Visiting the Land

Three days after the official establishment of the Royal Signal Corps, Ernest finally found himself returning to a matter that had occupied the back of his mind ever since the king had handed him the parchment bearing his title.

His land.

Five thousand hectares.

Even now, the number felt absurd.

That wasn't an estate in the way most nobles understood the word. It wasn't a large farm with a manor house at its center or a collection of villages supporting an aristocratic family.

Five thousand hectares was territory.

An area large enough to contain forests, rivers, hills, and valleys. Large enough for entire communities to live their lives without ever seeing the opposite end of it.

More importantly, it was large enough to hide things.

Resources.

The kind that shaped economies, built cities, and determined which kingdoms prospered and which faded into history.