Chapter 161 – The Position of the Royal Family
First, smile and say hello.
“I was surprised to hear that a guest suddenly came, but it must have been the maid of honor of the Duke of Earthlane.”
No, why is the maid here all of a sudden?
I was taken aback, but first I wondered why.
Suddenly she shows up late at night and she’s startled.
“The lady went out for a long time, so I came to take care of her. She will apologize for visiting without any prior contact.”
“No, no. I have also received help from Alina and Sir Earthrain, so if there is anything uncomfortable, please feel free to tell her.”
“Thank you, Lord Müller.”
I also bowed down to the elderly lady-in-waiting who greeted me according to the correct etiquette.
Not just the maid of honor, but the maid of the duke’s family. She is also a woman with a position that can be said to be the closest aide to the family for a long time of several decades.
The word that she has aged gracefully fits well with her appearance, and even though she is a lady-in-waiting, her lineage is not common.
“Then, are you participating in this Franz trip as well?”
“No. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, so that’s enough. Now that I have brought everything I need, I intend to leave again.”
“Ah, is that so?”
She is a very capable person, but she really has nothing to say to the head of the maid of another family.
She’s not on bad terms with the Earthrain family anyway. She just needs to go play well and say something nice.
“…”
“Well? Do you have any business?”
“No. Lord. I wish you well, young lady.”
“Ah yes. I will serve you as an escort without shortage.”
“Whoops. Rather than just being with you, the lady will like it.”
“… Is that so?”
Maid Shiina simply smiled at my question.
“Please take good care of my lady.”
She just quietly bowed her back.
* * *
“It seems that Count Thoth’s army is advancing at a tremendous speed.”
I looked at the map at the words of my subordinate.
Reports have been coming in for a while that Count Thoth’s army at the southern end is moving toward the center, but the speed seems to be faster than expected.
“I’m going to cross the line like this.”
There is a limit to the territory war or duel between nobles.
Just as it is better to have a cause than not to have a cause, it is never good to continue fighting this kind of war.
Particularly dangerous is the movement of the capital’s troops. If I were the king, I would have moved right away.
“The capital is still quiet.”
The nobles seem to be moving separately, but the most important army is silence. What is the king going to do? From what I’ve seen in the past, I know that he’s not a scarecrow at all.
“What shall we do?”
“How to do it. I have nothing to do right now.”
He shrugged his shoulders at the words of his subordinate.
There’s nothing you can do right now anyway.
Even if it was coming into the center, not even half of the great southern province had come. Count Thoth still has countless lands to occupy.
“Maybe it’s because it’s in the southern region, and one supply is really endless.”
“The Thoth Manor, as well as all the lands around it, are fertile territory.”
The land is so fertile that it overflows because there is not enough supplies to be the driving force for endless wars.
Of course, the supply of war doesn’t just end with food.
“Am I using up all the materials I’ve accumulated so far?”
“Looking at what has been consumed so far, I wonder if that is the case. Also, it’s a letter from Aslan, but there are many contents of frequent transactions with Count Thoth through the river.”
“Officially?”
“It is both.”
Hmm.
Logistics flow is reported. At least military items. Officially, the quantity that can be traded domestically is limited. The fact that they sold it regardless of the official or unofficial
Baron Aslan must have thought it was okay.
Even if Count Thoth crosses the center, Aslan’s territory is the farthest from the center. Did he think that the aftermath of the war would not affect his territory?
“It may not be right away, but maybe if we come up like this, we’ll pass through the Larsen estate and go straight to Boring.”
“How will the nobles of the territories in the middle try to move with Count Thoth?”
“Count Tote’s request to open the road to the capital is a matter that is difficult for him to easily agree to if he is a nobleman.”
Above all, it is strange that the royal family remains silent until then.
Before that, I will raise an army, including the troops of the capital and the nobles of the southern provinces.
But even so.
“Even Count Boring isn’t someone who can easily be defeated, and wouldn’t the central aristocratic forces or red blood stay still in the first place?”
Red blood is particularly difficult to predict.
Are these guys aiming for me or Count Thoth?
The guys called purple will be targeting me, but I heard that the other red blood has been robbed by Count Thoth.
Violet said that regardless of the faction, there were not one or two people who were harmed by Count Thoth.
“I wish it would be quiet until I go to the capital right now.”
Knock knock.
Touched the map
I have no choice but to believe in Irina and come back.
* * *
“Oh my goodness.”
“Well?”
Alina Earthlane, who visited the office for future schedules and various business matters, met her gaze with the person walking opposite her.
Irina Boring.
“…”
“…”
The relationship between the two is not bad…
So Irina said to Leoric Franz.
That’s not wrong. Because it wasn’t really that bad.
Until a man intervenes.
“How are you? I heard the story. You said you were going to Franz, right?”
Irina Borin personally speaks in her favor about Alina Earth Lane… No, she had respect.
No matter how much aristocrats look at bloodlines and abilities, most of them tend to be male. Of course, not all of them are like that, but there is no choice but to be a phase of the times.
Even if she can be active if she wants to, it can’t be helped that when she grows up watching the women around her from a young age, her thoughts flow in that direction.
For Irina, Alina Earth Lane had a longing for the figure of her ducal family background and her active external activities as a woman, and she was a woman of great success.
But that and men are different stories.
“Ah, so it happened. Miss Irina.”
Alina also looked at Irina Boring.
I know that she doesn’t particularly hate it, but rather goes around briskly. Her own talent is also outstanding, and her confident posture is also recognized by her.
She is a woman who deserves to be liked.
But that and men are different stories.
“Ho Ho. Franz Castle is really nice. It’s not fancy, but it’s a neat and tidy castle. Franz’s territories and father… No, I can tell right away how much I respect Count Franz.”
“Right. I was curious too. The days when I met Count Franz, the golden lion who had been protecting the Great Mountains in the south for a long time. The request to meet Count Franz by being personally invited by Lord Müller this time is a very good opportunity for me as well. Considering the relationship with Lord Müller in the future, I think meeting now is just the right timing.”
Each other’s gaze is cold.
Soon, they greeted each other with smiles.
“Is this also love?”
“Not bad. How can I say this to a woman?”
Grew up with each other
Literally envy, jealousy, love… It was far from that feeling.
Not just Alina, but also Irina. There were times when I looked at it one-sidedly, but in the end, that’s all.
However, recently, I have been experiencing it often through a man.
The moment they were about to part ways, asking each other how they were doing and telling Franz to be careful.
“… One thing.”
After passing her Alina Earth Lane, Irina Bohrin glanced behind her and said:
“Beware of her woman.”
“… The woman?”
Leoric Franz’s libido is on the voracious side, and I know that there are quite a few women who have received good graces.
But anyway, the castle. He doesn’t have a lot of greed for the position of wife, but it’s true that it’s not fun to be taken away easily.
So, talking to Irina now was a pleasant conversation that reminded her that she was also a woman.
Seeing Alina like that, Irina smiled a little.
“Yes. It’s that woman. Perhaps, she is now the woman in the position to be closest to Him among us. She’s a very nasty woman who took her place faster than anyone else.”
Irina Borin is not saying she doesn’t like her.
I think she is a woman who deserves to be praised as a person.
But.
“He is not a bad person. You are a good person. As it is now, I sympathize with the situation in which I will not be able to stand up proudly in the future, but my heart is telling me that such a situation is also despicable. I am a woman too.”
“What are you talking about?”
Externally, it is secretly attached.
She’s not trying hard to hide it, but she doesn’t even bother putting it on her lips. It started with the Franz clan and their vassals as well, so as a result it was kept secret.
That’s why, except for Franz’s vassals, no one has noticed yet.
Alina Earth Lane’s puzzled gaze forced Irina to suddenly look back at her garden.
The image of the woman appeared in her mind as the gold coin, which was nasty and beautifully blooming, entered her eyes.
“A woman with his first love, with his first child, with his first child.”
“… What?”
Seeing Alina wide open, Irina walked away.
Really nasty
That’s why I don’t want to lose even the position of Jeongsil. Even if it’s someone she admires.
* * *
