‘What are those people doing without any manners?’

Jamie sent them a look.

“There’s a visitor.”

“Who is it?”

Kevrant asked, holding Lishido’s hand and sloshing out of the lake.

Jamie, perhaps fearing Kevrant might splash him too, retreated back on his horse and answered.

“It’s not for the captain, it’s for Miss Iris.”

+++

As they entered the room, Christina was surprised and came over.

“Oh my. Why are you all wet? What if you catch a cold?”

Erwell asked with a serious expression.

“Is it an enemy attack?”

“No, it was just the lake…..”

“Was it a little attack by the enemy?”

“El, stop the nonsense and bring some towels.”

“Nonsense? Brittany, that wicked woman…..”

Pah!

This time, Lishido clearly saw it.

Christina’s elbow mercilessly jabbing Erwell’s slim stomach.

Lishido opened her eyes wide in surprise, but Erwell, who didn’t seem too hurt, rubbed his stomach.

“You should be more careful than me…. Look how surprised Miss Iris is.”

Grumbling, Erwell headed to the bathroom.

Christina gave Lishido an awkward smile.

“I’m sorry for this in front of Miss Iris. Erwell, that boy sometimes behaves badly in front of the lady.”

“It’s okay, Christina. My heart isn’t so weak that I’d be startled by a few curses.”

“Of course, it won’t be. But a few curses….. Ah, anyway, why are you so wet?”

“We were playing in the lake with the Count.”

“Oh my. You two must be close. I thought Count Kevrant was a blunt person, but it seems he shows a boyish side when he’s with Miss Iris.”

A boyish appearance.

Looking back, Kevrant at the lake was really like that. The memory of his fresh smile warmed her heart.

Soon Erwell brought a towel. She dried off and changed into a new dress. She wanted to show her happy and welloff appearance to the important visitor.

Her hair was still wet, so she just pinned it back lightly and headed to the reception room where the guest was waiting.

Kevrant was waiting in front of the reception room.

“Can I come in with you, Lishido?”

After hesitating for a moment, Lishido nodded.

“Okay.”

Jamie opened the reception room door.

The man sitting on the sofa got up quickly.

It was Gauzer, who had been left in charge of Lavent’s gold mine.

+++

Even after exchanging greetings, Gauzer did not immediately bring up the main issue.

He sat for a long time with a dark expression.

Knowing the reason for his visit, Lishido silently waited for him to speak.

After sighing several times, Gauzer finally opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry for wasting your time, Miss Iris. It’s not good news, so…..”

“It’s okay, just tell me.”

“The gold mine… has been blocked.”

“The gold mine is blocked.”

“It’s a dead mine. No matter which way we go, it’s blocked by rocks, we can’t get in anymore.”

“I see.”

In her past life, Lavent’s gold mine had also quickly been blocked.

Globan Witlow, who had sold Lishido to get the Lavent gold mine, was furious, accusing Hutchis of deceiving him.

When Globan Witlow visited Hutchis’ mansion, Alfred had been away due to work.

Perhaps he had anticipated this situation and avoided the place.

Unable to meet Alfred, Globan turned all his arrows towards Lishido.

“It’s all because of those damned four years! We raised it well to be of use to our family, but that damned gold mine ended before we could extract anything from it!”

It was all Globern’s decision to choose Kevrant’s gold mine and to send Lishi to Alford, but for some reason, it all became Lishi’s fault.

Globern, who had been cursing at Lishi for a while, went straight to the Kevrant gold mine, shouting at the mine manager and miners to continue mining.

Even when they protested that they might all die, it was of no use. The miners had no choice but to obey the words of the highranking duke.

And then a miracle happened.

A miracle that occurred in the Witlow Duchy.

In this life, Lishi planned to make it Iris’s miracle.

“Gauzer. Have you seen the north wall?”

“Yes, I went in and checked it myself. It’s a solid and huge rock, so there’s nothing we can do. The miners with good skills tried to break it, but the pickaxe didn’t go in.”

“What about explosives?”

At Lishi’s question, Gauzer stopped breathing. Gauzer asked cautiously, thinking he had heard wrong.

“Pardon?”

“Explosives. Have you tried using them?”

“Miss Iris. Explosives… we can’t use them there. It’s too deep. To detonate explosives, there need to be people within a certain distance, but if we detonate explosives there, not only the rock but the entire mine could be destroyed.”

Gauzer explained as if he thought Lishi didn’t understand the situation.

“It won’t break.”

Lishi said firmly.

“No one will die.”

“No, Miss Iris. If you go there yourself, you’ll understand what I’m talking about.”

“I understand. But it won’t break. The rock that blocks the north, one below on the right, one above on the left. Install the explosives and detonate them. The rock will break, and no one will get hurt.”

Gauzer looked at Kevrant as if asking him to stop her.

Kevrant, who had been sending a puzzled look at Lishi’s firm words, shrugged his shoulders when he noticed Gauzer’s gaze. It was a ‘I can’t stop her either’ gesture.

“Miss Iris, it’s too late after there are casualties.”

“There will be no casualties. But if there are, I’ll take responsibility.”

“No, I’ll take the responsibility. I’m the manager there. But… even though I’m a commoner, I think human lives are more precious than gold.”

At Gauzer’s upright words, Lishi gave a gentle smile.

This was why she liked Gauzer.

“Do you think I don’t value human lives, Gauzer?”

There was a moment of silence.

Gauzer, who had been locking eyes with Lishi for a while, had determination in his eyes.

“I’ve decided to follow Miss Iris. I’ll follow.”

“Do that, Gauzer. You won’t regret it.”