The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living - Chapter 232

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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 37
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No one knew why Lea had come at all. Or why she’d come to Petro, of all people.
“Then why not just send her back?”
I asked, stripping away sentiment, and Jerdian shrugged.
“Petro couldn’t seem to do that. There’s no fixed schedule that I can tell, and it feels like a visit he’s conducting on the sly from Count Johnstone.”
I spoke the word Jerdian couldn’t quite bring himself to say.
“Ah, so she ran away from home.”
In any case, I left the two of them to continue their serious-faced quarreling in the corner and decided to begin building a proper seaweed farm in earnest.
“It’s autumn now, so the season is favorable. Well, let’s start by surveying the coast and the areas around islands where seaweed grows well. It doesn’t thrive in just any sea, after all.”
Even as I spoke, my mood had soured.
Was Lea truly intending to go to the Western Region?
The fact that she’d suddenly contacted Leopold—did that mean there was a connection I didn’t know about?
It didn’t make sense to send her off in such a haphazard manner.
“Drive stakes into the ground and connect them with rope. The seaweed will attach itself to the surface of the rope and grow from there.”
By the time we’d found a suitable location and driven the stakes, the day had slipped away entirely.
“From tomorrow, I’ll be harvesting wild seaweed to obtain spores…….”
I said this at dinner, when we’d all gathered together.
“That means you’ll need more labor, doesn’t it?”
The harvested seaweed had to be sorted, processed through several stages to obtain spores, attached to the rope, and managed with precision…….
In truth, seaweed farming was far more delicate work than shrimp farming.
“So here’s what I’m thinking—I’ll need to bring in personnel with expertise in maritime work.”
I said this without much thought.
“I’m sending a letter to Marcel. He’s to come to Russell Count Territory tomorrow morning without fail. The moment he stands before me, he must obey my orders.”
That was when it happened.
A sharp clang—the sound of a fork striking the table.
Lea, who’d been grumbling and picking fights with Petro in the corner, looked up at me with a blank expression.
“……Who are you summoning?”
Rarely was I so thoroughly startled. It was as shocking as seeing Lea—normally flawless in her etiquette—drop her fork, and it was equally startling to see Petro’s face harden like stone.
‘Something’s happening here.’
I caught on immediately, though Alpheus seemed utterly oblivious and simply picked up the fork and handed it back to her.
“You didn’t hear because of the fork, I’m afraid. A man named Marcel Cardipol.”
Of course, once a fork has been dropped, one shouldn’t use it again to eat…….
A maid should have brought a fresh one. That Alpheus bent down to pick it up himself—that was the moment the honor of Marquis Sears hit the floor.
So I offered quiet counsel.
“Right now, declare that I’m actually a commoner named John Smith wearing Alpheus’s skin. I’ll turn myself in, so please show me mercy.”
“What are you talking about, Brisa!”
Alpheus whispered in a panic.
“If someone actually tries to skin me for real, what then?”
“Then you just smile awkwardly and say, ‘No, that’s fine.’ You could even add something like ‘Perhaps another time.'”
While we were having this serious exchange, Petro asked slowly.
“That man……what is he like?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Marcel Cardipol.”
Petro had not been present at the scene of Marcel’s capture.
Since becoming human again, Marcel had done nothing but work the seas, so Petro had never had the chance to truly meet him as a person.
“I’m curious what sort of person he is.”
Lea shot back, trembling visibly.
“Why are you curious? That presumptuous illegitimate child of common bloodline—”
“Lea.”
Petro gave Alpheus a meaningful glance and warned her quietly.
“A person’s worth is not determined by their parents’ station.”
Only then did Lea, realizing that Alpheus’s own mother was a commoner, startled and fell silent.
Of course, Alpheus didn’t interpret this as an insult to himself. Not because he’d misunderstood—he simply hadn’t noticed what was being said.
“Oh, that’s right! Marcel is……well……a young man who becomes remarkably spirited in Brisa’s presence!”
I sighed and whispered to Alpheus.
“What in the world does that mean?”
“Normally he’s quivering and searching for his mother, but when he hears your words, at least he moves with purpose. That’s being spirited.”
Alpheus, who saw only the positive in people, continued.
“His heart is so pure. He still possesses the innocence of a child. His mother scolds him and tears stream down his face immediately—it’s a guileless quality you rarely see these days.”
Lea’s and Petro’s faces began to drain of color steadily.
“I don’t believe life is something one should live alone. He seems to hold communitarian values, never being apart, always staying together with his mother.”
Finally, Lea set down the fork Alpheus had given her again with a sharp tap.
“I’ve heard you well, Marquis. Thank you for the detailed explanation.”
“Not at all!”
Alpheus answered brightly.
“It was nothing.”
“I think……I’ll excuse myself. My appetite isn’t what it should be.”
Lea glared at Petro for a long moment, then turned sharply on her heel and left the dining room.
Jerdian muttered and grumbled under his breath.
“What’s that about? Did the food go bad? Are you saying the rest of us should eat it and suffer indigestion?”
Petro said nothing at all.
Having quickly forgotten about Lea, Jerdian turned to me pleading.
“So Marcel is coming tomorrow, then? Please, would you have him say just once in front of the Cardipol Guild Master, ‘I hate Mother’? I feel like then I could go without birthday gifts for the next twenty years. Brisa, please…….”
* * *
That evening.
After we’d finished dining and come upstairs, I pulled the bell cord and summoned a maid, giving her an order.
“Bring Lea to my room.”
Soon Lea appeared at my door in casual dress, looking bewildered.
“Brisa? What is it?”
Her face was noticeably gaunt. It made sense that Jerdian had mentioned her complexion seemed off earlier.
“Here, eat something first.”
I gestured for Lea to take the seat across from me.
“You barely touched dinner.”
What I’d prepared on the table alongside chamomile tea was bread topped with asfoer powder—a specialty of the Eastern Region, both savory and delicious.
“Ah…….”
Lea made a reluctant face.
“Sorry, Brisa. The truth is, I’ve never been able to stomach anything fishy.”
“What?”
“Just because you’re born by the sea doesn’t mean you eat seafood well. I’ve only ever eaten meat dishes since I was small.”
That was rather unfortunate.
I shrugged and said,
“Then you must have had quite a lot of difficulty lately? Meat has become terribly expensive these days.”
From what I’d heard, Count Johnstone’s territory was struggling too, so providing expensive meat dishes would have been difficult for them recently.
At this, Lea nodded.
“That’s right. So our count’s head chef has been making me clam broths and steamed fish dishes with green fruit added to mask the fishy smell. But not everyone has such special recipes.”
Wait. Green fruit?
‘It can’t be…….’
I stared at Lea intently.
Several variables began to turn over in my mind.

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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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