Chapter 70

Iberin, who'd been listening with a fond smile, blinked, caught off guard.

"Me? How did I end up in this?"

"Maybe he fell head over heels for our Lady Iberin, since you're so beautiful?"

She started to say it wasn't that, but —

"No way!"

Ether cut in like a thunderclap.

He immediately glued himself to Iberin's side.

"Mommy, you can't go to that mister…!"

He pleaded with such a pitiful face that Iberin shook her head hard.

"Why would Mommy ever leave Ether?"

"Even if he gives us this much stuff, don't go. Send it all back! All of it!"

"Right! I didn't like that mister from the second I saw him!"

The two kids fixed her with blazing eyes.

Next to them, Kal sighed heavily and stepped in to correct Rozelia's reading.

"Sure, Lady Iberin is beautiful, but he hasn't fallen for her."

"…Then what is it?"

"The jewel Lady Iberin wore that night."

"It really did look great on her."

"Right, he just wants to get his hands on it."

"That's all?"

"Yeah. You all heard them talking about it in the hall — all that ijet this, ijet that."

Kal laid out the situation.

"In that case he's being way too obvious."

"Nobles are like that."

"How much does it cost?"

"I don't know exactly, but going this far to get it? Has to be insanely pricey."

The three of them had drifted into a tight little huddle, trash-talking Count Elton.

Iberin couldn't help laughing.

In any case, looking at all the goods packed into Lecashe Castle, Iberin felt like she finally understood what it meant to be full without eating.

---

Not long after the goods arrived, Count Elton showed up in person.

"It's been too long!"

His face was lit up in greeting — the realization that he was the proud new owner of an ijet had clearly put him in a wonderful mood.

"It looks like the goods arrived safely. If you ever find yourself needing more, please don't hesitate to send word!"

His manner was warm to match.

It was exactly the transparent kind of behavior Rozelia had called out, but Iberin found it didn't bother her either way.

If the positions had been reversed, she'd have been the same — so she got it.

"Going forward, my house will commit itself wholeheartedly to Lecashe's development! Ha-ha-ha!"

That part was a little over the top, though.

"Let's not stand around here — come in and we can talk."

"Yes."

They moved to the parlor.

Inside, the conversation turned to the ijet.

"I truly can't thank you enough for choosing me."

The moment Count Elton laid eyes on the ijet sitting in the jewelry case, his expression dissolved into something close to bliss.

"It hasn't been cut yet."

"The ijet you wore, Your Highness Grand Duchess — who was the jeweler…?"

"A jeweler invited from the capital. If you'd like, we can ask him to cut yours as well."

"If you'd be willing, I'd be more than grateful."

Count Elton nodded immediately.

He even promised to throw in a generous sum on top to cover the cutting fees.

"Hm — and so, what price did you have in mind?"

Count Elton braced himself, pressing his mouth into a firm line.

Ijet was a gemstone you couldn't even find anymore.

It hadn't been buyable to start with.

He couldn't bankrupt his house over it, but short of that, he planned to accept whatever they named.

Watching him, Iberin and Lyssel exchanged a glance.

After a small smile passed between them, Lyssel spoke.

"Just take it."

"…Pardon? Pardon?!"

Count Elton's voice cracked on the shout.

It wasn't only Count Elton — a noble of duke rank would've reacted the same way.

"You're giving it to me?"

It was an unthinkable trade.

"As — as much as I've committed to helping Lecashe, this is ijet we're talking about…."

Count Elton's eyes shook.

"We never intended to sell it in the first place."

"What?"

"I didn't choose to do business with you on a whim. Yes, the ring with the holy spirit was part of it, but I also considered your reputation, and how you've conducted yourself over the years."

"…Th-then."

"I'd like you to become an ally of Lecashe. I'm not forcing anything, of course. You can't buy loyalty with a gemstone."

"…Y-your Highness…."

"There are many things Lecashe lacks. The hardest one to come by is trust."

Count Elton was a case in point.

The count himself recognized he'd flipped his attitude as easily as turning over a hand, and his face went bright red.

"I think I'd been trapped by my own prejudices. Looking back, my conduct shames me…."

The count sounded like he was beating himself up.

"That's not what I meant by it."

"I know. But to think I misjudged people this thoughtful — that alone makes me feel it."

Count Elton apologized several times over and pledged to be a good ally going forward.

He genuinely seemed moved by being handed a gemstone for nothing.

"It's actually us who should be grateful that you see us so kindly. One thing, though — this stays between us."

"Of course!"

A short while later, Count Elton headed back to his territory wearing an immensely satisfied expression.

---

Marquis Bilson, who visited after Elton, was the same way.

Maybe because the Bilson family had started out as merchants, the conversation flowed even more easily.

"A merchant who lacks a good reputation can never build anything great. People don't seem to understand that. The moment you say merchant, the looking-down-on starts!"

He emphasized, over and over, that there had to be trust between people. He'd clearly been looked down on plenty for his merchant background, because he got worked up.

"Sounds like you've had a hard time of it."

"My house has held its marquis title for several centuries now, and yet there's no shortage of people who'll dismiss us because our roots are in trade. Not that I let any of them off, mind."

Marquis Bilson was as direct and forthright as the young lady Iberin had met at the party.

There was nothing guarded in the way he moved.

"Lady Bilson really does take after you, Marquis."

"Yes! That girl gets her business sense from me, and she keeps stirring up projects — and the things she does keep hitting big! In my day I had a streak of good luck myself."

"Did you? I quite liked your daughter — I'd be curious what she had to say about all this."

Praising his daughter clearly delighted him, because he launched into a long, boastful stretch of stories about her.

Unlike the conversation with Count Elton, there was more to negotiate with the marquis on the sales side, so things ran long.

"Ah — and that girl wouldn't stop talking about how delicious the food here was. I couldn't stand the curiosity. She's got a refined palate, like me — praise like that out of her hasn't happened in ages."

"Would you care to stay for lunch?"

"You'd let me try it?"

"Of course."

"Then I'd love to."

That afternoon —

The marquis polished off the eggs like he was performing some kind of magic trick.

His table manners stayed intact, but the excitement was unmistakable.

The Cheongyangs must have hit the spot too — he heaped praise on them, saying he'd never tasted anything so spicy and aromatic.

And on his way out, he cleaned out the entire storehouse full of eggs and Cheongyangs.

"…You don't do anything halfway, do you."

Iberin said it with a slightly dazed look, staring at the now-empty storehouse.

---

Maybe everything just falls into place when you catch the right wave.

Every piece of it was running smoothly.

Except for the issue involving the god.

Iberin happened to be passing the training yard when she ran into Lyssel and the kids.

"Heading out again?"

Lyssel asked, like he was used to it by now.

"Yes. Want to come along, Lyssel?"

"Let's go."

The timing was perfect — Kal and Ether's swordsmanship lesson had just wrapped up.

The moment Lyssel finished tidying things up, Kal and Ether tagged along.

So did Rozelia.

"Don't you ever get tired of seeing it every day?"

"Do you, Lyssel?"

Iberin's biggest interest these days was the territory.

The half-formed village she'd cobbled together was steadily taking proper shape, thanks to the manpower and construction materials Marquis Bilson and Count Elton had sent over.

Ether saw it and shouted, pointing.

"Wow, that one's new!"

"You're right, it wasn't there before. Wasn't it?"

"Yeah."

The moment she opened her eyes that morning, Iberin had eaten breakfast and headed out into the village with Lyssel and the kids.

They were all marveling at how much Lecashe was changing by the day.

When the houses started going up one by one, the Habil family got a new house too.

The first one had been thrown together so fast that it didn't look like a place anyone could keep living in.

Stepping outside, the first people they spotted were the Habil family — Lecashe's resident family number one.

"Good morning!"

"Good morning."

They'd been busy bustling around, but they noticed Iberin and the kids and called out brightly.

These days the Habils helped with the construction work and even brought meals out to the workers.

"Busy as usual. What's that?"

"I steamed some eggs. The head chef gave me the recipe. They actually fill you up surprisingly well. Would you like one?"

"Should I?"

Iberin and the kids each took an egg.

"Out sightseeing again today?"

"And you're off to the workers again, Habil."

Habil laughed sheepishly.

"Let's go together."

Iberin and the kids came through so often that the workers nearby spotted them right away and called out greetings one by one.

They'd be gone the moment construction wrapped, but Iberin liked the bustle.

Habil set the pot of eggs he'd brought as a between-meal snack down on the ground and called out,

"His Highness Grand Duke and Her Highness Grand Duchess of Lecashe — and the eggs — have arrived!!"