Chapter 20 - Gambling

The second invasion, which brought unending despair to the Northern people, had ended.

However, the wounds created by the excessive damage had still not healed.

Ironically, this didn't apply to the key figures and nobles of the North.

Damage that couldn't collapse the system only applied to those without power, not those with it.

The less people had, the greater the damage they suffered, while those in power were living lives not much different from before, having only suffered some property losses.

Therefore, there wasn't any problem, and there wasn't supposed to be any, but the situation started to take a strange turn due to a rumor spread by a girl in the village.

A brother who came from outside brought warmth. When he raised his hand like this, flowers appeared and it stopped snowing.

It was a mention of the one who brought warmth to the North.

When the Northern people heard this story, they first speculated it might be Dale, who led the second invasion to victory.

But the timing of the warmth's arrival was too far removed from when Dale arrived, and above all, the child said it was a different brother, not Dale, so their speculation shifted to someone else.

What they found was “Damian”.

Unlike Dale, the timing of the warmth's arrival matched perfectly, and there was also a rumor that snow started falling in the North after he left, so there was no one suitable other than Damian.

"L-let's tell them to bring him back immediately!"

"That's right! We're all going to die at this rate."

"Mom, I'm hungry... sob"

Reason and patience had long disappeared due to severe hunger and cold.

Moreover, many had died, so all they had left was resentment mixed with anger.

It was natural in a way for many Northerners to head to the Wintreaven family to protest.

***

"...What a bunch of trash making a fuss."

Elisia swallowed her words as she listened to the noble beside her.

She pretended not to hear, as opening her mouth in the current situation could lead to political difficulties, and just looked at the conference room, falling into contemplation.

What should I do?

They expressed their anger, demanding the return of the warmth Damian had brought as if it had been theirs from the beginning.

It wasn't logically correct, but since they were in a state where reason didn't work, such logic was meaningless at present.

"So what will you do? Should we drive them away with troops?"

Pushing them away with troops could quickly suppress the disturbance, but the “backlash” would be fierce, so even if it became quiet immediately, it would start burning even more fiercely afterward.

Incidentally, this backlash could be violent or something else.

Whatever it was, it was likely to be enough backlash to shake the North's system, which had already taken a huge hit from the invasion.

If the system that made up the North was shaken, the North would suffer unmanageable damage, so the use of force had to be avoided if possible.

...That was why the meeting was held.

Most were people who came to protect their own property and future rather than the North's future.

They owned many things but occupied seats to prevent losing even one thing, glaring at each other.

Disgusting.

This was the fundamental problem of the North.

The closed-off North had strong cohesion, but when a crisis erupted internally, that cohesion turned into poison.

So, as the atmosphere was heating up with everyone passing responsibility to each other…

"If it was really Damian who brought warmth to the North, isn't it Grand Duchess Elisia's fault for breaking off the engagement?"

The knight commander from the eldest son's side threw the responsibility at her.

As if forgetting what they had done in the past, she responded to this statement in a calm voice, "That's strange. As I recall, the decisive reason Damian declared the annulment of the engagement was because the knight commander blamed Damian for the rift."

At those words, the knight commander smiled coldly and said nonchalantly, "You're saying something that could be misunderstood, Grand Duchess. This was a reasonable inference and a matter 'everyone agreed on', wasn't it?"

Since personal responsibility and benefit were more important than the truth, everyone cleared their throats and turned their heads away.

Seeing this scene, Elisia sensed that the responsibility would be pinned on her if things continued like this and bit her lip hard.

No matter what I say, nothing will be accepted.

They needed someone to take responsibility, not the truth, and she had been designated as that target.

The problem seemed to be that she, who should have been expelled from the family head competition due to her engagement to Damian, had instead built up her influence through independent actions rather than being used as a strategic piece for southern advancement.

Judging by how most of the key figures around weren't looking at her and turning their faces away, it seemed all the talks had already been concluded under the table.

...Resisting here would only create opportunities to be nitpicked.

It was a situation where no answer was in sight.

But paradoxically, the answer she had to give was already decided.

If possible, in addition to being able to counterattack those who tried to pin all the problems on her, there was an extremely simple method that could solve all the problems that could befall the North.

That option was to retract the engagement annulment and bring Damian back to the North.

...It would be difficult, but possible.

For some unknown reason, Damian blindly liked her, so if she “used” this, even if it was Damian who had shouted for the annulment of the engagement, he would have no choice but to retract it.

So she calmly laid out the bait using this.

"Then if we retract the engagement annulment, all problems would disappear, right?"

It was a declaration that any Northerner would naturally like.

But most of them showed reluctant reactions and tried to hide their expressions.

The reason they didn't make any objections was twofold.

First, there was no justification to refuse and say it couldn't be done.

Second, if they failed after making such a declaration, they would have to take even stronger responsibility than before, so from their perspective, it was an uneasy but worthwhile gamble.

As that judgment ended, she briefly said to them, "In exchange, if I bring Damian back, I will have Damian directly involved in territory affairs with me. This is to use the warmth Damian creates more efficiently, so I ask for everyone's understanding."

Until now, she had been indirectly participating in the family head competition rather than directly.

She declared that she would now fully join in earnest and looked around.

The possibility of becoming the family head is still extremely low, but…

If she used Damian, who had now become the lifeline of the North, she could expand her influence within the family more easily.

So, thinking that she must retract the engagement annulment and bring Damian back by any means necessary, she fell into contemplation about how to bring him back.

***

"Didn't you hear from the butler that the Northern side sent a message saying they want to retract the engagement annulment?"

I felt ridiculous that those who had so strongly insisted on the engagement annulment and struggled to drive me out of the North were now saying they wanted to retract it.

A hollow laugh naturally flowed out as I hardened my expression.

The family head looked at me and demanded an answer, "So what do you think?"

"...I think there's no need to reattach something that's already ended."

"Is that so? I'll respect your opinion."

"Thank you."

Judging by the fact that he didn't even ask why or how, it seemed the investigation into what happened in the North had already been completed.

Since he was a person with little emotional change, I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

But judging by his expression of respecting my opinion, I thought the family head might have implicitly said, “I'm always on your side,” to Damian.

"Then why did you come at this late hour?"

I had momentarily forgotten due to hearing such shocking news.

I gathered my thoughts and took out the document from my chest, handing it to the family head while saying, "I discovered the black mages' plan."

The detailed content was written in the document anyway, so there was no need to say it.

Rather, at times like this, it was better to speak plainly, so I handed it to the family head without any explanation.

The family head lowered his expression as he read the document.

Perhaps because there was an extremely shocking and radical plan written in it, the family head read the document for a long time, looking at it, and then, seemingly wanting to verify the authenticity of the document, he rang a bell to summon the head butler.

"Family head, did you call?"

"I'd like this document to be investigated as secretly as possible to verify its authenticity."

"Understood. I will investigate as quickly as possible and report back."

As the family head nodded, the head butler gave a polite greeting and left the office.

Seeing this, I thought it was fortunate that the family head took this seriously and inwardly sighed with relief.

If he had said the content was too absurd to even need verification after looking at the document, the situation would have become quite complicated.

Of course, this alone wasn't enough to consider the assassination case completely over.

But at least the family would try to protect Sister Lilia strictly... so at least the risk level could be considered significantly lowered.

Moreover, now that the family head knows about the black mages,

The large-scale black magic that would become the trigger for the Carsaril family's downfall in the future could also be prevented.

I could guess that by handing over this document, the fate of the Carsaril family had greatly changed.

"You've worked hard."

"Yes."

"Then rest for now, we'll discuss the reward later."

There was nothing more to do here anyway.

I bowed politely, then decided to go wash up and sleep, moving my feet towards the bathroom.

***

After finishing my preparations and returning to my room, I could easily notice that the spirit was shining more brightly than usual.

Looking at the spirit repeatedly brightening and darkening like a light bulb being turned on and off, I was bewildered.

The spirit just looked at me calmly, making "Myeong myeong" sounds and smiling nonchalantly.

Why is it like this?

It didn't seem to be sick, but its condition was different from usual, so worry arose.

So, as I was looking the spirit over, trying to assess its condition, a thought suddenly bloomed in my mind.

It might be about to evolve soon.