I Inherited a Beautiful Wife and a Territory - Chapter 20

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Inheriting a Beautiful Wife and Estate Episode 020

20. Return Gift

A successful winter.

On the surface, that was the case.

“…More than 70% of the food reserves stored in the estate have been consumed.”

Nigel spoke with a worried expression.

The winter festival.

Relief for the commoners who lacked winter food.

And meals for the increased number of soldiers.

Despite the estate being wealthier than ever by seizing the food Tom had brought and the reserves Bellman had stockpiled.

‘Is it still unmanageable because the expenditures are too high?’

Cliff made a regretful expression.

Nigel showed outright concern.

“At this rate, it might be difficult to hold out until we can sow seeds and harvest in the estate.”

“So are you telling me to go on a diet right now, old man?”

“Huh?”

“No, I’ve gotten too fat. If I get fat, I might look like meat to the hungry estate residents, so I should eat one less meal a day or something like that, right?”

“It’s, it’s not that serious.”

Cliff chuckled upon hearing that.

“Then it should still be fine. What’s truly dangerous is when even I have nothing to eat.”

Nigel made a frustrated expression at Cliff’s words.

As he said, if even Cliff couldn’t eat, it would indeed be a truly dangerous situation. But even if Cliff could eat, others might not be able to.

That’s probably why he used the expression about looking like meat to hungry estate residents earlier.

Cliff was also aware that while he could eat, the estate residents might starve. Cliff added.

“Don’t worry. Even if I can’t eat, I’ll make sure others can.”

His resolve left Nigel speechless.

But the problem still wasn’t solved. Cliff looked at Nigel and asked.

“Bellman.”

The name of someone already dead came up.

“How did he obtain and bring food?”

“…He probably went all the way to Serfal along the Euphras River to get it.”

“Serfal?”

It was a region he had also passed through on his way here.

“Food from the mainland comes in, and in exchange, there’s a slave market where people from the peninsula are sold as slaves.”

“Have them make carts. In the worst case, we’ll have to go there and buy food.”

“Are you… thinking of selling people?”

Nigel carefully asked after hearing Cliff’s words.

Cliff frowned.

“What are you talking about? We should be buying people instead. Did you forget? Our estate is severely lacking in labor. And how many idle kilns will we have in the future.”

Come to think of it, the estate now had the conditions to produce charcoal.

Charcoal would bring money if sold.

Above all, the reason Cliff was considering purchasing food.

‘I have the 2,000 gold coins I received from Tom. This is money I decided to use to buy food from him, but there’s no choice.’

He had no choice but to reduce trade with him once.

Actually, the best situation would be for Tom’s second trade goods to enter the estate.

House of Duke Aidren.

It was a prestigious noble family of the kingdom that had produced prime ministers for generations.

The leader of the central nobility, and also a family that stood at the pinnacle of the kingdom in name and reality by forming blood ties with military families that controlled the central army.

So any merchant doing business in the kingdom would inevitably want to have even the slightest connection with the ducal house.

‘Whew. I never thought I’d actually have an audience with His Grace the Duke.’

Tom swallowed his saliva.

Cliff’s letter of recommendation.

He thought he’d be fortunate just to meet one of the many butlers of the ducal house through this.

But what came to him was the head butler. And the head butler took him all the way to the Duke’s study.

“So, this is what he sent to me through you?”

“That’s correct.”

A chess board.

And the chess pieces on it.

Duke Aidren quietly stared at these items.

He thought of the son he had recently established as a branch family. A bastard who no longer needed to be called son, and shouldn’t be.

The ducal house had nothing to provide for him.

But knowingly or unknowingly, the Duke had given him many things. One of them was allowing him to use the ducal house’s name on his way to the estate.

‘It’s definitely that guy.’

The Duke was pleased when he saw and received this.

He had sold the ducal house’s name to make a merchant come to his own estate.

With that, he had secured many supplies. It was an action that other children couldn’t have taken.

That’s why the Duke wanted to provide even more for Cliff. Setting that aside, that Cliff had sent a gift.

“It doesn’t seem to be just a decorative item…”

The Duke muttered while picking up a chess piece.

Two camps facing each other, looking inward in confrontation.

The Duke was certain. This was definitely not a decorative item.

“That’s correct. This is called ‘chess,’ and the acting lord of Elimis said it was war using models.”

“War, war… I see. This was entertainment created to allow one to wage imaginary wars. Then each piece must have a predetermined way of moving?”

Games required rules.

The Duke asked with interest.

“Indeed, Your Grace. As you said, each of those models has a predetermined way it can move. According to those rules, when my model reaches a position where an opponent’s model is located, I can remove the opponent’s model.”

“Do you win by ultimately removing all the models?”

“More precisely, you win by capturing the opponent’s king.”

The corners of the Duke’s mouth turned up.

‘Cliff really is an exceptional child. To think of something like this…’

And to send this to him.

A chuckle escaped him.

This was also a gift for the Duke’s other children, namely Cliff’s half-brothers. A game designed not just for play, but to teach them how to use their heads.

“Hehehe.”

Laughter came from the Duke.

It was a pleasant feeling.

‘Among all the children I’ve established as branch families so far, has there been anyone who sent me a gift like this?’

The Duke had many sons.

More precisely, he had many women.

There were his legitimate wife and concubines, and also women who couldn’t even become concubines, embraced for a night’s pleasure. In this world without even contraception, the women he embraced bore the Duke’s children.

Accordingly, the Duke had established many sons as branch families.

Some became retainers of the ducal house, some inherited parts of the estate as manors. There were also cases where they became officials of the kingdom.

The problem was the children born from his legitimate wife.

‘The guys who should become my successors are all only interested in swinging swords…’

The Duke found this disagreeable.

Cliff seemed to have noticed this concern of the Duke’s while staying at the ducal house. So he sent this.

With this, even those who only liked fighting could enjoy it.

Since they were highly competitive.

‘There’s nothing better than this for making them compete.’

Yet they could also learn not just to fight, but to protect.

Calculating the next move was the same.

Since they had to sit face to face and fight, he might also improve at psychological warfare—hiding his true intentions and deducing his opponent’s schemes.

“Very excellent. This is truly an excellent educational material.”

So the Duke regarded this not as some toy, but as educational material.

He was pleased.

He opened his mouth.

“What is your name?”

“It’s Tom.”

“You have accomplished something truly remarkable. This item will be passed on to the main house as well as many nobles, becoming part of noble refinement and culture. Since you brought such a thing to me, if there’s something you desire, speak up.”

“…!”

Tom’s eyes widened.

This was truly an opportunity of a lifetime for a merchant.

Tom’s mind became busy with calculations.

‘What should I ask His Grace for?’

What he desired most was the Duke’s protection.

Specifically, the position of the Duke’s official trading guild. With this alone, no noble in the Kingdom could touch Tom’s trading guild.

But he mustn’t be too greedy.

Precisely the line the Duke could accept, or slightly below that.

He had to sense that position and speak accordingly. Watching Tom deliberate like this, the Duke chuckled.

“…That fellow didn’t give you any advice, it seems.”

At those words, Tom flinched.

Cliff’s voice came to mind.

-With an item like this, you should be able to meet His Grace directly. My single letter would be fortunate to meet a butler, but if you bring this gift along, you might meet His Grace and… just like you did now, you might even be able to play a game while explaining the rules to His Grace. What do you think that’s worth?

Cliff hadn’t told him how much he could sell this for.

He had simply guided Tom to determine the value himself.

‘If I had quoted a higher price, would he have given me advice worth that much?’

The Duke’s attitude was exactly as Cliff had predicted.

Then perhaps his advice could have been bought at a higher price too?

While he pondered, the Duke opened his mouth.

“If it’s difficult for you to decide, I’ll decide for you. First, two platinum coins.”

“Gasp!”

Two platinum coins.

In gold coins, that would be 20,000 gold coins. So 20,000 gold.

Since he had bought it from Cliff for 10,000 coins, this meant double the profit.

But conducting business with the Duke in such a manner and severing ties seemed rather regrettable. The Duke opened his mouth.

“And… how about doing one errand for me?”

The Duke spoke to him.

Tom flinched.

The word “errand” brought Cliff to mind. Cliff had said something similar. However, the feeling when he first heard those words was completely different from when Cliff said them.

An errand for Duke Aidren, the Kingdom’s foremost noble.

Just being entrusted with this would greatly elevate the value and prestige of Tom’s trading guild.

“Please entrust it to me. I will devote my sincere efforts and certainly complete it.”

So this time Tom didn’t hesitate.

The Duke’s lips curved upward.

“How reassuring. It probably… won’t be a difficult task. You’ll be visiting the Elimis Domain again anyway.”

“…!”

“That fellow wouldn’t have handed over an item of this caliber at a bargain price. Nor would you have visited a remote place like the Elimis Domain carrying that much gold.”

Truly remarkable.

The Duke saw through all the circumstances.

Come to think of it, Cliff was equally remarkable. Cliff had predicted how the Duke would react upon receiving the gift.

Perhaps because they were father and son, they understood each other well.

“…That’s correct.”

“Since he gave you a gift to send to me, it would be proper for me to send a reply in return.”

Having received a gift, he would send a reply.

This was proper etiquette for a noble.

For the sake of dignity, the Duke had to send something of adequate value to the Elimis Family.

“Having received such a precious gift… what would be good to send as a reply? Yes, that would be perfect for him.”

The Duke decided on the reply to send to Cliff.

The Duke’s various sons.

Among them, only the legitimate sons who had reached adulthood remained at the main house.

Barton, the Duke’s third son.

His expression twisted.

“What!”

His fierce roar erupted in his annex.

“Father… gave that to Cliff?”

“Yes….”

“Is Father in his right mind! How can he give our Duke’s property to a mere bastard?”

Barton’s voice contained all the emotion he felt.

It was natural.

The reply the Duke was sending to the Elimis Family was something Barton had wanted. So the current situation meant to him.

‘My thing is being stolen by a mere bastard?’

Unacceptable.

“Shall we ambush and intercept the reply midway?”

“Grr. No. If we do such a thing, it will certainly catch Father’s eye. For a reply sent by Father, by our Aidren, to be stolen midway… that must not happen.”

He was tempted.

But still, there were priorities.

Of course, even so, letting this slide would hurt his pride.

“Instead, I should receive something in return from that bastard who stole what was mine. The merchant delivering the reply… he hasn’t left the Capital City yet, has he?”

“That’s correct.”

“Call him. I too should give a gift to my younger brother.”

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