Chapter 109 – 10. Flowers in Both Hands (9)
Sabbath, morning.
It was gloomy weather. But today, as always, the northern day has arrived. Those who were thankful that there was no blizzard despite the dark clouded sky went to work. Even though the daily life in the frozen land without sunlight would be very hard and chilly, he silently and diligently sold out.
For a better tomorrow.
Likewise, the citadel, where only the sound of the quiet wind lingered, was filled with a lively aura. As if suggesting the revival of Marquis Baekryeong, which was thought to be slowly dying, it was relentlessly crowded with unusual customers like Dottegi Market.
“Baron Romuald, this is Marion.”
Unfortunately, it was unexpected. Because of that, the wife who had spent the night of revelry had just fallen asleep an hour ago, and even her young lady, who was acting as her substitute her, and her maid, who was to deliver the news, were sitting beside hugging him each other and teasing each other.
“Are you inside?”
The maid, who knocked on the door several times, pretended to be there again as if impatient. Even though he sensed her presence her earlier, Rome, who took some time to pick up her clothes and pull on her doorknob belatedly. She went to the land of dreams together on a large bed, taking care not to discover the existence of the three women.
“Maid? What’s going on.”
“Sorry for the early morning. I was wondering if the madam was with the baron last night.”
The knight who obtained the title was a person who no longer needed to notice others. After all, soon I was going to announce my marriage to the Margrave’s wife, who was as famous for her beauty as my daughter. Marion also knew that, so she came and asked.
“Yes, I am still sleeping inside. I haven’t been lying down in a while.”
“Are you also a young lady?”
Rom twitched his eyebrows in slight surprise. Aside from her relationship with her Orianne, it was certainly not good for rumors to spread that her daughter her, Lucienne, was having a tryst with me. Not only would the honor of the two be tarnished, but it would also reveal the fact that an unusual force was born in the northern part of the kingdom.
“Baron, although I am only an employee, I am still a nanny who has watched the madam since she was a baby. I have no intention of making fun of you anywhere, so please tell me honestly.”
“… That’s right.”
“As expected.”
“If it’s okay, may I ask how you found out?”
“Do not worry. Because it’s purely intuition. I had an urgent business, so I went to visit the lady, but she wasn’t in her room, so I went to visit her lady. However, I couldn’t find the person who would always be there, like Françoise, who was on duty the day before. So you guessed it.”
Marion said calmly. Her man her, who had been a stranger to her until just a short time ago, was very calm and weak for a person who found out that her mother and daughter her whom he served were promiscuous with her. Even Rom, who was now accustomed to acting shamelessly like a ruffian, was taken aback.
“You are not to blame.”
“There is a saying that if you want to know what someone is like, look at what they usually do. I don’t know everything about the baron, but at least I know he’s not a bad guy. It’s new, but before becoming the lady’s nanny, I served a lot of more prodigal people.”
Without going far right away, Orianne’s biological father, the previous king, also had more than ten concubines and mistresses. That was the reason why the existence called the women of Aquitaine was born. A lustful man, he adopted the sisters of a certain family as his own, each of whom was the mother of Henrietta Aquitaine and Oriane Aquitaine.
“It was the choice of the madam and the young lady, so I believe in it and respect it. However, if I’m going to give you some presumptuous advice, please tell me in advance next time. As the baron is concerned about, considering the honor of the two of you, it would be best if there were no witnesses.”
“I agree. Far from off topic, it’s appropriate advice.”
“Then, I’ll know that I’ll be in charge of cleaning up from now on. If even that is not possible, ask a child named Françoise. He has a heavy mouth and is exceptionally loyal to the young lady, so if you tell him in advance, there will be no problem.”
“Um, well.”
Rome shut her mouth with a sullen face. It wasn’t long before Marion realized why, and she carefully pushed the door open. When she saw a subordinate with a familiar face lying on the bed from him, she touched her forehead with incomprehensible admiration.
“… It would be better to hear the details separately later.”
“I’m sorry that I surprised you in this way.”
“Fine. There are more urgent things than that. If the madam and the lady are in a difficult situation right now, I think the baron will have to step in.”
She was Marion, a long-time employee of high society, where all sorts of strife took place. She knew how dangerous it was to let outsiders in the business of a particular family’s unique interests, but she wasn’t too concerned.
That’s because Baron Romuald was already considered by the residents of this place to be his wife’s closest friend.
“Sure. Could you please explain what the problem is first?”
“Customers came from inside and outside. I scrambled to apply for an interview to get to know the madam, but the situation is really serious. The soldiers are controlling it right now, but there are a lot of burdensome greetings that make me wait a long time.”
She was fed up that Marion had put her in so much trouble. The living space was structured so closed, so it didn’t seem like there was a lot of fuss outside. At first, she came to sympathize with Rom, who wondered if she was just a high-status, bad-quality uninvited guest.
“If I were to name only a few important names?”
“First of all, the courtier of Renoir requested that I be allowed to have an interview with the lady first. Next, Count Poitiers, Baron Lotringen, and Baron Brienne from the neighboring territories personally came with an envoy. Currently, they are being detained under the guise of a confrontation at the checkpoint because of the number of escort troops.”
Even in the remote north, local celebrities were suddenly flocking to the most remote fortress. Sensing that her situation was turning unexpectedly, Rome asked her for her understanding her and came out with her cloak from inside. She continued the conversation, saying that she shouldn’t be here and that she should move to her office her.
“Is the reason why the courtier wants to see your wife to convey additional orders to the king?”
“That won’t be it. If the madam is having trouble finding time, he said he would like to see the baron at least. He puts the proviso that he would like to see both of you if possible, but…”
“Then how many escorts did the Count of Poitiers and the Baron of Lothringen and Brienne bring?”
“There are fifty earls, twenty and thirty barons, respectively.”
Rom, who was pacing her corridors with her brisk steps, looked at Marion doubting her ears. The northern frozen land was clearly a place where the Lemoang family had explicit autonomy, but it was inevitable that as many as a hundred armed soldiers roamed around in such a territory under the pretext of escort.
“Because the security in the south of the alternative territory is so messed up…”
“That’s under the jurisdiction of the Mayor of Saint-Buch.”
“I can only see that the administration faction closed their eyes?”
“Maybe. But maybe not.”
He tightened the length of his coat and looked ahead again. Perhaps it was because he was living a restrained life, he opened the door to the office he had just arrived in while waiting for the little maid to say something behind him.
“Two hours ago, the mayor of Saint-Bourse came to visit secretly with only one of his henchmen, saying he had an urgent message to tell the lady.”
Because it was a cloudy day, it was a very dark room. After putting candles in the candlestick hanging on the wall, throwing firewood into the fireplace, and lighting a fire, Rom sat down at the desk. Marion, who had followed me inside, offered me a seat and continued to receive reports.
“That’s not all. In the great snowfield near the North Gate of the Citadel, a representative of the Camag Tribal Alliance, Sorgal, visited. He brought several men with him, and he said that he came to discuss the interview of the porter to be recruited into the trading corps and the trial of the detained vassal.”
“When did you arrive?”
“I think it was probably an hour ago.”
Marion let out a deep sigh. To sum it up, the current citadel was literally a fuss. It was an agenda that would be worth a few hours just to apply for an interview with the courtier Noroir, but three neighboring nobles came to visit.
And that, without Orian’s knowledge, without knowing that he might have colluded with the administrative faction based in Saint-Buch.
And for his calling, he also visited the mayor, who could be said to be the representative of their faction. The same was true of the news from the south, and from the north, Sorgal, the head of the Camag tribal confederation, had arrived as scheduled to discuss pending issues.
“I think I know why the head maid was in such a hurry.”
“Hey, that’s not all.”
“What else do you have?”
“The ones I’ve been talking about so far are the guests who visited the madam, and there are also guests who have nominated the baron.”
Perhaps even I, who had been living frugally, was confused, as Marion opened and then folded her fingers as she chewed on the number and names of the guests.
“Mr. Marcel Poincaré of the Lucerne Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Eugen Bank of the Brullin Merchants Association, and Mr. Thomas Gillen of the Britannia Trade Company are waiting in the outer corridor with a group of technicians.”
Northern Sanggye magnates who came to report on the status of land maintenance and follow-up discussions on interest projects.
“A man named Edward from Dean’s also visited. I already replied that when the baron wakes up, he will send someone to the store in town to inform them.”
An old friend who has finished all preparations for the pioneering of the snowfield trade route.
“… Is it over?”
“No, and lastly, Sir Peltier came to summon a lot of knights.”
Lastly, even the best idiots in the frozen land.
“I have been holding a sit-in at the checkpoint outside the citadel since morning, saying that I must see the baron. Probably three hours. In terms of waiting time, it was the longest.”
“Please, tell me you’re not armed.”
“It was originally like that, but when the Count of Poitiers, Lotringen, and Baron Brienne appeared with escorts, they said they armed themselves again.”
“Why didn’t you say you came?”
Suddenly, Marion looked at her. She noticed that she was worried about whether she could tell the truth, but in the end, she just screamed with a feeling that she didn’t know. It was without making a single mistake about the menacing threats of the savage knights.
“Listen, Baron Romuald. I, Mathieu Peltier, obtained information about the pioneering of trade routes in the snowy fields. A few of his subordinates will volunteer as escorts so that you, a former pawn in the center, will not dare to exploit and abuse the tribesmen who are staunch allies with us. Said this.”
“You must be kidding, right?”
“No, when I ran into Mr. Sorgal, whom I mentioned earlier, he even patted me on the back, telling me not to worry. They say that the men of this land do not disregard blood alliances…”
Rom raised his forehead and groaned.
“So what does Mr. Sorgal say?”
“I’m so lost I can’t say anything.”
This time, it was time for him to let out a sigh.
‘Are they really sick… ?’
Somehow it felt like it was going to be a busy day.
