TMRM 12

Chapter: 12

Marquis Reholas was bold.

The moment he agreed to pay 3 billion marks, he sent the money immediately in cash.

The villagers, seeing carts filled with gleaming gold coins and jewels, were moved to tears of joy.

“Did our Lady really earn all this?”

“Good heavens! To get this much from the fearsome Marquis Reholas!”

“As expected of our Lady! Truly remarkable!”

“Oh my, she’s not even an adult yet, and she’s so clever and wise. Surely God has not abandoned our Ducal family.”

I held Ruth’s hand tightly and came out to look at the pile of gold.

“Ruth! All this is ours!”

Ruth shook her head vigorously at my words.

Ah, right.

The Valpru family is yours, so of course it belongs to you.

Ruth is clever.

“No, it’s all yours, sister!”

But Ruth insisted firmly, contrary to my thoughts.

“Since you earned it, sister, it’s all yours!”

How admirable.

Yes, since sister earned it all, I shouldn’t pretend otherwise later.

We held hands and twirled around together.

Seeing the money stacked like a mountain made me want to dance.

“How can you two be so close?”

“You really are such a cute pair.”

The maids watched us fondly.

Caught up in our dancing, I became a little embarrassed and let go of Ruth’s hand.

Ruth went to the study to do her lessons, and I went to my office to work.

Thanks to the firewood, I no longer saw my breath while walking down the corridor.

Ruth blew air through her mouth and smiled.

“No more breath showing.”

“Good?”

“Yeah! My hands used to feel like they were freezing, but now they’re fine even like this.”

She stretched her bare hand forward and wiggled her small fingers.

“It will always be like this.”

I promised myself I’d make sure she could always live in a warm home.

As I made that vow, Ruth took my hand.

“But still, holding your hand is the warmest.”

“Huh?”

“Not just my hand—”

Ruth pressed her other hand against her chest.

“It warms even here.”

She held my hand tightly until we reached the study.

Sitting at my office desk, Naol reported the money sent from the Marquis’ house.

“Exactly 3 billion marks. Depending on how the jewels are sold, it might vary slightly, but we won’t be short of money.”

“It’s better to have more than less. But just because they gave it properly doesn’t mean I’ll forgive them.”

Receiving the money didn’t erase my grudge.

I needed to remember this carefully.

There might still be some hidden schemes from the Marquis that I hadn’t noticed, so I had to stay alert.

“Did the people from the Reholas household take the Fox Merchant Guild?”

“Yes. They begged for their lives until the very end.”

It would probably be difficult for them to survive.

But if we hadn’t discovered the Fox Merchant Guild’s plans, we would have been the ones to die.

A chill ran down my spine as I touched my neck.

“Shall we keep only the most precious jewels, including those recovered from Plug, and dispose of the rest? Selling in a hurry would reduce their value, so it might be better to sell them in advance.”

“Yes. Do that.”

“Then we’ll sell everything except these jewels.”

Naol placed a jewelry box on my desk.

It was slightly larger than my two palms together.

“How much could this be worth?”

“About 500 million marks, I think.”

Even though I earned the money myself, seeing it like this felt surreal.

“Then the money from selling the jewels should go to paying off urgent debts. We won’t be able to pay it all, but I don’t want unknown creditors showing up like last time.”

Just thinking about it sent chills down my spine.

Naol seemed to think the same and kept glancing at the door nervously.

At that moment, someone knocked.

Naol and I both turned, startled.

“C-come in…!”

Bella entered carrying a tray with teacups and looked at us curiously.

“What are you two doing?”

“Creditors…?”

“Huh? Creditors?”

Bella’s confused look made us breathe a sigh of relief.

“It’s nothing.”

“Nothing at all.”

Relaxing, I leaned back in my chair.

The scent of tea Bella brewed for us spread throughout the office, helping ease my fatigue.

I tapped my pen on a blank sheet of paper, thinking about what to do next.

“The first thing to do is earn money.”

Though the amount from Marquis Reholas was large, it was still insufficient to sustain the family.

“Without a stable source of income, we’ll end up back at square one.”

The Valpru Duchy was located in a wintery land where it could snow even in midsummer.

Sun-loving crops like fruits couldn’t grow here.

Instead, they earned money from animal and monster hides and meat.

The villagers themselves didn’t make much, but the Valpru family had a larger income from the central government.

The Valpru Duchy began about a thousand years ago when the first emperor of the empire defeated the Demon King with the help of the first Duke of Valpru.

After the Demon King was defeated, the Emperor cherished the first Duke and wanted him to remain by his side.

But the first Duke said:

“I am grateful for Your Majesty’s favor, but I am your sword. I exist to strike your enemies and protect you. Let me serve my purpose until the end.”

Thus, the Duke stayed in the cold winter land, beyond the white castle walls, where only the corpse of the Demon King and monsters remained.

Even decades ago, this touching story was made into a children’s book.

My first reaction? One word:

“Crazy.”

No way would I leave it like that if I were a founding contributor!

I would have demanded the best lands—sunny southern farmlands where anything grows easily.

Even if I tried, I couldn’t fail there.

Because of one ancestor’s poor choice, Ruth and I had to endure this hardship.

Despite his companions leaving, the first Duke of Valpru alone defended the walls from monsters.

Though the Demon King was dead, its corpse still emitted dark energy, creating monsters.

The grotesque monsters constantly tried to cross the white walls.

And the Duke kept striking them down, again and again.

This foundation allowed the family to rise in central politics, gaining wealth and power.

“But the old methods won’t work anymore. Hunting and central politics both require a strong army, and raising that army requires money!”

It wasn’t a chicken-or-egg problem; in this cold, harsh land, we needed a new way to make money.

“Tourism with boat rides was popular in the original story… but that might just increase debts here.”

After thinking, I realized there was only one viable option.

“Naol, is there a department responsible for agriculture in the domain?”

“The Agriculture Department? I can call them.”

“No, I’ll go. I want to see how they work anyway.”

As we approached the room, we heard a loud argument from afar.

Naol glanced at me nervously, but I just opened the door.

A burly man and a skinny man shouted, unaware we had entered.

“Why can’t you understand! We should plant badam trees this year! The weather is warm, they’ll grow well!”

“And if it’s cold? Didn’t we plant badam trees two years ago following your advice, only for frost to ruin the crops? I say we plant Relong flowers this year since it’ll be cold!”

“Hah! Who decided that?”

“What did you just say? Decide?”

Naol clapped his hands, intervening in the escalating argument.

“Both of you, calm down!”

Turning toward his voice, the two men finally noticed me.

“Perfect timing! The cleverest lady in our castle is here! Why not ask her? Talking to each other is a waste of time!”

“What? I won’t speak to a stubborn fool either! Let’s leave it to our clever Lady!”

“Lady! What do you think? Relong flowers or badam trees?”

I asked the two men, who looked at me expectantly.

“…So what are you two arguing about?”

To summarize:

The Agriculture Department only had two people—Ron and George—who had been arguing over crops.

As spring approached after winter, they began the 653rd annual argument over what crops to plant.

Tears welled up in my eyes again.

In warm southern lands, they wouldn’t need to worry about this.

Even so, in a normal Valpru domain, they could experiment with multiple crops.

If one failed but another survived, the harvest would still be successful.

But the Valpru family was in debt, and much of the land was collateral to other families.

In short, they could barely plant one crop!

The two agricultural officers argued over what to plant, and I had walked in right during their fight.

“So, Lady, what do you think? Will it be cold this year?”