TTMKC 29

Chapter: 28

4. Alphius’s Return

“Dalia, Dalia!”

Dalia opened her eyes from sleep. The faint light of dawn was filtering through the window.

Baroness Hawin was shaking her awake, tears streaming down her face.

“What are we going to do!”

“…Why? What happened?”

“Your father has been kidnapped!”

Dalia bolted upright.

Kidnapped?

Was that even possible?

“And they’re demanding five sacks of wheat as ransom….”

Dalia’s pupils trembled.

Wheat? She would stake her life that there wasn’t a single grain of wheat left in the central region.

“Dalia, what should we do? Hm?”

Dalia snatched the note from Baroness Hawin’s trembling hands and read it.

We have Baron Hawin.

We will exchange him for five sacks of wheat.

Tomorrow at midnight, beneath the largest zelkova tree on Errolamo Hill.

Bring unnecessary people, and the baron dies.

“W-what about Father’s knights?” Dalia gasped.
“They need to track them down!”

“I don’t know where the knights are either,” the baroness said through her sobs.
“To tell you the truth, Dalia… your father and those knights went out today to get wheat.”

“What?”

“I don’t know the details, but… with Brisa, to exchange some of the serfs for wheat….”

“With Brisa Sears? Then was Brisa kidnapped too?”

“I—I don’t know….”

As Baroness Hawin stood there anxiously hyperventilating, Dalia rang the bell sharply.

The maids rushed in.

“Hurry, Mother.”

“Hm? Where are we going?”

As she ordered the maids to prepare them, Dalia snapped,

“We have to go see Brisa Sears and find out what happened! Whether she was taken too, or if she saw anything!”

“Wouldn’t she have been taken as well? If your father was….”

But the baroness was wrong.

When the mother and daughter arrived at the Marquess Sears estate, Brisa was seated elegantly in the drawing room, eating bread.

And she wasn’t alone. The knights and maids were also enjoying steaming bread as part of their breakfast.

“It’s so good with raspberry jam.”

“The raspberries by the river have been growing well lately.”

“The young lady told us not to cut that vine—must’ve been because it was raspberry.”

Dalia swallowed without realizing it.

It had already been over two weeks since she’d had freshly baked bread like that. If not for the dairy cows, they’d be surviving on corn bread.

“What brings you here so early, Aunt?”

Brisa greeted them calmly.

Tilting her head slightly, she spread jam on her half-boiled egg-topped bread and took another bite.

Baroness Hawin felt dumbfounded.

Seeing Brisa’s perfectly composed face was like being doused in cold water.

“…Don’t think of lying. I know you went out together with my husband last night.”

She lifted her chin.

“My husband was kidnapped. We received this letter.”

She slapped the ransom note onto the table.

Brisa lowered her gaze, read it indifferently, and nodded slowly.

“Ah. So he was kidnapped.”

“So he was kidnapped?” Dalia’s eyes widened.
“You came back just fine—so why didn’t my father? You didn’t write this, did you? You didn’t have him kidnapped?”

“Why would I?”

Brisa tilted her head.

“I have plenty of wheat. Five sacks more or less doesn’t matter to me. I brought back quite a lot.”

“That’s not the point!”

Dalia burst out angrily.

“You kidnapped him, didn’t you? Or ordered someone to! Who else could’ve done it if not you?”

“They’re right here. The serfs your father sold.”

Brisa spoke with complete composure.

“I have no reason to commit a crime targeting your father. If nobles harm one another and get caught, we’re judged in court. It’s not like with serfs, where the lord decides their fate.”

She calmly explained, then added with a faint sigh,

“Dalia, study imperial law. You don’t need to attend the academy to do that.”

Behind her, a few maids stifled laughter. The flow of the conversation had clearly been calculated.

“I know that! Anyone knows nobles go to trial!”

Dalia shouted, then muttered through clenched teeth,

“But my father—”

When she couldn’t continue, Brisa finished the explanation.

“We were exchanging wheat with dark mages when western knights barged in. In the chaos, the serfs your father was trying to sell knocked him and the knights unconscious. That’s all I know. We simply returned with the wheat.”

“What? Then why are you unharmed?”

“I only sold one person. There were many other knights. We were able to subdue that one.”

Dalia stared incredulously.

“So you just left my father behind and came back alone?”

“No.”

Brisa shook her head, finishing the last of her bread.

“I came back with my knights and the wheat. As you can see.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

Dalia glared at her.

“I know you envy us. But last night, Father moved with you as the lord of this territory. At least then, you and my father were on the same side—”

“Not the same side.”

Brisa replied without blinking.

“Unlike your father, I’m twelve. It was hard enough protecting myself. In that situation, I couldn’t very well protect a fully grown adult. There are limits to what a child can do.”

Then she turned to a maid.

“Spread plenty of raspberry jam. This time add chicken and fresh vegetables—make two sandwiches.”

“Yes, my lady.”

At that, both Dalia and Baroness Hawin felt their hearts stir despite themselves.

Bread. Chicken. Fresh vegetables.

It had been far too long. It was a primal instinct, separate from anger.

Recently they had been surviving on things like pickled olives from Jezel Street’s grocer—carefully counting what remained.

“And you seem to be forgetting something.”

Brisa looked at Dalia.

“I don’t envy you. I simply dislike you.”

“Is this about the territory? But my father acquired it legally from yours!”

“That’s why I didn’t sue. But that doesn’t mean I’ll sit down and discuss saving your father together.”

Soon the maid returned with two sandwiches on a tray.

But instead of placing them before Dalia and the baroness as expected, the plate was set in front of Brisa.

“If your curiosity’s satisfied, you may leave.”

She bit into the sandwich.

“I have nothing more to say.”

Just then, Baroness Hawin asked in a strained voice,

“Then… could you lend us five sacks of wheat?”

“Mother!”

“What choice do we have? We must find your father.”

After snapping once at Dalia, she fixed Brisa with a hard stare.

“We have no wheat to pay the ransom. But your territory seems to have plenty.”

“Quite a bit.”

Brisa shrugged.

“But I won’t lend it. Once the warp routes are restored, prices will plummet. I’ll allow a purchase, though.”

“Really? For how much—”

Baroness Hawin brightened, but Brisa smiled faintly.

“Jezel Street and Veron.”

Dalia and the baroness froze.

Picking up her second sandwich, Brisa continued,

“Isn’t that why you came, Dalia? I told you before—if you’re short on money, I’d give you a good price for Jezel Street.”

She added calmly, without a trace of amusement,

“I don’t make idle remarks.”