– Stay at Erell until the social circle will be quiet about you. No one is down there. It is the best pace to remain unnoticed and not cause any trouble.
As the rumours spread throughout the kingdom that I had tried to kill Catherine, the Duke of Oberon sent me to Erell, one of the owned estates of the family.
It was a rather sudden order, but I was not surprised at all.
In the original work, the Duke made the same decision and sent Everia down to Errell.
‘It’s developing a bit faster than the original.’
Originally, Everia does not admit her fault and holds on to the end, but was expelled from the social world after the proclamation of the prince annuling their engagement.
It was after that incident that Everia went to Erell.
However I called off the marriage instead, and left the society.
Erell was a small estate located to the northern end of the kingdom.
It was a free neighborhood for a delicate noble lady to spend time and live in because it’s a countryside and was cold all the time.
If it were the real Everia, she would have felt a great embarrassment just by going to Erell.
But for the Duke’s desire for Everia’s reflection, unfortunately I wasn’t a very delicate little lady.
What about the northern part of the country? Rather, it was the best way to lead a leisurely and lazy life.
‘And there are no Katherine’s fishes who will watch me. It’s not a punishment, it’s a prize.’
I certainly thought so.
“Its…it’s cold!”
Erell was cold.
It was really, extremely cold.
It was more colder than I imagined. I was sitting inside the room but the air was so cold that I was shivering.
Even though I was indoors, I wore a thick coat and my shoulders were wrapped with a blanket.
But it was helpless in this extreme cold.
At this point, I was doubting whether the cause of Everia’s death was a suicide.
No. This is not a doubt.
Everia definetely frozen to death in this cold. Definetely.
“All…all of you peo…people can stay this… this cold?”
I couldn’t believe this fact and asked Emma, the maid next to me.
My jaw was shaking and I couldn’t speak properly, and this maid here in the Erell Castle that was assigned to me was wearing a casual maid’s attire.
“You will feel much better if you have warm tea.”
“Drinking a cup of tea won’t… won’t help at..all. Emma are you sure you’re not cold at all?”
While I was shivering, I drank a cup of hot tea and it relieved my shivering a little.
Still it was just a moment.
I was still feeling cold all over, and I think I will catch a bad cold soon.
“I am also cold, too. But I was born and raised in Erell. Everyone raised here is used to the cold. In the night, it’s unbearble, but it’s still warm because it’s still daytime.”
“It’s warm? If it gets colder than it is now, I’m certain I’m gonna… …freeze to death.”
Freezing to death before even living well. It was ridiculous.
‘I need to do something about it.’
Fortunately, there was a fireplace in the corner, as I looked around the room desperate to survive.
“Why aren’t you using the fireplace? Ignite this right now.”
“I’m sorry, my Lady. There is no wood in the area to start a fire. I use wood that is left over at the kitchen when I cooked. It’s a good thing that we can heat up the water and evn drink a hot tea.”
“What?”
This was nonsense.
Even if it’s a countryside, the Duke’s land is owned by a Duke, such a place had no wood to burn?
Emma bowed her head in embarrassment when she read my face’ expression.
“The wood grown on Erel is a black-iron tree that was resistant to the cold weather. But it’s too hard and doesn’t burn easily, so it isn’t easy to use to burn them.”
“Then why don’t we buy some wood that burns at another estate?”
“The place that was used to be supplying our territory with lumbers is the Ocal. Erell and Ocal’s relationship were for over a hundred years, and recently they abruptly cut off the contract, so every place in the teritory is out of woods.”
Emma continued her explanation with a face of considerable embarrassment.
“It’s not easy to increase the number of accounts, so it’s hard to get a sense of balance right away The butler is in a hurry to find a new account, so please hang in there.”
The basis of the transaction was trust.
But if they want to unilaterally break up a long contract that has maintaned for over a hundred years?
Of course there should be a reason for that.
Above all, this world was a hierarchical society. The status order was higher than the logic of the market.
Even if there was a good reason, it was not easy for a single shop to cut off the deal with the Duke.
“Erell is a land owned by the Duke. It’s hard for a shop to unilaterally cut off a deal. There must be a reason.”
Emma was quick to take a hint at the obvious question.
“Emma.”
I urged her to tell me, and she started to talk.
“The Ocal is a memberof the Count of Meliol’s family. So..”
As soon as I heard the name Melliol, I remembered a face.
Prince Liddon, one of Catherine’s fish.
His mother’s family was a member of Meliol.
Meliol’s prestige was no match for Oberon, but it was a royalty maternal family anyway.
It was hard for the Duke to do anything about a family that had ties to the royal family.
‘So, they are confident…’
I could figure out how things were going
“The deal was cut off about exactly a week ago?”
“……yes.”
“The prince must have supported the plan.”
It was obvious that he cut the deal because he hated Everia who attempted to kill Catherine.
‘That’s something Liddon Gerette would do.’
I wasn’t surprised that it was exactly the same as his character when I read through the book.
Liddon Gerette is the first prince, but the crown prince’s position was taken by his younger brother, Cassian Gerette.
This is unusual in this world, where the eldest son mostly inherited the throne, but it makes sense when looking at the situation.
Liddon’s mother died as soon as she gave birth to him, and the concubine who succeeded her mother as the queen gave birth to Cassian.
The queen tried all her means to make her child the King, securing the engagement of Everia and Cassian. To gain power from the Duke of Oberon.
Now, let’s think about it.
The eldest son who lost his mother early, has a feeble family, and lost his only chance to the throne.
Doesn’t the death flag look too clear?
Fortunately or unfortunately, Liddon was rather smart.
So he recognized the danger he was in early and started dealing with the situation.
On the outside, he appeared as if he were gentle and powerless, but on the inside he was filled with evil and schemes.
‘Talking about a black bellied character.’
Amidst this situation, Liddon Gerette and Everia, the fiancee of the Crown Prince, have inevitably become enemies.
In the first place, the relationship between them was at its worst, as Everia bullied Catherine, who had become Liddon’s favorite person.
It’s natural that he wanted to cut the deal