I Raised the Northern Grand Duke as a Farmer Behind My Father’s Back Chapter 39

Chapter 39

“Enough of that. Eat.”

“Yes!”

Pretending as though nothing had happened, Basil added salad and cheese to Haniel’s plate.

By the time the negotiation ended, it was exactly dinnertime.

When Duke Rowain realized that the Grand Duke’s earlier thirty-minute time limit had actually been because of the child’s dinner, he felt a little deflated.

But at this point, he didn’t care.

It was already late, and they still needed to negotiate the mushroom supply, so he decided to remain in the North for a while.

“Nom, nom.”

Haniel diligently ate with her cheeks puffed up like balloons.

After swallowing, she smiled brightly.

“Duke Rowain, you’re really, really amazing! You even developed the treatment for the East!”

“Ah, that……”

Duke Rowain smiled somewhat awkwardly.

“Actually, I wasn’t the one who developed—”

She was a tiny child who looked barely four or five years old.

Surely she simply didn’t understand how the situation worked yet.

Haniel put down her fork and looked gloomy.

“I heard something really terrible happened in the East……”

“……”

“But if you’re the one who solved it, then you’ve accomplished something that’ll be remembered throughout the Empire’s history, right? That’s amazing!”

Haniel beamed, then went straight back to nibbling her food.

Right.

The duke clasped his trembling hands together.

What Basil had sold him……

wasn’t merely the recipe for a treatment.

It was a new reputation.

“W-why exactly are you allowing me to be credited as the treatment’s developer?”

“Because I want to live quietly. I can’t stand the Temple or the imperial family.”

“……!”

“So I’m telling you to take the fame—and every bit of outside attention connected to the treatment—along with it.”

“……!!”

“This year, the only attention we can afford is some gossip about ‘northern barley.’ You handle everything else.”

Something like that was easy.

Compared to what I’ve gained……!

Maybe because he had struggled so hard to obtain it, it felt all the more valuable.

Everything that had happened since arriving at the gate flashed through his mind.

Waiting outside the gate.

Growing anxious because of Count Ledermeck.

Witnessing the miracle of the North.

Despairing over the price.

Losing his composure over the limited ingredient.

And finally—

obtaining it.

Something greater than merely a treatment.

His entire body trembled with exhilaration.

The East had almost been branded forever as contaminated land.

But now that crisis would instead become known as something overcome through the competence of its lord.

More importantly, the people of his territory would place tremendous trust in him because of this.

Thinking about it that way……

ten million gold didn’t feel wasteful in the slightest.

What an extraordinary deal. A transaction where nobody loses is exceedingly rare.

No.

To be completely honest—

this deal benefited him far more.

When a lord’s reputation rose, the territory’s reputation rose with it.

And a territory’s reputation was directly tied to its future income.

Most importantly—

now that his urgency and fear had finally subsided, there was something else he could see clearly.

“……Thank you.”

Duke Rowain bowed deeply.

“Thank you for developing the treatment—and for helping the East in its time of need.”

The gratitude was sincere.

We’re rich.

My nostrils keep escaping my control.

We’re riiiiich!

Flare, flare!

My heart was pounding too!

Ehehehe!

Duke Rowain stayed in the North for about two more days.

Apparently, he needed to properly learn the treatment’s manufacturing method and discuss things like the supply schedule for the main ingredient, the Pig-Nose Mushroom.

I happily hummed to myself.

The duke was even nicer than I expected!

Honestly, I was a little scared of older men around Grandpa’s age.

But maybe because Duke Rowain was so friendly toward me—

or perhaps because I had gotten used to people that age after spending time with Sir Brad—

he wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable to be around as I expected.

At first, he seemed a little awkward, but he quickly started chatting with the villagers too.

He toured the fields in astonishment, looking over the tremendous harvest.

He even visited the scrub forest where the mushrooms grew.

It seemed he realized there that the Pig-Nose Mushrooms weren’t especially difficult to gather and that there were plenty of them.

“……Hmm. In any case, this is still a rare mushroom that can only be found in the North within the Empire, so technically it is limited.”

After thinking for a moment, the duke stroked his chin and added,

“Would it be possible to keep it secret for the time being that this mushroom is the treatment’s main ingredient? That way, we may also avoid revealing the North’s involvement in the treatment.”

“Do whatever you want. I’ll tell our side to keep quiet too.”

Apparently, the duke intended to make very thorough use of the mushrooms he had purchased.

Of course, that cold and calculating business mode only lasted briefly.

Especially around me, he was incredibly kind!

“Grand Duchess, come here! Come, come! Oh, how adorable.”

I think he completely fell in love with the North!

“How old was our little Grand Duchess again? Four? Ahhh~ six yeaaars old~”

……Though he suddenly seemed like a completely different person.

Apparently, he had a grandchild around my age, so he was used to dealing with children.

“Grand Duchess, if there’s anything you need, just tell me. The eastern Rowain and northern Vertus have now formed a very close bond, so from this day onward, you’re no different from my own granddaughter!”

“Hehe…… Can I really tell you what I want?”

“Of course!”

“Then……”

“Mhm, mhm.”

“Could I have one hundred kilograms of construction timber, five hundred kilograms of lime, logs for stakes, fishing nets, and some sturdy rope braided in a three-strand twist?”

“……Huh?”

I giggled.

“I’m kidding! Actually, there’s something else I really want to ask you……”

“Hm? Wh-what is it?”

“Hmm. I’ll tell you on the day you leave!”

I smiled as I carefully brushed the shiny black rump in front of me.

It’s almost time to tell the duke what I really need from him.

Thanks to this deal, Duke Rowain’s goodwill toward the North had gone through the roof.

There was something I absolutely needed to accomplish using that goodwill.

I hopped down from the little step stool.

I proudly looked over the glossy hindquarters of the black horse I had brushed.

I still wasn’t strong enough to groom its entire body.

Neighhh!

The black horse flicked its tail as though complaining.

“Sorry. When I get bigger, I’ll brush your whole body properly!”

[Errand completed! (Requester: God of the Forest)]

[Bond with a Horse (1/1)]

[“……Pet me…….”]

[Reward: 10 Pure, Pollution-Free Divine Power Stickers]

Watching the fresh green tree-shaped sticker slide into my Sticker Book, I planted a little kiss on the horse’s nose.

“Instead, tomorrow I’ll pet your right butt!”

“Neighhhhh!”

“Done staring at a horse’s ass?”

A blunt voice came from behind me.

Smack, smack, smack, smack!

Grand Duke Basil had been plastering mud-mixed straw onto the stable wall for quite a while now.

Making a fortune was one thing.

The North was enormous, there was endless work to do, and labor was in short supply twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year.

So naturally, today’s labor still had to be done!

“I wasn’t staring! We were bonding!”

“Why are you bonding with someone else’s warhorse?”

“Because he’s cute.”

“……This thing?”

Prrrrr!

The enormous horse snorted affectionately.

The blast of air sent my hair flying backward like I’d been hit by a storm.

“Good grief.”

Basil lightly smacked the horse on the nose.

“You too. Stop wagging your tail at her. Who’s your owner? Her? Is it her? Who’s the one standing here insulating your stable walls……?”

“Don’t bully him!”

“I’m the one being bullied by that bastard.”

I stretched onto my toes and patted the horse’s head.

He’s so well behaved.

Pat, pat.

Warm.

Soft.

Apparently, this black horse had accompanied Basil across countless battlefields and had once been so vicious that even Basil struggled to tame him.

It had taken him several months to fully break him in.

Even now, apparently, the horse went wild whenever it got annoyed.

But after one open and heartfelt conversation with me—

we became friends in about ten seconds!

“Horsey! You’re really cool!! Want to be friends with me? If you do, you can have thiiiiis many oat snacks in autumn. How about it? Let’s be friends!”

“Prrrrrrrr! (We are friends!)”

“……Are you kidding me?”

Truthfully, Bethel Village had never really had proper livestock.

A few horses used by the knights were all they had.

Even those had grown thin because there hadn’t been enough food for them.

But things had improved starting this spring.

Once Bethel Village’s climate warmed, fresh grass began growing again.

And now we can mix oats into their feed too!

Of course, I was forbidden from visiting a huge horse by myself, so an adult always had to come with me.

And the other livestock we’re getting from Count Ledermeck should arrive soon…… so we need to expand the stable and build new barns too!

For a while, the village would probably be filled with the constant clatter-clatter of construction.

Next year, I want to let the animals roam through the fields and graze too~

As for the fields where we had grown barley—

next year, we had decided to plant clover and buckwheat instead.

Why not simply plant barley again?

Because of one of farming’s golden rules—

crop rotation and leaving fields fallow.

To Be Continued…