I Inherited a Beautiful Wife and a Territory - Chapter 124

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

Inheriting a Beautiful Wife and Estate Episode 124

124. Winter is Hard for Every Estate

Three competing to earn thousands of gold.

Conversely, three uniting so everyone could earn tens of thousands of gold. There was no need to even think about which part would be more profitable.

‘They have no choice but to accept my proposal.’

In their minds, if they failed to create symbolism, it would already be considered a loss of more than ten thousand gold.

Jaide smiled.

Here, Jaide also told another story.

“Ah, by the way, Duke Serniu of Castia has also agreed to become a friend of our homeland. Considering the relationship between the Alesia Kingdom and the Kingdom of Castia from the beginning, it might have been a predetermined result.”

His words reduced Bellaast’s burden.

Joining hands with the Elimis Duchy – it was a statement that reduced the risk of that decision.

‘We can join hands with two major powers: the Elimis Duchy and the Serniu family.’

Even if conflicts arose with the anti-Elimis alliance forces, the burden could be reduced.

This was Bellaast’s position.

Even so, Bellaast would not be pleased with the growth of the neighboring Elimis Duchy.

“His Grace the Duke hopes that neighboring Bellaast will prosper even more.”

“Not that he wants us to come under his rule?”

“If you made such a decision, we could ask for nothing more. Our homeland also has places like Serfal and Ospal, but these focus on trade with the Alesia Kingdom rather than the Rajahara Sea.”

“Hmm. Whatever the case, it’s not something we can decide.”

At one merchant’s words, Jaide nodded.

“Of course.”

Bellaast’s policies were not determined by these jewelers.

But being jewelers, they would stay close to Bellaast’s rulers.

‘Or those politicians’ families…’

Noble ladies interested in jewels were their regular customers.

The commonly called pillow talk.

Jaide knew well how powerful this could be.

“The rest must be left to them now.”

From here, it was out of Jaide’s hands.

The time wasn’t long. The jewelers also quickly went around meeting their customers.

‘There’s no need to ostracize the Elimis Duchy!’

‘We gain nothing by restraining the Elimis Duchy.’

Bellaast was a port to begin with.

And the Elimis Duchy had no port connected to the Rajahara Sea.

Then cooperation would be more profitable.

“If even Duke Serniu has joined hands with the Elimis Duchy, then the pro-Elimis Duchy forces in this Rajahara are not small either.”

“In the end, it’s a war the Elimis Duchy will win. If we become the Elimis Duchy’s port first at that time, how great would the profits we receive be?”

“The duchy is fundamentally a trading guild business, not a port business. What benefit does pushing away customers bring to our Bellaast?”

The Elimis family was trading guild-centered.

Bellaast was a trade port.

In fact, there was no reason for them to have bad relations. But paradoxically, this was exactly why relations with the Elimis Duchy had grown distant.

‘Those trying to restrain the Elimis Duchy might not use our port.’

But now such worries were also reduced.

The Serniu family and the Elimis family, and…

‘Merchants are people who trade for profit anyway.’

Merchants would continue to visit Bellaast.

What was worrying was other families uniting to attack Bellaast.

But that worry was also small.

‘Who would dare pick a fight with our Bellaast?’

In fact, Bellaast was not a small city in the vicinity either.

It had its own power.

It had lived snorting at its surroundings. Because Bellaast was like that, the decision was also quick.

“Really… is it okay?”

“Even if not us, the anti-Elimis alliance will collapse anyway. Perhaps the moment we join hands with Elimis, many cities will likely immediately switch their course to Elimis.”

The lord of Bellaast.

The duchy’s proposal that reached even his ears. And the jewelers’ influence.

The lord of Bellaast made a troubled expression.

‘Still, it feels unsettling…’

But that feeling wasn’t great either.

The decision was already made.

“Good. Then tell them I will accept that Elimis trading guild manager’s proposal.”

The anti-Elimis alliance was impossible to establish from the beginning anyway.

Let alone an Elimis-Serniu alliance.

Elimis was a powerful emerging force that had annihilated the Kingdom of Alpeo’s navy, and the Serniu family was a traditional powerhouse that had roamed the Rajahara Sea for ages.

‘Rather than toothless Alpeo, choosing those two would be right.’

Bellaast’s strategy was decided.

Hearing the answer, the corners of Jaide’s mouth rose.

“Hahaha. Very good. It has become a jewel very fitting as a gift for Her Majesty the Queen’s birthday.”

“Then the price is…?”

“You don’t need to worry. The duchy will spend no small amount of money if only to avoid making this symbol’s light fade.”

It could be said they bought peace with money.

The price of peace could not be small.

‘It would have been even more so if our power had been insufficient.’

Jaide made a satisfied expression.

Now it was time to return.

Before it got later, Jaide had to return to the duchy.

“Bring out all the gold and silver coins from the ship.”

To do that, he would first need to settle the price of the jewels.

At Jaide’s instruction, the sailors moved. Seeing the abundant gold coins in the boxes coming out one by one, the merchants’ expressions changed.

‘I knew the Elimis trading guild had made a lot of money, but…!’

The merchants’ eyes widened.

They hadn’t expected such an enormous amount of gold coins to come out.

Jaide smiled.

The Elimis domain surrounded by mountains.

Perhaps because the population had been continuously increased since Cliff’s appointment, the estate residents who had barely numbered a few hundred households in the past had become several times that.

“It seems over 3,000 households have completed settlement.”

Cliff was surprised to hear those words.

Over 3,000 households had settled. And there was something else different from last year.

“…Manor districts have also appeared?”

Cliff looked at one district among them.

He felt it the moment he saw it.

‘It’s a wealthy district.’

The estate people who had been skin and bones in the past were no longer easy to find.

There were currently no slums in the Elimis domain either.

“It’s because of last year’s incident. Last year, when various noble families tried to enter, didn’t they face difficulties finding accommodations?”

It was precisely because of that incident that wealthy manors increased in the domain.

This was Belgimov’s explanation.

Hearing those words, Cliff also nodded.

“…There was such an incident.”

Wasn’t it then that he also met someone like Fried?

“Nobles have been coming in, and thanks to them sparing no expense to acquire houses here, we’ve earned quite a lot of gold coins by selling these properties.”

Hearing those words, Cliff grinned.

It was pleasant news to hear.

However, he also felt a pang of guilt.

“It seems like there’s some bite to your words.”

Cliff replied with a laugh to Belgimov’s comment.

The once overflowing finances of the ducal family.

Now the gold coins in that storehouse had been significantly depleted.

‘I told Jaide to take as much as he wanted.’

Jaide had received his permission and loaded the abundant gold coins into several boxes on the ship.

The finances needed for the duchy’s development had become insufficient.

Still, he didn’t regret it.

“After all, it’s Your Highness’s gold coins. However Your Highness chooses to use those coins, that’s none of my concern.”

Belgimov’s voice was indifferent.

So it was hard to tell whether he was sincere or not. However, Cliff wasn’t too worried.

“And… won’t it all come back in even greater amounts anyway?”

“That’s right.”

Belgimov’s words aligned with Cliff’s own thoughts.

The reason he could give Jaide so much money.

‘Because it’s more profitable.’

Making a deal with Bellast.

He had no intention of ending this with just a simple transaction, or merely Bellast’s conversion.

Bellast joining the Elimis faction.

‘If Bellast takes our hand following the Sernu family… the probability of the remaining families and cities of the Yusta Peninsula taking our hand increases.’

This was his goal.

The scenario Cliff hoped for.

This would probably succeed.

“So now we just need to successfully conclude the event here…”

Hearing Cliff’s muttering, Belgimov’s pupils wavered.

“Have you… prepared something else again?”

“Of course.”

Cliff nodded.

At that moment, Belgimov’s eyes gleamed with interest.

“Lord Nigel seemed to be calling residents and plotting something, but perhaps…?”

Belgimov.

He was Cliff’s strategist and an elder of the Dark Elves.

He was the one who commanded the Dark Elves who had joined the duchy.

‘It wouldn’t make sense for this person not to know what’s happening within our duchy.’

So Cliff nodded as well.

“He’s probably preparing what I ordered him to do.”

“So that’s why he’s been busily going around meeting people lately.”

Nigel’s movements might seem suspicious from the Shadowguards’ perspective.

However, the Dark Elves would have already confirmed what Nigel was plotting.

“This event will be a very enjoyable day.”

Cliff said those words.

The cold was gradually approaching.

The once hot estate was quickly adapting to the cold.

It meant they had entered winter preparations.

‘In the past, I was anxious when winter came… but I don’t need to pay special attention to it anymore, right?’

Before he arrived, several people would die each winter.

A time when people’s faces showed worry about winter. But clearly, that wasn’t visible in people now.

‘Rather, there aren’t many people left who lived through that terrifying winter atmosphere.’

There were more people who had experienced the winter festival than those who knew the winters before he arrived.

Now there were even cases of people coming on purpose.

Belgimov had mentioned this too.

“Last year, the people who came during the festival were limited to nobles…”

He trailed off.

“According to news from Ballard County, this time there seem to be many others as well.”

“Tsk.”

Cliff clicked his tongue upon hearing this.

“…They’re not leisurely people coming to watch the festival, are they?”

“They’re people who were struggling with poverty even in their original estates. They’re coming here with fantasies about winter here.”

“That’s troublesome.”

Cliff shook his head.

In fact, all of this was because of him.

‘The Santa Claus story spread too romanticized.’

The winter fairy tale that once existed in this region, devoid of dreams and hope.

The Santa he created because he disliked that.

That story had now spread beyond the estate. And as stories of the winter festival spread, people seemed to be getting the wrong idea.

‘This isn’t a place where winter is pleasant to live…’

Winter is difficult in any estate.

For most people, winter was cold and hungry. However, they were flocking here thinking there might be food in the Elimis Domain, which even held festivals.

“Tsk tsk.”

Cliff clicked his tongue.

“What will you do?”

What could he do?

“We have to prevent them from coming.”

Cliff shook his head.

It wouldn’t do.

While he didn’t mind people with means, he couldn’t call those without to come here.

“If they come here, those people will all freeze to death.”

Perhaps this was the greatest crisis in a new sense.

The winters of the past must not be recreated.

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