The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke - Chapter 58.2
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Although it was true that the mine was practically impossible to deal with, it should not be something that could be cleared away just because the temple owns it. Is it?
Furthermore, since it was not a movable property, people had to be sent periodically to manage it.
Grace judged that it would be better to purchase the mine and donate the money to the people in the western region instead.
This way, they could also garner some of the positive attention which is directed toward the temple.
“If there’s no need to pay a price, we can simply donate it to the residents of Count Ardel’s territory and use it as funds for a while.”
However, for that to happen, Grace needed to know about the mine. Since it was a place that almost no one knew about, it would be strange if she suddenly mentioned it and everyone would look at her suspiciously.
So she hired geologists who had nothing to do with the mission to act as guides.
Grace looked towards the entrance to the dying forest in the corner.
‘That mine was particularly difficult to purify because all the land was dead.’
Even if purification work was done on the dead land, the things that died on top of it could not be revived, and it would take a long time for new things to come to life again.
Therefore, the reason why Grace brought geologists was to find even a small amount of living land or plants.
This way, they could look around the forest without receiving suspicious looks.
“Even though it’s not dangerous, I may not be allowed to enter the forest.”
She knew that there couldn’t be any large beasts left in a place where the land was dead and it was difficult for any living things to survive.
Moreover, the location where Aria and Sylvester would talk at night after the purification work was inside that forest.
In the novel, Benjamin would look at Aria and Sylvester talking in front of the still-not-dry lake in the forest with a melancholy look.
“Um.”
As she recalled that description, Grace felt uncomfortable. There were many descriptions that depicted Benjamin having lingering emotions towards Aria, but at the time of reading, she couldn’t understand why she felt so negative about it.
‘When you feel complex emotions, work is always the best solution.’
She had always been in bed due to her poor health in her previous life. If people did nothing and just stayed still, negative thoughts would come and their health would deteriorate.
“Those who are not inspecting the soil in the village, please go to the forest. Did you bring a compass? You need to come back before it gets dark.”
“Yes.”
“Also, take this ribbon. Tie it around areas with anomalies or peculiarities and also tie it intermittently on your way back.”
Grace handed out the red ribbon to the geologists and spoke.
“There may not be any beasts inside, but if the three of you are hesitant to go, please ask the red-haired knight over there and she will provide an escort.”
Roselia was appointed as the leader of the knights dispatched by the Felton Duchy for this expedition.
‘All of them are knights of the duchy, so we shouldn’t get too many unwanted looks.’
However, the geologists were unexpected members. Benjamin had already been informed, but other members of the expedition did not take kindly to the sudden addition of personnel.
‘Especially if it was the Duchess of Felton who brought them along.’
Grace had received hostile looks from some members of the expedition upon arriving.
In essence, they seemed to think, ‘Why did this woman come along when she won’t be of any help?’
Grace had always been bothered by the malicious or pitying gazes of others.
There was no way Grace couldn’t read it.
‘Well, they can curse me all they want.’
After seeing off the geologists entering the forest, Grace and Sally organized relief supplies.
Meanwhile, Grace’s thoughts were quickly turning.
‘The reason they found out about the contamination incident late was because there was no report.’
As far as she knew, Count Ardel’s territory was currently being managed by the royal family. However, she did not remember any sentences in the original work that indicated someone being punished for failing to manage their property properly.
Grace judged that her memory might be wrong.
‘It’s hard to remember the original work without missing even a single detail.’
When reading romance-focused novels, it is easy to focus on the romantic relationships of the characters rather than the world-building.
And the final reason Grace brought the geologists here was.
“Looks like these people have nothing to do now.”
The personnel who were scheduled to arrive early to survey the surrounding area had their duties taken over by the geologists, leaving them with nothing to do.
Grace needed personnel who were accustomed to traveling long distances with nothing to do.
Fortunately, there were also knights from the Felton Duchy among them.
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