"Anyway."
I cleared my throat.
“I have to admit what I have to admit. This time, I was very lacking. I should have thought harder, but I didn’t.”
Feeling inferior is something that weighs me down, but the moment I admit it, it becomes nothing. After I let it out, I felt relieved.
“I forgot that even if it looks good to me, the parties involved might not want it.”
There was a faint hint of praise in Cesare's eyes. I shrugged and continued.
“So, I’m going to scrap all of my previous plans and start over again. This time, I’m going to figure out exactly what the people of the territory want.”
Cesare leaned back in his chair, smiling as if he found it peculiar.
“You even thought about that. You’ve really grown up.”
“...That statement is a bit disgusting. It’s as if Cesare had raised me.”
“To be honest, it was mostly thanks to me.”
“Do you think Isabella thinks so too?”
Even though it was a pointless joke, we laughed out loud.
It was only twenty days away. Although they had ambitiously said they would start from scratch, it was ten days away. The odds were already tilted in Veronica's favor.
But... I had a feeling that, just like the Sapphire incident, we would be able to find a breakthrough this time, too.
“Anyway, I am glad that Your Highness has come to your senses on your own. In fact, I was wondering how I could persuade you to abandon your plan.”
“It’s good that I'm giving up on my plans, but I still don’t have a clue what the people of the territory want. When I tell the servants and maids to tell me whatever they want for the development of the territory, they just give me a hard time.”
I rested my chin on my hand and sat lost in thought.
“I feel like I’m missing something, but I don’t know what.”
“There is no answer to be found by thinking about it like this. You have to face it yourself.”
You want me to bump into you directly? I burst out laughing. Cesare's words sounded distant, like an old dream.
He left with only a mischievous smile, adding that I should think carefully about what this meant until tomorrow.
Thanks to that, I was able to feel like I was back in the old days when I was anxious about doing my homework.
“The bath water is ready.”
“Ah, already...”
“Please raise your arm for a moment.”
I naturally took off my dress with the maid's help and slid into the bathtub filled with flower petals.
Now I enjoy all of this naturally, but... In fact, there was probably no one who was more deeply immersed in the lives of common people than I was.
I recalled old memories as I splashed water with my fingers.
George. The name smelled like frozen mud. It was different from Vostok, which froze and thawed, and even sprouted new shoots, though it was bright yellow.
All of George's fertile lands were owned by the lord.
Even compared to other territories, it was so barren that a lot of money was paid every year to receive blessings from the priests.
All the well-off people in George were tenant farmers.
They paid annual taxes to the lord, and in return, they were allowed to farm the lord's land.
All the harvested crops belonged to the tenant farmers... but after paying taxes and a year’s rent, there wasn’t much left.
The poor who could not even afford that gathered in the back alleys.
Liquor, gambling, fraud, prostitution... all kinds of illegal activities prohibited by the empire were committed in broad daylight.
It is a shabby and terrible neighborhood with no place to hide, and the only thing the Lord's soldiers do is patrol twice a week.
If the Empire had not strictly prohibited free movement of residence by law, the people of George would have probably all moved to other fiefdoms long ago.
If I had been registered at birth, I wouldn't have dared to leave George.
If you don't pay the taxes that come flying into your home every month by the due date, you will end up as a fugitive with no protection in any territory.
“Is the water okay?”
The maid asked, gently rubbing my loosened shoulders. I answered, letting out a languid breath.
“It smells really good. My head feels clearer. What did you add to the water?”
“It’s mountain rosemary. It’s not really rosemary, but we call it that because it smells similar. If you dry it and put it in your bath, it makes your skin very soft.”
When I heard it, my skin really did seem to get smoother. I nodded, rubbing my arms.
“That’s true.”
“In addition to rosemary, I also boiled whitening herb, peony, and oatmeal flowers and mixed them into the bath water.”
“It never smelled this fragrant before.”
“Even good things can be harmful to your body if you use them too much from the beginning. You looked particularly tired today, so I brewed a strong drink for you.”
The maid answered without hesitation, as if she had been waiting for me to ask.
I curled my toes. The recent unfortunate events involving herbs came to mind... but everything presented to me after that had been thoroughly examined by the palace doctor.
There is no need to be afraid of good things from the beginning.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar question occurred to me.
“But how do you know that so well?”
“What are you talking about?”
The maid asked me again, adding a few more rose petals to the bath water. She seemed unaware of what she had done so exceptionally well.
I explained it a little more kindly.
“About herbs. Mixing things in bath water... things like that.”
“Oh, that’s because of my side job.”
"Side job?"
“During the winter, many ladies come here with their husbands. Every time they come, they buy whitening powder or moisturizer made from wild rosemary as souvenirs. Oh, and dried red chrysanthemum seeds too. They are excellent for gynecological diseases.”
She answered honestly, with a face that seemed to say she had no idea why I was asking such a basic question. Even her indifference felt like a sign of some genius.
I straightened up from where I was comfortably lying in the bathtub.
“Did you learn all this on your own?”
“Well, this is something that all the women of Vostok would know...”
The maid seemed to notice my expression and felt the need to explain in detail.
“You can freely enter the hunting grounds to gather herbs. Of course, you can’t go too deep because of the wolves. Anyway, it’s something that has been passed down step by step since my great-grandmother’s time.”
“Are there many medicinal herbs that have been passed down that way in hunting grounds?”
“There aren’t many. If you check them out properly, there are probably more effective herbs, but since they don’t make much money right now, I just do it as a side job or go there occasionally to dry them.”
“...”
Only then did I vaguely realize what I had been missing, something so basic that no one could tell me.
George and Vostok were different towns. Both were in the harsh north, and although they had similar cloudy skies and the smell of frozen air... the environments themselves were completely different.
It was my pride that I thought I knew the North so well that it held me back. For the people of George, it was a lifelong wish to secure their own land... and it was my mistake to hastily assume that it would be the same here. I did not understand that because they were more affluent, they were less desperate.
Maybe I already knew the solution to the problem. Hope began to rise again.
“I mean, those products you mentioned earlier. The ones you said you were selling to ladies.”
“Is it made from herbs?”
“Yeah. Could you introduce me to someone good at handling herbs?”
“Everyone does it as a side job, but people who do it professionally, ah...”
The maid trailed off as if she had just remembered something.
“There is one person who runs a pharmacy.”
“But there is?”
“Because she is an outsider, it is hard to trust her skills, and she has an eccentric personality, so she does not get along well with the residents of Vostok.”
She was talking in a mild tone, saying that the locals were united in rejecting her because she was a foreigner. I nodded, thinking that she should continue.
The maid's voice became a little lower.
“But last time, Mrs. Nielsen found some dried white vinegar in a hurry, so I secretly went and bought it. It was definitely of good quality back then. I don’t know if it was because she was really good at it, or if she was just lucky enough to find good white vinegar that day.”
I handed the maid a piece of paper and a pen.
“Could you give me the address? And I have a favor to ask of her...”
I can't remember how long it's been since I've walked down the street with my hood down.
Even with Enoch by my side, I couldn't stop thinking about the night I left Saxony.
Although my escorts followed us for a few blocks, we moved so stealthily that it felt like we were the only two people on the street.
I walked along the shabby alley as the maid had told me. Enoch, who was walking ahead of me, stopped every so often to hold me back from rolling in the mud.
“Do you really have to go there yourself? I’ll go by myself.”
The third time I almost fell, Enoch asked me worriedly.
“I told you, now is not the time to be picky about cold soup and hot soup.”
It would be more princess-like and elegant for me to call the pharmacist rather than going myself... but now was not the time to arrogantly tell someone to come.
I now had only about twenty days left. I had spent a lot of money on useless farmland and other things, and as a result, the money I had left was tight.
To make up for that loss, I needed a greater sense of urgency than anyone else. Cesare's homework had been to think more deeply about the differences, but my stubbornness to come up with a plausible answer by the next morning also played a part in my stubbornness.
Enoch didn't break my stubbornness this time either. He just guided me a little more carefully.
“This is it.”
Enoch, who had been leading the way with the address given by the maid, stopped in front of a two-story building that was almost completely dilapidated.
The maid had warned me, but... it looked so shabby that I wondered if it was really a business building. The only sign that people were staying there was the faint light coming from the floor.
Just as I was about to say that I would go alone, Enoch called me first.
"Your Highness."
Previous Next
I cleared my throat.
“I have to admit what I have to admit. This time, I was very lacking. I should have thought harder, but I didn’t.”
Feeling inferior is something that weighs me down, but the moment I admit it, it becomes nothing. After I let it out, I felt relieved.
“I forgot that even if it looks good to me, the parties involved might not want it.”
There was a faint hint of praise in Cesare's eyes. I shrugged and continued.
“So, I’m going to scrap all of my previous plans and start over again. This time, I’m going to figure out exactly what the people of the territory want.”
Cesare leaned back in his chair, smiling as if he found it peculiar.
“You even thought about that. You’ve really grown up.”
“...That statement is a bit disgusting. It’s as if Cesare had raised me.”
“To be honest, it was mostly thanks to me.”
“Do you think Isabella thinks so too?”
Even though it was a pointless joke, we laughed out loud.
It was only twenty days away. Although they had ambitiously said they would start from scratch, it was ten days away. The odds were already tilted in Veronica's favor.
But... I had a feeling that, just like the Sapphire incident, we would be able to find a breakthrough this time, too.
“Anyway, I am glad that Your Highness has come to your senses on your own. In fact, I was wondering how I could persuade you to abandon your plan.”
“It’s good that I'm giving up on my plans, but I still don’t have a clue what the people of the territory want. When I tell the servants and maids to tell me whatever they want for the development of the territory, they just give me a hard time.”
I rested my chin on my hand and sat lost in thought.
“I feel like I’m missing something, but I don’t know what.”
“There is no answer to be found by thinking about it like this. You have to face it yourself.”
You want me to bump into you directly? I burst out laughing. Cesare's words sounded distant, like an old dream.
He left with only a mischievous smile, adding that I should think carefully about what this meant until tomorrow.
Thanks to that, I was able to feel like I was back in the old days when I was anxious about doing my homework.
“The bath water is ready.”
“Ah, already...”
“Please raise your arm for a moment.”
I naturally took off my dress with the maid's help and slid into the bathtub filled with flower petals.
Now I enjoy all of this naturally, but... In fact, there was probably no one who was more deeply immersed in the lives of common people than I was.
I recalled old memories as I splashed water with my fingers.
George. The name smelled like frozen mud. It was different from Vostok, which froze and thawed, and even sprouted new shoots, though it was bright yellow.
All of George's fertile lands were owned by the lord.
Even compared to other territories, it was so barren that a lot of money was paid every year to receive blessings from the priests.
All the well-off people in George were tenant farmers.
They paid annual taxes to the lord, and in return, they were allowed to farm the lord's land.
All the harvested crops belonged to the tenant farmers... but after paying taxes and a year’s rent, there wasn’t much left.
The poor who could not even afford that gathered in the back alleys.
Liquor, gambling, fraud, prostitution... all kinds of illegal activities prohibited by the empire were committed in broad daylight.
It is a shabby and terrible neighborhood with no place to hide, and the only thing the Lord's soldiers do is patrol twice a week.
If the Empire had not strictly prohibited free movement of residence by law, the people of George would have probably all moved to other fiefdoms long ago.
If I had been registered at birth, I wouldn't have dared to leave George.
If you don't pay the taxes that come flying into your home every month by the due date, you will end up as a fugitive with no protection in any territory.
“Is the water okay?”
The maid asked, gently rubbing my loosened shoulders. I answered, letting out a languid breath.
“It smells really good. My head feels clearer. What did you add to the water?”
“It’s mountain rosemary. It’s not really rosemary, but we call it that because it smells similar. If you dry it and put it in your bath, it makes your skin very soft.”
When I heard it, my skin really did seem to get smoother. I nodded, rubbing my arms.
“That’s true.”
“In addition to rosemary, I also boiled whitening herb, peony, and oatmeal flowers and mixed them into the bath water.”
“It never smelled this fragrant before.”
“Even good things can be harmful to your body if you use them too much from the beginning. You looked particularly tired today, so I brewed a strong drink for you.”
The maid answered without hesitation, as if she had been waiting for me to ask.
I curled my toes. The recent unfortunate events involving herbs came to mind... but everything presented to me after that had been thoroughly examined by the palace doctor.
There is no need to be afraid of good things from the beginning.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar question occurred to me.
“But how do you know that so well?”
“What are you talking about?”
The maid asked me again, adding a few more rose petals to the bath water. She seemed unaware of what she had done so exceptionally well.
I explained it a little more kindly.
“About herbs. Mixing things in bath water... things like that.”
“Oh, that’s because of my side job.”
"Side job?"
“During the winter, many ladies come here with their husbands. Every time they come, they buy whitening powder or moisturizer made from wild rosemary as souvenirs. Oh, and dried red chrysanthemum seeds too. They are excellent for gynecological diseases.”
She answered honestly, with a face that seemed to say she had no idea why I was asking such a basic question. Even her indifference felt like a sign of some genius.
I straightened up from where I was comfortably lying in the bathtub.
“Did you learn all this on your own?”
“Well, this is something that all the women of Vostok would know...”
The maid seemed to notice my expression and felt the need to explain in detail.
“You can freely enter the hunting grounds to gather herbs. Of course, you can’t go too deep because of the wolves. Anyway, it’s something that has been passed down step by step since my great-grandmother’s time.”
“Are there many medicinal herbs that have been passed down that way in hunting grounds?”
“There aren’t many. If you check them out properly, there are probably more effective herbs, but since they don’t make much money right now, I just do it as a side job or go there occasionally to dry them.”
“...”
Only then did I vaguely realize what I had been missing, something so basic that no one could tell me.
George and Vostok were different towns. Both were in the harsh north, and although they had similar cloudy skies and the smell of frozen air... the environments themselves were completely different.
It was my pride that I thought I knew the North so well that it held me back. For the people of George, it was a lifelong wish to secure their own land... and it was my mistake to hastily assume that it would be the same here. I did not understand that because they were more affluent, they were less desperate.
Maybe I already knew the solution to the problem. Hope began to rise again.
“I mean, those products you mentioned earlier. The ones you said you were selling to ladies.”
“Is it made from herbs?”
“Yeah. Could you introduce me to someone good at handling herbs?”
“Everyone does it as a side job, but people who do it professionally, ah...”
The maid trailed off as if she had just remembered something.
“There is one person who runs a pharmacy.”
“But there is?”
“Because she is an outsider, it is hard to trust her skills, and she has an eccentric personality, so she does not get along well with the residents of Vostok.”
She was talking in a mild tone, saying that the locals were united in rejecting her because she was a foreigner. I nodded, thinking that she should continue.
The maid's voice became a little lower.
“But last time, Mrs. Nielsen found some dried white vinegar in a hurry, so I secretly went and bought it. It was definitely of good quality back then. I don’t know if it was because she was really good at it, or if she was just lucky enough to find good white vinegar that day.”
I handed the maid a piece of paper and a pen.
“Could you give me the address? And I have a favor to ask of her...”
***
I can't remember how long it's been since I've walked down the street with my hood down.
Even with Enoch by my side, I couldn't stop thinking about the night I left Saxony.
Although my escorts followed us for a few blocks, we moved so stealthily that it felt like we were the only two people on the street.
I walked along the shabby alley as the maid had told me. Enoch, who was walking ahead of me, stopped every so often to hold me back from rolling in the mud.
“Do you really have to go there yourself? I’ll go by myself.”
The third time I almost fell, Enoch asked me worriedly.
“I told you, now is not the time to be picky about cold soup and hot soup.”
It would be more princess-like and elegant for me to call the pharmacist rather than going myself... but now was not the time to arrogantly tell someone to come.
I now had only about twenty days left. I had spent a lot of money on useless farmland and other things, and as a result, the money I had left was tight.
To make up for that loss, I needed a greater sense of urgency than anyone else. Cesare's homework had been to think more deeply about the differences, but my stubbornness to come up with a plausible answer by the next morning also played a part in my stubbornness.
Enoch didn't break my stubbornness this time either. He just guided me a little more carefully.
“This is it.”
Enoch, who had been leading the way with the address given by the maid, stopped in front of a two-story building that was almost completely dilapidated.
The maid had warned me, but... it looked so shabby that I wondered if it was really a business building. The only sign that people were staying there was the faint light coming from the floor.
Just as I was about to say that I would go alone, Enoch called me first.
"Your Highness."
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