The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living
Chapter 3
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“Is it true Lady Brisa ordered us to assemble at the training grounds?”
“That’s what they say.”
The morning was rather noisy for the knights at the Marquisate of Sears.
“Claiming that while the Marquis is away, she holds command over us.”
At those words, the knights scoffed.
“Ha!”
Brisa Seers.
A haughty, arrogant young girl who gave off the distinct air of a typical ‘insufferable noble.’
There was no way any order from her mouth would be welcome.
“C-Command? What a joke. How old is the young lady again?”
“Twelve. But I hear her temper is something else.”
The knights grumbled over one another.
“Did you hear? Three days ago, the Marquis went to see her in person to ask for a talk… and she wouldn’t even open the door.”
“Ha, an outright insult! All because our Marquis is a former mercenary raised among commoners!”
“Would a young lady like that ever see us as human beings? Ha, give me a break.”
The knights’ grievances were already overflowing.
Before leaving for the capital after holding the funeral, Alpheus had thrown out the butler who was caught embezzling from the marquisate.
Yet as he was cast out, the butler shouted:
“How dare a wretch tainted with commoner blood cast out someone who has been loyal to Sears for so long? Lady Brisa will not forget this!”
At that moment, the knights who had shared life and death with Alpheus realized something:
The people who had long resided in the marquisate would never accept them.
No, rather, they held them in contempt.
A conversation with a relatively neutral maid went as follows:
“I mean, it’s honestly a bit embarrassing to have a marquis who used to be a mercenary. Sears is a family with such a long, distinguished history.”
“Is that an issue? What is our Marquis lacking so much?”
“Well, for example… the Marquis doesn’t speak any foreign languages at all, does he? Lady Brisa speaks five.”
“Did those foreign languages ever earn a single coin? Thanks to the Marquis, our pressing debts have been settled, and we now have a knight order as capable as the Imperial Knights!”
“Still, he was raised like a commoner. Lady Brisa graduated second in her class from the Capital Academy. And the late Marchioness tutored her personally from a young age.”
The financial situation of the Marquisate of Sears was none too good. Even so, the knights found it utterly absurd that the incumbent maids were turning up their noses.
“The late Marchioness? The one rumored to have suffered from madness?”
“Watch your mouth. She was the Fifth Princess of the Kingdom of Riente.”
“Princess or not, do you have any idea how much debt she racked up with her extravagance? Our Marquis had to pour all his personal funds into paying it off. It’s a relief she passed away two years ago; had she stayed alive, this estate wouldn’t have a single grain of wheat left.”
Meanwhile, Brisa had locked herself in her room for the past three days without coming out.
Therefore, the knights did not doubt for a moment that the maids’ disdain and contempt were Brisa’s will.
A noble lady who had never done a single thing by her own power in her entire life.
A spoiled child who attended the Academy in the capital by blowing through wealth the family didn’t even have.
A twelve-year-old throwing tantrums without any objective grasp of the situation.
And now, that Brisa had suddenly summoned them.
Once everyone had gathered at the training grounds, Vice Commander Philip stepped forward, huffing with indignation.
“This works out for the best. I’ll take this chance to lodge a formal protest and take the wind out of her sails once and for all.”
“But she’s the young lady of the marquisate, Vice Commander. Besides, the Marquis specifically told us never to cause trouble until he returns from the capital.”
“What does a twelve-year-old know? It’s the underlings around her that are the problem! I don’t intend to blame the young lady, but those people. Then she won’t have anything to say either.”
Philip raised his chin.
“Aren’t they the ones who don’t know their place and lack manners? The master of this marquisate is the Marquis! Does it make any sense for the servants of the marquisate to look down on the Marquis?”
It was then.
The door opened, and Brisa appeared.
Platinum blonde hair cascading down to her waist, beautiful sky-blue eyes, and an upright posture that perfectly suited her dress.
Accompanied by a maid, the twelve-year-old girl walked onto the training grounds at a measured pace, neither fast nor slow.
“Greetings, Lady Brisa. I am Vice Commander Philip Oris.”
Philip approached her and spoke in a rigid tone.
Brisa stopped in her tracks and stared straight at him.
Blocking her path, he continued.
“I have been hoping to see you.”
Brisa’s maid glared at him with eyes that practically screamed, How dare you!
Yet Philip did not care.
As a mercenary, he knew little of etiquette, and he was already simmering with immense resentment over how his revered commander, Alpheus, was utterly disregarded by the maids.
“It seems… those around the young lady are filled with people who fail to understand the situation and only cling to useless pride.”
She’ll definitely lose her temper and demand to know what I mean. Then I’ll refute her logically, point by point…
“You’re right.”
Yet Brisa replied calmly.
“That’s why I asked to meet you all.”
Philip was momentarily at a loss for words.
Under the breath-holding gazes of his subordinates, he barely gathered his wits to deliver his next prepared line.
“I-I was unaware listening to the nonsense of those who cannot distinguish their superiors from inferiors was a hobby of yours.”
“Well… it happens often, but it’s not a hobby.”
Brisa replied nonchalantly.
“I’m doing it right now, and it’s quite exhausting. You can’t call something you dislike a hobby, can you?”
At that moment, the subordinates quickly lowered their heads to stifle their laughter.
Only Brisa’s maid, standing behind her, glared daggers at him.
The maid’s murderous glare was so ridiculous that Philip barely managed to continue.
“Could it be that the marquisate has no rules to reprimand the insolence of subordinates?”
“Not necessarily, but when I’m busy, I have no choice but to let it slide.”
Brisa said without any change in expression.
“So I’m planning to let it slide right now as well.”
In the end, Philip was left speechless.
Having effortlessly and elegantly shut down the argument, Brisa brushed past him and stood on the podium.
The girl, who bore a striking resemblance to her older brother, looked down at them quietly.
The cool gaze sweeping over them carried an unexpected command. Tense, the knights who had been standing half-heartedly soon straightened their posture.
Just what had she gathered them all here to say?
Amidst the chilled atmosphere, she opened her mouth with an expressionless face.
“I heard all of you are mercenaries from across the Empire.”
Just as expected!
Bringing up their background right from the start.
It was in the exact same vein as the maids whispering about them being ‘men of dubious origin’!
The knights stiffened and looked up at Brisa.
“Is it true that mercenaries will do anything as long as it pays?”
Philip drew in a sharp breath and protested.
“My lady! H-How could you… your words go too far.”
At that, Brisa looked satisfied.
“So you’re not denying it. In that case, I have an order.”
Amidst the astonished stares of the knights, the girl counted on her small fingers one by one.
“Those who have lived in the regions of Airs, Kiberona, Sejeil, Liberel, or Antvenal for more than three years, raise your hands.”
Everyone exchanged glances.
What on earth did these regions have in common?
Places where criminals hid?
Places crawling with bandits?
Places where it was easy to launder one’s identity?
Was she telling those who had lived in those regions to leave the knight order?
Nevertheless, because it was an ‘order,’ several men slowly raised their hands.
It was quite a large number. Philip was among them as well.
Brisa had them step forward.
In front of the intensely nervous men, she asked with utmost gravity:
“Among you, who has experience farming potatoes?”
Silence fell once again.
Brisa added in all seriousness:
“The places I listed are the major potato-producing regions in the Empire. You all lived there for quite a while, so at least one of you must have experience, right?”
