Chapter 11
Karpel’s guilty of holding her, who was technically drunk and clinging to him.
After having a serious conversation with the maids, she seemed to have said all sorts of things.
“Karpel, do you not like Ina anymore?”
“I’ll do well from now on.”
“We’re going to be together forever now.”
‘What a shameless nature I have!’
They said she did not just pass out after uttering a word or two. Rather, she kept hugging him until she fell asleep.
She did not remember a single thing.
‘How can a 13-year-old girl have such a bouncy brain?!’
It seemed like her father, the Duke, had seen her whining, “Why don’t you hug me now? Please embrace me like you did in the past, Karpel.” to Karpel, while Karpel was just blankly staring at her.
It was clear that since Karpel took care of her once, he did not dare to push her away.
But, now, she knew he hated her.
‘Were you afraid of my father finding out about your intentions? Is that why you couldn’t push me away?’
Karpel never confronted the Duke even when he was locked inside his own room for a whole week. Meanwhile, Inaila did her best to improve her image to him but it didn’t work out as she wanted.
‘Perhaps, I’m meant to be despised by Karpel.’
Since she was filled with guilt, she didn’t leave her room except when she went to have her meals with her father.
Also, she never heard a sound even when a servant came to deliver a meal in Karpel’s room. It was really strange that there was no clatter of the tableware and sound of the dragging of the tray or opening and closing of the window. Even the servant who was responsible did not utter a single word.
Anyway, she was worried, so she called the servant who was responsible for the delivery of Karpel’s meals.
“You, I need to talk to you for a second.”
“What’s the matter, Young Miss?”
“Uh…..what’s your name?”
“Stein.”
He had worked at the Krenberian mansion for more than 10 years.
She frowned. That name felt very familiar, she thought. It was strange because she never had to remember the names of every servant of the mansion.
Furthermore, a lot of servants were replaced by the Duke to calm the tantrums of her old self.
“So, Stein…..Did His Highness have his meal?”
“Yes, he has. So please rest assured, Miss.”
He answered with a smile, but it felt strange.
‘How can a boy eat that much when he hasn’t even spent half a day on the training ground?’
The name of the servant was also disturbing her.
“I see. Thank you for letting me know, Stein.”
“No problem, Young Miss.”
As soon as he left after bowing to her, she put down her lunch and drove away all the maids from her room. Then, she crawled under the dressing table. In there, a secret space could be found.
She was very bothered by the silence in Karpel’s room.
‘This is not a prank, is it?’
She had seen too many people among the nobles who treated him as a ghost, so she was worried that there might be such an atmosphere among the employees as well.
In this mansion, the Duke was the law and he hated Karpel.
In addition, there were various underground waterways designed as secret passageways to escape the mansion. The passageways were also provided with spacious ventilations.
She remembered finding those passages with Karpel when she was young. Some places were restricted for children to venture in though.
She crawled inside a small space of 50 centimeters wide. As she reached out her hand, it touched the ceiling. Right now, it was a narrow space, unlike her memory.
Finding a passage that leads to his room was the next step. She wanted to see if he was eating properly.
She cautiously crawled through the narrow passage. Her inflated dress swooped past the wall of the ventilator, which made a low hissing sound.
‘It’s so dark in here……’
The passage was dotted with tiny star-like lights. It felt like hours for her to find a small crack in the wall. She peeped into a crevice and closed her other eye.
However, she could only figure out a little through that small crack.
‘……Ah.’
Suddenly, she recalled why the servant’s name sounded familiar to her.
It was the name of an aide who had served the traitor Karpel Ivelox since his childhood in the Krenberian mansion.
Later, he helped Karpel in binding the male lead in the novel.
The male lead asked Stein to cooperate in persuading Karpel to give up treason, but Stein committed suicide so as not to hinder him.
And now, he said he was eating well even when the room was empty.
‘Perhaps, he has run off to some faraway place.’
With that said, she thought it would be better for him to like there rather than in the Krenberian mansion, which was full of enemies, including her.
Stein was just making an alibi so that nobody would suspect Karpel’s absence.
‘You don’t have to worry about me though.’
After returning to her room, she dusted off her clothes.
Suddenly, she felt heartbroken to be left just like that. It felt difficult to shake off that longing feeling carved on her heart.
‘Ugh! I still haven’t come to my senses!’
Her only repentance was that she might have gotten obsessed over him when they had spent plenty of time together during their childhood.
And so, there was no improvement.
She shook off her thoughts about him and scurried through her notebook, while she ate her lunch. She turned the page to the biggest case she had to solve.
The invasion of a heterogeneous tribe that was supposed to take place in the next year.
The minor incidents before the invasion were related to the meeting of the main characters, but they had nothing to do with her.
‘The invasion was probably due to the interracial peace disagreement.’
The agreement was formed during the reign of the former Emperor. However, due to the murder of the Emperor, all diplomatic officials were replaced.
It was quite difficult for ethnic groups to follow the agreement because the current Emperor had no intention of keeping his brother’s legacy intact.
Unfortunately, the territory adjacent to the invading country was the Dukedom of Krenberia.
The problem arose because of the lack of food.
The tribes living in the alpine region were always suffering from food shortages. In addition, the mountainous regions of the empire had food shortages, too.
Thus, the former Emperor invited a heterogeneous scholar to conduct a research on improving the variety of crops and ordered his people to send food every year until the study was completed.
However, it had been more than a decade since his death, and since the tribes were quite furious with the sudden change, they began to invade parts of Krenberia.
In the novel, the male lead’s solution to this rising hatred was simple. To strike another deal.
‘Yes! That’s it! We could do that.’
Krenberia was a rich territory and was no less than a kingdom. It would be perfect if she could make an agreement in the name of Krenberia, she thought.
‘If we succeed in improving the breeds in Krenberia, we could sell the seeds.’
It would also pose no harm to her family. But of course, improving the quality of crops was not an easy process.
‘How much food do they need?’
What’s the nation’s size? What about the amount of grains required per person? It was evident that there was too little information.
At such thoughts, she threw the notebook on her desk and opened her bedside cabinet.
There was a book decorated with a pretty leathery cover over it. It contained theology and classical literature, which she chose not to study and learn just because she wasn’t interested in it.
‘So, first, I need to gather information on the heterogeneous state of the Krenberian Territory.’