"Apart from this, the royal family can also give an order…"

Looking at Olivia, Chen Heng slowly spoke, "If any of the Kutu Principality's citizens can set up a territory in the desert, they will be acknowledged as the ruler of that territory, will become a noble, and be given a corresponding title, no matter if they are a slave, merchant, or noble."

​​

"Regardless of birth, anyone can become a noble…"

Hearing Chen Heng's words, Olivia's eyes became brighter and brighter.

She immediately understood the crux of what Chen Heng was saying.

Once this policy was announced, all people who thirsted for territory and a title would definitely swarm to the northern side, helping to take the pressure off the northern rulers.

In order to obtain and defend their territory, those people would have to go all-out, and this would reduce their own strength.

This was essentially equivalent to reducing the strength of noble families to increase the strength of the Kutu Principality's borders.

What was key was that those people would be doing this of their own volition.

The royal family would not receive a bad reputation while also reaching its goal.

Looking at Chen Heng, Olivia's gaze brightened; her evaluation of him had completely changed.

Before, she had just seen Chen Heng as a virtuous and powerful Knight.

Now, things had completely changed.

This person not only had extremely great power but was incredibly talented as well. He could immediately see things that ordinary people would never notice.

It was as if he could find the answer to any problem.

Looking at Chen Heng with his calm expression, Olivia made up her mind.

Even putting aside his great strength, Chen Heng was an incredibly rare genius.

For him to have such brains, even if he was not a Knight, it would be enough for Olivia to try to win him over.

After she made this resolution, she continued to speak.

Following this, she started to ask him various questions.

What shocked her was that no matter what kind of question she posed, Chen Heng was able to understand what she was thinking and could give an answer that satisfied her.

Gradually, Olivia could not help but sigh in amazement.

"What a pity…"

Looking at Chen Heng, she said earnestly, "It would have been good if I could have met you earlier.

"Although, it's not too late now, either," she looked at Chen Heng and smiled, "I'm very glad I invited you here and heard your thoughts on these matters."

"Princess is flattering me."

Chen Heng lowered his head, and did not look pleased at all, "These are just my personal opinions. Princess has the Kutu Principality's most talented people by her side, so I'm sure that these ideas of mine are nothing extraordinary to you."

"They cannot compare to you," Olivia thought back to her questions and shook her head, "all they tell me to do is hurry around, roping in some people.

"There aren't many who give truly useful suggestions."

She could not help but give a look of condescension before saying sincerely, "Kailin, are you interested in becoming my subordinate?"

Chen Heng was startled and stared.

So direct?

However, if he thought about it, for the distinguished Princess Olivia, she did not need to beat around the bush in recruiting someone.

"I should not decline Your Highness' offer, but I hope that I can discuss this with my father first…" C

hen Heng bowed and lowered his head, "So please give me a bit of time."

Even though he had already made a decision, directly giving an answer now would be too direct and would not be good for Chen Heng's high prestige, nor his development with Verna.

As such, pushing and pulling at appropriate times was very important.

"It's no problem if you want to discuss with your father."

In response to Chen Heng's words, Olivia was very understanding.

With Chen Heng's status, he now represented his entire family.

According to the culture of this age, if Chen Heng became Olivia's subordinate, his family would be taken to support her as well.

After all, after Ormando died, Chen Heng was now Baron Kaisen's only child, as well as his future successor.

Once he supported Olivia, this would mean that his entire family was supporting her too.

This kind of decision that would affect his entire family indeed required some consideration; this was quite normal.

"I understand your considerations." Looking at Chen Heng, Olivia smiled, "However, as Verna's big sister, I need to remind you that Verna is waiting for you; don't let her wait for too long."

"Verna…"

Hearing this, Chen Heng suddenly looked up, a look of surprise on his face, "Your Highness… is Verna's older sister?"

"Indeed."

Looking at the shocked expression on Chen Heng's face, Olivia felt quite pleased and nodded, "Verna is my little sister, and the Kutu Principality's Third Princess. What, you didn't guess her identity even after knowing her for so long?"

Olivia smiled, a teasing look on her face.

"I did guess at her identity, but I thought that she was someone from Kelly's family…"

Chen Heng gave a bitter smile, "I never thought that…"

"Verna has always been somewhat afraid of strangers and rarely goes out. It's natural that you didn't guess it," Olivia shook her head as she said, "However, I never thought that she would get to know you and that your friendship would develop to such a degree."

Hearing Olivia's words, Chen Heng fell silent as if he was still processing the information that Olivia had just dropped on him.

Only after a few moments did he sigh and said, "What does Your Highness want?"

"It's not what I want but what you want," Olivia said as she looked at Chen Heng seriously, "I watched the interaction between the two of you last time. There is no doubt that Verna likes you very much. So, what about you?"

Chen Heng sank into silence.

Outside the room, in a place he did not know about, a pair of eyes were peeking through a crack, staring at them.

There, Verna was wearing a black dress, her female attendant standing next to her.

It seemed that she had been standing there for a long time, listening to Olivia and Chen Heng's conversation.

Hearing Olivia's question, Verna's heart rate sped up as she stared at Chen Heng, waiting for his reply.

Does he like me as well?

Does he want to be with me?

What is he thinking?

Thoughts continuously arose in her mind. Her breathing became erratic, and she felt as if her heart was going to burst.