Chapter 192
Chapter 192
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Monster Wave and a Nightcap
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Business discussions with Ivana continued as well.
The vacation in the Northern Region with Rozalin and Lize went on smoothly.
While we were simply relaxing comfortably in the north, Ivana brought up something quite sudden.
Well, it wasn't truly sudden—I knew about it from background knowledge.
"A monster wave is scheduled to start in a few weeks."
"Now that you mention it, that's right."
It was something I'd known for a long time.
There were tales of monsters swarming the north every winter.
But it was a bit ridiculous that I'd forgotten about it entirely during the actual winter season.
Anyway, the point was that Ivana mentioned it would begin in a few weeks.
"So, what should we do? Should we head back home?"
"Hmm... I'm not sure. Even if the wave is severe, monsters never breach the castle walls."
"That makes sense."
I'd seen plenty of knights during our stay in the castle.
It was easy to tell how diligently they trained and how strong they were.
"Still, does that mean we'll have to stay cooped up inside the castle for a while? Or is there something else we need to do?"
"Hmm..."
"We're guests anyway. It'd be best if Lady Ivana decides. Same for Mother, and the servants we brought won't object regardless."
"From our position, we'd prefer you wait it out here rather than leave right away while we handle the wave."
"I see."
I wasn't sure exactly how long it would take.
I'd never actually encountered monsters myself.
In the academy's first-year curriculum, they were mostly just stories from books, and only second- or third-years got to see them firsthand.
The south barely had any monsters, which made it even more so.
In the end, Ivana and the northerners' judgment would carry far more weight on this.
"It's not something that wraps up in a day or two, but it won't drag on forever either. Sorry to Camellia and the Leonhardt folks..."
"We're fine with it. Honestly, staying in the castle is so comfortable anyway. It's not like we'd have anything to do back south either."
That was true.
There really wasn't much waiting for us back home... and maintaining a good relationship with Ivana was obviously beneficial.
Anyway, we kept the conversation going.
It made sense for me to handle the discussion about this, not Rozalin.
From the start of our northern trip, my talks with Ivana had been entirely between us, and there was no reason to burden Rozalin with it now.
Personally, I also didn't like the idea of leaving Rozalin to chat with Ivana...
I felt a twinge of jealousy at my stepmother talking with someone else.
It was absurd even to me.
But I couldn't help it.
The thought had already crept in.
"We should be fine until the end of this week, but starting next week, we'll be busy with wave preparations. I probably won't have much time."
"I'm here to help you, Lady Ivana, so no issue on my end."
From my perspective, building a solid relationship like this was more than enough.
Until now, I hadn't paid much attention to Ivana being from a ducal family.
But after hearing from Rozalin a few days ago, her background suddenly seemed far more significant.
A full-fledged ducal house.
Far stronger than count families like the Rosaki or Rose Families.
They dominated the entire Northern Region—not just a territory or city, but a whole region.
"Pfft..."
It would surely help in crushing the Rose Family and Christina Rose.
Direct attacks would be impossible, of course.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Just thinking about staying in the north a bit longer makes me happy."
"Oh."
"A monster wave isn't all good... but it can be seen as a rare spectacle you don't get to witness often."
I had no real thoughts on the monster wave itself, but I said that to reassure her.
From Ivana's standpoint, she might feel a bit guilty for dragging a business partner into something exhausting.
But I viewed even this situation as an opportunity.
"Pfft..."
To me, all this was just for some future payoff, but even as a ducal heiress, Ivana still had plenty of naive sides.
If she were on her father's level as Nordal Duke, she might have seen right through me.
After that conversation, I returned to the room and summarized it for the two of them.
Something like that had come up, so we'd probably need to stay in the castle for a while.
Lize rarely chimed in unless prompted, so she stayed quiet, and as expected, Rozalin spoke up.
"Lady Nordal says it'll be safe... but is it really okay?"
"Of course. With the Nordal family's knights fully prepared, there's no need to worry at all."
"Still..."
"Even a monster wave is basically a business for northerners, right? I don't think outsiders like us should meddle."
"...True enough."
Rozalin tended to worry a lot subtly.
I understood her concern.
Monster waves weren't exactly peaceful or quiet events.
She had plenty of reasons to fret... but I wasn't worried.
Ivana herself said it was fine.
No point in us panicking when someone who knew the north far better than us wasn't concerned.
"More importantly, Mother, want to have some drinks tonight?"
Thinking we'd wrapped up the serious talk, I brought it up with Rozalin.
Just a casual suggestion.
"Huh?"
"It's not much, but Ivana gave a little gift to my family visiting the north."
"Oh..."
"And it happens to be alcohol... I can't really drink it myself, so that's why I'm asking."
That wasn't true.
Ivana hadn't given any alcohol.
No other gifts either.
Our talks had all been business-focused, so why would she?
But I used Ivana as an excuse to make the proposal to Rozalin.
"What do you think?"
"Um... at night?"
"Yeah, it feels wasteful to sip during dinner. We could relax in the room, chat leisurely, and have a little."
My reason for deciding this was simple.
I just wanted to get Rozalin drinking.
As I'd seen before, she was cuter when tipsy—more prone to complimenting me, which was amusing in various ways.
But it wasn't just that. I planned to get her a bit drunk to discuss the Rose Family.
My core goal was punishing the Roses, after all.
"You like alcohol in moderation, and this must be good stuff we received."
"Um... should I?"
I wanted to pry a bit more about the Rose Family from Rozalin.
Though it'd probably just be tales of how those Rose bastards tormented her.
"And Lize... you're almost an adult now. Wouldn't it be good to try some alcohol?"
"Yes?"
"You're definitely at that age where you should start learning."
Lize was 16, three years older than me.
But with the new year soon, she was practically 17.
I figured it'd be good for her to learn about drinking before adulthood, so I brought it up deliberately.
"Right?"
"Miss? I don't really need to..."
"Come on, you should at least try it. You're not going to go through life never drinking, are you?"
"That's true, but such fine alcohol..."
"I'm not drinking anyway, and Mother will just have a little. No issue if you have some too."
"True. And for someone like Lize who's never drunk before, you must always drink with adults."
"Madam, why..."
An aggrieved reaction.
But I'd already decided.
I'd resolved to get Rozalin and Lize drinking tonight.
Lize had no escape from this.
"Lady Ivana said it's sweet alcohol. Just try one glass. Okay? We haven't even brought it up yet."
"...Miss."
"And one glass won't even get you tipsy."
"That's true, but..."
Even Rozalin, who wasn't strong with alcohol, wouldn't get drunk off one.
No one gets tipsy from a single glass anyway.
The liquor I'd secretly bought while out with Ivana had some kick, but less than the whiskey Rozalin had before.
No problem.
Well, even if there was, it might be fun in its own way.