Since receiving a lengthy lecture from Kelsey, Medina's four heirs had each begun carrying out their respective duties.
As the eldest son, Albern now assisted his wife in managing the residence. He also began counting and recording all the tributes that the sixth prince had taken over the past eight years.
Kelsey had told him that he only needed to calculate and identify the tributes for now. There was no need to retrieve them from the palace yet. She knew that once the sixth prince realized the curse was real, he would return every offering he had taken without daring to deduct even a single piece.
Meanwhile, Cadfael recruited several cultivators and began training them to serve as guards for the residence. Although Medina already had many guards, none of them were cultivators. Having even a few cultivators—no matter how low their levels—would at least discourage the empire from acting recklessly.
