The Price is Everything of Yours - Chapter 66

After Neris briefly went out to meet Valentine the previous evening and returned to her room immediately, that is, she did not quickly inform this side that the plan had failed, Delma, who had been driving Isabel to death, finally sat down on the sofa exhausted.

At the main house, Delma had to fight power struggles with the senior maids favored by the duchess, but here she naturally acted as if she was half the owner.

When the siblings Nelrysion and Valentine left the house to attend classes, she was obviously just the mistress of this mansion to anyone who saw.

Most of Nelrysion’s direct servants were men, so their work areas did not overlap with hers, so there was no need to be wary.

Isabel glanced with greedy eyes at Delma, who was elegantly drinking the cool beverage brought by the maid and acting like a noble lady.

Isabel herself wanted to become like that if she could. She wanted to receive all the favor of a noble master, wear expensive clothes, act important within the mansion, and be an object of fear to those below her.

“Get up.”

After finishing her drink and catching her breath, Delma said coldly. Isabel stood up awkwardly. Her knees hurt from kneeling for so long. Delma gestured to her.

“Come here.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Fearing another angry outburst, Isabel quickly approached Delma. A moment later, something cold and sticky splashed across Isabel’s face.

Having thrown the remaining drink at Isabel, Delma said with a contemptuous look:

“Make sure that lowly thing doesn’t act out of line. From now on, report to me every day without fail every word and action it makes. Understand?”

“Ugh, yes, my lady.”

With drink dripping from her hair, chin, and under her eyebrows, Isabel answered in fear.

“Go!”

As soon as those words fell, Isabel quickly left the reception room. Delma glared at her retreating figure with the same contemptuous look. Seems useless.

Until yesterday, Delma had no particular concerns about Neris. She thought she was just an object that would quietly comply after being disciplined a few times.

However, after seeing that face in person after a long time yesterday, Delma’s thoughts changed.

That thing will harm us.

Instinctively, Delma could tell that fact. So it must be said that the cute young lady Valentine had foresight.

Bad sprouts had to be pulled out. So the good sprouts could get sunlight.

It took about two hours by carriage from Caten Station to Sedona.

As they rode in the hired carriage for a long time, the scenery changed in an instant before Neris’ eyes.

After passing through gently rolling hills and forests, shallow rivers, and countless landscapes, the picturesque village of Sedona formed in a mountain valley appeared.

Passing straight through Sedona’s downtown, where markets are occasionally held, and going out to the outskirts and through another forest, Neris could see a field surrounded by trees.

And a small cabin built next to the field.

More than anything else, Neris liked the fact that the field was not visible at all until after passing through the forest. There were no other houses in sight, not even a sign marking a hunting ground, so it was optimal for maintaining secrecy.

“We’ve arrived.”

The coachman said as soon as the carriage stopped next to the field. A man quickly ran out of the cabin. Without delay, the carriage door opened. Click.

“Thank you.”

Neris greeted the person who opened the door. It was Aidan, sent by Cledwin.

From when they met at the station at noon today until now, he had only briefly answered questions Neris asked, so she knew very little about him.

Judging by the words he used, he seemed to be a student, but his outward appearance looked so aged that he seemed like someone who had been an adult for a long time.

It’s not like they sent a real adult, but where did they find such an aged-looking student? Cledwin had a mischievous side too.

Certainly, when Aidan got out of the carriage first and helped Neris get out, the man who came out of the cabin bowed to Aidan without suspicion.

“Oh, elder sir!”

Elder sir.

Rob, Betty’s younger brother, looked not yet twenty. And because he had only associated with commoners in Kinia village where he worked before, he didn’t know the etiquette for dealing with nobles.

Knowing all these circumstances already from Betty, Neris held back her laughter.

With a little exaggeration, Aidan, who could pass for thirty, showed slight discomfort on his expressionless face.

However, he knew well the purpose of his coming here today, so he did not correct Rob’s words.

Not knowing how much Aidan knew about the current situation, Neris spoke first.

“You’re Betty’s brother, right?”

“Huh? Ah, yes! Young lady.”

Rob bowed deeply to Neris as well. He seemed reasonably intelligent and above all, honesty could be felt in his voice. Neris pointed to Aidan and said:

“This is Lord Gavin who hired you. You can call him ‘sir’, no need to call him ‘elder sir’. I introduced you through Betty, so I’ve brought him today, but from now on the lord will give you instructions directly by letter. You said you can read and write, right?”

It was common for commoners to be educated only to the point of being able to read or knowing how to read just a few words.

Of course, Neris had to pretend to be an adult noble and send various instructions by letter, so she had confirmed Rob’s literacy before hiring him.

Rob answered humbly:

“Yes, young lady. I learned a little.”

“That’s good then. Since this is Lord Gavin’s first time here too, you’ll have to guide him.”

Aidan did not say anything helpful at all. However, he didn’t say anything obstructive either. He just silently looked at Neris when Rob said he would guide him and pointed towards the field.

Neris naturally took the lead to make it look like Aidan, or rather, ‘Lord Gavin’, the name she had just made up, was a polite person.

Rob first took them around the considerably groomed field and explained to the two:

“The soil is good. Even though we can’t harvest this year due to the season, anything planted now will grow well. When I first came, I thought it would take a long time to level because it hadn’t been touched for so long, but it was tidied up faster than expected.”

Aidan nodded with an expression that, if you looked with the mind’s eye, seemed to contain some satisfaction.

Neris thought that was about as good as he could do. If it had been Cledwin, he would have brazenly said a few words, but Aidan wasn’t Cledwin.

Since people in Neris’ hometown of Lohez mainly farmed, Neris had some sense of it too.

She realized that the land Cledwin had procured was just the right size for one person to manage. And she liked how the color of the soil looked fertile from the start.

Next, Rob pointed to the forest surrounding the field and cabin.

“I was worried because it’s a bit far from houses, but they say there are no dangerous wild animals. It’s good for living too, since it’s just a short walk across there to the village.”

Neris thought there could be differences of opinion on the expression “short walk”. For now, it was fortunate that Rob thought it was quick.

After briefly going on about the beautiful scenery and pleasant weather of the surroundings, Rob finally showed them the cabin.

Though small in scale, the wooden cabin had a barn attached that matched the size of the field, and there was even a chicken coop.

“It’s so nice to have chickens. Thank you so much for letting me eat the eggs. I’ll work hard, generous sir.”

Neris had never requested chickens. It seemed her employer was the type to give properly when giving something.

The cabin was neat and equipped with various tools. From household items to farming tools, nothing was lacking and the hearth was clean.

At this rate, as long as the salary continues to be paid steadily, Rob will be able to accomplish many things here. Neris was relieved.

Of course, without eyes watching, Rob could work insincerely or tell others about her instructions. However, she thought the possibility was low.

First, Neris knew Betty well. Betty was not one to tell pleasant lies even when talking about her family.

In her reply to Neris’ separate letter inquiring about Rob’s background, she emphasized his honesty several times.

‘And even if he tells someone.’

Halograss and nettle pouches were plants widely known only in their respective hometowns. Even if Rob privately brought herbs to sell to the doctor in Sedona, it wouldn’t mean much.

However, these were all armchair theories, and you only know people by experiencing them. How was someone with a good reputation like Nelrysion in reality?

But Neris liked Rob’s simply blinking eyes.

Not looking around and scheming, but using all his facial muscles to seriously ponder when thinking.

It felt good. Thinking that, Neris breathed in the clean air.

Rob, who had been pondering what else to show these precious guests, suddenly seemed to remember something and brought something from the side of the cabin wall.

Aidan, who had been standing like a borrowed sack of barley throughout the Sedona tour, quietly looked down at the flowerpot thrust before his eyes.

“I sprouted a few of the seeds you gave me and planted them together, and they seem to be growing well as you said. I couldn’t just play all winter while receiving wages, and seeds go bad if kept too long… And to get some practice too.”

Rob showed the lush green flowerpot to Neris as well.

About a dozen one-span tall plants that looked like pouches at a glance with thorns attached. Mixed in between were half-span tall grasses that looked like grass at first glance but were a deep silver color and hairy.

Nettle pouches and halograss.

With nothing restricting his freedom and even being given not-so-difficult work, plus living quarters, living expenses and wages, Rob was too grateful for this job.

So he wanted to show this strange and generous master that he had done something in the meantime.

But Lord Gavin, who had actually hired Rob to sprout some seeds here and grow them together with nettle pouches, didn’t seem particularly impressed.

Instead, the equally grateful person who had introduced the job, probably the young lady Neris that sister Betty had mentioned, sparkled her eyes with joy.

“Well done. It seems you safely obtained the nettle pouches?”

Unlike sister Betty who served a high-ranking young lady, the highest person Rob had seen in his life was the lord’s castle administrator who came to collect taxes in his hometown village.

This young lady who looked so beautiful and refined that it was hard to even think she lived in the same world was difficult to even glance at. Rob looked at the ground sheepishly as he explained:

“Yes, young lady. As the lord said, when I said I would buy them at an expensive price including the roots, they said they should sell quickly before these things wither too… I was able to buy enough.”

There was no way an outsider like Rob could just dig up nettle pouches in Kinia village where they were decreasing rapidly. So Neris had him buy them with roots at an expensive price.

The owners of the house that had been employing Rob until then felt sorry for the young man whose circumstances were obvious, and when he said he would receive a small brokerage fee, they quickly dug up a few nettle pouches and sold them to him.

To cover living expenses for even a short time with that brokerage fee.

There was probably also the judgment that even if a few more roots remained, the nettle pouches were finished anyway.