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Chapter 24
Ronin lay down on the bed.
After tending to the sick servants and checking on Pam’s condition, his body felt as heavy as if it were weighed down with lead. Even so, his heart felt lighter than it had in a long time.
“I, Marwen Wyndham, thank you on behalf of all the servants. And… please forgive us for all the disrespect we’ve shown you until now.”
Lady Wyndham’s voice still echoed vividly in his ears.
‘At least… they acknowledged that I was useful, right? They thanked me…’
The thought finally broke through the emotions he had kept buried for so long.
‘…I’m happy. I really can help, even if it’s only like this. None of it was meaningless after all.’
Perhaps he would be punished for allowing himself to feel this way. Perhaps when he opened his eyes, everything would turn out to be a dream, and Pam would no longer be by his side.
Even with those fears lingering in his mind, his heart continued to race.
That night, Ronin barely slept at all.
Yet he wasn’t sleepy in the slightest.
Instead, he felt more motivated than ever before and decided to take a walk around the castle. The servants certainly didn’t let the opportunity slip by.
“Y-Your Highness! Please… have this.”
A servant who had been hesitantly approaching held out a bundle. It was a small basket covered with cloth, hiding whatever was inside.
“What is it?”
“They’re wild raspberries that haven’t been touched by snow! Thanks to the cold weather, they’re wonderfully sweet and tart, perfect for whetting the appetite. Please enjoy them as a snack.”
When Ronin didn’t take it immediately and instead asked, the servant lifted the cloth himself.
Just as he had said, the basket was filled with bright red, plump wild raspberries.
Only then did Ronin remember the servant’s face.
‘His mother had caught the endemic disease. I think his name was Paul… and the person beside him is Robert.’
“I’ve never had northern wild raspberries before… Thank you. I’ll enjoy them. Paul, Robert, make sure you and your mother share some too.”
Ronin picked a small cluster from the basket and handed it back to them.
As he smiled gently and walked away, the two servants immediately burst into excited chatter.
“Whew… He’s unbelievably beautiful. For a second, I thought an angel had descended upon the North.”
“I know, right? And his personality too! I thought the rumors about him treating servants kindly were exaggerated, but it’s actually true. He speaks so gently… Are all nobles from the Central Region like that?”
“Exactly! He even remembered our names… When he smiled and called me by my name earlier, I nearly fainted. If he’s this incredible even as a Beta, what would’ve happened if he’d been an Omega?”
Their voices, overflowing with joy and excitement, drifted from behind him.
The smile slowly disappeared from Ronin’s face.
He knew.
There wasn’t a shred of malice in their words.
If anything, they were praising him.
But the reminder that he could never become an Omega made it feel as though something had sliced through his chest.
‘Don’t think about it. Just remember how grateful they were. At least… I was able to help.’
He didn’t want to think any further.
If he did, he didn’t think he’d be able to endure it.
In the end, Ronin hurried away from the area completely—
As though trying to run from his own fate.
After that, similar things happened several more times.
Ronin would occasionally go out for short walks, and every single time, someone would hand him something.
“Your Highness, please accept this. It’s nothing special.”
“Ah, Your Highness! I finally got to meet you. There’s something I’ve been wanting to give you!”
By the time he returned to his room after each walk, both of his hands would be full of gifts.
Every person who gave him something was a relative or acquaintance of someone who had suffered from the endemic disease.
These were simply tokens of their gratitude.
Looking over the snacks that would probably last him several days and the adorable little trinkets he’d received, Ronin slowly gathered his thoughts.
After touring the castle, its problems had become painfully obvious.
‘Everything is far too worn down, and the overall conditions are poor.’
The curtains and carpets alone made that clear.
They were clean, certainly, but all of them needed repairs.
The servants working in the freezing weather had to warm their numb hands while carrying out their duties.
‘Ah… The windows on the third floor should be reinforced too. Those wooden boards looked like they could fall off at any moment. If one happened to drop while someone was passing underneath, they’d be seriously hurt.’
The thought left him deeply uneasy.
There had to be a reason Lady Wyndham and Conrad, who managed the castle, had allowed things to remain in such a state.
‘They’re not the kind of people who would knowingly leave others in danger… It must be because they simply don’t have enough money.’
Whether in the Central Region or in the North…
Money was always the problem.
After pondering for a while, Ronin finally thought of a solution.
‘What if I used my dowry?’
Ronin hadn’t come to the North completely empty-handed.
Even though the marriage had been hastily arranged, appearances still had to be maintained as a noble from the Central Region.
‘Of course, that’s only the official reason. The real purpose was something else.’
The moment he remembered the dowry’s true purpose, Ronin’s expression darkened.
That money had been intended to buy information, bribe people, and, if necessary…
Even eliminate them.
Its sole purpose was to learn Sir Leofric’s preferences and remove anyone who stood in the way.
Ronin recalled what his father had told him before he left for the North.
“No matter what it takes, seduce Leofric. Make him hold you, love you, and reveal his weaknesses.”
Once he had gained Leofric’s affection and become deeply involved in Northern affairs…
‘We’d swallow the North whole in a single bite.’
Once Leofric was removed, a massive purge was planned.
The people of the North weren’t like the nobles of the Central Region. They didn’t calculate everything in terms of profit and loss; they valued tradition above all else. They would never willingly submit to Alistair.
Even if some defected, Father would dispose of them once they had outlived their usefulness.
Someone who had betrayed once would always be capable of betraying again.
After the North had been completely seized, every resource it possessed would be stripped away.
By then, the great wall that protected them from the monsters and Grimbrook would be gone.
Even the eternal snow that Lady Wyndham took such pride in would disappear.
Ronin desperately forced himself to push those emotions aside.
The more deeply he thought about it, the more certain he became that he would ruin everything.
‘I let myself get carried away for a moment and forgot what my true purpose was. I actually started acting as though I were the real Grand Duchess…’
Steeling his resolve once more, Ronin made his decision.
He deliberately turned his gaze away from the bundles the people of the North had given him.
‘I can’t afford to fool myself again.’
