Chapter 53
Mainz seemed unsure whether I was joking or serious.
Still, he quickly brought me paper and a pen.
I sketched something on it with quick strokes.
“I think it looked like this… or maybe like this?”
It wasn’t much of a drawing.
I simply drew a short, plump caterpillar, and on its back I added a thin stalk topped with a small mushroom cap.
“Could you hire a herbalist to look for a mushroom that looks like this?”
“This is a mushroom? Looks more like a caterpillar to me.”
“It’s a mushroom that grows using caterpillars as its host. It’s called the Vermis Mushroom.”
I remembered when Viscount Pelsus had once shown the Vermis Mushroom to Andrea while explaining a business plan.
“Ugh, why are you showing me such a disgusting thing?”
“Your Highness. Don’t look at the insect, look at the mushroom. This mushroom, called Vermis, is said to be excellent for male stamina.”
“What, stamina?”
“Yes. If you boil it into medicine, it supposedly makes you rise at night as energetically as a young man… heh, well, you get the idea. It’s incredible.”
“Really?”
Hearing that it enhanced stamina, Andrea—who had recoiled in disgust before—snatched the mushroom up at once.
“Among those in the know, they say one of these sells for a full gold coin.”
“A whole gold coin, for this… bug-eaten mushroom, or mushroom-eaten bug—whatever it is?”
“Yes. It’s that rare. Recently I heard from someone that they grow quite abundantly in the north.”
“Is that true?”
“Of course. No one else knows yet—it’s premium information. Your Highness, what I’m asking is: grant me the exclusive rights to harvest these in the northern lands of Arental. I’ll give you sixty percent.”
“Seventy.”
“Sixty-five?”
“Ahem.”
“…Fine. Seventy.”
After that, Andrea created the so-called exclusive harvesting rights for Vermis Mushrooms in Arental’s northern territories, then transferred them to Viscount Pelsus.
Not long after, I clearly remembered seeing the two men drunk and clinging to each other, boasting about how successful the business was.
“Back then, all I did was tremble, worried about how drunk Viscount Pelsus would harass me next…”
Who would have thought I’d someday make use of that conversation.
I relayed the details to Mainz.
He seemed a little startled to hear the word stamina coming from my mouth, but I emphasized that this was the key point.
According to Viscount Pelsus, men would spare no expense on things that promised vigor.
“Do you understand? If you dig in sun-warmed soil during the day, you’ll find plenty of these insects with Vermis Mushrooms growing from them. The harvesting season runs from spring to summer. Since it’s already late summer, there isn’t much time left this year. We must move quickly.”
“Yes, understood. I’ll gather herbalists right away…”
Looking dazed, Mainz left with the paper I had drawn on.
He didn’t seem to fully believe my claim that this would bring in great wealth.
But I wasn’t in any hurry.
“Once the gold piles up, he’ll have no choice but to believe me.”
After Mainz left, I sat down to write a letter to Montrial.
“To Montrial Phileas. I am Chloe Rodrian, Marchioness. I had wished to meet and speak with you directly someday, but circumstances prevented it… I have a request… concerning the Vermis Mushroom…”
The letter was about distributing the Vermis Mushrooms through the Seged Merchant Guild.
Meanwhile, Granada, holding the jewel Chloe had given her, recalled how on the very first day she had found the attitudes of the palace maids Chloe brought with her to be extremely rude.
Not just toward the people of Ronhaim, but even toward Chloe herself. It had struck her as odd.
But after what Chloe had said earlier, Granada felt certain of many things.
“Handle this quietly, without my maids knowing.”
Chloe did not trust her own maids.
Bringing along people she didn’t trust meant traveling with them had not been her choice.
“In the future, if I act unwisely, don’t hesitate to advise me.”
That showed she didn’t wish to harm Ronhaim either.
“It seems I will need much guidance in the days to come.”
She wasn’t arrogant in the least.
Granada reached her conclusion:
“She’s definitely the one His Highness personally chose. No mistake about it.”
Some knights gossiped that this marriage must have been forced by Arental.
But even if that were true, Granada believed that Callias would never have accepted Chloe if he truly despised her.
“My lady will become the true mistress of Ronhaim.”
She might not know much yet, but Chloe was neither mad nor foolish.
Even after a short time, one could grasp a person’s character.
Granada found a merchant who had not yet left the castle town and followed Chloe’s instructions.
The merchant, though a wanderer who dealt in goods from remote places, had decades of experience and quickly recognized Chloe’s ring as something extraordinary.
“You really mean to pay for the clothes with this?”
“Yes.”
“Compared to the clothes I sold you, this is far too much. I don’t know much about jewels, but this one seems far too valuable. Please, just give me something else of more reasonable worth.”
Chloe had been right that it was more than enough.
“If you think it’s too much, then the next time you come, bring me fine goods again.”
With that assurance, the merchant beamed and slipped the ring swiftly into his pocket.
“I’ve seen many people pay on credit, but this is the first time I’ve seen something like this! All right then! Next time Lady Bellona has quality clothes, I’ll come straight to the castle.”
“Good. Do so.”
As Granada turned to leave, she quickly added:
“Tell others that it was Mainz who paid with that ring on behalf of our lady. I hope for many good dealings in the future.”
“Y-yes, of course!”
Overjoyed, the merchant almost skipped out of the castle.
Granada let out a small sigh as she watched him go.
“Since I said it was from Mainz, he won’t spread careless rumors.”
Perhaps Chloe had asked for secrecy to hide the origin of the treasure.
So Granada had covered by saying Mainz had sent it as payment instead of cash.
She hobbled back up the stairs toward Chloe’s chambers.
On the way, she ran into Brentiann.
“Why do you keep going up and down the stairs when you can hardly walk?”
Though he was still a bit sulky after their argument last night, Brentiann’s tone was filled with affectionate nagging.
“Your other knee isn’t sound either. Do you still think your body is the same as before?”
To Brentiann, Granada was like a grandmother.
Even when she was strict and never let him have his way, he knew it was because she loved him like family.
She was such a figure to everyone in Ronhaim Castle.
“Since I’m heading up as well, take my arm.”
Granada didn’t question why he was coming down earlier and instead took his arm with her free hand.
“Good. I wanted to speak to you anyway.”
“What, are you going to scold me again?”
“So you already know you deserve it.”
Brentiann’s mouth dropped open.
“You really are going to scold me?”
As she carefully watched her steps, Granada asked:
“Why don’t you like the lady?”
“What? Well, obviously because…”
“Because of her birth.”
“She’s not just anyone by birth!”
“Dividing people into good birth, bad birth—that’s exactly what judging by birth is.”
“She is a princess of the Idelian Imperial Family!”
Granada stopped and looked at him firmly.
“I was the daughter of an assassin.”
Her gaze was unwavering.
“My father’s job was to kill people for money, and with those earnings he fed us. I grew up as the daughter of an assassin, never even realizing it was wrong. From the age of seven, I was taught by him how to kill.”
Brentiann protested.
“Why bring up old stories… why say this to me?”
Granada’s voice remained calm but resolute.
“When I first met the Saintess, my hands were already stained with blood. With these very hands, I had taken innocent lives.”
“…”
“Yet the Saintess chose me. She kept me at her side as her guard knight. And she gave me the chance to atone, when I had stolen families from others just to fill my own stomach.”
“…”
“She did not brand me with shame. She trusted me.”
Her aged eyes might have dulled in color, but they still shone with fierce light.
“The people around her were not harsh toward me either. That amazed me. Later I realized—they simply trusted the Saintess. They believed her judgment could not be wrong.”
“…”
“If you cannot trust the lady, then trust the prince. Trust his choice. That is what I wanted to say.”
Brentiann answered in a weaker voice:
“But you and the princess are different.”
Granada nodded in agreement.
“Yes. How could I dare compare myself to her? I am one who sinned with my own hands. But my lady is pure.”
“That’s not what I meant!”
“Why, was I wrong? Did my lady lead the war between Ronhaim and Arental? Did she take part in the Saintess’s murder? Do you think those slender arms could have slain a single Ronhaim native herself? What reason could you possibly have to hate her?”
“…”
“She is only guilty of being born as the daughter of the Idelian Emperor. She didn’t choose that.”
Granada patted his slumped shoulder.
“You are clever enough to understand what I mean.”
Then she smiled, rarely for her.
“My lady has no thought of leaving. Be careful, or someday she’ll tease you for life over this.”
She dismissed him, saying she could walk the rest of the way herself.
Brentiann stood watching her back, his face thoughtful and troubled.
“What is this? Did Lady Granada… come around? In just two days?”
Just what had happened?
