The Radiant Young Lady of the Dark Family - Chapter 11
At his words, the Duke’s brow furrowed.
“That young lad?”
He was a man who could have inherited the Grand Duke position early after Grand Duke Radant’s death, but still remained as the heir apparent.
While the public seemed to pay attention to his clever moves, to Duke Cellie, it was merely amusing.
He tapped the desk with his index finger. Seeing his discomfort, Orsay continued as if he had been waiting.
“However, there was no separate recommendation letter written beside the land name. As far as I know, Dux Mountain is smaller in area than Viscount Merian’s land and has severe ups and downs. Considering cultivation, it would cost more.”
Then there was nothing more to discuss.
As Vanwilhelm was about to decide on Viscount Merian’s land, he suddenly noticed the black tea Salam had left.
It was black tea with a spoonful of strawberry jam. The phrase written on the paper Hartbisa had given him came to mind.
〈When you’re feeling down, drinking this makes you feel better, really!〉
Having heard that voice every morning these past few days, it seemed to echo strangely in his ears.
Looking down at the steaming cup, he stirred it lightly, and the jam dissolved into the hot tea. After taking a few sips, a sweet fragrance spread.
Surprisingly, just as Hartbisa had said, it really did improve his mood.
An unconscious faint smile escaped his lips.
“Delicious.”
As Orsay was pretending not to notice Vanwilhelm’s softened expression, there was a knock at the door.
***
“Come in.”
At Vanwilhelm’s permission, Hartbisa peeked her head through the opening door.
With slightly flushed cheeks, she carefully entered the office.
While dining with his daughter had been quite rare lately, it was extremely unusual for her to visit Vanwilhelm’s office of her own accord.
“What brings you here?”
At his words, Hartbisa looked momentarily flustered, but soon seemed to make up her mind and pulled out a book from her chest.
It was the book about the 100-year Empire’s redevelopment that Vanwilhelm had sent through Salam.
“While reading the book, I had some questions I wanted to ask for your insight, Father. If it’s not too presumptuous, could you spare some time?”
Hartbisa carefully added, “Are you busy?” She even appeared shy, as if making an after-hours appointment.
Orsay’s eyes widened at the sight.
He already knew she was a great beauty, taking after her late mother.
In fact, it wasn’t just her. Everyone who inherited the Cellie bloodline, from the master Orsay served to the still young young master, had features as if painted by an artist, so it wasn’t really surprising.
However, despite their uniformly beautiful faces, they all seemed not to know how to smile, their expressions consistently emotionless.
Having watched them for so long, Orsay knew well the peculiarity of a Cellie person’s smile.
There was even a saying in the underworld:
If a Cellie person appears before you, step aside to let them pass, and if they smile at you, write your will.
While it might be a questionable tale, it meant their eerily beautiful smiles carried poison.
Though the young lady had recently been greeting people brightly like a different person, now her fair face particularly glowed.
Orsay’s eyes flickered.
They say you can survive even in a dragon’s nest if you stay alert, and surely she must have some purpose.
‘What could it be? Luxury purchases? Introduction to potential suitors? Or true to Cellie nature, about succession of titles?’
Orsay’s imagination, habitually tending toward serious matters, expanded. Then he turned his gaze to Vanwilhelm.
His master must know about this. They needed to quickly devise a plan…
“Of course. Certainly.”
However, contrary to his expectations, his master emphasized twice that it was fine and unconsciously stood up to walk toward the sofa.
Hartbisa too sat down on the opposite seat with a bright smile.
“So what is it?”
Though the stiff Duke asked about the main point directly without expressing his welcoming feelings.
While such behavior might have felt awkward, Hartbisa didn’t seem to mind at all as she placed the thick book on the table.
“While reading the geography book, I had some questions.”
Between the pages of that thick book were markers, either ribbons or slightly folded corners.
It hadn’t been many days since the book was delivered through Salam, yet in that short time, she had not only read it all but also developed questions.
Though Vanwilhelm was surprised, it didn’t show on his face.
“What were you curious about?”
“I became curious about why the current duke’s residence was built in the northwestern area.”
It was an unexpected question, as surprising as her coming to visit after reading such a thick book.
“Chelsea has overcast skies most of the year and frequent rain making it unsuitable for farming, and its accessibility from the outside is poor, making merchant traffic difficult.”
People thought it was quite fitting for the Cellie family. Some even said that Cellie’s power of corruption had made the land sick.
But even just looking at publicly available books like this, one could tell that the northwestern land had long been uninhabitable.
While mining magic stones was feasible and that’s how the territory’s people made their living, even that wasn’t easy to extract, making it difficult for weak people to survive.
No wonder there was an unofficial saying that even companion dogs needed to know how to make a living to survive in Cellie territory.
Though she knew this already, reading the book made her feel more certain. Living on this land felt like self-imposed punishment.
As Hartbisa waited for an answer with sparkling eyes, Vanwilhelm looked down at her for a moment before answering.
“You must know what Cellie is called in public.”
“Of course. The Emperor’s Dog.”
“There’s another alias.”
At her father’s words, Hartbisa answered without hesitation.
“Ah, the Thug?”
“…Not that one.”
“The Underworld Boss?”
“…”
“Pffft.”
Orsay, who was standing behind Vanwilhelm with his hands behind his back, coughed as if choking.
He seemed more fragile than he looked since the last time in the dining room. As Hartbisa looked at Orsay with concern, Vanwilhelm laughed out loud.
“Haha, you’ve learned to make quite plausible jokes.”
She had always thought he had mature charm, but he looked much better when laughing.
Of course, she hadn’t meant it as a joke, but she just raised the corners of her mouth anyway. Better to go along with it.
After laughing heartily, Vanwilhelm continued with a strangely gentle smile.
“Anelia said something similar once.”
“…Mother did?”
“Yes, I didn’t expect you to say something similar.”
Vanwilhelm suddenly recalled Anelia. When Hartbisa was much younger, she had said something similar.
When was the last time memories of his wife had brought a smile to his face?
Vanwilhelm felt somewhat pleased.
“Then I should answer your question, shouldn’t I? While I can’t fully know the intentions of previous generations, about half of it was aimed at such geographical characteristics. Orsay.”
“Yes.”
He immediately brought over the map that had been spread out on Vanwilhelm’s desk.
It was the map they had been using to check newly acquired lands. Vanwilhelm unfolded it and explained about the family’s past actions.
“Previously, we were settled not far from the capital, but it hindered training.”
“Were there problems?”
“The southwestern area near the capital had high humidity, making the ground muddy and restricting movement.”
Vanwilhelm also added explanations about the symbols so Hartbisa could read the map.
While Hartbisa was listening attentively to his words, she didn’t show surprise at what she had asked about.
He carefully observed his daughter’s expression. After contemplating at the end of the explanation, Hartbisa spoke.
“I didn’t know because it wasn’t written in the book. Then I suppose the areas that haven’t been redeveloped until now are for similar reasons.”
“Well, yes. It seems they didn’t include it in the book since it’s basic knowledge for those living near the capital…”
Suddenly Vanwilhelm realized the irony in his words.
Viscount Merian’s land that he had been about to acquire without much thought – it was the very place he was discussing with his daughter.
No matter how close to the center, if the ground was muddy, it would take considerable time just to stabilize it. Perhaps it was an issue that couldn’t be improved even with time…
He had thought it was just overpriced bad land, but now he felt caught off guard.
‘To almost make such a careless choice due to haste.’
Vanwilhelm looked at Hartbisa with a stern face. She was casually discussing various points about that location with a composed expression.
It was something so basic when examining land that it had been overlooked for being too obvious.
Yet his daughter had made him realize this himself through just a few questions.
