Raising the Grand Duke of the North as a Farmer Behind Dad’s Back - Chapter 36

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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 36
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
I apologized at once.
Now that I thought about it, Slan absolutely hated when anyone touched him first.
So even though I’d been wrong a hundred times before, I hadn’t expected him to be quite this wary.
‘I thought we’d gotten a little closer.’
Apparently that wasn’t the case at all.
My shoulders sagged in defeat. Slan’s hand seemed to pause for a moment, hovering uncertainly in the air, though I couldn’t be sure.
‘……Sigh.’
Without seeing his expression, it was hard to even look at his face.
‘I can’t help it.’
I decided I would have to go to the Square on my own—
The cottage door creaked open.
Bright sunlight poured in like a wave.
I stared blankly at the boy silhouetted against the brilliant light.
“……Aren’t you going?”
“Huh?”
Slan tilted his head slightly with a sheepish expression, murmuring in response.
“You said you wanted to get a scarf.”
His distinctly colored ash-silver hair caught the sunlight and gleamed.
My bag and coat were now hanging from one of his hands.
“If you’re not going, then I’ll just…….”
“Oh, I am! I am going!!”
I hurried after him.
‘He really is a strange boy.’
One moment he pushes me away.
The next, he’s somehow drawn close again.
I watched the boy walking slightly ahead of me.
‘Is it because he’s only nine?’
Perhaps that’s why he seemed so inconsistent.
‘That’s right! He’s just a child!’
After all, I’d regressed countless times and lived to sixteen on many occasions (though I don’t remember much of it), so I was mentally older than Slan.
The thought made my heart grow boundlessly patient.
I glanced sideways at the boy’s profile. His tightly closed lips, his thick brows, and those mysterious blue eyes captivated my gaze.
‘He looks like a cat.’
In that instant, Slan, who had been lost in thought about something, suddenly turned to look at me.
“……But they say they only have red scarves?”
Oh.
‘He does seem a little cute, doesn’t he?’
I liked that.
I made a firm resolve that someday, with Slan’s permission, I would pet his head.
* * *
The Square was bustling with people.
Haniel’s eyes widened.
In front of Helen’s table, word had apparently already spread—a line of townspeople stretched before it.
Slan muttered.
“We might not get a scarf. If the line’s already this long…….”
“Don’t worry! That’s why I set this up in advance!”
Haniel puffed out her chest proudly.
“Reserved spot!”
Then she dashed off.
Among the people clustered in line, a man whose head stood noticeably taller turned lazily.
“Oh, you came.”
“Your Grace! I see you’ve been waiting in line quite well?”
“Can’t you see for yourself?”
Basiliy gestured casually with his chin.
“Waiting number two.”
Number one was Helen’s boyfriend Paul, so there was no way to beat that.
“Wow……!”
Haniel looked up at him with shining eyes.
“You didn’t get kicked in the backside twice for nothing, did you?”
“…….”
A flinch.
Yet Basiliy swept Haniel into his arms, concealing the tremor in his eyes.
“How dare you impugn the sincerity and truthfulness of a Grand Duke!”
He planted Haniel where he’d been standing and drew out her cheeks in a long stretch.
“Go bury yourself in that chubby one’s scarf this instant.”
“Nyeeeng…… Ahahaha.”
Haniel cupped her hands like a trumpet.
Basiliy pressed his ear to the corner of the child’s mouth.
“The Duke Rowen must have met Count Redermic by now, I should think?”
“I’d wager so.”
“……!”
“I suspect he’s alone right now, absolutely in knots. Serves him right.”
“You’ll manage the treatment cure deal well, won’t you?”
“Of course.”
Arrogance settled across Basiliy’s features.
He tapped the child’s cheek lightly.
“Write down a long list of everything you want, little hippo.”
Their autumn harvest was far from finished.
* * *
Meanwhile, at the Northern Gate stood Duke Rowen.
He spotted a carriage lumbering toward him from afar and his eyes flew wide.
“That…… that’s……!!!”
The carriage halted.
“You…… you!”
“U-u-u-uncle? No, D-duke!”
Count Redermic sprang backward as if he’d seen a ghost.
“What in blazes are you doing coming out of the Northern Territory? And now that I think of it, you……!”
“……!”
“You’ve burned through all the Preservation Seeds and squandered both the farmland and the funds!”
He was finished.
When had it been discovered?
‘I meant to replenish the seeds before Uncle found out!’
True, the quantities fell far short, but the mere fact that ‘Preservation Seeds existed’ was what mattered. As for the shortfall, he could blame the subordinates for pilfering or gross negligence in stewardship.
But it was all ruined now.
“And what in the name of all spirits were you even doing here!!!”
“I, I was—”
Count Redermic’s face drained of color.
But why—why was Duke Rowen standing before the Northern Gate?
First, he had to offer an excuse.
“U-uncle! Calm yourself! Yes, I’ve made some blunders, but look at this! I’ve procured uncontaminated seeds!”
He thrust a Trade Agreement forward.
“What?”
Reading it over hastily…….
“You’ve agreed to exchange uncontaminated barley seeds for livestock and timber and such from the Eastern Territory?”
The animals listed in the exchange were all premier stock, famous even in the Eastern Territory for their superior breeding.
And even specialized grain mages had been hired to produce magically treated livestock feed……!
“I, I understand it’s a ruinous price! But what choice was there? I had to calm the anxieties of the territorial residents! If they learned the Preservation Seeds were entirely depleted, discontent would surely erupt…… we simply had to get through this year, didn’t we!!”
“Then who consumed all those seeds in the first place!!”
“Th-that’s precisely why I’ve resolved it myself! Don’t fixate only on my failures—acknowledge what I’ve done right! Now we need only wait for the Crown to release the Land Purification Cure—”
“Which is precisely the problem! ……wait.”
At that moment, Duke Rowen’s eyes widened sharply.
He’d spotted something amiss in the exchange list.
“……What is this? ‘Forgiveness of Reparation Debt’?”
His mind worked slowly through the implication.
“You…… you didn’t actually demand recompense from Grand Duke Bertus, did you……? From the one who kept our Eastern Territory from becoming a monster’s lair?”
Count Redermic’s face fell into an awkward expression.
“W-w-well, that is…… everyone does it that way……!”
“You absolute fool……!!!”
“Ah, I had hoped the North would remain barren so it wouldn’t come to this!”
The stammering earl suddenly cried out.
“What did you say?”
“But the North has changed somewhat! When I glimpsed it, they seemed to have cultivated fields and vegetable patches…… so I thought I could repay this much compensation……!!”
“You mad bastard!!!!!!!”
A tremendous roar erupted.
Brad, who had been watching, raised his eyebrows. The man had seemed like a dignified old gentleman with silvering hair, but there was something decidedly fierce about him.
“I’ve told you countless times not to do such ungrateful things while wearing my mark!!!”
No, that wasn’t the real problem.
The cure that could save the Eastern Territory might exist in the North.
What if the Duke took offense at the East and refused to sell the cure?
“What am I to do about this!!! What?!”
‘At such a critical moment in negotiations…… to offend the Duke’s sensibilities!’
Duke Rowen had somehow forgotten that he’d been doubting whether the cure was even real.
When he thought about it properly, even if the cure was fake, he’d only lose money.
‘But if it’s real…….’
He would become the most incompetent lord in history, throwing away his chance to save the Eastern Territory.
Because of this wretch!
“You bastard!!!! Sneaking away Preservation Seeds and funds wasn’t enough—now you dare commit such folly!”
The Duke’s mustache trembled violently.
“So there was a grain-eating rat in this household after all. Guards!”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
He shouted, conscious of Brad’s gaze.
“I hereby confiscate eighty percent of the lands allocated to House Redermic and place them under the Rowen Direct Territory!”
“Uncle!!”
“Furthermore, Count Redermic has failed in his duties and responsibilities, and has created serious!!!! conflict with neighboring territories! He is hereby confined to his residence for the foreseeable future!”
Count Redermic’s face turned ashen. The Duke snatched the Trade Agreement from his hands.
“And give me the seeds! You’ll have no land to plant them in anyway!”
“U-Uncle! Uncle!!!!”
“Even if I am a Duke! Drag him away at once!”
Count Redermic was led away by his attendants and disappeared in a carriage.
The Duke pressed his forehead.
His heart twisted and shriveled within him.
‘Ruined.’
He hadn’t felt this way even when he’d seduced his wife, who had been among the empire’s most celebrated beauties.
‘Hurry…….’
He was nearly mad with the urge to meet the Duke at once!
Ch. 8 Wealth!
That afternoon.
Duke Rowen finally crossed the gate.
He would have liked to use Instant Teleportation, but regrettably, only a legendary ninth-circle mage from the empire’s myths could do such a thing. Instead, he was laden with Acceleration Magical Tools.
The Mist Zone, which marked the beginning of the Northern Territory, greeted him.
‘How could they farm in such bitter cold?’
He parted the thin mist and loosened his coat.
‘What exactly happened in the Northern Territory last spring?’
It was utterly incomprehensible.
Once they emerged from the Mist Zone, his view cleared at last.
They rode over a rough, rutted path that hadn’t been fully repaired.
“The snow is falling fiercely. They say the Great Forest lies to the left from here?”
“To the right…… there seems to be something like a lake.”
The knights murmured softly amid the swirling snow.
It was their first time entering the Northern Territory, and they seemed fascinated by the landscape.
‘Has something changed? I truly cannot fathom it.’
Duke Rowen tilted his head, gazing at the land where Black Contamination shimmered like heat haze.
“Do not stray from the path. The land hasn’t been fully Purified, so monsters may appear.”
Sure enough, Brad, who was riding ahead, spoke bluntly.
They rode on for some time after that.
A subordinate riding ahead whispered back.
“We must cross a river. The bridge is broken, but this section is frozen…… I believe we may be able to cross!”
They crossed the river and rode on for some distance more.
‘…… Did that Count Redermic actually take a proper look at the Northern Territory?’
The situation in the North seemed unchanged, if anything worse than dire.
The Duke furrowed his brow and wiped the sweat trickling down his chin. He’d ridden hard for some time, and his entire body ached with fatigue.
…… Wait.
Hold on.
What did I just wipe away?
‘…… Sweat?’

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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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