Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 505 The Territory's Unique Brewing Techniques and Annalise's Request

Su Li was immersed in the immense shock and joy brought by the amethyst gold brandy. He looked intently at Merian and Annalis, his eyes filled with boundless anticipation for the future: "Such amazing output and profits prove that your path is correct! We must expand the scale. Next year, and the year after, I want to see the output of the Bauhinia Manor reach new heights! Merian, your church must have corresponding expansion plans, right?"

Encouraged by the lord's affirmation, Merian immediately reported respectfully, "Yes, my lord! We plan to expand the core area of ​​the Emerald Garden to forty acres next spring! At the same time, another three hundred acres of the high-quality amethyst vineyards on the periphery will be cultivated! It is estimated that by the time the vineyards reach their peak production the year after next, the total yield will be more than 50% higher than this year! The annual production of perfect-grade 'nectar' is expected to exceed two hundred bottles..."

"Two hundred bottles!" A cold, flat voice cut into Merian's enthusiastic outlook, like a bucket of cold water on an autumn day.

Everyone looked over and saw Annalis standing there quietly. Under her red hood, her face, pale to the point of being almost transparent, yet strangely beautiful due to the fading purple mark on her left eye and the deathly aura surrounding her right eye, was expressionless. Her unique eyes, one as clear as amethyst and the other as deep as the end, calmly gazed at Su Li.

"My lord," her voice betrayed no excitement or complaint, only a deathly stillness in her tone, "you might as well just kill me."

Su Li was slightly taken aback: "Annalis?"

Annalise ignored Merian's astonished gaze and continued to calmly state the intriguing yet chilling facts in her monotone voice:
“Perfect-grade grapes must be picked by my own hands at a specific time. They cannot be tainted by my scent, but they can absorb that… ‘Rhea’s Blessing’ that should belong to me but has been rejected.” She slightly raised her hand, which was covered in a pure white silk glove, as if it were some insignificant tool.

“After harvesting, I have to personally handle the initial crushing process during the brewing process,” she said, her tone as flat as if discussing the weather. “Take off your shoes and socks, and with these… supposedly decent-looking feet,” she glanced emotionlessly at her calves and ankles, their graceful curves faintly visible beneath her knee-high white stockings, “step into the cold oak barrels and stomp on them repeatedly. Until every plump fruit bursts open, releasing its most essential juice.”

The scene she described should have been incredibly erotic—a pale-skinned, slender girl with an eerie beauty, barefoot treading in deep purple grape sap, the juice splashing onto her white stockings and calves, the image brimming with forbidden allure. However, when she spoke of it, it was merely a mechanical process, as if it were nothing more than a tedious, physically demanding chore.

“Because only I,” she finally turned her heterochromatic eyes completely to Su Li, her gaze devoid of any emotion, only an unfathomable indifference, “this body, 'blessed' and 'cursed' by the goddess, can completely isolate the flow of the 'Gilun Wind' and… the 'female instinctual love'. They have nowhere to go but to be completely absorbed into the wine, ultimately becoming the 'nectar' you mix in your glass.”

“Each bottle,” she emphasized, her voice still steady, yet revealing an immense pressure that seemed to suggest a despair, “means that I need to spend several hours in those cold wooden barrels, treading on the sticky pulp. It means that my back will ache, my calves will be stiff. It means that I will spend countless days and nights alone in the winery, listening only to the sounds of the grape juice fermenting.”

“One hundred and twenty bottles this year is the limit,” she said finally, her tone devoid of pleading, simply stating a fact. “Two hundred bottles next year? More the year after? My lord, what you need is not an expansion plan.”

She tilted her head slightly, and her hood slipped down a little, revealing more of her heart-wrenchingly pale skin and a few strands of dark hair.

"What you need is to find a way to slice me up, or throw me directly into a distillation furnace, and see if you can extract enough 'nectar' to last a hundred years in one go."

“Otherwise,” she concluded, pulling her hood up again to cover her stunning yet cold face, “just kill me. It’ll be quicker than dying from exhaustion…”

The scene fell silent, with only the autumn wind rustling a few grape leaves.

After delivering her near-desperate statement, Annalise remained standing there expressionless, as if she herself had not been the one who had suggested dismembering or executing her.

But upon closer inspection, one can see that her small hands, hidden beneath the wide sleeves and clad in white silk gloves, are unconsciously gripping the edge of the red hooded cloak tightly, her knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

She loves brewing wine; it's the meaning of her existence and the only way she can fight the curse and emptiness within her.

But now, the intensity of her work has left her breathless, leaving her no time to think about anything else, and even a moment of peace has become a luxury.

She could feel that every time she left the core area of ​​the Emerald Garden, her body was not only covered with the sticky, sweet scent of grapes, but also lingered with that damned aura of the Fiery Rose from the Slaanesh's realm. That aura was omnipresent, teasing her nerves like a subtle flame, often causing waves of unspeakable heat and emptiness to rise within her cold body.

In the past, she could temporarily suppress her emotions by stomping on the icy, bone-chilling grape juice, but now... this has almost become the norm, a tiring and shameful cycle.

She even felt a pang of nostalgia for the days when she first tried gently crushing grapes with her hands, hoping it would better preserve the fruit's most delicate flavor. But her seemingly frail body didn't actually possess the strength to handle the enormous workload with those delicate hands. That would truly be exhausting. Using her feet was the most efficient, and indeed the only, realistic option.

Deep down, she held a faint, almost non-existent hope—that this lord, who always seemed to create miracles, would understand her predicament and either find a way to ease her burden, or… even just allow her a little respite.

She was so young, her body, still fair and beautiful, like a budding flower, entangled in a curse, had never experienced any beauty in the world, nor had she ever been touched by a man... She really didn't want to one day collapse silently beside a cold brewing barrel from overwork.

Seeing this, Sister Merian's excited expression was replaced by guilt and sympathy.

She leaned forward deeply, her breasts, made exceptionally full and high by the effect of the "Rose of Fire," forming a breathtakingly alluring curve with this movement. Her fair skin was faintly visible through her neckline, exuding the most primal and abundant temptation of life.

“My lord, please forgive me.” Merian’s voice was filled with sincere apology. “It was my oversight that led me to only see the potential of the land and the growth of the crops, while neglecting the hardships endured by Master Annalise. If it weren’t for Sister Lina taking over the main burden of the core area from me, I’m afraid… I’m afraid I would have long since lost my dignity and inner peace, and would no longer be able to wholeheartedly serve the goddess. We should all understand Master Annalise’s difficulties…” Her plea further highlighted the difficult situation Annalise was in.

However, Su Li's expression remained unusually calm, as if he hadn't heard the sensual yet cruel details, nor noticed the subtle tension beneath Annalis's cold mask. His gaze was fixed on Annalis, carrying an undeniable certainty.

“This problem is easily solved.” Su Li’s voice broke the silence, his tone calm and even. “Annalis, you don’t need to consider reducing or stopping production. Just continue working at full capacity. Black Forest Territory needs your ‘nectar,’ and you only need to focus on brewing.”

Annalise abruptly looked up, a flicker of surprise and… barely perceptible panic flashing clearly in her heterochromatic eyes for the first time. Her grip on her cloak tightened. Continue working at full speed? Until she dies from exhaustion? My lord, don't you know what it means to cherish a woman?
"My lord... what do you mean?" Her voice remained steady, but there seemed to be a very slight tremor at the end.

Su Li looked at her, a faint, knowing smile playing on her lips.

“What I mean,” he said slowly, each word crystal clear, “is that you just need to improve your strength.”

“…” Annalis was completely stunned. Increase strength?
"With your current physical strength and energy, completing the current workload is probably your limit, and you may feel overwhelmed," Su Li continued, as if stating a simple fact. "But what if you could advance, for example... reach the champion level, or even higher?"

"At that time, your physical strength, stamina, and mental fortitude will all experience a qualitative leap. The stomping work that currently takes you several hours and leaves you with a sore back may only take a few moments to complete easily and effortlessly. The fiery rose aroma that you currently find difficult to withstand for extended periods will also have a significantly reduced impact on you. You will even have more time and energy to experiment with more refined brewing techniques, further improving the yield and quality of your 'nectar.'"

Su Li's words were like a pebble thrown into a frozen lake, creating unexpected ripples in the still waters of Annalis's heart. Improve strength? Advance to champion level?
A faint trace of bewilderment flickered in her heterochromatic eyes. For her, the improvement of her strength had always seemed like a distant and vague concept. Her power stemmed from curses and repulsion, not from ordinary cultivation. Physical and mental exhaustion was a normal state she had long been accustomed to, and she had never imagined that it could be alleviated by "becoming stronger."

Su Li's gaze seemed to penetrate the red hood, landing on her pale yet incredibly delicate skin, bringing a subtle feeling of being scrutinized, making her subconsciously want to curl up.

"Are you interested in the training of a knight?" Su Li asked calmly, with a pragmatic approach focused solely on solving the problem.

With the resources in his current treasury, just a few items would be enough to greatly enhance Annalise's physique. Especially now that her skin is fair and delicate, and her body is so supple that she could be pushed over with a mere push, the enhancement effect would be extremely significant. After all, even a slight increase in her physique would be equivalent to doubling her strength, stamina, and so on.

However, to Annalise, these words were like a thunderclap!

A knight's training?!
In an instant, her mind was filled with images of her best friend Ingrid, countless times in her herb-filled, mysterious room, whispering secrets with a mischievous yet excited smile.
“Annalia, let me tell you, those knights’ ‘training’ isn’t just about swordsmanship and breathing techniques…” “Especially the traditions of those great families, it’s said they have many… um… very special dual-person training methods…”

"We need...we need to be completely honest with each other, to let our breaths mingle, and to use our burning life force to break down the barriers..."

"I've heard that some special breathing techniques require... require specific fluid exchange to guide energy, how embarrassing..."

"They call it...'deep meditation' or something? Anyway, it sounds really frivolous!"

"I don't know if the lord lied to me or if it's a cultivation method he created himself."

Ingrid's vivid descriptions, interspersed with a great deal of personal imagination and exaggeration, flooded Annalis's mind like a tidal wave. What she had originally taken as silly jokes, even things that made her blush and cover her ears, now became incredibly clear, specific, and... full of heart-stopping hints under the lord's calm questioning.

He… What does he mean?
Could it be that the "improvement of strength" and "knight training" that the lord mentioned refer to... that kind of method?
Use... use his... to help me "advance"?
Annalise's perpetually pale cheeks began to flush uncontrollably and very slowly with a faint yet breathtaking blush. Her fingers, gripping the edge of her cloak, tightened even more, her slender knuckles turning white. Her breath, hidden beneath the hood, seemed to skip a beat, becoming almost imperceptibly rapid.

She felt a strange heat spreading upwards from her calves, encased in white stockings, as if the cold grape juice had instantly transformed into a warm bath. That emptiness, stirred by the fiery rose and buried deep within her body, stirred subtly and unexpectedly at this moment.

She instinctively brought her legs together, as if that would shut out the absurd yet overwhelming associations.

My lord... are you going to personally "guide" my cultivation? In what... what way?
Reason told her that this was impossible; the lord was not that kind of person, and what he was talking about must be proper breathing training. But her cursed and distorted senses, the extreme sensitivity and misunderstanding of matters between men and women brought about by long-term isolation from love, and Ingrid's deeply "poisonous" bedroom talk made her completely unable to think normally at this moment.

The cold sense of alienation clashed violently with the sudden surge of shame and a hidden panic within her, leaving her frozen in place, unsure how to respond.

After a long, suffocating silence.

Annalise slightly raised her head, the shadow of her hood barely concealing the chaos in her eyes and the unnatural flush on her cheeks. Her voice struggled to maintain its usual flatness, even more hollow than usual, as if each word drifted from a great distance, carrying a resigned, defiant tone:
"if……"

Her voice was so soft it almost disappeared in the autumn wind.

"...If it's the lord..."

She paused for a moment, as if she had used up all her strength, before uttering the second half of the sentence.

"...It's not impossible."

Su Li was slightly taken aback. What did he mean by "If it's the lord, it's not impossible"?

And Annalise herself seemed to be burned by the meaning contained in those words, which far exceeded her usual cold persona.

Her aloof demeanor, which she had maintained for years like a frozen lake, suddenly cracked. Beneath her hood, a faint blush spread rapidly, visible to the naked eye, from her cheeks all the way to her ears, and perhaps even tinged her slender neck with a thin layer of pink.

She abruptly lowered her head, burying almost her entire face in the shadow of the red hood, as if that would shield her from all inquiring gazes.

She could no longer stand calmly in front of everyone—especially after having just described in detail how she stomped on grapes and now seemingly acquiescing to some unspeakable "spiritual practice."

A tremendous sense of shame and an indescribable panic gripped her.

“I…I need to check on the fermentation of the wine later…” she blurted out, her voice trembling slightly as she tried to find a plausible excuse to escape the suffocating atmosphere. “The specifics…we’ll talk about them…we’ll talk about them in Ingrid’s treehouse later…”

Having said that, she didn't dare look at Su Li or anyone else's reaction anymore. She turned around abruptly and practically fled. The red hooded cloak drew a hurried arc behind her, and her slender legs, encased in white stockings that reached past her knees, moved with lightning speed, as if some ferocious beast was chasing her, quickly disappearing into the depths of the grape trellis.

Su Li stared at her retreating figure, which vanished almost instantly, and paused slightly. He genuinely didn't quite understand Annalise's sudden and intense reaction. "Let's talk about it at Ingrid's Treehouse"? He was indeed planning to go to the apothecary Ingrid to check on the progress of the territory's most important extraordinary plant.

“Well, that’s fine.” Su Li nodded, not dwelling on Annalis’s unusual attitude, but just thinking that she might be too tired and her emotions were a little unstable. “I was just about to go to Ingrid’s treehouse and garden for an inspection. Since you are also going to her treehouse, I will wait for you there to discuss the matter of ‘cultivation’ to improve strength in detail.”

His voice was calm and clear, reaching Annalise's ears before she had gone far.

Just as Annalis was frantically trying to find her way and nearly bumped into a row of grapevines, she heard these words from behind and stumbled, almost falling over.

He...he's going to Ingrid's treehouse too?! Now?! And he's waiting for me there?! To discuss...the "cultivation" in detail?!

"Ugh..." A barely audible sob, tinged with a hint of a cry, almost escaped her throat. Lord... is he... so impatient? Can't he even wait a moment? Does he really have to start that... "training" today, right now, right here in Ingrid's treehouse filled with all sorts of strange herbs and ambiguous rumors?
She subconsciously touched her left cheek, where faint purple marks still lingered, while her other hand nervously clutched the front of her shirt. Her body… her curse… could she really come into contact with men?
The winds of Giron gathered in Ingrid's treehouse only barely suppressed the corrosive effects of the winds of death, restoring much of her appearance. But was that deep-seated, instinctive repulsion truly gone?

What if… what if, when the lord approaches, she loses control of the death wind within her or Rhea's curse and harms him? Or… or worse, what if, because of that damned Fiery Rose, during that "training"… she… makes some inappropriate reaction… like… like some exaggerated scenario Ingrid secretly described…

Countless thoughts and terrifying imaginings instantly filled Annalis's mind, making her feel dizzy and her cheeks burning hot. She dared not think any further and could only use her last bit of strength to escape this place as quickly as possible, as if running fast enough could temporarily escape the impending, heart-stopping "spiritual meeting".

Su Li watched the red figure disappear completely at an almost chaotic speed, shaking his head in confusion. This master brewer's personality is becoming increasingly unpredictable. Perhaps his mental state will stabilize after his advancement?
He temporarily put Annalis's unusual behavior aside and turned to Merian, saying, "Then I'll take my leave first. I'll go and inspect the manor. Are your nuns still by the consecrated wisteria tree?"

Upon hearing the lord's question, Merian immediately bowed slightly, her movements inadvertently revealing a natural, mature, and abundant charm characteristic of the Rhea Church. The collar of her monastic robe seemed looser than usual, and with this bow, a large expanse of dazzlingly white and delicate skin was revealed. The full and proud curves almost seemed to break free from the constraints of the fabric, gleaming with a warm and gentle luster in the manor's sunlight, the deep cleavage appearing as if it could easily swallow any gaze directed at it.

“Of course, my lord.” Her voice carried a hint of pleasure at being acknowledged, the ending rising slightly like a feather gently brushing against the heart. “The most sacred Blessed Wisteria Tree and Purple Spirit Field of the Bauhinia Manor have always been guarded day and night by our most loyal sisters, without a moment’s slackening.”

As she spoke, she subconsciously straightened her back, making her ample bosom even more prominent, the fabric stretched taut, outlining a breathtakingly alluring curve.

She seemed oblivious, or perhaps she had long been accustomed to her abundant blessings, and continued to report with a touch of emotion: "Thanks to you, the territory held that grand Dawn Pastoral Ceremony this year, and the Goddess bestowed unprecedentedly generous blessings. Our church has also benefited greatly from this, and dozens of elite nuns have been promoted one after another."

(End of this chapter)