Chapter 48

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Chapter 48

Life in the villa was satisfying. Without Duke Icard and Evan, no one would check on her, and it was very comfortable.

Whenever she was in her room, Laria could see the Olta Forest at a glance, and even the scenery was bewildering.

The Olta forest was broadleaf in the southwestern part of the continent. Deep in the forest, which is beyond human reach, only mysterious plants lived, keeping the air in the area pure and clean.

“Although the treatment in the villa was a random choice, I can’t deny that the air here is nice.”

Serena, too, after spending a few days here, said she liked the villa.

“I think the Olta Forest is amazing. So many people here said they’d eventually return to their hometown even if they leave for another country.”

There were five territories in the Olta forest, two of which were Hanua and Borotna.

Both estates were located not very close or very far away from each other. Among them, Hanua was the farthest from the Capital and still adheres to the traditional lifestyle.

There was a reason why Seymour, the male lead, bought the Hanua estate, which was not very well-known. In fact, iron ore will be discovered, which would be like a jackpot in the distant future, but he didn’t know about it until then.

It could be said it was thanks to the male lead’s buff. Nonetheless, Seymour purchased the Hanua estate for another reason.

“I’ve taken care of everything you’ve asked of the guild members…” Serena said, bringing out a paper bag.

“I bought this because I was curious.”

“Really…?”

Tilting my head, I accepted a paper bag. There was a delicious smell.

“Can I invite Lisa to eat with me?”

“Yes, I would prefer that way, too.”

The relationship between Lisa and Serena was a little subtle.

Lisa seemed wary of her, as well as having burning feelings with a strange sense of competition. Serena, on the contrary, was surprisingly cool, though she was still quarreling with Lisa often.

“Hey, Serena.”

“What?”

“Aren’t you and Lisa on bad terms?”

“It’s not like we’re on bad terms…”

Serena, with her red hair up, continued nonchalantly.

“Actually, I’m not that interested in Lisa. Of course, sometimes she’s annoying, although I forget about it right away.”

“Really?”

“I don’t even have enough interest in the guys…”

Hearing her words, I was immediately speechless.

I knew Serena had a strange relationship with all the Duke’s men, though it was amazing to think about what happened since we came to Borotna.

Before we left, the servants who couldn’t follow Borotna were in the wind of tears, while the servants who followed me in Borotna had their own war of nerves.

“Serena, still, I think dating so many men is a little…”

“I’m not dating.”

She replied firmly, “I’m just getting to know them.”

“….”

And, to ensure her point, she then concluded.

“You have to get to know them first before deciding whether you should go out with them or not. So, if you’re not sure, you will be able to find new people.”

It was strangely difficult to refute her.

“Oh. Okay, well… It’s your personal freedom to say or do anything. There’s nothing I can say.”

“That’s what I mean.”

At that, Serena approached me with her eyes shining.

“Don’t you need to find out what kind of man you fit in with?”

“Huh? I’m not interested. Besides, I don’t want to have an affair.”

“It’s not an affair… it’s just meeting someone. You are going to break up with Evan, anyway. Are you going to cut yourself out for the rest of your life?”

“Still… I’m still young, and I’m not interested in men yet.”

“I understand, but one day, you need to look for someone for yourself.”

Serena, who seemed to take the matter very lightly, continued seriously,

“What kind of person does Laria really like? You’ll know if you don’t like someone. However, you have to gain a lot of experience to choose the right person. For example…”

She smiled with her eyes, peering at the paper bag she gave me.

“You have to try this Madeleine to know if you really like it or vice versa.”

Inside the envelope was madeleine, which was deeply related to what I was going to do this time around.

“It’s not about knowing madeleines but knowing Laria’s taste, who loves madeleines.”

“Hmm.”

“So, Miss Laria, let’s find out more about it. I’m not telling you what to do, I’m just telling you to explore. It’s not a normal marriage between you and Evan, and you’re supposed to break up, anyway…”

Even if she said so, I didn’t plan to be with a man other than Evan, even if I had planned to break our marriage.

Serena’s values were a little different from mine, perhaps because she often saw nobles who led to political marriages, enjoying secret meetings with other people.

“Never mind, let’s just grab a bite.”

Shutting down the conversation, she handed the madeleine in the paper bag she had brought me. The madeleines sold in Hanua were quite unusual.

Lisa was called in, and the three of us had tea time together. The taste was certainly different in flavor from Madeleines elsewhere. Even Lisa’s eyes grew bigger, and she asked Serena where she had bought it.

‘As expected of the male lead’s buff…’

I was sure lots of money would come in.

“Sweet and delicious.”

I muttered to myself, eating another madeleine.

“Evan’s coming to the banquet, so I’m going to buy him some then, too.”

Thinking of Evan’s sulky expression, complaining he was not a child and yet emptying one bag of Madeleines by himself, made me chuckle in advance.

The Hanua estate has been neglected for a long time.

This was because Hanua’s lord was very incompetent, and of course, was addicted to gambling. So, when they heard that Hanua had been sold to another owner, the people of the territory were not surprised.

Nevertheless, it was a bit sad to see the change of hands based on the Morcow River, which flowed across the middle of Hanua. It was said that the right side of the Morcow River was bought by a Baron named Kyle Dart Lavonis, and the left side of the Morcow River was bought by a baron named Seymour Gold Letucia.

“So, we’re… living in a different territory now?”

Because of the different owners, the people of the territory called them Kyle-Hanua and Seymour-Hanua for convenience. However, soon after, everyone realized that their lives had not changed much.

Kyle and Seymour both stayed in the Capital and were not involved in land affairs as they had their own agents, so many policies were implemented the same as before, including the most significant, tax issue.

But, not long after, Seymour Gold Letucia came down.

Originally, the mansion where the lord of Hanua lived was in Seymour-Hanua —Seymour’s side— so Seymour lived in the very mansion.

Then, he said something very strange one day,

“I’ll buy all the Hanua flour.”

Just last year, there was a good harvest of wheat, so every house was piled up with wheat. Hence, Seymour bought all the wheat they had stocked up at the market price.

With that sudden order, everyone was puzzled, not understanding the reason for the strange behavior of the new landowner. Tourists began to flock to Hanua, which was geographically remote and unknown to the outside world.

Since it was Hanua, which was not famous for tourists to come, all of the residents of the fief were surprised.

No matter if it was summer, this situation had never happened before…

In addition, all the tourists rushed to a bakery in Hanua to find madeleines.

“I came here to eat madeleine’s from Hanua!”

“…What?”

All of a sudden, outsiders came in and searched for madeleine, and the bakery quickly ran out of flour.

Due to the ever-increasing demand, bakery owners eventually had to pay three or four times the price they had sold flour to Seymour, to buy it again. Nonetheless, it was in their interest to buy back from him because the profits continued.

Even now, Hanua people, especially bakery owners, still didn’t understand what was going on and were puzzled every day.

Obviously, there were people in Kyle-Hanua who benefited together in this mess…

And, it was none other than me.

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