ERTHMB Chapter 132

Cracks

After Helena dropped the will in front of Garta, many things changed in Partren.

On one hand, things also remained the same.

Garta did not step down obediently. He desperately defended his authority by bringing up Gelda’s debauchery—how she had abandoned Spencer and left to live a wandering life.

Because of this, the castle filled with Garta’s people for so long could not be easily conquered. 

Of course, this too was what Gelda had expected. She could not close with her own hands the door that Helena had opened.

Instead of growing impatient, Gelda gradually built up her forces. The territory’s people, who could no longer endure Garta’s long tyranny, were beginning to take Gelda’s side.

The guild members who had initially fled Partren in fear were also gradually returning.

Before long, Dairon’s political situation was divided into two factions: the territory’s people knocking at the castle gates and Partren, and Garta’s faction.

Meanwhile, Garta imposed various tasks on Gelda, invoking the true qualifications of Spencer.

Although it was extremely unpleasant to listen to that man’s orders, some of them were not entirely without credibility as part of making amends for her wandering life history.

Therefore, Gelda these days was extremely busy, and equally irritable.

‘I guess when you become an adult, there are far more annoying things than fun things.’

And Lily was a child who had long since learned the truth that there was nothing good about bothering Gelda in that state. Lily was staying quietly in the safe zone that Gelda had designated.

However, that truth did not alleviate the boredom that was accumulating bit by bit. Lily hung her arms over the chair’s backrest and stood, swaying back and forth before letting out a deep sigh.

“When is Sister Helen coming?”

“If I knew, would I be here with you?”

Dion, who had been designated as her playmate and had his hair in pigtails, grumbled. As he tried to remove the flower pinned like a pin near his ear, Lily attached a new flower and retorted.

“Hmph, I don’t want to be with mister either.”

Dion forgot about telling her to stop with the flowers and flared up.

“You, you—you call the merchant master ‘brother,’ so why am I ‘mister’?”

“Because I feel like it.”

“If you keep acting like that, there won’t be any ‘kind and beautiful Miss Canary, your friend met during travels to the capital.'”

Dion grabbed the hair tie and stood up from his seat. Instead of catching his back as he turned around abruptly, Lily casually threw out a comment.

“You’re looking for Brother Kamel, aren’t you? Should I tell you?”

“…Do you actually know?”

Dion turned around again. Lily stepped up on the chair where Dion had been sitting, matched his eye level, and pointed out the window.

“I saw him talking with the guild master earlier.”

“Where?”

This time Lily didn’t answer. Instead, she cupped both hands and held them out in front of Dion. Dion immediately frowned.

“Where did you learn only bad habits? Really, what kind of merchant master tries to solve everything with money.”

“They say problems that can be solved with money are easiest to solve with money.”

“…But unlike that Brother Kamel, my pockets are impoverished.”

“Still, you must have enough to fill my small pocket. Money is innocent, so don’t be stingy with your spending, kind and beautiful Miss Canary.”

Who did you learn this smooth tongue from? Muttering that it surpassed most diplomatic missions, Dion rummaged through his pockets.

When he placed a single coin on her neatly cupped palms, the answer flowed out like a wound-up doll that had been released.

“I last saw them behind the blacksmith’s shop. I was curious about what they were talking about and tried to eavesdrop, but Guild Captain Gelda got angry and scolded them about something. So I just came back.”

“That’s all? You really didn’t hear anything?”

“…….”

Lily closed her mouth tightly again and held out her hands. Dion repeatedly stuck his hand into his pocket while muttering.

“You really are the best loach among all the loaches I know.”

“Mister is friends with loaches too? I am friends with the rabbit that lives in the vacant lot though.”

“So what did you hear?”

“Hehe, actually I don’t know the details. I just heard Guild Captain Gelda shouting, ‘Why are you volunteering for something that pig bastard dumped on Partren because he was scared of dying!’ and Brother Kamel saying, ‘Let’s take this opportunity to clearly stamp who the owner of Dairon is. We’ll gain from it, and it doesn’t seem like we’ll lose anything. You don’t distrust me, do you?'”

Lily even recreated Ian’s smile by lifting one corner of her mouth. A great actor should be paid accordingly. Dion slipped her another coin as a tip and hurried outside.

His lord acting so obnoxiously must have some scheme in mind.

‘No, I thought he had come to his senses, but what is he trying to pull now? I’m doing this aide job for the thrilling taste of my lifespan shortening, really.’

Dion was stomping along when he suddenly remembered that he too had gained a reliable backing.

Should I just go tell Her Highness!

****

Helena came out to the central hall early to wait for Eugene. It was quite some time before her appointed meeting with him. However, there was someone else she wanted to face first.

While receiving grooming from servants in her bedroom, she had seen an ivory carriage through the window. There could only be one person getting out of that carriage with Evergale’s seal prominently stamped on its body.

As expected, as soon as the main gate opened, a lavishly dressed elderly lady appeared. Helena hoped that the face Madam Tara had carefully made up could hide her anger as she greeted her.

“You…!”

As soon as their gazes met, cold venom stabbed directly without a single greeting.

“You look well. As expected of a stone that came rolling in from who knows where, the streets must have been comfortable. Finally found a home, have you?”

“Yes. The world was quite large to cover the sky with Evergale.”

A calm voice immediately responded. Christine’s pupils dilated instantly. She had expected Helena to meekly nod her head with a submissive voice, but Helena was talking back to her words.

The face saying such things was also perfectly serene. Rather, the light of resistance contained in those two blue eyes made her even more irritated.

Christine spoke with venom on her tongue.

“Then you should never have come back, dear. By now, even if I don’t bother to tell you, it’s time you realized your place.”

“I had no choice but to return to let you know about that wide world, madam. It seemed there would be no one else left to tell you if not me.”

“You don’t seem to know the grace of being taken in.”

The raw insult came faster than expected. From the beginning, Christine seemed to have no intention of keeping up appearances in front of Helena.

“What you did after returning was to cut the budget allocated for my banquet. Not even knowing to whom you should bow your head, yet you brazenly took that position, and now that Eugene is blinded and somewhat attached to you, you dare try to slight me.”

The financial plan reviewed a few days ago. Eugene had silently approved the modifications Helena had touched, and the scale of Christine’s birthday banquet was drastically reduced.

It was just as Natasha had said. Helena could sense the crack in Eugene’s signature scrawled boldly at the bottom of the documents. The relationship between him and Christine seemed to have crossed a river that could no longer be turned back.

In the end, he too was someone who had been forcibly stripped of his qualification to be a father before being her husband.

Since Eugene had drawn her in, Helena intended to make full use of that crack as well.

“I heard you were selected as the representative donor for today’s charity event. I have no objection, but I’m rather curious about what criteria were used to decide that.”

“You must have only drunk muddy water in that wide world. Didn’t anyone teach you that words you can’t swallow back shouldn’t be spoken in the first place?”

Christine’s thorn-covered tongue lashed Helena like a whip. However, Helena responded with an even thicker voice without losing her composure.

“Shouldn’t you know by now as well, madam? In times like these, turbulent with famine, for you, who should show Evergale’s merciful spirit, to hold such a splendid party. Even at this moment, there are territory people suffering without a single loaf of bread that we easily throw away. If you truly think of them, isn’t that something you shouldn’t do?”

“You insolent thing… How dare you try to teach me?”

As Helena’s words grew longer, Christine, who had been gradually hunching her shoulders, raised her hand. Helena could have easily dodged or caught it, but she stood her ground without even a twitch.

Today was the day of the hunting competition hosted by the Empress. It was a major event in the form of charity work, where Christine had been selected as the representative donor.

Any noble with a territory could put their name on the attendance list for the competition.

The hunting ground was a forest area teeming with fierce magical beasts, held around this time every year. Heavily armed men would show off their martial prowess while making their respective family names known.

The custom was for each to dedicate their hunting spoils to their wives or accompanying family members to conclude the ceremony.

Therefore, unmarried young nobles would dedicate their hunting spoils to young ladies they fancied. After the competition ended, there was a charity party where participation fees had to be paid as part of fundraising.

The party where notable figures gathered was another small marriage market for them, so most showed enthusiasm for hunting to raise their own value.

As a natural course, the winner was chosen as the one who hunted the highest-grade magical beast, which was unfortunate for the countless young nobles who licked their lips wanting to become that day’s protagonist.

Since the competition began, there had always been only one unchanging winner.

Helena had sat in that uncomfortable seat every year, receiving the corpse of the giant magical beast that Eugene had dragged over.

But she was tired of doing the same thing this year. That’s why Helena was letting Christine slap her cheek.

Looking at those thick rings, if she was lucky, there might be a big wound. If that wound could be a reason for non-attendance, she could give up her cheek any number of times.

But Eugene didn’t let that happen.

“With such light hands, there’s nothing I can entrust to mother.”

Suddenly appearing, he grabbed Christine’s wrist and pulled it away from Helena’s face. Then he stood as if blocking between Helena and Christine.

Eugene’s cold gaze lingered on the wrinkles deeply carved with anger on Christine’s face.