Chapter 345 248: Silver Mine

「Evening. Canossa Castle, Tuscan Duchy.」

Matilda, having just returned from Lucca, entered Canossa Castle and proceeded to her chambers. After bathing with the help of her handmaidens, she changed into a white nightgown. She had intended to rest, but paused by her bed, slipped her shoes back on, and left her room. She then went to her mother Beatrice's chambers.

Her daughter with Eric, Beatrice, was currently in her mother's care.

She opened the door and glanced toward the cradle by the bed, where her mother was amusing the child.

As she approached, she saw her daughter in the cradle, tiny hands and feet waving in the air. The baby babbled, not with agitation, but as if testing her own voice and stretching her little limbs.

She stood awkwardly beside the cradle for a long moment, feeling she ought to do something, before finally poking the baby's chin gently with her forefinger.

The baby gurgled, turned her head, and then suddenly burst into tears.

"You should spend more time with your daughter." Beatrice picked up her namesake granddaughter, who almost instantly stopped crying.

"You'll take good care of her anyway." Matilda felt a headache coming on. 'I have no interest in this conversation.' "I know. I'm with her now, aren't I?"

"By giving her a few token pats before turning to leave?"

"What's wrong with spending my time on more important things? Besides, Beatrice is barely two. She won't remember a thing."

"True, she won't remember. But she remembers scents. She's unfamiliar with your scent—her mother's scent—and that's why she cried."

"Aren't Isabella, Joland, and you always here? What's wrong with leaving her with those who are more experienced? She'll have plenty of time with me in the future, more than enough to get to know me.

She might even grow to hate me, but perhaps that would be for the best. At least then she would learn that the world will not be kind to her.

My subjects need me to care for them and protect them. I inherited my father's position, and his spirit would expect nothing less."

'Matilda wished she had borne a son; then she wouldn't have to face so many unpleasant matters.'

Before giving birth two years ago, she had prayed for a boy, but God had not answered her prayers.

"To hear you talk, one would think the Tuscan Duchy would splinter the moment you looked away." Beatrice shook her head. "Isn't my nephew, the Emperor, in Hungary? And Hilbrand is doing perfectly well in Rome.

Or are you also planning to go to the East? Eric would never allow it."

"What business is it of his? I'll go where I please. Why should I need his permission?" Matilda stood, feeling she had overreacted. "In any case... I have other matters to attend to."

"You will have a son, Matilda. It just takes time. Don't forget, your own brother had two older sisters."

"That's not it."

'She just wasn't very good at this sort of thing.'

She stepped out and had just closed the door when a body pressed against hers. She instinctively moved to counter, only to realize it was Eric.

"Aren't you going to see your daughter?" Matilda tried to push Eric away, but he wouldn't budge. She caught a strange scent on him.

"I've been with her all day. Seeing her was the first thing I did when I returned. I thought you'd be in our room waiting for me with her in your arms. Speaking of which, she peed all over me. I had to change."

"Perhaps you should take a bath, then," Matilda said, turning her head aside.

"It's fine. Let's just call it my apology to our daughter." Eric deliberately leaned in closer.

"Could your method of apology possibly be any stranger?" Realizing Eric was teasing her, Matilda stomped on his foot and broke free from his grasp.

"I'm sorry I couldn't always be here in the Tuscan Duchy." Eric embraced her from behind, his arms around her waist. She had just bathed, and her still-damp hair carried the scent of soapwort, a clean, herbal fragrance.

When Matilda gave birth at the start of the year two years ago, Eric had not managed to return to the Tuscan Duchy in time.

Eric held something out in front of her: a bracelet woven from delicate gold chains, with rubies set between each link.

"I know you're not particularly interested in such things, but I felt I had to bring something back for you." Eric rested his chin on her shoulder.

"You should have spent this money on more important matters." Though she said this, Matilda took the bracelet and wrapped it around her wrist.

"In the Tuscan Duchy, nothing is more important than this."

"When did you arrive?"

"This morning, before dawn. I rode through the night, intentionally bypassing Piacenza to get here sooner. But your mother told me you left for Florence a week ago. What happened?"

"It was nothing. Just a few disobedient people. I have silenced them." Matilda stroked the rubies on her new bracelet, her gaze calm as she looked toward the end of the castle corridor.

"I heard Pisa launched an attack on Sardinia recently?"

"Yes, it was a joint operation with Genoa. Now that Genoa is a vassal of the Tuscan Duchy, it must prove its worth rather than remain an ordinary, useless city. And Pisa does indeed need a rival. That is how the Tuscan Duchy will maintain its absolute advantage and play the role of mediator.

Pisa seized Genoa's former overseas territories, so we needed to find them new ones. Sardinia, adjacent to Pisa's own overseas territory of Corsica Island, is an excellent choice. The Pisans have heard it has rich mineral deposits, including rumored silver mines.

Three months ago, they captured Galula and found a lead mine, but there's been no trace of silver."

"The silver mines must exist. I once read in the works of Solinus that India is famed for its ivory, Sardinia for its silver, and Attica for its honey. The mines are likely located in Iglesiente, in the Cagliari Region.

Send them there. But there's no hurry. After the armies from Normandy and England have passed through, you can dispatch the Pisans and Genoese to attack Cagliari. Those silver mines will make the Tuscan Duchy even more impregnable."

Eric began to caress Matilda, kissing her neck, his fingers threading through her thick, lustrous hair.

The light nightgown clung to her figure, almost a second skin.

Eric swept her into his arms and carried her toward the bedroom.

...

「Around late June」

The army led by Robert arrived in Genoa.

Accompanying Robert was the sixty-year-old Count of Blois, as well as Robert's uncle by marriage, the Count of Pontieu, a man of similarly advanced age. Both were considered semi-vassals to Robert.

Also present was the Count of Ghent, who governed the imperial region of Brabant. His direct liege was Godfrey, recently invested as the Duke of Lower Lorraine. However, this particular Count of Ghent had a passion for travel; he had been in Iberia when the call to arms went out and missed his Duchy's entire expedition. Upon returning home last month, he discovered the duchy had practically emptied out.

Hearing that King Robert of England was also departing, he had brought his army along to share passage on the ships and save on expenses.

There were also two of Eric's acquaintances: Ragman Crowan of the Isle of Man and Stephen of Blois.

The moment Stephen of Blois saw Eric, he began to complain that he hadn't wanted to come at all and had practically been kicked out the door by his mother.

As for Ragman, he seemed to have been through a great deal and had become quiet and reserved.

With the addition of these forces, Robert's army now numbered fifteen thousand men, including thirty-two hundred Knights.

Due to the presence of Rufus and Odo, and to avoid any unnecessary trouble, Eric had no intention of letting them linger. On their third day in Genoa, he had all the armies board the ships and set sail for Messina in the Sicily Duchy.