Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 49

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 49
* * *
After Earl Oswald and his daughter departed, I remained in my seat and sipped the last of the honeyed water.
My mouth was sweet, but my heart was not.
I gazed at the empty chair where the Earl had sat and let my thoughts settle there.
Mona Oswald’s reason for killing her own father was decidedly outrageous.
She was currently engaged to a young nobleman—the problem being that he preferred men.
He loathed the thought of marrying a woman, yet under pressure from his parents, he became betrothed to Mona anyway.
On the surface he was handsome, and his house was wealthy, so Mona was perfectly satisfied with the arrangement.
Unaware that her husband would never lay a hand on her.
Earl Oswald discovered too late that his future son-in-law was a man who loved men, and he sought to dissolve the engagement.
Yet the boy’s terrified parents, afraid his secret would be exposed, offered the Earl a substantial bribe and begged his silence.
Shaken, the Earl ultimately agreed—sending his daughter to her wedding while pretending ignorance of the truth.
Mona spent her wedding night alone and learned only much later that her husband kept countless male lovers.
Worse still, that her own father had taken money to hold his tongue.
So Mona burned her husband and his mistresses to death, poisoned her in-laws, and finally—stabbed her father through the heart.
‘Truly a melodrama.’
Even the minor characters were different.
My thoughts shattered at that moment.
“Grand Duchess! Come out and see!”
“The Knight Order—the Knight Order has arrived!”
“What?”
The maidservants rushed toward me, faces flushed with excitement.
Startled, I hurried outside to look.
I didn’t need to see it. The irregular thunder of hoofbeats was already bearing down in a crowd.
“The Grand Duke must be returning!”
“So soon?”
I found it impossible. It made no sense.
Shulkan couldn’t possibly be back yet. If he were, that War Spoils List wouldn’t have been sent to the Council of Elders in the first place.
Apart from my confusion, my heart began to race.
Could it really be Shulkan returning?
“Hail!”
Then the castle gates opened and torches flared to life, and the Knight Order entered in two perfect columns. Every rider sat rod-straight in the saddle, and nothing sounded but the rhythm of hoofbeats.
The lead knight raised his arm.
Without a single command, all dismounted in unison. Even their landings struck the earth in perfect synchrony. Not a single glance passed between them.
The lead knight stepped forward one pace.
“All knights, take position!”
Dozens of riders formed two lines on the dust. Their armor caught the torchlight and rippled as one. Even their breathing made no sound. That silence swelled to fill the courtyard.
“Present arms!”
Shlink.
Dozens of blades sang free in a single breath. The cold-bright steel leapt straight ahead in unison, and the torchlight shattered into fragments across the tips of fifty swords.
The lead knight’s voice cleaved through the courtyard.
“Homage to the Grand Duchess, Her Highness Gonnet!”
Ching.
Sword-gripping right arms folded across their chests in unison. Blade-tips aligned with the line of their noses. Then every body bent at the waist.
From spine to sword-point in a single rigid line, dozens of them folded to precisely the same angle without the slightest deviation.
The entire courtyard held its breath.
My eyes went wide.
‘……They’re doing this for me?’
My heart plummeted, then soared.
‘Oh……’
Dozens of them, moving as one, for me?
‘How thrilling.’
I lost myself for a moment in the intoxication of power. Without thinking, heat bloomed across my cheeks.
But then……
“And the Grand Duke?”
“Your Highness will remain in the Subjugation Territory for the time being, Grand Duchess.”
The foremost knight answered.
“He ordered us to return ahead, and that some of us should remain here while others depart again, according to your arrangements, Grand Duchess.”
“He told you to arrange things… according to my wishes?”
The knight nodded.
“Yes, my lady.”
I felt a flicker of doubt.
Was this really all right?
True, the Main Castle needed at least a skeleton crew to maintain order.
But could I truly decide such matters on my own?
The Subjugation Territory was quite literally a place where life hung by a thread.
I couldn’t easily read Shulkan’s intentions, but I offered him a smile nonetheless.
“Welcome home. You’ve all worked hard.”
At my words, dozens of sword-tips lowered in a single breath. The whisper of blades sliding into their sheaths swept through the Inner Courtyard like a wind.
“My lady.”
The knight commanding the formation stepped forward and withdrew a small box from his coat, presenting it with both hands.
“The duke asked me to deliver this to you.”
The box was the same size as always. Sealed as tightly as ever.
“Thank you.”
“The honor is mine.”
The weight settled briefly in my palms. My expression remained calm, my hands steady as stone.
I accepted it into my coat and opened my mouth.
“We’ll hold a banquet in four days. Rest and recover from your travels.”
Belying the solemn silence of the formation, dozens of voices suddenly erupted, rising over the castle walls with a shout of joy.
Some raised their fists skyward; others clapped their companions on the shoulder. These were the same men who, moments before, hadn’t stirred a single blade.
‘They must have been starving…….’
I sent them all away, then turned to Gabin, whose face was no less bright with relief.
“Gabin.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Select ten able knights and send them to the Council of Elders. Tell them they’re here by my command to escort Bridget.”
“Understood. I’ll arrange it at once.”
Before these men arrived, the Main Castle had only four knights, making it difficult to spare anyone.
I’d been forced to send Bridget into that den of enemies with barely a single escort, but things were different now.
With so many knights at hand, Bridget would have an easier time retrieving the War Spoils List.
As they say, nothing conquers like force.
I looked down at the box I held. It was heavy. I could guess its contents well enough.
Gold coins, certainly.
I handed the box to a servant and made my way to the Kitchen.
When a great house’s Knight Order returned like this, the mistress of the castle was duty-bound—absolutely duty-bound—to host a banquet. And these men, all wrapped in bandages, had clearly endured no small hardship.
Excitement flooded in, but with it came the crushing weight of practical reality.
First of all…….
‘I have to feed all these knights as generously as I possibly can with what little we have!’
* * *
The Kitchen was already bustling.
Steam rose from enormous cast-iron pots toward the ceiling, and flames roared in the hearth.
“My lady!”
The servants hastily bowed at the sight of me.
“There’s much to prepare. Listen carefully.”
I made a circuit of the pots, my mind rapidly calculating.
What was common and what was scarce; what could be given freely and what must be rationed.
“Start with stew. Carrots, leeks, potatoes, mushrooms, and turnip greens—put everything into the pot. But make two versions: one rich and creamy, and another spiced with pepper for a sharp bite.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“How much bread can we bake? Should we just serve porridge instead……. I’m joking.”
“My lady……!”
The servants looked uncertain how to react to my words.
“Don’t spare the butter and cheese. Use eggs in dishes that don’t require much labor. If necessary, we can always serve them hard-boiled…….”
We had mushrooms piled high in the storage—enough to fill two full banquet tables on their own.
“But meat is the problem.”
Meat was expensive. Naturally.
Yet I couldn’t serve a banquet for knights who’d been through battle without meat.
A normal castle would have slaughtered cattle, pigs, and chickens on the knights’ return. They’d have sent hunters out for pheasant.
But our castle had none of those beasts, of course.
And I couldn’t very well slaughter our calves and chickens—they were the estate’s primary income.
‘Absolutely not.’
So I was simply going to buy them from outside.
I unfolded the ledger in my head once more.
“Find three or four butcher shops and order sausages. Enough for about a hundred people.”
This world naturally had no sausage factories.
There were only handmade sausages—minced meat painstakingly stuffed into thin casings and twisted by hand into links.
Which meant they were terribly expensive.
“But tell them to use very little meat in each casing. We’ll fill the gaps in the kitchen with minced mushroom mixed with flour and starch. The important thing is filling them up as much as possible.”
I was thinking of the knights rather like a sports team.
Athletes cared more about quantity than taste, more about volume than quality—quantity was apparently the paramount concern.
The point was to feed them until they were absolutely stuffed.
“If that doesn’t work, we can just season everything as heavily as possible…….”
I had them prepare potatoes and sweet potatoes in enormous quantities. After slicing them thin, I told them to fry them lightly in oil and sprinkle salt on top before serving—at which the maids tilted their heads in confusion.
“Your Grace, are those potatoes and sweet potatoes for the stew?”
“Just put them on the Banquet table. Some princess told me about this hometown snack long ago.”
“Ah……!”
The maids whispered among themselves that the continent was indeed vast and full of peculiar dishes.
‘No, it’s just cheap potato chips piled high in bowls……!’
What mattered was quantity!
Quantity!
There were no fresh fruits stacked like mountains, and seafood was completely out of the question. Foods requiring freshness were far too expensive to consider buying.
“No matter how well I prepare it, it won’t look very grand.”
As I muttered this with disappointment, the maids quickly shook their heads.
“Not at all, Your Grace! With this much, Erih will probably be groaning with indigestion!”
“That’s right. Erih is always weeping that he only eats porridge.”
“But does Erih even deserve to attend the Banquet? Honestly, the aide hasn’t done anything particularly noteworthy.”
“Right. Why doesn’t he just go eat porridge? He should keep his mouth shut.”
…….
I looked at the maids anew.
Were these the same maids who had treated me so carefully on the first day, as if I were a fragile glass cup?
Were these the same ones who had spoken each word so gently, like feathers?
Could it be my imagination that they were gradually becoming more like Bridget?
“Your Grace! If we’re short on mushrooms, can we perhaps have the servants dig up more?”
At one maid’s question, the others bristled with indignation.
“Of course! Don’t tell me they’re recovering from Travel Fatigue together?”
“Are they insane? It’s not fatigue they need to recover from—they should be fed poison!”
“Let’s just shove them into the laundry room.”
“Should we lock them in there until dawn?”
…….

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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