[Greenhouse—Frojnholm—Later]
Father even inspected the greenhouse project later. The archmages explained the runes and heating circles to him, and with villagers bustling inside—tending soil, planting seeds, fixing glass panes—I could see him silently weighing every detail like he was calculating the world's balance sheet.
Then his eyes slid toward me. "Did you come up with this idea… alone?"
I blinked, puffed my chest out like a rooster and raised my nose high. "Of course. Who else could?"
Father stared at me for a long second. Then he turned his head away and muttered under his breath, "Taming Crimson Packs, a greenhouse in the north, and now the Trivium Core Stone… The Imperial family will not simply watch. They'll definitely lay their hands here. Especially with the Trivium stone. The Crown Prince may keep silent… but the Emperor and Empress will not."
I scratched my cheek, suddenly less rooster and more nervous squirrel. "…Then what should we do, Father?"
