Became the Owner of a Poor Estate
Chapter 35
# Chapter 35“I’m breaking off the engagement. I’ve already told Ray.”
“Ohhh! Oh, Heavens! Thank you so much!”
Scrooge thrust both arms toward the ceiling of the cramped office and offered up another fervent prayer of gratitude.
My dear Scrooge, you really have been blessed.
First, I had to get back the money that had gone to that man.
Dong-hee’s eyes blazed as she scanned the ledgers Scrooge had meticulously organized through tears of blood, checking the entries multiple times.
“Stop looking for God. People will think we’re holding a revival meeting. Wow! It’s 160 gold in total.”
In Korean won, that was nearly 200 million. Wow, she really was a crazy bitch!
“You’ve finished the calculations already?”
Startled, Scrooge stepped closer to the desk and asked.
“No. You wrote it right here. 160 gold. And in very bold red ink, no less.”
“Ah, so I did.”
How deep must his resentment have been to record the money given to Ray in red?
The blood-red characters felt like a resentful scream directed at Chloe Grace.
“Did I get a promissory note?”
Surely there was a promissory note. If she hadn't even done that, she deserved to die.
Dong-hee stared at Scrooge, feeling slightly tense. It was then.
“……Who are you!?”
Scrooge’s sudden question sent a chill down Dong-hee’s spine.
Could he have realized her true identity? Dong-hee swallowed hard against her dry throat and asked in an effortless voice.
“Who else would I be? I’m Chloe Grace!”
“That’s impossible!”
Scrooge shouted firmly, his eyes wide.
“W-what do you mean?”
Dong-hee’s vision went dark. She wondered if this was the end, if she would be branded a witch and burned at the stake. Just as she was considering whether to make a run for it, Scrooge’s pained voice continued.
“Our Lord is someone who never, ever, under any circumstances, studied. There is no way such a person would know a word like ‘promissory note’……”
“Hey!”
Dong-hee’s sudden outburst made Scrooge jump back in surprise.
“Ack! You scared me!”
“I know. I know everything! I was just pretending not to know all this time!”
Dong-hee yelled, venting her irrational anger.
“It didn't look like you were pretending……”
Scrooge shuffled backward, but the suspicion in his eyes didn't fade.
“I said I know.”
As Dong-hee huffed and glared, Scrooge gave an awkward smile and pointed to the ledger.
“It is 160 gold. That is the amount given to Young Master Ray without! a promissory note.”
Without a promissory note.
“She didn't write one.”
Scrooge nodded.
He looked at her pitifully, as if asking if she had only just realized it, but there was also a hint of relief that she had realized it at all.
“I’m going to lose my mind, seriously!”
At this point, she could easily cover that amount. But this wasn't about the money.
Her pride wouldn't allow her to let this slide.
She felt she could only find peace once she had thoroughly crushed those two and stripped them of everything they had.
“Find out what kind of business Ray is trying to start.”
I’ll be waiting at every step you take, you bastard, to trample you until the juice runs out.
* * *
After barely calming herself down, Dong-hee revisited the village where construction was underway.
As winter approached, white puffs of breath escaped with every exhale. Dong-hee felt the urgency.
“No word from the people who went to buy fabric yet?”
Dong-hee asked Handsome as she pulled her collar tight.
Even she, well-dressed as she was, felt this cold; she could only imagine how the territory's people felt.
Fortunately, thanks to the maids working day and night with bloodshot eyes to earn extra hazard pay, the sewing for the children of Morta Village was progressing smoothly.
Today, they loaded only the finished clothes onto the carriage first.
Dong-hee looked back at the cart following behind the carriage. It was filled with boxes of children's clothes made by disassembling her own dresses.
Thanks to Chloe’s consistently childish taste, the only advantage was that the children's clothes were colorful and pretty.
However, the fabric was too thin to wear on its own.
“They arrived yesterday and said they would purchase the fabric today.”
“The bodyguards—I mean, the escorts—went with them, right?”
“Yes. We sent the twenty most reliable men recommended by the Red Bear Knight Commander, along with Vice-Commander Urun.”
“Good. It would be a disaster if they ran into bandits on the way.”
She couldn't afford to lose the hard-won fabric to bandits.
It was then.
Ding!
With a cheerful alert sound, a blue status window floated up before Dong-hee’s eyes.
-You, who strive day and night to revive a poor territory!
You, who want to feed the impoverished people white rice and meat soup!
Now, as a Lord, you have finally mastered the basics of the basics of the basics of the basics of the basics of the basics………….
Stop it.
-You have barely managed the basics! Hehe.
The status window finished awkwardly, ending the sentence with an awkward laugh. The snarky tone made it feel less like a status window and more like a bratty younger sibling.
-A new mission for the user who has leveled up.
Using newly acquired knowledge, you have created a substance that did not exist (a mixture of Komo wood and Tie stone).
Please upgrade it so that it can be used more extensively.
Upon completion, the time restriction on unstable active zones will be lifted.
Deal! Absolute deal!
Dong-hee cheered inwardly at the promise of lifting the time restriction.
If Handsome weren't right there in front of her, she would have jumped up and shouted for joy.
But she couldn't afford to spout nonsense like a madwoman in front of Handsome, of all people.
Anyway, upgrade what I made?
‘What else should I mix with the Komo wood and Tie stone?’
The substance made from Komo wood sap and Tie stone was strong, but the yield was very small. If it were used for construction in that state, they would run out even if they felled thousands of Komo trees. Moreover, it hardened far too quickly to be practical.
It sounded like a prompt to improve cost-effectiveness…….
Somehow, she had a good feeling about this.
She decided she would have to experiment as soon as she returned to the castle after visiting the village today.
* * *
Morta Village was improving day by day.
The gloomy, ruin-like appearance of the village was now nowhere to be found.
Cleanly paved roads and repaired houses. White smoke rising from every chimney as the homes were heated.
Dong-hee felt a lump in her throat as she looked around the village, which had changed beyond recognition in just a month.
“My Lord!”
“Whoa! It’s the Lord!”
The first to recognize Dong-hee were the local children.
The adults, busy with their work, only realized the Lord had appeared in the village after hearing the children’s shouts.
This was because she had intentionally left the carriage outside and entered the village quietly.
“How have you been?”
The children quickly formed a circle around Dong-hee.
“Great! We had a full bowl of porridge this morning too!”
“Mom said this is all thanks to you, My Lord!”
“That’s right! My dad said so too!”
Because the weather had turned cold, the children were wearing two or three layers of old clothes. This left the adults’ clothing even thinner, but no one in the village seemed to mind.
Dong-hee smiled brightly as she looked at the adults and children whose wrists and ankles were exposed.
Even though their noses were red from the cold, the children never stopped smiling.
“I’m going to give you some clothes to wear today.”
“Clothes?”
A few children asked back with wide eyes, but most, having never received a gift of clothes in their lives, didn't understand what Dong-hee meant and simply blinked their hollow eyes.
“Handsome.”
Dong-hee called the name that still made her feel embarrassed every time she said it.
As soon as Dong-hee called him, Handsome anticipated what she was going to say and signaled toward the cart.
Then, several servants guarding the cart began distributing clothes to the gathered children.
The clothes were made in three general sizes based on age.
They were made for ages 3 to 6, 7 to 10, and 11 to 14.
If there had been enough time and resources, they would have made more specific sizes, but winter was right at the door.
If the clothes were too big, they could just fold the sleeves or wrap them around.
“Are you really giving us these clothes?”
The children asked repeatedly, unable to believe they were holding the clothes given as gifts.
Each time, Dong-hee didn't get annoyed; she simply nodded and smiled again and again.
“Hurry up and put them on. Wear those for now.”
“Waaaaay!”
The children ran toward their homes clutching their new clothes.
By the time the children reached their houses, notifications that the territory people’s favorability had risen rang out busily.
Dong-hee listened to the alerts with a satisfied expression before quickly climbing into the carriage before the villagers could swarm her.
She knew they would surely come rushing over to say embarrassing things like how grateful they were or how she was their savior.
“Are you not going to meet the villagers?”
Handsome asked, looking at the Lord who sat with a bashful expression.
He was incredibly proud of how much the Lord had changed.
“There’s a lot to do. And hearing the same things over and over is boring.”
Even though Dong-hee grumbled, the smile didn't leave Handsome’s lips.
It was about thirty minutes after the carriage had departed from Morta Village.
“Butler.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
Handsome, who had been dozing off in the seat opposite her, answered with his eyes wide. She had clearly seen him sleeping with his head tilted back and his mouth open, so it was hilarious to see him pretend he hadn't been sleeping with such a clear voice.
“What did you say the name of the village next to Morta was?”
At Dong-hee’s question, Handsome’s eyes widened in surprise before he answered politely. All traces of sleep had vanished from his face.
“It is Enol.”
Handsome briefly wondered how the Lord could not know the name of a village, but he quickly understood when he recalled Chloe’s past behavior. It was perfectly possible for the former Lord. She had been interested in nothing but her own affairs.
“Is it far from here?”
“The villages branch out north, south, east, and west from Grace Castle, so if we travel now, it will take a full three hours by carriage.”
“That long?”
“Yes, there is a fairly wide wasteland in between.”
“So it’s inevitable that interaction between the villages is difficult.”
“Yes.”
Even while Morta Village was being repaired, there had been a strange lack of traffic from other villages.
Thinking back to Morta’s initial state, it wasn't that strange.
When they were on the verge of starving to death, they wouldn't have had the energy to walk to another village.
“Let’s go to Enol Village.”
“Pardon? To Enol Village?”
“Yes. Winter is coming, so we have to move quickly.”
