Chapter 29

The former domain of the House of Duke Moncrief.

A land once ruled by one of the Five Great Noble Families, now fallen to ruin.

The House of Duke Moncrief was severed roughly a hundred years ago──allegedly for poisoning the crown prince’s consort at the time, though what the absolute truth was remains unknown.

Nowadays, not a single soul remains who remembers those days.

While the old Moncrief territory became land under direct royal jurisdiction, the port town of Angus, situated far from the provincial capital, was eventually granted to Baron Quilter, who was newly ennobled.

Even so, it proved difficult for a newly risen baronial house to manage the territory on its own, so the House of Baron Quilter sought assistance from the House of Gazard, becoming a vassal house under their protection.

From an external standpoint, there was nothing strange about the newly married Diana casually declaring that she wanted to see the sea, nor about her choosing Angus—a port town governed by a vassal house—as her destination──or so it should have been.

(Though as a destination for a honeymoon, it might be a bit too desolate… Well, no one will raise any complaints about it, surely.)

Rattling and jolting inside the swaying carriage, she pulled her gaze back from the window, only to lock eyes with a pair of steadfast blue-gray eyes staring straight at her.

Thump, her heart skipped a beat.

“Will we arrive in Angus by around evening, I wonder?”

Under Alan’s steady gaze, she blurted out the question simply to hide her embarrassment, even though she already knew the answer and needed no confirmation.

A cramped space, with just the two of them.

Even after becoming husband and wife, Diana’s heart still fluttered noisily.

“Ah, just a little longer now.”

Alan, on the other hand, nodded with complete composure.

The gaze he directed toward Diana was meltingly sweet.

When she had suddenly proposed the trip, Alan had accepted it with open arms.

It had been the same when she brought up managing a merchant guild; Alan always placed what Diana wanted to do above all else.

Perhaps it was the composure of an older partner, but for Diana, that meant more than words could say.

“…May I sit beside you?”

“Y-Yes!”

At Alan’s request as he sat across from her, Diana’s voice squeaked slightly.

Even though it was a carriage belonging to a ducal house, a carriage was still a carriage.

With his tall stature, Alan had to duck his head slightly as he shifted over.

With a soft thud, Alan seated himself right next to Diana.

“Ah…”

Naturally, Diana’s slender frame was gathered into Alan’s arms.

(To think my heart would race so wildly even after becoming husband and wife…)

Delighted by the steady beat of his heart against her skin, she naturally leaned in closer to him as well.

(…No wonder Ian and Sherry flatly refused to ride in the same carriage.)

Recalling how adamantly the two of them had turned down sharing the carriage, a small smile escaped her lips.

The carriage carrying the newlyweds carried a sweet, tranquil air with it.

Upon a gentle hill overlooking the port town.

The carriage came to a stop in front of a Western-style mansion with a view of the sea.

“Oh…!”

Stepping down from the carriage, Diana could not help but catch her breath.

From the top of the hill, the horizon stretched out endlessly, its surface sparkling under the setting sun.

In her past life, she had exchanged letters numerous times with Baron Quilter as her vassal family, but this was her first time setting foot directly in the port town of Angus.

(Hearing about it in tales and seeing it with one’s own eyes are two entirely different things.)

Present Angus was a small, unassuming port town.

The open seas were a perilous zone swarming with marine monsters and pirates, and the port was in the midst of a decline right as the House of Duke Moncrief was preparing to launch a subjugation campaign.

This tiny port town would become the crucial linchpin of trade just a few years from now.

To seize the initiative in that commerce, being here at this very moment was of the utmost importance.

“We have been eagerly awaiting your arrival, Your Highness the Royal Uncle, and the Lady of Gazard.”

The gates of the mansion swung open, and a plump, middle-aged gentleman came hurrying out.

Trailing close behind him was a petite young lady.

It was Baron Damon Quilter and his daughter, Lady Miriam Quilter.

“We apologize for arriving so suddenly.”

“Not at all, not at all. We are deeply honored that you chose our humble estate for your honeymoon, Your Highness.”

The distinctly timid Baron Quilter seemed to be cowering nervously in the presence of Royal Uncle Alan.

At that reaction, Alan offered a wry smile.

“I have already stepped down into the ranks of ordinary subjects, so please refrain from using titles like Your Highness.”

“Ah, indeed…”

Leaving the two men to themselves, Diana addressed the young lady waiting quietly in the background.

“It has been a while, Lady Quilter.”

“It is a pleasure to see you again, Lady Gazard.”

Miriam was the same age as Diana.

Though they had been in different classes at the academy, she was a quiet young lady whom Diana frequently spotted spending time in the library.

They were merely acquaintances who exchanged polite greetings when their paths happened to cross, yet Diana found her far more agreeable than the young ladies who spent their time gossiping about rumors or obsessing over social rankings and gentlemen’s salons.

Above all else…

“I had always hoped to visit your home at least once.”

“Eh…?”

Miriam blinked her orange-hued eyes in surprise.

“I have always longed to see more of the paintings you create.”

“That… is…”

Lady Quilter had been a quiet, unassuming student during her academy days.

The only time she had ever drawn the collective attention of the school was during the academy’s arts festival—specifically the painting exhibition.

What she had rendered on canvas was the view overlooking the academy from the clock tower.

A faithful, breathtaking slice of the scenery as viewed from the clock tower had been displayed in the most prominent corridor of the academy.

At the time, upon seeing it, a younger Diana had merely thought, “My, she is quite skilled at painting…” but after ships from the Kingdom of Fieran sailed into the port town of Angus and the harbor was officially opened, someone recognized true genius in her work.

That person was Sir Curtis McBride, a naval admiral of the Kingdom of Fieran.

Noticing Miriam’s exceptional spatial awareness, he had invited her aboard his vessel, enlisted her to craft navigational sea charts, and successfully established maritime routes between the previously estranged Kingdom of Rutledge and the Kingdom of Fieran.

Curtis McBride was an ambitious man.

For the sake of his own nation’s interests, he would never give a single thought to the Kingdom of Rutledge.

Whenever conditions leaned in his favor, he would exploit them to the absolute limit.

He must never be allowed to seize the initiative.

That was precisely why she believed she needed to cultivate a close relationship with Miriam, the indispensable key to producing those charts, and yet──,

“My paintings… are all gone…”

The face of Miriam, struck by the setting sun, was cast in shadows so deep her expression was entirely unreadable.

(I had assumed that if I came to her estate, I would be able to see many of her works…)

A ripple of unease stirred within Diana’s chest.

For a fraction of a second, it felt as though the sea breeze had ceased entirely.

Miriam’s face remained submerged in shadow beneath the fading daylight.

“Every single one of my paintings… was thrown away…”

“Thrown away…?”

The words that slipped from the young lady’s lips were entirely unexpected.