Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 1467: Chapter 45: Fortunately, It Wasn’t Our Family That Discovered It

Count Stelter’s stern face revealed a slight sneer: ”I only need to know the taste of blood, isn’t that enough?

As for the rest, isn’t that your job?”

Mr. Finch laughed in surprise: ”Ah... that doesn’t sound like something someone striving to train their children as Mages would say!”

Count Stelter glanced at him with disdain: ”When you can’t gain profit from your opponent but must pursue such interests, of course, it’s better to join them.

What does that have to do with liking it or not?”

”Nobles always thinking of eternal power!” Finch sighed.

Count Stelter couldn’t help but chuckle: ”Those words, coming from a Finch family member, why are they so amusing?”

The Countess Stelter, notified promptly by the butler, hurried over: ”So, is there a problem with this orchid, Mr. Finch?”

Finch said leisurely: ”The fragrance has changed; the previous one could wake and refresh people, but this one can cause confusion.

People who smell too much might feel as if they’re drunk.

This is the biggest anomaly.

And the shape of the petals has minor changes too... the former appraiser was very meticulous, even describing how the stamens clustered together were thin and straight.

Yet now, you should see its stamens have turned outward into flower tongues.

I don’t know what caused these flowers to suddenly mutate into their current state, so, Count Stelter, may I dig the earth?”

”Wait a moment.” The Countess Stelter frowned deeply and asked sternly: ”What does the mutation of the Golden Cloud Orchid have to do with silk?”

”Crystal Fruit is the best material for winemaking.” Finch raised an eyebrow, ”But when it grows on the branch, it can be the main ingredient of an emotional Array. Didn’t you already know this?”

Count Stelter looked at him coldly: ”Eavesdropping on others, and still so proud?”

”Well... Miss Ellie’s voice was so loud,” Finch smiled, ”It reached outside the castle! How can you blame me for eavesdropping?”

”I just want to know...” Countess Stelter’s voice was abnormally cold, ”Is the problem with the orchid, or the spider!

So can you put aside your bickering and answer a very anxious me?”

”Well, first we need to dig up all the orchid roots. I think there’s something wrong with the soil.” Finch paused, then answered slowly.

It seems the Stelter family isn’t as harmonious as rumored externally.

No, he realized belatedly, the family of each Count Stelter has been very harmonious, but that doesn’t mean the successive Countesses could get along well.

Helena’s temperament has always been a bit strong-willed, not the kind of daughter-in-law most noble families would prefer.

But her status is quite high, after all, her mother is a member of the Royal Family, and ordinary nobles wouldn’t dare to boss her around.

Any mother-in-law encountering such a daughter-in-law would be frustrated, wanting to do something to relieve their feelings is quite normal... Especially when the previous Countess Stelter always openly expressed her hope for the Earl to marry her sister’s daughter.

If she was provoked into doing something... hmm... speaking of this, the time she passed away was indeed right after a pirate attack.

Protected well inside the castle, yet a year later suddenly died of exhaustion.

Adding another blow to the unfortunate Earl’s Castle.

Finch suddenly recalled a matter... The family of the previous Countess Stelter had a marital connection with the Second Prince’s maternal family.

So, that so-called niece is the daughter of the Second Prince’s uncle?

The Stelter Family is a noble family with military accomplishments! Even if they were crazy, they wouldn’t get involved in the Royal Family’s dirty affairs!

Hmm... speaking of which, could Count Stelter’s decisive departure from the border army be because they started looking for him again?

He couldn’t help but cast a sympathetic glance at the Countess Stelter... Truly, despite saying the Earl loved her hopelessly, willing to defy his mother’s wishes, it might be better said that Count Stelter had no choice.

Besides this daughter of the Great Nobility who might marry into local nobility, who else could suppress the former Countess who wanted to support her maternal family?

The Countess Stelter, of course, understood what Finch’s expression meant, but she had long known about this... The love of nobles always involves selecting the most suitable person, preferably one that suits their satisfaction, and if they can cultivate love, that would naturally be better.

So she was very satisfied with her family.

Moreover, even though her mother-in-law was a bit annoying, in her mind, she was always a toothless tiger, and her little schemes were insignificant.

After Ditte was born, even those little schemes started to diminish... However, did it leave her with such a big surprise?

Count Stelter lightly patted her arm: ”My mother has the heart but not the guts; she wouldn’t dare.

But she must have known the truth later on...

It’s just that... she would rather die in despair herself than let me know the true culprit behind the incident with you and the child.

Ha~ Who else could it be?

Really... I thought I could retreat unharmed! But so early on... someone had already targeted my family?”

His expression was grim: ”If we hadn’t received a warning from Great Sage Belfran, would our family realize how we perished only after tearing each other apart until not a single piece of us was left?

My dear, for the first time, I’m so glad I sent Ditte so far away... at least he can survive until the end.”

”What are you talking about?” Helena’s tone was icy, ”What are you trying to say?”

”My dear, perhaps you would like to accompany Ellie and have a talk with Lind?” Count Stelter, under the eager gazes around him, lowered his voice and pleaded, ”When everything is over, I will definitely give you an explanation.

But, my dear, trust me, my mother would not be so cruel.”

”But, if it’s just to make me suffer...” Helena said softly without moving, ”she would gladly do it.”

They all understood that although the Count’s mother was not fond of Helena, she loved her grandchildren and would not truly want them to lose their mother.

Therefore, she must have been manipulated by that bit of desire to give her daughter-in-law some trouble.

”Why did you all... immediately think that this orchid could harm you?” Finch asked curiously, ”Given that I didn’t hold back any of the details, could you tell me why?

You must know, this flower is not considered a poison.”

”When I was pregnant with Lind, I loved staying near the Golden Cloud Orchid, and back then, this flower had the same scent as it does now.” Countess Stelter said softly, ”It was my dear mother who reminded me that this flower is very good for pregnancy, as it can prevent nausea.”

”Uh...” Finch turned his head silently to look at the Count, then turned back and said, ”It can indeed prevent nausea.

A child smelling this scent would probably fall asleep.”

He never brought up again why Lind didn’t resemble the Count and Countess Stelter... being pickled like a salted vegetable in the womb, anyone would change.

”Then, the severe influence of silk products on Lind, far exceeding the severity that I detected, probably is because he was influenced before he was born.” Finch thought for a moment, then reassured the visibly displeased Count and Countess, ”In the future, by eliminating the influence of this material, although it will be difficult for him to change his temperament, at least he can control his emotions well enough not to cause disaster.

So you really should be thankful to that Great Sage, it’s better than... ha~”

He couldn’t help himself from speaking with a tone of schadenfreude.

Finch swiftly turned around: ”I’ll go check those soils.”

After a few steps, he suddenly stopped: ”The Spider Cave, you haven’t cleared it yet, have you? Earl?”

”We agreed, as long as you all figure out everything, other than needing to give a portion to Great Sage Belfran, the rest of the spiders and raw materials will belong to you.” Count Stelter answered straightforwardly, ”I’ve only sealed it, didn’t touch it at all.”

Who knows if there’s any problem with those spiders... Count Stelter thought coldly, since they no longer belong to him, he naturally wouldn’t risk exploring them.

This time, the family truly suffered devastating losses... countless silk products were destroyed.

And likely, from now on, they would no longer use this material.

Even if they become the most unadorned family among the nobles, they wouldn’t care... nor would anyone mock their family’s impoverishment, I suppose.

Of course, that also requires proving that there’s no problem with the spiders, it’s just that their family is too incompetent for such things to happen.

Otherwise, let’s all return to using cotton and hemp!

Count Stelter watched his wife, her face frozen over, and couldn’t help but sigh deeply... My goodness, what on earth is all this!

However, this time, Finch did not appear in front of the couple again quickly.

”Helena...” looking at the moon already hanging in the sky, Count Stelter hesitated to speak, ”it seems the problem over there is more serious. I...”

Countess Stelter didn’t respond and simply walked away... being able to wait until the Count finished speaking had already used up all her rationality.

The remaining rationality only sufficed to seal her mouth... otherwise, she would probably have picked up a sword and stormed into the family gallery.

That woman, does she deserve to stay there and be commemorated by her children?

Finch hovered seriously over the flower pool... the soil beneath had been dug five meters deep, and the stone path five meters outside the flower pool had also been excavated.

”What’s... going on?” Count Stelter was baffled.

”I only realized today, Silk Spiders also have venom sacs!” Finch said, floating over with a stern expression when he saw them.

”Didn’t you say, as long as the feed isn’t poisonous, there should be no issues?” Count Stelter retorted, ”Isn’t this the greatest discovery by your Alchemist Association after Crystalline Energy?”

”Ah...” Finch wore a look of relief, ”No wonder, it wasn’t discovered by us.”