The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living
Chapter 12
As I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair, one of the maids spoke up anxiously.
“Um, my lady. Is the situation that bad? Will food really become scarce?”
She was only just realizing it.
“Yes, pretty much.”
When I nodded, another maid chimed in with sparkling eyes.
“But we have horses too! The ones the knights brought!”
Indeed, Alpheus’s knight order had brought a fair number of horses.
“I thought they were utterly useless, but we should sell them right away too. If we buy dairy cows like Lady Dahlia said, we could get milk, and…”
“Absolutely not.”
I cut her off sharply.
If Dahlia’s boast was true, Harwin was bound to be ruined because of those dairy cows…
“Still, there’s no doubt we need more food.”
Having sorted out my thoughts, I opened my eyes and declared with determination,
“I need to prepare to take back Jejel Street. Let’s head out.”
“Pardon? Are you going to the potato field again?”
“No.”
Philip was surprisingly adept at potato farming, so it seemed fine to leave that field in the hands of the Potato Squad now.
“I’m going to Erenta.”
The beautiful village along the river that my uncle had coveted so much.
“Then what, are we supposed to survive a month catching and eating little fish?”
Little fish weren’t the only edible things the river had to offer.
To go beyond simple hunting and gathering, there was plenty to prepare in advance.
“I need to take a few quick-handed knights with me. Let’s stop by the training grounds first.”
And so, I spent the entire afternoon along the riverbank in Erenta.
After giving a few instructions to the knights, I was on my way back to the marquisate’s manor.
“Ahem, ahem.”
An old man in shabby attire sat by the water with a fishing rod cast into the river.
“Why aren’t the fish biting at all? It’s been hours…”
It was clearly muttered aloud for anyone nearby to overhear.
“Sigh, how could I not catch even a single one…”
The empty bucket beside him was filthy to boot.
The maids shrank back in disgust.
I stopped in my tracks and responded.
“It is rather strange not to catch even one.”
“Isn’t that right? Ah, you must be a young lady from a noble house.”
The old man brightened and answered.
Tilting my head, I asked,
“Could there be Pozion grass mixed into your bait by any chance?”
“Pozion grass? What’s that? I know Zion grass, though.”
“Ah, it’s the exact same thing as Zion grass. Fish hate that herb. They all detest it, except for the Marang Fish.”
The maids trailing behind me furrowed their brows, displeased that I was conversing with such a filthy commoner of an old man.
Yet inwardly, I smiled.
‘So this man is Baron Forman.’
First of all, a local of this region would never fish in this manner during this season.
Second, with my aloof expression and haughty stride, I looked every bit the arrogant noble lady. I certainly did not give off an approachable aura that an ordinary commoner would casually strike up a conversation with.
Third, the moment I noticed something was off, I immediately cast out bait of my own.
“You have to draw out the ‘Po’ sound a bit longer. Western proper nouns are pronounced closer to the ancient tongue, you see.”
There was no such thing as Pozion grass. Just as the old man had said, ‘Zion grass’ was the correct name.
I had simply wanted to hear the ‘Po’ pronunciation come from his lips.
‘He tried to hide it, but it’s unmistakably a Western accent.’
An elderly man from the West who had skillfully masked his identity to strike up a conversation with me.
It had to be Baron Forman, a seasoned intelligence operative.
“Ah… I didn’t know that much. Thank you for telling me.”
The corners of the old man’s eyes crinkled slightly.
Suddenly, it struck me that his eyes resembled Leopold’s.
Baron Forman then asked,
“By the way, who might you be, my lady?”
Before I could answer, the maids stepped in.
“On your feet and show proper respect this instant! This is Lady Brisa of the Marquisate of Sears!”
“Apologize for your rudeness at once! You should be grateful for my lady’s mercy!”
“No matter how lowly you are, how can you lack manners to this degree?”
Their reprimands were as biting as frost.
Baron Forman’s eyes widened in shock as he scrambled to his feet and bowed his head hurriedly.
“G-Greetings, my lady!”
“Bow lower!”
At the maid’s scolding, Baron Forman bent even lower.
“I am Oliver Hanson, come from afar to stay with my nephew over on Jejel Street!”
Shifting his eyes about while groveling, he looked the very picture of a rustic old man.
Watching him, I thought to myself:
‘Right… everyone has a hard time making a living.’
He was putting on such an earnest act as a commoner just to conceal his identity—even though he must have already known who I was.
I was genuinely impressed by the sheer dedication.
‘Bowing so low to a girl half a century younger than him, just to get by…’
I looked at him with pity in my eyes. I truly meant it.
‘The maids from Riente truly are out of their minds.’
Baron Forman sighed inwardly.
He was an intelligence operative for Grand Duke Nozen—though he had retired a few years ago.
‘It’s been far too long since I did this kind of work. At least I haven’t been caught yet…’
When was the last time he had disguised himself as a commoner?
Even so, pulling the wool over the eyes of a young lady he was meeting for the first time was child’s play.
Of course, that wasn’t the real problem. Judging by how things were unfolding, he seemed to be stranded in the Central region. He had only planned to stay for roughly three days before heading back!
‘Good grief, what did I do to deserve this misery in my old age!’
Baron Forman was in deep despair. He had never imagined he would end up in this sort of predicament.
“Aren’t you bored? Why not go take a look around as a little trip?”
Not long ago, Hilbery, Grand Duke Nozen and his in-law, had called upon him.
Baron Forman had replied in the manner typical of Western nobility:
“Haha, serving as Your Grace’s eyes is always my modest pleasure, but I am far too old…”
It meant that while he was willing to concede to going and scouting something out, he had no intention whatsoever of stepping up during something like a Monster Wave.
Hilbery had chuckled and said,
“Even if it’s to go see a prospective Grand Duchess? Leopold secretly sent her a bouquet not long ago, unbeknownst to anyone.”
And just like that, Leopold’s secret had been revealed to his maternal grandfather as well.
A match for Leopold, in any case.
Leopold was the heir to House Nozen, but to him, the boy was also the apple of his eye—a precious grandson he cherished dearly.
That boy did something behind his paternal grandfather’s back? Even if he got caught in the end…
His interest was instantly piqued.
“In that case, allow my humble eyes to go take a look first. Just who might she be?”
Hilbery raised an eyebrow briefly before answering in a low voice:
“Brisa Seers. The… young lady of the Marquisate of Sears.”
No longer the heir to Sears, but an ordinary marquis’s daughter.
Baron Forman fell silent for a moment, then answered immediately.
“I shall set out at once.”
And so, Baron Forman had eagerly taken the warp gate.
Since monsters rarely appeared in the Central region, he had not even brought any attendants with him.
Like the former intelligence operative he was, Baron Forman grasped the entire situation the moment he arrived in the Central region.
Just as he was about to take the warp gate back to the West to report that there didn’t seem to be much to see yet—
“Bleeaaargh! Bluuuuurgh!”
Every single person stepping off the warp was vomiting violently.
When he inquired with the administrator, he was told the warp was currently far too unstable for the elderly or frail to use. The Magic Tower was even discussing suspending warp operations entirely.
Word spread quickly that the Monster Wave phenomenon had begun appearing not just in the West, but throughout various parts of the Empire.
The Central region was bordered by mountains and neighboring territories, and monsters had begun appearing along these boundaries.
The first crisis in securing food supplies had arisen.
‘The Central region has developed a thriving distribution market because it was free of monsters until now, but its actual grain production is low. In other words, this isn’t a place that can easily sustain itself!’
And that was how Baron Forman had found himself stranded in the Central region.
