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Chapter 02
“The only heir of the greatest ducal house in the Hailen Empire.”
I thought my muddy life would finally turn into a flower path.
But it turned out to be another road of mud.
House Berwen, the family that produced the most Swordmasters in history!
… I never imagined that was the result of Spartan-style early training.
“Your Grace!”
My drifting, sleepy mind snapped back.
The vassals sitting along the long table were all staring at me.
“This cannot be! You intend to freeze the tax rate again?”
I removed my hand from my chin, pretending I had been thinking deeply. Of course, I spoke calmly, as if I had never been sleepy at all.
A dignified duke would never doze off during a meeting. Of course not.
“Why not?”
“The finances are very unstable.”
Yes, unstable indeed. Your household finances, maybe.
“The territory’s finances are unstable… is that so?”
Trying to cheat me, are you?
“As I recall, although we froze the tax rate for three years, tax revenue has increased.”
“That was only temporary—”
“No. Whether the harvest was good or bad, we kept a fixed tax rate. The people expanded more farmland to gain extra profit.”
Silence filled the room.
“In addition, trade and commerce have grown active, so commercial tax revenue has also increased. Do I need to explain more?”
I tossed the documents onto the table as if I were annoyed.
You underestimate me because I look young. But counting my past life, I’m older than you.
“What is the next agenda?”
“It concerns the punishment of Viscount Yantoni’s family.”
Viscount Yantoni.
I tapped the paper with displeasure.
“They have not yet decided on an heir. We are searching the collateral branches, but no suitable candidate has been found.”
“The Viscount has seven daughters, does he not?”
The meeting room fell silent.
“Your Grace… how can you say such a thing? According to Imperial law, women cannot inherit titles or property.”
“…It was a joke.”
As if I didn’t know that cursed law.
Because of that law, I am living disguised as a man.
The vassals laughed loudly.
“Your Grace startled us.”
“Ha ha. Indeed. How could a woman inherit a house?”
“If a woman inherits, that family would fall within three days.”
That woman you speak of is your leader.
I swallowed the words rising to my throat.
If the truth were revealed, even as a duke, I would not escape punishment.
“What will happen to the daughters if no collateral heir is found?”
“They will lose their family name.”
“They will become fallen nobles.”
“Viscount Guillon, doesn’t your son fancy the second daughter? This is your chance!”
Bang!
I slammed the table.
“Is this a back-alley tavern?!”
Men decades older than me flinched at my shout.
“How vulgar.”
It was the perfect moment to leave.
My mood had already soured long ago, so I stood up openly showing my irritation.
It was not because I wanted to end the meeting early. Truly.
“I will personally handle this matter. You need not concern yourselves. Dismissed.”
I left the hall with my knight.
Even after the heavy doors closed behind us, I remained standing.
“As expected of someone on the verge of becoming a Swordmaster. Your presence is overwhelming.”
“Yes. When the Imperial Family sees how grown Your Grace has become, they will be surprised.”
“Why say such things and make things difficult for me?”
“Viscount Guillon! I said it for your sake!”
I relaxed my ears as the vassals began arguing again.
Sigh. Thank goodness I have memories of my past life. Otherwise, House Berwen would have collapsed already.
“Deliver the Viscount’s situation to my aunt. She will gladly become guardian of the seven daughters.”
I patted the shoulder of the knight beside me.
“I will advance you three months’ salary. That should be enough for the wedding.”
“…Thank you.”
The knight knelt on one knee, deeply moved.
Because he was the lover of the Viscount’s second daughter, Cavy—the very one they had mocked inside.
“I will serve you with my life, my lord!”
“I will trust those words.”
It was pitiful, but such things happened often in this world.
If I tried to care about every single case, the ducal house would collapse.
This time, both practicality and morality aligned. That was why it worked.
“By the way, I heard a guest has arrived.”
“Yes. A suspicious man in a robe. He introduced himself as a merchant.”
“I see.”
Ah. A dark mage.
As I grew older, it became harder to hide my increasingly feminine features. I needed dark magic’s help.
Because of that, meeting a dark mage had become an annual event.
“Bring him to my room.”
“…Yes.”
Despite swearing loyalty moments ago, the knight hesitated.
It was obvious why. The so-called merchant’s appearance must have been suspicious.
“It has been a long time, Your Grace.”
Soon after I entered my room, the door opened and the dark mage greeted me.
His black robe made him look very suspicious.
“Yes. It has been a while.”
Should I gift him a brighter robe next time?
Thinking such nonsense, I extended my wrist to him.
“Do you know, Your Grace?”
Like a ghost, the dark mage approached and grabbed my wrist.
Before I could react to the cold touch, black smoke rose from his hand.
“There is an interesting rumor in the capital.”
I tore my eyes from the smoke seeping into my body and focused on his words.
Listening to his stories helped distract me from the pain.
“What rumor?”
“It concerns Her Highness the Princess.”
“The Princess? Why?”
“They say Her Highness has gone mad.”
The Princess… mad?
My pain was forgotten instantly.
Meanwhile, in the Imperial Palace of the Hailen Empire.
The Count, tutor of the Crown Prince, looked at his student.
A man like a sculpture carved carefully by a god. Perfect, yet cold and distant. That was the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness.”
“I am listening.”
The moment he opened his eyes and spoke, the cold air changed.
Golden hair swayed like a soft breeze, and green eyes like a forest shone gently.
The man who stood under sunlight like melting snow was Crown Prince Lesius.
“What did you feel during today’s lesson on imperial history?”
“Well. The former Emperors of Hailen…”
Lesius lightly tapped the royal genealogy on the desk.
“I saw madness.”
There was meaning in his words. And above all, it was true.
The Emperors of Hailen were always mad about something—territory, power, or love.
“I do not wish to become mad.”
He closed his sharp eyes that made him appear kind.
The Count believed his student would be different.
At least, until recently.
When a proposal arose to send the underage Duke of Berwen to war, it was the Crown Prince who blocked it.
They said his eyes that day were filled with madness.
Strangely, those who had proposed sending the Duke were now imprisoned for corruption—or had vanished from court.
“Oh my.”
Noticing the Count’s suspicion, Lesius frowned slightly.
“Rosaline.”
He pointed out the window, cutting off the Count’s thoughts.
Outside, chaos unfolded.
“Your Highness, please stop running!”
“Your Highness! A princess must not run—ah! Your ankle!”
“Your Highness! A lady must not lift her skirt so high!”
The Princess ignored them all.
Finally, after her etiquette teacher collapsed backward, the Princess shouted:
“Why are you fainting over something like this? Damn it!”
Lesius’ tapping fingers stopped.
“What language is that ‘damn’?”
“We have searched ancient and foreign languages, but we cannot identify what Her Highness is speaking.”
Since falling into the lake, his younger sister had completely changed.
She muttered strange words, forgot etiquette, laughed and cried wildly, and tried to escape the palace repeatedly.
Recently, she had even gained a strange nickname.
The current Emperor had chosen the Duke of Berwen as her future husband.
“The Princess’ illness puts the Imperial Family in a difficult position.”
“….”
“If the Duke of Berwen comes to the capital this time, we could have discussed marriage.”
The Count spoke absentmindedly.
The Duke of Berwen was one of the empire’s best marriage candidates—handsome, a Swordmaster, wealthy, and honorable.
Surely the Crown Prince, as her brother, would welcome such a match—
“I see. A marriage between the Duke and the Princess.”
The supposedly gentle Crown Prince murmured dangerously.
“It seems everyone has too much free time, to concern themselves with such matters.”
For a brief moment, the Count saw it.
The madness the Crown Prince had been born with.
