Chapter 14
The people selected to receive large bribes were carefully chosen.
Five maids including Marie, one stable hand, three knights including Sir Deus, three cooks including the head chef, and both the head butler and the deputy butler.
It was difficult to say that all of them had completely betrayed House Penten and joined my side, but their quality of life had undoubtedly improved compared to before.
Every meal came with excellent food and even cake, and the bedding and clothing had subtly been replaced with better ones.
The head butler and the deputy even brought me the desk I had requested, and starting next month, they said they would begin providing me with a small personal allowance. That was a major shift.
Aside from the bribes given to key figures, the remaining money was distributed to all the estate employees. Except for perhaps one person, no one rejected the money, and the way they looked at me grew noticeably warmer.
No one questioned the source of the money. When a rumor spread—originating from one of Dameira’s maids—that something was going on between the First Prince and me, everyone seemed to assume I had received a lavish gift from him.
“Did you bring all the maps of the Kahnab region?”
When I saw Marie placing several sheets of paper on the desk, I asked, and she nodded.
“I brought only the ones with the most detailed topography, just as you asked.”
“Hm.”
I stood in front of the desk and scanned the largest map.
The borders of the Tar Kingdom and the Kahnab territory were drawn with quite a bit of detail. As I had hoped, the terrain on the Tar side was also illustrated in considerable detail.
Tar was a kingdom that extended across the entire northern continent and even slightly into the northern edge of the western continent. Since there were no other countries on the northern continent, it seemed as vast as an empire, but in truth, only a small portion was habitable, so the capital was located near the empire.
The constant attempts to cross the boundary set a hundred years ago stemmed from the harsh northern environment, which was much more barren than that of the empire.
From the early days of his reign, the King of Tar had been inching across the Kahnab border, and recently, he launched a large-scale invasion.
‘How did that war unfold again?’
In my first life, the damage from the war was catastrophic. After Karsiel died, Tar devoured imperial territory at an incredible speed.
In my second life, the empire was victorious. Before a major battle, the Duke of Serbe’s family, which was expected to remain neutral, sent substantial reinforcements.
Because the Serbe Duke’s family had intervened, not even the Empress or the Marquis of Ludes could object. Later, the Serbe family received a huge sum in compensation from the imperial family, citing massive casualties.
In that second life, Grace had most likely been the one to lead everything behind the scenes.
‘If things go well, this war could end without needing reinforcements.’
In this life too, Grace might be able to send support through the Serbe Duchy, but I hoped that Karsiel would win using the information I provided.
I focused my eyes and examined the map again.
Where and how did Karsiel die in my first life? Since that defeat had been such major news, the final battle location and even the details had been widely known.
A massive Tar army had been lying in wait in the Sessec Gorge, and when the exhausted Karsiel stood at the front lines, the King of Tar himself emerged and dealt the final blow.
It was said that the morale of the Tar troops surged upon witnessing the death of Karsiel, the “Angel of Death”—a heartbreaking reason for the empire’s crushing defeat.
Thinking along those lines, I scrutinized every corner of the map.
If the King of Tar, who hadn’t left his castle since the war began, personally joined the battle, it meant he had moved from the capital to the Sessec Gorge just before the final confrontation.
Though spring had arrived in the imperial capital, Tar—where the climate and seasons were different—was still in the middle of winter. A war in the freezing cold, with no successor to the throne, and a conservative king willingly moving to the treacherous Sessec Gorge?
If he did move, it must have been just a few days before the battle began.
If I could figure out his travel route, he could be captured before the battle even started.
‘The battle zone, Sessec Gorge… is here. The capital of Tar is northeast of it.’
My eyes moved quickly between the two locations.
‘…Something’s off.’
Treacherous mountain roads, long detours, and routes crossing the sea.
None of those seemed like paths the King of Tar would take. The detour would take too long, the mountain roads wouldn’t allow enough escorts, and traveling by sea would require preparation and attract attention.
For a moment, I considered whether he had used magic, as the imperial army did for troop deployments. But it was impossible. Magical movement on such a large scale would create atmospheric currents that couldn’t be hidden.
“Maybe it’s best to just tell them the time and place of the battle…”
Muttering softly enough that Marie couldn’t hear, I unfolded another map.
As my eyes searched for the same locations, something caught my attention.
“Marie, what’s this map? The sea between Tar’s capital and the Sessec Gorge is colored differently.”
“Oh, that one? The mapmaker said it represents seasonal differences. I thought it was odd, but since you asked me to bring everything, I got that one too.”
“Seasonal?”
“Yes, apparently it was drawn based on the terrain during the peak of winter in the Tar and Kahnab regions. It wasn’t water back then.”
“What do you mean?”
“They said it was ice.”
I stopped my hand tracing the map. In that moment, it felt as if every cell in my body focused on what she had just said.
“Ice? Be specific.”
“Exactly that,” Marie said with a shrug.
“It’s a phenomenon that occurs for just three days during the coldest part of the year.”
“…Three days.”
“They say the bay between Tar’s capital and Sessec Gorge freezes completely during that time.”
This is it. I clenched my hands tightly.
A frozen sea.
That was the answer.
Crash—
The vase Julius threw shattered against the wall.
“What the hell happened?!”
As he roared, both Bartol and Dameira flinched.
“Is it true that His Highness Prince Balthazar won’t see you, Bartol?!”
“Father…”
“Do you know how much money I spent to get you close to him?! Do you have any idea how much I spent just on gifts to the Empress?!”
“Father, please calm down…”
“I heard everything on the way here!”
Julius’s wife, Lucilla, jumped in with a sharp glare.
“Her Majesty the Empress ordered that Countess Gideon and I be excluded from next month’s tea party guest list. Bartol, what in the world did you do?!”
“I-It wasn’t my fault!”
Bartol shouted, clearly frustrated.
“That Iris girl—”
“That’s another problem!”
Julius stomped his foot.
“Why did Iris even go to that banquet? What’s this I hear about her confessing to the First Prince?!”
“That wench blackma—”
Bartol shut his mouth before finishing. If he said she blackmailed him, he’d also have to admit to his gambling debts.
“F-Father told me to be kind to her, so I brought her along. But when she saw the First Prince, she went crazy. That’s all there is to it.”
“You fool! Why would you show her someone more handsome than you?!”
Lucilla clutched her chest in exasperation.
“The First Prince would never be interested in that orphan girl, but what about your and our family’s reputation?!”
“……”
Bartol hung his head in shame. Fury bubbled up inside him. When he took Iris to the banquet, he’d thought of it as a date.
If she hadn’t arrogantly introduced herself through a servant, everything would have been fine.
Later, Balthazar, Damon, and the others had bullied Iris a bit, but that was only to teach her a lesson for acting so defiantly. If she had stayed quiet, Bartol could have smoothed things over.
But instead, the day ended with a scandal involving Iris and the First Prince—and Bartol falling out of favor with Balthazar. Even Damon blamed him, saying he was now being treated like an outcast because of Bartol.
Bartol took a deep breath and tried to suppress his anger. Punishing Iris would have to wait. Right now, he needed to figure out how to recover from this crisis.
“And you, Dameira!”
Lucilla turned to her daughter.
“W-What did I do?!”
“You’re his sister! Why didn’t you help your brother?!”
“I-I was busy talking with Anthony…”
Just like Bartol, Dameira began trembling in fear.
At the mention of Anthony’s name, Lucilla’s expression twisted further.
“Oh, great.”
She sneered.
“You got rejected by Viscount Morin again, didn’t you?”
