Chapter 60

Hestia hesitated for a moment. Then she spoke softly, “I’ve been doing my research slowly, but I’ve been working on it.”

“Then…”

“It stopped a few months ago.”

At that, I paused for a moment.

Then the idea flashed in my head immediately.

“Because of Count Giovanni?”

Hestia’s eyes widened.

“It’s difficult to get money because Count Giovanni has blocked all of the places where you can invest your research funds, right?”

“How do you know that…!”

That’s right…

Hestia’s face, stained with astonishment, seemed to know without asking. I asked again.

“Is there anywhere who can provide consistent support without feeling pressured by Count Giovanni?”

“…What?”

“How long will it take?”

“Well, there must be a place like that…”

Hestia saw my confident face and immediately bit her lip. Her eyes were moving so fast that she seemed to be rolling her head thinking hard.

Hestia looked at the pile of gold coins and then back at me, and she responded immediately.

“About five years.”

“Faster?”

“No, because I have to include variables that we still don’t know.”

“It’s good.”

Then I took off my robe. Looking at her puzzled face, I took out the contract and another pocket that I had prepared.

It was a gold coin that was purposely reserved for later.

Hestia covered her mouth with both hands at my daring act of pouring out the rest of the gold coins on the table.

I smiled and pointed at the gold coins on the table.

“I will support you with this amount of money every month.”

Hestia’s eyes grew big enough to pop out.

“If it’s not enough, charge me more. I can support twice as much.”

“What?”

“Of course, I’m just talking about research expenses, and I’m going to provide extra living expenses so that there’s no inconvenience in research.”

“What?”

“Oh, and….”

Recognizing Hestia’s questioning like an idiot with a positive reaction, I gave the final blow.

“If we develop the cure safely, I will promise you the best research facility in the Empire and a decent title. Even Count Giovanni can’t ignore you.”

As soon as the word ‘Count Giovanni’ came out, Hestia’s half-broken sense returned.

The way she shut her mouth tightly looked confused. After hesitating for a while, she looked at me and asked.

“Is that a good thing?”

Instead of answering, I pointed out one side of the contract.

Hestia’s gaze turned to where I pointed. There was a family seal stamped large in red.

Hestia’s mouth opened automatically when she recognized the seal.

“Eh, eh, the Duke of Averine…!”

“The introduction was late.”

I smiled softly and held out my hand.

“I’m Dahlia Averine, the only daughter of the Duke of Averine. I’m here to invest in you, Hestia Justis.”

Hestia unconsciously reached out and took my hand. I whispered in secret, waving my hands lightly.

“Don’t you want to be rich?”

Hestia’s eyes trembled sharply when she heard my words. She chewed her lips thoughtfully and looked at me. 

Hestia, who held my hand tightly with determined eyes as if she had made up her mind, exclaimed without a single thought.

“Master!”

✾

Things were going smoothly.

Without hesitation in my proposal, Hestia closed the treatment center and began to immerse herself in her research.

Unlike the time when she was shaking the gold coins, when I saw her closing the treatment center, I asked if the treatment center she had worked so hard to build was not worth it, but her response was simple.

‘I was trying to make a living.’

Indeed, she was very cold in front of money.

Still, Hestia seemed very happy to work for me.

At least I don’t mind paying money. As long as she does her job well, I’ll give her a bonus so she won’t get disappointed.

When the problem with the treatment was sorted out, good news came soon after.

That’s because Duke Bouser sent a positive response.

「I will accept the offer. 

—Duke Bouser.」

Considering that it took quite a while, there must have been a lot of internal opposition. But Rudrick believed me.

So I also have to repay Rudrick’s faith.

I asked my father to spare any money to support Bouser.

My father assured me not to be worried, and he not only supported the Knights but also provided supplies to the people of the North.

It was then that Bouser’s hostility toward Averine faded a little.

And as the Knights began to recover, the relationship between the two families began to soften.

But things were going faster than I thought.

I have been keeping an eye on the allies’ sides for the past two years.

Hestia was constantly reporting on the progress of the research, keeping an eye on when the war would break out.

As expected, when Bouser collapsed, the departure of the allies intensified, and the separated kingdoms held hands and gradually increased their power.

Within a year, several kingdoms were united to form the ‘Allied Power’.

It would not be strange if a war broke out at any time.

In the original story, the war would happen when I became an 18-year-old adult, but now that I am 16, the Empire was already preparing for war.

And when I turned 17 years old.

Suddenly, the Allied Powers invaded the eastern part of the Empire and declared war…

‘It’s started.’

At the same time, a letter from the Imperial Family arrived.

✾

Rain was pouring heavily that day.

“I’ll be back.”

My father was standing in front of the mansion in armor.

As expected, the letter from the Imperial Family said, 

「The war broke out, so lead the Knights and fulfill their duties.」

In response, my father declared that he would go to war himself.

Averine’s vassals were in an uproar.

It wasn’t too late, so there was a variety of advice to adopt distant relatives from vassals with their children.

But her father’s persistence could not be broken.

“If I don’t protect my family, who will?” Father said, rather confidently…

It was exactly what I saw in my dream.

Then and now, I was still proud of my father. At the same time, it was true that I was worried.

I became more and more anxious the day my father left.

After I dreamed that my father died, I no longer dreamed about novels.

So I don’t know… What happened to my father after that, my mother, me, and my family.

So I couldn’t help but be more anxious. The future was changing little by little according to my choices.

For example, the war that was supposed to start when I became an adult broke up a year earlier.

The future I know is becoming increasingly uncertain.

Now, we don’t know when the epidemic will break out, and the cure may be completed by then. But when I saw my father’s eyes looking at me, I was strangely relieved.

My father’s eyes were not filled with the light of anxiety or sadness, but with the light of trust towards me.

It was then that I understood why my father decided to join the war without hesitation. It was because my father believed in me. He believes that I will lead the family firmly even if he’s not confident.

“It would be nice to see you become an adult.”

My father looked at me and spread his arms. I hugged my father as usual.

“It’s okay. You can come back and watch me.”

I was soon separated from my father in a brief embrace. I met my father’s eyes and smiled brightly and seriously on the other hand.

“I’ll take good care of them.”

“…I’m sorry if I put a heavy burden on you.”

“Then come back healthy. That’s what I want the most.”

My father patted me on the shoulder with a smile.

He was saddened when her daughter, whom he had only thought of as a child, grew up so much, but inside his gaze, he was proud.

After I said goodbye to my father, my mother stepped forward.

My mother was trying to smile, but her eyes were swollen red.

She pretended to be okay, but it was clear that she must have cried a lot in the room last night.

“Have a safe trip.”

“Take care.”

My parents greeted each other briefly and kissed each other on the cheeks. Tears welled up in my mother’s eyes again, but it was evident that she was holding back.

After saying our last goodbyes, my father got on his horse.

My father, who could not take his eyes off us as if he were disappointed, soon turned to a stiff face.

I muttered to myself, looking at my father’s slowly receding.

‘Please come back safely.’

I will make sure that this farewell doesn’t last too long.

I made a firm determination and went back to my seat in a hurry. There was a lot of work to be done.