The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living [Novel] Chapter 81

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Chapter 81

It happened two years ago.

Back when I was attending the Royal Academy in the capital.

Because I had entered the Academy early and ranked first in the entrance examinations, I was once summoned to the Imperial Palace.

Unfortunately, that was when a certain tragedy occurred. I caught the Empress Dowager’s eye.

“My, my. How can a child be so well-behaved and doll-like? Your manners are already impeccable.”

After that day, the Empress Dowager began inviting me to the Imperial Palace from time to time.

“Every time I see you, I’m amazed by how quiet and well-mannered you are. At your age, the Crown Prince couldn’t even sit still for a moment. All he ever did was beg to go hunting in the North.”

The Crown Prince had been an absolute troublemaker. He had caused countless incidents ever since he was a child.

There was even a rumor that, in the North—where the hunting grounds were so vast that many had witnessed his childhood firsthand—his name had secretly become a curse word.

“If only you had been born ten years earlier. You would’ve made an excellent match for the Crown Prince.”

After hearing that, I sincerely thanked heaven that I had been born when I was.

Then the Empress, who had been sitting nearby, joined the conversation.

“Oh my. What’s wrong with a twenty-year age gap? Brisa, what do you think about becoming the Crown Prince’s consort?”

Silently sipping my tea, I inwardly lamented that perhaps I should have been born ten years later instead.

Even now, I wasn’t safe. The truth was, I didn’t have the freedom to simply answer, No.

On the other hand, recklessly saying Yes could easily come back to haunt me someday.

Fortunately, I had the perfect response.

“It would be an immense honor, Your Majesty, but… I am already engaged.”

“Ah… That’s right, you are. It completely slipped my mind.”

As if.

There was no way the Empress Dowager had forgotten my engagement to House Nosen.

She simply hadn’t believed the engagement would last, considering the difference in status between our families.

The very fact that she had suggested becoming the Crown Prince’s consort rather than his wife spoke for itself.

Throughout the entire exchange, Valery-who had been standing behind them, remained silent. She simply watched me with eyes as sharp as a hawk.

“Well… We can’t exactly steal the fiancée of Young Lord Nosen.”

Raising an eyebrow, the Empress Dowager continued,

“The Grand Duke of Nosen has never been particularly inclined to obey the Imperial Family when it comes to marriage alliances. There is precedent, after all.”

There was unmistakable meaning behind those words.

Only then did Valery finally speak.

“My elder brother and my nephew failed to recognize their proper place. But I believe they’ve already paid the price for that.”

“Hahaha! To say that the price for refusing marriage to an Imperial Princess was death… Valery, that’s rather excessive. The Imperial Family isn’t quite that unreasonable. You’ll frighten the poor child.”

“My deepest apologies.”

Of course I was frightened.

It wasn’t the Imperial Family itself that scared me. It was the situation.

Valery said nothing more after that, Yet she never once took her eyes off me.

Even now, I remembered her gaze being sharper than the Empress Dowager’s.

Marriage alliances were, after all, one of the easiest ways to pull another noble house onto your side.

They could very well secure my promise now and whisk me away as the Crown Prince’s secondary consort the moment I came of age.

Good grief. I need to escape to the Sayre Marquisate as soon as possible.

@Thought
‘What if she decides to come early under the pretense of sightseeing? No… that’s entirely possible. The West is Valery’s homeland, after all.’

If I ran into her by sheer bad luck and she said something like, ‘Come with me. Let’s pay a visit to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager together.’…there’d be no graceful way for me to refuse.

Now, even if someone asked me something nauseating like, ‘What do you think about becoming the Crown Prince’s consort?’,I couldn’t even fall back on, ‘I’m already engaged.’

As I was silently panicking, one of the farmers chuckled and said,

“Perhaps Lady Valery wants to bring you back… as Lord Leopold’s fiancée?”

He has no idea.

In the original story, Valery never sided with Leopold. She belonged to the Imperial Family.

The farmers exchanged glances before one of them cautiously asked,

“Um… My Lady, do you really have no lingering feelings for Young Lord Leopold?”

“I have more than enough.”

I answered miserably.

“No joke. Honestly, I’d love to cling to the hem of his pants and beg him not to leave. But if I embarrassed myself like that, Leopold would probably sue me for emotional damage to his retinas. And given the financial state of my territory, I can’t exactly afford a lawyer.”

Then I added with a sigh,

“If I were still House Nosen’s fiancée, I wouldn’t have to worry about being forced into marrying some absurdly older man.”

“Oh, come now, My Lady. Even among nobles, who actually gets married like that?”

“My mother.”

Silence immediately fell over the group.

Just then, the maid rushed in, saying she had finished packing my belongings.

“Good.”

I had no more regrets.

With determination, I spoke.

“Well then, I’m off.”

Then I added firmly,

“Make sure the wheat is delivered to the Central Region just as promised. Got it?”

Regardless of everything else, food was always too precious to waste.

“If even one sack goes missing, I’ll write down every single one of your names in House Sayre’s history books.”

I used the friendship we’d built over the years as leverage.

The farmers burst into laughter.

“Come on, what a joke… Why would people like us ever have our names recorded in House Sayre’s history? Does House Sayre really write things like that down?”

“You still don’t know me very well. I don’t joke.”

I answered with a scoff.

“Most of House Sayre’s historical records have been lost. That’s why I’m planning to start documenting everything in detail from my own era onward, for the sake of future generations.”

It wasn’t as though I had been keeping a close eye on everyone’s embarrassing past for no reason.

“If any of you try to cheat me, I’ll record not only your names but even what you look like. Keep that in mind.”

At Grand Duke Nosen’s estate.

“Ugh, why are you here again? Weren’t we supposed to meet at the summer wheat harvest festival?”

Hilbury grumbled in annoyance.

Valery, who had barged into his office, let out a snort.

“I came to tell you I won’t be able to make it to the festival.”

The moment he heard that, Hilbury exploded.

“Then you should’ve sent a letter! In the end, I still had to see you in person! That means the total amount of time I have to look at your face this year hasn’t changed at all!”

“I wanted to! Do you think it’s easy for someone my age to use warp magic? But I needed an excuse like this so I could deliver something while I was at it!”

Valery shot back without the slightest hesitation.

Having listened to this same exchange for over sixty years, the adjutant quietly closed the office door and stepped outside.

“Hah.”

Hilbury folded his arms and impatiently tapped the floor with his prosthetic leg.

“So, what’s this ‘something’ you came all this way to deliver? Don’t tell me you’re here to lecture me again about not opposing the Crown Prince.”

He clicked his tongue.

“Nosen remains neutral. Truth be told, I have no intention of siding with the Second Prince either. So stop worrying and just head back.”

He meant every word. Simply supporting the Second Prince because he was more capable than his elder brother wasn’t enough. The prince still lacked a legitimate claim.

Hilbury knew the Crown Prince was far from competent, but unless there was a justifiable reason to remove him, it was still better to wait and see.

The Emperor also showed no sign of relinquishing the throne anytime soon. In fact, judging by how he kept sending the Second Prince to the most difficult territories, it seemed he was still testing his younger son.

Even the Emperor hadn’t made up his mind yet. For Nosen to involve itself now would be too risky, considering how influential the West was.

Hilbury waved his hand dismissively as he snapped.

“If you’re just going to tell me again that only the strong can afford to stay neutral, then go take another look at Seldoche. Everything’s still fine there.”

“…I’ve already been there.”

Valery lightly bit his lip. After a sigh, he muttered,

“Hilbury… Tell me honestly. Does it make any sense for an ordinary twelve-year-old girl to solve the West’s food crisis with nothing but her own ideas?”

“The monster wave back in early spring didn’t make any sense either. So what’s so strange about one kid not being ordinary?”

“I… I’m not sure that’s enough to explain it.”

Valery spoke with confusion in his eyes.

“About twenty years ago, I think… the Imperial Library secretly carried out a massive purge of its books. I happened to be there by chance, so I remember it. Most of the books they destroyed were related to the history of House Sayre.”

Hilbury raised an eyebrow.

It was the first time he had ever heard of such a thing.

“And among those books, I caught glimpses of words like ‘another world.’ You don’t see terms like that in the histories of any other noble houses.”

Another world… A world beyond this one?

The phrase sounded strangely out of place.

“Don’t you think that’s odd? There are hardly any surviving records about House Sayre’s history or its supernatural abilities.”

To be honest, he’d never cared much about another family’s history.

But… now that he thought about it, she was right.

“The Imperial Library is the most inaccessible place in the Empire. Maybe they were trying to completely erase the last remaining records of whatever House Sayre truly was.”