Chapter 42

‘What is it?’

I tensed, but nothing else happened, thankfully.

The duke stared at Ramon for a moment, then smiled gently at me before turning his gaze back to the count.

‘You have sharp ears, don’t you…’

His smile clearly warned that he heard everything.

I, meanwhile, was itching for the duke to wrap this up. If the count would just say something, the negotiation would move forward, but he stayed silent, and I felt sure no conclusion would be reached today.

‘This is frustrating.’

I wanted to jump in and fix it quickly.

But if I ended up being the one to solve this, it might ruin the plan to have me step back from domestic affairs under the pretext of taking a period of mourning.

‘Hold it together, calm down… ah, damn it!’

Still, why was it, I wondered. The count and his retainers kept looking at me with pitiful eyes.

Watching that from across the table made my stomach churn, and I felt like the supper I’d eaten earlier might make an untimely reappearance.

If I started retching now, given the timing, some nasty rumor might spread that the duchess was suffering from morning sickness.

I covered the queasy corner of my mouth with a handkerchief and muttered without thinking.

“Since there’s no progress in your negotiation, I’d like to propose a new compromise.”

It was a thoughtless remark, but it made everyone look at me at once, including the count’s party and the duke’s aides.

‘No way.’

Even as duchess, wasn’t I allowed to speak when things were stalled?

Receiving everyone’s attention in an instant felt overwhelming.

The looks from the Lombard retinue were sharp. They weren’t speaking, but their thoughts were plain as day.

Being a former bureaucrat, I read that gaze better than anyone.

‘Shut up and don’t make more trouble.’

I didn’t care.

“I hate long speeches, so I’ll be direct.”

I smiled and continued.

“Count, my basic position is the same as His Grace’s. The root cause of this contract’s nullification lies with Alnor.”

“But a contract is a contract! Duchess, tearing a contract doesn’t just make everything vanish. The damages we’ve incurred are—”

“I’m not finished yet.”

The count’s aide, who’d interrupted before, shut up when my displeasure showed, though he clearly wanted to object.

“Still, I’m a merciful person, so I can’t just pass over Alnor’s hardship.”

“…?”

Ramon, the administrator, frowned at the word ‘merciful,’ but I ignored it and pressed on.

“I’ve heard Alnor’s finances aren’t in great shape. You’d demand compensation all the more for that, but what if I offered a different kind of goodwill?”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“If I transfer some land on the Alnor-Lombard border adjacent to Lombard to you, I’ll pay generously in return.”

I wrote an amount on the corner of the parchment on the table and pushed it forward.

Every eye in the room snapped to it.

The count and his aide’s eyes bulged, and the Lombard retinue erupted in outrage.

“This is absurd!”

“Isn’t that more than five times the compensation Alnor demanded? Absolutely not!”

“You can’t buy the wild hill of Byungyeong for such a ridiculous price. Even if the duchess has domestic authority, this is clearly overreach!”

“We can’t spend Lombard’s treasury on this. As finance minister, I won’t agree!”

The two sides reacted sharply in opposite ways.

The Alnor party showed faces mixed with hope and suspicion. To them, the idea of buying a barren land where hardly anyone lived for such a sum seemed unbelievable.

The Lombard side, on the other hand, looked ready to tear me apart.

‘What about the duke…?’

I couldn’t guess what he was thinking.

Amid all the commotion, only he watched me calmly, as if whatever I did would be fine.

‘Do as you wish.’

‘But Edwin…’

‘I’m making you responsible for this matter. Do whatever you need to do. Leave the aftermath to me.’

Now it felt like a distant dream.

In my second year at the castle, I was given charge of collecting road tolls for the first time.

It was the role of collecting tolls at Lombard’s main checkpoints and handling records and accounting.

On the surface it didn’t look like much, but everyone at the castle revolted at Edwin’s decision.

Usually the bureaucrat in charge of road tolls would move up to the revenue office to manage imports and exports at the Lombard border as the next step.

In short, it was a training ground to get field experience before moving to a bigger stage.

It wasn’t a post someone of my common birth was supposed to reach.

Still, I was furious at being given menial chores all the time.

I believed that with fair evaluation, I could rise above my status.

So I boldly overhauled the toll system. I ended exemptions from tolls that nobles and retainers had enjoyed as a matter of course.

I thought this would fix the chronic deficit at the checkpoints.

I knew criticism would follow, but I wasn’t afraid.

I figured most of Lombard’s residents would benefit and support me.

Sadly, reality was different.

“I’m sorry, Edwin. I failed. You trusted me, and I messed up.”

“My choice wasn’t wrong.”

“No, this time you were wrong.”

They attacked me from all sides.

They dragged up my miserable childhood, exposed my deceased parents’ past, and even listed the faults of relatives who’d turned on me.

What kept me from collapsing was Edwin.

“Remember? You said you wanted to help change Lombard from the roots.”

“…”

“You said you wanted to see the people of this land smiling happily. I’m sure of it. The new law you poured yourself into will be the foundation for Lombard’s transformation.”

Only he told me I was right.

While everyone else lunged like a mob, he stood behind me quietly.

He sent me away under Baron Conte to shield me from the central court’s criticism.

‘Why do you look at me with the same eyes as before?’

The duke’s gaze made my heart drop.

A feeling I’d thought I’d never feel again tightened my throat.

Embarrassed, I averted my eyes from the duke.

Even in that brief second, Lombard’s officials were protesting loudly.

“We can’t accept such a unilateral decision!”

“Moving the treasury isn’t something even the duchess can decide alone! The duchess’s decision flagrantly ignores the castle!”

“Retract it immediately!”

Now the reality hit me.

My mood chilled and I stared at the officials until they, feeling the oddness, fell silent.

“Have you all said what you wanted to say?”

“…”

I actually had a lot to say.

This whole mess began because Viscount Clayton had misused Lombard’s funds.

He handed a contract worth twenty thousand gold coins to his cousin, Count Alnor, without proper verification.

Acting all innocent now, after staying quiet back then?

I smirked.

“Don’t worry about the finances. I won’t draw on Lombard’s funds for this petty sum.”

“Duchess, then…”

Alnor’s aides, stunned, asked cautiously.

Instead of explaining, I rang the bell on the table.

The meeting room door burst open and Berry came in carrying a large chest.

She looked light and brisk, as if she had a box of snacks, though it clearly held something heavy, probably ingots of gold.

No one guessed what was inside.

I explained first.

“There are forty thousand gold coins in here.”

“Gold coins? Not four bolts of cotton?”

They were confused, and honestly I was too, but I got to the point.

“The land on Alnor’s border will be in my name. I’m moving there because I’ll live there.”

“…”

“So there’s no need to get your permission. Isn’t that right?”

“Th-that is—”

The officials who’d just been bold with their accusations were at a loss for a retort.

I couldn’t help snorting at their ridiculous, startled faces.

‘How did the Count of Alnor receive the new title of Marquis Taobalt?’

He’d handed half the mining rights of a gold mine found in his domain to the emperor.

And not just any mine, a huge, profitable one.