I Raised the Northern Grand Duke as a Farmer Behind My Father’s Back Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Slan practically fled the library.

His fists were clenched tight.

So were his lips.

“There are baby pigs too! They’re really, really cute!”

“Hmm?”

Why did she……

smile like that?

No one had ever smiled at him that way before.

A bright, pure smile without the slightest ulterior motive.

Seeing it made his heart twist strangely tight.

Slan decided to define the sensation as……

discomfort.

It’s because she looks like the girl from my dreams. That’s why I feel strange whenever she smiles.

After all, if you really thought about it, the girl from his dreams was basically his enemy.

Of course, if this was truly discomfort……

then it was strange that his gaze kept drifting toward those oddly round cheeks.

And that heat kept gathering around his ears.

……Is the Grand Duke’s daughter really that girl from my dreams?

At present, he had no way of knowing.

Because ever since arriving in the North—

he hadn’t had any of those dreams.

Maybe that was why.

Sometimes Slan forgot all about his original goal of finding proof that the world had regressed and simply got absorbed in life here.

His senses seemed to dull.

Even his goal of finding the cause of the regression, achieving something great, and gaining his father’s recognition……

sometimes grew hazy.

Especially when Haniel—

that girl—

was nearby.

When he first met Haniel,

he had thought she might be the girl from his dreams.

Her silver-thread-like hair was one reason……

and then there was this.

“If you wrap this mushroom in damp leaves and roast it gently, it tastes like meat, you know?”

She knew a cooking method for the Pig-Nose Mushroom that wasn’t publicly known yet.

“……How do you know that?”

“Huh? Because I tried roasting it in all sorts of ways myself! I just happened to figure it out!”

“Ah……”

But as time passed, that theory began losing strength.

……She could easily have experimented with different cooking methods herself.

And lately, he had become even less certain.

More importantly—

before the regression, they hadn’t even had any connection at all.

She was the Grand Duke’s daughter in the North.

He was a discarded imperial prince in the capital.

The chance that they could have met somewhere outside the capital, on some random road like they had in his previous life, was practically zero.

Still, she bothered him for some reason.

So for now, he decided to observe her.

Haniel was remarkable.

She knew a great deal about farming, and after putting her head together with the Grand Duke, she had even helped develop the eastern soil treatment almost effortlessly.

Even I, someone who remembers the previous life, didn’t know the mushroom’s true effect……

For about one second, he had considered taking the finished treatment to the Emperor himself.

But……

“Slan! Whatcha doing?”

The moment he saw those sparkling pink eyes, every thought vanished.

……She’s way too small.

She was practically a baby.

Her soft-looking pale cheeks were tiny.

Her plump little hands were tiny too.

He remembered his previous life.

He had practically been an adult.

His memories had cut off sometime in his teens……

so compared to her, he was definitely much older mentally.

Stealing credit from her would be wrong.

Slan thought this with an utterly expressionless face.

Anyway……

I need to keep watching her carefully.

To see whether she was the girl from his dreams or not.

But I absolutely won’t get close to her.

He would only observe her with a thoroughly objective, rational, cold mind.

Look at what he had done just now.

I properly rejected her invitation to eat bread together.

Even thinking back on it, he had been ruthless.

Pleased with himself, the boy clenched his fist and walked faster.

That was when—

“Fire!! Fire!!”

“……!”

A scream tore through the air.

Slan’s head snapped upward.

Black smoke rose into the clear blue sky.

That direction……

was the grain warehouse.

“Wow. Slan! Look at this! Our grain warehouse is completely full now! It used to be totally empty…… Hehe, I’m glad we worked so hard! Right?”

Her bright face, smiling as though she owned the entire world, flashed through his mind.

“No.”

His face went pale.

He started running toward the grain warehouse.

“Oh dear, I’m so sorry. Connie, say you’re sorry too!”

A four-year-old child peeking from behind his mother slowly poked his head out.

“Sowwy……”

“It’s okay, Connie!”

“I’m sorry, Haniel. I had no idea Connie had taken your scarf……”

Haniel waved both hands frantically.

“Gasp. Connie didn’t take it! I gave it to him!”

“Oh, I’m sure Connie begged you for it. Our sweet Haniel. Thank you for sharing.”

“Hehe…… Connie’s cute. And I got it back now, so it’s okay!”

Basil stared unhappily at the little silver head.

The four-year-old child called Connie buried himself in his mother’s arms.

They were part of the family of four who had settled here during the summer alongside Slan.

There was a four-year-old boy and a one-year-old baby.

Haniel turned awkwardly and scurried back toward Basil.

“Connie says he didn’t throw the scarf away on purpose! He was playing with it, and somehow it just ended up in the trash……”

“……”

“……Are you sulking?”

“Massively.”

“Whoa……”

Basil picked Haniel up with one arm.

Truthfully, he wasn’t sulking.

He was just……

a little displeased.

With Haniel’s attitude.

Why does this kid give away everything that belongs to her?

She had done the same thing during the harvest festival.

That day, Brad had given Haniel a bread-shaped hairpin.

It was exactly the kind of gift a child would love.

But the moment little Connie wanted it……

“This is Connie’s!”

“Mhm! Connie can have it!”

She handed it over in one second.

The same thing happened with all sorts of other little objects.

“This one is Connie’s too!”

“Mhm! That too!”

“All of it is Connie’s!”

“Mhm! Connie can have all of it!”

Even Slan, the famously quiet kid, had finally spoken up.

“……Do you enjoy being taken advantage of?”

Watching from a distance, Basil had felt an inexplicable surge of irritation.

It wasn’t that he disliked Connie.

He remembered the slight hesitation in Haniel’s fingertips when she handed over the bread-shaped pin.

If you don’t like it, at least make a face.

Kind Haniel.

Smiling Haniel.

Haniel who never complained.

Haniel who never showed when she disliked something.

Haniel who never crossed a line.

Haniel who never bothered adults……

Part of Basil wondered,

Isn’t being a good kid supposed to be a good thing?

Everyone in the village praised Haniel for being sweet and well-behaved.

Maybe he was overthinking it.

But still.

He didn’t like it.

Because he was afraid there might be something hidden behind that smiling face—

something he would fail to notice.

And if he failed to notice it,

he might fail to protect her.

“Whoo—whoo—sulking, go awayyy. Whoo—whoooo—”

Haniel grabbed his collar with a slightly anxious expression.

“I’m sorry. It was a present you gave me……”

“……”

“I’ll really treasure it properly from now on! I was actually going to get it back as soon as Connie got tired of playing with it. Really……!”

“That’s not why I’m upset……”

Basil ruffled his own hair.

“Brat.”

“Yes……?”

“Stop giving away your things so easily. If you keep doing that, it’ll become a habit.”

“……?”

“If something makes you angry or you hate it, just start crying first. Kick someone if you have to.”

“But…… Connie is younger than Hani……”

“That way I can come running over and raise hell for you. Huh? Do you understand or not?”

“Hmm, yes.”

Basil sighed at Haniel’s answer.

It was clearly one of those yeses that meant absolutely nothing.

Normally, children wanted to possess not only their own things but sometimes other people’s things too.

It wasn’t that Haniel lacked possessiveness.

The problem was that the instant someone else wanted something she owned—

she gave it up without the slightest resistance.

What kind of life did she live before this?

How had a six-year-old learned to give things up before anything else?

More than frustration—

it made his heart ache.

But……

he could teach her slowly.

That nobody had the right to treat her carelessly.

That nobody had the right to take what belonged to her.

That constantly giving things away didn’t automatically make someone a good person.

Basil had just made that resolution when—

DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!

A huge bell rang out.

“……!”

“Fire!!! The grain warehouse is on fire!!!!”

What?

DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!

Basil and Haniel’s eyes met.

“Your Grace!!”

“Damn it!”

Basil shot forward like a gale.

This can’t be happening.

“Bring more water!”

This can’t be happening!!

“Be careful not to breathe in the smoke!”

“We need more water!”

“The wind’s changing direction!!!”

“Where’s the waterwheel?!”

“Don’t stand where the sparks are flying!!! Move all the straw bundles too!!”

I stared blankly at the grain warehouse engulfed in blazing red flames.

“Brat, get back to the house right now!”

“Y-Your Grace!”

Grand Duke Basil shouted fiercely, then immediately plunged back into the firefighting effort.

People were yelling frantically and running in every direction.

I stood there, frozen, staring at the roaring flames.

A wave of heat rushed across my face.

This can’t be real.

Black smoke spread mercilessly across the high, blue autumn sky.

The sight looked so wrong.

Yes.

This didn’t feel real at all.

The grain warehouse……

Our harvest……

No.

Before I realized it, my feet had started moving forward.

Then—

someone grabbed my hand tightly.

“You can’t go any closer.”

It was Slan.

His eyes were trembling as he looked me over from head to toe.

“Slan…… what do we do……?”

My whole body shook.

Seeing me like that, Slan clenched his teeth.

“There you are!”

At the same time, Butler Camilla appeared and pushed both Slan and me back.

“The wind changed direction. You can’t stay here anymore. Let’s get inside!”

“B-but—!”

I desperately grabbed Camilla’s clothes.

Then, from far away, Grand Duke Basil shouted harshly while helping put out the fire.

“Camilla! Get the brats out of here! Now!”

“Yes.”

Camilla didn’t hesitate.

She scooped both Slan and me up at once and quickly carried us away.

Biting my lip, I stared over her shoulder at the horrifying scene behind us.

Apparently, it had started because of one tiny, careless mistake.

A resident had been inspecting the grain warehouse when someone happened to call out to them, so they stepped away for just a moment.

And of all days, the windows had been left open for ventilation.

And of all moments, a gust of wind came through that window and knocked over a lamp—

and of all places, the lamp fell into an area piled high with hay and straw……

In the end, the entire wooden warehouse caught fire.

“Butler……”

We entered the nearest cottage, and I pressed myself against the window.

Slan still hadn’t let go of my hand.

I was so shocked and frightened that I didn’t even realize this was the first time he had ever held my hand.

My whole body trembled uncontrollably.

The flames, fed by the dry autumn wind, showed no sign of dying down.

The villagers ran around with desperate faces, covered from head to toe in soot.

Someone dragged over the waterwheel and began spraying water.

Noah arrived late.

He quickly drew a magic circle and poured mana into it, increasing the amount of water blasting from the wheel.

“What do we do……”

That warehouse held seventy percent of the North’s autumn harvest.

Meaning—

more than half of the food we needed to survive the winter was inside.

And that was……

“Northern barleeeeeey!”

“Waaaaaaaah!”

It was also the North’s very first harvest.

Those precious crops……

were turning into black ash and scattering into the air.

Butler Camilla silently bit her lip.

“They say accidents happen in an instant.”

She pulled Slan and me tightly into her arms.

“……It seems this is another lesson we have to learn.”

……We had been careless.

Autumn was dry.

The wind was strong.

Most buildings in Bethel Village were wooden.

There were piles of straw and hay everywhere.

We should have been much more careful about fire.

Everyone had become just a little too relaxed in the joy of the harvest.

I buried my face in Butler Camilla’s chest.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Fire!

The grain warehouse is on fire!

I couldn’t bear hearing the villagers’ voices breaking with tears anymore.

I secretly hid the tears pouring down my face against Camilla.

I desperately wished that all those sounds were only part of a dream.

A while later—

the villagers gathered in front of the warehouse after the fire was finally extinguished.

“Haa……”

“How…… how did this happen……?”

Everyone looked devastated.

“We’re finished…… A whole year’s farming…… gone just like that.”

“Sniff…… sob……”

Now that the fire was out, reality seemed to be crashing down on them.

I slowly walked between everyone.

Ahead of me stood a man rooted in place before the ruins of the warehouse.

His smooth black hair was completely disheveled.

His once-neat clothes were a mess.

There was no emotion at all on his rigid profile.

“Your Grace……”

“Ash is still flying around. Don’t come over here.”

Basil waved one hand carelessly.

But I immediately ran up and grabbed it.

“Haniel, I told you it’s dirty—”

“Your Grace!!”

I snapped my head up toward him.

“Let’s sow new seeds!”

“Winter’s almost here. What are you—”

He turned and looked at me.

After glancing at my face, he immediately crouched down.

“Did you cry? Are you hurt?”

“That’s not important……!”

I pressed my lips tightly together.

The fire was awful.

Losing all the crops we had worked so hard to harvest was even worse.

But—

crying won’t solve anything!

My face felt hot and swollen from crying so much for the first time in ages.

But I had to do something.

And compared to me, His Grace and the villagers—the ones who had physically worked those fields—must be even more devastated.

I had to pull myself together.

Honestly, because our spring barley harvest was so good, we hadn’t even considered doing a proper autumn planting.

But now we had no choice.

“There’s something that’s perfect to sow right now!”

I clenched my fists and shouted,

“Winter rye!!”

Rye.

A steel-like crop capable of growing even in extremely cold regions.

Of course, even rye couldn’t grow in the old North.

No matter how hardy a crop was, it still needed a certain amount of warmth to grow, and the North had always suffered through brutal cold.

But now?

It’s possible!

Of course, the North had earned a huge amount of money, so technically, we could buy food from outside.

But the problem was……

because of the disastrous harvest, grain and food prices in general were extremely high.

And wealthy nobles had already bought up most of the grain available.

In other words—

even if you had money, there was a limit to what you could actually purchase.

More importantly, if we wanted to comfort the residents who were drowning in despair, this was the most effective thing we could do.

We need to feel like we’re overcoming the crisis instead of just sitting around and taking it!

Even I felt strength rushing back into me simply from realizing there was still something we could do!

I calmly organized the plan in my head.

With the food left in our other warehouses, we can probably survive until around March or April.

The plan was simple.

Before October ended, we would sow rye seed.

Then it would take root before the first frost and sprout a little.

Those sprouts would endure the winter beneath the accumulated snow.

And next spring—

since spring arrived a little earlier in the North now……

the rye should start growing rapidly around February or March.

At the very least, we should be able to harvest it by April or May.

That means we’d get fresh grain by April, so it’ll be tight, but we can survive the winter with the food we have left!

As long as the population didn’t increase any further.

“Wait.”

At that moment, the Grand Duke, who had been listening to my plan, spoke.

“I received a letter saying eleven people want to move here.”

“What?”

“This morning. They said they’ll cross the gate as soon as they finish preparing to move. Around next week.”

Grand Duke Basil let out a short sigh.

At some point, we had returned to the manor.

“Hmmm……”

Eleven people.

That would make things really tight.

“Either way, planting rye is a good idea.”

He roughly dried his wet hair as he muttered,

“We have oxen now too. If we quickly clear some wasteland and sow the seed…… the timing should work.”

“Where can we get rye seed?”

Butler Camilla asked.

I immediately raised my hand.

“Me! Why don’t we send a letter to Duke Rowain?”

“To Duke Rowain?”

“The new settlers told us a few days ago! The Central Temple is going to send part of its preserved seed reserves to the East soon!”

“Ah. Something about providing relief to the East and taking moral responsibility for allowing the crop disease to spread.”

“Yes!”

There should probably be rye seed among that supply too.

Maybe we could buy some.

“Camilla.”

“Yes. I’ll send a letter immediately.”

Watching Butler Camilla hurry out of the reception room, I fell into thought again.

Hmm…… Even so, our winter food supply is still pretty tight.

What if more residents came after those eleven?

Would we really make it until the rye harvest?

What should we do?

Hmm.

Hmmmmm.

Then—

Flash!

An idea lit up in my head.

Ah?

There was an easy solution!

Why did I only think of it now?

“Your Grace!”

“What?”

I dashed toward him.

With sparkling eyes, I shyly grabbed the edge of his clothes.

“Do you happen to…… like fishing?”

The North’s future fisherman, Grand Duke Basil, looked down at me with visibly uneasy eyes.

To Be Continued…