Luna blinked her reddened eyes and shouted.
“I’ve been following Sir Zoltan’s back for a few weeks, oops. No. I mean I’ve been watching you, but you weren’t seeing anyone.”
“Do I have to meet her? She’s just someone I have in my heart.”
“Who is that?”
“I don’t think I have an obligation to tell Miss Luna about that.”
A cold wind blew across Zoltan’s face. Luna’s lips trembled and finally burst into tears.
“Sigh.”
Agnes secretly let out a long sigh.
She began to strongly feel that she had unnecessarily intervened between the two.
Luna couldn’t easily stop crying, her shoulders trembling.
Agnes handed her a dry handkerchief.
‘Should I postpone using cloud seeds?’
“Can I leave now?”
Zoltan asked. Agnes hesitated to answer as she touched her throat.
“Don’t go.”
At that moment, someone unexpected appeared.
“Huh?”
Agnes turned around in surprise.
“Ney?”
“I’ll tell you again here.”
Zoltan jumped up from his seat. Ney took a step forward.
Still not grasping the situation, Luna looked back and forth between them.
“I have no intention of going further with the Lord.”
“Who said so?”
“I told you. I have no intention of getting married.”
Ney said it coldly and straightforwardly. The corner of Zoltan’s mouth went up on only one side.
Agnes couldn’t keep her mouth shut in surprise.
“What, you two? Since when?”
“It’s been a while.”
Ney replied calmly.
It was just a short while ago that they would growl whenever they met, so when did they come to an understanding like this?
“Then, the person you said you like……..”
Luna stood up and looked at Ney.
“Why do you keep saying you don’t want to get married? I said I’d take responsibility.”
Zoltan said, running his hand through his hair.
“My dream is to live and die as the Madam’s maid.”
“No, you don’t have to do that.”
Agnes interjected, raising her hand in confusion.
It was rather rare for those who once became a princess’s maid to live as a maid until the day they die. On the contrary, there were many cases where people became maids to secure a good marriage
“Well, it’s fine. I don’t want to get married unless it’s you. Just live with me until we die in this castle.”
“Milord, don’t be clingy just because we’ve spent so many nights.”
“Gasp.”
Luna, who had been listening to the conversation beside them, opened her mouth wide and looked at Ney.
Agnes sincerely admired Ney.
She knew that Ney had enjoyed free love while in the palace, but she never imagined it would be this intense.
“What? Clingy? Do you want to see what really clingy is?”
Zoltan, squinting his eyes, took a step closer to Ney.
“I’ve been holding back the urge to gouge out the eyeballs of those who dare to meet eyes with you. Clingy? Oh, okay. I should take this opportunity to be clingy.”
“I don’t care whether you do it or not.”
Ney remained unfazed. Instead of saying anything more, she turned and walked back towards Agnes.
Zoltan glared at Ney with determination and then said,
“I’ll take my leave now.”
And then he left his seat.
“Um…”
Luna hesitated and opened her mouth.
Agnes simply nodded without saying a word. Luna hurriedly bowed and left the room.
Only two of them were left in the room.
“…Ney.”
“Yes, madam.”
Her voice sounded no different from usual, as if nothing had happened.
“Are you really going to be my maid until you die?”
“No.”
The response came immediately.
“It’s just an excuse to reject that clingy man.”
She said calmly without changing her expression.
“…I see.”
Agnes somehow felt afraid to ask further and remained silent.
“I will talk to Miss Luna about this.”
“Hmm?”
“Is it something only Miss Luna can do, that climate magic?”
“Well, yes.”
Agnes looked at Ney with a subtle expression. It was a look filled with many implications.
“Don’t worry.”
Ney grinned.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Agnes didn’t expect much, but like a lie, Luna came to her a few days later.
“I apologize for my rudeness the other day, Duchess.”
Unlike before, Luna first greeted politely.
“How have you been?”
“I’ve been much better.”
She didn’t know what Ney told her, but her face brightened up a lot.
“I’m going to be different!”
Luna clenched her fists tightly and shouted.
“Ms. Ney taught me how to live.”
“How to live?”
“Yes. She told me what’s important in life.”
Agnes’ expression was difficult to describe in words.
She debated whether to praise her for the improvement or ask what exactly had happened.
“Men are supposed to pass by like the wind in our lives.”
“Well, yes, that’s true.”
Agnes agreed.
“Did you call me because of the Cloud Seed magic? What should I do?”
Luna asked with enthusiasm in her eyes.
“Well, it’s been quite a while since it rained on the land. I heard that you can create Cloud Seed to make it rain.”
“Yes, that’s right. How about the duration and range?”
“How far can you go?”
Then Luna smiled confidently and said.
“I’ve been studying climate magic for over a decade. With enough magic stones, I can even create a flood.”
“Oh.”
Her eyes widened. Agnes brought a map and marked the areas with farmland.
“Here, here, and all the way south. Can you do it?”
Sutmar has the largest territory in the west.
Normally, a lot of farmlands are empty because the residents kept running away and the beasts invaded, but this year almost all of the land was full.
“Of course.”
Luna took the map.
“It will start raining tomorrow morning.”
She firmly prophesied while looking at the scorching sun beyond the window.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
“Indeed.”
The next day, Laslo stood by the window with Agnes, watching the pouring rain.
“I was about to buy food in advance in case of a bad harvest, but this saved me from the burden. Well done, Princess.”
“It wasn’t me, it was Ney who worked hard. Because she persuaded Luna.”
“Oh, Nay. The princess’ maid.”
“Did you hear about it Duke?”
“Hmm.”
He rubbed his chin with an awkward face.
“I heard that Zoltan was rude to her. I should give him a stern talking-to.”
“Oh, what. Hmm.”
Seeing Zoltan walking around with a dark expression for the past few days, she felt that he should comfort him instead.
Compared to Zoltan, Ney’s face was glowing.
“How is Sir Zoltan doing?”
“These days, he’s practically living on the defense line.”
When she had asked Ney about him a while ago, she received a neat and composed response, “It’s all sorted out.”
Although she didn’t know the exact situation, it seemed like Zoltan was probably dumped harshly.
“Is that so?”
“When he sorts himself out, he’ll come back on his own.”
Laslo muttered while looking out at the rain-soaked window.
In reality, apart from his fiery temper, Zoltan was a good match for Ney, and she secretly hoped things would work out between them.
So when she asked her to reconsider,
– I can never marry a man who drinks alcohol all the time.
Ney said with a cold expression. She was so firm that there was no room for a second question.
“I’ll just let them on their own.”
She understood clearly this time.
It’s often better to leave matters between men and women alone rather than meddling unnecessarily.
“Duke.”
“Huh?”
Agnes nestled against his side. Laslo naturally wrapped his arms around Agnes’s back.
“I hope this year will be a bountiful one.”
“Yeah”
The couple stood there for a while, listening to the sound of the rain.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
With a downpour of rain, the crops received vitality and grew vigorously.
Moreover, thanks to Adrien’s fever medicine, the intermittent weeding of the crops resulted in exceptionally large sizes.
“Is this really a potato?”
“Well, um. Yes, it is.”
The residents were puzzled at the potatoes the size of an adult fist.
Even though the autumn harvest has not come yet, Niall asked if he should build more food warehouses as soon as possible after guessing how much wheat they could harvest.
Agnes smiled and gladly instructed to expand the warehouse.
It was a day when the sun set amidst the lush greenery as usual.
Just as they were dealing with the heat and daily struggles, a sudden vibrating sound echoed through the air.
Bang!
With a tremendous roar, the castle shook. Items on the shelves fell down.
“Ah!”
Ney screamed in surprise. Agnes, who was sitting in the sofa, jumped up from her seat.
“What the heck is that?”
Worried that it might be an attack by demonic beasts, she hurried to the window.
Fortunately, there were no monsters in sight beyond the window. Even after waiting, there was no alarm bell ringing.
As she stood by the window pondering, Laslo urgently opened and entered through the door.
