IMYL 13

Chapter: 13

In the end, he had no choice but to reveal his identity and visit Baron Harwin’s estate. At least he was the owner of one of the wealthier territories in the area.

After all, he would otherwise have to continue life as an aimless guest—and there was no way a twelve-year-old could go to Sears, where a child was acting as lord.

Sure enough, Baron Harwin welcomed him warmly.

“You made an excellent choice not to go to Sears! They’re probably barely managing to feed themselves over there.”

Baron Forman knew nothing about farming, but he still attempted to answer subtly.

“Still, with Erenta, one could catch fish, right? I heard they also plant potatoes in the plains.”

Baron Harwin and his daughter Dalia immediately responded.

“That land is unproductive. Even though we’ve cultivated olive trees for hundreds of years, we’ve hardly ever profited from them. Nothing planted there grows well, I’m afraid.”
“The same goes for Erenta. Only small fish live in that river—and you can’t survive on fish and potatoes alone, can you?”

Most of the following comments were similarly pessimistic.

“Even if you try planting something new, there’s probably no surplus of seeds. Around Erenta, people usually grow autumn radishes, but now it’s spring. Even if you tried something else, there would be very few seeds. Other crops are grown only in small quantities by individual households for amusement, that’s all.”

Hearing all this, it became clear that the situation in the Marquisate of Sears was indeed grim. Baron Forman, curious about the severity of it, couldn’t resist and had disguised himself as a fisherman.

Then he ran into Brisa while she was patrolling the estate.

‘Hmm?’

Baron Forman blinked slowly.

‘Patrolling the estate at this hour… by a little lady?’

On impulse, he spoke, mentioning that the fish weren’t biting well.

He expected she might be annoyed, but to his surprise, she looked at him with very sympathetic eyes. Though she didn’t speak, her expression clearly conveyed pity.

‘She’s a noble who actually cares about commoners,’ he thought.

Yet she didn’t make it obvious. Baron Forman studied Brisa carefully—truly, she was as beautiful as a porcelain doll.

‘I heard that since childhood, the last princess of Liente personally raised and educated her like a precious treasure.’

She was renowned as a prodigy in the central region.

But no matter how brilliant she was… in a situation like this, her talents wouldn’t make much difference. Ancient scripts won’t put food on the table.

It seemed likely he’d soon see this child at Baron Harwin’s estate—pleading for just a single sack of flour…

At that moment, Brisa quietly instructed her maid.

The maid flinched but complied, reaching into her pocket and handing something to Brisa.

‘…Paper? No, is it a card?’

Brisa took a pen from the maid and wrote neatly on the card-like item, then handed it to Baron Forman.

He accepted it, slightly confused.

[Invitation]

It was an exquisitely old-fashioned, high-quality invitation, the kind one might have seen fifty years ago.

‘The Liente style, indeed,’ he thought.

He had heard that in Liente, maids carried invitations so that their master could immediately extend a social invitation whenever needed.

The card read:

[(To Mr. Oliver Hanson)

In the hall of the Marquisate of Sears, steeped in the scent of time,
we wish to host a (dinner) with a distinguished guest.
Under the soft glow of candlelight and the strains of string instruments,
when the deep bell tolls thrice and the doors open,
we hope your esteemed presence, (Oliver Hanson),
will complete the final touch of elegance to the occasion.]**

Inside the parentheses were Brisa’s neatly written words, freshly inscribed.

Baron Forman momentarily felt as if he had traveled back in time. Even in the western regions, where aristocratic culture flourished, this style of invitation had long since gone out of fashion.

He frowned as he noted the date.

‘A month and a half from now?’

Even if they ransacked the marquis’ storage, it would be impossible to survive for a month on what remained.

“You normally have to send a reply…”

Brisa asked elegantly.

“Would it be alright to respond now? Given the situation, I cannot guarantee that the post will function properly.”

“I—I will come!”

Baron Forman replied, genuinely flustered.

“I will visit at the appointed time. It is truly an honor.”

“Good. I’ll be waiting.”

Brisa nodded slightly, gathered her maids, and turned away first.

Baron Forman blinked at the invitation in his hand.

‘Right now… hmm, well.’

He couldn’t begin to guess the girl’s intentions.

‘What is she planning?’

‘By then, they’ll be very hungry… if the old man goes hungry, that would be difficult…’

I thought this to myself, leaving Baron Forman behind.

‘Yes, he came all the way here and is struggling… it’s only fair to serve a meal in the central region.’

If he stayed at the baron’s estate, he would go hungry.

‘He sold horses to buy a dairy cow…’

I swallowed a sigh.

‘He probably even sold me and the maids. If he hadn’t done that, he might have held out a bit longer.’

In reality, it had nothing to do with me.

But what unexpectedly moved me was the old man’s professionalism.

“Th-thank you, thank you, young lady.”

He wasn’t fishing for leisure; he was on duty.

Even at his age, he followed Duke Nozen’s orders to earn a living…

A month and a half later, there would be a food shortage at Baron Harwin’s estate as well.

‘I saw him appear again in the original story and return safely to the west, but still, he should at least get one proper meal.’

I felt a psychological debt to Leopold.

He may have already forgotten it, but I would never be able to forget it for my whole life. So I could at least provide Baron Forman one proper meal.

We would likely be quite well-off by then, and…

‘Because he’s Leopold’s maternal grandfather.’

Considering that, two meals would be fine.

When we arrived at the marquis’ estate, the maid I had sent to Jezel Street that morning had returned.

I met her in the backyard.

“Miss! I bought everything you ordered. As you said, the market prices dropped quite a lot.”

Mara didn’t look particularly happy.

“But they said a new order came down: don’t trade with Sears’ people…”

I had expected that.

Jezel Street, filled with shops, was no longer under the Marquisate of Sears. It was the first measure Baron Harwin could take to tighten his grip on Sears.

“That’s fine.”

I said nonchalantly.

“It’s only a matter of time before they run out of food anyway.”

By now, the knights had gathered in the garden to see what Mara had brought.

“I assumed you’d plant these seed potatoes in the backyard and garden…”

“The garden has other purposes.”

The one I had planned to manage the garden was…

“Cock-a-doodle-doo, cock-a-doodle-doo…”

“Peep, peep-peep!”

The knights exclaimed.

“So cute!”

“Look at the shine on its feathers!”

I crouched down and gently gathered the chicks that came with the hens, stroking them. Then I looked at the hens with adoration.

“They are our source of protein.”

To raise chickens, one needs land.

But in the central region, land wasn’t abundant, so they developed distribution rather than poultry farming.

Chickens were usually raised only in small numbers in private yards; market chickens weren’t intended for the Marquisate of Sears.

They had to be sold elsewhere via Sears.

Since no buyers were coming, prices fell.

Moreover, buying more from households was burdensome.

Chickens don’t grow for free.

‘What do they even eat?’

So in a situation anticipating food shortages, increasing their numbers was a burden.

“But what do they eat… flour or something?”

Ranshi, inspecting the chicks, expressed concern over what to feed them.

“Then each of you would need the equivalent of a knight’s portion, huh? Grow up healthy and protect the estate well…”

I reassured him.

“There’s dried rice bran and wheat bran in the storage. Scatter that for now.”

“Also, if the guild warehouse gives us the remaining rice and wheat bran, we can collect the roots too.”

Rice and wheat bran were practically trash to grain merchants. Yet we asked for it, even everything remaining in the storage.

And so, a month and a half passed.