The Northern Mad Dog Is Wagging Its Tail

   “Sis, why are you supporting brother?”

  

  Leon, who had received a series of kisses, spoke in a tired voice. He was certain that this harsh punishment was harder than running around the Valendug meadow for ten laps.

  

  “Doing a little kiss on a cute youngest is too much, you know.”

  

  Curious about what was too much, Britia hesitantly sought approval from Crave.

  

  “I think it’s because our love is lacking. Should we do it one more time?”

  

  Crave gave Britia a meaningful look. Then Leon, who was lying on the sofa, sat up and warned both of them.

  

  “Why does brother keep doing this to me when his wife is right next to him? And even sis kissed that crazy dog…”

  

  Leon stopped speaking with a start. How could Britia kiss Sig? He’s far away in the northern region.

  

  “So, what are our plans for the future?”

  

  Leon hurriedly changed the topic, sensing Britia’s slightly darkened expression.

  

  “Do you have any immediate expenses? If you need it right away, I don’t have a lot, but I have some savings.”

  

  “You used up all your savings? When did you become so brave?”

  

  Crave tried to pat Leon’s head, saying it’s admirable. But then Leon angrily swatted his hand away.

  

  “I haven’t even given the servants their monthly wages, so that should be fine. Other than that, there were transportation fees and tolls for the harvested grains…”

  

  Hailey trailed off. Fortunately, with the misfortune of losing land, that part naturally disappeared as well.

  

  “Well, at least it’s a relief that there aren’t any major expenses for now. Are there any places where money will come in soon, even if it’s just a small amount?”

  

  “I should look for a job, just in case.”

  

  “What kind of job can my brother do?”

  

  Crave crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and pondered.

  

  “Maybe I could become a knight.”

  

  “That’s impossible.”

  

  Leon firmly shook his head.

  

  “You never know. Maybe if I ask Sig, he can make it happen.”

  

  When Sig’s name was mentioned, Leon glanced at Britia. Britia seemed lost in thought and didn’t show much of a reaction. Feeling relieved, Leon chuckled and teased Crave.

  

  “You know why the knights in the north are strong, big brother? It’s because only strong guys can become knights. Wimps can’t even dream of it.”

  

  Leon raised both hands and shrugged his shoulders to emphasize his point.

  

  “It seems like the commanders there are strict even when they seem sloppy. They’re unexpectedly picky.”

  

  “Really? Have you met them before?”

  

  “Usually, if you complete your training as a squire, you can become a full-fledged knight without any problems. It’s the same in Valendug. But they say you can’t become a full-fledged knight there unless the commander gives permission.”

  

  Can’t I use the fact that I’m friends with Sig as leverage?

  

  Crave quickly abandoned his dream of becoming a knight, which he had only briefly considered.

  

  “It’s exhausting to think about what I can do.”

  

  Up until now, the only thing he had done was increase the harvest on their land. He had debts, but he also had the capital to repay them. However, now he had no debts, but he had no capital either.

  

  “Let’s buy some land.”

  

  Britia, who had been lost in thought, spoke quietly.

  

  “Even a small and empty place would be fine.”

  

  “Buying land is a good idea, but with what money? If you’re expecting me to rely on my savings, I’ll be honest. I have about 200 gold.”

  

  “What? 200 gold? And you call that savings?”

  

  Crave looked at Leon with a bewildered expression.

  

  “If you managed to save up that much with your measly salary, you did well.”

  

  Seeing Leon feeling unjust, Crave shook his head in sympathy.

  

  “Well, we’ll have to sell whatever we have first and turn it into cash.”

  

  “But we don’t have much left to convert into cash since we lost everything we had in the castle.”

  

  Hailey murmured bitterly. Apart from that, they only had an emergency fund of about 120,000 gold that Hailey and Crave had saved bit by bit whenever they had some spare money.

  

  The Lockhart family fell into silence as they pondered if there were any other sources of income.

  

  “I have 250,000 gold.”

  

  Britia spoke up, and everyone’s eyes turned to her at once.

  

  “250,000 gold? Even if you received 50,000 gold from the Emperor recently, where did you get the other 200,000 gold? What did you do…?”

  

  Crave suddenly became worried, wondering if something dangerous had happened.

  

  “It’s all money I received from His Majesty. After the hunting competition, I received an additional 200,000 gold.”

  

    Britia said, trying to reassure Crave as he grew more serious. She had managed to earn that money by handling the Emperor’s words and making excuses in a tough atmosphere.

  

  “Even if it’s not a lot, we can use that money to buy some land. It might be tough working on the fields and waiting for the crops to grow, but it’s a possibility.”

  

  At least they had the opportunity to buy land.

  

  Although she had been intimidated by the Emperor’s gaze on that day, Britia wished he had given her more tasks to do since things had turned out this way.

  

  “Are we going back to hungry times?”

  

  Crave sighed and held his wife’s hand.

  

  “But I won’t let my wife go hungry. I won’t even take away Leon’s meals.”

  

  “Why would you take away my food?”

  

  Leon, who had been quietly sitting there, became upset.

  

  “We’ll start by cutting down on what we can without starving.”

  

  Britia tried to calm Leon down with her words.

  

  —

  

  Harty’s head was pounding with what she considered the biggest mistake of his life.

  

  He believed that Sig Turas was a perfect man and couldn’t imagine him making a wrong choice. So he tearfully accepted Sig’s choice of Britia.

  

  And thus, he wholeheartedly helped the Lockhart family.

  

  Since his only connections were the contacts he had made in the southern region through his persuasive skills, he introduced people and even found new routes to transport the harvested crops to the central region.

  

  He had gone through the trouble of finding a path that had been taken away by Robley, who had seized all the land. He even borrowed a magician.

  

  “Make sure to check if the contract is forged!”

  

  All of that was not for Britia’s sake, but for his own hero, Sig.

  

  Because he had thought he would welcome Britia as his wife!

  

  But then, at the previous party, Sig revealed that he had no intention of marrying Britia.

  

  Oh my, after going through all that trouble, it turns out that he had misunderstood Sig’s intentions from the beginning.

  

  “I made such a mistake…”

  

  Even if ordinary people misunderstood their relationship, he should have been the one to understand Sig’s intentions correctly.

  

  Even though angels occasionally make mistakes, this was such a big mistake. It would be embarrassing to pray before the statues of the goddess and the four saints, claiming he was fulfilling his mission.

  

  “…But at least Duke-nim doesn’t know that I misunderstood, so it should be fine, right?”

  

  Harty blurted out, rubbing his temple as he had been doing for a while. If he were a god, he would forgive a small mistake like this. As long as it didn’t come to light for Sig.

  

  “Oh, but that rock really seemed to like Duke-nim…”

  

  At that time, Britia pretended to brush it off as a hasty conversation when others urged her. But Harty had noticed that she secretly hoped for a quick proposal from Sig.

    

  “So, I should have known better.”

  

  Harty chuckled, but soon the image of Britia’s disappointed face from that night flashed in his mind. It made him feel uncomfortable to mock her and find it amusing.

  

  “Yeah, it’s really unfortunate.”

  

  He lost her land and her love, and all she had left was a mere 50,000 gold pieces. It wasn’t much in terms of wealth.

  

  “Truly pitiful…”

  

  With barely that money, she plans to buy land and rebuild her family. The thought deeply pained Harty when he realized how much Britia’s heart was set on that idea.

  

  Harty thought to himself that Britia wasn’t such a bad woman when it came to excluding Sig’s matters. She seemed to understand Sig Turas’ worth almost as well as himself.

  

  That’s why they had a better understanding and could communicate effectively. Harty could empathize with her too.

  

  But sometimes, he couldn’t help but feel like he was observing something strange about herself. She had made rude and infuriating remarks on multiple occasions.

  

  But even with all that, she always appeared much more humble compared to Kyra, who constantly looked down on him.

  

  “Wouldn’t anyone be more humble than Kyra?”

  

  Oh well, maybe that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s a good person.

  

  Harty hummed in thought, lost in his own contemplation.

  

  “Anyway, what matters is not how important Britia Lockhart is. What’s important is that she’s not a significant figure to Duke Turas.”

  

  Lowering his hand from his temple, Harty came to a conclusion.

  

  He couldn’t deny that Sig clearly stated he wanted to be Britia’s dog. Harty was shocked when he heard those words at the time.

  

  But he didn’t want to accept the fact that his idol, Sig Turas, would merely want to be Britia’s pet. So he dismissed it as a flexible and selfish attitude and buried it in the depths of his memory.

  

  “To Duke Turas, Britia is just Britia Lockhart.”

  

  As Harty finally reached a conclusion, he felt relieved. Britia’s disappointment didn’t change his world in any way.

  

  “The weather that was so sunny seemed to be clouded all along.”

  

  Seeing the world still as beautiful as ever, Harty felt satisfied. He took a deep breath, expanding his chest. The refreshing air of the forest filled his lungs through the window.

  

  His head was throbbing, so coming out of the house and going to the cottage in the suburbs was an excellent choice.

    

  The house was filled with beautiful and splendid things, so he had decorated my mansion in a similar way. However, sometimes when he wasn’t feeling well, it felt suffocating being there.

  

  Moreover, there seemed to be quite a few visitors. Even though he liked being loved, there was a limit to how much he could handle.

  

  “I should take a break and catch my breath even in this simple and ordinary place. I can feel the nature.”

  

  Harty took a deep breath again. Suddenly, he thought that this place wasn’t too far from the Lockhart mansion.

  

  “When I get bored, maybe I’ll go and see what kind of fuss they’re making.”

  

  It wasn’t her intention to go there and ask for help. What if she got caught and they asked her for help?

  

  He was worried for no reason.

  

  “Well then, whatever. I can’t help it. The angel needs to lend a helping hand again.”

    

  I think I shall visit her now.

  

  Harty slowly got up from the sofa and headed to the cottage with a lighter heart. He got on the carriage and told them to go to the Lockhart mansion, then waited.

  

  But no matter how long he waited, the carriage didn’t move.

  

  “What’s going on?”

  

  Is the coachman sick? He was puzzled, but then the carriage door creaked open.

  

  “Lord Slanford.”

  

  Instead of the middle-aged man who was the coachman, Harty heard a young woman’s voice. He thought he misheard, but a young woman actually held the carriage door and revealed her face.

  

  Harty felt strangely familiar with her face, but couldn’t remember her name. He had seen her somewhere before. He pondered, but it didn’t come to her.

  

  One thing was certain, she wasn’t one of his maids. He remembered all the people working in his mansion, and right now, the coachman had come to the cottage to rest in complete tranquility.

  

  Then who is this woman who suddenly appeared?

  

  “That man was right. He said if I came here, I could be alone with the Count.”

  

  Thinking of questioning who that woman was, Harty swallowed his words. As the woman holding the carriage door moved her hand forward, Harty noticed that she was holding a knife.