In the last week of March, Valley Wood Fort welcomed the first group of wedding guests, who were Baron Galvin's close relatives, family members, and dear friends from Sap Fort.
Three days prior, Art personally led Odo, Angus, Ron, and a group of personal attendants to Sap Fort to escort Miss Lottie to the Valley to complete the wedding ceremony. Baron Galvin was, after all, a nobleman of considerable wealth and status. The relatives, subordinates, and local nobles and gentry who accompanied Baron Galvin to Valley Wood Fort for the wedding numbered over eighty (including twenty elite guards). This scale was already a result of repeated reductions, considering the long journey and the need for personnel to remain in their territory.
Accompanying Baron Galvin to Valley Wood Fort were also ten carriages loaded with gifts and supplies (six of which were dowry). Due to the large number of people and carriages, Baron Galvin had to take the southern route through Provence, passing Border Outpost, to reach the Valley. To ensure the safety of this wedding party, Art dispatched two companies of Soldiers to escort them.
At this moment, the flat open space outside Wood Fort, usually used for military training, was filled with tents for guests. Due to the limited housing in Wood Fort, except for Baron Galvin's family who moved into the newly built Lord's Mansion, all other distinguished guests were arranged into the meticulously cleaned houses within Wood Fort. The original residents of Wood Fort were temporarily relocated to Valley Land; the military, except for one company maintaining order, was also temporarily transferred to North Pass, and the vacated training ground became a camp for distinguished guests' servants, escorts, or retainers. Of course, many guests brought their own tents, so Art also specifically designated an open space for guests to set up their tents, and there were also Valley military Soldiers on guard around the camp area.
Since March, Art's busy pace had not stopped. He had to quickly arrange military deployments and patrols to ensure that the distinguished guests attending the wedding were not harassed by bandits along the way, and at the same time, he had to prepare for various wedding matters.
Art dragged his heavy steps into his Lord's Mansion, but during this period, Baron Galvin's family was living in the Lord's Mansion. Miss Lottie had moved into the Lord's bedroom on the second floor, and Baron Galvin and the Baroness were arranged into the distinguished guest rooms on the second floor, while Art himself still lived in a military tent outside the fort. Baron Galvin's family, who moved into the mansion, showed no disdain for its simplicity, because although the mansion, personally designed and built by Art, lacked the luxury of the Baron's mansion in Sap Fort, it was bright and clean, simply decorated, exuding a sense of leisure and comfort everywhere, so the Galvin family found it quite enjoyable.
Going up the wooden stairs to the second floor, Oly, Lottie's personal maid, was coming down with a tray of food. Seeing Art coming up, she quickly stepped aside, curtsied, and smiled, "Lord Art, my lady still wanted me to send this food to your tent, but I didn't expect you to come yourself."
"Oly, put the food back in Miss Lottie's bedroom. I'll visit her myself in a moment. Is Lord Galvin in the office?"
Oly nodded.
Art went up the stairs, knocked, and entered the small office on the second floor. Baron Galvin and the Baroness, who had just finished the lunch brought by a servant, were resting in the office.
"Good day, Lord Galvin, good day, Baroness!" Art gently pushed open the door and walked in.
The Baroness stood up, walked around the table in the office, and gently pulled Art to sit down.
"Art, we were just about to send someone to find you. You and Lottie are getting married in two days, and the Lord and I want to talk to you about Lottie's dowry," the Baroness said kindly, then picked up a parchment from in front of Baron Galvin and handed it to Art.
"We only have Lottie as a daughter, and we are extremely happy to see her marry the man she loves. Although your place here is a bit simple, I have seen these past few days that your people in your territory respect you very much, and it is said that you built this Wood Fort with your own hands. I think it is worthwhile for Lottie to marry such a progressive person as you."
"Although we are just an obscure branch of the Hugues Family, my husband has worked tirelessly over the years to build up a considerable family fortune. This time, for Lottie's marriage, in addition to the six carriages of farm tools, ironware, raw silk and satin, leather clothing, and valuable utensils and materials we brought as Lottie's dowry, we have also discussed giving you 100,000 fenny in silver coins and three southern goods shops located in Lucerne and Kodoer (the provincial capital of the Western Province) as part of the dowry. As for the gifts brought by relatives, subordinates, nobles, and gentry from Sap Fort, please accept them. In addition, one of Lottie's personal maids and two odd-job cooks will also come along. Now that Lottie will not be by our side, we can feel more at ease with familiar personal servants to take care of her. Previously, my husband and I originally intended to give you an estate in Sap Fort as a dowry, but after careful consideration, we decided that we cannot cede Felix's future territory to you. I do not want to sow discord between you and Felix."
Art looked at the densely packed list of gifts and goods on the parchment, sighing inwardly at the generosity of noble families. Although he did not get a piece of fertile land in Sap Fort, the 100,000 fenny and three profitable shops were even more valuable.
Art was not a man of integrity; he had to admit that one reason for his marriage to Lottie was to covet Baron Galvin's wealth, but this was understandable. The more valuable the dowry given by his father-in-law and mother-in-law, the higher Lottie's status would be in Wood Fort in the future. However, Art also truly liked Miss Lottie, who was gentle, skilled, generous, and capable, otherwise, he would not have married Lottie just for a generous dowry.
Seeing that the Baroness was about to ramble on endlessly, Baron Galvin gently interrupted his wife, saying, "Art, I think very highly of you. It took you less than two years to rise from a commoner to a nobleman, but no matter how great a feat you wish to achieve in the future, you must never betray my daughter's affection for you. And in future campaigns and battles, you must be extremely careful, so that the woman behind you does not worry about your life."
"Furthermore, as a rising star, you must remember to always be low-key and not stir up trouble everywhere. Some time ago, I heard that you had a falling out with the Dean Family of Tinietz. You must be careful; the Dean Family is deeply entrenched, and you should not provoke them easily. If you want to continue operating the southern goods trade, I can allocate a few routes from Sap Western Front for you to manage..."
"Yes, yes, you must not provoke the Dean Family; those people are consistently ruthless and sinister," the Baroness interjected, continuing her remarks.
Art listened carefully to the tireless teachings of Baron Galvin and the Baroness, nodding constantly in agreement, but his thoughts had long since drifted to the opposite bedroom, chatting with Miss Lottie.
In the following days, the Sentry Cavalry stationed in Jushi Town, north of the Valley, continuously reported the arrival of distinguished guests invited to the wedding, and Art, along with Ron's Sentry Cavalry, left the Valley to personally greet them.
The day before the wedding, all invited guests had arrived. Count Baldwin, as expected, did not come, but Count Baldwin had Ron, who went to deliver the letter, bring back an exquisitely crafted dagger as a gift to celebrate Art's wedding. The value of this dagger might not have been as precious as the gift Ron brought, but it was Count Baldwin's personal item, indicating that Count Baldwin still valued Art somewhat. Compared to Count Baldwin, Bishop Olov, who also could not come in person, attached much more importance to Art's wedding. Bishop Olov dispatched his personal guard, Sir William, with five religious cavalrymen and a batch of valuable gifts to the Valley. Viscount Pierre and Viscount Herries also sent their Internal Affairs Knight to the Valley to attend the wedding on their behalf, and Baron Antaias of Andermatt Fortress even personally entered the Valley with Knight Croy to participate.
Suddenly, a large number of guests poured into Valley Wood Fort.
Needless to say, the military Commanders responsible for internal and external security, several stewards and Vice Stewards of Civil Affairs, and all their clerks, along with over twenty farmers and farm women selected from the Valley, were busy in Wood Fort. Not only did they have to set up the venue for the wedding and prepare food, but they also had to arrange daily food consumption for the guests, their families, and retainers, as well as fodder and water for horses and livestock.
One or two hundred people might not seem like many, but with such a sudden influx, the small Wood Fort found it somewhat difficult to cope. Moreover, conflicts, grievances, and animosities were inevitable among the nobles attending the wedding. While nobles would not lose their composure at someone else's wedding, the servants and guards were another matter. Therefore, there were always some minor frictions and disputes in Wood Fort every day, and Art had to dispatch more Soldiers to maintain order. Not only that, Art also had to guard against "guests" with ulterior motives who were particularly curious about exploring Art's territory.
Just as Art was about to be overwhelmed, the last day of March finally arrived, and the long-awaited wedding began.