It was the first time I’d seen it—a truly natural smile.
So she smiles like that.
She is pretty, at least.
&
Three days passed.
“Hmm...”
I looked down at the field and quietly swallowed my breath.
“The germination failed.”
Eileen looked straight at me.
For a moment, I thought she was glaring,
but fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case.
I turned my gaze and looked around.
The fields of the Belledor estate stretched so wide that their end was nowhere in sight.
From afar came the sound of farming tools striking together,
people’s footsteps,
and the scraping of soil being leveled, all mingling as one.
That was when I saw it.
From one side, white powder was scattering like snow.
“Do you perhaps spread fertilizer like that every time?”
“Ah, yes. That’s how the crop’s grade improves.”
What incredible wealth.
After thinking for a moment, I opened my mouth.
“Perhaps... it might be because there’s too much.”
“You mean the lime powder.”
As expected, she was quick-witted.
We made another plot a little distance away
and repeated the experiment under the same conditions.
And three days later.
It was as expected.
“It worked.”
As if pushing up the soil, a fragile sprout revealed itself.
“So it really was true.”
The soil here barely needed any lime at all.
I immediately adjusted part of the field, shaping it like a raised bank,
and altered it into the form of a small rice paddy.
After transplanting the seedlings into it, I slowly filled it with water.
“Won’t the seedlings die like this?”
Eileen asked as she watched the seedlings sink beneath the water.
“They’re being submerged.”
“This is how they live.”
Eileen silently watched the scene.
Her expression said she couldn’t understand it, but her eyes were serious.
A few more days passed.
The seedlings poking their heads above the water gradually began to gain strength.
The stems, once frail, grew firm, and their color deepened.
“It really was true.”
The sound of her clapping rang out clearly.
Rice production.
It had become possible.
The moment she realized what that meant, Eileen’s pupils trembled faintly.
This was not just a single crop.
Food. Power. Trade. Influence.
It was the beginning of all of those things.
“Whew... I was worried it might not work.”
I stepped out of the water and shook off my hands.
“Congratulations, Lady Eileen. If you wish, I will attribute this discovery entirely to you.”
“What?”
Her eyes widened.
Rice cultivation would undoubtedly bring honor.
And along with it, timing and checks from others would follow.
I didn’t need that attention.
There was something more important than honor.
Safety.
And money.
“How curious.”
She slowly opened her mouth.
“You’re the first person I’ve seen who can directly produce an achievement of this scale and yet show no greed for it. And to think you’d judge things this coldly for the sake of your family.”
“Is that so?”
An awkward laugh slipped out of me for no reason.
“Perhaps you would even offer up your life for your family?”
Those words brushed strangely against my chest,
and my heart quietly tightened.
For an instant,
I felt as though she had gravely misunderstood something.
Something seemed to suddenly surface in my mind, only to vanish in the next moment.
Unable to understand this emotion at all, I stared blankly into empty space for a moment,
then hurriedly came back to my senses when I saw Eileen’s puzzled expression.
“No.”
A short, firm answer.
Eileen’s eyes widened again.
“I don’t want to leave the person I love alone.”
For a moment, only the sound of the wind could be heard.
She quietly looked at me, then slowly smiled.
It was a different expression from before.
Not light, not playful, but a deep smile.
“As expected, you always say things that defy expectations.”
She took a contract from her breast pocket.
“Mr. Rayon.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s meet again.”
For a moment, my throat felt dry.
A laugh burst out before I could stop it.
“Ahaha...”
Perhaps she didn’t like that reaction, because Eileen’s brow narrowed ever so slightly.
“Oh my, do you dislike the idea of meeting me again?”
Her gaze pierced straight into me.
“I thought we had a truly good deal and meeting today.”
I briefly avoided her eyes.
For no reason, my fingertips tingled.
“Well...”
Haa.
How should I say this?
After hesitating for a moment, I simply blurted it out.
“Because I’m afraid I’ll come to like you.”
It wasn’t a lie.
Before seeing her, I’d been confident.
I thought that even if we met again, I wouldn’t be shaken.
No, I’d even thought I might become colder instead.
I had even recalled emotions like hatred.
But the woman I actually faced was different.
Her eyes were not looking at me pitifully.
At the very least, she was seeing me as a person.
I know.
She was only looking at me as she would any passing person.
That was all it was.
And yet.
When I saw those unadorned smiles that occasionally passed across her face,
those emotions vanished as if they had been lies.
And then,
Eileen looked at me in surprise for a long while.
I gave a small laugh, stamped my seal on the contract, and immediately climbed into the carriage.
Eileen said nothing to the end.
Instead of words, she gave me a brief nod with her eyes,
and I nodded lightly back.
The carriage began to move.
Clatter. Clatter.
As the carriage wheels began to turn, the mansion slowly receded.
Without thinking, I looked back.
Eileen was still standing there, looking this way.
Without moving at all.
Why, why is she still looking?
A chill suddenly ran through me.
Surely what I just said didn’t offend her, did it?
Since a man like me said something like that, could her pride have been wounded?
This reaction was unavoidable.
I had lived for decades watching her every mood.
As expected, it’s better not to get involved with that woman.
But the matter had already begun.
There was no point in feeling anxious now.
I had to think about what came next.
***
The atmosphere in the Brennan estate had been rather heavy lately.
“It’s good that the young master’s takin’ an interest in estate affairs, but...”
“Well, good’s good. The problem’s the results, ain’t it?”
“I heard he brought in iron ore, and bought up those damn stones again?”
“At this rate, our taxes’ll just go up, won’t they?”
Dissatisfaction was slowly piling up.
In the midst of that, a new notice was posted on the village bulletin board.
[Recruiting Agricultural Personnel]
And beneath it, a name was written clearly.
Rayon Signal.
“What’s he planning this time...”
“I’m busy with my own work as it is. If I do that and can’t meet my quota, who’s gonna pay me?”
“Hey, what about migrants? They can at least go somewhere else, but we estate folk can’t even leave.”
“Ah~ what a shame~ You were born here, weren’t you~ And you pay less tax, don’t you~”
The reaction was not good.
Normally, there should have been more than two hundred people capable of farming.
But fewer than fifty gathered.
Even those who did had gloomy expressions.
I looked over them once.
“It seems there are about fifty of you.”
The murmuring gradually died down.
“I intend to use the uncultivated land of our estate to try cultivating a new crop.”
In that instant, the air changed.
“Young master... what kind of crop is it?”
One person asked carefully.
“It doesn’t seem like potatoes or sweet potatoes.”
“Rice plants.”
A brief silence.
“By rice plants... do you mean rice?”
Someone quietly swallowed.
Rice was a crop that was practically a symbol of failure in this land.
I spoke calmly.
“This is not compulsory. Those who wish to return may do so. You will not be penalized for it.”
A short while later, more than half of them left again.
There were only about ten people remaining.
That was enough.
Honestly, I had thought it would be fine even if only three remained.
I looked at them.
“Why did you stay?”
Silence flowed for a moment.
They glanced at one another, and then the oldest-looking man stepped forward.
The backs of his hands were bent, and his palms were rough.
They were the hands of a man who had farmed for a long time.
He briefly steadied his breath and said,
“The young master’s actions lately... they seem to be for the sake of the estate.”
The man’s words were cautious, but they were not false.
“I wanted to believe in you at least once.”
The others silently nodded.
This time, a somewhat younger man continued after him.
“I... because you speak politely even to people like us.”
At those words, I blinked for a moment.
“Even if it fails, I felt you’d be someone who would share the responsibility.
And you are the one who will be responsible for our estate from now on, aren’t you?
Like the old man said, I was actually moved by how hard you’ve been trying.”
A brief silence fell.
It was rare for a noble to use polite speech with commoners.
Not entirely unheard of,
but most of the time, there was calculation behind it.
It wasn’t as if I had some grand conviction either.
It was simply that I myself found it unpleasant
to speak down to people older than me.
But I hadn’t expected it to be received this way.
I nodded briefly.
“Then let us begin.”
I had succeeded in cultivating rice.
However.
Variables.
Soil quality, waterways, pests and disease.
If even one thing went wrong, it was over.
That was why experienced people were necessary.
The monopoly rights had already been handed over.
But we were faster in our start.
If we wanted to seize an early advantage, we couldn’t waste time.
Since there was still a risk of information leaking before the official announcement, migrants were excluded.
It wasn’t perfect,
but it was enough.
Before Belmardian declared its monopoly,
we had to gain even the slightest advantage.
***
My father, my mother, and I were currently looking down at the luxurious box before us.
“Hoho...”
“Truly... our son brought this back?”
Inside the box was a single sheet of paper.
A promissory note for 3,000 gold.
It was the price for handing over the rice cultivation method.
3,000 gold.
The Brennan estate’s total annual income was slightly less than 3,000 gold.
And that was literally total income.
Maintenance costs, transport costs, military upkeep, mansion operating expenses.
After subtracting all sorts of expenditures, the net profit left in our hands was only around 800 gold.
It was an amount almost embarrassing for a count’s family.
And it wasn’t as if that money steadily accumulated year after year, either.
Hold one banquet, and the gold we had saved vanished in an instant. Attending other people’s banquets also cost no small amount.
Stay in the capital for even two months, and at least 100 gold would be gone.
And yet, 3,000 gold.
Money exceeding our total income
had been brought in by me all at once.
So there was no need to explain what my father and mother were feeling right now.
The problem was,
the contract had been for 2,000 gold.
In truth, the rice cultivation method was worth far more than that.
At the level of the Belmardian family, it was a technique that could have been sold for ten thousand gold or more.
If it had been put up for auction, it was a technique that could easily have surpassed twenty thousand gold.
Rice cultivation was worth even more than that.
And yet, 2,000 gold.
Not only could we continue cultivating and selling rice ourselves,
we also did not need to share a portion of the profits with the Belmardian family in the process.
Strictly speaking, the conditions were so exceptional that even 2,000 gold would not have been necessary.
And yet Eileen had added another thousand gold on top of it.
Why had another thousand gold come in?
I was momentarily flustered,
but in truth, I knew very well.
Giving a little more money than the contract amount.
It sounded easy, but in noble society, it was by no means a light gesture.
Buying goodwill from nobles was always a delicate matter.
If it was too blatant, they would be wary; if it was insufficient, it would not be remembered.
But the emotion that arises the moment one receives just a little more than expected is different.
That is not simple satisfaction.
At that moment, people react outside of calculation.
Why?
Because that brief surprise immediately turns into goodwill,
and before long, it returns as something of far greater value.
Nobles would throw away 1 gold as if it were nothing, yet refuse to give even 1 silver more to another person.
All the more so, if a family like Belmardian first placed even 1 silver extra in someone’s hand, the emotion the other party felt could never be small.
Eileen understood that all too well.
No.
As far as I knew, she was the person most skilled at using that method.
She really does know how to toy with people’s hearts.
Even knowing that, I too had felt happy for a moment.
I looked at the promissory note again.
If I had been someone who knew nothing of her, I probably would have been moved by that money.
Beyond gratitude, I might even have felt something akin to loyalty.
And whenever my next idea came to mind, I would have gone to her first.
She had surely calculated even that.
This promissory note had.
Terrifying woman.
She’s trying to wring out even what doesn’t exist.
Still,
what I can receive, I should receive.
In any case, I’ll accept it gratefully.