Ch.157Victory Keeps Me Busy #3

“What do you mean by getting smaller? What are you saying?”

“I’ve lived a life of only receiving, so that thought came to mind.”

Though I was born through manipulation rather than luck, from being born into a good family to getting married, anyone who didn’t know the circumstances would say I was fortunate.

Even if it’s not that I haven’t achieved anything on my own.

However, I don’t live with shame or inferiority about it.

I just wish I could live quietly, that’s all.

But Holland couldn’t know these circumstances, so his eyes swam around as if troubled.

“…I apologize for bringing up something unnecessary.”

“It’s fine. It’s not something Holland needs to apologize for. I actually think it’s a good thing.”

I have abundant financial resources, and my work isn’t particularly difficult.

Additionally, I have a wife who lacks nothing except when her trigger button is pressed, and two concubines who fell into my arms unexpectedly.

It was truly a blessed environment, as if someone had orchestrated it. The perfect packaging made the joy even greater.

Of course, I had to regularly persuade and train them behind the scenes to maintain this peace… but now I even enjoyed that.

“Um… that is… you are quite unique, Your Grace.”

“Thank you for the compliment. …It is a compliment, right?”

“Of course it’s a compliment. I’m once again grateful that you’re by the Duke’s side.”

After the awkward atmosphere passed,

I exchanged trivial jokes, recorded what was needed once more, and mounted my horse with Holland seeing me off.

Having finished all my tasks, I intended to go straight home.

What shall I do today?

With a fluttering anticipation, I gripped the reins of my horse and unconsciously scanned my surroundings.

I felt as if someone was secretly watching me, the sensation weighing heavily on the back of my neck.

But should I call this fortunate?

Upon returning to the mansion, I discovered there really was someone who had been watching me—it was Helena.

She confessed that she had secretly followed me to surprise me after dinner. Quite adorable, really.

So that night, when I gave her a devoted reward, Helena made panting sounds like a dog with her tongue hanging out.

It was worth putting in several times the usual effort.

Especially since I had sent Ellen and Eve away to focus solely on her.

Recalling Helena’s panting figure, I wondered if this was what people commonly referred to as a “bitch.”

It might seem somewhat vulgar, but it seemed better than putting on airs in bed.

However, after that incident, I had quite a struggle appeasing Ellen, who showed subtle signs of sulking, and Eve, who kept watching for cues.

“My Lord, the tribute sent from the Empire has arrived.”

As usual, after finishing my paperwork and relaxing leisurely on the office sofa, Andy opened the door, entered, and bowed his head.

He seemed more solemn than usual, making me think something special had happened—apparently, it was the reparations.

“Good work. Were any tributes lost during transport?”

“I heard there were several bandit attacks when the tribute first arrived at the capital, but fortunately, there were no losses.”

“Is that so? Thank you for letting me know.”

“Yes. I apologize for interrupting your rest.”

Helena silently watched Andy’s back as he withdrew after his final greeting.

Judging by her downcast eyes and the white, slender fingers stroking her chin, she seemed deep in thought.

She didn’t appear interested in checking the amount of reparations the Empire had to pay, perhaps because it was already recorded in the report we had received earlier.

Maybe because it was obvious that a defeated nation playing tricks with reparations would cause a huge uproar.

“If there are people bold enough to think about stealing war reparations… they’re likely still looking for opportunities, right?”

Breaking the heavy but not awkward silence, Helena spoke.

She seemed concerned about potential threats from those desperate enough to try stealing reparations headed for the capital.

Although the danger had decreased now that the reparations had been divided into three parts and delivered to each duke’s territory… well, who knows.

“That’s true, but they probably won’t come through our distribution route. We’ve already given a portion of the royalist faction’s share to His Majesty, and if they wanted to launch a surprise attack, targeting the other dukes’ shares would be easier.”

“That makes sense. It does, but…”

Helena still seemed worried, narrowing her eyes and pressing her lips tightly together.

When blinded by greed, one loses the ability to think things through, the heart pounds strongly with desire, and impatience pushes one forward.

“If you’re worried, should we increase the escort forces?”

“Ah, that… I don’t want to send them out again when they’ve barely recovered from the fatigue of war. The soldiers would gladly follow, but I’d feel bad…”

It’s not unusual for Helena to be considerate of the soldiers, so it doesn’t seem strange.

Yet somehow, it felt like she was dragging out the conversation, reluctant to say what she really wanted to say.

This was different from how she would normally nod at my words without hesitation.

I’m not angry that Helena is… talking back? I just find it strange enough to tilt my head unconsciously.

“Then… what do you think we should do, Helena?”

“Ah! Well… if Zion doesn’t mind, I’d like us to personally distribute the shares to the nobles under our faction. Would that be okay?”

A duke personally traveling to each territory to distribute shares instead of sending someone?

Most nobles would typically question the necessity of such an action and criticize it as being too frivolous.

Or they might misunderstand it as having ulterior motives to pressure others.

What could it be?

Since my limited intellect couldn’t grasp Helena’s true intentions, I smiled as gently as possible to encourage an answer.

It was a much simpler and more satisfying choice than racking my brains.

“Is there a reason you want to do that?”

“Yes. Actually, I want to use the bandits as an excuse to tour each territory together. We could enjoy the cool breeze, sightsee…”

So, she wants to travel. I nodded in understanding, feeling as if a blockage had been cleared.

It seemed she saw this as a good opportunity to freely roam outside the territory, which would be difficult without a special reason.

A trip, huh? Not bad.

“Alright. If that’s what Helena wants, let’s do it. But since we’re transporting reparation goods, we’ll need people to drive the wagons and some escort forces… you’ll have to accept that much. Understand?”

“Of course I understand!”

When I readily agreed, Helena hugged my right arm in delight, almost jumping with joy.

From her momentum, she might have thrown herself into my arms, but she seemed mindful of Eve, who was quietly guarding the opposite side.

“Um, Your Grace…”

Eve also hugged my arm tightly, calling me with a voice tinged with what seemed like a suppressed sob.

It was quite refreshing to see her in Ellen’s usual place and acting so proactively.

“Yes? What is it?”

“If you would allow it… I’d like to come along too. Would that… be okay?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? But I didn’t know Eve enjoyed things like travel.”

Whether she just wanted to cling to me or had a sudden whim to get some fresh air.

I couldn’t tell, but there was no reason to refuse Eve’s request to come along, so I gladly agreed.

Fortunately, Helena, who was clinging tightly to me, didn’t seem upset, as if she had expected this.

I looked over the two women clinging to my arms and spoke.

To prepare for the journey.

“Let’s first check the goods they’ve sent. It’ll be easier to distribute if we sort them in advance.”

“That’s right. Let’s hurry.”

As Helena eagerly rose to her feet, Eve also nodded quite vigorously and lifted herself from the sofa.

Although she claimed to have no connection with money matters, she wasn’t completely ignorant, so she would likely be of great help.

Mages generally excel at calculations, after all.

Let’s finish the preliminary work quickly and go.

With that thought, we, or at least I, headed to the back of the mansion with a few servants to classify the tributes.

“What? Is it alright for the Duke’s share to be this small?”

While sorting through a large jewelry box filled with gold and jewels, one servant asked in surprise.

Helena had allocated a considerably small portion for the ducal house.

“Yes. They say that when the wealthy desire more and become greedy, their hearts wither. So please do as I say.”

“Ah, I understand…”

Helena’s response seemed quite moving, as the eyes of the servants sorting the goods sparkled unusually.

The servant who had asked the question even appeared to be on the verge of tears.

And it wasn’t an exaggerated display to make a good impression, but genuine emotion.

“Um… won’t they look down on us if we lower ourselves too much?”

“Let them look down if they want. I don’t care much. However, if they end up touching Zion because of it…”

Helena muttered in a low voice in response to Eve’s question, then displayed a terribly chilling gaze.

A gaze with a black whirlpool raging fiercely in her eyes, reminiscent of an abyss.

Eve swallowed dryly at the sight of those eyes and silently nodded.

Probably because Helena’s dimming gaze spoke more clearly than any verbal response that might have followed.

.

“My goodness! To think that the Duke and Grand Duke would visit in person…!”

A few days later.

When we first visited Baron Barkan’s territory, he too blinked in surprise at the completely unexpected situation.

Ellen and Eve had left to tour Baron Barkan’s territory together, so only Helena and I visited the baron’s mansion.

Fortunately, we hadn’t encountered any bandits on the way, making it a quiet and comfortable journey.

“Yes. Perhaps because we’ve smelled too much blood, we wanted to use this transport as an excuse to get some fresh air.”

“Haha. Blood smell… I suppose that’s possible. Anyway, since you’ve come all this way, how about staying here for the day?”

“That’s alright. It would be too imposing to stay over when we’ve come without notice.”

“Imposing?! You mustn’t think that way! Both of you fought on the front lines to drive out those vicious Imperial bastards! Especially since you’ve come to my territory, which follows the Duke’s house!”

For a moment, the thought crossed my mind that he was being quite the loyal subject.

It wasn’t out of mockery, but rather astonishment at how drastically his attitude had changed.

While he had always been respectful and polite to Helena, he had never shown such excessive loyalty before.

Helena, faced with the baron who unconsciously raised his voice, involuntarily hunched her shoulders and muttered.

“I just thought it might be… inconvenient…”

“Inconvenient?! Absolutely not! Don’t you agree, Grand Duke?!”

“Pardon? Are you asking me?”

Caught off guard by the sudden question, I couldn’t hide my surprise, but quickly cleared my throat and composed myself.

I also cleared my mind, which had momentarily become dizzy from the unexpected commotion.

“Hmm…! It would be impolite to refuse when you insist so strongly. If the Baron permits… we would like to impose on you for the night.”

“Yes! Of course you should! I’ll also arrange accommodations for the people you’ve brought, so please don’t worry!”

“…I don’t know how to express my gratitude for your consideration, Baron. Thank you.”

It was overwhelming and burdensome, but precisely because of that, I could only nod in acceptance.

Helena, who had been momentarily at a loss for words, seemed to understand this and nodded with a softer expression.