Charlotte looked around and shook her head. As she said, Monstera made her feel like she had traveled back about 200 years.
When she first entered Monstera’s castle, the retaining wall surrounding the castle and the drawbridge that descended with a loud noise gave off a sense of grandeur.
“Do you know that, Ines?”
“What?”
“There’s a water festival on the last day of July.”
Hansen, who had approached them before she knew it, added.
“Liberalia. It’s the coming-of-age festival.”
“There’s not something that the priest doesn’t know.”
Charlotte said in a truly admiring voice. Hansen cleared his throat and continued.
“Pulderfin doesn’t have a set age of adulthood. The year a man becomes an adult is when his father officially recognizes his son as his successor. At that time, everyone, noble or commoner, would come out and sprinkle water on the road and bless each other. Perhaps that custom still remains in Monstera.”
In a region where there was not enough rain, water was life.
The act of sprinkling it on each other and the ground was a great blessing and comfort. Of course, Monstera was the land of the Keynes Empire, so the age of adulthood was set.
However, even if it was symbolic, a son who was acknowledged by his father would be happy as if he had everything in the world. Ines’ eyes closed naturally at the scenery that seemed to be drawing before her eyes.
The soft voice added a picture to her imagination.
“At that time, people would pour water on the hands of those they respect. And they would receive the water and drink it themselves.”
It was a beautiful day when a father acknowledged his son and a son respected his father. Ines, who knew Hansen’s story, felt his voice was somehow distant and sad.
At that moment, a familiar butler approached them. He was the deputy butler of Landhill and this time he had followed Carson here and taken the position of butler. The head steward of Monstera followed Count Grandel up to the capital.
“Bring Ines Swenden to the Lord’s office.”
At that moment, Ines’ heart sank.
Since Carson came to the stream and gave her a deadline, the two had never met face-to-face.
All she could do was watch him walk from afar.
Carson, who had risen to the rank of Marquis, was busy. He walked briskly and staggered, but when he stood in front of the castle’s main gate, he looked like a painting of a magnificent castle.
There were three seizures on the way here. Carson always came to see Ines. He carried her in his large arms to the carriage and made sure no one entered.
Naturally, whenever he touched her, her fear subsided rapidly. Thanks to this, few people noticed Ines’ seizures.
But that was all, he didn’t have a long conversation with her.
Soon, Ines was able to meet Carson with Noah.
“Come on.”
His desk was covered with piles of paperwork. Ines followed Noah’s lead and sat down on the sofa in the office. Soon, Carson came over to her with what appeared to be a letter.
“The Crown Prince has died.”
It was shocking news, but Ines wasn’t particularly flustered. It had already been three months since someone died of illness in Edmont.
The disease would spread to Romfield next year, but the plague would have already swept through the islands by now.
Carson thought her eyes briefly took on a strange light. Every time Ines looked at him like that, a chill ran down his spine. It wasn’t fear.
Carson looked at Ines’s face, which he hadn’t seen in a long time. It was when he thought that she had lost weight.
“What about the other Princes and Princesses?”
Carson suddenly came to his senses at the voice he heard.
“It seems that several Princes and Princesses have died. The exact number is three, but we don’t know more yet.”
Ines thought back to what happened in Romfield for a moment. To recall that memory, she had to recall Zemern, who had been terribly digging into her, but he could no longer leave a large afterimage on Ines.
“His Majesty has another son?”
“Yes.”
“He will be fine.”
Of course, the Empress had many sons. It would not have been right to say one, but there was only one other person who had come from that womb, other than the dead Crown Prince. It was quite rude for a maid to say this, but no one took issue with it.
“How old is he?”
It was too serious a conversation to discuss with a maid, but Noah naturally explained the situation to Ines. It was quite a strange sight, but they didn’t notice anything strange as they sat across from each other.
“He is four years younger than our lord.”
In that case, he was still nineteen, and in ten years, he would be twenty-nine, the right age to become Emperor.
“He will become Crown Prince prince again, but not right now.”
As Ines crouched on Zemern’s desk, the newspaper she held in her hand was filled with stories about a new Crown Prince. But that was definitely not this year.
The place where her fear had disappeared was filled with increasingly vivid memories. That was definitely next year, after the first death in Romfield.
“There’s another problem.”
“Puldufin, I guess.”
“That’s right. The Princess who was originally scheduled for a political marriage passed away this time. They said they would send another Princess, but they claim that they cannot accept the people of the Keynes Empire who are coming from a place where the plague is rampant.”
“Isn’t the dowry already taken?”
“Yes.”
In the end, the war broke out without any reason for coming to Monstera to prevent Louis’s political marriage. Ines closed her eyes for a moment.
The newspapers and magazines she read in Romfield rarely covered the affairs of this faraway place, Monstera. If she had known this would happen, wouldn’t she have come to Monstera?
“We have no choice but to fight.”
“Yes.”
“Was it a bad choice to come here?”
“No. The war was going to happen anyway. Of course, I, who had the most private soldiers, should have sent them. There’s no way the imperial family could afford to buy even one proper weapon.”
Ines let out a deep breath. That meant that they would soon be embroiled in war both internally and externally. And then there was the plague.
The world was on the brink of being turned upside down. If only she had known better. Then she could have done more for him.
“Even if we won the war, the spoils would have gone to Count Grandel.”
“That’s right. Besides, if we sent all the private soldiers away, Landhill wouldn’t have been safe either.”
Ines closed her eyes and immersed herself in thought, not even realizing that the two men were looking at her with interest.
She was so focused that she didn’t even realize that she was rapidly tapping the wooden part of the handle with her fingers. She must have made up her mind because she opened her eyes wide.
“Actually...”
Carson’s brow furrowed at the nuance of confession again.
“What kind of bomb are you going to throw?”
“My father visited when I was in Landhill.”
Carson knew this, of course. He probably had more contact with Viscount Swenden than she did.
“I asked him to do something for me.”
Ines had asked her father to do three things.
The first was to buy up all the specific types of guns circulating in the empire.
Of course, this wasn’t in preparation for a war in Monstera. It was intended to raise the price of weapons for the upcoming civil war.
But the situation was so urgent that the plan needed to change.
“I heard that the lord said that he would lend the gold in any way he could, as long as it didn’t go outside the territory.”
“Yes.”
“I asked my father to buy as many guns as he could within the empire.”
“Guns? Why?”
“As a kind of investment... as a concept.”
Carson had never heard of converting gold into guns as an investment, but he tried to smile and waited for her to say more.
“My father said that guns are mostly produced in the territory near the capital.”
This was also something Ines had found out and told her father, but there was no need to reveal that fact.
“So now all those guns are gathered near the capital.”
“But how could you buy guns without taking the gold out of the territory?”
Ines rolled her eyes. This was also something she had done without his permission.
“Actually...”
“Again?”
“I set up a bank in Landhill.”
The second thing Ines asked her father was to set up a private bank. Of course, it wasn’t done in the name of the Swenden family.
The name of the bank was Mondrae. It wasn’t that difficult to spend money to create Sir Mondrae, a ghost man with a name but no real existence.
“Did you issue bank notes?”
She nodded at Noah’s surprised question. Landhill was currently the largest trading center. It meant that you could buy anything you wanted. So even bank notes that were only valid in Landhill could serve as currency as long as you had enough funds.
It was illegal to create and use money other than the banknotes used in the empire, but banknotes were not.
If all the money for purchasing guns was issued in bank notes, and later the bank notes were exchanged for gold or paid in goods at a certain rate, there was no reason for a large amount of gold to immediately flow out of the territory.
“So you’re giving me the gun now?”
“Yes.”
“But Ines, I have plenty of guns.”
The most important thing for war was money. And Carson had more than enough money. However, Ines shook her head.
There had been no major war in Keynes for over 100 years. Across the sea, Yamanta was once a powerful nation, but due to its geographical location, it was frequently invaded by neighboring countries. The country that became a small nation because of this did not invade Keynes. Since Puldufin was a region surrounded by a huge desert, guns themselves were not very effective in open spaces. That meant that the gun Carson currently had would not play a big role in this war.
The guns currently used by the Keynes Empire required the shooter to carry gunpowder and bullets separately in his pocket. After firing a shot, the gunpowder had to be poured into the muzzle, the bullet had to be placed in it, and then the gun had to be lowered into the chamber with a stick.
In addition, the cumbersome process of separately pouring the ignition gunpowder into the gun port and firing it was necessary.
When she first entered Monstera’s castle, the retaining wall surrounding the castle and the drawbridge that descended with a loud noise gave off a sense of grandeur.
“Do you know that, Ines?”
“What?”
“There’s a water festival on the last day of July.”
Hansen, who had approached them before she knew it, added.
“Liberalia. It’s the coming-of-age festival.”
“There’s not something that the priest doesn’t know.”
Charlotte said in a truly admiring voice. Hansen cleared his throat and continued.
“Pulderfin doesn’t have a set age of adulthood. The year a man becomes an adult is when his father officially recognizes his son as his successor. At that time, everyone, noble or commoner, would come out and sprinkle water on the road and bless each other. Perhaps that custom still remains in Monstera.”
In a region where there was not enough rain, water was life.
The act of sprinkling it on each other and the ground was a great blessing and comfort. Of course, Monstera was the land of the Keynes Empire, so the age of adulthood was set.
However, even if it was symbolic, a son who was acknowledged by his father would be happy as if he had everything in the world. Ines’ eyes closed naturally at the scenery that seemed to be drawing before her eyes.
The soft voice added a picture to her imagination.
“At that time, people would pour water on the hands of those they respect. And they would receive the water and drink it themselves.”
It was a beautiful day when a father acknowledged his son and a son respected his father. Ines, who knew Hansen’s story, felt his voice was somehow distant and sad.
At that moment, a familiar butler approached them. He was the deputy butler of Landhill and this time he had followed Carson here and taken the position of butler. The head steward of Monstera followed Count Grandel up to the capital.
“Bring Ines Swenden to the Lord’s office.”
At that moment, Ines’ heart sank.
Since Carson came to the stream and gave her a deadline, the two had never met face-to-face.
All she could do was watch him walk from afar.
Carson, who had risen to the rank of Marquis, was busy. He walked briskly and staggered, but when he stood in front of the castle’s main gate, he looked like a painting of a magnificent castle.
There were three seizures on the way here. Carson always came to see Ines. He carried her in his large arms to the carriage and made sure no one entered.
Naturally, whenever he touched her, her fear subsided rapidly. Thanks to this, few people noticed Ines’ seizures.
But that was all, he didn’t have a long conversation with her.
Soon, Ines was able to meet Carson with Noah.
“Come on.”
His desk was covered with piles of paperwork. Ines followed Noah’s lead and sat down on the sofa in the office. Soon, Carson came over to her with what appeared to be a letter.
“The Crown Prince has died.”
It was shocking news, but Ines wasn’t particularly flustered. It had already been three months since someone died of illness in Edmont.
The disease would spread to Romfield next year, but the plague would have already swept through the islands by now.
Carson thought her eyes briefly took on a strange light. Every time Ines looked at him like that, a chill ran down his spine. It wasn’t fear.
Carson looked at Ines’s face, which he hadn’t seen in a long time. It was when he thought that she had lost weight.
“What about the other Princes and Princesses?”
Carson suddenly came to his senses at the voice he heard.
“It seems that several Princes and Princesses have died. The exact number is three, but we don’t know more yet.”
Ines thought back to what happened in Romfield for a moment. To recall that memory, she had to recall Zemern, who had been terribly digging into her, but he could no longer leave a large afterimage on Ines.
“His Majesty has another son?”
“Yes.”
“He will be fine.”
Of course, the Empress had many sons. It would not have been right to say one, but there was only one other person who had come from that womb, other than the dead Crown Prince. It was quite rude for a maid to say this, but no one took issue with it.
“How old is he?”
It was too serious a conversation to discuss with a maid, but Noah naturally explained the situation to Ines. It was quite a strange sight, but they didn’t notice anything strange as they sat across from each other.
“He is four years younger than our lord.”
In that case, he was still nineteen, and in ten years, he would be twenty-nine, the right age to become Emperor.
“He will become Crown Prince prince again, but not right now.”
As Ines crouched on Zemern’s desk, the newspaper she held in her hand was filled with stories about a new Crown Prince. But that was definitely not this year.
The place where her fear had disappeared was filled with increasingly vivid memories. That was definitely next year, after the first death in Romfield.
“There’s another problem.”
“Puldufin, I guess.”
“That’s right. The Princess who was originally scheduled for a political marriage passed away this time. They said they would send another Princess, but they claim that they cannot accept the people of the Keynes Empire who are coming from a place where the plague is rampant.”
“Isn’t the dowry already taken?”
“Yes.”
In the end, the war broke out without any reason for coming to Monstera to prevent Louis’s political marriage. Ines closed her eyes for a moment.
The newspapers and magazines she read in Romfield rarely covered the affairs of this faraway place, Monstera. If she had known this would happen, wouldn’t she have come to Monstera?
“We have no choice but to fight.”
“Yes.”
“Was it a bad choice to come here?”
“No. The war was going to happen anyway. Of course, I, who had the most private soldiers, should have sent them. There’s no way the imperial family could afford to buy even one proper weapon.”
Ines let out a deep breath. That meant that they would soon be embroiled in war both internally and externally. And then there was the plague.
The world was on the brink of being turned upside down. If only she had known better. Then she could have done more for him.
“Even if we won the war, the spoils would have gone to Count Grandel.”
“That’s right. Besides, if we sent all the private soldiers away, Landhill wouldn’t have been safe either.”
Ines closed her eyes and immersed herself in thought, not even realizing that the two men were looking at her with interest.
She was so focused that she didn’t even realize that she was rapidly tapping the wooden part of the handle with her fingers. She must have made up her mind because she opened her eyes wide.
“Actually...”
Carson’s brow furrowed at the nuance of confession again.
“What kind of bomb are you going to throw?”
“My father visited when I was in Landhill.”
Carson knew this, of course. He probably had more contact with Viscount Swenden than she did.
“I asked him to do something for me.”
Ines had asked her father to do three things.
The first was to buy up all the specific types of guns circulating in the empire.
Of course, this wasn’t in preparation for a war in Monstera. It was intended to raise the price of weapons for the upcoming civil war.
But the situation was so urgent that the plan needed to change.
“I heard that the lord said that he would lend the gold in any way he could, as long as it didn’t go outside the territory.”
“Yes.”
“I asked my father to buy as many guns as he could within the empire.”
“Guns? Why?”
“As a kind of investment... as a concept.”
Carson had never heard of converting gold into guns as an investment, but he tried to smile and waited for her to say more.
“My father said that guns are mostly produced in the territory near the capital.”
This was also something Ines had found out and told her father, but there was no need to reveal that fact.
“So now all those guns are gathered near the capital.”
“But how could you buy guns without taking the gold out of the territory?”
Ines rolled her eyes. This was also something she had done without his permission.
“Actually...”
“Again?”
“I set up a bank in Landhill.”
The second thing Ines asked her father was to set up a private bank. Of course, it wasn’t done in the name of the Swenden family.
The name of the bank was Mondrae. It wasn’t that difficult to spend money to create Sir Mondrae, a ghost man with a name but no real existence.
“Did you issue bank notes?”
She nodded at Noah’s surprised question. Landhill was currently the largest trading center. It meant that you could buy anything you wanted. So even bank notes that were only valid in Landhill could serve as currency as long as you had enough funds.
It was illegal to create and use money other than the banknotes used in the empire, but banknotes were not.
If all the money for purchasing guns was issued in bank notes, and later the bank notes were exchanged for gold or paid in goods at a certain rate, there was no reason for a large amount of gold to immediately flow out of the territory.
“So you’re giving me the gun now?”
“Yes.”
“But Ines, I have plenty of guns.”
The most important thing for war was money. And Carson had more than enough money. However, Ines shook her head.
There had been no major war in Keynes for over 100 years. Across the sea, Yamanta was once a powerful nation, but due to its geographical location, it was frequently invaded by neighboring countries. The country that became a small nation because of this did not invade Keynes. Since Puldufin was a region surrounded by a huge desert, guns themselves were not very effective in open spaces. That meant that the gun Carson currently had would not play a big role in this war.
The guns currently used by the Keynes Empire required the shooter to carry gunpowder and bullets separately in his pocket. After firing a shot, the gunpowder had to be poured into the muzzle, the bullet had to be placed in it, and then the gun had to be lowered into the chamber with a stick.
In addition, the cumbersome process of separately pouring the ignition gunpowder into the gun port and firing it was necessary.
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