OFGBL 16

Chapter 16

“Look at the snowfall records from the past five years. Every year, the first snow has been arriving three or four days earlier. The amount of snowfall has also been gradually increasing. If this trend continues, a snowstorm will arrive much earlier than usual this winter.”

Erenia remembered all too clearly the terrible consequences that would follow.

The supply routes would freeze earlier than expected, causing hundreds of warhorses—one of the army’s most vital assets—to die from hunger and cold. The people of the Devlin territory would suffer countless deaths from the bitter cold and starvation.

It had been a truly devastating winter.

So devastating that even the imperial family of Haiyen, the enemy nation, had eventually heard about it.

But Erenia could not speak of those memories aloud. Instead, rather than citing the outcome of her previous life—which she had no way of proving—she presented historical records that anyone could accept as evidence.

“According to the current supply ledger, food procurement is scheduled to be completed only five days earlier than in previous years. Even then, most of the supplies are concentrated toward the latter part of the schedule.”

The retainers who had been preparing to object fell silent at Erenia’s explanation.

“If the supply routes freeze even one or two days earlier than the currently projected completion date, the Grand Duchy will suffer an extreme food shortage.”

“But that is… merely a prediction, Your Grace. If we want to secure the supplies any earlier than this, we would have to offer the merchants considerably more money, which would disrupt our financial plans.”

“That is true. The price we pay is certainly important. However, if a sudden heavy snowfall traps the supplies during transportation and prevents them from reaching the Grand Duchy, then we will not even receive what we paid for, let alone accomplish our goal of surviving the winter safely.”

“……”

The head of supplies found himself unable to respond.

The likelihood might be low, but if the heavy snowfall did arrive earlier than expected, as Erenia predicted, the resulting tragedy would be too terrible even to contemplate.

“This is not a baseless prediction. A few days ago, while preparing for this meeting, I inspected the stables. However, I noticed that the warhorses had begun shedding their coats nearly two weeks earlier than usual.”

Animals were more sensitive to changes in climate than humans.

The problem was simply that Erenia was the only one who had noticed the signs.

Now that the seriousness of the situation had begun to sink in, the retainers straightened their postures and listened intently to Erenia.

“The same applies to the frost at dawn. It is still early autumn, yet every morning the grass is already turning white with frost, all the way down into the ravine. That means the temperature at dawn is dropping much more rapidly than usual.”

Clatter.

The quill slipped from the head of supplies’ hand and fell to the floor.

Erenia paid it no mind and continued to reinforce her argument.

“The entire territory is already warning us of an early winter. Why should we allow a ledger to remain bound by the patterns of previous years?”

Having identified the flaw in their plans and then concluded with a forceful statement that left no room for argument, Erenia silenced everyone in the meeting hall.

“Therefore, move the projected completion date for all supplies forward by at least two weeks. If the additional cost paid to the merchants is the problem, reduce the proportion of wheat to less than half of the current amount and make up the difference with relatively inexpensive oats and rye.”

Erenia had not merely identified the weakness in their plan. She had also presented a solution without hesitation.

Everyone stared at her in astonishment.

This was the moment when the arithmetic Erenia had learned in her previous life, while managing Haiyen’s finances in Joanna’s place, finally revealed its value.

The retainers were speechless for some time.

They were not merely impressed by the intelligence of their new mistress.

They were thinking about what might happen if her prediction proved correct—and what kind of terrible tragedy the Grand Duchy might have suffered this winter if the Grand Duchess had not prepared a countermeasure.

The mere thought was enough to send chills down their spines.

“…I am ashamed of my own foolishness. Thank you, Your Grace, for pointing out what I failed to foresee.”

Led by the head of supplies, the other retainers gradually bowed their heads as well.

This was not mere formal etiquette performed for Seirn’s sake.

It was genuine acknowledgment.

Seirn, too, was watching Erenia with an intrigued expression.

Even then, Erenia simply stared straight ahead with an indifferent expression, as though she had done nothing particularly remarkable.

The following morning, news spread throughout the Grand Duchy that three maids from the training-ground laundry had been reassigned to sorting minerals at a mana stone mine.

It was work far too physically demanding for the women.

And, remarkably, the order to transfer them had come directly from the Grand Duke himself.

While everyone was wondering why, information soon came to light that the three maids had recently been spreading unspeakable slander about the Grand Duchess.

“I heard that Her Grace personally visited the filthy stables and even went down to the ravine at the crack of dawn for the sake of the Grand Duchy.”

“To think they would insult someone like that.”

The information still needed to be verified, but after yesterday’s meeting, Erenia had already begun to be known as a mistress who personally went wherever necessary for the sake of the Grand Duchy and possessed remarkable insight.

Perhaps because of that, no one dared to say that the punishment inflicted upon the maids was excessive.

“Your Grace.”

“Did you sleep well last night?”

Instead, the servants’ attitudes toward Erenia had become noticeably more respectful.

From some of them, she could even sense a faint trace of awe.

This feels a little strange.

In truth, Erenia had simply done what she needed to do.

In her previous life, she had corrected problems far greater than this while working within the Haiyen Empire, yet nothing around her had changed.

Having the atmosphere surrounding her transform overnight felt unfamiliar.

But Erenia did not dwell on that feeling for long.

If she became intoxicated by the sense of accomplishment, she might begin expecting more from others than she should.

And so, after spending an unusually unfamiliar day—

Erenia finished preparing for bed earlier than usual.

That was when Seirn came to her chambers.

Officially, his visit was said to be for the sake of spending time together as husband and wife.

In reality, it was the nightly arrangement they had established so that they could study the control of Seirn’s magic.

Seirn appeared perfectly composed on the outside.

But internally, he was somewhat unsettled.

Over the past several days, Seirn had found his gaze unconsciously following Erenia almost like a habit.

The moment she had freely offered her knowledge for the sake of the Grand Duchy.

The sight of everyone in the castle looking upon her with admiration.

Those images remained vivid in his mind.

Why?

Why do I keep thinking about her?

Even when he was occupied with other matters, even when Erenia was nowhere within his line of sight, Seirn could not shake her lingering image from his mind.

It was an unfamiliar phenomenon unlike anything he had ever experienced, and it was disturbing his composure.

Perhaps because of that—

The closer Erenia’s hand came to his body, the more violently the magic deep within Seirn’s chest began to rage.

At this rate, he feared that rather than calming his magic, her presence might actually trigger another rampage.

Meanwhile—

“Grand Duke, is it helping at all?”

Erenia simply stroked the area around Seirn’s chest with a dry, dutiful touch, as though she were merely fulfilling an obligation.

For some reason, that complete lack of emotion only provoked him further.

Eventually—

Smack!

Seirn abruptly caught Erenia’s wrist as she tried to pull her hand away.

“…Grand Duke?”

He then pulled her hand back against his chest.

The burning sensation raging through his body seemed to subside beneath her touch.

Yet at the same time, the thirst rising from deep within his heart only grew stronger.

His body and mind were moving in completely different directions.

It was driving him insane.

There must be something wrong with my magic. This is all simply part of the purification process.

Seirn desperately tried to calm himself.

It was merely a characteristic of her divine bloodline.

Being drawn toward the means capable of suppressing his curse was nothing more than instinct.

Whether she understood his inner struggle or not—

“Grand Duke. Your heart is beating too quickly. Could it be that you still haven’t gained sufficient control over your magic?”

Erenia asked with genuine confusion.

For some reason, her innocent question almost made him resent her.

Seirn barely managed to remove Erenia’s hand from his chest.

He closed his eyes and remained silent for a moment, desperately trying to suppress this nameless variable.

The warmth left behind on his chest refused to disappear.

Her physical contact had already ended.

The flow of his magic had settled.

Even the pain was gone.

And yet—

Somewhere within him, in a place he could not explain with words, he still felt an inexplicable hunger.

“This is enough. I’ll be leaving for tonight. You should rest as well.”

Seirn decided that there was simply no way for him to calm down while remaining in the same room as Erenia, so he hurriedly rose from his seat.

“You worked hard, Your Grace. I hope you have a peaceful night.”

After being the very person who had given him an agonizing night of turmoil, Erenia sent him off with the same emotionless expression as always.

That innocent farewell almost made him resent her.

Somehow—

This thirst did not feel like something that could be calmed through purification alone.