CH 40

“Ah.”

Blinking blankly, Beatty tilted her head to express her gratitude.

“Hm.”

Carl asked his younger sister, who was still swaying like skinny, dry grass.

“What’s wrong?”

“Yes?”

“I asked, why are you pecking the soup like a sick chicken?”

“Ah. It’s because I couldn’t sleep a bit last night.”

“Uhm?”

“?”

Carl looked at Beatty with eyes as if he was seeing something very mysterious while opening his mouth.

“You became like that with not sleeping for just one night?”

…What do you mean ‘like that’.

Even while spacing out, Beatty furrowed her eyebrows at the word that somehow bothered her.

“You’re really….”

A voice containing pure surprise was heard.

“Is this why they told me to be careful when treating my younger sister and treat her as if she’s a small sprout?”

She couldn’t hear exactly what the mumbling Carl was saying next.

While Beatty tilted her head, Carl, who seemed to have decided something, opened his mouth with a firm voice.

“Don’t worry.”

At his sudden words, Beatty put a question mark on her face.

“I’ll help you.”

She’s sure it is something that she should feel reassured about. But—

“…?”

Somehow, an ominous feeling crossed Beatty’s spine.

To the point it’s enough to wake her up for a while.

***

After eating. Even before having tea time, Beatty was called to the meeting room and stood in front of people.

‘But I heard there is a meeting going all day long today…?’

Somehow, getting called in much earlier than expected, Beatty tilted her head.

Of course, the early summons was due to the Duke who opened Beatty’s material priorly before all agendas.

Still, his good-for-nothing deed had a good influence this time.

If Beatty’s material were real, it was a major point to discuss, even if it set aside all other favors.

Sitting at a long table, the Duke’s vassals were staring at the rumored Young Miss with sparkling eyes.

“Yeah.”

And located in the highest seat of honor, where only the Lord can sit, the Duke opened his mouth.

“You wrote all of this?”

Gulp.

Beatty, who couldn’t help but to be slightly nervous, swallowed her saliva and opened her mouth.

“Yes!”

“To think it’s a climate prophecy….”

“It’s not a prophecy, it’s a prediction.”

At Beatty’s words, who corrected accurately, Count Zealot came in.

“Then, isn’t it possible that the prediction might be wrong?”

‘No.’

Of course, if it were normally, she wouldn’t have been so confident, but Beatty had already seen what had happened before her regression, so she was able to say it for sure.

“It is based on historical records which are repeated over and over again every certain period.”

At Beatty’s words, which refer to reliable historical materials that had been found in advance, those who saw the accumulated history books nodded.

“And there were also certain signs caught.”

Flutter.

Beatty brought up the ‘Decisive Sign’ of the period of the regression, which she had been working hard looking for for so long.

[Blue Bird flying high in the night sky

Blue breath that’s been forgotten for a long time

Freezing the sky, drying the water, and

Turns out the grass that grows high is dead

Cold, cold old flapping wings

It’ll take one’s breath away with the wages of oblivion]

A poem from [Gaston’s Interesting and Beneficial Continent Travelling Record].

‘The forgotten disaster. They said it contained a warning about the little ice age, right?’

Originally, it was an adventure book that no one seriously looked at, but with one part of this poem, after the advent of the Great Famine, it was treated like a prophecy book.

“Princess, but we can’t believe such an adventure book.”

Somehow seemed nervous, Count Zealot said sharply.

Beatty tilted her head as she opened the book right next to her.

“That’s why we have to look at the climate records of this kingdom together.”

The blue star that rises in the night sky once every 200 years.

Although the star, which was called the ‘Blue Bird’ in the poem, was very beautiful on the exterior, actually it was the beginning of a terrifying disaster.

“Continental Calendar Year 20, 254, and 486. Every time a blue star rose, a famine struck.”

The Great Famine that had been mentioned before. It was a disaster in which several misfortunes overlapped one after another.

In the year when the blue stars are observed, the temperature drops continuously.

First of all, it rains less in summer, and mature crops get sick from the early cold.

And then, in the long-awaited winter, the cold reaches the peak of 200 years.

There are not many plants that can survive in this kind of harsh environment.

Somehow, even the plants that have grown, it was only the inadequacy of empty grains that will suffer damages from diseases and pests such as the drought epidemic.

“…That’s why the food falls short, and there’s a great famine.”

To let them know in advance of this disaster, she looked for all the materials that were mentioned before her regression.

Although it was difficult to find the books of that time in a vast study only with cloudy memories, but it was worth it.

‘If we prepare for this only, there will be no more cut in half in the household’s power like before.’

Recalling the famine that caused the Duke, who had been hit by the ‘first retreat’ before the regression, to falter with a huge food shortage, Beatty strengthened her determination and opened his mouth.

“There will be a food shortage that is at a different level than before.”

“Then, are you saying that we need to prepare harder for this winter preparations?”

“No.”

Beatty shook her head firmly at someone’s question and declared.

“The famine this time is not a disaster that will be left out after a year.”

Ho-oh.

At the confident tone, the people who recalled the disaster of the great famine would bring in, held their breath.

As soon as she talked about it, there may be a lot of opposition, saying that she was talking nonsense, but with all that in mind, Beatty continued to bring up the plan she had prepared.

“Since the cold that has never been before will come, the winter preparations surely have to be different from the one now.”

Flutter.

When she handed over the prepared climate prediction material, it could be seen the handwriting she had written hard.

Although there are still crooked parts because it is still a child’s hand, it was a proposal that was checked and fixed over and over again.

“The first thing that’s needed is food storage. Since in the future, the food conditions in other places also will not be good, we should prepare plenty to last a few years.”

Even so, she was pretty confident about this.

Since she’s not blindly asking to spend more money to bring in more food, she’d already developed the alternative food.

“To say stored food….”

“Hoho. We’ve only bought it so far, but now we can prepare quite a few of it ourselves even in our territory.”

At the gaze of the people who seemed to mean ‘if it’s food then it’s definitely that, right?’, Beatty nodded her head.

“Yes. We’re using our territory’s Tuberosum.”

“As expected!”

“Until now, we have brought and used Tuberosum that has grown around us, but in the future, if we cultivate it, we will be able to get a sufficient amount.”

Beatty, who even talked about securing such a larger amount of Tuberosum, paused for a moment.

‘So persuasion will be real from now on.’

A policy that is expected to be strongly opposed.

Regarding the policy which was activated only after a few territories were completely destroyed even before the regression, Beatty gulped down once and spoke.

“And next one is, a free cafeteria.”

People looked puzzled as if they were hearing about it for the first time.

“A free cafeteria…?”

“Are you saying that we’ll give out food for free?”

At that moment, a sharp voice intervened.

Count Zealot was not happy with the Princess who messed up what he had planned during the military food that was burned-down incident last time.

Furthermore, as he saw her find a way that he had never heard of on how to eat Tuberosum and solve the problem, he thought that she was a person whom he did not know what she would do in the future.

That’s why he was listening to the material that the Princess posted this time while being wary of what it would be about. However—

‘That is silly. So she meant asking to increase the scale of helping the beggars.’

Knowing that it was a child’s innocent idea of pitying the starving people, he naturally laughed at the thought of making himself be on guard for nothing.

“Princess. I know you have a good heart, but by giving such infinite sympathy will only make commoners more lazy.”

Still, Count Zealot, who made up the way he spoke to ‘our Young Miss’ with being conscious of the eyes of the people around him, smiled mischievously inside.

‘She’s exactly like an 8-year-old kid.’

As it would be difficult if by any chance, she cried in front of the Duke just because her words were blocked, Count Zealot turned his head with the intention of moderately soothing her, and was surprised at that moment.

It was because the expression of the Princess was so calm, whom he thought would have been flustered after hearing the rebuttal.

“You can definitely think of it that way.”

“Oh, huh, yes?”

No, rather, she even calmly agreed with him.

While Count Zealot was flustered by the unexpected response of the Princess, Beatty continued calmly.

“Count Zealot is worried that we won’t even get anything in return and give food to anyone, right?”

“Ahem! Yes. That’s right. No matter how you give it with a good heart, those who don’t know grace will just try to use that sympathy.”

Count Zealot, who barely regained his composure, showed off his smooth eloquence.

“How sad would it be if the Princess’ kind heart were faded because of such people? I couldn’t help but talk, even with bitter words that you didn’t want to hear because I was worried.”

“I see.”

Uhm. Uhm.

Beatty nodded, expressing enough sympathy.

As Count Zealot’s words continued to flow in moderation, she recalled inside a verse from her favorite book.

[The Art of Persuasion in the Memoirs of the Great Merchant Leader]

Article 1. Regardless of what nonsense the person you are trying to persuade says, ‘firstly’ agree to it.

And when the person lets go of their guard, thinking that their opponent is on the same side as them, hit the fool’s carelessness and go in!

Faithfully practicing the guidelines of her favorite book, Beatty opened her eyes which had been closed for a moment to empathize.