The Warmth of Giselle
One week had already passed since I finished my dealings with Viola. Only three days remained until the merchant caravan carrying the smuggled goods was scheduled to arrive. During that time, I had been performing the role of a spoiled brat with remarkable dedication and enthusiasm inside the grand ducal castle.
“Hey! You call this food?!”
Clang!
I swept the silver tray off the breakfast table and shouted. What tumbled to the floor were a rock-hard black loaf of bread, thin watery soup, and a single piece of tough, salt-cured meat.
“W-we tried to procure better ingredients, Your Highness, but the supply of food has been… rather difficult lately…”
The chamberlain trembled as he made his excuse. I leaned back lazily in my chair and clicked my tongue.
“Excuses, excuses. Is it really so hard to find a single piece of meat fit for the mouth of an imperial prince, the eighth son of the Emperor? Clear it away at once! I’ve lost my appetite.”
“I-I’m terribly sorry, Your Highness!”
As I watched the chamberlain frantically clean up the mess, I shed bloody tears in my heart.
Damn it, that’s such a waste. That meat looked like it would’ve released a ton of juice when chewed.
In truth, considering the North’s current food situation, the meal I had just overturned was practically luxurious. The citizens were on the verge of boiling tree bark because they didn’t even have that hard bread to eat.
But I had to play the part of a picky, extravagant, good-for-nothing noble raised in the imperial palace. Only by throwing tantrums about food and craving luxury would the vassals be fooled when the 100,000 gold worth of luxury goods arrived in a few days.
“Haah, this really is a backwater dump. The standards are so low I can barely stand it.”
I muttered loudly on purpose as I rose from my seat. The knights and servants stabbed hateful glares into the back of my head. I could practically feel their murderous intent, as if they wanted to draw their swords and stab me in the back right then and there.
Just hold on a little longer! In three days, I’ll make sure your stomachs are bursting with food!
I apologized fervently in my mind while strutting arrogantly out of the dining hall.
“Your Grace! I can endure this no longer!”
Finance Minister Godwin cried out, his eyes brimming with tears.
“That worthless imperial prince complained that the annex was cold yesterday and threw three expensive mana stones into the heater! Those stones could have heated the lord’s castle for an entire week!!”
“And every morning he overturns the table, claiming the food doesn’t suit his taste! While our people are starving to death, how can you allow such a man to continue like this?!”
The vassals’ voices filled the office with bitter resentment. Giselle, seated at the head of the room, silently stared down at her documents. The quill in her hand trembled dangerously before snapping cleanly in two.
“…….”
The vassals flinched and fell silent. Giselle felt the same as they did. To her, who loved the people of her territory more than anyone and cherished the North above all, every single one of Kael’s actions was something she wanted to behead him for.
The Emperor’s dog is finally trying to devour the North from within.
Giselle set the broken quill on the desk and spoke.
“That is exactly what he wants.”
“Pardon?”
“He is deliberately provoking our anger. He is waiting for us to lose our reason and point our blades at him.”
Giselle gazed out the window.
“The imperial family needs a justification to strike the North. The moment we lay even a finger on him, the Emperor will immediately dispatch the imperial army under the name of suppressing a rebellion. If that coincides with a demonic beast wave, the North will fall in mere days.”
“H-how could…”
“That is why he is acting so blatantly like trash, testing our patience. He knows full well that we cannot carelessly kill a member of the imperial family.”
Giselle’s voice grew firm.
“We must endure.”
She looked at the cold water and fist-sized oat bread that was her own portion on the desk.
“No matter how much he rampages, ignore him. We cannot let a man like that drag the people of the North into ruin.”
At her decision, the vassals eventually wiped their tears and bowed their heads.
“We will keep it in mind, Your Grace.”
After the vassals withdrew, the office fell empty. Giselle covered her face with both hands.
Yesterday she had received a report that another person had frozen to death at the orphanage. On top of that, she had belatedly learned that the damned imperial family was controlling food distribution. The situation was utterly hopeless.
Yet the man who was her husband in name only was squeezing the North’s blood-like budget to buy luxury goods and throwing food onto the floor.
Her insides felt as if they were burning pitch black, reduced to nothing but ash.
“……Just a little longer. Please hold on just a little longer.”
Thinking of the harsh winter to come, she bit her lip hard.
That day at lunch, I dug through the annex wardrobe and put on the most extravagant and flashy fox-fur coat I could find. It was an utterly ridiculous outfit that screamed, ‘I am a rich, thoughtless noble.’
Viola’s caravan arrives in three days now.
My reputation inside the grand ducal castle was already solid. But I needed to solidify my reputation outside as well. The rumor that I was throwing money around and acting like a complete idiot had to spread. Only then could the enormous number of carts arriving later be disguised as the prince’s luxury goods.
Humming an exaggerated tune, I left the annex and headed toward the grand ducal castle’s main gate.
And there, on the path leading to the main gate…
“……”
I ran into Giselle again.
Does this grand duchy’s ruler really run around on foot from morning till night?
She was a workaholic to the point of foolishness. Giselle looked me up and down in my flashy fur coat, then opened her mouth with an expression like she had bitten into a bug.
“Where are you going this time, first thing in the morning?”
Her voice was icy. I quickly curled the corners of my mouth into a smirk and shrugged.
“Ah, Your Grace the Grand Duke. The morning air in the North is so refreshingly crisp that I thought I’d take a little stroll. Does this godforsaken backwater territory even have anything like a casino or gambling den?”
“What did you say?”
“Or perhaps a high-class tavern. Since I’ve got plenty of dignity maintenance fees tucked in my pocket, I figured I’d go stimulate the poor northern economy a bit.”
The moment I finished speaking, Giselle radiated killing intent.
“……What disgusting nonsense.”
She ground her teeth and took a step toward me.
“The people of this land are walking through hell every single day because of the coming winter. Most of them don’t even have bread to eat today and are out on the streets. Entertainment? Gambling?”
“Come on, there’s no way a place where people live doesn’t have at least that. Don’t be so stingy.”
“There is not a single place in this territory where your filthy money should be spent.”
“I’ll be the judge of that after I go see for myself. Oh, or are you trying to imprison me, an imperial prince? You didn’t make a fuss when I went to the brothel last time. Or you can check if you want.”
I smiled obnoxiously and shoved the imperial family’s shield in her face. Giselle’s fists trembled. She clearly wanted to smash my face in, but she had no justification to forcibly stop me without giving the Emperor an excuse.
In the end, she glared at me with eyes dripping with disgust and stepped aside.
“Do as you please. But if you cause even the slightest harm to the people of this land, know that you will truly die by my hand.”
“How scary. I’ll keep it in mind.”
I snickered as I walked past her and exited through the castle gates.
Whew, that felt natural.
Time to go on a little inspection, then.
After leaving the gates and riding into the heart of the city…
“……This is the central district?”
The marketplace was completely empty, and the streets were filled with people huddled and shivering from the cold. It couldn’t even be compared to the bustling streets of the capital. I had known from the original story that the North was poor, but seeing it with my own eyes made the misery hit me like a gut punch.
Those imperial bastards.
The North was the one blocking all the demonic beasts, yet this was how they were treated? Rage boiled inside me like molten lava.
But on the outside, I played the part of a detestable noble and pinched my nose. I deliberately grumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Ugh, what a stench. What kind of territory is this? There’s nowhere fun at all!”
The people flinched and avoided me. I kicked open the door of a shabby tavern tucked away in a corner of the city.
“Hey! Bring me your most expensive liquor!”
I scattered a few gold coins on the floor and threw a tantrum. The people inside the shop shrank fearfully into the corners. I put my feet up on the table in front of them and gulped down the alcohol.
After about an hour of perfectly playing the role of ‘the crazy prince who throws money around like garbage,’ I slipped out the back door when the people assumed I had passed out drunk.
Of course, entertainment was never my real goal. I needed to scout out a secret warehouse to store the food once Viola’s caravan arrived and map out the distribution routes leading into the slums in advance.
I changed into a plain robe and headed toward the slum district.
“Haah, it’s cold. So cold.”
The situation in the slums was far worse than in the central district. Skinny, emaciated children sat listlessly among rows of crumbling shacks.
I mentally drew a map as I searched for abandoned warehouses on the outskirts of the slums.
That old foundry warehouse over there should be inconspicuous enough to unload cargo.
While I was wandering around, familiarizing myself with the terrain…
“Come now, line up nicely. No fighting.”
“Whoaaa…!”
From a little ways ahead, in front of a half-collapsed orphanage, I heard children cheering. I unconsciously stopped walking and hid my body.
Someone wearing a dingy, dirt-stained brown cloak had pulled up an old cart loaded with firewood and bread and was distributing them to the children. Because of the large hood covering half their face, it was hard to make out who it was, but…
“……”
Silver hair that had slipped out from beneath the cloak. And those kind, crimson eyes looking at the children.
It was Giselle.
The Grand Duke, alone without any guards, dressed like a commoner…
The same woman who had coldly snapped at me this morning was now kneeling down, gently stroking the dirty cheeks of the orphanage children.
“Eat slowly. Make sure to take the firewood to the director. You’ll be able to sleep warmly tonight.”
“Thank you, big sis! You’re really an angel!”
When a little boy who had bitten into the bread smiled brightly, a soft smile spread across Giselle’s lips.
Her face, which had always been frozen like ice, was smiling.
It was the first time I had seen her smile like that.
Ah…
A corner of my chest ached.
Seeing the devotion I had only read about in the novel with my own two eyes felt strangely moving.
That firewood and bread… she must have gotten them by turning off the heater in her office and skipping meals.
Her complexion looked much paler than when I first saw her. After I had taken 100,000 gold from her a week ago, she had clearly cut back even further on her own share to fill the gap.
She really was that kind of foolishly good woman. The kind who burned herself away for the sake of the people without even realizing she was breaking and being whittled down.
That was why, in the novel, when she was betrayed and faced death, she had cried out so miserably—on a cold snowy field where no one recognized her sincerity.
God, how could anyone kill a woman like her?
I leaned against the wall and quietly watched until she had finished distributing all the firewood to the children.
The cold northern wind blew, turning her cheeks red, but the area around her seemed strangely warm.
Yes. I wanted to protect that smile.
Giselle should remain in the sun like this—loved by the people, staying noble and pure. The dirty, shady work in the back alleys could all be shouldered by me, even if I had to be treated like trash for the rest of my life.
“……Giselle.”
I whispered softly into the empty air.
“I’ll do it all. You just keep being that foolish angel.”
By the time Giselle finished saying goodbye to the children and stood up, pulling the empty cart behind her, I quietly turned away so as not to be noticed.