#19. Entering the Grand Duchy (2)
2023.08.19.
“The previous Grand Dukes never even set foot in the main castle….”
“Yet the young Grand Duke has completely renovated the old castle and has even come to live here.”
Rita lowered her voice and spoke.
“You know what? I heard from the butler… they’re going to reevaluate our wages too.”
“No way, are they lowering them?”
“I don’t think so.”
Rita grinned, and the people all wore expressions of deep emotion. The notion that servants were free and comfortable without a master was something said only by those who knew nothing. Who would want to be abandoned?
Moreover, without a master, it was hard to voice one’s grievances or receive necessary supplies on time, so things only stagnated and festered. Inevitably, the place collapsed from within.
Having tasted their master’s attention for the first time, they were dazed like insects fallen into a honeypot. Their goodwill had already pierced the sky before they even saw his face, and when they encountered a man and woman who looked as though they had stepped out of a painting, how profound their emotion must have been.
“I’m going to bury my bones in the Grand Duchy.”
Cecil, who threatened to quit more often than she hiccuped, clenched her fist tightly. The people nodded solemnly and added their own words.
“My grave will be right next to yours.”
“Don’t be like that, let’s all die together. And be buried together.”
“Together with His Grace the Grand Duke and the Head Maid too?”
As the conversation raced toward an unknown end, Rita clapped her hands to change the atmosphere.
“You guys are getting too carried away. Get a hold of yourselves.”
“I-Is that so….”
Ignoring their awkward remarks, Rita spoke seriously.
“I think the base of Mount Habel would be good since it faces south. Anyone opposed?”
Mary whispered to Cecil in a lowered voice.
“Come to think of it, Rita is the strangest one here.”
Amy and Joseph toured the village with the garrison captain, Morton.
On the main road and plaza, which had always been said to be muddy, neatly paved stone roads had been laid. Looking at the completed craftsmen’s houses, the first floors were shops, and from the second floors up were living spaces. The attached warehouses and kilns tailored to each profession’s characteristics were also exactly as they had ordered.
While they toured the village, people surrounded them. Rumors that the Grand Duke and his attending subordinates had arrived spread quickly. The territory’s residents followed behind them with faces full of goodwill.
Amy and Joseph finished their inspection with satisfied hearts.
“Did you say you were retiring right away?”
On the way back to the Grand Ducal Castle, Amy asked the garrison captain, Morton. He affirmed with a bow.
“Yes. It was a position ill-suited to my station from the very beginning.”
And so it was. Morton, who had become the captain of the Grand Duchy garrison merely because of his brief service as a soldier in another territory’s garrison in his youth, said he could finally live at ease. He was an honest man who knew his place.
“You’ve had a hard time all this while. You shall receive a retirement pension that won’t leave you wanting.”
Amy glanced at Joseph as if to confirm, and he nodded. Then he asked carefully in a small voice.
“You’ve spent an enormous amount of money renovating the castle all this time… does His Grace still have funds remaining?”
Joseph, the aide, was planning to take charge of accounting as well, so he had to share the situation with her anyway.
“Yes. I’ll tell you the exact amount when we return.”
Joseph said in admiration.
“It seems His Majesty the Emperor cherishes the Second Prince after all. To send such an enormous amount of funds with him….”
“If I had to say, the Grand Duke earned it himself. You’ll see soon enough when you properly begin work, but His Majesty only gave one hundred thousand gold.”
Recalling how she had checked the amount given as if it were a token of favor and had been rendered speechless, Amy shook her head. Truly befitting the father of the Crown Prince, how could one’s heart be so miserly?
Joseph’s eyes went wide. And understandably so, because one hundred thousand gold was barely enough for round-trip travel expenses to the North.
“I see….”
Joseph became sullen and took off his glasses to wipe them. It seemed to be a habit of his when he was deep in thought—rather like Amy’s habit of touching the brooch on her chest when troubled. Joseph, who had walked in silence for a while, sidled close to Amy again when the entrance to the Grand Ducal Castle came into view.
“Did I not part from the Head Maid earlier?”
“You did.”
Amy nodded. While she had gone into the workshop where women spun thread from wool, Joseph had waited outside and conversed with a village notable.
“According to what I heard then… it seems His Grace the Grand Duke has made a very good impression on the territory’s residents.”
“A good impression?”
Amy’s ears perked up. Joseph became excited and chattered away.
“Did His Grace not say on the way here that he wished to hold charitable works to commemorate his accession as Grand Duke? So I advised him to repair and reopen the broken charcoal kiln while waiving the usage fee.”
“That’s right.”
“In addition, His Grace waived up to five bundles of firewood for heating per person.”
Amy nodded with satisfaction.
“He did. Heating is essential in the North.”
“Word of such things spread, and morale has risen greatly. A village notable hinted as much to me.”
Despite his timid personality, Joseph was surprisingly sociable; though he was shy, people tended to approach him first. Amy had also received considerable help from that side of him during their journey north. She glanced at Joseph, whose face was flushed, perhaps because he was in a good mood.
‘This was exactly why I decided to bring him in.’
When the plague had swept through the Empire in her previous life, Joseph had been the aide serving Count Esmain. Despite being despised for having mixed foreign blood, he had cherished the territory’s residents dearly. But because the medicine said to prevent the plague was expensive, Count Esmain had distributed fake medicine to the territory’s residents. As a result, countless people were annihilated by the plague.
Despairing over this, Joseph had claimed it was his fault as aide and begged the Emperor for punishment, and because of that, he was cruelly killed by the hands of Count Esmain, who had been thoroughly humiliated.
Having heard that story, after her regression, Amy had resolved to bring him with her no matter what.
‘My judgment wasn’t wrong.’
Joseph was a man of upright and righteous character. Amy spoke gently.
“It’s thanks to the aide’s appropriate advice.”
“Ah, n-no, that’s not it….”
Joseph’s face flushed bright red. From the time Amy first sent him a letter with various orders, he had recognized her as someone on an entirely different level from himself. And that thought had solidified even further as he witnessed the superhuman feats she performed during their journey north.
“In any case, His Grace will be able to settle in smoothly.”
“Th-that’s right. Rather than showing off with petty favors, he waived them entirely, so the rumors say they like him very much for his magnanimity.”
“Yes. It’s a good start.”
The two entered the Grand Ducal Castle in good spirits. Crossing the drawbridge over the moat and passing through the great gate, gazes converged upon them from all directions. At that moment,
“Hahahaha!”
Suddenly, a boisterous laugh was heard from the guard post above the gate. Amy furrowed her face without realizing it. Because it was a voice she had heard often before.
“What is Count Dwayne doing over there…?”
As Amy muttered to herself, a maid nearby who had been watching her with shining eyes quickly stepped forward and spoke.
“He is educating the garrison soldiers. Count Vernon, who has newly arrived as captain of the garrison, ordered it.”
“I see.”
If it was Vernon who ordered it. Amy expressed her thanks to the maid with a glance, parted with Joseph, and headed toward the inner castle.
‘There’s something I need to do most urgently….’
Amy had a reason for choosing the Northern Grand Duchy as the Second Prince’s new home. She was anxious to confirm it quickly.
Raising her head to look at the sky, the sun had already descended close to the ground. Soon it would set and darkness would fall. Amy thought regretfully.
‘It can’t be helped. I’ll have to do it tomorrow.’
Crossing the wide courtyard and entering the inner castle, the butler Melburn approached and fell into step beside her as if he had been waiting. Amy asked nonchalantly.
“His Grace?”
“After inspecting the castle, he has gone to the training grounds.”
Amy’s footsteps faltered.
“The training grounds?”
What reason could there be to go to the training grounds on the very first day of arriving at the Grand Ducal Castle? Amy tilted her head and stopped. Melburn quickly took the hint and guided her to the training grounds.
“I presume the training grounds have been repaired as well?”
Melburn waved his hand before her, who asked out of concern that Noah might trip on an unseen loose stone.
“The floor has been paved with bluestone and smoothly finished, and weapons necessary for training, such as scarecrows and wooden swords, have been abundantly prepared.”
“Once the blacksmith arrives, simple weapon repairs or horseshoe repairs should be possible within the castle.”
As they chatted and turned past the warehouse, a wide training ground appeared. Seeing Noah standing tall in the center, Amy narrowed her eyes.
‘He’s even taken off his cloak.’
Though it was early autumn, the North was already in the depths of winter. Amy’s steps quickened. And the moment she stepped into the training ground, at the unexpected sight that unfolded before her, she opened her eyes wide.
“Unbelievable.”
One of the garrison soldiers watching from the sidelines muttered. His surrounding colleagues quietly agreed. Beside them, Eden was suppressing his emotions with both hands clasped.
“….”
In the center of the training ground stood the Grand Duke who had arrived today. A boy who was at best in his late teens looked down at a muscular man sprawled on the ground with an expressionless face.
“Wow, is this for real?”
Dwayne sprang to his feet and laughed. However, contrary to his bright smile, his eyes were not smiling. He had perfunctorily explained Southern fighting techniques to Noah earlier, and then immediately goaded him into a spar. Because he believed one learned more by clashing with the body than through theory.
Noah had readily accepted the proposal. This was the result.
“One more round.”
Dwayne spoke through gritted teeth to Noah, who wore an indifferent air. Noah let out a light scoff.
“You are hard on the outside, but inside, you are exactly like pudding.”