Raising the Grand Duke of the North as a Farmer Behind Dad’s Back - Chapter 23

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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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Episode 23
The Grand Duke had just drawn in a deep breath to speak when—
“Your Highness—!”
A thunderous cry rang out from beyond the Estate.
* * *
“Your Highness—!”
I blinked before the Grand Duke.
In the distance, roughly six people were rushing toward us in what looked like madness.
‘So these are the people Brad said he’d pick up…… They’re the old household staff!’
They were the last servants of the Estate, the ones he’d reluctantly let go for lack of wages.
Camilla, who had drawn near without my noticing, shrugged her shoulders.
“I hadn’t mentioned it to His Highness, but they’ve been writing to me all this time, asking to come back. I’m relieved he’s accepted them now.”
“……Obstinate creatures.”
The Grand Duke let out a heavy sigh.
‘He said they were willing to work for free, and yet he forced them to leave anyway?’
Well…… I understood his feelings well enough.
In any case, it was remarkable loyalty.
‘I heard they all had their lives saved by His Highness on the battlefield.’
If I were in their shoes, I’d probably want to come back and serve him too.
“Once autumn passes, we should be able to pay wages. That’s fortunate, at least.”
With that, Camilla reached over and patted my head. I grinned widely, delighted at the good news.
‘The settlers have grown, and now this lucky turn—!’
New labor force, most welcome!
“Your Highness, we have returned to serve!”
“Your Highness, how has the Territory changed so much?”
“Your Highness, please don’t turn us away again! We promised we’d serve you to the very end, no matter what!”
The servants, their faces streaked with tears, knelt before Basili.
The Grand Duke’s expression remained as stern as always. But I distinctly saw the faint upward twitch at the corner of his mouth.
“……Obstinate to a fault.”
“Isn’t that what we learned from Your Highness!”
They spent a good while catching up before the Estate.
After a time, the servants’ gazes naturally turned toward me.
“But…… who is this child?”
Perfect—I’d been waiting for this moment!
“Hello, I’m Haniel! I’m six years old!”
I quickly bent into a bow.
Pop!
[Errand complete!]
[Fame is My Power! Introduce yourself to six new neighbors (6/6)]
[Reward: 20 Pure Non-Polluted Holy Power Stickers]
‘Ha! Did it in one shot!’
So the village gains more residents? How many are there in total now?
[Information: You have introduced yourself to 28 neighbors so far.]
‘Wow, the population’s already at 28!’
My excitement grew and my smile broadened even more.
“Your Highness? Isn’t she…… adorable?”
“Well…… apparently so.”
“What do you mean ‘apparently’? What kind of young lady is she! Tell us, Your Highness!”
Hmm…….
The maids and servants of the Grand Duke’s Estate certainly had impressively loud voices.
“No, it’s not that. She’s…… well.”
Basili looked down at me for a moment, seeming momentarily at a loss for words.
“She’s…….”
His brow furrowed roughly.
“……the actual owner of the land I work on?”
“……?”
“My…… whip?”
The servants’ hands clenched into fists.
“So you’ve gone and sold off the Territory after all, Your Highness—ahhhhhhh! Nooooooo—!”
Basili covered his ears.
“Ah. It’s been ages since my ears bled like this.”
After the servants disappeared with enthusiastic promises to scrub the Estate from top to bottom,
Basili finally introduced Brad to Haniel.
“Ah, Brad. There’s someone who’s been waiting for you with great longing.”
“Me? Someone as utterly ordinary as I am?”
…….
A frame the size of a bear.
The Great King Hammer strapped across his back.
By all appearances, someone who’d lived through thirty more turns of life’s fortune and misfortune.
……This fellow’s lack of self-awareness was itself the most extraordinary thing about him.
Faced with a knight incapable of any objective view of himself, Basili extended Haniel forward.
The little one had been clinging to his legs since just before.
“Haniel, this is Brad—the one you’ve been waiting for.”
“Uh… uh-huh.”
Uh-huh?
“H-hello. I’m… Haniel.”
“……? Y-yes… hello… I’ve… heard a lot about you.”
“I… I also saw the Northern Territory immigration promotion materials very well. They were truly impressive materials. Thanks to them, I experienced a major turning point in living my life on my own terms, so to speak…….”
“Oh… is that so? I see…….”
“Yes…….”
“I see…….”
An awkward silence stretched between them.
Basili tilted his chin down.
‘This is stranger than I thought…….’
His reaction seemed oddly muted.
“Sir Brad? Is it really you? I’m so very glad to meet you! I came to the Northern Territory because of you! The promotional materials are amazing! The exaggeration is amazing! You, sir, are amazing! From now on, I’m appointing you as my absolute favorite!”
“How wonderful! How very wonderful!”
This was closer to what he’d imagined.
He’d thought Brad would be pleased and they’d quickly become close once the child started singing his praises. Why did he look so uncomfortable?
It was strange…….
‘And usually, don’t children that age like this sort of thing?’
A warm-hearted grandfather figure.
Brad—a distinguished knight still active in service, fifty-nine years old—stared at the child, his toes tapping uncertainly.
* * *
Dinner was quite lavish.
Though supplies were limited, and objectively speaking, nothing was truly extravagant.
“Welcome back, everyone! It’s wonderful to see you again!”
The servants and household staff who managed the Estate returned, and the quality of the meal rose considerably despite the limited provisions.
As a result, Camilla seemed to have returned to her duties as captain of the sub-knights as well.
“Our knights, come right over! The Monster Subjugation Rewards were quite generous—I commend you all.”
“I’m glad to have returned safely! But… is gold usually this tight?”
“……When you earn more money, I will definitely buy a common sense dictionary for you, Shasha.”
“Hehe. Thank you, Camilla……. I’ve always wanted to cook Camilla-style. But is Camilla still alive?”

“Squad Leader Brad…… would you really swap names with me?”
“Hm? Felix, why would you want my perfectly ordinary name?”
“……Wow, the rich really do take more. Relative deprivation…….”
“Now now, everyone! Don’t forget we have work tomorrow—eat just a little!”
“Luden, why are you like that…….”
For once, the Estate’s dining hall was lively with noise.
I sat alone at the children’s table (thank you, Brad) and ate my dinner with gusto.
From afar, I watched the knights quarreling over a single bottle of liquor, and blinked.
‘So Brad is older than I thought…….’
When I thought about it, there was nothing strange about it.
‘Camilla is still active in service, after all.’
Honestly, I’d been a bit startled just now. Had I perhaps said something rude?
‘I wanted Brad and Paul to get along well, since he’s their benefactor…….’
I’d wanted to thank Brad properly ever since coming here.
He was the primary architect who made it possible for me to come to the Northern Territory. The founder of the Northern Territory immigration promotion materials, after all.
Brad, whose name was as sweet as candy.
But…….
‘For a moment, I thought he was my grandfather…….’
My real grandfather.
“My dear granddaughter has come! Come here, welcome!”
Of course, I had family beyond just my father.
One of them was my grandfather.
Ulios Klein.
A retired Paladin and the empire’s sage, elevated to honorary Cardinal of the Temple.
And…… once, a famously doting grandfather.
‘Before the regression, that is.’
Yet strangely, I grew nervous whenever I stood before him.
It was a feeling that had surfaced suddenly upon seeing Brad.
“Little one. What’s wrong with you?”
Just then, Basili the Grand Duke approached. He dropped down beside me without ceremony, like some neighborhood layabout, and glanced over at me.
“……Are you afraid of Brad?”
“W-what? No, of course not!”
Afraid!
“Then why are you so tense?”
“It’s just…… he’s a bit different from what I’d imagined.”
“He’s the most unusual one of the lot, sure, but he’s not a bad sort. Don’t be scared.”
With a soft thud, his large hand ruffled my hair roughly.
At that rough touch, the anxious flutter in my chest seemed to settle like sediment sinking through water.
‘Is it because he takes everything so lightly, nothing seriously?’
Everything seemed fine when you were beside Basili. Perhaps it was because he regarded all matters as trivial.
“By the way, that conversation we didn’t finish earlier.”
“Yes? Ah, during lunch?”
“That’s right.”
He opened his mouth quietly.
“The fief is growing in population…… so you should probably prepare yourself.”
“For what?”
“The rumors that will spread.”
“……?”
“The fact that the Gwangryong corpse is being purified will inevitably become known outside the Northern Territory, like it or not.”
“Ah…….”
“So there will be times when attention inevitably focuses here. Then…… the Imperial Palace and the Temple may come to verify it for themselves.”
I set down the bread I’d been holding.
It was exactly as I’d anticipated.
Father and Basili are at odds, and normally he doesn’t even spare a glance at the Northern Territory, but…….
‘Father is a Paladin protecting the empire, and he’s incredibly kind, too.’
If something happened to his Seal Pillar…… if there was a real possibility that the empire’s safety might be compromised, then naturally he’d want to verify it.
Even without Father, there was a chance one or two Temple priests might come.
It was something I’d vaguely been preparing myself for.
“Of course, I intend to refuse all their visit requests since I despise the Imperial Palace and the Temple anyway, but you never know.”
I nodded.
The Northern Territory opening meant the Grand Duke would find it physically difficult to control all entry.
What if someone came in disguise as an ordinary settler?
What if they posed as a merchant selling goods? What if they forced their way in without hesitation, even at the risk of armed conflict?
That would be far more troublesome.
“Rather than face those brutes storming in without any preparation, I thought we’d need to make at least some contingency plans.”
“Contingency plans?”
“Yes. Contingency plans regarding you.”
“…….”
“We’ll have to hide you. My most sacred little one.”
Only then did I grasp what the Grand Duke meant.
“Yes! Whenever someone comes, I’ll hide myself tight away!”
“……That is, well…… that’s right.”
……Something about his answer didn’t seem quite right?
I sprang up and rushed over to sit beside the Grand Duke, who was sprawled carelessly across an old chest. I pressed myself against him and began bouncing my feet restlessly.
“You were going to say it was purified using a sacred relic from the Grand Duke’s Castle Underground, weren’t you? But no one’s ever been inside it anyway! It’s still sealed! You…… you’re not going to send me to the Temple, are you?”
My words tumbled out longer, growing more anxious.
“I’m not sending you away.”
The Grand Duke said it plainly, then pulled me onto his lap.
He dragged my little table closer and pressed the bread he’d been eating into my hands.
“If anything, you’re my benefactor—why would I send you away?”
“Right~?”
“Yes. So what I’m trying to say is, well.”
“Yes!”
The silence stretched. The Grand Duke, uncharacteristically awkward, wet his lips before speaking.
“Haniel.”
“Hmm?”
“Would you…… call me father?”

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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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