Chapter 22: The Sword and The Dress Part 2
Despite Matsy’s dissuasion, Lucifella went back with a cheeky remark at Gwain.
Gwain and the knights looked at each other with dismayed expressions. It was as if a storm had passed.
As Lucifella returned to the castle, Royza and Matsy followed immediately. Royza asked anxiously, putting her hands together.
“Why did you do that, the knight must be very angry.”
“Of course, I did it to make him angry.”
“Why did you make me angry?”
“I guess I comforted them over there. The proud knights said, ‘Thank you for your point of view. You made such a great point, so I will have to train hard in the future.’ but he snorted and ignored it saying ‘What does a lady who doesn’t know anything say, it’s not funny’.”
Royza heard it and said with a frown.
“The lady pointed it out, of course the knights should listen!”
Lucifella burst out laughing at the naive words.
“There is no way that knights will listen to a lady who doesn’t even know what a sword is.”
Royza looked unhappy. The expression seemed to say, ‘You still have to listen to what the young lady said so.’
Seeing that expression, Lucifella laughed again. Roysa’s blind attitude sometimes warmed Lucifella’s heart.
“The head of people who use swords is simple, so it is most effective to touch their pride like that. You’ll grit your teeth and try hard to show me. It’s a simple way to deal with them.”
“……”
Said Matsy, who managed to recover from Lucifella’s murmur.
“Where on earth did you learn this?”
“Learning? Isn’t this common sense?”
Lucifella spoke in a pathetic tone. At the words that seemed so obvious, Matsy forcibly convinced, “The common sense here and the common sense of the capital are very different.” Then Lucifella said, “Oh,” and stopped.
“This is why I can’t go outside.”
“What do you mean outside?”
“The driver should be about twenty. But how can I go outside at that level?”
“Why do you need so much? It’s not like you’re officially walking around.”
The Count’s estate was not that wide. A few villages, including the Twin Mountains located at the end of the estate and the mining villages located below it. Konot, the main capital here, was all about the territory.
Why on earth do we need 20 drivers? Matsy couldn’t understand Lucifella.
“It’s dangerous”
“What? Are you talking about the demon? The demon does not appear in the village, my lady.”
“What if the commoner attacks the noble?”
“Why attack?”
“What?”
Lucifella felt puzzled.
“Why are you attacking the lord and the lady?”
“You know, commoner hates nobility, right?”
“Why do you think commoner hates the nobles?”
At Matsy’s words, Lucifella was speechless. This is because all of the commoner Estelle saw in Ersha were basically dissatisfied with the lord.
Therefore, when the lord left the castle or mansion, they expressed their dissatisfaction by any means. They threw stones, blocked wagons, and even gathered together to swear.
Among them, the ladies in particular became a concentrated target. Estelle was well aware of how terrible the daughter of a certain lord who had taken ten escorts with her.
The people were all aggressive in the torn poverty and deprivation. Like the demon.
“Is it because of hunger?”
“You have been overly sensitive to this kind of thing from a while ago, my lady, didn’t you read too many novels while you were coming here?”
Matsy finally burst into laughter. The grudges on Matsy’s face have just disappeared with Lucifella’s words. Matsy understood Lucifella as a bookworm who only read books.
Somehow, when she said she knew about castles and knights, but she seemed to have read even a popular war novel. In it, commoners always rioted and cut off the lord’s throat and executed them, so Lucifella deserved to be scared.
So, it seems that the young lady was not going out of the castle.
Matsy hoped the lady would like her land and stay here until she got married. She came here for the first time in a long time, but is it not a waste to be locked up in an unrealistic fear?
She was overcome with a strange illusion and a sense of duty.
“What should I do, shall we go out right now?”
“What?”
“For reference, the lord goes out with only one escort.”
“Is that escort that great? Is he enough to deal with a hundred by himself?”
“No.”
Matsy said, shaking his head.
“I wondered why you didn’t visit the estate, and if this is the reason, I’ll be with you.”
Lucifella thought Matsy somehow seemed to be treating her like a fool, but when she saw his confident figure, she nodded bitterly.
***
Lucifella tried to roll the curtains of the carriage.
The dense landscape of the land came into her eyes. Unlike the dense landscape with colorful roofs in the capital, the houses were often separated from each other.
Lucifella was mesmerized by the view of the city through the window and asked Matsy, who was riding with her in the carriage.
“Is my father good at managing the territory?”
Everyone passing by the estate wore clean clothes. It wasn’t a luxurious or flashy outfit, but somehow it wasn’t covered in bulky fabric, it was a well-formed outfit.
People passing by the street glanced at Lucifella as she glanced outside. Many of them stood and looked at her.
Lucifella was nervous about it, but upon closer inspection, what stood in their eyes was not dissatisfaction but pure curiosity. Lucifella finally understood why Matsy said it was okay to take only two escorts.
“No, the Count is not particularly good at it.”
“But there are no naked people. Some people are wearing nice clothes.”
He don’t know what kind of novel the lady saw, but she always seemed to have read books that wrote about the reality of the commoner in need. What kind of novel did she see? Matsy clicked his tongue.
“My lady, your imagination and reality are different.”
At Matsy’s words, Lucifella furrowed her eyebrows slightly. This is because she thought Matsy’s expression still treats her as a fool. Then she fixed her eyes on the landscape beyond the glass.
Lucifella finally felt the difference between Ersha and Jansgar.
The size of the capital is insufficient, and the difference is so severe here in the region.
A place full of commoners who live in the world, not poor and naked people. It was clearly compared to Ersha’s land where Lucifella was.
“……This is why my father didn’t put the budget in the military.”
“Yes.”
Matsy replied with a grin. And that was the reason why the articles were released. Peace and relaxation flowed through the territory itself.
“Did the estate itself become wealthy because of the jewels?”
“No, of course, it has become a little rich, but the standard of living of the estate itself has not changed much. The mine is not as sposperous as you might think.”
It’s not bad for the lady to know about her estate.
Matsy replied excitedly when Lucifella showed interest in the estate. It would be good to know these things.
“Then did the whole country become wealthy because of the war of conquest?”
Lucifella asked Matsy again. This is possible because Jansgar has exploited the wealth of other countries in wars of conquest. How is such peace possible?
It was difficult for Lucifella to accept the peace and abundance of this place.
“Oh, my Lady. The standard of living in the territory did not change much before and after the Conquest War. This is where Connot was originally meant to be. You must have forgotten all these memories.”
It’s not because of the jewelry mines, it’s not because of the conquest war, but how is this possible?
“I thought there were only poor people in commoner.”
“I don’t think it came out of the book you were reading. If you can’t manage it, Your Majesty the Emperor will put pressure on you.”
“…..Pressure?”
“The capital dispatches an inspectorate every year. Therefore, lords cannot neglect the management of their territories. Your Majesty is a scary man. Don’t you think so?”
Lucifella nodded at Matsy’s words and fell into thought.
It was because of the Emperor’s policy. The Emperor had such power that the people of the territories were so peaceful.
It was not because the Count was an exceptionally well-known as a lord. It wasn’t because Jansgar had exploited other countries. Only because the Emperor had the will to do so, they had a different appearance from Ersha.
She closed her eyes painfully and opened her eyes, recalling the image of the king of Ersha, who had given her the knighthood.
“This is the difference between countries.”
“Yes?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Lucifella shook her head flutteringly. Somehow her stomach was twisted. It wasn’t because someone scratched it’s insides, it was because she felt uncomfortable.
“Then, does nothing happen even if I get off this carriage and walk around?”
“When the young lady gets off the carriage, won’t everyone look at you? Please don’t do that.”
Lucifella leaned on the back of the carriage as if she had listened to Matcy with one ear and spilled it with one ear. The peaceful scene flowed slowly.
Still, her thoughts did not stop. However, was the Count’s decision to reduce his armaments correct? I wonder if it’s okay to be engulfed in peace like this?
Lucifella, who had been looking at the estate over the carriage for a long time, looked at Matsy as if her determination had been made.
It seemed to her that Matsy had been in charge of the estate for a long time, and therefore had an official record. Besides, he had a warm heart for Lucifella.
“Sir Matsy, I don’t remember anything yet.”
“I know. Don’t be so impatient, my lady.”
“I don’t know the common sense that someone should know as well. I need knowledge, can you help me?”
“Of course.”
Matsy smiled and nodded. Lucifella also smiled at him.
Lucifella felt the need for knowledge. She knew too much of Ersha’s knowledge. It’s like a frog in a well.
The place where she lived, and the place where Khalid had lived for three years, was also in Jansgar. She had to know about Jansgar.
As Lucifella expected, Matsy was a very good teacher. She slowly learned about Jansgar. The power structure of this country, the location of her own family, and, most importantly, where Khalid stands.
***
Thank you for reading!
