The fire rose from under her feet and faded away quickly.

This is the 23rd exercise.

Failed again.

Sweat beads appeared on Anna's forehead. She wiped it with the back of her hand. The heat suddenly churned and made a sizzling sound.

She did not stop at all, and then began her next practice. The witch uniform was neatly folded and placed aside. If she hadn't insisted on doing this at the beginning, the clothes would have turned into ashes in the flames.

Fortunately, as the fourth prince, it was not difficult to get a few spare pieces. He asked Tyre to send a whole bucket of robes - they were all temporarily collected from the maids.

The 24th exercise finally came to fruition. The flame no longer rose from under her feet, but appeared in her palm out of thin air. She raised her arm carefully, trying to move it to her fingertips, but the flame swayed twice, and suddenly rushed up to her arm, lit her sleeves, and swallowed the robe along the sleeves.

Anna took off the flames, pulled off half of her charred robe expressionlessly, turned her head to search for new ones in the bucket.

At this time, Roland would turn his gaze away and keep his eyes on somewhere else - even though the other party didn't care about it at all.

In fact, if Roland hadn't had strongly requested, she would probably have taken off and practiced. But then Roland would not be able to watch it well. He could not calmly face a naked girl - especially when the girl turned into flames, her figure had a different charm.

Roland shook his head and threw distracting thoughts behind his head. As of now, it is not easy to master this power. The phased goal he set for Anna is to release flames from his palms or fingers, not to affect the clothes on his body, and to maintain a high enough temperature to melt the pig iron ingots in the pool.

When the thirtyth practice failed, Roland stopped her.

"Let's have a rest."

Anna stared at him in a daze, without reaction.

Roland had no choice but to walk over, pull the girl's hand and hold it next to the chair, and forcefully pressed her to sit down.

"You are already tired and should take a break when you are tired. Don't force it too much. We have a long time," he wiped her sweaty forehead, "Let's have afternoon tea first."

************************

Roland knew that the nobles of the Greycastle Kingdom did not have the habit of enjoying afternoon tea. The productivity of this world was so poor that it was difficult for people to have the time to taste exquisite food - three meals were not popular, let alone four meals. As for the idle playboys, they usually gathered in bars or casinos at this time.

If you don’t have this habit, you can create a good one. There is a ready-made snack, and there is no tea that can be replaced by ale. After knowing that he was going to a remote border town, the fourth prince brought his maid, servant and chef over.

So the first afternoon tea party was held in the simple wooden shed in the back garden of the castle.

Anna looked at the plates of exquisite snacks and couldn't believe her eyes. Why can the food be cooked so well?

Although she couldn't name the specific name of the pastry, the combination of the pure white appearance and bright red fruits made people feel that they had a lot of appetite, especially the outer edge of the pastry was dotted with several delicate patterns, which made her worldview be engraved again.

Roland looked at Anna's at a loss with pride. Isn't it just a strawberry butter cake? It's scary for you, the local bun. Moreover, the strawberries are still marinated with sugar and the taste is not fresh.

What is more interesting than eating is to appreciate the witch's expression. Roland watched the other party carefully put the cake into his mouth, his blue eyes were almost shining, his hair was shaking, and his heart suddenly felt an illusion of watching food animation.

——Cookies that don’t shine are not good!

Well, this kind of role development feels pretty good.

So watching Anna practice and enjoying afternoon tea with her became the daily routine of Roland's life. Even if he didn't care about government affairs, Barov would help him take care of it in an orderly manner.

Three days later, Barov sent all the materials he had sorted out in the border town to Roland's office. This was absolutely incredible incident before, and the fourth prince actually had the patience to read such a large pile of tedious reports.

In fact, he didn't have one now. Roland felt dizzy after only two lines, and said to Barov directly, "You read it to me."

After spending an hour listening to the minister's assistant's report, he found something wrong, "Why are there zero taxes and trade in Border Town every winter?"

The temperature in winter is low and the harvest is reduced, but what does it mean to directly reset to zero? Do local people have the habit of hibernation?

Barov coughed twice, "Your Highness, have you forgotten? Winter is the Demon Moon. The border town has no ability to guard, and all residents will move to Changge Fortress. But please rest assured, your highness's safety must be the first."

"Demon Moon"? Roland recalled that there seemed to be such a term - before this, he did not take the ghost legends, evil witches, or anything else in mind, thinking that it was just nonsense about the uncivilized world. But now it seems that it is another way to say whether evil or evil is another way, witches do exist. So... what about other ghost legends that are widely circulated?

During the court lecture, the history tutor talked about the Demon Moon in detail. After the first snow in winter falls every year, the sun is dim and the gates of hell in the Dragon Ridge Mountains will open at this moment.

The evil aura from hell will erode creatures and turn them into slaves of the devil. Some animals will mutate into powerful evil beasts and attack humans. Most witches are born in this season, and their power is far better than usual.

"Have you seen it? Gate of Hell," Roland asked.

"Your Highness, how can ordinary people see it!" Barov shook his head repeatedly, "Not to mention that the Dragon Ridge Mountains cannot be crossed at all. Even close to the mountains will be affected by evil aura. In mild cases, the headache will be unbearable, and in severe cases, the mind will be lost. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless that man is a witch, only witches can see the gates of hell, because they have fallen into the devil's minions and are naturally not affected by evil spirits." At this point, Barov turned his head and looked at the back garden.

"Where is that evil beast, have you seen it?" Roland knocked on the table unhappily.

"Well, I haven't seen it. Like His Highness, I have been to the frontier for the first time. In the Gray Castle in the center of the Kingdom, almost few people can encounter real evil."

How can this place develop if it is moved once a year? Originally, he thought that the border town was just barren, but it still had the potential for development, but now it seems like a big pit.

"The Changge Fortress can resist evil beasts, which means they can be killed, and it is not invincible! Then why can't we defeat them in the border town?"

"The Changge Fortress has huge walls and is also stationed with the elite troops of Duke Ryan, which is not comparable to those of the Border Town," Barov explained. "From the beginning, the purpose of establishing the Border Town was to provide early warning to the fortress, so it was set up between the North Poling and the Chishui River."
Chapter completed!