CH 4.12

“Er… Why is this happening, Michel?”

“I should be asking you that, Risha-sama. You’re the one who got carried away and now here we are.”

“She didn’t give me a chance to refuse, you know?”

“Well, she’s quite powerful and vigorous. She’s the type that Claude-sama would have a hard time with.”

My husband did say she’s his nemesis.

As we were whispering, the woman who had been leading us turned around.

Her sudden turn scared me, fearing that we might have been overheard. She walked up to me and grabbed my arm.

“Come on, Risha-sama! Let’s get going!”

Miss Rosaliemond, who shed off her dress and replaced it with the kind of clothes commoners would wear, smiled dazzlingly as if having so much fun.

So, why exactly is this happening now?

It goes back to yesterday.

After having breakfast outside with my husband yesterday, I returned to the castle and wrote a plan for a research project that had failed in the past.

After writing as I thought for a while, I approached and went to the parlor for the promised tea appointment to Miss Rosaliemond.

Since I am the mistress of the castle, no matter what the current situation is, I am the hostess. In other words, I was supposed to entertain Miss Rosaliemond and the others I met yesterday.

It’s just yesterday, but she was supposed to come today in the first place, so I had them call on me today as well.

“Thanks for inviting us.”

Yes, what a beauty.

She is a bit older, but her youthfulness overshadows her age.

Rather, I may as well say she is powerful.

But, in contrast to yesterday, has she got no attendant? Her cronies? Surprisingly, her cronies or attendants are nowhere to be seen.

“Are you alone?”

“Yes, I planned on telling you about the Duke of Lindbeld today, so I refrained from bringing them.”

A smiling front, yet disturbing words.

Meaning to say, she doesn’t want others listening.

I offered her a cup of tea, muttering in my mind, “Please be gentle if you can.”

We both took a sip of tea and sized each other up.

However, my rival is quite composed.

And so she should be.

She obviously knows more about the Duke of Lindbeld.

She looks rather formidable.

She quietly put her cup back and looked me straight in the eye.

Her gaze naturally made my spine straighten up.

“By the way, how much do you know about the Lindbeld dukedom?”

“I learned a whole bunch of history and kinship stuff.”

I’ve read the reports that my exceptionally merciless butler has amassed.

“Then what about the kind of business the Lindbeld dukedom is involved in and so on?”

“I’m still learning the details, but my husband has briefed me about them.”

There are quite a few regional differences within the dukedom, as it guards the eastern border from north to south.

The wealthiest of these places is the south.

It has a widespread fertile agricultural area, and is part of the country’s food supply.

They are engaged in another business which is horse breeding. This is done here in the center, but it is a lord-led business.

Their range of business is extensive, but these two main businesses account for half of their income.

If they were to engage in too many areas, they might end up ruining the businesses of other lords, so extra caution is paid here.

In this sense, meat research is a new entry into an existing business, which may be considered dangerous in other territories that specialize in meat production.

However, I think it’s possible to produce in a different category because we are aiming for a high-end route.

“I have always thought that I would marry Claude-sama in the future. Therefore, I thought it necessary to broaden my knowledge. Not only have I been preparing for this by studying abroad, not only in my own domain, but also in the Lindbeld duchy.”

Miss Rosaliemond stares at me.

There was Her Royal Highness the Princess, and Elise, that ridiculous freeloader; but of the three of us, she was probably the one who considered more about the Lindbeld duchy than anyone else.

I can’t decide if I’m being accused or she’s saying I, this hillbilly, is unworthy! The atmosphere makes it hard for me to gauge which is which.

“And yet, in the end, it was you who was chosen. The former Duke has regarded me highly since I was a child, and told me to spread my knowledge. I have always tried to follow his advice. I’m pretty sure that the former Duke would have wanted me to be Claude-sama’s wife. With this belief…”

The two were well matched in terms of age. My husband is a little older than her, which is the ideal age difference.

What’s more, the fact that they were related and had known each other since childhood and knew each other well was reason enough for them to get married.

If I were to believe Rosaliemond-sama’s words, it seems that the former Duke – that is, my husband’s grandfather – looked out for her.

If he had such high expectations for Rosaliemond-sama, even she would have believed that one day she would become the wife of the head of the Lindbeld dukedom.

“It is not right that someone who knows nothing about the Lindbeld dukedom was chosen for a mere love marriage, let alone a political one. To be honest, I was disappointed in Claude-sama. Everyone thought that he was the son of the former Duke.”

Huh? Love marriage? I mean, our marriage is more of convenience, right? But now that I give it a second thought, it might not look like a love marriage from others’ perspectives.

And I can’t deny it, because that’s how I made it look since I got here.

That aside, how terrible of a head of the family was my father-in-law?

I’ve been told countless times.

“But I can see that you are at least a woman who has the backbone to kick the crap out of that dolt and egomaniac, so I’ll give you a pass.

O-Okay…

I didn’t take the initiative though… Well, whatever. There’s no need to say anything else.

“I’d say you’re up to snuff, but since you apparently don’t know much about the Duchy of Lindbeld, I’ll tell you a little bit about it.”

Then came a lengthy preamble. Nevertheless, it’s already good to say that she did so with a whiff of resentment.

Besides, it is true that I know less about the Duke of Lindbeld and the Lindbeld Duchy than Miss Rosaliemond, so I’m more than grateful to listen to whatever she has to say.

“You may not know about this but there’s a great disparity between the rich and the poor in the north and south of the Lindbeld Duchy. I’m deeply pained for the countless of people in the north of the Duchy, in particular, who have been suffering from poverty for a long time, especially because there’s no industry.”

I’m aware of that.

That is why they resorted to illegal coal mining.

“Honestly speaking, I have been studying the gap between the rich and the poor for a long time. As an aristocrat in this country, I have always thought that I should consider the people, so I also studied policies in other countries. However, the disparity between rich and poor is the same in every country. So what’s to be done? First off, I decided to investigate what causes poverty.”

Yeah, I think that’s a noble cause. As a daughter of a nobility, few think that far ahead. In fact, I don’t think many men ever entertained such a noble idea.

“For starters, I investigated the poor in the Linbeld Duchy’s domain, whom I may eventually marry into. I thought that knowing ahead of time would allow me to act quicker after marriage. Then just recently, I heard that there had been some money flow to the north. I wondered if any new industries had sprung up there, but to my surprise, there’s actually a coal mine there! I see no reason not to take advantage of this.”

Errr…Miss Rosaliemond, did you do all these on the premise of marriage?

“Coal mines make money. Of course, I did my research. I know that it is not on the surface, but strategically deep within the strata. But if we follow proper procedures, it’ll be safe. If the mines make money, we can save them. And yet, Claude-sama is trying to … to turn it into abandoned mines, which I believe is the height of folly.”

“…Who told you that?”

“My father. He’s sincerely concerned that Claude-sama is still young, and advised me to come to him.”

What age is it today? You know, you don’t have to actually meet and talk to him, but a letter or something else would have been fine.

To top it all, Miss Rosaliemond is a distinguished guest in the territory. She is from another territory, albeit a neighboring one.

I understand what she’s saying that considers the place her marital home because there’s a good chance that she’d get married into the family, but territories have their own circumstances.

What’s more, we’re trying to abandon the mine, or rather, the mine was abandoned in the first place.

“Since you’re the wife of the head of the family, it is your duty to stop him from going down the wrong path.”

“No, Miss. That mine has already been abandoned, and I would say that the people who are mining there unfairly are the ones who are in the wrong.”

“If so, what is the meaning of those who visited my father? They said they wished he could admonish Claude-sama.”　

I glanced at Michel and he nodded at Miss Rosaliemonde’s words.

It means this is a matter that should be reported to my husband.

“Anyway, that’s a trivial matter. At the very least, as the Duke, he must know more about those who have asked for aid even from other domains.”

Do you have any idea what’s wrong here from the get go?　

Why appeal to the lords of other territories? And why ask them?

That’s unnecessary, no?

There is a specialized place to sue in case of injustices, so the normal route is to go there.

Since the majority of them are people who disliked territorial aristocracy, they will be more than happy to look into it if you appeal to them.

This is pretty well-known, you know?