“Wh-what?”
Valderic, who until now had feigned innocence but kept up appearances, parted his lips at my words.
He clearly hadn’t expected to say sothing like this in front of the assembled family.
Valderic, gaping like a goldfish, let out a squawk.
“How dare you address your elder with such words—!”
‘I knew he’d react like this.’
I’d been through this in the Yuhye Min days.
He had neither courtesy nor conscience, and he always behaved exactly like this.
“Is it polite to accuse Grandfather of a lie?”
“What lie have I told?”
“You kidnapped the rcenaries’ families as hostages to stage a false rebellion.”
Valderic and the rcenaries under interrogation flinched.
Especially the rcenaries—they looked as if they’d seen a ghost.
“W-what...!”
Their faces drained whiter than during torture.
Valderic, again gaping like a goldfish, finally regained his composure.
“That’s nonsense—!”
I withdrew a handkerchief from my robe’s pocket and wiped the blood flowing from the rcenary captain’s wound.
The captain flinched and bit his lip.
“Don’t be afraid. I have a father of similar age to you.”
“......”
“How pitiful. You went to such lengths to save your dying mother.”
“......”
I glanced at the rcenaries again.
“I know you did your best.”
“My lady....”
“You risked your life for your sick sister, for your starving child... you fought for them.”
The rcenaries’ eyes trembled.
The captain stared at incredulously.
When I smiled faintly, their faces instantly flushed red.
“But tell this.”
My expression hardened in an instant, and I fixed them with a different gaze.
“Is it right to seize soone else by the hair just to save your own family?”
The hall froze.
Even Joshua and Balzac widened their eyes.
It seems Han Jiho’s words weren’t entirely wrong.
“You’re becoming more like Grandfather every day.”
“?”
“He said he felt his heart drop to his feet at a single word from . That I gave off... an oppressive aura.”
Handing the handkerchief to Conrad, I turned my gaze back to the rcenary captain.
I grasped his hair and forced his head up.
“You’d best confess who sent you.”
“Ugh....”
“Otherwise, you don’t know what I, in my anger, might do to what you cherish more than your own life.”
“What... what would you do—!”
The captain shouted.
The other rcenaries flinched and stared at .
I smiled again, strangely.
“Well then. What shall I do?”
“...What?”
“And how much do I really know, Guins Trang?”
“...!”
“Or should I start calling you Guins Peram?”
It seed none of the rcenaries knew he was kin to the Guins family.
They all stared in wide-eyed shock.
I lightly tapped the captain’s cheek.
His breath faltered.
He looked at Valderic, who in turn stamred, opening his mouth to speak but then glanced at Grandfather.
“F-Father, Erilot is threatening the rcenaries—”
“It’s him! Valderic Astra ca to our camp and proposed a deal!”
“Silence—!!”
“He promised to provide dicine to cure Mother’s illness. In return, he ordered them to spread false rumors of rebellion!”
“That’s a lie, Father!!”
All eyes turned to Valderic.
He descended the steps, agitated, and approached , his voice raised.
“It was you who threatened the rcenary captain! Right?”
“Have you gone senile in my absence?”
“What, what?!”
“In this brief mont, would I collude with the captain to point the finger at you, Uncle?”
I looked around and said, “Isn’t that right?”
Soone in the hall cleared their throat.
Even they must know Valderic is more the mastermind than I am.
‘I read their minds on the ship.’
With my .
Valderic was the first to notice the rcenaries’ presence.
He was the one who captured them.
He devoted the most effort to interrogating them.
Valderic turned his stiff neck to glance at Grandfather.
“F-Father....”
“You pathetic wretch.”
“P-Please listen to . This is a trap—”
“The rcenary interrogation is overseen by Viscount Debussy.”
Viscount Debussy bowed his head.
Grandfather simply turned his back and headed toward the main hall.
I glanced at Valderic.
“See? I told you. Do you wish to die?”
“You— you brat—!”
“I’ve left enough gold behind for you to cling to life. Though I wonder what Grandfather will strip from you.”
“You... you madwoman!”
I slapped Valderic’s shoulder.
“Do you agree, Uncle? Then you should be careful.”
“What, what?”
“What will I do if you go completely mad here?”
I smiled lightly and turned on my heel.
“Brothers, let’s go!”
I shouted.
Balzac grinned and called back, “Right!”
Joshua chuckled and passed by Valderic as he walked out.
At last, after six years, I returned to the Daymond Jurisdiction.
“My lady!”
“Mi—lady—!”
“My lady~!!”
As soon as we arrived at the manor, the staff ran up to us.
Especially Heidi and Betty, who had moved here while I was away.
“Oh my, how you’ve grown...!”
“Goodness, you’re taller than us now!”
“When we went to the Kansis Continent two years ago, you were barely the size of a chickpea...!”
I had never actually been that small.
Surrounded by the staff and nearly flattened, I groaned.
I patted the backs of Heidi and Betty, who had flung themselves at .
“I missed you so much, I’m so happy to see you again, and I’ll never leave your side again, and I’m hungry.”
“H-hungry?!”
“You’re hungry?! Head cook—!!”
Heidi and Betty panicked and dashed toward the kitchens.
Only then did I exhale.
As I rubbed my neck, my eyes t those of a maid my age.
‘A new recruit, I see.’
Heidi and Betty are quite competent unless I ddle.
Perhaps for that reason, the maid looked flustered.
“Hello.”
“Ah, hello!”
The maid hurriedly bowed.
“The manor has changed a lot while I was away.”
“Oh, yes! We repaired and expanded after last year’s landslide damage.”
A landslide?
I glanced at my twin brothers behind .
“What about the wards? How could a landslide occur? What were you two doing?”
“We were on duty.”
“The wards should’ve been maintained by the mages.”
Balzac and Joshua exchanged glances, then Joshua grinned oddly.
“When people get fat, they naturally want to give each child and relative a place.”
“So the administrators and retainers each claid a spot, leaving no proper mages?”
“Well....”
“So the wards fell into chaos, and they couldn’t stop a landslide?”
Balzac nodded vigorously as though I’d hit the mark.
‘These idiots....’
Our masters were busy, and Michelan, the general manager, was absent.
They apparently felt free to slack off.
I asked the new maid.
“And the officials? What were they doing when their mistress returned?”
“I, I inford them of your return, but they were in a eting....”
When Father was here, at least one family mber would rush out like their tail was on fire.
Even if in the bath.
“What about the council chamber? Was that changed during the expansion too?”
“Oh, yes! I’ll show you.”
I followed the maid down the west corridor.
My brothers, Conrad, Han Jiho, Luca, and Iseze trailed behind.
The council chamber, the largest, was at the end—where sunlight stread in.
From there one could see the Duke’s manor in the distance—where we siblings once played.
‘They wouldn’t have given it up to my brothers... so they’re using it as a council room without permission.’
I asked Conrad.
“How do you think this level of chaos happened?”
“Master Joshua is right. Corruption follows prosperity.”
“Still, isn’t it excessive to treat the mistress so lightly?”
“Lord Richmond is in the capital, and the two of you spend barely half a month a year here.”
“You know Father and my brothers’ temperants. Even so, they let things run wild?”
“The territory has grown so much that many new people have co.”
So none had ever served my family before.
No wonder they felt emboldened.
‘Well, the jurisdiction did keep expanding while I was away.’
Thanks to Father’s conquests by imperial decree.
A guard who spotted my brothers hurried over.
“L-lords!”
There was also a young lady here—it seems she was new too, since she didn’t recognize .
“I will announce your arrival at the council.”
“They don’t announce the mistress’s arrival in every room.”
The guard blinked at my words.
I smiled.
“Stand aside.”
“Eh? I, um... excuse ... oh, Lady!”
I brushed past him and flung open the council chamber door.
Bang! The laughter inside stopped dead.
“How dare you... Oh, it’s the lords.”
A man with a catfish beard, seated in the high seat, laughed and swept his gaze over .
“And this must be....”
I fixed my eyes on him and asked Conrad.
“Who’s that stranger?”
“Forrly he was lord of the Pludno Kingdom territory. He’s the seventh son of King Pludno.”
The Sensia region, now part of Daymond Jurisdiction, is the largest.
The land is fertile, with the magic rail line, comrce thrived.
‘So he took the high seat.’
The catfish-bearded man lifted an eyebrow.
“Won’t you ask who I am?”
“Who else would you be?”
At my words, those at the far end of the table gasped.
“No way... my lady!”
“My lady? You’ve grown so much!”
“Oh my, Lady, when did you return?”
They were the sa people I’d seen when I first arrived here.
‘Sitting in the corner ans they’d been pushed out by the retainers’ power struggles.’
Originally Daymond Jurisdiction was Astra’s most backward region.
The competent administrators had all been sent to other second-generation fiefs.
Leaving only the simple-minded.
‘Those Michelan brought here had been dispatched to foreign lands with him.’
“Long ti no see, Baron Kalia, Baron Bruce, Sir Nouvelle.”
I smiled gently, and they rushed over, bowing repeatedly.
Only then did the catfish-bearded man’s party realize who I was.
He laughed.
“You are the fad treasure of Astra, forrly of Pludno. I am Anos of Sensia.”
“Sensia.”
“Yes?”
“From now on call it the Sensia region. Pludno is a fallen, vanished kingdom.”
He ground his teeth—clearly insulted.
Unfazed, I looked to the retainers.
“Bring the ledgers.”
He flinched.
“Why do you wish to see the ledgers?”
“You said you expanded the manor. I need to verify what and how much was spent.”
His party looked at one another in panic.
‘I wonder how much they’ve embezzled.’
Corruption and embezzlent go hand in hand.
He scowled and shouted.
“Even if you are the lady, you cannot demand to see private ledgers—!”
“Is it odd for the mistress to verify how her father’s wealth is spent in her own house?”
“There’s no law...!”
“I!”
At my shout, he flinched and fell silent.
I stared him down and spoke slowly.
“I am the law of the Daymond Jurisdiction.”
“...!”
“...!!”
The retainers froze.
Han Jiho, watching, chuckled and whispered to Conrad.
“He’ll think she’s been in isolation training.”
“Isolation training?”
“That she’s beco unbelievably strong.”
“After all, she couldn’t reveal her Astra bloodline on the Kansis Continent.”
“Must have been tough. No wonder she got strong.”
I stepped toward the catfish-bearded man.
“What are you waiting for? Fetch the ledgers.”
“The ledgers... w-well....”
“Not bringing them ans you dare to pocket my father’s wealth.”
He sprang to his feet.
“Nonsense. We have only loyalty to the Daymond Jurisdiction—!”
“You have two options to solve this.”
I smiled sweetly.
“Confess everything and leave naked, or be beaten to death and hung on the gate. And one more thing—”
“Tyranny! I’ll report you to the main hall—!”
“You keep shouting, and I’ve had enough of it.”
Smack—!!
Iseze and Luca attacked him simultaneously.
Iseze’s fist sank into his gut, and Luca’s sword hilt struck his calf without rcy.
Yes, I endured much on the Kansis Continent.
There I taught Luca and Iseze one rule:
‘Hmm, they’ve learned well.’
He collapsed like a dog, clutching his belly.
I sat in the space he vacated and looked at the retainers.
“Tyranny indeed. Go ahead and report —if you think you’ll survive.”
“.......”
“.......”
“.......”
The catfish-bearded man’s party turned «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» pale.
I clasped my hands and rested my chin on them, smiling.
“First, the ledger matter. Oh, and just so you know, we’ll be examining everything from hiring corruption to minor infractions, so be prepared.”
Balzac and Joshua chuckled.
“We didn’t need to overturn things? Doesn’t look like you’ll need your planned sche.”
“Such a pity.”
—they didn’t look the least bit disappointed.
Thus the jurisdiction quickly began to stabilize.
The harbor.
Three nobles disembarked and looked around.
“So this is the Astra Estate, said to be the empire’s most prosperous?”
It looked nothing like they’d expected.
Even at the main port, there was no sign of ‘culture.’
Dried fish strewn about, ragged residents, alleys reeking of garbage.
“I don’t see why ‘she’ was so eager to return here.”
“Lil is a strange one.”
“But didn’t they say the people here were better than those on the Kansis Continent?”
The man with crimson hair in the center gave a hollow laugh.
“Better, you say?”
mbers of each family, wearing their own livery, were bickering.
“Our guests should be escorted by the Duke’s house of Germo!”
“Nonsense. The Paante have hosted VIPs for generations!”
“They weren’t formally invited. The Biferi duke awaits them anxiously—”
“They arrived via the Astra harbor! They should be received by Valderic’s jurisdiction!”
“What! Lord Valderic is under investigation! This belongs to Gustav’s jurisdiction—!!”
‘What a pitiful sight.’
The crimson-haired man spoke sharply.
“Lil doesn’t belong in a place like this. We must take her away.”
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