The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living [Novel] Chapter 78

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Chapter 78

Naturally, the Duchess of Devostan had already abandoned Dalia.

Even when Dalia had come looking for her not long ago, the Duchess had remained inside the ducal residence the entire time.

A chess piece that couldn't even follow orders was of no use to her.

It was the Duchess herself who had taken Dalia out of the convent.

She had done so on the recommendation of a dark mage.

"I heard she's exceptionally intelligent. I saw her with Baron Harwin at Delfoven Harbor in the West. The dark mage who dealt with her was captured by Leopold Nosen and took his own life, but before he was caught, he clearly told us this."

The dark mage had said:

Back then, the girl who had actually made contact with the dark mage was Brisa, pretending to be Dalia. But no one knew that.

The Duchess believed those words.

That was why she deemed Dalia suitable to be installed as the Sayre family's puppet.

The dark mages had also promised to conduct an 'experiment' on her and grant her a supernatural ability.

The proposal for the summer wheat competition had originally been intended to raise Dalia's reputation.

She had never imagined Dalia would lose so spectacularly.

The Duchess of Devostan let out a long sigh.

That wasn't true at all.

This incident had soured her relationship with the West.

There was no way Hilbury hadn't noticed the public opinion campaign she'd orchestrated from the very beginning. She had attempted to exert influence within his territory, There was no chance he would simply let that slide.

A throbbing headache began to set in.

For the time being, she would have to devote all her efforts to fending off the series of small—but relentless—acts of retaliation that were sure to come from the West.

How could she calm the Empress's anger and divert her attention away from the East, even if only for a while?

A promising idea suddenly came to mind. The Duchess narrowed her eyes.

A place that was barely holding itself together as its situation worsened by the day.

If that happened, neither the Empress nor the Crown Prince would have time to pressure House Devostan for a while.

The Duchess immediately began writing a letter. She had just thought of a way to force Naisar of the South into her hands.

The truth was, there was a reason I hurried to bring my competition with Dalia to an end.

A few days earlier, Leopold had suddenly said,

"Do we really need to keep dragging out this ridiculous contest?"

Dalia's wheat field had already been beyond saving for quite some time.

Even so, his words caught me completely off guard.

"You're telling me to leave already?"

After all, ending the summer wheat competition early basically meant he was telling me it was time to go home.

To be fair, aside from the competition, I didn't really have any reason to stay. Everything had already been a success.

The herbs and leafy vegetables in the hydroponic system were growing rapidly. The wheat in the fields was thriving as well.

Still, I hadn't expected Leopold to so openly show me the door.

As I blinked at him, he let out a quiet sigh.

"I think something's about to come up."

"Not that something has come up, but that you think it might? What does that even mean? When?"

"In about ten days."

Avoiding my gaze, Leopold sighed again.

"I went out around three months ago, remember? It's something like that."

"It's already been nearly three months…"

I murmured absentmindedly.

"Since I came to the West…"

Honestly, I had completely lost track of time.

The West had such an incredible variety of seeds.

Just examining them one by one and chatting with the farmers made each day disappear before I knew it.

Still, I wasn't sure how that looked from someone else's perspective. So I cautiously asked Leopold,

"Doesn't it seem… strange? A noble lady being so interested in things like this…"

"You can have either honesty or politeness. Pick one."

"Politeness."

"In that case… I think you should seriously look for a professional counselor and schedule an appointment."

Leopold said as he personally returned a book about Western crop varieties to the shelf.

"The fact that you're the one who kept your territory fed and helped the West overcome its crisis, yet you still think there's something wrong with yourself, that's the real problem."

"Then what would your honest answer be?"

"Thanks to your rather unusual interests, I was able to graduate at the top of the Academy. Looking back, I'm grateful for that."

In any case, I spent those three months quite happily. Come to think of it, winter was just around the corner, so it was probably time for me to return to my territory.

Everything seemed to be running smoothly there, but there were still plenty of things I wanted to see with my own eyes.

"Anyway, I won't be able to stay by your side after next week."

Leopold spoke with a faint sigh.

"I wanted to at least see you secure your victory before I left. Though I've already seen how it'll end."

"That's true. It's still too early to be optimistic."

I nodded. After a brief pause, I continued,

"If Dalia decides to attack me with those giant ants, I'd be dead in an instant."

Then I quietly muttered to myself,

"An ordinary ant moves at about two kilometers per hour… but compared to its body length, that's incredibly fast. It's like moving forty times its own body length every second. But those ants are the size of five grown people put together… There's nothing in this world that could match an attack coming at that speed."

Leopold narrowed his eyes.

"Not even Air Sever?"

"If it attacks first, then it'll already be too late."

The Duchess of Devostan would undoubtedly discard Dalia now that she'd become useless.

That would leave Dalia with nowhere else to go.

Of course, if she truly repented and turned over a new leaf, she deserved another chance. But knowing her personality…

"So you're saying those ants might attack you."

"Most likely. Honestly, it'd be cleanest if that happened and we could hand Dalia over to the court. This time, she wouldn't be getting out of the convent again."

"So you're willing to sacrifice your own life just to drag her into court?"

Leopold replied with open sarcasm.

"Just so you know, I won't be testifying at that trial. By then, I'll already have died of sheer frustration after witnessing the dumbest sacrifice imaginable, and my gravestone will be standing right next to yours."

"Then I'll save your life."

I answered as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

"I can make the giant ants hesitate for just a moment before they attack. Luckily, there are plenty of herbs around here."

If they paused for even an instant, Leopold would have enough time to use Air Sever.

"So, now that I've become your lifesaver, the least you can do is use Air Sever while the ants are hesitating."

That was how we came up with our plan before heading to Dalia's field.

There was just one thing that worried me.

I'd asked Harrison to come so he could examine Dalia's ability. But there had been no word from him.

According to Leopold, the warp routes in the South were in such terrible condition that Harrison was traveling on horseback instead.

Harrison wasn't exactly an exceptional rider. And on such a long journey, anything could happen.

Originally, we'd planned to wait until Harrison arrived. But in the end, we had to follow the lord of the territory's decision.

Noticing my concern, Leopold said,

"I'll send word as soon as Harrison gets here. For now, go back to your territory."

"All right."

I had no choice but to nod. Yet, to my surprise, Harrison appeared at exactly the right moment.

"I'll always owe you, Brisa."

His eyes curved into gentle crescents as he spoke in a low voice.

"Back at the Academy, you were always my dance partner. So if you call for me… It's only natural that I'd come running, no matter where you are."