Chapter 66: Using the Media for Propaganda…How Wicked and Cunning Must a Villainess be to do Such a Thing?

“I’m sorry…!!”

In the governor’s office of Abel Town.

Right in the middle of it, Lin was being sternly scolded by her maid, Heine.

“Haa…. Really…”

Although she had tried her best to run away as soon as her pilfering was discovered,

Lin couldn’t shake off her puppy, who had caught the scent of its beloved youngest.

What was there to hide?

Lin, caught in an instant, not even a few seconds later, had to endure her cheeks being covered in dog slobber.

“…And that’s not all.”

Heine’s gaze shifted slightly.

There, Cain, who had been caught along with her, was kneeling, tightly bound by ropes.

“To think you even hired an adventurer…”

Why was he, with his good physical abilities, also caught?

The answer was simple.

The moment she was pounced on by her own dog, a certain young lady, unable to die alone, had tripped Cain by grabbing his ankle.

‘This one, don’t tell me she made Heine her maid? She’s really stirred things up quite a bit, hasn’t she….’

Cain thought, looking at Heine.

He let out a groan at Lin’s impulsiveness, which had not only gotten her engaged to Michael but had also completely changed another character.

Meanwhile, Heine, who was originally supposed to be one of Cain’s four heroines.

‘Why on earth would Lady Lin hire a stray dog like this…?’

With suspicious eyes,

She was extremely wary, wondering if her precious master had been subjected to any improper acts.

‘No. He’s rather handsome, but… he’s far from Lady Lin’s taste.’

Because Lin’s slightly older brother, Rio, was always accompanied by three commoner female adventurers,
Heine couldn’t help but worry, ‘Could our master be the same?’

‘What on earth is that foolish prince doing? Letting such a fly buzz around Lady Lin…’

Heine, fueling her misanthropy again today.

The fact that he was engaged to her master.

While every little action of his got on her nerves,

The stray dog-like adventurer boy who approached her precious master without knowing his place.

And Michael, who didn’t show any firm action to prevent such a trivial stray dog from approaching.

Heine didn’t like either of them.

Snap!

Heine snapped her fingers.

The door opened as if waiting.

Two or three sturdy guards entered in succession.

“Untie him.”

“Yes.”

The guards untied the ropes binding Cain and politely led him out.

Though she inwardly treated him like a dirty fly, her strict separation of public and private matters was truly Heine-like.

Even if he was caught along with her,

There was no way anyone in this village could refuse her master’s orders….

Accusing the already aggrieved adventurer would only tarnish her master’s honor.

“…So.”

The governor’s office, now with only the two of them.

Lin flinched at Heine’s question, who was about to begin her scolding in earnest.

“What on earth was the reason for pilfering your own field in the dead of night?”

“B-But…!”

“Please explain yourself first.”

She crouched down to meet her master’s eye level.

Heine, resting her chin on her hand, quietly listened to Lin’s desperate excuses.

“Haa…. For such a trivial reason…”

“In the first place, if Heine had let me meet my children, I wouldn’t have done such a thing…!”

“It’s almost harvest season anyway. You could have picked the fruits yourself then, Lady Lin.”

“…Huh?”

Lin was momentarily speechless at the answer that harvesting was fine, even if field labor wasn’t.

Heine’s explanation was this.

The reason Lady Lin was forbidden from entering the fields,

Was simply because it would add psychological burden to the already hard-working village farmers.

“Unlike spring when seeds are planted, the autumn harvest is a joyous occasion to reap the rewards of a year’s labor.”

“Oh?”

“I thought Lady Lin would surely hold a grand village festival after the harvest.”

Lin tilted her head, as if she hadn’t thought of it.

Seeing her cute master’s appearance, Heine chuckled, as if she couldn’t help it.

“…Heine!”

Then, Lin, as if struck by a sudden idea, shot up, her eyes shining.

“We must go immediately to take pictures of me harvesting grain, to be featured in the village monthly magazine!”

“Yes. I will prepare at once.”

She struck a villainess noble lady pose as usual and ordered Heine.

Heine, very accustomed to it,

Prepared to photograph her master’s propaganda, which would adorn the cover of next month’s village monthly magazine.

After rummaging through her wardrobe for a moment, a rare occurrence,

Lin, realizing the clothes she wanted wouldn’t be there, headed towards a village farmhouse.

“Your attire, it’s truly like an ideal country girl straight out of a painting. Excuse me, but would it be alright if I borrowed those clothes for a moment?”

“Yes…?”

“Huhu, don’t worry. I’ll make sure to compensate you handsomely.”

Lin, offering a gold coin on the spot, saying she would borrow them for a moment and return them.

‘This wickedness of extorting with the power of money.’

‘Hmm, hmm, that just now felt like a real, genuine villainess noble lady.’

‘But since they are precious clothes, let’s wear them carefully, wash them cleanly, and return them.’

To her, who was thinking such things,

“Yes!? That won’t do, Young Lady…! To think you would put on the clothes of a mere commoner on your noble body?”

“You all, truly know nothing.”

No matter how commoner-friendly a young lady she was,

Actually wearing commoner’s clothes was a completely different matter.

Even if it was just for a moment to change for a photo shoot.

Fearing the young lady’s honor might fall to the ground,

Lin tsked, tsked, tsked, and wagged her index finger at her loyal subordinates who were even risking their lives to plead with her.

“Look there, at the wheat field stretching beyond the horizon.”

“Yes…?”

Lin spread her arms wide, pointing to the wheat field.

In her embrace, the golden wheat field, bathed in the sunset, swayed in the wind as if dancing.

“Originally, for a tea party, it is proper etiquette to observe the correct dress code.”

Sunlight seeped through the strands of Lin’s hair.

“This scenery is no different.”

The warm color between red and blue shone like a halo.

And everyone who was looking at her was momentarily captivated.

“For such a warm scene, there is a dress that suits it best.”

They couldn’t say anything.

Because the young lady, actually borrowing and wearing a village girl’s clothes and strolling through the wheat field, shone more nobly than any other noble young lady.

It was to the extent that one might even mistake her for the advent of an unknown goddess of seeds.
The twilight painted a red outline along her platinum blonde hair.

Due to the complementary color effect, her faint emerald eyes flaunted their color through the backlight.

Click!

Heine, who had been staring blankly, belatedly came to her senses and pressed the camera’s shutter button.

A propaganda photo of Governor Lin, evoking a somehow wistful feeling of first love, was completed.

Soon, it would adorn the cover of the village monthly magazine.

The village monthly magazine, created under Lin’s absolute command.

Though it was a propaganda print distributed only within the village, the reality was slightly different.

To be precise, it had changed.

For commoners, seeing a noble young lady in person, let alone a photograph, was an extremely rare occurrence.

This was true even on the mainland, where royals and some high-ranking nobles were occasionally publicly announced for political reasons, let alone here in the colonies….

It was simply like a dream.

In this environment,

The value of Lin’s cover photo, the noble daughter of the Rosegarden count family, was truly immense.

Moreover, the young lady’s photographs, filled with all sorts of sincerity and professional composition,

Had a freshness as if made using knowledge passed down by foreign correspondents from beyond the sky.

Furthermore, she adorned the cover with a completely different concept each month, so that said it all.

“Did you bring the money?”

“Show me the goods first.”

Was that all?

The treasure ship in the forest, which was becoming a hot topic among adventurers on the Albion continent.

The Abel Town village monthly magazine, which was updating its status in great detail, was also highly valuable.

“No, I need to check the money first. This month’s item is quite valuable, you see…”

“Hmph. You said that last time too, and then brought out something mediocre. I can’t trust your tongue.”

“This time, even you will have no choice but to be satisfied. This month’s item is, indeed, a hot-off-the-press item published this month. Kukukuk.”

“Th-This month’s item, you say?”

“Yes. This month is especially incredible. Even that rich young lady you serve will surely like it.”

“…How much do you want?”

Furthermore.

The ‘Young Lady’s Daily Life’ section, which wandering minstrels across the continent used as material,

And which the daughters of wealthy bourgeois merchants swooned over, further enhanced the value of the monthly magazine.

Of course, commoner girls also liked it, but except for those living in Abel Town or nearby villages, they had no choice but to wait for the minstrels visiting their villages to tell the stories.

In addition to this,

The magazine’s rich composition, which didn’t waste a single page despite its thinness, was a great source of pride and welfare for the residents of Abel Town.

It was truly so packed….

The citizens of Lunden, who had loved Lin from the very beginning,

Were clamouring for it to be officially published for them too, using Lunden’s status as the colonial capital as an excuse, so that said it all.

And,

Cain, who received this month’s village monthly magazine.

“Waaah…”

“……This kid is really enjoying life to the fullest, isn’t she….”

No, was it twice?

Seeing his fellow possessor who had become the absolute idol of the Albion continent,

He resolved to steel his heart firmly for all the events to come.