Chapter 59

The whole campaign to shove Iberin and Lyssel together — every bit of it stopped cold.

Iberin decided it was all for the best and rationalized it that way. Lyssel seemed all right too.

"Good morning, Rotte."

"Yes. How are you feeling today, Lady Iberin?"

The sudden collapses had eased up lately, but the headaches kept coming. There'd been days when her head felt like it would split open and she couldn't do anything at all. On days like that, she just took her medicine and chose to sleep through it.

"Fine. Today, anyway."

"That's a relief."

It wasn't every day, mercifully, so she was managing. Iberin nodded.

"Oh, by the way — some residents from another territory got picked up at the edge of the Forest of the World Tree."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"It seems they abandoned their territory and fled here, then went into hiding out of fear and got caught."

"Ah… in the Forest of the World Tree?"

"Yes. They were close to the entrance, so they managed all right, but it could've turned dangerous fast. His Highness apparently found them tucked between the trees."

"And where are they now?"

"He brought them back to the estate. The butler's handling it."

They'd run away?

To Lecashe, of all places? Why?

Sure, they'd declared they'd accept residents, but no one had actually paid the announcement any mind. Which meant these people hadn't come because they wanted to.

"They're so terrified we can't get a conversation out of them."

Iberin's curiosity was piqued.

"Then let's go now."

When she arrived to meet them, their condition was rough. The two had been so filthy and rank that the staff had cleaned them up first, but their bodies were covered in injuries. It could have been the Forest of the World Tree taking its toll, but it looked more like they'd been beaten somewhere.

Horrific wounds.

Worse than what Ether had looked like when Iberin first found him. Flesh gouged so deep you could practically see bone.

Iberin's face creased, and Lyssel reached over and covered her eyes.

"Don't look."

"……."

She wasn't the only one — everyone else had gone silent too.

And it looked like they were a family. A child who looked about middle-school age, and two parents. The parents were curled around the kid like they meant to shield them, no matter what.

"Which territory did you come from?"

"P-please, spare us…!"

The moment the territory came up, they crumbled, sobbing and pleading.

"…You're talking like I just told you I'd kill you."

"W-we're sorry… We just… we're afraid to go back to the territory…"

They lay flat on the ground, trembling.

"Is it going back that scares you, or being here?"

She needed it clarified. Because if these people were willing, Iberin wanted to take them in.

"…G-going back… going back to where we were is much more frightening."

The man got it out in a quavering voice.

Meaning there was still some fear of Lecashe in there too. Of course — that was why they'd thought to hide in the Forest of the World Tree to begin with. Entrance or no entrance, they'd known a monster could come tearing out at any moment.

Lyssel still had his hand covering Iberin's eyes. She slowly pulled it down and met the family's gaze.

"Do you want to live?"

"……."

"Even if it has to be in Lecashe territory?"

"……."

If they were going to be here anyway, gaining residents was a good thing.

"It's hard to answer right away — try staying with us first, then decide."

She said it, then walked out of the room still holding Lyssel's hand. Lyssel let himself be tugged along without resistance.

"…We were going to take in residents anyway, so it's all right, isn't it?"

"Of course it's all right."

"Even when I do it on my own like that?"

"It wasn't on your own. You went ahead with what we'd decided together."

True, but… at the end of the day, Lecashe was the lord here, and she was cautious about whether he'd be upset that she'd just acted on her own. Lyssel looked like he genuinely didn't care, though.

"What if I keep going and end up demanding full authority?"

"If you want it, I'll give it to you."

"Excuse me?"

"It's not such a big deal."

"…It's a huge deal?"

"I'll give it to you regardless."

"Wow."

"You don't want it?"

It wasn't that she didn't want it — she was just too stunned to answer. Even her parents back in her past life hadn't trusted Iberin to this degree, and the realization was startling.

Honestly, I might be happier now than I was living with my family back in Korea…

The thought slipped out before she could catch it, and it threw her a little.

Happiness, huh.

Before she'd transmigrated, there hadn't been much of that. Her family had been a mess in every direction.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Just hit by gratitude all over again."

"For what?"

"For all of it."

She'd thought she was the one trying to make Lecashe happy — and somewhere along the way the one who'd actually gotten happy was her.

"Lyssel, can I ask you one thing?"

"You can ask me ten."

"Pff — okay, when there's something I'm curious about I'll just do it without asking, then."

"By all means. But what's the question?"

"Ah. Whether you're happy."

"Happy…"

He let the word out softly, testing it, then broke into a grin.

"I'm not sure, but I'd like it if I could call right now happiness. No — it is."

A smile of full, complete happiness.

---

They said they were slaves of House Roman.

Iberin had known there were slaves in this world, but how they were actually treated — that, she hadn't really grasped. There were no slaves at the Lecashe estate, and Iberin had come from a society that didn't have any either. She'd vaguely assumed they wouldn't be treated well, but this was beyond anything.

They put the slave family in one of the staff rooms and let them just rest. She heard the rest of their story from the other staff. A sudden tax hike, forced labor that never let up. They couldn't take it, and they'd run.

"Then I'm the cause."

"How is that your fault, Lady Iberin? If that Roman bastard hadn't been bleeding Lecashe for money in the first place, none of this would've happened!"

"Exactly."

Rotte was livid, and Lyssel quietly seconded her. She was angry enough she didn't even hesitate over bastard.

"I wasn't blaming myself, exactly. Anyway, they came to Lecashe, so let's do our best to help them open up."

"We should."

She wanted to do everything she could to help them settle in. Just then, Lyssel spoke.

"But if they're slaves, there'd be paperwork, wouldn't there?"

"Paperwork?"

"Yes. The slave bills of sale. Viscount Roman could throw it back in our face later. Better to pay properly and buy them out."

"…You might be right. He sure looks the part of a nasty noble."

"It's best to button this up tight — sending Viscount Roman a separate message would be wise."

Iberin agreed. Last thing she wanted was him claiming she'd snatched his slaves with no leg to stand on.

---

The exchange with Viscount Roman went more smoothly than expected. The emperor's grip on him hadn't fully faded yet, it seemed.

It hadn't come free, of course. Lecashe paid above market price for the slave papers. The whole thing wrapped up at lightning speed within a week, so they hadn't told the Habil family yet.

Lyssel asked,

"What will you do with them?"

"That'll depend on what they decide."

"Have you thought it over?"

"What about you, Lyssel?"

"I'd like to give them their freedom. Lecashe doesn't really hold to class lines to begin with."

Iberin broke into a smile, like she'd just heard exactly what she wanted to.

"Same here. Honestly, I think slavery is a vile practice that ought to be done away with."

She'd come from a modern world — the word slave itself didn't sit right with her. This exchange with Viscount Roman had made her see it: to people like him, a slave was worse than livestock. They didn't even regard them as human.

"I see. I hadn't thought that far. But if that's what you want, that's what we'll do."

"If I said I wanted the Aleta Holy Empire, would you give me the empire too?"

"…I'll need to build up my strength."

Lyssel was already on the verge of getting up from his seat, and Iberin grabbed him in alarm.

"No, I was kidding!"

"…You were?"

"Of course! I don't need an empire. I would like to smack the emperor at least once, though."

"Haha."

"I'd rather everyone here just live happily for a long time than have the empire."

"So would I."

Lecashe was healthy enough — all that was left was for Iberin to be healthy too.

Just then, the sound of pounding feet came from down the hall, and the door flew open. Iberin's head snapped around, and Rozelia and Ether came barreling in.

"I did it!"

"Huh?"

The slightly soft, warm mood evaporated in an instant.

"My holy power moved!"

Rozelia shouted it with a flushed face, and Lyssel was out of his chair on his feet.

"What…?"

Iberin stared at Rozelia, her face a mess of confusion, and thought —

Already? How?

---

Rozelia's holy power was real.

A pale, crisp energy bloomed outward and seeped into Iberin's body.

"Wow…"

Iberin couldn't help the awed sound that escaped her as the holy power washed over her. The warm, gentle energy seemed to loosen the strain out of her whole body. The headaches that had been tormenting her lately vanished without a trace.

"Lady Iberin, your color's so much better!"

"Really?"

"Yes. Oh my goodness, I'm so happy."

A glance in the mirror showed her face — which had gone darkened and sallow from the demonic energy eating away at her — visibly brighter. With the color back, her looks came alive too.

"…I'm glad, Rozel, but — are you all right?"

"Hm? I've got tons of holy power, so I'm fine."

Rozelia answered brightly, like what's there to worry about.

"…If you say so, that's a relief."

"Thing is, I can't actually move all of my holy power — only part of it. But hey, holy power's the one thing I have more than enough of!"

"Only part?"

"Yes!"

Rozelia really did seem fine even after using her holy power. Iberin wondered if she'd just been overthinking it.

"…So I can keep living now?"

But the moment that question left her mouth, the mood in the room shifted into something strange.