Chapter 37
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 37
If it had been my first day after being possessed—no, if it had even been just this morning—I would have immediately been terrified, my eyes darting around in panic.
But strangely, the Grand Duke’s gaze didn't frighten me.
And there was one more thing I realized belatedly.
‘I should probably be honest, too.’
‘It should be okay to say at least this much.’
Throughout the carriage ride, I had been talking to the Grand Duke with these thoughts in mind.
Without even realizing it, I seemed to have come to trust Grand Duke Asis Frezier this much.
Miraculously.
Oddly.
Even though it was entirely unexpected.
Grand Duke Asis Frezier’s dark green eyes still possessed a power that overwhelmed his surroundings like a predator.
However, do not deep greenery and freshly sprouted seedlings coexist even in a vast meadow?
Just like the Grand Duke’s dark green eyes right now.
In such a sprawling field, gathering only the small, soft patches of green causes a handful of longing, hidden away for a long time, to rise to the surface.
“……Right.”
The expression of one remembering the departed is much like that of one honoring an ancient star.
With exactly that kind of face, Grand Duke Asis Frezier answered ever so slowly.
“Just like your grandmother.”
“…….”
It felt as though the Grand Duke’s longing had slightly infected me as well.
A strange sense of yearning spread through me, like a bell slowly tolling deep within my chest.
“Grandmother must have been truly happy because Grandfather was there.”
The words I spoke then were neither flattery nor pretense, but the sincere truth.
Just as a foam-like longing can infect another, can words filled with sincerity also be sensed by the recipient?
Grand Duke Asis Frezier smiled, a gesture quite unlike him.
It was a smile I was seeing for the first time in my life.
Grand Duke Asis Frezier scanned me from head to toe and said, “Once we return to the castle, throw that dress from earlier away.”
“Yes, sir.”
At that moment, as the Grand Duke let out another short laugh—perhaps finding something about my answer amusing—the system chimed.
[System] Benefit acquired!
[System] You have achieved over 90% Favorability with ‘Asis Frezier,’ granting you a Special Benefit!
[System] Coins acquired!
[System] You have achieved over 90% Favorability with ‘Asis Frezier,’ granting you 1,000 Coins!
[System] Asis Frezier’s Character Importance: ☆☆☆☆
‘Wait, how much?’
The Benefit, the 1,000 Coins—none of that even registered.
The most shocking number among the technicolor text floating before my eyes was...
‘90% Favorability?’
Th-this is insane!
My eyes went wide, and my mouth hung open in a daze as I stared at Grand Duke Asis Frezier, who was crossing his arms and trying to get some sleep.
‘This is a level of favorability you could barely achieve in the late game even if you played as Corico!’
“……Grandfather?”
I called out to him without thinking.
The Grand Duke immediately opened his eyes and looked at me.
“What is it?”
“Ah……”
“If the carriage is uncomfortable, shall I have you moved to a separate one?”
“No, no, it’s not that.”
I shook my head quickly. Even at 90%, nothing seemed particularly different, but……
It felt as though a supportive wall padded with cotton had been placed behind my back—soft and reassuring.
I didn't know such an unfamiliar feeling could even exist in this world.
“I just…… wanted to say goodnight.”
“How whimsical of you.”
Grand Duke Asis Frezier closed his eyes again and spoke.
“You have sweet dreams as well. Tulia.”
Chapter 3
The Main Castle of the Frezier Grand Duchy was built with a unique structure.
Dozens of annexes, each with its own purpose, surrounded the Main Castle like a fortress, and the Main Castle itself was massive, boasting five hundred rooms.
The Family Head’s chamber was at the very center.
Right next to it was the room where the Family Head’s spouse officially resided, and like most high-ranking nobles, he possessed more than just one or two bedrooms.
This first central circle surrounding the Family Head’s quarters was called the ‘Sun Chambers.’
The rooms surrounding that were the ‘Moon Chambers.’
Beyond those were rooms with names commonly used by nobles, such as the Cloud Chambers, Glass Chambers, Ruby Chambers, and so on.
Naturally, the closer a room was to the Family Head’s quarters, the better the residence, serving as a symbol of the owner’s status.
Viscount Lilius and his wife, who held Sovereignty Over Internal Affairs, had chosen one of the ‘Moon Chambers’ and had been living there all along.
Though called a ‘room,’ it was a place more spacious and beautiful than most luxury townhouses, featuring three living rooms, four terraces, eight bedrooms, six bathrooms, three powder rooms, and seven dressing rooms.
However, their son Tedric had been banished to a warehouse, and his wife Aubrey had been stripped of her Sovereignty Over Internal Affairs, meaning she no longer had the right to occupy a Moon Chamber.
Thus, she was literally ‘kicked out.’
To a room located in a corner of the Main Castle.
Even if it was a room located further into the corners than Tulia’s room, the Main Castle was still the Main Castle.
However, Aubrey could not accept this reality.
“What if our poor son freezes to death in that shabby warehouse?! I—I have to look after him from nearby!”
But without Sovereignty Over Internal Affairs, Aubrey could no longer buy firewood or down duvets with public funds as she pleased.
That warehouse where Tedric had been banished—the massive, castle-shaped warehouse where Tulia had been staying until just recently—truly had no heating.
It was a place so cold that even if a fire was lit in the hearth, the warmth would be swallowed by the chill in an instant.
Burning firewood in such a warehouse every day was equivalent to deforesting an entire mountain every month.
Just to keep one person, Tedric, warm.
The two servants sent in to attend to Tedric were also shivering from the cold, but neither Aubrey nor Lilius spared a thought for their well-being.
Naturally, they had no intention of showing the kindness of providing them with firewood either.
Their only concern was Tedric and the astronomical heating costs required for him.
Normally, they wouldn't have even blinked at such an amount, but……
“To think we couldn't turn the Statis Plains into a horse ranch! Do you have any idea how massive the losses are right now, Lilius?!”
His second older brother and the Grand Count of Frezier, Nigella, had sent a letter venting all sorts of rage.
It was true.
Previously, the plan to turn the Statis Plains into a horse ranch, which Tulia Frezier had intruded upon, had ended in a spectacular failure.
If they had only turned that plain into a ranch, they would have purchased royal breeding horses from Empress Carmi to breed them, and then sold those horses at a very high price.
To achieve this, a significant amount of money had been required from the preliminary stages.
Privately, they had to send heaps of gifts to Empress Carmi, and publicly, they had to do a fair amount of lobbying to secure the business rights for the ranch.
But this ambitious joint venture between Lilius and Nigella had vanished into thin air because of Tulia.
The money invested?
Of course, it had vanished into bubbles along with the plan.
“Dammit, dammit!”
The thought of that astronomical sum of money was driving him mad. Lilius slammed his hand down on his elegant mahogany desk, but it only resulted in a pained hand.
‘It’s dangerous to leave Tulia like this.’
It was an instinctive gut feeling as a Frezier.
No, it wasn't even a gut feeling.
He had already been outplayed by Tulia’s moves time and time again!
Right now, Lilius was like a hawk whose wings had been thoroughly clipped.
In contrast, Tulia Frezier was on a winning streak.
“So she went to the Imperial Palace with Father……”
The fact that she hadn't actually gone all the way to the palace and had only stopped by the White Ivory Tower before returning wasn't the important part.
What was truly important was that Grand Duke Asis Frezier had ‘personally’ made up his mind to take Tulia with him to the Imperial Palace.
Furthermore, word was that Tulia Frezier had met Empress Carmi at the White Ivory Tower.
There was even news that she had been bestowed with the Empress’s pure gold hairpin.
That was an honor that neither Tedric, nor Aubrey, nor even he himself had ever received.
Lilius Frezier paced his office frantically. His mind was a mess.
“……This won't do.”
Lilius still believed that the one giving Tulia instructions was her father, Marquis Aster Frezier.
Because the Tulia he knew could never come up with such clever and cunning moves.
‘But I’ve been beaten several times. What on earth should I do?’
He was now at the point where he was afraid to rashly threaten or frame Tulia.
If even he were to be kicked out of the ‘Moon Chambers,’ he would truly be in an irrecoverable state.
Lilius Frezier had ambition.
To one day bypass all his older brothers and inherit the title of Duke of Frezier.
The ambition to eventually inherit even the position of ‘Grand Duke of Frezier.’
As that ambition began to be shaken to its core, Lilius felt a massive sense of crisis.
‘I can't let this happen.’
Judging that he could no longer handle Tulia alone, Lilius had sent a letter to his second brother, Grand Count Nigella Frezier.
And he had just received the reply.
In it, Grand Count Nigella Frezier said something completely unexpected.
[You fool! Why don't you just call those who hate Tulia the most to the Main Castle? Create some new people to torment her!]
Lilius’s eyes snapped wide open.