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Chapter 75
That man gave off a dangerous aura.
And more than anything, the occasional look he cast at Lucy. Lucas couldn’t stand that such a person was at her side.
The urge to drive him away from Lucy kept surging inside, but Lucas forced it down.
He had only just begun to get close to her again under the pretense of investments. He couldn’t risk losing that progress over something so petty.
Contrary to his fear that she might distance herself again, Lucy began reaching out to him more actively.
“This is the new textile I mentioned. Doesn’t it seem like it has limitless potential uses?”
“It’s going into mass production soon! It can be processed into all sorts of products. These are some of the items I’ve been thinking about.”
She started visiting him directly, asking for his opinions, and boldly voicing her own ideas.
Lucas welcomed Lucy’s sudden change in attitude, though at the same time he couldn’t shake the feeling that she seemed a bit desperate.
Did something shift in her heart?
Regardless of his concern, the business he had invested in through Lucy was steadily yielding results.
Then Lucy went a step further and proposed yet another business venture.
Lucas readily agreed again. For her sake, he was even willing to take on a loss, but judging from this new textile, she clearly had an excellent eye for business opportunities.
It was around that time—
Lucy became acting representative of Count Rayford.
And not long after, Heyris stepped down from managing the Pablo Trading Company, and Lucy took the seat as its leader.
This shocking and sudden development stirred some unrest within the company, but it quieted down soon enough as Lucy’s business skills began to shine.
“She’s truly remarkable.”
Lucy was bolder, shrewder than he had ever imagined.
No sooner had she taken charge of the Pablo Company than she deftly turned the tide of gossip among northern nobles in her favor.
“The long-lost daughter of Valencia Rayford, who disappeared over twenty years ago, has returned alive!”
Lucy discreetly let slip her secret history to northern society.
The rumor spread like wildfire, and Lucy became famous overnight.
What could have been a shameful secret was cleverly reshaped into a story that made her the subject of sympathy among the nobles.
“It seems Lucy’s revenge against Baron Diallo has finally taken its first step.”
Lucas smiled faintly at the thought of her.
* * *
Once profits from the company began to accumulate, Lucy started scouting for land to cultivate the “grain of the gods.”
She personally went around, seeking to buy up abandoned plots on the outskirts of villages.
“Since it’s useless land anyway, I’ll sell it—but what on earth are you planning to do with it?”
Even the landowners seemed puzzled when she offered to purchase it.
“I want to farm it. If I fertilize it and tend it for a few years, won’t it at least grow potatoes?”
Lucy deflected smoothly.
“Well, it’ll take more than a year or two… but try if you like.”
“Actually, sir, about the price… since it’s not even usable right away, couldn’t you make it just a little cheaper?”
With a playful smile, Lucy haggled the price down.
She began buying up cheap plots even in nearby villages.
Short on funds from all the land purchases, she planned to delay farming until she had saved more money.
At that time, Heyris—having stepped away from the frontlines and returned to a more leisurely life—offered to help her.
Together, Lucy and Heyris plowed the fields and sowed seeds, beginning an unexpected foray into farming.
“Heyri, I’m sorry…”
Lucy muttered in a small voice as she watched Heyris diligently working in the fields.
“Why are you sorry? I’m doing this because I want to. Besides, don’t you think I’ve got a real knack for this?”
Heyris, who had gradually regained her old smile, now often cracked silly jokes.
“Who would’ve thought helping my grandmother tend roses would come in handy now!”
“Don’t lie. You only ever cut roses—you never tended a garden!”
“Haha, well, I still think this kind of life suits me. Thanks to you, Lucy.”
Lucy burst into laughter as she traded jests with Heyris, who worked without complaint.
In fact, thanks to Heyris, the farming progressed smoothly even without hiring many workers.
By day Lucy handled company matters, and by evening she worked the fields on the village outskirts.
“But you know… there’s something I really don’t get.”
Heyris glanced at Shan, who stood in the middle of the field like a scarecrow, silently watching them.
“You said he’s your employee, but why doesn’t he ever help us?”
Shan had never once lent a hand with the farming. He only stood guard.
“I am already performing my duty. My mission is protection, not farming.”
Shan replied firmly, as if he had overheard Heyris.
“See? He says he’s working already.”
Lucy shook her head. At some point, she had simply given up trying to understand Shan.
Thanks to the earlier test crops she had grown, cultivating the divine grain wasn’t difficult.
“But really, it doesn’t need watering?”
As sprouts began to emerge, Heyris asked the same question several times, uneasy.
“Absolutely no water!”
“But the rainy season is coming soon. It’s already been raining on and off.”
“I’d prefer the driest conditions possible… though I suppose the rainy season can’t be helped.”
Even soaking up rainwater, the divine grain grew rapidly, sprouting everywhere.
As Lucy gazed at the fresh green shoots, an idea suddenly struck her.
“Ah—greenhouses!”
“Greenhouses?”
Leaving Heyris puzzled, Lucy hurried off and sent a letter to Bruno.
She explained the concept using glasshouses as an example and asked him to design one.
Bruno eagerly accepted, and while they exchanged letters, the first successful harvest of divine grain was completed.
Heyris seemed content enough, but Lucy wanted to confirm that the crop could thrive even in perfectly dry conditions.
She needed assurance that it could withstand not only dryness but also extreme heat or cold.
And so, not long after, a small experimental plot was set up in the Rayford estate’s garden.
It was inside a greenhouse designed by Bruno.
The material was slightly different from the “plastic” she had imagined, but it was still an ingenious invention.
This experiment would later mark the beginning of greenhouse farming methods spreading to the Fujis Empire.
* * *
“Lucy… divine crop or not, after eating nothing but this for a whole month, I’m going to puke…”
At dinner, Heyris groaned at the bread, soup, and other dishes all made from the divine grain.
The Rayford couple at the table wore the same weary expressions.
“But it’s healthy! Don’t you all feel lighter and look rosier these days?”
The count and his wife reluctantly nodded at Lucy’s words, though Heyris still looked dissatisfied.
“Healthy? Can’t you see Mother’s face is half its size now?”
“I can finally fit into the dresses I wore as a girl! At the tea party the other day, everyone was so jealous, saying I looked younger!”
The countess beamed, clearly delighted despite Heyris’s complaint about her weight loss.
“Mother! Nobility’s virtue is in a dignified, plump appearance! Starting tomorrow, I’m eating regular food again!”
Her declaration made everyone burst out laughing.
But Lucy didn’t dismiss Heyris’s words—she began seriously considering new dishes.
“Wheat alone can produce countless dishes, and in this world it’s the main staple crop. But if we’re already sick of it this quickly… what’s the problem?”
