ITMWG 70

Chapter 70…

Calculated development.

Altair and I were kicked out of Leon’s lab without much gain.

If Leon is reacting like this, I think it must be a serious illness.

Nadia still didn’t know why Leon was grumbling with such a tired look on his face. As the next day dawned, Aylesford Castle became noisy again. The craftsman who was supposed to fix Prince Orca’s carriage started repairing the wheels and his group got busy preparing to leave. Melissa and her party also joined the commotion.

“Melissa is following the prince?”

When Nadia asked in surprise, Anna, who brought the news, happily nodded.

“Yes. His Highness is going to the capital at His Majesty’s call, and he offered to take lady Melissa with him.”

“Why would he…”

As far as she knew, the two were not particularly close. It wasn’t out of the norm for gentlemen from the capital to escort their ladies, but they would never go as far as asking a lady with whom they were not acquainted to accompany them.

Was there a connection I have missed?

But no matter how hard Nadia tried to recall, there was no connection between the two. But whatever it was, it’s nice to see two annoying bumps disappearing at once.

Prince Orca won’t tempt Altair into becoming a villain, and Melissa won’t bother Altair either.

It was exhausting because two bombs were dropped at the same time, but the situation seemed to be getting under control somehow. She could feel relieved long at last…that was, until Marie spoke.

“We will be leaving for the capital soon, so we will see them two again.”

“We’re leaving for the capital?”

“Yes. It is said that His Majesty has invited all the nobles to the capital to celebrate the Silver Jubilee, so we might as well be there.”

“Silver Jubilee…”

As soon as Nadia heard those words, a memory flashed through her mind. Silver Jubilee. The event celebrating the 25th anniversary of the emperor’s accession to the throne was regarded as a very important event in the novel. It was the episode in which Prince Orca, who later became a traitor and destroyed the capital, returned proudly and began to attract everyone’s attention. He was never a figure worthy of people’s attention as he was known as a sickly prince who was pushed out of the succession fight a long time ago. However, he succeeded in making his presence known to the emperor and the capital’s nobles through the Silver Jubilee. The grown-up prince showed off his dignified appearance, leaving no trace of the frail appearance of his younger days, and impressing everyone with his broadened knowledge after traveling around the entire empire. What became more of a hot topic was the gift that Prince Orca gave to the emperor. The fascinating cultural relics that Prince Orca collected while traveling around caught the emperor’s eyes. In particular, amazing inventions and delicate works of art that were said to have been obtained with difficulty from a mysterious country beyond the rugged eastern mountain range were a hot topic. This led the emperor to dream of pioneering the land beyond the mountain range, and Prince Orca naturally stood at the forefront. It was considered crazy to pioneer a new land by crossing the rugged mountain ranges where dangerous beasts existed, but Prince Orca did it with pride. Along with his right-hand man, the crazy villain, duke Altair.

The flow of the story was a series of coincidences at first, but…

“… We should also prepare a gift to offer to His Majesty.”

When Nadia was assessing the future, she had thought about what she needed to do as well. Prince Orca made the Silver Jubilee his stage. But she also needed that stage. Not her, precisely, but Aylesford.

It’s a great opportunity to promote our magic stones!

If they were to make a wonderful crafted item with the highest quality magic stone from Aylesford and present it to the emperor… It would get everyone’s attention.

And magic stones will sell like hot cakes.

Then, Aylesford would become wealthy, and Altair would be so busy just running the territory that he would have no time to worry about interacting with the outside world, especially with dangerous people like Prince Orca. The reason for humans to take on dangerous tasks was usually because their circumstances were poor. Were they to become  prosperous, there was no need to take risks.

That’s why making Aylesford rich is very important.

That way, Altair wouldn’t get close to Orca and turn into a mad villain! Nadia was lost in thought, wondering what kind of craft she should present to get everyone’s attention. Marie, who was quietly observing her, cautiously opened her mouth.

“Madame, are you worried about going to the capital?”

“Huh?”

“You suddenly turned quiet. Are you concerned about staying at the Marquis of Vine?”

“Pardon?”

Staying at the Marquis of Vine? When her eyes widened at the information she heard for the first time, Marie furrowed her brows with a look of disbelief.

“That’s why miss Melissa came this time, for Marquis Vine has invited the lord to the mansion. When we come to the capital for the Silver Jubilee, Aylesford, who has no abode in the capital, will have nowhere to stay, so we must come to the Vine Manor.”

“I see. Aylesford certainly has no residence in the capital.”

Usually, local nobles had huge castles in their estate and smaller townhouses in the capital. They were for social activities in the capital. However, Aylesford, who was struggling for money just by sustaining the estate, could not have purchased a townhouse in the capital.

Inviting Altair to the mansion probably wasn’t out of consideration for him.

He must have invited them thinking there was something for him to gain.

“The lord has already accepted the invitation.”

Marie advised Nadia with a sigh.

“You can tell the lord that you don’t like the Vine Manor. He is not the kind of person who would ignore your opinion.”

But Nadia shook her head.

“If it didn’t matter one way or another, he would have asked my opinion first. But if he has already decided that way, there must be a reason why he did so.”

“I see…”

“It’s been a while since I got to see my old house anyway.”

She felt very strange. She left in a hurry to avoid the villain, but she ended up going back with the villain instead. For some reason, she felt a chill through her body. Her shoulders trembled and she smoothed her arms with her hands as Marie wrapped a shawl around her shoulders with a worried look on her face. However, unlike Marie, who was worried about her, Anna, who was not aware of her situation, looked excited.

“I’m really curious about the capital. The festival in the capital must be very big and extravagant, right? Aylesford’s simple festival is nothing compared to it, right?”

Marie shrugged her shoulders as Anna’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“Well, the capital’s festivals are definitely grand and colourful. But I’ve never been to Aylesford’s festival, so it’s hard to compare.”

“Then we’ll find the answer in no time. Aylesford’s festival will be held soon!”

Anna raised her voice in ecstacy.

“Aylesford holds a large Harvest Prayer Festival instead of the National Foundation Festival. It’s very fun.”

“I see. I do remember hearing that.”

Before Nadia attended the Eastern Noble gathering, she had heard something like that from the knights.

‘The estate festival is also something that the mistress must take care of.’

She was unable to attend her first festival properly, as an accident occurred on the way back from the gathering of Eastern nobles and her return was delayed.

I should tell them to pay more attention so that the people in our territory can enjoy it to the fullest.

She thought about telling them to prepare plenty of alcohol and food, and if people needed anything else, prepare that too…Nadia stood up and added one more line to the list of her “to-do-things”.

For now, let’s go see Pavel!

❈❈❈

Before Nadia could even get to Pavel’s room, she ran into him in the hallway.

“I heard there’s a festival coming soon?”

When she brought up the topic of the festival, Pavel adjusted his glasses and spoke as if he already knew what the next topic would be.

“We have prepared plenty of alcohol and food. The boats were also prepared without any problems.”

“Boats?”

“Yes. On the first day of the Harvest Prayer Festival, people carve what they want to get rid of on a boat, float it on the lake, and burn it. People think that the boat will take all the bad energy and disappears.”

It was a custom that did not exist in the capital.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“We’ve already prepared everything, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“It’s my first festival as the madame, but I can’t believe I’ve already neglected it like this…”

“Well, isn’t that a given?”

Pavel tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand her reaction.

“Preparing for the festival is originally the responsibility of the men. Even a small boat is quite heavy, so harvest prayer ceremonies have traditionally been prepared by men. On those days, all the cooking is done by men.”

“Really?”

Her eyes widened, amazed by the completely different custom from the capital.

“Then will Pavel also cook that day?”

“There is a shortage of workers, so I have to help. On that day, his lord, without exception, joins too.”

“Pardon? Altair cooks too?!”

As she visualised Altair adjusting the heat with a pot in front of him or cutting small ingredients…

It doesn’t suit him at all.

As her expression turned strange, Pavel shrugged.

“Still, his skills are better than those of the knights. Everyone cuts the pot instead of onions while cooking.”

“The pot?”

“Yes. You have no idea how many pots were thrown away like that … Of course, the cost of the pot was deducted from their salary, so there is no problem.”

Pavel glanced over his glasses. Nadia could feel the butler’s will to never suffer a loss.

“Anyway, you just have to worry about what to write on the boat and send it afloat. I suppose you want to spend the next year without any worries, don’t you?”

“Even so…”

For someone like her who was timid and worried, even if she carved letters on her stomach, it wouldn’t be enough.

In comparison, Altair seems to be the simple type.

Maybe he wouldn’t carve anything at all. It felt funny to think of her boat filled with writing and Altair’s boat with nothing written on it.

“Anyway, please leave the festival preparations to us…”

Pavel trailed off as his gaze shifted to behind her. As she turned her head, following him, she saw Prince Orca standing at the window of the opposite building, waving his hand. She awkwardly bowed in greeting and he pointed his finger in her direction. While she was tilting her head, not knowing what that meant, Prince Orca turned his body and disappeared from the window.What was that?

Unable to find an answer to her question, she looked at Pavel with a puzzled face and saw he narrowed his eyes, letting out a sigh.

“I think I understand a little now.”

“Pardon?”

“About why is my lord wary of that person. His Highness seems to be a person who can easily fit into any place. Unlike our lord.”

Fit in? Wary? As she blinked at the confusing words, Pavel bowed politely. His greeting was not directed at her, but behind her back. Orca had appeared.

Ah. When he pointed this way, he meant to come here.

As Nadia belatedly realised what Orca’s gesture meant, she turned to greet him.

“Greetings to Your High-… ”

But before she could even finish the greeting, Orca said to her with a grin.

“The Baron owes me a debt, madame.”