Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Build Muscles Instead of a Baby!
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However, the surprise lasted only a moment.
A spark of curiosity and desire for research instantly ignited on Merica's copper-toned face.
"I'll look into ways to maximize the preservation period. Even if it can hold for just half a year to a year, that would change everything."
Grandpa's eyes gleamed with sharp intensity as he spoke.
"Theoretically, yes, it might be possible."
Merica nodded and continued.
"If we add things known to extend natural preservation like sugar or salt... we might be able to store it for even longer periods."
"Excellent."
Grandpa immediately issued an order upon hearing Merica's smooth response.
"Go and bring me results. You have a fortnight."
"Understood, Your Excellency."
Grandpa turned to his secretary, Oliver, with the vigorous energy of his younger days and continued his commands.
"Oliver, you go calculate the profits and losses if we purchase produce from the Ios Kingdom across the sea, can it there, and import it."
"Yes. Since the Ios Kingdom is famous for glasswork, procuring glass jars shouldn't be difficult, Your Excellency."
Grandpa bared his fangs in a grin upon hearing his loyal subordinates' responses.
"And go tell Marquis Shleman! This year, let him take the remaining food supplies back home and rot together with them for once."
It was the laugh of a beast sensing victory.
Food couldn't be stored for long.
The south had gripped the north's leash by exploiting that fact until now, but that was over.
If we used canning to buy ourselves some breathing room and refused to purchase their food, the south would suffer massive losses instead.
Losing a vast territory like the north as a buyer would turn the disadvantages of their food ingredients against the south, which had allowed Marquis Shleman to strut around so arrogantly.
'Let's see you miss the sales window and flail around helplessly with your rotting onions!'
Now, time was on our side.
"Your Excellency, why not give a gift to Mariella, who came up with this brilliant idea?"
I turned my gaze to Chairman Grandpa, suppressing my laughter.
A face that was upright and resolute.
I had expected him to bring the canning idea to Grandpa right away.
But I hadn't thought he would credit it entirely to me when reporting it.
Canning was something kids only used for pretend play anyway.
No one would dare complain even if he stole the credit.
Yet this man, who steadfastly gave the credit to a four-year-old child to the very end, was impossible not to like.
"Mariella, do you know how great a merit you've achieved?"
A hearty laugh burst from Grandpa's mouth.
"With this, we won't have to worry for the time being. Come winter, we can supply the commoners—who suffer without fresh vegetables—with all the produce and fruits they need."
"Really? That's awesome!"
"And that's not all. If we improve the fragile glass jars, we could even distribute them as combat rations to the starving soldiers."
"Daddy starved a lot in the war too. It makes my heart hurt so much..."
"I imagine he did."
I could see Grandpa's face twist in pain.
Having spent his youth on the battlefield, he could fully understand the hardships Daddy endured throughout the war.
It was a fleeting expression, and Grandpa quickly regained his composure.
Even so, Merica and Oliver must have caught it, as they hurriedly bowed their heads.
Chairman Grandpa quickly ushered the two out of the room.
Once everyone had left, Grandpa scanned the empty space with his eyes before slowly speaking.
"Don't entrust your father with full authority over the canning business in place of your young self."
For a moment, I thought Grandpa might not hate our daddy quite as much as it seemed.
"He's a man who hates me, but he won't refuse a position earned through his daughter's merit."
He would.
That's the kind of person Daddy was.
But I had other ideas. I shook my head and looked up at Grandpa.
"Can't someone else do it besides Daddy?"
"...Dietrich is still far too young."
If I couldn't trust fully grown Dietrich, what about the little one?
I shook my head firmly.
There was someone even more suitable for this than Daddy.
I had someone in mind from the moment I entered the room.
'Of course, Daddy is capable...'
But having been away from the north for so long, his foundations were shallow.
His relationship with Grandpa was poor too.
'Above all, Uncle is the problem.'
If Daddy took charge, even if it was a business that greatly improved the north's food situation, Uncle would find some way to sabotage it.
So it was better for Chairman Grandpa to handle it in every way.
An elder respected and revered by the northern nobles, yet not part of Uncle's faction.
That's why Uncle hadn't dared confront him directly but instead pressured him with debt issues to persuade him into retiring from the chairmanship.
"I want to ask Chairman Grandpa!"
I beamed up at him, and he asked with a puzzled expression.
"Count Verbain?"
"Yes! Chairman Grandpa is always so nice to me. And he's great at his job. He works with Grandpa every day."
"Yes, every day with your grandpa..."
Grandpa unwittingly repeated my words before clamping his mouth shut.
I couldn't bear to look at his broken expression and hugged his leg, burying my face in his knee.
In truth, from the first moment I saw him, I had wanted to call him Grandpa just once.
Director, and Butler Grandpa too.
Thinking of the elders who raised me, I hugged his leg tightly.
Just as Daddy was a first for me, so was Grandpa—connected by blood.
"...I'm sorry."
Grandpa's voice, laced with regret, softly scattered above my head.
That apology held many meanings.
Ignoring me until now, frequent fights with Daddy.
And the cold tone he used to forcibly widen the slowly closing distance between us.
Understanding it all, I simply hugged his leg tighter without a word.
Grandpa's hand, hovering in the air, settled on the back of my head.
I felt him stroking my hair with a touch that was growing familiar.
Word that the Kalenberg Duke family was embarking on a new canning business by Grandpa's order spread like wildfire.
It spread so quickly that the very next day, Chairman Grandpa came to see me right away.
His wrinkled face was flushed with bewilderment.
He must have rushed over from early morning, so he seemed quite urgent.
"Chairman Grandpa, would you like some tea?"
"No need. First, tell me if it's true that you recommended me as the head of this new business."
"Yes! Mariella said so!"
"Why decide something so important so hastily? You seem too young to understand, but that business is sure to make a fortune..."
"That's why Chairman Grandpa should take it!"
It was definitely a huge moneymaker. A massive undertaking.
That's why the most upright person should lead it.
A man who could endure without even reaching out to Grandpa, like a blood brother.
A man of strong responsibility who shouldered not his own debt, but that of his deceased son, bearing it silently.
'This business prioritizes improving the north's food situation over profit.'
Who else knew the north as well as Chairman Grandpa?
I was convinced only such a person could make it run properly.
"Mariella, I've never done business before. So give it to Leopoldt..."
"Daddy said he's never done business either."
"Even so, a position involving such vast sums of money..."
"Chairman Grandpa, no need to worry. Emmerich said he wants Grandpa to keep being chairman."
Chairman Grandpa, who had been trying to decline the role, clamped his mouth shut.
This was a good opportunity for me—and for him.
A chance to escape the gambling debts left by his dead son and shake off the Duvayer Count family's control, standing tall once more.
A chance to ensure his young grandson would never be mocked by a creditor's son over money troubles again.
I met Chairman Grandpa's eyes straight on.