“Damn it! Why is there no news, why!”

At the same time, Duke Valois was pacing back and forth in the room with an anxious face, biting his nails.

It was partly due to the suspicious letter he received yesterday, but also because there had been no contact since then.

He couldn’t stay still for a moment and kept moving around the room, muttering something incessantly.

The main content was mostly about why there was no contact, but he seemed excessively nervous and anxious for someone who just hadn’t heard from someone.

“My lord, the person we sent to the Alois house will return soon. So……”

“Soon, soon! How many hours has it been since that person who was supposed to come ‘soon’ hasn’t arrived!”

Despite the reassurance of his loyal butler Hans, the duke’s anxiety showed no signs of stopping.

And for good reason, as Lloyd Alois had sent him a suspicious letter last night and then disappeared.

[I’ve decided to reveal all of the duke’s misdeeds. There seems to be ample evidence scattered around, so uncovering the truth should be relatively easy. Fortunately, it seems I won’t die alone in vain if I have to die.]

The untimely talk of misdeeds was enough to drive one mad, but to add a letter that read like a final message from someone going to their death?

“Find him immediately, right now! Bring that bastard to me right now!”

He had to find him.

He had to find this lunatic immediately and silence him.

At the thought that his family might really be wiped out if things continued like this, he was out of his mind.

Duke Valois messed up his hair furiously and opened his white eyes.

“If you can’t find him, at least find out where he is. Find him and kill him.”

“……Understood.”

He should have silenced him from the beginning.

When he handed over the money as if it was the last time, he had no idea things would turn out like this.

He shouldn’t have dealt with it so carelessly when his own life was at stake.

It was treason, no less.

He believed that as long as he was alive, they would both be safe, since opening their mouths meant death for both of them.

He didn’t expect such foolish self-destruction.

He gritted his teeth and pulled at his disheveled hair.

He couldn’t fall like this. He must not fall like this.

He had to survive somehow.

He had to survive and prosper his family for a long time.

Then his father and descendants would praise him for a long time, wouldn’t they?

If he couldn’t be the emperor’s backing, he should at least make his name known that way.

At this rate, all his plans and ambitions would come to nothing.

Then…

“Kill the young Duke Alois as soon as you find him, and go to the territory right now and call James.”

He had already contacted Count Felice to come immediately.

But that idiot was unlikely to come up with any good ideas.

Then, he had to find another way.

He muttered with a strange glint in his eyes.

[This is the timeline separator]

While Leoprick was preparing to go to the slums for relief activities, I received letters from both the east and north.

“Your Highness, they say the disease has completely disappeared in the east. They’ve mostly disposed of the bodies of those who died from the disease, and they’ve finished identifying the cause this time, so they’ve started construction on the waterways.”

“In the north, they’re still reclaiming the frozen lands, but they say they’ve finished reclaiming everywhere else except for that area. The seeds planted just in front of the frozen lands have sprouted, so it seems the frozen lands will be next soon.”

“As you ordered, everything was carried out in the name of His Highness the Crown Prince and His Majesty the Emperor, and praise for the imperial family is overflowing, especially in the east and north! They say they’re planning to send someone from the east soon to express their gratitude.”

Betty and Hayley took turns relaying the news from the east and north.

The letters, mostly filled with words of gratitude, were full of praise and awe for the imperial family.

The east received support for all costs needed for treating the disease, identifying its cause, and constructing waterways, while the north saw new hope in filling their precarious food stores.

I smiled with satisfaction as I listened to their reports.

“Make sure all future support is given in the name of the imperial family. If necessary, I’ll even use my personal funds to support them, and try to use skilled people for manpower if possible.”

“We were already running short on capable personnel in the guild, so I’ll take this opportunity to recruit new people and train them.”

Hayley, who always seemed to be one step ahead of me, said she planned to focus all her efforts on nurturing new people for the time being.

I had only thought about dispatching people, not about nurturing them, but Hayley spoke as if it was the most natural thing to focus on training people.

She said she would send out the trained people one by one.

“Are there not many people left now?”

“There aren’t many people we can call ‘skilled’. We’re currently training from top to bottom, but…”

“Then you’ll have to work hard for a while. I’m counting on you, Hayley.”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

After wrapping up the affairs of the east, north, and the guild, Hayley soon stood up to leave.

“Oh, and Your Highness. Grandmother will be arriving in the empire soon.”

“……Is that so?”

“Yes. She should arrive by the end of this month. I’ve already prepared a place for her to stay.”

“Thank you, Hayley.”

At my words, Hayley smiled brightly and gave her greetings, then left the room.

Really, it’s fortunate to have Hayley.

“Do you plan to meet Grandmother as soon as she arrives?”

“Of course. I have a lot of questions.”

Leoprick said it didn’t make sense that I remembered the regression.

He said he didn’t know why, especially since I wasn’t the type to have mana flowing through me.

He said that since magic itself was already a lost discipline, there was no way to know why this happened.

That’s when I remembered Grandmother, who was heading to the empire.

Grandmother, who seemed to have precognitive abilities.

Leoprick also said that precognitive abilities sometimes manifest in people with mana.

Then, could it be that I have at least a little mana?

Leoprick said there was a magic circle in the secret library that only he knew about, which could be used to check for the presence of mana.

But he said they couldn’t open the door yet because the next crown prince hadn’t appeared.

‘If our child becomes the next heir, the door will recognize the new mana and open.’

Even as he said this, Leoprick subtly watched my reaction.

I’m not sure if he thought he wouldn’t see the next crown prince from me at this rate, or if he thought I would be disappointed by those words.

What did I answer to that?

I think I said something like, “You don’t need to be so cautious, Your Highness. Everything will happen when the time comes.”

As long as I don’t divorce him, I’ll end up having children anyway, however many.

Then we’ll naturally find out who the next crown prince is, who will open this door.

Since that day, he’s been constantly watching my reactions.

Even though we’ve been sleeping together for several days now, he continues to be cautious and reluctant to be in the same place with me.

It’s visible to the point that he’s uncomfortable, even though he doesn’t dislike being next to me.

So I was just waiting for the slum schedule set for next week.

Because I had something else prepared there as well.

“Are the preparations going well?”

“Ah. You mean next week? Of course. Everything is being prepared very smoothly.”

When I asked, Betty nodded as if it was obvious.

“Since Your Highness said you’d prepare the relief supplies, I didn’t touch them separately. I’m just planning to distribute them when we get there. That way, I think I’ll be able to say a word to each person who comes to receive the items.”

“Really? It’s not much, but is that okay?”

Actually, it was half Betty’s idea.

I wanted to give him a gift that could refresh our relationship, and Betty said there was nothing better than a surprise event for that, and proceeded with the plan smoothly.

She said that would win over public sentiment and soothe Leoprick’s heart as well.

“But why did you two really fight?”

If you tell me the reason, I could prepare more accurately.

Betty asked, but I just smiled awkwardly.

I couldn’t say that Leoprick, who tried to regress by turning back time, had lied, nor could I say it was because of something called magic.

Having nothing to say, I slightly turned my eyes to look at the documents.

“Um, how much was the separate palace budget this time?”

“You’re changing the subject again, again.”

As I played dumb, Betty clicked her tongue, but really, there was nothing more I could tell her.

I spent the entire afternoon evading Betty’s questions by playing dumb like that.

My, she’s persistent.

[This is the timeline separator]

The relief supplies for the slums were prepared faster than expected.

So the schedule for going to the slums was also moved up faster than expected.

“If everything’s ready, shouldn’t we go? Most of the relief supplies are food, and the longer we keep them, the worse they’ll get.”

“That’s true, but……”

However, Leoprick seemed somewhat reluctant to move up the schedule, and I continued to persuade him.

It was relief we were going to provide anyway, food we were going to take anyway.

My opinion was that we should give it when it’s a little fresher if possible.

“Even if it’s stored in the imperial palace, food quality deteriorates as time passes. If everything’s ready, how about leaving right away?”

“Right away, you say?”

“Yes. There’s no need to postpone it. We don’t have any important schedules today anyway.”

You don’t have any other schedules today either, Your Highness.

At my words, he made a slightly reluctant expression, but soon nodded.

“Alright. Then let’s go. I’ll send Arnold ahead to inform the people.”

So while we were preparing, Arnold left first.

We were just about to leave the imperial palace after gathering the necessary things and getting Betty’s confirmation that the event preparation was perfect.

“Amelia. Does it really have to be today?”

Just as we were stepping out of the imperial palace gates, Leoprick made a somewhat anxious face.

I was puzzled by his expression, which seemed to have some unresolved anxiety, but I didn’t particularly feel like something big was going to happen.

I think I was so focused on finishing this task and improving my relationship with Leoprick that nothing else caught my attention.

“Do you have some kind of bad feeling?”

When I stared at him intently, he moved his lips for a moment, then shook his head.

“No. I guess I’m just being overly worried.”

And so, we headed to the slums, leaving behind only a somewhat dubious feeling.