The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living - Chapter 221

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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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Part 2, Episode 26
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A short while later, at Gillab’s Mansion.
“So what you’re saying is.”
All of us were caught off guard by Leopold’s sudden arrival.
But Gillab was the one who reacted most sharply.
“So our territory is in serious trouble, isn’t it? Right? Oh, what do I do? What should I do?”
“Gillab.”
Leopold sighed.
“I don’t know what you’re imagining, but come back to reality for a moment. I haven’t explained anything yet.”
“I’m always living in reality! You came all the way from Sebon to our territory in a hurry, which means this is serious!”
Gillab gnawed at his thumbnail, his eyes darting about with anxiety.
“It’s because of that flower, isn’t it? Those damned flowers…. Those Dark Flowers that appeared out of nowhere!”
“Dark Flowers, what naming sense. Do make sure to leave the naming of your children to an expert.”
Leopold narrowed his eyes in displeasure as he spoke.
“I wouldn’t say I agree with you, but it’s true—the flowers are the problem.”
“See!”
Gillab thrust both fists into the air and shouted.
“Everyone said I was making a fuss, but I was right! I was right! I had a bad feeling about those flowers from the very beginning!”
I folded my arms and let out a heavy sigh.
“…So this is another lesson for me.”
Then Gillab spun his head toward me, his eyes lighting up as he asked.
“So I shouldn’t ignore what I say?”
“No.”
I responded seriously.
“If you say a thousand things are suspicious, one of them is bound to turn out true.”
Gillab was about to say something when Leopold cut in.
“You haven’t seen Gillab often lately, have you, Brisa?”
He laughed elegantly.
“From what I remember, he said suspicious things about 997 times back at the Academy.”
He interrupted our exchange and raised an eyebrow.
“Keeping faith with your fiancé like this is quite touching. Of course, I’ve also minimized any contact with other women.”
His distinctive slow, low-pitched manner of speaking was exactly as I remembered it, yet somehow it didn’t feel real.
Leopold was sitting across from me. And he was six years older now—a full-grown young man.
Though he’d just crossed over from Sebon, his appearance should have been disheveled, but everything about him was immaculate. His pitch-black hair, his calm golden eyes, his graceful posture, his neat clothes.
‘The lack of change is the real shock.’
The boy who’d seemed melancholic and beautiful had grown exactly as I’d imagined. His broad shoulders and long legs were still unfamiliar to me, though.
The walk from that hillside where the flower field was visible to the mansion had felt unreal. It was because Maximus had come back with us too, not just Leopold and me.
Along that path, Maximus had walked between us, talking without pause. So Leopold and I hadn’t really been able to exchange words. One couldn’t interrupt a prince’s speech.
“You completed all ten Ancient Curse Magic Circles? So the Continent is now free from Monster Waves and Contamination?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Remarkable…. The Empire truly owes you a debt it cannot repay.”
“It was also about keeping my fiancée safe, so it’s all right.”
Moreover, while I was pondering, Maximus had asked all the questions I wanted to ask, so there was hardly anything left to ask in an official capacity.
“But didn’t you go together with Young Master Naisar? Where is Harrison Naisar?”
“He went to the Western Region. It was such an urgent return that we couldn’t inform the Continent in time. I had to assess the situation immediately, so I came straight away. Though I didn’t know my fiancée would be here.”
“For the situation to be so dire that you came without even seeing Grand Duke Nogen….”
I too was startled that he’d come directly. It suggested the situation was that grave.
Indeed, Leopold’s voice was serious.
“As you all know, we’ve reached a point where the Vampires cannot find sufficient food. They cannot increase their numbers through infection, and the existing ones are starving.”
Leopold explained in an elegant tone, each word precise.
“So it appears they’ve begun a new experiment—since animals don’t work, they’ve turned their attention to plants.”
“Plants?”
I asked, frowning.
“If that were the case, they wouldn’t need to conduct experiments on the Continent. Sebon has land too.”
“Not as vast as the Continent.”
Leopold shrugged as he answered.
“Apparently, they need enormous quantities. Plants have low energy efficiency to begin with. I suspect they’ve developed something with rapid reproduction and strong life force, something that could become a dominant species in any region….”
“That’s exactly the characteristic of that flower!”
Leopold dismissed Gillab’s remark without mercy.
“The development itself seems complete. They’ve already successfully finished all experiments in Sebon, and apparently they decided to plant the seeds of this plant in Behila first. But I’m not sure what method they intend to use to consume the plant.”
Leopold spoke gravely.
“Dark Mages stand out too much and can’t move around freely, and Vampires have difficulty moving easily because of Defense Scrolls and garlic. And if they were to gather that plant, it would be very conspicuous. I’m not sure how they plan to deal with that difficulty.”
I fell into thought.
That flower field looked perfectly harmless. But harvesting those flowers was certainly not something that could be done in secret.
And if those flowers needed to bloom across the entire Continent, it wouldn’t be a matter of just picking a few.
‘Large-scale production is required, but they plan to consume it without being noticed? Impossible.’
Maximus rolled his eyes and asked me.
“Do you have no knowledge of harvesting flowers, Young Lady? Are you only an expert in crop harvesting?”
“Well…. I’m mostly interested in things that can be eaten….”
While I was thinking, Gillab furrowed his brow.
“But why our territory? Why? Why specifically Behila?”
Then Leopold answered.
“It’s not even perfectly adapted to the Continent’s soil yet, so they can’t just scatter it everywhere in the Western Region, where everyone is frantically trying to catch Dark Mages. They need people of questionable nature to come and go regularly at least. Of course, that applies to the Southern, Northern, and Central Regions as well.”
“You’re saying….”
Gillab clenched his fists tightly, trembling.
“The Eastern Region is a place where suspicious people can come and go? Where Dark Mages can visit?”
“That’s precisely what I want to ask you.”
Leopold raised one eyebrow and shot back.
“You had the courage to send a letter to the Imperial Palace, yet it seems you never thought to request an investigation from the Magic Tower?”
“….”
“Gillab, I didn’t know you were this stupid. I remember you kept up reasonably well with classes back at the Academy, but apparently I was wrong?”
I poked him sharply in the ribs.
“Stop it.”
And whispered quietly.
“You’ll make him cry.”
But Leopold didn’t spare the ‘child’ who was two years his junior.
“Why specifically Behila? You’re the one who should be explaining that to me.”
“That is….”
Gillab lowered his gaze. Surprisingly, tears were forming in his eyes.
“That is….”
I sighed heavily.
I thought I understood roughly how things had come to pass.
Though Gillab managed it well, Behila was still a territory in the Eastern Region. It meant that Dark Mages or their subordinates, acting under the Duchess of Dibosthan’s instigation, could move about with tacit approval from above.
The planting of those flower seeds in Behila was probably….
“Mother has sent people several times, but the letters always contained nothing important. I even suspect whether Mother wrote those letters herself.”
He was clearly subordinate to the Duchess of Dibosthan.
‘He could move around Behila without drawing suspicion because of that.’
Since he was neither a Dark Mage nor a Vampire, there would be no problem with his feet touching the territory, and quietly scattering weed seeds into the air would have been far too easy.
And the choice of Gillab’s land among the many territories in the Eastern Region….
‘Because it doesn’t matter what happens to Behila.’
I thought bitterly.
‘If it were the lands where other Lords stand firm, someone might notice and cause problems. But they wouldn’t dare risk it in the Duke Dibosthan’s direct territory for fear of productivity damage.’
Besides, it’s convenient for related people to come and go without any special excuse.
Even if Behila’s crops suffered losses in the process, unlike Ethan’s directly managed territory….
‘Ethan’s support base suffers no real blow.’
Gillab too seemed to have sensed all of this.

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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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