My Contract Husband Resembles the Male Protagonist - Chapter 35
But I noticed beads of cold sweat forming on his face. I handed Dale a handkerchief.
“What’s wrong? Why are you sweating like that?”
“It’s nothing. Just a bit… tense.”
Dale murmured cautiously as he lit the stove.
“But Miss Enya, to what extent do you wish Kiedland to be investigated?”
“Will it go as far as I wish?”
“Of course…”
Dale added,
“Probably. I can’t be certain. Ultimately, it’s the Emperor’s decision.”
“Then perhaps regaining the stolen land would suffice.”
“Stolen land?”
“This.”
I extended the documents I had found rummaging through the storeroom Adelaine had called dirty.
“This is…”
Dale narrowed his eyes and set down the potatoes.
But there was more.
“And there’s also a map.”
* * *
“Really, it was Sister Adelaine…”
Sophia’s eyes were swollen from crying.
Two days later, urgent news flew into the Count of Kiedland’s domain.
The Imperial Court had sent a direct order for a thorough investigation of the Count’s domain.
‘This time it’s faster than usual.’
The cause was a covenant between Kiedland and Grunwald that had not been properly enforced, clear violations, and allegations of tax evasion.
“We had no idea such a thing existed.”
Yurta and the Lord looked at the old documents with an air of disbelief.
It was an old alliance contract between the Count of Kiedland and the Earl of Grunwald.
Sharing the Gonia Mountains, their history was long and complicated, but the gist was this:
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- During a time when the population of both Grunwald and Kiedland was declining, Grunwald had less military strength compared to Kiedland.
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- The Gonia Mountains were notorious for monsters. In exchange for a few mines, the Earl promised the Count to eradicate the monsters.
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- As Grunwald weakened, Kiedland turned a blind eye. Over time, they acted as if the mines naturally belonged to them, neglecting any obligations.
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- Kiedland only had the right to mine, while the ownership remained with Grunwald. They concealed this by not only failing to eradicate the monsters but deliberately driving them into Grunwald to devastate the land.
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- Eventually, they even plotted to secretly kill the Lord and absorb his domain.
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- The small particles spread across the wasteland in front of the Lord’s castle were toxic hallucinogens, part of a plot to attach strange rumors to the lord.
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- Adelaine Kiedland, under the Count’s orders, strolled the wasteland three times a day with the Earl of Grunwald under the pretext of land reclamation, exposing him to the hallucinogens.
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- Detoxifying agents were detected in Adelaine’s blood, not in the Lord’s.
Kiedland stole the land from Grunwald, but legally it still maintained its original smaller domain and thus paid taxes based on that size.
‘It’s exactly the kind of case the Imperial Officials would love.’
If asked where the most challenging place to survive in the empire is, everyone would pick the Imperial Court.
Thanks to the Emperor’s performance-based policies, officials were eagerly looking for cases that could lead to promotions.
And this incident happened to fit the bill perfectly.
It involved diverting taxes owed to the Imperial Court, something the Emperor would definitely appreciate.
The map I found in the storeroom proved the documents were true, showing the old boundary lines.
“All evidence has been delivered.”
Dale returned from the Count of Kiedland’s domain, removing his robe. He had taken care of matters on my behalf.
“How long do you think the inspector will stay?”
“With all that evidence, it won’t take even a day. Probably everything will be concluded and returned to the capital by half a day.”
“Thank you, Miss Anne, Dale…cough, sir.”
The Lord approached us with a face worn from worry but relieved.
He sighed deeply, knowing all that had transpired.
“I was too lenient in my handling, and that led to this mess, not even realizing the hardships Sophia went through.”
We didn’t inform him about Adelaine’s actions towards Sophia.
However, the lord seemed to have guessed the gist of the situation after learning that Adelaine had taken over the room initially meant for Sophia.
“How can I ever repay this kindness…”
“It’s okay.”
“I’m not okay. My heart won’t be at ease.”
But why did the Lord keep glancing at Dale?
It was as if he was grateful but also eager to escape the situation, or perhaps a bit nervous.
“I’ve already received compensation for this matter.”
“Are you referring to that barren garden?”
“And the plot next to it as well.”
“But it’s quite a small size.”
“But now we’ve reclaimed the land that was taken by the neighboring domain, haven’t we?”
I pointed to the map.
Kiedland and Grunwald were closely adjacent. The area known as the barren garden extended beyond just the plains.
There was more land that had crossed over to Kiedland’s fake boundary lines.
An area rich in vegetation, considered a neutral zone over time as neither Kiedland nor Grunwald disturbed it.
“All of this is mine now.”
“…..!”
