarrass me? As a duchess with wealth, it would be disgraceful for me not to pay my knight. You’re directly insulting my honor." Hearing Ellie’s response, Zoey froze, her mind racing anxiously as she tried to figure out the best way to refuse.

The money was too valuable for her to accept. Working with her parents before, they could never save up to 10 gold coins in their entire lives. But if refusing it meant disrespecting Duchess Ellie, the consequences would be severe. Even her mentor might scold her, as a knight’s duty was to protect, not insult, their duchess.

"I-If that’s the case...I’ll accept only 1 coin. This salary is too much."

"Sigh, I understand that you think 10 gold coins is a lot, but it’s actually not much. Besides, this is the standard pay for a knight-in-training. When you become a full knightess, your income will increase tenfold."

"What!?! I-Is it true, my lady? Te-Tenfold...meaning 100 gold coins?" Zoey’s eyes widened in shock, terrified by the extravagant spending of the nobility.

No wonder the meals at the institute started at 1 gold coin. It was because they spent money so lavishly! ... Not only did they spend it lavishly, but they also earned it just as easily. Being a knight could make someone incredibly wealthy!

Unbeknownst to Zoey, regular knights didn’t earn such sums. Only knights selected by high-ranking families received such pay because their lives were worth more than 100 gold coins. The high salaries were to attract many to apply, ensuring only the best knights were chosen...The wealthy families used money to solve their problems.

Generally, someone like Zoey, who hadn’t proven herself yet, even 1 gold coin was too much. But...Ellie acted nonchalant, thinking the amount wasn’t excessive. She considered it worthwhile to keep a trustworthy young sister by her side...

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