"I think we should do it." Pulsie finally said.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I can't imagine being planted-"

"Well, you're not a plant." Pulsie said angrily. Althea recoiled at the sudden, unexpected anger.

"I am sorry." Pulsie said. "I know I am not very mobile, not anymore, and I will only get worse from here. At the end of the day, I am a tree, and trees are planted. And you happen to have a garden in your bedroom."

Althea laughed at that. " I think I am not the first person to have a plant familiar in this bedroom."

"Well, the manual requirements would support your theory." Pulsie said. Althea laughed with him, but she still had a few reservations about him doing this. Pulsie clearly had reservations about this too.

"How about we do it after we've gone through the library? I need you there with me. How else will I understand the books." she said, picking him up and nearly dropping him. The plant was very heavy. After a lot of lifting, grunting, groaning and keeping Pulsie down several times, she finally arrived at the library.

"Try the section with journal-like books. That should be where the records are kept." Pulsie said.

Althea's face immediately scrunched up. Come on, why did things have to be so boring? But if she had to read record books to understand what was going on in the county, she would. Even if it pained her to read through a bunch of numbers.

The journals were about as boring as she expected. A lot of numbers written with little sense to them. Althea had to go around looking for what was going at least a hundred times. The county was, as expected, doing well. There was a lot of food. A bit too much of it if she was being honest.

"What do you think of the new granaries?" Pulsie asked.

"I think they have to be built." Althea said. "But they shouldn't need to be. The food has to go somewhere, at this point we have more food than we can trade."

"The other nobles don’t want to give the Diery county an even bigger monopoly on food. And the Empire restricts us from trading outside the Empire." Pulsie replied, sliding his leaves along the books. The plant must be remembering how books felt like. “That may have changed since, but the manner of distribution has kept something of a balance in the Empire.”

"Why did they ban the sale in the first place?" Althea said, opening a new book. A registrar of every official and their finances. Oh, this was going to be interesting.

"The duties were hesitant to allow the county power, so the Emperor used their greed against them. The Empire wields a lot of soft power through the sale of food, even with its isolated position that should render it poor. The Empire is out of the way for most trade routes, but routes change for money and needs."

"Yes, but which came first, the Empire or the trade routes?" Althea said, silencing the plant. Ok, she might have taken a bit too much pleasure and asking that question. Now back to the journal.

Hmm, there were a few oddities. Why exactly was the city lord of Marile making so much more money than Sentinal? Deadre didn't even have a city lord. Oh, there it was. The Marquis had set a city lord's income to increase with the city's own income. A nice incentive, but it made for cooked books.

Althea removed the book detailing Marile's finances, wondering who had kept such detailed records. The records were far more organized than the other ones that were basically a scrawl of numbers with a few comments made in hindsight. The next few hours went by as she analyzed where the money went and came from.

The corruption was actually minimal for a county so rich and lacking in oversight. But there was still some to deal with. The ministers also did not seem to do anything for years, the county running by itself. Did anyone actually check the reports they had from rural areas?

How nice, well she had an assignment for her new army then. And the college students. Sneaking around was a skill, right? And checking out rural areas was probably going to widen their horizons a lot.

Althea should probably check out a few herself. Pulsie was reading up too, apparently he had found books on mana in the library. In the end, they spent the entire day reading up things instead of cultivating. And talking. Pulsie had some very nice ideas that she was eager to see play out in the court two days later.

The maids delivered food from time to time, she ate it when she felt hungry. The next day would probably be more eventful.

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Althea woke up before Pulsie, as usual. The sun was barely in the sky, a testament to how relaxed she was. Well, it was practice time. Hmm, she should probably wake Pulsie up. But he was sleeping…ok fine, he would be more angry if she did not wake him up.

"Pulsie," she whispered, tapping his leaves, and the louder. "Pulsie!"

The plant jolted awake, its leaves shivering as they turned to her. "Oh, it's you. Why are you awake so early."

"I slept soundly." she replied.

The plant mumbled something, she just caught the tail end of it."…and then you do things like this."

Althea ignored it. "I think we should try the propelling spell."

"What are you going to propel?" he asked. Althea paused. That was a problem.

"A leaf?" Althea picked one up from the garden, lifting it into the air. Vibrate the body and then propel it with pure mana and will. The leaf fluttered and shot out a bit before falling down. Althea blushed, it wasn't going to be easy, was it?

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"A leaf might be harder. The air tends to stop them pretty well." Pulsie noted. Oh, right. The world still had scientific laws. Hmm, maybe she could…well, she didn't really remember how to invent things. But it would probably help somewhere.

Althea went back into the room and picked up a pen and tried with it. The thing still didn't go far, but it was definitely easier.

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The day and the next was spent training the spells. The propelling spell apparently just needed a lot of practice to get the power she needed. A few hundred tries was barely scratching the surface, apparently.

The capturing spell was easy, just use a surrounding element to catch someone. Althea tried it successfully on plants and insects. The insects at least moved.

Now it was finally time for the final step.

"Are you sure?" Althea asked.

"I think we have had this conversation. And this doesn't have to be permanent. I happen to know a mage with the Earth element." Pulsie joked.

Althea sighed and set Pulsie into the hole they had made in the ground. There was a big empty space right in the middle of the garden, in the center of the entire palace. The place had plenty of sunlight and space for Pulsie to grow.

Pulsie's roots spread out, and she felt him connect to the land magic. And then his leaves reached out, connecting to the mana in the air.

"What is the next step?" he asked as Althea did the same, connecting with both sources of mana. The cycle appeared in her perception, making her feel a little better.

"Now we reach out to each other with our minds." Althea said, trying to replicate what she did with the horse. A hard thing to do since she barely knew what she was doing back then. Mana swirled around them as they did so, the sun mana the first to react, as usual. The land mana soon followed.

As usual, the actual thing was simpler than the explanation. Magic bridged the gap between the two of them. A stream of mana emerged from her, different from any she had used before. The power of her types of mana circled around it, merging as a connection was forged between her and Pulsie. The mana roared, pouring into her core as she broke through to Apprentice 2. Well, so much for not expecting a breakthrough.

"I think I know your fifth element." Pulsie said in her mind. "I think you, Countess Althea Diery, wield the element of emotion."

And then he had to go confuse her.

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Althea walked through the main hall, which was much more crowded, feeling a lot more alone than before. Pulsie did not know much about the Emotion element, he had only heard of it in one of the books in her room. The book only had it on a list with some characteristics.

The ability to draw power from emotion and feel emotions from nature, and at higher levels, even people.

And she still did not know how to use it. But she had a court to prepare for, and it was important it went well.

The hall was not a very glamorous thing. The throne wasn't either. A simple wooden thing with drawers for some reason. A row of flowers hid her feet for some reason too.

"I hereby declare this coronation court in session." Althea announced. "Please bring the first applicant."

The doors opened to reveal a pair of father and son. Althea already knew their problem.

"I greet her grace, the Countess Guarding Diery." the pair bowed.

“Please state your issue.” she asked.

"The issue I wish to bring before the court today is that of rabbit attacks, your grace." The father's words were met with sniggers, and groans.

Althea knew from old records that he did this every year, being the first before the Marquis's representative, so they couldn't refuse him. The rabbits were a concern, but they were too hidden and entrenched to get out. The loss of produce looked like it could not be prevented.

"The court will maintain decorum." Althea ordered. "Please expand your issue. Are the traps not working?"

The father took a deep breath. "The traps are overwhelmed, your grace. Just before we were leaving, they were full of rabbits. The farms were chewed through, and I am sure the bastards will have finished the job by now."

The father kneeled. "The farms cannot survive like this, your grace. I beg you for aid, your grace."

Althea blinked. The thing about rabbits was that they usually avoided traps, not ran into them. An overpopulation issue? If it was, then it would be easy enough to deal with.

"The Diery army has several squads of expert hunters and trappers." she said. "I will have one each to return with you and report back in two days. If needed, they will cull the rabbit population to manageable levels. Leren is just a few hours ride away, yes?"

"Yes, your grace." the father replied, she could see that he thought she wasn't taking it seriously. But she didn't know what the problem was to begin with, the expert needed to investigate.

"And in the meantime, the palace cooks will give you some dishes to make from rabbit." she said. " The fur of these creatures is quite valuable, I recommend skinning them to lessen your losses."

"The village is already doing that, your grace." the father bowed and left, clearly unsatisfied. Well, that was just a great start. The next up was the thieves. The farmer had somehow beat the palace guards to the line. The one that operated on a token system run by county officials and started at midnight.

The thieves were dragged into the hall in chains, their power on clear display. The crowd stepped back. Althea did not see a single Apprentice among them.

"What brings these guests to my court today, solicitor?" she asked. Oh, she knew, but there were formalities.

"The three have been accused of trying to steal your jewels, your grace." the solicitor said.

"And how do they plead?" she asked, looking at the women she had spoken to.

"I plead guilty, our grace." the woman replied, her comrades following suit.

Althea nodded, suddenly turning to the Minister of Justice.

"Minister Gerrel, what do you think their punishment should be?" Althea asked. Asking the ministers for opinions would give them a favorable impression and let her test them.

"O-oh, them." the Minister stammered. "The official punishment for such crimes is death, your grace."

The woman's eyes widened, probably thinking she was breaking her word. Althea did not have such intentions.

"The report tells me that they took special care to not harm anyone in the process." she continued. "Do you think they deserve mercy because of it?"

The Minister seemed troubled by her question. "Th-the punishment is based on the crime of thieving, your grace. The valuables can be used to secure food and other necessities that the county may require. The Emperor's court has deemed it necessary to punish the criminals severely so that it stops others from doing it."

And it left the nobles with fewer baubles to show off. But not even Althea was stupid enough to add that.

As for the punishment tactic…it really did not work very well. As long as they could get away with it, they would do it. The trick was to reduce reasons to commit crime and catch those that did.

"Yes, but what is the necessary severity for thievery, Minister?" she asked, and then continued without waiting for a reply.

"I sentence Corrora Reine, Sed Narryl and Garry Mes to twenty-five years of labor in the farms of Diery as recompense for their act."

And then, after a few seconds of waiting. "Please bring the next applicant."