The carriage was comfortable enough to be called a room. It was to the point where she thought she could really live there if only there was a bathroom.
“Mom, look at this. There are so many different types of juice. There are also cookies.”
“This is amazing…”
“Bonnie. You can eat this.”
“Can I really eat it?”
Unlike Reina, who was generally upset, the children looked around the carriage and shared snacks. Except for Estelle occasionally putting cookies in Reina’s mouth, Reina didn’t put anything in her mouth.
‘But it’s not the main mansion of the count’s family, so it won’t be that fancy or big.’
Reina crunched the almond cookie still in her mouth. At that moment, Damian knocked on the carriage window from outside. Reina opened the window right away.
“We’re almost there, so get ready.”
Damian said and peeked inside the carriage.
He was checking to see if the children were okay and if they were getting motion sickness.
Reina moved her body so that the children could be in his line of sight.
“It’s not as far as I thought.”
“It’s good to have a place you can go without me. If it’s this far, the excuse that you got confused and took a different route won’t work.”
“Ah…”
“…I’m adding this in case you misunderstand, but I’m not saying that you will make such an excuse, I’m just talking about the possibility of a spy.”
“I see.”
“I never suspected you were a spy.”
“Yes.”
Damian coughed a few times in embarrassment and closed the carriage window.
As he said, the carriage stopped soon and the door opened.
“I’ll get off first and then I’ll let you off.”
“Yeah.”
Reina opened the door wide.
“…That was close.”
Damian, who had a rare look of bewilderment, stood right in front of the door. His one hand was stretched out in front, as if he was trying to open the carriage door.
“Why are you trying to open the door, Master?”
“Who was the one who opened the door when you guys got on earlier?”
“It was Master, but that is originally the job of a servant like me.”
“It is for those who have the opportunity.”
Damian naturally grabbed Reina’s hand and pulled it so that it was not painful.
Reina got out of the carriage as she was led.
The coachman could be seen struggling behind her. Damian’s behavior right now was definitely different.
“Is it because of the young lady?”
Was he doing this because he wanted to escort Estelle himself? Reina decided that there was no other reason. Damian let Estelle and Bonita out as well, leaving Reina behind, who was thinking about this and that.
“Then let’s go.”
“…”
“Reina Borton.”
Reina was lost in her own world again and couldn’t hear his voice. Damian came close to her and snapped his fingers.
“Reina Borton.”
“Ah, ah! I apologize, I apologize. What were you saying?”
“There’s nothing to say. Peter is waiting inside.”
Reina finally squinted her eyes slightly as she rubbed the back of her neck.
‘I’ve been having too many thoughts lately.’
Now she was already like this, so she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to endure it later when she went up to the capital.
‘Let’s just be faithful to the work given to me.’
Reina took a deep breath and turned her head toward the mansion. Fortunately, as expected, the mansion wasn’t that big.
“Is this the mansion?”
“Hmm.”
Damian stood next to Reina and pointed with his finger from the building on the far left to the right. Damian pointed to a total of five buildings and said.
“Five like this.”
“…There were that many mansions?”
“No, originally the second from the left was Count Embron’s private mansion. He’s not the count anymore.”
“Then the remaining four…?”
“I bought them.”
Damian answered nonchalantly and stepped forward. Reina stood tall and looked at the back of Damian’s head, unable to follow. He, who had been leading the way, realized that Reina wasn’t following him and turned around.
“What are you doing instead of following me?”
Reina wondered.
The count’s residence wasn’t as big as the duke’s castle, but that was to be expected.
‘And it’s ‘compared’ to the duke’s castle. It never meant it was small.’
Reina rolled her eyes and looked at the roof of the mansion. It looked at least three stories high.
“Are you worried because it seems too small?”
“Ah, no…”
“To put it simply, I bought all the mansions in this area.”
“Why?”
“What?”
The question came out of Reina’s mouth reflexively. She was also flustered and covered her mouth with both hands. But Damian didn’t seem to care at all.
She slowly lowered her hand and asked with courage.
“That, so…“
After trailing off her words like that, she continued, “Does it really need to be this big?”
“Since Winternight acting as the investor, it can’t be half-assed.”
Is that why he was supporting something that might fail and has no guarantees? The question she wanted to ask filled her throat.
“I’m half-joking.”
“Then?”
“If you do an experiment, there’ll be an explosion, noise, and damage. Since there won’t be a magician all the time, you won’t be able to handle it right away. So it’s better to just make it an empty space.”
“Ah, then what about the original residents?”
“They all were offered a fair amount and even provided temporary housing.”
“I see…”
Reina finally understood and nodded. It wasn’t all for the purpose of using them as experimental sites. Reina, who was convinced after realizing why Damian had purchased all the mansions on the site, suddenly had another question.
“…Did it take just half a day to convince all the residents and move them here?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Reina was astonished.
“Is that possible?”
Damian looked at Reina with an expression that said he didn’t understand.
“Is there a reason why that wouldn’t be possible?”
“…”
Reina stood frozen.
Damian added, “Oops.”
“…It means that even this much can be done with the name Winternight. I didn’t mean to tell you to do this much.”
“…”
“So, I don’t expect this much from others, so don’t feel burdened…”
Damian continued to add something, then shut his mouth tightly.
There was a subtle silence for a moment.
“…Does everything I said sound strange?”
“Oh, no. I understand what you mean, Master.”
“…”
Another awkward atmosphere flowed. Damian asked again.
“I won’t hold you accountable, so, really?”
Reina rolled her eyes and looked down.
“…Actually a little, yes.”
Damian was not good at speaking. To explain in more detail, he lost his parents at a young age and had to inherit the dukedom, so he had to be more overwhelming than anyone else. Because of that, he became very different from other people.
Damian turned around and stood next to Reina.
“It’s hard.”
Reina blinked her eyes several times.
“Are you concerned about the way you speak…”
Damian couldn’t answer, perhaps because he was hit hard.
‘You’re concerned.’
She thought he didn’t care about anyone other than Estelle. Reina tilted her head for a moment and held Bonita’s hand, still laughing.
“Are you concerned about the young lady?”
Well, it wasn’t a friendly tone for a child. Reina decided that there was no other reason. Damian glanced at Reina and Bonita, and he also grabbed Estelle’s hand.
“Let’s really go in now. I’ll show you around.”
“In person?”
“You don’t want to?”
“Oh, no. I’m so…”
Reina, who almost apologized out of habit this time, quickly closed her mouth. Damian took the lead and said.
“This is a situation where you don’t need to say sorry.”
“…I don’t know what to say.”
“Isn’t there a better way to say it?”
Reina looked at Damian with a completely clueless look. He understood her intention and said.
“Thank you.”
“Ah… thank you?”
“Yes.”
Damian’s steps somehow became slower than before. It was a speed that Reina could walk alongside him at.
* * *
The entire mansion had been cleaned and swept, as there wasn’t a speck of dust in the spacious interior. Furthermore, when she entered the front door, she could tell that there were no statues, flower pots, or famous paintings.
‘It’s clean.’
“Your Highness and Reina Borton. Are you here?”
Peter, who had been giving various instructions to people, noticed the two and approached them with a smile.
“Yes, are you ready?”
“Yes, I tore down all the walls on the first floor and made them into one. Three of the hired wizards have already arrived. A tenth of the magic stones I purchased have arrived and been sorted.”
“There are more than I thought.”
“Yes, when I told them about the business plan, the wizards were inspired and have already created several blueprints. Let’s go and look at it together, Reina Borton.”
“Do you think I can understand it if I look at it? I don’t even have magic.”
“Magic and understanding are different. Wasn’t Reina Borton the one who first proposed it? The only people qualified to make the final decision are Reina Borton and His Highness.”
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on September, 14.
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