I cannot bear that weight yet.
Let's not be greedy.
&
A month had passed since the deal with Count Greg Trevio was finalized.
When the first shipment arrived, the entire estate was abuzz.
Chunks of iron ore poured out from the carriage.
“What in the world is all that?”
“They say it’s iron ore. The young master brought it in.”
“Looks like he really did something after visiting the capital.”
Of course, there were those who were anxious.
“Isn’t he overdoing it for nothing? What if it just makes the burden bigger?”
A young noble taking on something was always a source of anxiety.
“Come on, you think the young master did it all alone? Count Drevan must’ve worked with him.”
“That’s true. But what about the money? How can we afford all that in our situation?”
A brief silence fell.
Then someone spoke up as if tossing out a remark.
“What if we make farming tools with all that?”
“What do you mean?”
“The ones we’re using now, they’re all worn out and bent out of shape.”
“So?”
“Work will get faster. Then the harvest will grow too, and won’t our share grow in the end?”
Some began to nod their heads.
Iron soon becomes tools,
and tools soon become production.
After the iron ore arrived, the sound of Redek’s hammer rang out more powerfully than ever.
Tung!
Tung!
The estate was changing little by little.
And right then.
A carriage reserved for nobility entered the Brennan Estate.
The sound of horseshoes striking stone echoed as it passed through the center of the village,
and soon stopped in front of the House Signal mansion.
***
Reception room.
“It’s been a while, Drevan! Hahaha!”
“It certainly has been a while, Roderick.”
Roderick Lyn.
The family head of Grimwall Estate.
A natural fortress surrounded by mountain ranges.
About a three days’ journey away.
Because they were close, they were often entangled;
because they were close, they also clashed more sharply.
At one point, talks of marriage between their children had even gone back and forth.
At least on the surface.
“You’re still living modestly, my friend.”
His gaze slowly swept across the reception room.
The word “modest” was not a compliment.
Next to Father, Mother, and then me and Risel sat in our places.
I quietly looked toward Roderick.
At his side was his wife,
and the eldest son, Cedric Lyn, was seated.
And.
Marsha Lyn.
Marsha was looking straight at me.
With eyes that were slightly different from before.
Here, Cedric openly yawned.
It was blatant.
“I’ve heard an interesting rumor lately?”
Roderick spoke with a smile.
“That you recently brought in iron ore.”
When Father nodded, he continued speaking with a smile again.
“Surely you aren’t preparing for a territorial war, are you? Haha!”
“There’s no way.”
Father calmly retorted.
“Our farming tools were simply too old.”
“But I heard it’s a three-year contract?”
The moment those words fell,
the air in the reception room briefly grew cold.
Three years.
A detailed condition of the deal.
He already knew.
Even though he knew, he deliberately brought it up.
Showing off his intelligence network,
and at the same time, throwing out a warning.
“Count Trevio said that we need three years to see profit.”
Father answered calmly.
Roderick stroked his chin for a moment and slowly nodded.
“Hmph. That’s the sort of disposition that man has.”
His words flowed lightly, but his gaze was calculating.
The truth was, House Lyn had once helped us.
During a rather difficult time for our family.
But that help was not free, and even now we were still sending crops as payment for that help.
A contract, not salvation.
The problem was that they regarded it as a favor.
“But I heard it was your son, not you, who went?”
The gaze shifted to me.
“Yes. I went.”
A brief silence.
His eyes narrowed to slits, then soon changed to a smile.
“Haha! I see. Did you learn a lot in the capital?”
“I did not learn much.”
Tsk.
I could see from his eyes that there was no sincerity at all.
I immediately continued speaking.
“Rather, I realized something in the capital.”
All eyes in the reception room focused on me.
“That I had already learned more than enough from my father.”
A brief silence fell.
And then.
“Puhahaha!”
Roderick burst into loud laughter.
“You certainly learned something quite significant in the capital!”
Those words were not praise.
In truth, they were closer to a sneer aimed at Father.
Father’s fist trembled ever so slightly.
“Father.”
I deliberately opened my mouth in a calm voice.
“You have met with your friend after a long time, so we will take our leave now.”
I deliberately took the form of asking for permission.
To make it clear that the initiative in this place belonged entirely to Father.
In that moment, Roderick’s expression stiffened for a very brief instant.
I immediately stood up from my seat with Risel.
Cedric and Marsha naturally followed suit and came out after us.
The moment the door closed, only the conversation between the two family heads remained in the reception room.
From now on, it was Father’s fight.
“Hey. Reyon.”
I turned my head at Marsha’s call.
I answered, but
I did not bother mixing in unnecessary words.
“The rooms you’ll be staying in—you’ve been here before, so you know them, right?”
“Aren’t you supposed to show us the way?”
The war of nerves had passed from the family heads to their children.
Well, compared to what your father was doing, this is rather cute.
The looks the two of them directed at me were contemptuous.
The interesting thing was that they seemed to feel similarly on their side.
“Puhaha! Wow, it’s true.”
Cedric, who had burst into laughter, took a step closer.
“You’ve gotten cocky after visiting the capital, haven’t you? Our cute little Reyon.”
Cedric Lyn.
An aspiring knight.
Both his build and shoulders were bigger than mine now.
Before long, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder as if to encircle it.
On the outside it looked like a joke, but there was subtle strength in his arm.
Intimidation.
He was not at the level of merely mimicking a knight.
He was fairly capable in his own right.
I could have ignored it and moved on, but
I saw Risel flinch beside me.
So I immediately grabbed Cedric’s wrist.
Rather than forcibly tearing it away, I simply pressed the exact point where force was applied and released it.
“If you need anything, tell the butler.”
I gestured toward Risel.
“We’re going first.”
I led Risel away just like that.
The two people left behind.
Cedric briefly shook his wrist with a stiff expression.
“Ha… he moved my arm?”
“I told you.”
Marsha muttered with her arms crossed.
“He got cocky.”
Their gazes followed our backs as we disappeared down the end of the hallway.
***
Risel’s face was full of worry.
“Brother, will you really be okay?”
Anxiety was buried in her small voice.
“I’ve hated it whenever those people came. Since I was little.”
Perhaps because the tension had not yet eased, her fist was still clenched tight.
“Marsha would smile at me and order me around, and take my things too. Cedric just looked at me with a weird expression earlier.”
I silently stroked Risel’s head.
“Surely they aren’t trying to marry me off to Cedric, are they?”
Risel shook her head with a disgusted face.
“I hate that! I like handsome men, I tell you.”
Risel would not know.
What kind of marriage she would end up in later.
A future where she would be sent to the house of a man forty years her senior.
I might not know about other things,
but this future was one I absolutely had to stop.
“Don’t worry.”
I spoke in a low voice.
“I’ll bring you a very handsome guy.”
“Hehe.”
Risel smiled right away.
“Still, Brother!”
And then she looked up at me and spoke.
“Don’t overdo it. I like you no matter what you look like, Brother.”
After a brief pause, Risel added.
“You weren’t very dependable back then either, but I still liked you!”
“I’m a bit better now, right?”
“Yeah! You’re totally cool now!”
She was such a pretty little sister.
“It’s a bit of a shame about your face though!”
I must correct myself.
A somewhat pretty little sister.
A short while later.
I had something to check, so I tried to head to the village alone.
But Marsha followed behind me.
What the.
She didn’t say anything, but I could feel her gaze stabbing into my back.
Still, I deliberately paid no heed and kept walking.
“Hey!”
Unable to endure it, Marsha shouted first.
Only then did I stop walking.
“I’m older than you.”
“Huh?”
Marsha opened her eyes wide with an incredulous face.
“Why are you suddenly going on about being older?”
She strode forward and stood blocking my way.
“When did I ever say I wanted to be treated like an elder?”
And she looked up at me.
“Why are you suddenly acting so arrogant?”
“Are you going to marry me?”
“W-what?”
Marsha’s eyes went wide.
“Are you crazy?”
I continued calmly.
“Do you like me?”
In that instant, Marsha’s face stiffened.
Her mouth opened, but no words came out.
I did not ask further and passed by her, walking again.
Then an urgent voice burst out from behind.
“You said you liked me because I was cute!”
I stopped again and slowly turned around.
“I did.”
After catching my breath briefly, I added.
“Not anymore. I like people who like me.”
I turned my body again.
After a few steps, I added lightly.
“Still, cute is definitely my type.”
A gasp came from behind, but I did not stop my steps toward the village.
It was when I arrived in front of the smithy.
“You stay here.”
Marsha had followed even here.
“Why? I’m going in too.”
“There are many dangerous things inside a smithy. You could get hurt if you touch the farming tools wrong.”
“Ha!”
Marsha snorted as if scoffing.
“Are you worried about me?”
I nodded nonchalantly.
“Yeah.”
At those words, Marsha’s expression momentarily froze.
Without saying more, I opened the door and went inside.
A short while later.
When I came out after finishing my business, Marsha was still standing in that spot.
But she was a little different from before.
Her expression looked strangely complicated.
When I came out, she immediately straightened up,
and without a word, I walked back toward the mansion.
Then Marsha hurriedly followed after me.
“We have to walk all the way back again! Ugh, so annoying, why did you walk instead of taking a carriage!”
“I never told you to follow me.”
“What kind of man makes a lady walk like this!”
It was a grumbling voice, but strangely, it wasn’t unpleasant to hear.
“Shall I give you a piggyback?”
“What??”
Marsha reacted as if jumping up.
“W-why would I—why would someone like you—!”
I shrugged my shoulders and walked again,
and she followed, muttering.
“...Was what you said earlier about worrying about me true?”
“Yeah.”
I answered without turning my head.
“It’d be troublesome if you got hurt there for no reason and caused a fuss at the smithy.”
The moment those words fell, Marsha’s cheeks puffed up like balloons.
Hmm.
Cute.
And we did not exchange a single word until we arrived at the mansion.
When we arrived at the mansion, Albert immediately approached.
“Young Master, everyone has gathered in the dining hall. I shall guide you.”
The seats were already prepared.
House Signal and House Lyn sat facing each other across the table again.
Marsha and I also naturally sat in our respective seats.
It was not yet over.
The battlefield had simply moved onto the table.
“Haha! Did you two already go on a date in the meantime?”
Roderick’s laughter echoed through the dining hall.
“W-what are you talking about, Father! There’s no way!”
Marsha shouted urgently.
“He just… said he wanted to walk with me…”
Marsha’s words trailed off.
“Uahaha! You’ve become quite the man after visiting the capital, Reyon!”
All eyes at the table focused on me at once,
and I slowly looked at Marsha.
Me?
Marsha was glaring at me, biting her lip tightly.
Her meaning of “hurry up and agree with me” was far too obvious.
Still looking at her, I slowly nodded.
“Yes.”
I answered briefly first.
And then continued nonchalantly.
“I wanted to go on a short date because Marsha looked so cute after not seeing her for a long time.”