I thought becoming the head of the family would make me really busy, but surprisingly, everything was going smoothly.
It turns out I had done quite a bit of preliminary work ahead of time.
Normally, I would have worried about factions that didn’t acknowledge me after becoming the head, but since everything wrapped up quite neatly, there wasn’t any controversy.
Thanks to the help from Adrian and Miragen, I managed to stabilize the territory much faster than I had initially expected.
It’s a good thing for me, but it felt a bit strange that everything was going too well.
I thought it would be a little tougher. Even Renold seemed puzzled by how quickly everything wrapped up.
I had assumed the nobles wouldn’t accept me this easily, but I couldn’t understand why they were so cooperative.
However, that question was soon resolved when Count Yugress visited the territory one day and said to me.
“The head of House Taylor has always held an absolute position, but this time is a bit more special.”
“Are you talking about me?”
“It’s especially true considering the previous head was Arthur Taylor. Isn’t he quite famous? Every noble would have known the lineage from Arthur Taylor to Yuria Taylor.”
It might be that I broke that lineage, which is why they’re supporting me.
But if we’re being picky, I’m closer to the imperial faction than the noble faction.
I never imagined they would act this way even knowing that.
It must have been because the methods used by either Father or Yuria were quite oppressive.
Now that I’m the head, completely opposite to that, I think the majority of the nobles expect that things will change.
“Well, that’s a relief. After all, they’ll be the ones to follow me.”
“And my support should be somewhat helpful as well. I’m not trying to boast, but I mean, after all, I’m going to be your grandfather, right?”
“…I suppose that’s true, even if it’s unprecedented.”
Many families had entered into political marriages with the Taylors, but none had provided direct support to any head after the marriage.
Usually, they would either face ruin beforehand or end up failing due to poor alliances.
Some families even chose to completely give up support to avoid that, but Yugress was already supporting me even after losing one person.
It was indeed unprecedented, which suggested something quite significant, and it was leading the nobles to think, “maybe…”
Knowing this, I couldn’t help but smile a little, and the count quietly continued.
“I’ve heard you’ve been getting close to Her Highness the Princess recently. I’m curious if it’s just a friendship or if there are other intentions.”
“There’s no intention behind it. If there was, I would have gotten even closer to the Crown Prince.”
“True, I see. However, I have heard rumors that your relationship is quite unusual. Holding hands and going out together.”
“…I think we’re just a bit close.”
“I think we’re pretty close,” I said.
He swallowed lightly at my answer and then, with a chuckle, looked at me.
I frowned at his strange expression, and the Count quietly moved his lips.
“Isn’t it about time you should find yourself a wife?”
…I had a feeling something like this would come up. I sighed at the immediate jab.
Meeting Miragen at the Imperial Palace was just yesterday.
And yet, the rumors had already spread? It was unbelievable, so I guess he must have had these thoughts for a while.
It seemed he had done quite a bit of investigation into me.
As if on cue, the Count, who had just been talking about the Princess, turned to Adrian.
The Count looked quite entertained discussing this, so I let him continue.
Sometimes, it wasn’t so bad to just listen like this.
If only my mother were alive, she might have been talking about things like this in front of me right now.
“You recently had a connection with the Saintess, and now with Her Highness the Princess. I just realized how capable you are. Are you perhaps interested in polygamy?”
“That’s unlikely. If I were to form a connection with those you mentioned, they wouldn’t permit polygamy.”
“Well, there are ways. For example, if you were to achieve merit and rise to the position of Grand Duke, wouldn’t they allow you to have some independence?”
A Grand Duke, huh? It wasn’t something I hadn’t thought of entirely.
But I had dismissed it as unlikely.
Besides, finding a wife isn’t my immediate priority, is it?
I was just humoring him with my responses. The more I thought about it, the more complicated it became, so if I were to consider it seriously…
At least that could only happen after dealing with the Crown Prince.
Realizing that my reaction was far from satisfactory, the Count paused his talk about wives.
It wasn’t that I felt bad; I just had a lot on my mind. But regardless, it was true that I didn’t want to discuss this right now.
Still, I couldn’t stay quiet for too long, so I decided to change the topic.
“In fact, I have something I’m planning right now, which is restructuring the power system from the ground up.”
“When you say ‘restructure,’ to what extent are you referring?”
“I mean completely changing Taylor’s attitude. If he’s acted as a representative for the nobles until now, this time I’m going to lend a bit of strength to the Imperial Family.”
Hmm. The Count let out a small sound as if pondering my words.
Lending strength to the Imperial Family from the nobles wouldn’t be an easy task.
And considering the fragile balance of powers that had been firmly held, he might doubt my motives for making such moves.
Ultimately, my fundamental goal was to empower Kaitel. But it seemed that the Count, still deep in thought, would take a while to respond.
It was a little while later that Count Yugress finally opened his mouth, still lost in thought.
“It seems like there’s something to gain from that.”
“There is. If there wasn’t, there’d be no need to attempt it.”
“Then I gather it’s not my place to meddle. I’m just the Count leading Yugress; ultimately, it is Your Excellency the Duke who makes the decisions, isn’t it?”
With a small laugh at his step back as if to say he wouldn’t ask me anything further, I thought this was the response I expected. It was just a bit surprising that he didn’t even mutter a complaint.
Hadn’t he always been like this since he first declared he wanted to be the head of the family?
I was just grateful he didn’t ask. Even if he had, I could have explained, but…
Seeing him trying to build up Kaitel’s influence while being attached to the Imperial Family might come off as a bit awkward.
However, my relationship with Kaitel was quite secretive.
Only he and I could speak about the relic of the dead dragon, and the support for the southern suppression was something only Kaitel knew.
Someday I would be able to talk about it, but that wasn’t now.
It was still pretty awkward meeting with the Count like this.
No matter how casually I tried to converse, the fact that he was my mother’s father felt off.
Whenever I saw the Count, I thought of my mother, and I didn’t really know what he thought of me.
It would be nice if he thought well of me, but if my path turned out like that of either Father or Yuria…
I hoped Count Yugress would stop me.
And I wanted to get a little closer so that we could become that kind of relationship.
Just as I began to complain that I should have continued our earlier conversation about his wife, Renold strode across the garden and came into view.
For him to come like that knowing I was here with the Count meant he must have some pretty important news.
“Please wait a moment. I need to verify something.”
As he said this and stood up, Renold approached and bowed his head.
Renold, who had recently become much more relaxed, let out a small sigh.
If he had the leisure to sigh, it didn’t seem to be a dire situation, did it?
I was a bit curious about what news warranted his visit if it wasn’t urgent.
However, the moment I received the letter from Renold, I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, which made him smile slightly.
“I thought you’d react this way. I thought it was sooner than expected, but I guess it was about time.”
As I gazed at his mischievous smile, Renold cleared his throat and turned his gaze away.
He cleared his throat.
The letter came from the North.
Well, there’s probably only one person who would send me something like this.
After rubbing my forehead for a moment, I accepted the letter, wiping my face down.
I know we haven’t been in contact much.
Still, I didn’t expect a letter to arrive so soon.
When I cautiously checked the contents of the letter, there was a note written in Adele’s handwriting.
As expected, it wasn’t very long.
Just like always, Adele kept it concise, packed with just the necessary content in a short letter.
-I heard you’re very busy and can’t get in touch. I don’t know if you’re swamped with meetings with the Saint or the Princess, or busy working on issues in your territory. But seeing as you haven’t contacted me at all from the North, I suppose you’re quite tied up. I’m not blaming you; I’m just sending my heartfelt condolences for your hard work.
I let out a snort and burst into laughter.
It didn’t seem like her usual self; she actually seemed a bit hurt that I hadn’t reached out.
And it appeared she knew I had met with someone else too.
“It seems to be from the North. Am I right?”
Seeing it from afar, I slowly nodded at the Count who was asking me. He probably soon realized it was a letter sent directly by the Grand Duke. And if he figured out the Grand Duke was a woman…
“…Oh.”
The Count’s reaction was as expected, staring at me with a rather peculiar expression.
He might have been still connecting the dots about the earlier talk regarding his wife.
So, the candidates would be the Grand Duke, the Princess, or the Saint.
What a ridiculous thought, but watching him ponder seriously made me turn my head away again.
“Was there a schedule to head to the North?”
At my question, Renold’s brow furrowed. It wasn’t easy to suddenly change plans.
But, well, we could probably find the time for a brief visit.
That’s why I had brought Renold along in the first place.
Thanks to a lot of tasks being wrapped up rather quickly, I figured I had quite a bit of time on my hands.
Maybe sensing my intention, Renold, who was gazing at me, cautiously opened his mouth.
“I think it might be possible. If it’s about a week or so, would that be alright?”
“That should be enough.”
-If I’m a bit freer now, I’d like to see her face before I go. Surely, she won’t refuse even this.
Thinking about the woman trying hard to express her desire to see me, I figured there should be enough reason for her to make that time.
If I don’t do it now, I may never get the chance again.
It was better not to postpone it and do it right away.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
