“It’s gotten a lot hotter. If it’s too cold, should I prepare something warm for you?”
“No, it’s okay. But Susan, aren’t you feeling too heavy?”
“I’m just a little full now.”
“Just barely?”
“It’s okay. The maid who gave birth to many children said that it would be okay to move until the end of the month.”
Ines smiled softly at her cheerful answer. They say there was a riot in the islands, but Landhill was as peaceful as if nothing had happened. There had been riots in the time she had passed. However, those times were much later than now. About three years after Duke Anthony became Crown Prince, the imperial finances eventually went bankrupt due to a long civil war and extravagance, and the suffering of the imperial people due to this worsened day by day.
However, the riots at that time ended without much result. The Empress pretended to reduce taxes as a way to appease them, but the exploitation became more vicious in other ways.
But this riot was different in scale because of Ines and Carson’s intervention. In addition, the Empress stood up after laying the temple on the floor. It seemed like the sparks of the riot had been extinguished, but in reality, they were not.
If the wind blew from anywhere, the sparks would burn bigger and fiercer.
“Summer must be starting. There is no wind.”
The clear sky began to cloud over as if it was going to rain heavily.
“You should go inside. It looks like rain is coming.”
Ines nodded. At this time, sudden rain fell without warning in Landhill. When they fell, they were so strong that you would get soaked even on the way from the backyard to the mansion.
As she was getting up, a maid came to see Ines at Andrew’s order.
“The Viscount is waiting in the office.”
Ines looked up at the sky filled with dark clouds and hurried her steps. When she arrived at the office, her father was reading a letter.
“Why did you call?”
“A letter has arrived from someone who was attached to Count Grandel.”
Ines sat down slowly and closed her eyes for a moment. The anger of the people of the empire had subsided a little, but the situation had not improved at all.
There was still a lot of money that the Empress had printed and given to Ines. No matter how much they burned the money, the value of the currency once it had fallen would not go up.
The imperial family had neither the finances nor the ability to do so at the moment.
“It says that he is currently in Landhill.”
The situation was still unstable, and people wanted the world to turn upside down.
“I’m not surprised...”
“I just thought it had to be that way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Grandel is cornered right now. He came to find Lord Mondrae or something...”
He could already have figured out that he was a ghost. Andrew did not urge his daughter even though she trailed off. He already knew that Ines would not hear anything if she kept her mouth shut in thought.
“Was there anything else?”
“It seems like they are preparing for exile.”
“Exile?”
“Yes, all I know is that they are secretly preparing something at the port.”
Exile, exile... Ines, who had been thinking deeply, shook her head.
“Father, you know that my lord has the right to trade directly with Yamanta, right?”
“Yes, I know that when the ship Her Majesty the Empress set sail a few years ago sank, the rights to trade were all transferred to Prince Carson.”
“Go to the lord’s castle now and meet with the person in charge of direct trade with Yamanta. Also, check if there is a ship that will be leaving from Yamanta soon. Not a trade ship, but a transport ship.”
Although he was a retired Marquis, Grandel had been a Count for nearly ten years. If someone like him were to be cornered, using force would be an instinctive struggle.
Furthermore, Grandel had military supplies he had received from Ines. It was clear that he would mobilize his own private army and use all his assets to protect the Empress.
But if he's at Landhill right now, and secretly preparing something at the port...
“Ines, what you’re saying is...”
“I’ll have to check the details, but Grandel might want to use the mercenaries of the Barbarians. Right now, it’s not a situation where he can raise a private army.”
“It’s illegal to bring in mercenaries.”
Andrew quickly realized that such words were useless now.
“You think Grandel will attack Landhill.”
Ines nodded, and Andrew squeezed his eyes shut. It was a territory that hadn’t been at war since his grandfather’s grandfather’s generation.
“Don’t worry, father. This is an opportunity.”
“How can this be an opportunity?”
“We have to capture Grandel and bring him up to the island. That would be a great help to my lord.”
Even as she spoke of the war, Ines had a happy face. Andrew couldn’t shake the thought that his daughter had reached a point where he couldn’t handle it. When her father looked very worried, Ines quickly added to reassure him.
“If they come by ship, we can stop them from even dropping anchor.”
A strange light crossed her face for a moment, and Andrew closed his eyes that had opened for a moment.
“If they attack from the capital, they won’t even be able to get past the castle gates.”
“Ines...”
“You know. We’re prepared.”
“...”
“There’s really nothing to worry about.”
“But this father is worried. It’s not just worrying, I'm really scared.”
“We’ve been preparing since Monstera. So to say that we’re going to lose...”
“That’s not what I mean, Ines.”
Her mouth fell shut at Andrew’s stern expression.
“Please, stop, stop now.”
“That... What are you talking about?”
“That’s enough. We have indeed been indebted to the lord. However, this father cannot allow it any longer.”
“...”
“Promise me, once this is over, you will never get involved in his business again.”
“But father!”
“No, no more. You are Swenden. Do not forget that you must listen to this father before the lord’s command. When he becomes the Emperor, you will immediately marry the son of Viscount Damian.”
Andrew stood up from his seat as if he did not need to talk any further. Ines sat there for a moment, unable to collect her dazed mind.
Andrew looked at his daughter and then walked towards the door. Ines, who immediately came to her senses, ran and blocked his path.
“Father.”
“...”
“Look at me.”
Despite Ines’s pleas, Andrew did not look at his daughter.
“Do you really not know? Or are you pretending not to know?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I... am not normal.”
“The Viscount Damian family is a family with a long history. I’m not one to mention the sins we’ve already committed and taint our family’s promise.”
“That’s not it.”
Ines’s hand trembled as she held his arm. In the three months since she’d returned to Landhill, she had suffered twelve seizures. She hadn’t rolled her eyes and collapsed in front of her parents, but he must have heard about everything. Some people now understand mental illness to some extent, but it is still true that they are ignorant. There must have been some servants who thought Ines was still under the control of the devil.
“You know.”
“Don’t bring that up.”
“Pretending not to know won’t make any difference.”
Andrew’s heart sank every time he heard Ines collapse. What on earth had happened at the temple, how much pain had she endured?
“You said the Landhill nobles were friendly to our family.”
But not a single person had visited Swenden in the past three months.
“I know they don’t openly despise me, but do you really think people sympathize with what I’ve done?”
“..."
“You have to admit it now. I am not the same flawless Ines I used to be.”
“Stop it.”
“I caused a dirty scandal with a commoner, and I ended up killing him, and I worked as a maid in a temple for three years. And now I am someone who stops breathing and faints at random times.”
“That is why I must stop it all the more!”
Andrew, who had been ignoring Ines until then, looked straight into his daughter’s eyes. There was an irresistible will in his green eyes, shining the same color as Ines’s.
“That is why you must stop it all the more. You must live with all your might.”
“I do not want to die. I just want to live by his side and for him.”
“If his side becomes the Emperor, you cannot go to him. You know better than that.”
Ines could not bring herself to tell her father that Carson had decided to wait for her. She could not say that she was glad that he had allowed her to stay by his side. She knew what kind of life her father wanted for her.
“I will no longer listen to your thoughts. It has been difficult for me as a father to endure and wait for you until now. Therefore, once the lord is safely crowned Crown Prince, your marriage will also be hastened.”
Andrew didn’t hesitate and turned around to leave Ines at the office. She flinched as she heard the door slam shut. It was the first time she had encountered her father’s reprimand upon returning. However, Ines felt her father’s trembling behind it before his anger.
For a moment, Ines looked at the door that Andrew had closed and imagined her future. She tried to imagine herself marrying the son of Viscount Damian as her father had said, but she couldn’t easily imagine herself smiling in any of the scenes.
“I’m sorry, father.”
In the end, she quietly apologized to her father.
Her heart was broken, but she didn’t have time to feel frustrated. Ines went to her office desk and counted the number of private soldiers officially authorized by the estate. She checked the weapons and supplies and selected those of the remaining Carson knights who could be ready for battle.
Then, she let out a sigh and looked into the distance for a moment.
She turned her chair and looked out the window. From his father's office, she could clearly see the Swenden Mountains, where the gold mines were. The path Ines had run after Joseph was close enough to touch.
The hot sun was rising high, but the air inside the office was cool.
"Give me strength, my lord."
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