Chapter 30

The village field owner’s eyes went wide as he raised his voice. As they entered one by one, they couldn’t close their mouths at the luxurious, splendid, and abundant table setting.

“I wanted you to eat comfortably. I wondered if it was too much for lunch and thought about making it dinner instead, but I figured starting from lunch would be better for having fun…”

“We can start from lunch, eat dinner, and keep having fun, can’t we?”

The boisterous atmosphere was nothing like a noble family’s party, but Sehera didn’t mind at all.

When she’d gone around meeting the farmers with Traver, she’d already experienced all their ways of ‘having fun.’

Thinking about it, the past year had been as full of incredibly diverse experiences as it had been difficult.

Through that time, her current self had been formed. The composure to embrace past wounds and live on, and the ability to remember that pain and consider others.

She still couldn’t forget the comforted feeling when the few who heard this story had firmly held her hand. This was a gathering where she’d invited the people who had each held her hand in various ways.

As the meal began in a light atmosphere, Sehera looked around and casually spoke up.

“It’s already been a year since I came back here. There’s still a long way to go and much left to do, but I thought I shouldn’t forget to be grateful for making it this far.”

“Oh come on, what’s there to be grateful for?”

“Thanks to you, my lady, I went from just being a house-sitter to a proper maid. I’m really so excited to be doing this work.”

“You made us feel like part of the county estate.”

“Well… I didn’t even hire all of you.”

Flustered, Sehera smiled awkwardly and paused for a moment.

“Romina, sit down and eat too. I deliberately set everything out at once so we could eat together. Let’s have a comfortable meal together, at least for today.”

Even after sitting down, Romina fidgeted for a while looking around, but once she started eating, she gradually focused on the food.

“Anyway… that’s why I arranged this gathering today. I wanted to tell everyone thank you, and I wanted to do something, not just say it with words.”

Sehera looked at her people, gathered by her own efforts, with a truly satisfied smile.

“Thanks to you, things I thought might just end as self-sufficiency became business and that became money…”

“At first, I couldn’t handle the money, so I wondered if we were doing the right thing or not, but not stopping there and continuing the business was the best decision. You don’t know how worried I was that our house might fly away back then.”

This was someone who lived under the jujube tree who rarely talked about personal matters when it came to work.

These people hadn’t smoothly become Sehera’s people from the start either.

As hearts that had been closed and wary of her gathered and opened to her, many things were being accomplished.

“This is just the beginning.”

And just as the relationship between the farmers and Sehera was about to turn harmonious, Fredil succeeded in finding stable sales channels.

If she retraced those memories now, there had been enough mental anguish that she might have cried a little.

“No, I was trying to say that even though we struggled to get this far, there’s still more road ahead to travel.”

Fredil spoke in a light voice like someone with a sense of purpose to refresh such an atmosphere.

Feeling awkward and embarrassed, and some wetting their dry lips at Sehera’s appearance, deliberately scratching their heads, everyone turned their heads to their plates.

“Good point. We’ve come this far, but there’s still much road ahead. So this is also a day to ask you to keep helping me move forward well.”

Sehera smiled gently and continued the words he might have said.

“That’s right. The top priority for Lady Sehera going forward would be becoming a Count. Strangely, Count Content refuses to give up his position…”

“Right! Why won’t he give it up? When all he does is come to the territory with it to show off and just collect taxes.”

Fredil subtly put Content Planer on the table. When Sana, who’d heard bits and pieces, got indignant, those who hadn’t known about it looked at him with shining eyes.

“That’s even possible? Then our lady, you’ll really become Count Planer?”

Traver looked at Fredil with sparkling eyes from beside her. Though he couldn’t professionally question how that was possible, what procedures it involved, and the probability of success, he started asking one by one.

Even commoners could guess that process wouldn’t be smooth. When money is involved, everything naturally revolves around greed.

“Of course. That person is only acting as regent right now, so he has no authority. He’s probably holding on tight trying not to let go, but that will come back around. If he pushes too hard, he’ll definitely put himself in danger. Don’t worry. We won’t be in danger.”

Fredil’s words contained the skill of push and pull.

So he led those gathered here with talk of danger to tighten the atmosphere, then with a carefree face pushed back by saying there was nothing to worry about since we were gathered together.

“Then will there be things we can help with in Lady Sehera’s work going forward?”

“Of course, just keep doing what you’re doing now. You’ll probably all need to. We really need to take action. We need everyone’s help. If everyone joins forces… we can drive that man from the Count’s name. You said he didn’t even care much, right? Rather than such a person remaining as Count, it would be better for the title to return to Lady Sehera.”

“Of course! That would be the best thing!”

Somehow feeling like they were conspiring without her, Sehera felt strangely pleased.

“It’ll be difficult work, but it’s not impossible. I don’t tackle things I can’t do. In that sense… though I’ve never refused a request.”

He was a very capable person, showing that the saying about bringing clear victory once he put his hand to something wasn’t wrong.

And this was something Sehera and everyone who’d worked with her all acknowledged.

He’d even come down here many times to oversee work, and didn’t look down on Sehera for working with commoners.

No, rather…

“I plan to pave a good road without a single stone for Lady Sehera’s work, so you all just need to follow diligently.”

His words rang out reassuringly. Not only the people gathered in front but even Sehera found him reliable.

Rather, he never hid looking at Sehera with always affectionate eyes. Enough that people said he might be working with personal feelings. Though he didn’t show it in front of Sehera, of course.

But they weren’t negative about it.

The village people had witnessed Sehera being looked down on many times for being a divorced woman who’d returned, and each time they’d seen how that fearsome lawyer took revenge.

The thought that ‘that man can protect our lady’ seemed to have settled in everyone’s minds.

“So as a reward… I guess? For following along diligently, I prepared gifts.”

Sehera made the atmosphere he’d brightly refreshed heat up even more.

“Wow! Gifts! We should be giving to you, my lady, and it still wouldn’t be enough!”

Sehera distributed the gifts she’d moved to the dining room before the meal to them one by one.

Each time they received their gift, they all made happy expressions.

It made them even happier and more delighted because she hadn’t prepared the same thing for everyone, but things each person needed, things they’d once said they needed or wanted had come back as gifts.

Ethan opened his eyes that had been quietly closed in the room. All he could do while lying still was think. But during this painful, aching period, just lying here like this, he couldn’t have very productive thoughts.

He had to try not to be obsessed with the wins and losses happening in the war. Even erasing from consciousness that he was making such efforts…

He had no choice but to accept it. In war, it was better for one’s well-being to set aside such deep anguish.

But after such thoughts passed… what remained for him?

“What for…”

One side of his thoroughly numbed heart never filled with hope or joy. What remained for him was a room painted entirely black…

‘Listen well, Duke Ethan Croft.’

Even… she too had lost her light from him.

‘You and I are divorced, and honestly, I hoped never to meet again. Don’t acknowledge me.’

When had things become like that? He hadn’t had time to restore what had gone wrong. He hadn’t even thought he should.

What happened happened, and he simply couldn’t help it…

Those two years had been entirely about running around for restoration.

The empire wanted to continue the war, and for the family’s survival, from his position as Third Knight Commander, he had no choice but to go to war.

However, the empire’s citizens and even the nobles didn’t know much about this war. It had already been a won war, and through that war, people had lost much.

Yet if they learned the empire was instigating war, regardless of the circumstances, it was obvious only negative reactions and all sorts of chaotic rumors would spread rampantly.

Why the war had to continue, why he had to be involved, how he’d been in it…

There was so much to say, but like all those things had disappeared in the chaos of war, Ethan’s head felt completely empty.

Like sound echoing in an empty room, the commotion from outside seemed to echo hollowly.

“It’s especially noisy today…”

Guerrilla warfare was a repetition of silence and explosive noise.

When moving, they had to move quietly like hunting predators, and when fighting, it filled with the friction of metals that seemed to deafen and the sounds of tearing and crushing flesh.

War was a series of such gaps and stimulation. And finally, a year ago, Ethan had begun to stand out.

The heart to protect someone was nothing compared to anger that didn’t even know who it was directed at.

[Will you grant me a divorce?

With sincere regards, I send this message to you, wherever you may be, Your Grace.]