Chapter 12. Genius Idea
Whenever Daniel saw Dominic these days, he thought Dominic was about to start nagging again.
‘Does Dominic think going bankrupt is easy? He would know if he ever spent real money, that stingy man.’
Daniel threw his gloves at Dominic’s chest and walked past him, asking,
“The bed?”
“It came. A huge, expensive bed is now in the Duke’s room. But that’s not the real problem…”
“You’ll sleep comfortably from tonight.”
So Frida kept her promise from the morning. Considering the roads around the duchy, the bed arrived really fast. She must have really paid extra to the merchant from Weimar.
“Do you know what I heard today? If you don’t want the vault to be empty, you should stop the Duchess quickly.”
“Why? Does she want to buy the emperor’s throne with that money?”
If she wanted, she could maybe buy a small city-state.
“Ahhh!”
Dominic grabbed his own hair and screamed at Daniel’s lazy answer.
“I wish she’d do that! If she bought a country, at least it would be useful! But she’s just planning to throw all the money away on the roads…”
“Roads?”
Dominic, who was usually calm, now looked really flustered, and that made Daniel stop walking.
“Yes! Roads! She wants to build a big road that goes straight to the port. What’s the point of building roads on land that Leopold could take from us any day? And with your money!”
Daniel was a bit impressed.
‘For a noble lady, she’s clever.’
But he also felt annoyed.
‘Why can’t she just buy dresses or jewels like other women?’
Dominic hurried to keep up with Daniel as he walked toward the castle.
“I told her that big projects need the emperor’s approval and maybe the emperor will pay, but…”
“She can’t wait?”
“That’s not even the worst part! She said if someone stops the construction, it’s better to finish it quickly. She wants the project to be too far along for the emperor to stop!”
Dominic almost clapped at Frida’s genius idea but remembered he was supposed to stop her.
He took a deep breath, feeling a bit calmer.
“You must stop her, Master. Soon, news will reach Shendal Castle that you have woken up. The Empress Dowager will not just watch you settle down here. If she hears about the road, she’ll find an excuse to send you back to war.”
Daniel agreed—the Empress Dowager wouldn’t just sit by.
“Did you find out who convinced the Duke of Nottingen three years ago?”
“I have suspects but no proof.”
“Who?”
Dominic explained. The Nottingen family from the north had suddenly started a rebellion, and Daniel had told him to check where their money came from.
“It was Marquis Morenheitz.”
Daniel was surprised.
“Who?”
“Marquis Balt Morenheitz. The lord of Ascalon, called the Brave Brown Lion, border lord of the Lyngen Empire.”
Everyone knew that name.
“I found proof of money passing between the Marquis’s people and Arthur Nottingen.”
“Keep looking into it.”
“I’m too busy. If you want to use me whenever you want, stop the Duchess from doing these things. Or hire someone else to handle her plans. I have too much to do.”
Dominic walked off into the castle with his head held high.
Daniel was heading to his room when he heard fast footsteps behind him.
A maid carrying a bucket of water and towels bowed deeply.
“Y-you’re back, Your Grace.”
Daniel remembered her face; she often helped in the Duchess’s room. He noticed the cold water and clean towels.
“Does the Duchess have a fever?”
“Yes, she had a slight fever this afternoon.”
“Did the doctor come?”
“He came a little while ago.”
“You may go.”
Daniel turned and went to his own room.
He looked at what used to be his bedroom, now the Duchess’s.
There were two rooms in the corridor, wide and sunny, for the Duke and Duchess.
He opened the right door.
Now, there was a big, expensive brown bed where the carpet used to be.
There was a new round table, two chairs, and a drawer. There were no flower patterns anywhere.
His condition to Frida had been kept.
“Order a bed. Right now. And I’ll stay in the next room from today.”
“But there’s only a bookshelf in that room!”
“I can sleep on the floor until the bed comes. I’m used to it.”
“No, you’re a patient. If anyone has to move, it should be me…”
“This is my condition. If you care about my health, hurry and get the bed.”
“No flowers or flower patterns anywhere.”
Frida agreed quickly.
She always got to work fast and focused on what needed to be done.
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the wall between their rooms. Daniel didn’t answer, so the knock came again, louder.
‘She said she was sick.’
She probably wanted to talk about the road project.
Even though he told her she could use the money as she wanted, Frida still gave him a careful report every day.
There were never any words like “jewels,” “dresses,” or “shoes.”
Daniel walked to the wall with the special door just for him and the Duchess.
Knock, knock.
He opened the door, and Frida stood there, smiling shyly.
“Ah, you were here.”
“You knew I was, that’s why you knocked.”
Frida was innocent on the outside but clever and sometimes shameless inside. Daniel had learned a lot about his wife in the past ten days.
She smiled, not embarrassed at all that he had guessed her real thoughts.
“I have something important to talk about. Can I come in?”
Daniel stepped aside and let Frida into his room. She looked around.
“Do you like the bed and furniture? The craftsman from Weimar is famous. The Duke of Andrea ordered it, but he gave it to me when he heard my situation. We are friends.”
Even in her spending report, the price of the bed looked really high.
Daniel knew it was probably for profit, not friendship, but Frida enjoyed being complimented.
She liked praise, just like another woman he knew.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“I want to build a road from the south of the duchy to the sea. If we have a road to the port, we won’t have to depend on Weimar for trade anymore. That would be good for us…”
Daniel remembered what people called the gemstone that looked like Frida’s eyes.
‘Amethyst.’
Daniel gently placed his hand on Frida’s forehead.
She was clever, friendly, beautiful, and a little sneaky. In some ways, she reminded him of Empress Dowager Marguerite, his mother’s enemy. But Frida was also very different.
“You have a slight fever. Are you okay?”
Frida’s honest eyes and red cheeks made Daniel glad he didn’t have to hate his wife.
