episode_0559

It’s been about a month since we left the northeastern prairies and returned to Blackwood Estate.

The year passes, and the first month of the year arrives. The warrior party sets out on a journey to subdue the demons of the Demon Realm.

While many of my acquaintances at the academy, including Gyeomjyo Segi, were busy, I was spending my free time during the only time I could rest during the day.

“Huhhh… .”

“Anywhere itchy, Release?”

“Euuuung… . Right now is perfect… .”

“How about a massage, Miss Release?”

“Just like this now… . Heung… .”

While being attended to by two maids, Isabel and Katharina, in their bath.

The person who washed my hair from behind my head was Isabel. The person who massaged my calves in the bathtub was Katharina.

‘I think it’s a bit too extravagant.’

But even though they were once my fellow maids, it feels like I’m the only one in a different position.

However, since the two people would have been in trouble if they had refused, they simply accepted the extravagant service.

… Of course, it’s not like I specifically wanted to use those two people or anything like that.

‘Release, what’s the water temperature?’

‘It’s not bad… . But it might be better if you warm it up a little more… .’

‘Okay~!’

After reconciling with Sayi, I also reestablished my relationship with Sally. The reason Sally distanced herself from me in the first place was because our relationship had gone wrong.

Sei and I are in a state of cold war, but it seems like there’s some kind of unwritten rule between the spirits that I can’t understand, that if I seem to be on good terms with him, he’ll notice.

So after I made up with Sei, I came out again and this is what I am like.

‘It’s definitely more comfortable having Sally here.’

If most of the help I received from Say was combat assistance, the help I received from Sally felt like it had life magic added to it.

A life served by two women and one spirit. Certainly, the scenery seen is different for a noble of this world.

-Whoaaah!

“The head is finished, Release.”

“Ugh… . Thank you, Isabel… .”

… Now, after washing up, I have to go back to the head maid, Melissa, and receive some ‘attribute training’.

Right now, I need to forget about reality for a moment and indulge in this happiness.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Although I was given the title of noble lady around the time I entered Luminor Academy, that was only on the surface and did not mean that I had truly become a noble.

All I needed was a lowly noble title like Baroness Youngae to enter the rather special department called the Ministry of Magic.

Of course, as a noble, I only know the very basics of etiquette and I absolutely cannot imitate the young ladies who have been educated as nobles since childhood.

… but, the wife of the Blackwood family should not do that.

-Percussion!

“Hiyat… !”

“Release, straighten your back more!”

“… Yes, yes!”

Head maid Melissa corrects my walking posture by mercilessly hitting my back and waist with a thin whip.

It was a gesture that showed no mercy at all even towards the young lady who would become a duchess in a few years. It was probably not simply because she was old that she became the head maid of the Blackwood family.

“Always think of your steps as stepping on lotus flowers on water and take them lightly. Now that Lilith has decided to become the master’s wife, I can no longer tolerate her running around like a commoner’s girl.”

“Yes, no… !”

-Percussion!

“Hyaat?!”

“Your waist went down again! And I told you not to look at your feet as you walk!”

“Yes, no… !”

A stinging shock felt on the inside of his waist. It was a truly merciless beating, perhaps because he was not far from retirement.

By the time Ethan becomes a Duke and I become a Duchess, he will have already retired, so it doesn’t matter.

I had no intention of retaliate against her for becoming a duchess, but it was a harsh correction of attitude that made me feel that way.

In addition to the walking posture, you will also learn basic etiquette when sitting or standing up, conversation between nobles, and even full-fledged social dancing.

“Stay in that position on one leg. Do not let your other leg go down or your body lean forward.”

“How much maintenance do I need…?”

“You might not be used to this movement yet, so just do it for about 10 minutes at first. ”

As someone who came from a debt-ridden, commoner background, I had a lot to learn.

Ethan and I are scheduled to be married this fall, so I need to be fully versed in noble etiquette within ten months at the earliest.

It’s not like I can just pretend to be polite at the wedding, but after becoming a duchess, my job is to greet all the outside guests who come to Blackwood Manor.

In an aristocratic society, if I show even the slightest weakness, I end up hearing things like, “As expected from a baronet, your conduct is very aggressive.”

If I were a student, I would have secretly broken the heads of those women behind their backs, but I couldn’t do that as a duchess.

However, I do not have the ability to gain the upper hand in discussions on politics or trade, so in the end, the best thing to do is to prevent any disputes from arising in the first place.

-Percussion!!

“Ugh… !!”

“Release, your left leg is going down!”

“Sorry, sorry…!!”

… Now that I’ve made up my mind, I have no intention of running away.

If you’ve decided to become Ethan’s wife, you have no choice but to bear the weight of that crown.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Aside from receiving the merciless service of my two maid friends and educating Melissa as a noble young lady, my daily life was filled with other things.

One of them was to acquire basic knowledge and virtue as Ethan’s wife, so after escaping the beatings of the head maid, Melissa, the next thing to do was to attend Dietmeyer’s business/economics lectures.

“… This policy may reduce tax waste for now, but it will not be able to cope with sudden changes in circumstances. For example, what would happen if a drought suddenly struck the territory and the people of the territory failed to harvest that year?”

“First of all, since about 50% of the residents of Blackwood Estate are engaged in farming, temporary alternative jobs are provided to the farming population during the year… .”

“Then, the question becomes what level of wages should be offered for alternative jobs, and where should the work be conducted? The best option would be to mobilize personnel to construct buildings owned by the Blackwood family, but it is important to distribute wages and labor intensity appropriately here.

If too much wages are paid, it may cause other business workers to leave the field or existing agricultural workers to leave their main job. On the other hand, too little wages or high labor intensity may become a great burden to the population who are not accustomed to this type of business. ”

“… … Yes.”

“Do you understand, Miss Release?”

“… So, what should I do?”

“First of all, the method used in the Blackwood Estate is to adjust the food self-sufficiency rate to a certain level. It is not a problem that can be considered as having low transportation costs by consuming all the food consumed within the estate.

The western part of the empire often has the opposite climate to the east, so importing from there would be the most reliable, but since the transportation distance there is too long, it would be better to open up trade in the southeast or northeast… .”

… To be honest, I don’t understand about 70% of what I hear in class on the spot.

I couldn’t help but nod my head as I listened to Dietmeyer’s words, who was confident in his own logic and explained it.

The instructors were also aware that I didn’t understand everything perfectly, so they always had me write notes after class, and if I missed something, they would correct it in real time.

And the next day, he would force them to review what they had learned by giving them problems and such. That was how he would forcefully instill knowledge about estate management in their heads.

“The following is an explanation of the special mutual treaty between our territory and the neighboring territory of Dodens County… .”

“… My head feels like it’s going to burst, can’t I just rest for a bit and then do it?”

“This is knowledge that you have already learned before entering the academy. Isn’t Miss Lilith someone who would collapse to this extent?”

… collapsed and is still continuing to collapse in real time.

To begin with, I wasn’t a person who had much of a connection to studying in my previous life. I desperately followed the academy because I wanted to learn things I liked like magic and swordsmanship.

Even if I tried to force knowledge into my already stiff head, it would never be able to accumulate properly. I think after a month or so, I would have forgotten about 80% of what I had learned so far.

“In fact, most of the management of the territory will be handled by Lord Ethan, so it may not be something for Miss Lilith to worry about.”

“… Well, I guess so.”

“But that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare for it, because you never know when and where problems will arise when you need them. For example, if you go out to another territory or the palace one day and the Dodens Viscounty right next door asks you about a special mutual treaty, what will you do?”

“… I guess I’ll tell you the story when Ethan comes back or something.”

“What if you were to travel to a faraway place like the Auguste estates in the west? Would you tell them to wait for over a week? Or what if it was a schedule that required them to stay at the palace for several days?”

“… … .”

“Becoming the master’s wife means that you must be prepared to take responsibility for the master’s problems when the time comes. It makes no sense for me, a mere butler, to interfere in the management of the estate, and I am telling you this because I will probably be leaving Blackwood Manor within a few years.”

“Yes, uh… .”

“Then, let’s start again. The Dodens County and our territory had a special mutual treaty in the past… .”

…I want to run away, but I can’t run away.

It was a moment when I wanted to run away more seriously than the day I left Blackwood Manor two years ago.