It was Eren who was unusual — maintaining a completely expressionless face even in a situation like this.
Somewhere in his facial muscles, there was definitely a part that had frozen stiff from the northern winds.
Liselotte faked nonchalance as she pretended to reread the letter she had already worn thin.
“Yeah. As you know, I lived in the Capital. My brother and father were the ones who handled subjugation selection, so I’ve never done it myself. I wondered if maybe other Houses did it differently.”
The longer she spoke, the wider the servant’s and maid’s jaws dropped.
Their eyes, gripped by fear, darted around as if they could no longer find a place to settle.
The structure and capability of a subjugation force meant the safety of a region.
Their relatives and families still lived in the East.
They had no choice but to worry.
They didn’t raise their voices in front of Liselotte, but small murmured exclamations slipped out.
“Damn… this is insane.”
It was a breach of etiquette, but she pretended not to hear it and smiled at them.
“Good. I’m relieved it’s not like that. You can go back now.”
As if their souls had left their bodies, the two bowed awkwardly.
They staggered while leaving the room and even bumped into each other, but neither said a word.
Click.
Once the door closed, Liselotte slowly leaned back against the sofa.
Eight or nine times out of ten, those two would contact their families and friends as soon as they stepped outside.
People were always anxious when it came to safety — especially anyone living in the Perida Empire, constantly plagued by monsters.
She was certain that their anxiety would spread the story far and wide.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even a false rumor. It was the truth.
“I hope the rumor spreads quickly.”
With a pleased whisper, she began writing the reply to send to House Gloria.
[Greetings,
This is Liselotte Keilos.
Following the explosion of the magic stone mine, House Keilos was forced to take responsibility not only for the subjugation but also for the entire recovery effort.
We do not believe there are no issues here.
First, as previously stated to Lady Gloria, we find it questionable whether the frequent changes of aides truly bear no responsibility on the part of the East.
Second, House Gloria claims that the North unilaterally entered the northern region of the East, yet canceling the proposal originally made by Aide Hedmillton was a decision made by Aide Jar, who sent the reply immediately afterward.
Third, the selection of subjugation members is the duty of each individual House. It is not something House Keilos can address.
Additionally, please clarify whether the eastern subjugation force tasked with damage recovery was selected before the mine explosion occurred.
Given the growing discomfort between both sides, we believe further progress is impossible. We once again request the cancellation of the existing agreement.
Please reply before tomorrow afternoon.
Thank you.]
Liselotte glanced sideways at the thick pile of letters exchanged so far.
Among them were the letters Hedmillton had sent.
‘With evidence this direct, if they have any sense at all, they wouldn’t dare deny it.’
In truth, Liselotte was certain.
‘Selection, my foot. They couldn’t even decide on personnel, which is why they asked me in the first place. How would they suddenly be selecting a subjugation force now?’
And hadn’t she already heard that with their subjugation commander out, the internal situation was chaotic?
Meaning: they had no one capable of properly handling subjugation recovery.
For people like that to try to blame the North—
***
[House Gloria conveys the following stance:
The reassignment of eastern aides is not a matter the North needs to concern itself with.
Although you claim Aide Hedmillton sent a proposal, the East has never received any report regarding such contents.
Even if that were the case, the North could simply have mentioned the proposal again.
The eastern subjugation unit had already departed the Gloria estate before the mine explosion occurred.
With all procedures conducted properly, cancellation is not possible.
Lastly, as previously stated, we hold the North responsible for contributing to the mine explosion and request compensation in the amount of 3,000,000 gold and the delivery of 2 tons of magic stones per year for five years.]
They had no choice but to lie like this.
The contents of the letter that arrived the next morning were overflowing with lies, even at a glance.
“Wow, incredible. Now they’re claiming they’ve never even seen the proposal they themselves sent.”
It was such blatant wordplay that she couldn’t even get angry.
Their side already had a letter stamped with House Gloria’s official seal as proof.
They insisted the North should have mentioned the proposal again, but even if their claim were true, Liselotte would have had no reason to bring it up either.
“And the subjugation force supposedly departed before the explosion… yet they arrived after everything was already over?”
What nonsense.
Distance, average travel time — With all the cooperation that had been carried out over the years, it was easy to estimate how long it should take.
It felt like her hypotension was being cured first thing in the morning.
“Did they rip out someone’s spine to buy themselves a golden angel statue or something? Every little thing turns into them demanding money.”
The rich were always the worst — so much worse they might as well be scammers.
Liselotte quietly folded the letter and was putting it away when—
Loud voices echoed from outside the window.
“Where did the previous servants go? Why are people I’ve never seen before walking around the ducal estate?”
“And Karin? Where is the head maid?”
Peeking subtly through the curtain, it seemed the collateral relatives had arrived at the estate.
The noblewomen wrinkled their faces the moment they stepped out of their carriages.
They were already looking for the head maid who had been dismissed long ago.
Fortunately, the seasoned butler was handling the situation with skill.
“These are newly hired staff.”
“All of a sudden? What about the ones who worked in the North for years?”
“Some remain, and some left due to personal circumstances.”
“What personal circumstances? I don’t understand. Honestly, from the subjugation force to the estate, nothing is being properly managed.”
They were nitpicking from the very beginning.
Managing the employees was the duty of the Lady of the House — Liselotte.
Since they couldn’t insult her openly, they used the excuse of her being ‘unqualified’, which was laughable.
‘So it’s point-scoring. A power struggle right from the start…’
It was like distant in-laws barging in to order, ‘Place the bread here, the soup there.’
Arms crossed, Liselotte silently watched them from the window.
The collateral relatives nagged loudly at even the most ordinary actions of the servants carrying luggage, or the maids guiding them.
Yet every one of those employees had been carefully selected and hired by Ail after on-site interviews.
Aside from slight regional differences, the work itself was largely the same; there was nothing meaningfully different.
And if they judged the collateral relatives’ employees using the same standard, the results wouldn’t be much better.
‘Is there even a reason to dislike them that much?’
Standing before her desk, Marsha spoke hesitantly, her voice uneasy.
“Will you go out to greet them?”
“If I go, I’ll only hear tiresome complaints. Why bother?”
With a snap, Liselotte pulled the curtain shut.
But what she was more curious about was something else.
“Why is the collateral branch acting like they’re desperate to tear His Highness apart?”
“Well…”
Marsha hesitated, choosing her words.
“The only direct-line member of House Keilos is His Highness the Grand Duke.”
Liselotte briefly recalled what Ferento had said at the training grounds.
Something about the previous Grand Duke and Duchess having passed away early.
If Eren hadn’t even properly received swordsmanship instruction, it meant it all happened when he was quite young.
Liselotte scrunched her nose and asked,
“So the collateral branch wanted to swallow House Keilos?”
“Most likely, yes. There’s a lot one can do with the authority of the Head of House.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen plenty of people who forget family entirely when wealth is involved.”
Perhaps assuming that someone from the Capital might not know such things, Marsha explained it gently, one piece at a time.
“The bones of northern monsters have excellent magic retention and don’t break easily, so there’s high demand for them across the continent.”
Magic stones hold a set type of magic, so they’re not easy to work with.
By contrast, monster bones, though weaker in magic capacity than magic stones, could hold any kind of magic and were easy to work with.
“Oh, really? Then the North must earn more money than expected just from monster byproducts.”
“Of course, that’s also because subjugation is twice as hard here, since those monsters have solid bones.”
“…Are you sure that’s a good thing?”
High labor, high return — better than being low-return, but somehow the whole thing felt strange.
