The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

It seems like I’ve caused some huge misunderstanding, but I decided to just let it go.

At this point, it’s too late to correct it—well, I could correct it, but I’d invested too much effort to let it go to waste. It wouldn’t result in major losses if I did, but after all the trouble of persuading the Duke, I really didn’t want to start over with a different method. It would be too much of a hassle.

Besides, in the latter half of the story, the colonies will eventually start their independence movements anyway.

By that point, the Empire will have declared war on nearly the entire world, and as a result, the Emperor will die, leading to a truce among those who no longer want the war. The situation will be chaotic, with constant bloodshed in the colonies, and the Law Country will be acting very suspiciously... that was the storyline I played up until.

Moreover, some of the protagonist’s group members die, making the whole situation pretty depressing.

...Well, I don’t need to worry about that here.

“True friendship, you say?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Well, I could offer friendship.

It felt like he was intentionally being vague with his words, but if we’re being vague too, then it’s fine.

There may be political rhetoric and all that, but if we end up sweeping it all away later, who’s going to care? I’m not planning to start a rebellion against the royal family. If it came to that, we'd probably be in a much worse position.

“If in the future, my dear friend marries the son of this family, then perhaps that might happen.”

“I understand.”

The Duke responded with a slight smile after hearing my words.

“Then, we will think positively about it.”

*

Somehow, I wrapped up the situation.

Looking back, it ended much more smoothly than I expected.

I had thought there might be shouting, or even an ashtray flying at me. Of course, I didn’t think they’d throw the ashtray at me.

“What kind of conversation did you have?”

Jake asked as I exited the room. It seemed strange to him that his father hadn’t come out with me.

“A lot of positive discussions were had.”

Alice narrowed her eyes as she stared at me, but I made a point to ignore her gaze.

After all, we would be in the same room when we got back, so I’d have to tell her eventually.

I could already imagine Alice rubbing her forehead after hearing about the conversation I had today.

“Is that so?”

Jake dragged out his words, asking again, but thankfully, he didn’t press further.

“...”

Otherwise, no one had really said anything all that remarkable.

Leo seemed to be in a heavy mood.

“Is something wrong?”

When I asked, Leo shrugged his shoulders, retracting his gaze from the outside.

“No, it’s nothing major.”

“You’ve been staring outside for a while, though,” Jake said, joining me.

“Is it really that rare to see so many people working on such a large farm?”

“...”

Jake didn’t seem to mean anything by his words, but there was a tone to his voice that suggested he didn’t exactly appreciate the situation.

Outwardly, he seemed like the kind of guy who’d be fooling around with multiple women, but deep down, he was probably a straightforward guy who only had eyes for one woman and cared for animals, while also feeling pity for the colonists... Why isn’t he the heroine? Wouldn’t it be more interesting if Roti were the male character instead?

I quietly wondered to myself, but Alice interrupted my thoughts.

“There are people like that in the Empire too. The ones who work in factories. There are farms there as well.”

When attention shifted to her, Alice made a slightly embarrassed expression before responding.

“I’m not saying it’s a good thing. I just meant that the nobles are surprisingly unaware of such occurrences happening everywhere.”

“In Belvur, fruits with the Lindbergh name are quite famous.”

Finally, Charlotte, who had been silent like Leo, spoke up.

“They’re cheap and delicious... Even if they tried to grow such fruits in Belvur, they could never replicate this method.”

They’d have to use Belvur’s own people, of course.

Of course, even though Belvur hasn’t industrialized, that doesn’t mean life is wonderful there. The majority of the country’s industry is agricultural, and that agriculture is based on the exploitation of tenant farmers by landowners. Naturally, most of these landowners are nobles.

It’s a complicated matter.

Even if the Empire’s colonization has boosted its national power by squeezing people, the speed of development will always be slower compared to that of a colonizing empire.

And if they wanted to make colonies now, they’d have to go to war. Once those colonies were made, the same cycle of exploitation would repeat.

Well, who do you think created the “good times” of the past?

“...”

Meanwhile, Claire, who would have been at the bottom of the exploited class, said nothing.

A brief silence fell over the guest room.

“We’re done here.”

When I spoke up, everyone turned to look at me.

“Shall we head back? The Duke did say we could stay, but...”

If we stayed the night, we'd see something even more depressing the next morning.

“...No, let’s just go back. There’s nothing left to see here.”

Alice seemed to have realized what kind of scene we’d witness the next morning.

Everyone nodded in agreement after Alice.

*

“Your Highness.”

Roti called out to me before Jake, which likely meant she had a lot she wanted to say.

She had clearly come with us, but Roti wasn’t in the guest room... It seemed like she hadn’t been treated unfairly after all.

Roti was talking in the hallway.

Her conversation partner was her mother, dressed in a maid’s outfit.

I had assumed all the maids here were white.

Well, maybe only one person was getting special treatment. From the Earl’s perspective, Roti might be a connection point with me.

As for what happened in the banquet hall... I’d ask her about that later.

When Roti’s mother saw me, she quickly bowed.

“Did everything go well?”

“Yes...”

Roti seemed like she had a lot of questions, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask them outright.

Even through her neutral expression, I could feel her emotions... Perhaps Alice had figured out how to read my expressions this way as well.

Roti’s mother didn’t lift her head.

I wondered, if Roti received a knight’s title, what would happen to the relationship between Roti and her mother?

I’d have to think about that.

Glancing aside, I noticed Alice also had a complicated expression. It was natural since she was looking at the “mother of a friend.”

“Well, let’s head back.”

I said, and Roti’s mother raised her head slightly to look at us.

When I nodded in her direction, she quickly hid her face.

*

After returning to our room, Alice stayed silent for a while before speaking up.

“Is Roti the daughter of Lindbergh?”

“If you mean the ‘Lindbergh’ family, yes. But she is not the daughter of the Duke of Lindbergh.”

“...”

Alice narrowed her eyes and stared at me for a while before sighing and sitting down.

“Well, fine. I’ll let it go for now. How did you find out?”

She spoke with a hint of a sigh, then slumped down in front of me.

“Tell me. If Roti is the daughter of Lindbergh, whose daughter is she?”

“Roti is the cousin of Jake.”

In Korea, such a relationship would be considered too close for marriage, but in this world, aristocrats aren’t restricted in the same way.

Moreover, internationally, cousin marriages are allowed in many countries... though the law might allow it, society’s perception is different. Still, in this world, where people deliberately look for families with intertwined bloodlines to marry, this situation was different.

Roti was the daughter of the Duke of Lindbergh’s cousin, born from an affair with a young colonial girl. Naturally, she could not bear the Lindbergh name or be recognized for her status. The official story would be that the Lindbergh family had graciously employed her as a maid after her mother’s affair.

“...”

After hearing this, Alice rubbed her forehead.

“Well, fine.”

Alice spoke with an expression that wasn’t quite happy.

“You do realize, don’t you? Even though the royal family is powerful, getting involved in the affairs of a Duke’s family can get very messy.”

“...”

I realized that she was right.

Alice’s gaze narrowed even further as she looked at me.

“What did they ask of you?”

“True friendship.”

Finally, Alice rubbed her forehead again.

“You do know what that means, right?”

“...”

“You’re talking about the kind of friendship where the imperial family steps in to help you solve problems, right?”

“...”

Oh, is that what it means?

“Don’t look so relaxed... honestly.”

It seemed Alice had caught on to my expression of thinking the Emperor would handle things for me.