Chapter 711 – 711. Proxy Mansion Management (1)
Erenium’s restoration work was successfully completed.
Under the leadership of the Dwarves, who worked tirelessly day and night, the restoration work of the city proceeded smoothly, and rather, the interior of the city, which was rebuilt with a cleaner and more durable structure than before, began to regain vitality little by little.
Since it was a major event in which many citizens died, it was too short of time for the victims to overcome the loss and sadness, but even so, this was a problem that time would solve.
“Then we’ll go first and unpack and prepare dinner. Do you have to come soon?”
Erin, smiling bashfully, held Eleanor tightly in her arms and acted aegyo.
Eleanor smiled and stroked Erin’s hair, as if she liked Erin’s cuteness, acting like her little sister.
“Huh. I’ll finish it quickly and go.”
She set up the gate to prepare for her return, but Eleanor was unable to return to her house with Eunhyeon or Erin.
It was because there were too many issues of the temple that had not yet been dealt with.
In the midst of the current pope lying in bed and unable to do his job properly, Eleanor was the center of the wind blowing in the current temple.
Possessing a powerful ability that can be exercised on priests and paladins called ‘Sacred Retrieval’, she quickly took control of the personnel inside the temple with the unique charisma of a high-ranking aristocrat, and was handling various agendas and systems.
She, of course, is said to have helped many priests, including Anies and Darian, but the central figure was Agnes.
Eleanor was forced to ride her gate and return home late from work.
As long as the gate that was supposed to be maintained in the first place was not demolished, there was no room for a big problem because it was possible to come and go between the sacred kingdoms of Erenia in the dungeon house without restrictions of time and distance.
Leaving behind Eleanor, who still had work to do, Eunhyeon and Erin returned home first.
Upon crossing the door leading to another space, Erin, aware of her familiar surroundings, felt nostalgic.
It is only when she feels the familiar composition and layout of the house, the familiar smells, and many other things that she begins to feel full of the realization that she has returned home.
“I’ve been… Oops… !”
At home, she tried to scream vigorously to announce her return to Illyana and Lily, who were waiting for her and Eun-hyeon, but she belatedly covered her mouth.
Because of the thought that Illiana’s daughter, who will be in her house, her newborn baby, Ilayna, might be asleep.
As expected, Lily immediately came out to meet her after feeling the presence of the two.
“Are you here?”
“Sister. I’m here!”
Seeing Lily, whom she hadn’t seen in about two months, Erin embraced Lily in her arms with her blooming face.
“Huh. Come on.”
As soon as she met her, she was hugged and rubbed her face against her chest. Perhaps she missed Erin’s flirtatiousness, and Lily greeted her kindly as well.
“Hi-Hi.”
“This guy. And it just keeps growing like this.”
“No?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it. Let’s go up, Illiana-sama will like it too.”
“Huh!”
No matter what she is, she teaches Erin her dignity and manners, and not only the strict Eleanor, but also Lily and Illyana are soft on Erin.
Erin wrapped her arms around Lily’s waist and left her hug undone as she guided her upstairs.
Eun-hyeon, who was watching her two wives from behind, smiled and followed her.
“What about Illyana?”
“The eldest mistress is breastfeeding Ileina in the master bedroom.”
The word ‘nim’ was omitted from Lily’s title for Illiana’s daughter, Ilayna.
Her attitude of respectfully serving her newborn baby, who was less than a month old, was that of an attendant serving her master, but Illyana didn’t want that.
At least as far as Reina’s parenting goes, she didn’t want to teach this child anything like the difference between her statuses since she was born.
It was the maid’s stubborn will to serve Eun-hyeon and Illyana that she treated herself politely as Eun-hyeon’s wife and master’s wife.
But as much as she did for this baby, she wanted it to be cherished like her own, even if it wasn’t the baby she gave birth to.
Illyana, who was stronger than Lily when she was stubborn, never gave up on her stubbornness, even when it came to Lily’s attitude towards Ilaina.
As a result, Lily called ‘Ileina’ by her first name, not by her honorific.
It was a very small and trivial change, but from Eun-hyeon’s point of view, it was a very unexpected result.
And she was quite pleased.
As soon as they arrived at the master bedroom, Eunhyeon and Erin found Illyana breastfeeding her on the bed.
“Lord Iliana! We are here!”
Illyana smiled and nodded her head as she heard Erin’s return in a quiet, but very excited voice.
“Hey, are you here?”
Erin observed Ileina as her baby walked quickly, at a pace that would not frighten her.
Ilayna, as if she had eaten her fill, removed her mouth from her milk and rolled her small eyes as if she had spotted Erin approaching.
“Kyaha!”
Taken aback by the action of her baby reaching out her tiny, delicate hands with her broad smile, Erin made a fuss about her.
This is because the range of the ability to recognize the emotions of the opposite sex naturally included the emotions of the baby.
“How are you? Huh! Nice to meet you too!”
“Baby, do you want to hug me?”
“Oh, really? I want to hug you!”
To Illyana’s invitation, Erin answered immediately without hesitation.
She is nervous about dropping it, but carefully holds the baby with all her strength, fearing that it will break.
“Hi-Hi.”
Erin smiled and looked at her baby.
After entrusting her baby to her Erin, Eunhyun climbed onto her bed and checked on her Illyana’s condition.
“How are you feeling?”
“Very good. It was well managed with divine power from the beginning.”
In addition, she was tapping the effect of the elixir that Eunhyeon had personally obtained and prepared, so she was tapping the effect even in a short time.
Rather, she was healthier than before her pregnancy, and she regained her energy to the extent that it was unimaginable that it was the body of a woman who had given birth to a child.
“I’m glad.”
“How about yours? The work has been done well.”
“To some extent. Eleanor…”
Eunhyeon talked about the incident in the sacred kingdom of Erenia step by step.
Illyana burst into laughter when she heard that the necromancer had attacked Erenium, dealt with it, and that the process of replacing the personnel inside the Holy Kingdom, which had become corrupt, was in full swing.
“To put the temple under your feet now?”
“… Stop spreading misleading rumors.”
“Know. That’s what it says.”
In fact, she was more of a playful teasing that Eun-hyeon would be able to do so as long as she was determined to rule the temple and the Holy Kingdom.
Erin, who was having fun hugging Ileina, heard the conversation between the two and she thought to herself.
‘Hmm… Couldn’t it be honestly impossible?’
In fact, the internal power of the current temple is no different from being seized by Eleanor, so if Eun-hyeon wishes, Eleanor will surely fulfill his wish.
As long as the authority and honor of the temple are restored and Albert, the candidate for the next pope, is qualified to ascend to the papal seat, Eleanor has no hesitation in handing over all the power she has seized, so she will not be greedy. However, the level of being able to control the temple was already over.
“Eleanor must be very busy.”
“For the time being, the manager of the dukedom’s territory said to ask me.”
“I see.”
It wasn’t long before he was granted the title of lord, but Eleanor asked her father to tell her that she was sorry for being appointed as the deputy again.
◆ ◆ ◆
“Is it. I can’t help it.”
Abros accepted Eunhyun’s story without hesitation.
“… Are you serious?”
“Didn’t Eleanor ask for it?”
Performing the duties of acting lord on behalf of Eleanor is itself sufficient as long as Eleanor has given permission.
But even so, the fact that Eun-hyeon, who is a foreigner and has the status of a commoner, governs the dukedom, no matter how Daryl’s son-in-law, is an issue that someone else may have dissatisfaction with.
“There are no nobles in this country, especially in this duchy, who can doubt your abilities. Even if there is, it is impossible to express strong dissatisfaction beyond what I have admitted.”
“What… It is, but…”
When Eunhyeon received permission so easily, she put on an awkward expression.
After that, Eunhyeon’s proxy operation of the dukedom began.
Fortunately, given how meticulously Eleanor ran the business, her internal affairs were not much of a problem.
What Eunhyeon had to do was basic management, as well as managing and supervising the operation budget of the territory within the dukedom and the big projects in which the family’s wealth was invested, and reviewing new projects that might be carried out in the future.
“Hello. Mr Youngjoo. I have a business to propose this time, so I’m going to visit Assistant Manager Yeongju like this…”
“What is your business?”
Skipping the cumbersome greeting, Eunhyeon went straight to the main point.
Unlike other aristocrats who usually value authority, the efficient attitude of spending time and effort only on necessary fields is closer to that of a businessman than an aristocrat.
At Eunhyeon’s words, the merchant put the business he had in mind.
“It’s horse racing!”
“… Racing?”
Erin, who was listening to the story together in the lord’s room, tilted her head at the unfamiliar word she heard for the first time.
When Lily sipped the black tea and expressed her doubts, Eun-hyeon immediately explained.
“Speak of a sport in which several horses are raced to compete for rank.”
“Oh? Does the lord know about horse racing?”
“What… I just know.”
“Literally building a racecourse in the Duchy! I am confident that I will definitely be able to attract many guests and create vibrancy!”
“… Hmm.”
When Eunhyeon didn’t answer right away, the merchant continued his words.
It was an ambiguous attitude, neither positive nor negative, but just by not saying anything negative, the merchant judged that there was still a chance.
On the other hand, Erin, who did not respond favorably, asked the merchant.
“I heard that horses are simply running to determine rankings? I don’t think it’ll be that much fun…”
“Horse racing is not such a simple sport!”
“Hee!? Sin, I’m sorry!”
Erin apologized, as she was unknowingly startled.
It was such an intense sense of intimidation that even Erin, who had plenty of experience and had faced many life-threatening dangers while crossing numerous lines of fire, would shrink in an instant.
It was not an expression of hostility, but pure enthusiasm when she insulted something she liked and admired.
“The original purpose of horse racing is to raise faster and healthier horses. To do so, they are put up against other horses and ranked as a result.”
Praise and applause for the fastest horse that took first place, and consolation and encouragement for the horse that lags behind in hopes of becoming even faster next time.
“Imagine the horses galloping through the course to win the championship by putting strength on their legs!”
“Uh, um…”
Erin said she didn’t know what to say, so she couldn’t help but hold back.
The eyes of the merchant who continues to explain passionately are burning with one determination to make the business a success.
To be honest, Erin couldn’t relate to her dealer’s passion for horse racing.
However, her merchant’s enthusiasm is too burdensome for her to honestly talk about her feelings.
“And horses that simply participate in horse racing are not just fast. Just as a thousand people have different personalities, horses also have different appearances and characteristics.”
Depending on the stamina, physical characteristics, and growing environment of horses, the habits are created and developed, and each horse has a different riding method.
“A runaway horse that runs alone from the start, as if running away ahead of others, a leading horse that has a strong habit of not losing and needs to run first place unconditionally, and a runner that runs after a high-ranking group and pours out all remaining stamina at the end to aim for first place. As first-come and other strategies collide, all horses compete fiercely to win! Can you imagine?”
“Oh no, so…”
Erin didn’t even want to know, but she felt her head getting complicated by the rapid-fire blast of horse racing terminology.
“Just imagining the beautiful scene where all the horses that have grown up to win the race race together just for the sake of the race… ! Big… !”
“…”
Erin read the emotion in her merchant’s head.
It wasn’t particularly malicious, but the way he acted to make his dream come true was, in a sense, madness itself.
‘This, this person… It’s ‘real’…’
