“It doesn’t matter how dangerous that monster is or not. The monster suddenly appeared, and His Highness the Grand Duke drew his sword, and blood splattered in an instant…”

“Anette, you’re trembling.”

Darius placed his hand on my trembling shoulder. Without realizing it, my body was shaking uncontrollably. The monster I saw for the first time was terrifying.

“Were you startled? I’m sorry.”

He tilted his head and met my eyes. Anette was reflected in his black eyes. It’s my appearance that I should be used to by now.

“It’s all over now. It’s okay.”

That’s not what I meant!

I clearly tried to argue back, but strangely, my head fell down and wouldn’t rise back up. My lips tightened, and only a groan came out.

What’s this, really…

He pondered for a moment and then awkwardly embraced me. It was so awkward that it wasn’t quite an embrace, but something resembling one.

The arms of the man who had just taken a life were surprisingly warm.

“What I’m good at is surprising people rather than comforting them. So I’d prefer if we stopped here.”

That would be the case. Usually, before meeting the female lead, the male lead struggles with monsters and paperwork.

In front of the female lead, he can provide the perfect optimal comfort even without experience, but for the male lead before meeting the female lead, gentleness is a non-existent stat, isn’t it?

“…I didn’t ask you to comfort me.”

By the way, what’s this? The tone that gently consoles me as if dealing with a child, treating me like a noble young lady whining after being startled by a common monster.

“Ahem.”

A small cough was heard from behind. Startled, I turned to see Sir Daniel and the coachman.

“Ah…”

For some reason, they had a delighted expression, as if apologizing for interrupting a good moment.

“I’m sorry, but if we delay any longer here, we won’t be able to enter the castle today.”

“Oh, let’s depart quickly! Hurry!”

My face turned bright red in an instant, beyond description.

“I’m really sorry for interrupting your good time.”

What are you sorry for? I was just concerned about the reckless male lead.

Without responding to Daniel’s words, I returned to the carriage and turned my head out of embarrassment.

‘When the monster attacked, I couldn’t move a single step.’

Ugh, my heart still aches. Is it because of frustration?

‘If I ever encounter an assassin, will I die like that without being able to say a word?’

Just like the original Anette.

Not everything is resolved just by laughing and chatting with the male lead. Rather, going to Inkhart Castle could bring me closer to my death.

‘A place where the original’s assassination flag could pop up at any time, anywhere.’

So I need to think of a way to ensure my safety… As if my startled heart is trying to calm down, my body becomes languid and I start feeling sleepy.

I had a dream.

As soon as I finished speaking, the air on the battlefield changed drastically. A clear wind blew in a space filled with evil magic. The gently blowing wind gradually grew stronger, and I could feel the monsters panicking.

As I changed the air on the battlefield, the people behind me moved swiftly.

A person with a silver blade and black eyes met my gaze.

It seemed like he was saying something, but…

* * *

“Anette.”

“Mmm…”

“We’ve arrived now.”

Someone’s touch woke me up. Thump, something heavy and warm falls to the floor.

I must have fallen asleep. I reflexively picked up what had fallen from my body. It was a thick piece of leather. The kind that would be warm if you cover yourself with it.

Darius, who was waking me up, suddenly turned his head. Just like I did earlier.

“Did you cover me with this?”

“I warned you beforehand that it’s cold here.”

Thanks to that, I slept through without waking up.

“Thank you.”

“If you catch a cold as soon as you arrive, it’ll be troublesome for me.”

The tone of the man with reddened ear tips was blunt.

“Then I take back my thanks.”

Darius’ eyes narrowed, and I tilted my head innocently.

“Since you seemed to dislike receiving thanks…?”

If he doesn’t accept thanks, it’s his loss.

However, I soon chuckled. Darius, who had been teased, spoke dejectedly.

“You’re a mystery to me.”

“We haven’t been married for long, so I can’t reveal everything right away.”

Love is about mystery. Not that I’m going to date the male lead.

‘So this is the North.’

The main setting of the novel and the territory of the male protagonist.

When I opened the window of the carriage, I could see the blue ice wall in the distance. The spectacular view of the North, its symbol, and the source from which monsters descend.

Behind the lord’s carriage, a line of wagons loaded with wheat and cotton from the South followed. It was a happier sight than any lavish procession.

With those food supplies and cotton, the North can survive this winter.

“My lord.”

“Your Highness the Grand Duke.”

People greeted the lord’s procession, taking off their hats. The people who will become my people from now on. I found it fascinating and pressed my nose against the carriage window to observe the streets.

Although they didn’t appear materially affluent, there was no gloom on people’s faces.

‘The lord and the people of the territory are so alike.’

They were surviving the winter with pride alone.

Whoa. I breathed on the carriage window, creating misty breath, and drew a heart on it.

“What are you doing?”

“Preparing myself to live here from now on.”

I liked this city.

‘It’s the land of the original male lead. I’ll develop it well and take a fortune with me when I get divorced.’

Property acquired after marriage is jointly owned by the couple.

“These are the cotton seeds I’m bringing to the North. I’ve been collecting them since I was very young. I roughly counted, and there seem to be about 1,200 seeds.”

Before entering the castle, I took out a pouch of cotton seeds from the carriage. Since it doesn’t seem like Darius will lock me up in a separate palace like in the original, I should keep my promise to him as well.

“Until now, the North has only been buying cotton, never growing the seeds. Either the seeds themselves were wrong, or the climate of the North was completely incompatible with cotton.”

Cotton was the main crop of the South. No one wants a profitable crop to be leaked out.

“Even if we plant all the seeds in this pouch, half of them won’t even sprout.”

Darius’ eyebrows twitched.

“And of the cotton that does sprout, half of them will freeze to death, unable to withstand the cold climate of the North.”

“So there will be some left?”

“Yes, but very few. If we plant all these 1,200 seeds and only twelve flowers survive, it would be considered a great success.”

“Are you trying to joke with me? Do you think I want just a dozen ornamental cotton flowers?”

In the narrow carriage, the murderous intent he emitted as we faced each other made my face tingle.

“But it’s okay. We have time.”

“Time?”

“How long can the North endure the cold with the cotton I’m bringing as my dowry this time? If we make new clothes, we can last for 3 years. If we mend the old cotton and wear it again, another 3 years.”

There may be other variables, such as buying more cotton in the meantime, but we can endure for at least 6 years with these supplies.

“6 years is enough time to conduct research on improving the strains.”

Even if only 12 flowers survive in the first year, if each of those 12 flowers leaves another 12 flowers the following year, in 5 years, it will become a huge number.

“So it doesn’t matter if almost all of the initial 1,200 seeds die. The one or two that survive will gradually adapt to the cold of the North and become a variety suitable for the North.”

Of course, if not even a single one survives, that’s when true despair begins.

At that point… I can only hope that by then, I would have gained enough favor from the North and Darius through other means.

A pouch full of cotton seeds.

The possibility that those cotton seeds may not sprout at all.

Darius fell silent. The longer the silence lasted, the drier my throat became.

‘He wouldn’t tell me to go back home with it after coming all this way, right?’

“There’s something I need to say.”

“Yes?”

Please don’t tell me to take it and go back home.

“I should apologize. For the truth I kept hidden from you.”

An apology? My ears perked up.

From Darius’ side, not mine?

Does this mean I don’t have to compensate for the loss of the cotton seeds?

“I knew that the South didn’t truly respect us when they proposed the marriage. That’s why we had no intention of bringing the person back to the Grand Duke’s residence after going through with the political marriage.”

“Yes. …Ah, yes?”

I already knew that? It was your story?

Interpreting the surprise that appeared on my face in some way, Darius’ guilt deepened further. It was as if the conscience of the male protagonist, which had been momentarily forgotten for the sake of the story’s progression, had come back to life.

“…As a knight and as the lord of the North, I did something shameful. I had no consideration for you, who would be sacrificed for our plans.”

Well, because I’m an extra.

No one considers the circumstances of an extra who is described in a single line.

The Porsche Count’s family gets the honor of marrying into the noble Grand Duke’s family, and the North gets the supplies necessary for living.

It was a fact I already knew from reading the novel, that this marriage was solely for the gain and loss of each other.

“The vassals must be bewildered by my decision. They wouldn’t have expected me to return with a wife.”

So if I showed a surprised expression, it was out of astonishment that Darius brought up a topic that was disadvantageous to him first.

For apologizing about a point I had already accepted without him needing to mention it.

“I apologize. For deciding to send you somewhere else without even meeting you when you were genuinely trying to escape from the Porsche family.”

Ha. I laughed.

“Alright. I’ll accept that apology. But you won’t just apologize with words, right? I’ll consider it a debt. Pay it back to me later.”

I was startled by the change in the male lead’s attitude, but I can’t miss an opportunity to gain something.

A successful division of assets starts here.