Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 58

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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 58
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‘Who’s talking about me?’
The moment I settled into the carriage, my ears began to itch. Someone, somewhere, was clearly discussing me.
‘The Council of Elders? Duke Baetan? Or people from the Northern Kingdom?’
I had no way of knowing.
There were plenty of people who’d love to criticize me, but I could simply ignore them and move on.
If you dwelled on every petty grievance, you’d never live long enough to see anything through.
I’d decided to focus on the pressing problems directly before me, tackling them one by one.
‘First, the Council of Elders’ apprentice.’
In truth, the Council’s idea had been quite ingenious.
From the moment I’d purchased the abandoned coal mine, everything I planned to do would be a hybrid fusion of knowledge from the novel’s memories and modern understanding — a true mismatch of techniques.
Secrecy was paramount.
The moment others began copying my methods, the rarity would evaporate.
No matter how carefully I kept things hidden at first, once the coal mine operations expanded, could I manage it all myself?
It was impossible.
Besides, Gonet was poor; we simply didn’t have the resources to hire more servants or soldiers to maintain security.
‘But then something far more complicated appeared.’
The child sitting in the corner of the carriage stared out the window, fascinated by the passing scenery.
Their frame was skeletal, as if a broomstick had simply been dressed in clothes.
And I’d noticed it.
Three crimson dots above the child’s left ear, hidden beneath a fall of hair.
‘Good heavens.’
In the source novel’s vast web of political intrigue, there existed a “dead character” of considerable importance.
He had been the eldest son of Molsen, the Grand Duke of the Gaiard Empire and its most ancient benefactor.
Molsen’s son had vanished in early childhood, and the couple had long since crossed to another continent searching for their lost child.
And it would only be revealed later.
That Molsen’s missing son was discovered as a corpse in Gonet.
Because of this discovery, Molsen harbored deep resentment toward the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Gonet, and House of Molsen began to stand against Gonet.
Though Gonet held the title of Grand Duke’s House, they had barely escaped bankruptcy and Ayu had already corrupted to such a degree that they could only strike back defensively.
Afterward, Gonet and Molsen spiraled into an irreversible decline, until finally Molsen’s attempt to assassinate Ayu was exposed, and the entire House of Molsen faced complete extinction.
‘It was chaos. Absolute chaos.’
In any case, the distinguishing mark of Molsen’s son was precisely those three crimson dots above the left ear, hidden beneath hair.
‘It matches. It’s definitely him.’
But how on earth had he ended up in Gonet?
I wanted to ask, but the child had already suffered a broken leg and abandonment by his adoptive father, so I held my tongue rather than shock him further.
I longed to contact House of Molsen immediately, yet their parents were currently on another continent, and there was no way to reach them now.
For now, I had to care for this skeletal child and help him thrive.
‘If the child were alive, the Grand Duke’s House and the House of Molsen wouldn’t have ended up in such a bitter feud.’
I felt a touch of self-interest stir.
If I grew old and had nowhere to go and no money left, wouldn’t I be able to rely on House of Molsen?
Initially I’d meant to take him with me purely out of concern.
Then Erichi spoke in a quiet voice.
“Grand Duchess. Do you truly intend to take that child on as an apprentice?”
“Yes. I do.”
The ease vanished from Erichi’s expression.
“But the Council of Elders won’t accept this willingly.”
“That’s why I’ve thought of a way. Want to hear it?”
“I’m listening.”
Since I’d brought up the matter of Spirits, Erichi had become extraordinarily formal toward me. No — formality hardly captured it.
He was utterly, completely loyal!
It felt almost as though I’d become a high priestess commanding devoted disciples, and it was thrilling.
I laid out the words I’d been organizing in my mind.
“Erichi. Do you have another house you’re betrothed to?”
“No. My house was completely extinguished, so I have never formed any marriage contract.”
“I see.”
I hadn’t known that was his situation.
As my expression darkened, Erichi quickly waved his hand.
“Please don’t make that face. My house was extinguished when I was very young, and I have no memories of it. Besides, the uncle who raised me was only a knight holding the rank of Earl — my own rank was granted by His Highness the Grand Duke.”
That was unexpected.
In the original work, Erichi’s exploits appear, but nothing is ever mentioned of his past.
‘So his parents must have passed away even earlier.’
There was no need to pry into someone else’s painful family circumstances, so I changed the subject.
“Do you have any lady in mind, then?”
“A lady, Your Highness?”
Erichi narrowed his brows and spoke.
“I’m said to be rather particular about such matters, so besides the Grand Duchess, there isn’t really anyone… but why are you asking me such a thing…….”
“Are you insane, sir?!”
At Erichi’s words, the child shot upright with a shout.
He nearly collapsed from the pain of his broken leg, but I caught him and scolded him seriously.
“Erichi. No matter how obsessed you are with spirits, I’m already married to the Grand Duke.”
“Pardon?”
Erichi jumped up immediately.
“That’s not what I meant at all! Would I be so foolish as to harbor such feelings for the Grand Duchess? I serve her! The way a knight serves his lady! Don’t you understand that if I spoke such things in front of His Highness, I’d be a dead man?!”
“Then say it clearly! Why would you covet the princess! You’re not worthy enough to covet the princess!”
‘Oh my.’
I discovered something new about this child’s character.
He was terribly polite and courteous to women—even awkwardly chivalrous in his manners—but toward men…….
‘He has no mercy whatsoever?’
Look at how bluntly he speaks.
Erichi flared up in anger.
“I’m not so inadequate! And I wasn’t coveting—I was showing reverence!”
“What’s reverence?!”
“A five-year-old who doesn’t even know what reverence is—what am I even doing here!”
“Don’t look down on me for being young!”
“And you—where did you pick up manners like that as a child!”
Erichi genuinely quarreled with the five-year-old before finally coming to his senses.
“……So then, Grand Duchess. What method were you proposing to block the Council of Elders’ scheme?”
I raised my brows slightly.
It had seemed like such a brilliant idea just a moment ago, but watching the two of them bicker like that made me wonder if it would actually work…….
Still, I had to try.
“What do you think of taking this child as your adopted son?”
“Pardon?”
“What?”
“I don’t want to!”
“I don’t want to!”
They both shouted at once. The carriage rang with their voices. Erichi and the child glared at each other.
“But I can’t think of any other way.”
“Of course, I do hold the rank of Earl. There’s certainly no one more suited than I am to manage the estate. But!”
Erichi spoke with evident distress.
“You want me to adopt such an ill-mannered brat?”
“And I don’t like you either, sir?!”
I scratched my cheek.
“But Erichi, if you—a nobleman—are the one adopting him, wouldn’t that at least provide the necessary legitimacy? As for the rest of the gaps…… I’ll do my best to pressure the Council of Elders sufficiently.”
In fact, I was planning to invoke not just any pressure, but rather the forceful arguments of the concubines of the Fasha Palace, who didn’t mince their words.
“Is there truly no other way? ……There isn’t, is there.”
I scratched my cheek lightly with my finger. When he mentioned adoption at the coal mine, I’d thought he actually intended to adopt the boy.
“I’m not forcing you. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. We can find another way.”
Erichi shook his head firmly.
“No, Grand Duchess. It’s just that meeting a young child after so long, I was being a bit petulant.”
…….
‘That was petulance?’
Erichi, who had switched his expression in an instant, began to supplement my shabby plan.
“If that’s the case, Your Highness, I believe it would be most certain if we made this child an adopted son of both myself and Briget, our lady’s maid.”
“Briget? Would that work?”
I hadn’t even thought of that…… Oh, could it be?
“Are the two of them going to marry?”

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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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