CH 4.09

Originally, I intended to transport guests by plane.

I’m not sure how much a plane costs, but if we just focus on moving, I think we’ll be fine. When it becomes popular, the imperial family will almost certainly release trains as well. If my taxes rise so high, they won’t afford not to. 

‘It’s the first amusement park in this country. There is no way it could fail.’

The plane gradually rose into the sky. I rested my chin on the window sill as I watched the land shrink and recede. After the excitement wore off, emptiness and fatigue took its place. I was excited when I was running around, but now that I’m still, I’m tired?

I opened my mouth without thinking.

“I’m not sure why I’m tired these days.”

“Is it because you couldn’t get enough rest?”

“Maybe… But I have so much work to do, how can I relax?”

I was only talking to myself, but Lacius responded right away. I sighed deeply, leaned against the window sill, and looked at him.

I like the blue-gray eyes that are staring at me. He, too, had to be busy and tired, but it felt great that he never showed it on his expressions.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you lay down for a few minutes?”

“There aren’t any pillows. I can’t sleep without a pillow.”

‘It is also said that people stretch out their feet when lying down to feel more comfortable.’

Lacius’s sweetness makes me want to whine. I smiled to myself, realizing how silly I was. My life has certainly improved, hasn’t it?

“…I’ll lend you.”

“Huh?”

Words that I may have misheard caught my attention. Of course, I must have misheard, so I looked at Lacius, only to notice his ears turning red.

“My knees… I’ll lend it to you, so you can lie down comfortably.”

Eh?

Is he upset because I mentioned not having a pillow? He couldn’t possibly be embarrassed.

Why is he so red?

I looked down at his firm thighs with a puzzled face. Of course, it’s really tempting to lie down on them, but…

“Then I’ll borrow it for a bit.”

“… Alright.”

But, because I am a normal person who can disregard her conscience, I laid down on his thigh without much thought. Lacius didn’t mind if I wriggled around on his thigh; he simply rested his elbow on the window sill and looked outside the window. Nonetheless, his ears are still red.

The redness even spread to the nape of his neck over time.

‘Uh…What’s the matter with me?’

My heart began to pound as I watched him. Lacius pressed his lips together and fixed his gaze on the window. I also lowered my gaze to the floor, my usual brazenness missing. A part of my heart was trembling. I was out of breath and my entire body was tense.

‘Oh, it just keeps happening. It appears that lying down will be ineffective.’

I feel like I’m going insane because I’m thinking about Lacius. It’s difficult to breathe, let alone sleep.

My breath will reach his knees if I take a deep breath. I was embarrassed about that for no reason…

“…….”

I should speak up, but my mouth won’t open. Lacius didn’t say anything because my mouth, which was normally babbling about anything, was tightly shut.

‘But is it really alright for me to lie down like this?  Didn’t he despise physical contact?’

I’m having a lot of thoughts.

The most important thought that occurred to me was that I should not misunderstand him for doing this. It’s just that he treats me like his younger sister. He’s a nice guy, so he’s just being nice to me. Lacius probably had his knife on others because many people mistook his kindness for affection and harassed him as a result.

I shouldn’t misinterpret this. Never.

“The land is vast, but it is barren.”

We arrived at Evershal after three hours, which felt like three minutes. The Evershal I saw when I stepped off the plane was desolate. There was nothing here, that it made me feel stupid as I got down with with paper and pencil and tried to draw some shapes of the lot.

“Ugh, I’m not really sure about it, but if I’m planning to do anything here, I have to pick some land, right?”

“I believe we could build a house with the rocks we’ll take from here. The stone itself is of excellent quality.”

“Really?”

Naturally, the buildings in this world were made of wood or stone. The latter is more powerful than the former. If there were a lot of good rocks, it would be nice to use them to build a restaurant.

I tried to lose myself in my thoughts about work by tapping on a rock for no apparent reason.

Lacius abruptly said as he surveyed the ground a few feet away from me.

“But was there any particular reason it had to be Evershal?”

“Hm? None?”

“It would have been faster if you had told me  you needed land to do something.”

“Huh?”

Lacius reached for a long branch that had fallen nearby at my response. Then he drew a small map on the ground, roughly drawing a circle as if drawing a dividing line.

The branch pointed to a small circle within a circle.

“If this is Evershal,” he says, “Then the lands surrounding it are my territory.”

“……?!”

“Rweta, Hassa, and Aweil, I rule those three places surrounding Evershal.”

tuk.

The pencil slipped off my hand.

“I introduce myself as the Archduke of Schweiden for convenience, but to be clear, I am the Archduke of Schweiden and also the Lord of Rweta, Hassa, and Aweil. Oh, also the ruler of Macarten.”

“… … Macarten? Where is that?”

“It’s a southern maritime city… It’s commonly referred to as “the gambling land.”

Oh my goodness. I knew this man was wealthy, but I had no idea he was this wealthy. So now he’s saying that even Macau is his land? 

“No wonder, I was wondering where the 10 billion came from so easily.”

I quietly picked up my pencil, a little embarrassed. You really can’t hold a candle to the sun*. If I had known he was this wealthy, I would have just taken whatever I could get when I told him I was going to buy the building. 

*(Showing off in front of people who are smarter or more powerful than you.)

When I held and treasured the Evershal Land document, I must have looked like a child bragging to him.

“Even for me, it wasn’t a small sum.”

“Isn’t that the amount of money that come and go through the Macarten gambling house in a day?”

“Not all the time.”

“I see, I see.”

Aigoo, I’m jealous. Aigoo, my stomach hurts*.

*(Can also mean holding a grudge against someone’s success or turning green with envy.)

It isn’t mine, but I’m jealous. I exhaled an exaggerated sigh.

After a while of silence, Lacius made me an offer, as if to appease me.

“If you become my wife, I will hand over its management to you; give it a try.”