~~ Thank you so much for the coffees ~~
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━
As soon as I realized that the love potion didn’t work, I went in search of Linus. But the Falcon Mercenaries had already gone hunting.
With no way to call or text in this world, I have no choice but to wait for him to return. Suspicions began to creep in about Linus.
Maybe he’s a con artist. Stella, who is well aware of this situation, tilted her head and said.
“The Falcon Mercenaries are well known in their circles. It seems odd that their leader would do such a dirty deed.”
Stella wasn’t wrong, but I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of suspicion. If the love potion is indeed correct, could there be something wrong with my body?
If that were the case, then paying a whopping 20,000 knets for useless medicine was quite a waste.
“Perhaps something went wrong in the brewing of the love potion. You should ask the Falcon mercenaries about it when they get back. They’re the only ones who know about it.”
Stella then relayed the news from Brilland Farm. As expected, it didn’t take long to discover the whereabouts of the secret funds hidden by the previous caretakers.
With their leader, Eric Caibon, gone, and the Duke of Bledel out of the loop, it was likely he was trying to take advantage of the night to escape.
It was said that a huge amount of gold coins were buried near the contaminated land, far more than they expected.
The coins were accompanied by proof of their deeds and an authentic accounting book.
If it weren’t for the palace’s servants who were closely monitoring them, they would have destroyed these crucial pieces of evidence a long time ago.
As soon as the evidence came out, they were taken to prison for embezzlement.
Other than that, they will also pay for their sins for making innocent people suffer.
Taking advantage of my position as the empress, all the people at the security headquarters, who had already festered in dirty backdoor dealing had also been replaced. Thanks to the large number of professional personnel deployed, other urgent problems were handled without a hitch.
Now the place is open to running as I please without nuisance.
‘Even if you can’t change the world right away, there are many things you can do for a better future. Brilland Farm might be the start.’
When I think of the Spirit’s encouraging words, I feel like I can do anything.
Having someone who silently believes in me and encourages me makes me think a lot.
One day, I’ll be leaving Asha, but while I’m here, I might as well do something meaningful.
Wouldn’t there be results if I changed the small things one by one?
If the farm rolls stable and profits increase, people around you will gradually recognize it.
That my method is not wrong. I have made sure that all the money collected from the caretakers is spent on the operational funds of Brilland Farm. It’s kind of an investment to make more profit.
They had to rebuild buildings that were about to break and replace old farming tools. And I had to bring in more Xenosians who had been assigned to other farms.
My intention was not only to supplement the labor shortage but separately from that, I had another plan in mind.
I was still bothered by the reluctance of even the doctors to visit the Xenosians.
I thought it would be a good idea to turn Brilland Farm into a small village.
It would be difficult to build a self-sufficient village if the Xenosians were only used for menial labor. Just as doctors need to look after sick people, a teacher needs to teach children, and an accountant to look at books.
The plan is to research the status and occupation of enslaved people before they were enslaved so that they can be matched with the right job.
“I want to make a man named Jake Carter a manager.”
All the existing low-level managers were taken to security headquarters, so I had to pick a new person to replace them. Jake Carter, who is trusted and experienced by other Xenosians, would be the most appropriate.
Stella, who had been recording all my instructions, said in a soft tone.
“You have a lot of affection for the Brilland farm. Is it because of a kid named Noah?”
“No, it’s because I don’t see the need to torture the Xenosians.”
“If it goes as you plan, at least the Xenosians at Brilland Farm will have a somewhat better life.”
The Ashans’ hatred of Xenos was a collective brainwashing intended by the Duke. With Bledel gone and time having passed, negative perceptions of the Xenosians would likely improve to some extent.
As if they were aware of it, the Emperor’s faction was in a relatively moderate position against the Xenosians as opposed than the Duke’s.
I know what I’m about to do is somewhat unconventional, but if it increases yields and brings in a steady stream of tax revenue, Ian will be pleased.
Finally, I added important words to Stella.
“I need to find out where Noah’s parents are. If there are other children who have been separated from their families besides Noah, we should look for all of them.”
Noah’s words that his mother was sold elsewhere and not knowing the whereabouts of his father, had weighed on my mind throughout. I understood how painful it was for children to be separated from their families at such a young age.
I wanted to reunite the remaining children with their families. Stella nodded with a faint smile in response.
××××××××××××××××××××××
Meanwhile, Casey’s shoulder blades were rising more and more.
The bones won’t stop growing until they reach adulthood. I was worried that something really bad might happen.
Although people were sent to the Popus Peninsula, where the wolf tribe was located, we still had to wait a lot to hear any news.
Casey, unaware of my feelings, happily frolicked in the garden, wagging her tail.
Even though the bones were growing in such an abnormal shape, the little wolf was always energetic.
“The state marriage between Lord Claflin and the Princess of Delua. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Stella, who was beside me, raised her head and expressed her thoughts with a bewildered look.
Recently, she had become aware of the rumors that were circulating, and this was the first time Stella had doubts about the relationship between the two.
“It seems odd that Emperor Kundras would marry his precious daughter to a known bastard of dubious origins, and objectively speaking, Princess Erita’s status as a blood member of the House of Delua is far superior.”
As time passed, rumors spread that there were negotiations going on between Lord Claflin and Princess Delua.
The fact that Theo had hardly visited the Empress’s palace since her arrival also added weight to the opinion that Erita and Theo had a special relationship.
At one point, Theo even sent a message saying he would be too busy to visit the Empress’s palace for a while, as Erita, who summoned him every day, seemed to keep him occupied.
Therefore, Alexis’ words that Theo had nothing to do with Erita were merely meant to reassure me, his master. I felt bitter.
I desperately wanted to call Theo and ask him about his relationship with Erita. However, I refrained from doing so because I felt that openly revealing my concern about their relationship would burden him. I muttered to myself in a voice that lacked strength.
“Maybe they promised a future together.”
At that, Stella frowned, giving me a look as if she had heard something she shouldn’t have heard.
“Lord Claflin and the Princess of Delua?”
“Yes.”
“That really doesn’t make sense.”
“They look pretty close. For some reason, it seems like there’s a special story between the two…….”
Stella stared at me with a gloomy face staring into space. Then she burst out laughing and said in a cheerful voice.
“It can’t be. Because….”
“…….”
“Because Lord Claflin admires Her Majesty.”
I stared at Stella in surprise. Seeing my widened eyes, her laughter deepened.
“Is there anyone in this palace who doesn’t know that?”
I wonder if she thinks that simply because he is my paramour, he has special feelings for me.
I wonder if she thinks that simply because she is my mistress, her feelings for me must be special.
I said, shaking my head lightly.
“Externally, he may be my paramour, but his feelings aren’t special enough to use the word ‘admire’.”
Then the corners of Stella’s mouth went higher.
“Look closely at his eyes.”
“Eyes?”
“If you look closely into Lord Claflin’s eyes looking at Her Majesty, you will know that I am not wrong.”
In retrospect, Stella’s advice on matters of the opposite sex tended to be less than accurate, so I’m not sure I’d give her much credence this time around…….
However, even with such vain words, my heart was pounding for some reason.
××××××××××××××××××××××
Recently, something happened to shake the palace to its core. It was because Duke Bledel had appeared at the council meeting looking perfectly healthy.
He looks so healthy that it belittles the fact that his illness was life-threatening.
Suspicion was growing that Duke Bledel might have feigned illness on purpose to weed out the spies.
However, according to information I had received from Henry Child, it was true that the Duke had been seriously ill to the point of being on the brink of death. Perhaps he had been fortunate enough to obtain some sort of miraculous remedy.
Stella conveyed the news she had heard from Henry Child.
“Henry Child speculated that it might have something to do with dark magic.”
Asha was a country where magic was prohibited, and dark magic was a dangerous practice even among wizards.
I heard that if you want to use black magic to get something, you have to pay a huge price.….
Suddenly, I remembered the curse that had been placed on Duke Bledel, involving the sacrifice of a human offering, supposedly by the former Empress Lamelia.
Upon reflection, it remained puzzling why Duke Blaedel had suddenly fallen victim to an inexplicable illness.
If it was indeed because of Lamelia’s curse, could he have resorted to even more sinister dark magic to undo it? If so, what might he have sacrificed as part of that dark bargain?
These unsettling thoughts left my mind in turmoil.
