Chapter 11

Sana set the cookies down in front of her and stood there, speaking carefully. This girl loved talking—how bored must she have been during her cleaning time here?

She kept making Sehera smile. Sehera sat at the desk, staring at the empty space in front of her before looking back at Sana.

“Why did you think that? I was just sitting here spacing out.”

“That’s exactly it. You had that look—like you have so much to do that you’re trying to figure out where to start.”

Sehera let out a small laugh at her proud smile. She didn’t know what Sana was basing this on, but as long as you get the right answer, it doesn’t matter how you got there.

Since Sehera had actually been wondering where to start, she nodded.

“I came out here with my mind made up, but I realized this isn’t something I can do on willpower alone, so I was thinking about where to begin.”

“I knew it…”

Thrilled that she’d guessed correctly, Sana’s eyes sparkled as she chattered away.

“So, does this mean you’ll be taking over Dirk from now on, Miss?”

“Huh…?”

Caught off guard, Sehera flinched slightly when the name “Dirk” came up, seemingly exposing her plans. She stared at Sana.

“Dirk? Why Dirk?”

She had been planning to do exactly that, but somehow she felt wary. Even though Sana spoke in a positive tone… could she be trying to ask for a favor?

Sehera had thought it was a clean business, but maybe merchants couldn’t operate without that sort of thing after all. Come to think of it, she remembered Sana mentioning that her father used to work at Dirk.

She’d been somewhat prepared for this. She was past the age of thinking everything in the world would be clean and pure.

Even Ethan, the Duke’s heir that every young lady had dreamed of, hadn’t turned out to be a good husband.

He wasn’t someone she should be thinking about at this moment—how persistent of her.

The truth was… Sehera loved him very, very… tremendously much.

No matter how badly he’d treated her, no matter that it was a political marriage—at least Sehera had feelings for him.

The reason she’d tried to hold onto hope until the end wasn’t out of some noble sentiment or sense of responsibility as Duchess Croft. It was simply because of these feelings that couldn’t go anywhere and just kept wandering.

“Dirk employed a lot of people from the territory. Even without the Count, farming continues without problems, but everyone was happy they could take on extra work when Dirk was operating. The new Count doesn’t seem interested in that side of things, and people are worried because he’s talking about raising taxes again.”

This wasn’t what Sehera had been thinking about. But a bigger problem was waiting for her.

The direction she’d been planning to go was right—reclaim the Planer name and restart Dirk’s operations.

And from Sana’s words, she could tell that what she’d been most worried about would actually happen.

Right now, the Count Planer title had gone to her uncle, Content Planer.

“That new Count… hasn’t he come here?”

Given how abandoned the Count’s estate was, he clearly hadn’t come, but she thought there might be other ways.

As a lord, he’d have things to collect from the territory’s people, so even if he didn’t establish himself here, she thought he’d at least look in and take care of things.

“No? It’s always been Count Content Planer’s servant making the rounds through the village. He goes around showing the Count’s seal saying, ’Hand over the taxes you owe the Count!’”

So rather than caring about what happened here, he was raising taxes and such.

She hadn’t thought her uncle was like that, but he turned out to be worse than expected.

Hearing this, it seemed he wasn’t the type to hand over the Count title willingly, and her chest felt slightly tight.

Having Sana nearby helped her keep her composure, but she still had unresolved matters.

The most important things were: going to find her uncle to reclaim the Count title, and finding a way to restart Dirk’s operations.

She’d decided that visiting her uncle would require bringing a lawyer, but she hadn’t yet found a starting point for restarting Dirk.

But if the townspeople all knew a little about it… couldn’t that be an approach?

“Everyone would be happy if Dirk came back, wouldn’t they?”

When she asked Sana casually, the girl immediately smiled brightly.

“Of course! Everyone would love it. It’s not like it makes so much money that you’d abandon farming for it, but my grandfather said it was really good work. That’s why my dad was doing well continuing it too… He said that day’s accident was such a tragedy.”

Sana, who always spoke cheerfully, suddenly pursed her lips and her eyes welled up with tears. Half seemed to be from looking at Sehera, half from her own memories.

Still, how wonderful that there were people who mourned their deaths like this.

Sehera felt deeply relieved that the people of Planer territory could freely experience the grief she couldn’t have as someone who’d become part of another family in a distant place, and that they were fully using that freedom.

She’d always felt terrible that she couldn’t properly mourn them herself.

She carefully stroked Sana’s head and nodded. She hoped the girl would understand that it was okay.

“So I explained everything to my parents. I was helping with farm work before, but when I said I needed to serve you, Miss, they were so happy! They told me to serve you well and even taught me how to bake cookies. I think I’ll be able to make you something even more delicious tomorrow. They said they’d send over potatoes from today’s harvest.”

Sana spoke cheerfully again, seemingly having quickly shaken off her gloomy mood. Even her parents were looking out for her. She was grateful, but there had to be a line when it came to receiving help.

“I can’t accept them for free. If they give me potatoes, could you let me know the market price? I’ll pay properly.”

“But… you don’t have to. I’m the one cooking for you!”

“I’m already calculating that labor and paying you a salary for it. All labor deserves compensation.”

Only after saying it did Sehera realize these had been her father’s words.

Things that had been natural until two years ago, her parents who she’d resented a little for sending her far away in a political marriage because of some promise between parents…

They weren’t by her side now, but she was only realizing their value now—it had become one of those bittersweet stories.

“Okay! Then I’ll talk to Mom and bring you the very best potatoes from our field! But I’ll ask her to tell you a lower price.”

“You already told me all that?”

“Huh? Why? Will you pay more?”

Watching Sana’s face fall immediately, seemingly thinking it had been a good idea, Sehera laughed quietly.

At least she seemed to have secured one person who could protect her from dwelling on sadness.

* * *

The dress wasn’t her only purpose for coming to the capital.

After trying on dresses diligently, Sehera selected several that she really liked and finished paying. Since she had the good fortune of finding designs she liked that fit her body perfectly, she could save time.

So she was thinking of checking on Sana’s father, who’d volunteered to be their coachman.

“Um… Sana, after we load this in the carriage, would you like to tour the capital with your father? I have business over there.”

Sehera pointed to one of the buildings lined up in the capital’s shopping district. It was just a building similar in form to the ones on the right or left, only slightly different in color.

There wasn’t even a sign outside, just a nameplate.

“Fredil Office?”

“Right. It’s a lawyer’s office. It’ll be difficult for you to come in with me.”

“How long will you be?”

She’d need Sana and her father’s help to get back anyway. She couldn’t pull the carriage herself, and borrowing a horse to ride back alone would be difficult since the dress had quite a flowing design.

Of course, she couldn’t ride a horse anyway, and it wasn’t secretive enough to require going to such lengths.

“We’ll look around and wait here in front, Miss. You’ll see us right away when you come out.”

Sana’s eyes sparkled like someone who’d received a mission. The young lady from the Count’s territory was already quite excited about the capital outing, having seen many pretty dresses and lovely young ladies, and seemed to be in a very good mood.

So Sehera pressed a gold coin into her hand. Sana blinked at what she’d received, then was so shocked she nearly threw what was in her hand.

“Whoa! A whole gold coin, Miss!”

“Why are you so surprised? Have a nice meal with your father. I don’t know this area well, so I can’t recommend anything. Sorry.”

Anyway, it was something she’d face eventually, and she wanted to take good care of the girl who looked after her so well. She wanted to give these two people, who must have wasted a lot of time, at least a little good time.

“Miss… I feel like I’m getting enough compensation for my work, you don’t have to give me this.”

“Please accept it. I’ll feel more comfortable going if you do.”

When she insisted once more, Sana wrinkled her smooth brow, then accepted it respectfully and even bowed her head. It was clearly a gesture of thanks, but her tightly pressed lips looked cute.

“Have a good time, Miss!”

Receiving the hearty send-off, she bowed deeply once more before quickly moving away. Watching that cute retreating figure, Sehera entered the office she’d pointed to.

As she cautiously entered, a voice greeted her.

“How may I help you?”

The secretary giving a formal, businesslike greeting was a perfect contrast to Sana, who’d just been flashing sparkling smiles at her.

Sana was a free-spirited young lady from the territory, while the woman before her could be seen as a female employee serving a perfect and demanding boss.

“I’m here to see Lawyer Fredil. Tell him it’s Planer.”

The woman’s reaction changed somewhat ambiguously when she heard the name Planer. After a moment’s consideration, she guided Sehera inside.

Shouldn’t a lawyer listen to people’s requests first and then choose cases? Sehera felt slightly annoyed, like she’d been observed and judged through the secretary.

The secretary led her, dressed in quite an elaborate dress, to the inner office. Sehera followed closely behind.