"Did you sleep well, my lord?"
"...."
The Duke stared at Beatty, who greeted him brightly.
"My lord?"
Beatty nervously watched for any signs of her mistake, wondering if she had misunderstood some formal etiquette.
"....Lieutenant."
The Duke turned his attention away from Beatty, calling on the lieutenant standing nearby.
"Yes, my lord."
"You’ve prepared what I asked for yesterday, right?"
"Ah, 'that' thing? Of course. Shall I bring it in immediately?"
"Yes."
"?"
Beatty, who had been puzzled by the Duke's sudden, vague mention of 'that thing,' tried to deduce his intention.
‘Is he ignoring me on purpose? Trying to show that my words aren’t worth listening to?’
Glancing furtively, Beatty studied the Duke’s expression, but his face remained as cold and unreadable as ever.
‘...It’s okay. I’ve come this far. Let’s stay strong!’
She clenched her fist, trying to encourage herself.
‘No matter how much my father seems to want to dismiss me, once he hears the offer, it’ll be irresistible!’
In front of Beatty was a massive platter stacked high with cookies.
"....?"
"Ahem."
The lieutenant, following the Duke’s gesture, began speaking.
"Miss, this is from the Cookie Kingdom, the latest craze. Each plate has been decorated with themes that are sure to please."
‘What... is this...?’
Beatty felt overwhelmed by the sight of the towering piles of cookies.
"These are specially made by a famous pastry artisan who used to work with Yuto. His skills are renowned."
Misunderstanding Beatty’s stunned silence, the lieutenant proudly added.
‘The Duke thought of you and had these prepared!’
The lieutenant’s eyes sparkled with the satisfaction of completing his task.
Beatty, still dazed by the mountain of cookies, glanced at the Duke. He remained still, his face as stoic as ever.
"...."
But his golden eyes, glancing at the bowed Beatty, gleamed with a certain expectation.
***
The room was filled with a quiet silence.
Crunch, crunch.
The only sound was the soft crunching of the cookies, their texture like snowflakes, as Beatty reluctantly ate.
‘Why...’
After entering the Duke’s study to negotiate, Beatty had been inexplicably forced to eat snacks.
The Duke himself hadn’t taken a single one.
‘He’s still piling them on.’
The cookies, stacked high on her plate, had been oddly shaped and fascinating, something she had never seen before. But now...
‘I’m full...’
Sitting in front of someone so uncomfortable, forced to eat without a word, her stomach felt heavy.
Swallow.
Finally finishing the last piece, Beatty breathed a sigh of relief, just as the Duke opened his mouth.
"Shall I give you more?"
"No!"
‘I can’t eat anymore!’
Feeling as though she was being tortured, Beatty hastily spoke.
"Thank you for the lovely treats. But as I mentioned earlier, I do have a proposal for a trade."
She spoke clearly, almost imitating an adult, and there was something endearing about how she composed herself.
The Duke suppressed an involuntary smile and spoke, his voice neutral.
"A trade?"
"Yes. It would be of great benefit to your house."
For a moment, the Duke tilted his head slightly, his posture reminding Beatty of her brother.
Beatty felt a bit more at ease.
She opened her mouth, hoping to appear as a clever negotiator, just as she had practiced.
"Have the merchants who’ve been coming and going to the territory stopped by recently?"
"How do you know that?"
Beatty smiled with quiet pride at the Duke’s surprised expression.
‘I’ve been observing carefully!’
Though she’d made sure to stay out of sight, pretending to be a squirrel, collecting information without drawing attention, it was clear that the northern residents—whose senses were far sharper than hers—had noticed her.
Still, Beatty, confident in her knowledge, continued.
"To feed the people of this vast territory, simply hunting from the mountains won’t be enough. So, the presence of the merchants who supply food is essential."
The Duke, without any intention of disagreeing, nodded lightly.
The northern mountain ranges surrounding Aslan’s territory provided an excellent natural defense.
‘Defensive as it may be...’
In terms of agriculture, it was the worst possible location.
The problem was that a significant portion of the Duke’s territory consisted of such barren land.
Since the mountainous region was incapable of sustaining itself, merchants had to regularly bring in supplies, especially grain.
Although the territory’s food production was poor, the animal pelts from the mountains were valuable commodities, and rumors abounded that the Duke of Aslan could afford to purchase grain from across the continent, making him extraordinarily wealthy.
‘The Aslan family is not one to hesitate when the people are starving.’
Beatty felt a sense of pride in this fact as she recalled a crucial event.
The current year was 718 in the Continental Calendar, and a severe famine had struck the entire continent.
She remembered well how the price of grain had soared, forcing even the servants to drastically reduce the meals they provided.
‘During this time, the merchants who brought grain to the Duke’s territory were scarce.’
The Aslan family had been in trouble due to the lack of merchant caravans, and it had worsened when they encountered their first retreat.
‘Lately, I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen any merchant carts passing through.’
For a territory of this size, it would be normal to see merchant carts passing by several times a day.
But the absence of any carts for days on end was definitely strange.
‘If the merchants aren’t coming, then the food supply issue must be real...’
Beatty already knew the perfect solution.
She straightened her back, her eyes shining with confidence.
"I can solve this problem for you."
The Duke blinked, taken aback by her confident declaration, before he shook his head and spoke in a calm voice.
"Don’t worry about it."
"Eh? But the food..."
"We’ll just get it from another kingdom."
"....?"
Beatty blinked, unsure if she had heard correctly.
But no, it was true.
"It seems you've been concerned about the shortage of military supplies, but that was only a matter of time."
"Uh..."
"Don’t worry. This autumn, we’ll be launching a campaign against the Sadis Kingdom."
The Duke said this with unwavering certainty.
"Since they’re known for their vast wheat fields, they’ll have more than enough grain to last us through the winter."
Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are publish𝒆d on ƒreewebηoveℓ.com.
"...."
His nonchalant tone, as if he were about to loot an enemy’s storehouse, made Beatty realize just how audacious the Aslan family truly was.
"If we can’t produce it here, we’ll take it from elsewhere."
To the Duke, looting another kingdom’s food supplies seemed as natural as anything.
And Beatty was temporarily stunned by the audacity of it all.
‘As expected, the Aslan family...!’
A family known as protectors in their kingdom and thugs on the continent.
‘This is why they’re called a "warrior tribe."’
Beatty came to a realization.
The rumors weren’t baseless.
The Aslan family, with their reputation for thriving in battle, had every reason to dominate and expand.
"That’s right, Miss. Don’t worry!"
The Duke’s lieutenant also spoke proudly, trying to reassure Beatty.
"As soon as the flag of the lion is raised, they’ll tremble in fear and hand over the keys to their stores!"
‘What... even saying it so confidently...?’
The lieutenant, speaking as if the outcome were certain, continued.
"Last year, we were lenient because we knew we’d have to raid them again next year. But this time, they betrayed us by allowing the Holy Nation through and striking us from behind, right?"
"Indeed."
"This time, we’ll raid them without mercy!"
They spoke casually about raiding another kingdom’s stores, as if it were no big deal.
‘But... there won’t be anything left to raid this year!’
Beatty, momentarily distracted by their bold talk, suddenly raised her head.
"You can’t underestimate this drought."
"Drought?"
The Duke looked at her with curiosity as she spoke firmly.
"I’ve heard reports that there wasn’t much rain this summer."
Yes.
This was exactly why the Duke’s family had faced a food shortage in the past.
A harsh famine had come, and they were unable to harvest anything by the time the season arrived.
"Yes. Farmers in the north may not have been as worried, but other farming regions were already crying out in distress."
"Hmm."
"Even if we raid other kingdoms, what will we do if they don’t have any grain left?"
That had happened before.
No matter how much the Duke had raided surrounding kingdoms, many of them had run out of food.
Beatty’s words made the Duke stop and think deeply.
"Merchants, war... they won’t help us."
With a confident expression, Beatty added,
"I have the answer."