Capítulo 41: Theodora Arrives at Bideford

After receiving an order from her father, Theodora together with her personal maid and a team of guards departed from Tetherswest on 1st March 300 Paign Era.

Her journey starts by heading to the port town of Nedideters, west of Tetherswest City which took her four days to arrive by carriage.

Tetherswest and Ryntum are located opposite of each other and were only separated by a body of water known as the Gulf of Napuna.

Once she and her entourage arrive at Nedideters, it is already evening.

"Go and ask them if there is still a ship for this evening". She wants to reach Bideford as soon as possible.

"As you wish, Young miss". Her knight excuses himself to buy a ship ticket for them.

The ticket seller greeted the knight "Welcome, where do you want to go? There are only two options though, Durbotes or Napuna?"

"Which one is closer to Bideford?"

"Durbotes's route are shorter. You spend less time on the ship and more on the land. For Napuna's route, you will spend more time on the ship and more on the land."

"If that's the case...Is there a ship to Durbotes Town this evening?", the knight asked.

The ticket seller replies, "The ship to Durbotes for this evening has sailed. The earliest one is tomorrow morning. The ship to Napuna is still here though".

"It's okay, give me 15 tickets for tomorrow's trip to Durbotes".

"150 Ros", said the ticket seller while handing over the tickets.

The knight returns to Theodora who is immersed in watching the beautiful sunset at the port town. She seems to have been lost in her thoughts.

She whispered with an inaudible voice, "I guess life is not like a fairytale story that I read when I was a child. When I arrive there, I need to build a good relationship with him. Enough so that he won't break off our engagement".

"Young miss", the knight called and informed her. "Apparently, the ship for the evening trip has sailed. I have bought us the tickets for tomorrow morning".

Theodora sighed and said, "I guess we have to spend the night in this town". Then she asked, "Which route did you choose, Albert?".

The knight, Albert said "Durbotes, Young miss. This route is shorter". He knows that Theodora hates spending a lot of time on journeys.

Theodora nodded. She inwardly complained, 'Why didn't Bideford build a port despite the town being located near the sea? If they build, I can just sail directly there.'

There's nothing she can do now. Once she meets Riz, she will voice her idea.

The following day, Theodora continued her long journey to Bideford via Durbotes, Newbigle, Coreton, and Westley before finally arriving at Bideford.

Theodora looked out from the window of her carriage and saw the wall that protects Bideford town. The carriage that she is currently using is not hers but belongs to Baron Newbigle. She left her carriage at Nedideters before riding a ship.

....

She sighs "At last, after twenty days of strenuous journeys. I am finally here". She lazily leans her body toward the window to see the view outside. As the carriage moves near the town, the fields appear in her sight.

"Hmm?", she saw some sort of weird two-wheel carriage which is being pulled by horses. She has never seen something like that before. "Hey, Anna". She called her personal maid who was sitting opposite her.

"Yes, Young miss?"

Theodora pointed her finger at the farmer on the field, "What is that thing?".

Anna looks at the weird carriage with a blank expression. She shook her head and replied, "I don't know, young miss. I have never seen something like that before".

Theodora frowned and said, "Aren't you a farmer's daughter? How come you don't know?".

She keeps denying "I never see my father use that thing in my entire life, Young miss". Anna looked at the field and saw a familiar face. She makes a suggestion to Theodora, "Why don't you ask your fiance? He is right there". Anna pointed her finger at Riz.

Theodora saw Riz standing on the side of the field talking to someone while watching the strange carriages moving on the field.

As if she couldn't contain her curiosity anymore, she told the coachman to stop.

"Young miss, why do you want to stop?", asked Albert.

"My fiance is over there". Theodora said before stepping out of the carriage and heading toward Riz.

"Riz!!", she called him while throwing her most charming smile at him.

"So how is it? Did the drill properly plant—?", Riz who is talking to the farmer about the seed drill was interrupted by someone calling his name.

He turned around and saw a brown hair girl with golden eyes walking toward him. She is wearing a simple white chemise with a long brown kirtle reaching her ankle on top of it. She ties her hair into a ponytail. Behind her, he saw her personal maid chasing after her.

He instantly realized that his father had told him some time ago that Theodora would come. It completely slipped from his mind.

Riz turned around and told the farmer, "If there is any problem with the machine, inform me quickly".

"Understood, milord", replied the farmer.

Riz hurriedly moved towards Theodora.

"It's been a while, Riz", Theodora casually greeted him. There is no awkwardness at all. Riz is kind of jealous seeing his easygoing fiancée. She has no worries at all.

He has so many things to do that he forgets when the last time he has a good rest.

"Yeah, it has been a few months since we last met. How are you doing?"

"Fine as always. My father told me to spend time with you so...I hope you have something interesting to do".

"I have a lot of stuff to do but I don't know if you will find it interesting".

"We'll see about that. I have been meaning to ask, what is that?", she pointed at the field.

"I am glad that you asked". Riz began to introduce the drill to Theodora. "This is a seed drill. It is used to plant seeds in the earth instead of on the surface. Normally, farmers will plant crop seeds by randomly throwing the seed by hand on the ploughed ground. This method is inefficient because the seed can be blown away by wind or eaten by animals. Not only that, the distance between each seed is not consistent which wastes a lot of seed and affects crop growth. If I ordered the farmer to plant the seed with a certain gap by hand, it would be time-consuming".

After such a lengthy explanation, Theodora asked, "So...How does the seed drill solve problems you mentioned before?"

"The drill has a plough at the front to dig the channel. The rotating cylinders allow the seed to pass from a hopper above to a funnel below. A harrow attached to its back instantly covered the channel. Now, the seed can be planted in a straight line and with the same interval between them".

Theodora's personal maid, Anna slowly muttered, "Amazing". As a farmer's daughter, she is well-versed in farming and often helps her family during her off-duty.

Although Theodora didn't know much about farming, she realized the potential of this machine. "Does that mean that fewer people are required to farm now? What will happen to them?"

"They can find another job or open up a new land. Either way it can increase efficiency and productivity of agriculture".

"How do you even come up with this?", she really can't believe Riz came up with a novel idea. She knew about his invention as she had already investigated her fiance. Each of his inventions makes a big change in certain aspects.

She inwardly questions him, 'how does his brain work? Are new things so easy to create now?'

"I see the farming process from start to finish and thought the idea to improve it", facing Theodora's suspicious gaze, Riz calmly lied through his teeth. Of course, he can't say that he just follows the machine design by English agriculturist, Jethro Tull. His fiancee will ask more questions about it.

Riz decided to change the topic. "Let's go to the mansion first. My father is probably waiting for your arrival".

"Very well, let's do that".

Afterwards, they slowly walk to the mansion, Anna and the group of knights closely follow them from behind. They want to give some space to their mistress and her fiance.