"Your Grace?"
Perhaps flustered by Cecilia’s violet eyes fixed intently on him, Viktor unconsciously took a step back.
"My lady. Did you say you bought the herbs with money you brought from your family?"
"Yes. That is correct."
"Why would you use your own money for the grand ducal household’s affairs? If you need something, say so and receive what you need. When it concerns the grand ducal household, it is only right to use the grand ducal household’s money."
"This was, first and foremost, an act born of my own selfish desire. At the same time, as your fiancée, it was a calculated action meant to win the goodwill of the estate’s servants."
"What do you mean by that?"
Cecilia met the red eyes watching her and spoke.
"When someone in power seeks information on a political enemy, the first people they try to turn against them are those who serve that enemy. In other words, the servants of Walterheim Estate. To prevent that, I needed to win their hearts through my own efforts."
As Viktor listened blankly to Cecilia, he assumed that the powerful party she referred to was the Imperial Family.
He picked up the ointment resting on the desk.
"So you made this ointment yourself in order to win their hearts?"
"Yes. That is correct."
"Then I understand it even less."
"Your Grace?"
"You have come to the North and entered my protection. That makes you one of mine."
"..."
"And officially, you are my fiancée. You should not hesitate to use the Northern Grand Ducal House’s money for matters concerning the North. From now on, when you intend to do something like this, tell me. Do not try to resolve it with your own strength alone."
Cecilia thought, It may be a strictly contractual relationship, but he still wishes to protect those who enter his domain.
It was contradictory, yet warmer than the cold relationships of the Imperial Family.
He draws a strict line between public and private matters, yet he is softhearted in this regard.
Viktor thought of a future where Cecilia, needing money somewhere beyond his sight and unable to obtain it, fell prey to a grimoire.
Please, just use the grand ducal household’s money so that never happens!!!
"Do you understand? Whenever you wish to do something in the future, seek out either me or Butler Jester beforehand and receive support."
"Yes, Your Grace."
"Then, I should be going now—"
"Please wait a moment."
"What is it—"
In that instant, Viktor doubted his own eyes at the warmth and unfamiliar sensation he felt on his hand.
"Your hands seemed quite damaged..."
"Ah."
Cecilia had applied the moisturizing cream she had made to his hands.
"It is quite effective. Please, use it."
"...Thank you."
The moment Viktor left the workshop, Ran approached Cecilia with a flushed face.
"Eeeek!!! My lady! What was that just now?!"
"Hm? What was what?"
"What do you mean, what?! You touched His Grace so naturally!"
"Hm? I only put moisturizing cream on his hands. What about it?"
"B-but... between a man and a woman, doing something like that..."
"Now, now. It was nothing like that."
To begin with, theirs was a relationship bound strictly by contract. Neither she nor that cold Northern Grand Duke held such feelings.
But...
His hands were terribly damaged... He must be fighting difficult battles.
**
"...What was that? What was that supposed to be?"
Was that flirting? Or is she just naturally like that? I was analyzing the contact I had shared with Cecilia that morning in my office when—
Knock, knock.
"Young master."
At Jester’s voice from beyond the door, I immediately straightened in my chair.
"Come in."
Jester entered the office and began staring intently at my desk.
"What is it?"
"That is..."
"Moisturizing cream made by the young lady. It is quite effective."
"Oh? By the young lady? Ah, I had heard she was skilled in magic and pharmacology, but I did not realize she was this capable."
"So what is it?"
"Haha. It concerns the servants who are hostile toward Lady Cecilia, as you asked about previously."
"Are there any?"
Jester shrugged and shook his head.
"They have already fallen head over heels for the young lady."
"Huh?"
I began walking through the estate behind Jester. When we spotted a maid taking a break, Jester approached her.
"Butler? Uh... and even His Grace?!"
"Rest. You need not rise in such a hurry merely because you saw us while on your break."
"Thank you..."
"By the way, what is that?"
When I pointed to the little jar in the maid’s hand, she smiled.
"Ah, it is moisturizing cream the young lady gave me. She handed it out to all the maids in the estate!"
She made enough to distribute all of that in a single day?
Was Cecilia some kind of god of production?
"Our hands get damaged while we work, but when I apply this cream the young lady gave us, they do not hurt anymore and feel so much better! At first, the maids were terribly worried because the young lady came from the imperial capital, but for someone like her to become the mistress of Walterheim Estate...!"
"Ah."
"Hehe. Shall we go?"
"..."
Leaving the maid behind, we arrived at the kitchen, where preparations for the meal were in full swing. At its center, Hans was pressing the cooks as they prepared the food.
"Hans."
"Ah, Butler. And what brings His Grace here as well?"
"Haha, my apologies. You must be quite busy."
"Not at all. The young lady solved one of the matters that had been troubling me, so I am at ease."
"Solved it? What do you mean?"
Jester pulled a ledger from his coat and held it out to me.
"...I told you I am bad with ledgers."
"Take a look."
"Look at what... Hm?"
The numerous merchants listed in the neatly organized ledger were not the ones that had supplied the grand ducal household until now.
"This is..."
"The young lady came to me and asked whether there were any merchants capable of supplying fresh vegetables."
Come to think of it, she did look as though something bothered her during lunch.
"Recently, many merchants have been reluctant to trade with the North due to pressure from the Imperial Family. But with a single message from the young lady, we became connected to the Merchant Alliance."
"Sob. I have struggled so long to pick out the good vegetables that came as rarely as rain in a drought, but now I will be able to place high-quality vegetables on the table of His Grace and the young lady!"
What was that? Terrifying. She moved the Merchant Alliance with a single word—what on earth was Cecilia?
Even in the novel, her influence over high society was immense. Though her connection to the Crown Prince has been severed, those connected to her are apparently still on her side.
"They must see it as an opportunity to bet on the North."
"Heh heh."
Back in my office, I rubbed my face dry and looked at Jester.
"To steal the hearts of the maids and the head chef in a single day..."
"Haha. Is she not remarkable? You should have seen her eyes when she came to me and said she wished to change the supply routes to the North."
"Urgh."
"Has one of Your Grace’s worries not been eased?"
I hoped so.
"For some reason, I feel uneasy... about something."
**
"Honestly, it is such a waste that the young lady was with trash like him!"
"Exactly. It is fortunate the Crown Prince made a mistake. Someone like her came to the North because of it."
"I heard from Ran that she is even making medicine for the knights to use."
"Good heavens... Just how capable is the young lady?"
"Ahem!"
At Leni’s pointed cough from behind them, the maids stopped gossiping and scattered back to their respective places.
Watching them, Leni frowned.
Damn it. I received word that she was no ordinary woman, but I never expected this much.
After entering her room, Leni checked her surroundings. Once she confirmed no one was there, she took out the crystal ball hidden in the deepest part of her desk and placed it atop the desk.
"Regular report. Lady Cecilia is currently staying at Walterheim Estate. I thought the young lady would be isolated, but the estate’s maids and cooks have already fallen head over heels for her. Isolation appears difficult."
Crackle.
Static flickered through the crystal ball, and after a moment, words began to appear.
[Leave the groundwork regarding the young lady to the local side. Report on preparations to siphon off the dowry provided by House Roienthal.]
"Do not worry about that. Butler Jester, who must examine the ledgers, is overwhelmed by the work the Grand Duke brought him, so it will be easily handled. And..."
Leni looked at the powder in the glass vial and smiled unpleasantly.
"Leave the young lady to me. I have already thought of a method."
**
"Phew."
"You worked hard, Cecilia."
"You worked hard too, Ran."
Somehow, Ran had naturally begun calling her Cecilia, and there was something comforting about it.
"Heave-ho! Shall I put these here?"
After returning from her work in the workshop, Cecilia smiled with satisfaction at the wound medicine in her room.
"What did the knight who used it first think?"
"Rushe tried it, and she said it was more effective than medicine sold in the market. Cecilia, you did not work as a physician in the imperial capital before coming here, did you?"
"Hehe. No. When I was young, the Crown Prince praised my medicine, and after that... Ah."
Cecilia shook her head. Ran tilted her head at the sight, but soon left the room, saying she would prepare tea.
"Still, I am glad I could be of help."
If she could make them realize her usefulness in the North, then Viktor would surely do his utmost to uphold their contract as well.
"Is that all our relationship is... Is it the same as I was before?"
Knock, knock.
"Young lady, are you inside?"
At the voice of Leni, the head maid, accompanying the knock, Cecilia’s gaze sharpened.
...What is it? Why has the head maid suddenly come here?
"Yes. Come in."
The door opened, and Leni entered the room with a benevolent smile.
"What is the matter, Head Maid?"
"I was worried the Northern cold might have harmed your health, young lady, so I prepared some tea. Would you like some?"
"Oh, thank you. May I have a cup?"
Pour.
Tea filled the prepared cup. Cecilia lifted it and began to inhale its fragrance.
Hm?
"Is something wrong?"
"No. It has a lovely scent."
...This scent.
Herbs were not the only ingredients used in medicine. To fight poison with poison, Cecilia had naturally acquired a deeper knowledge of poisonous plants than anyone else.
This faint scent drifting from it... It is a poisonous herb that causes depression when consumed in large quantities.
Why was Leni, the head maid, giving this to her?
This goes too far for merely keeping the future mistress in check. No, to begin with, this poisonous herb is difficult to acquire in the North...
"Young lady?"
...Could this woman possibly have some connection to the Imperial Family? First, I should drink this and then detoxify myself—
"I’m baaaack!!!"
Bang!!!
While Leni briefly turned her gaze toward Ran, who had burst through the door, Cecilia casually let the teacup fall to the floor.
"Oh, dear."
"Ah..."
"I seem to have dropped the cup. I am sorry, Leni."
"Not at all, young lady. I shall pour you another—"
As Leni picked up the teapot to pour more tea, Ran tilted her head and asked,
"But, Head Maid, the tea has gone cold."
"And what of it?"
"Well... um... You always tell us to prepare fresh tea when it has gone cold..."
"Oh my, is that so? Then I suppose it cannot be helped. I shall drink the tea Ran prepared for me now, and have Leni’s tea later."
Ran’s eyes sparkled as she began setting out tea. Seeing this, Leni clicked her tongue and left Cecilia’s room.
"Well done, Ran."
"Huh? Did I do something?"
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