"Do you really have to go? There's always a place for you here."
"I have duties, okay? Since my castle is completed, I'm going to live there now. Take good care of your wife and give birth to lots of healthy children, alright?"
"Set up that teleportation circle as promised, okay?"
"Yes Bastian. Now, may I leave?"
"No."
"Coachman, start the carriage."
"Nooooooo!"
"Stop being dramatic. You're embarrassing your wife."
"No, please by all means continue. This would be used for the future" the Princess snickered. The carriage moved past the crying prince consort and started to journey towards Graviscera. Unlike Ducroft, Polivia wasn't very big so it wouldn't take more than a day to get to the north. She could've taken a teleportation circle but she wanted to see the sights as she went.
"I'm excited to be working with you, Duchess Adamantine. Please command me as you please, your grace."
A man accompanied her on her journey. He was one of the few male nobles in Polivia. They were usually very intelligent and loyal which made them very favorable in the eyes of women. This tall dark haired man was assigned to her by the Queen herself. Whether he was a spy or truly help, time would tell. It didn't bother her either way. She needed someone familiar with Graviscera and Count Brenn just happened to be that person.
"I heard there were about 5 towns on this path, two towns in the territory of Graviscera. Tell me more about them."
"Of course, your grace. All five town are generally considered to be a part of the neutral zone controlled by royalty until her majesty divided those towns, placing two of them in the territory of Graviscera. One of those two towns is a mining village while the other is an exchange town. The miners take their goods to the town where a lot of shops built by nobles buy them and distribute them to the rest of the kingdom. Because this town is a neutral zone, the prices are set by the nobles so the miners are often extorted. They have sent quite a lot of complaints to her majesty but she had been hard pressed to handle the issue because of the influence of the nobles there."
"So basically, it's my problem now?"
"Something akin to that. I'm sure your grace can handle something like that."
"Well, they're already my enemy. Might as well. Carry on."
"Yes, your grace. One of other towns in the neutral zone supply a generous part of the resources the engineers use and the other towns are basically villages where the workers live. There aren't a lot of towns in Polivia but the north happens to have the most in the kingdom. The first town we would reach is a place popularly known as the Engineer's village. They have a lot of raw materials and sky tubes models. This is also where young aspiring engineers come to learn. Would you like to have a look, your grace?"
"Schedule that later for me. Or do we have a pending appointment?"
"No. I simply thought you might have somethings you wanted to pick up. The Engineer's village is also where the craftsmen reside. It's a little dusty but you can always find the shiniest trinkets there."
"Those are not important right now. What's the next town?"
"Oh, that's Hilther town. It's known for its medicinal herbs and woven goods. Plants rarely grow in this part of the kingdom but the plants that are found make really good weaving and medicinal raw materials."
"Hmm, that makes sense. You can also schedule that later. I think I want to go to the miner's town first. We will also be making a visit to the mountains."
"There's actually something I need to say. The miners haven't exactly been able to go to work for the past two weeks. That's a reason why there was an increase in the workforce for building your castle. The mountain paths were shut off because of your grace's…..ascension."
"Why hasn't anyone said anything in two weeks?!"
"Because it isn't a problem that can easily be solved especially with the royal wedding and the other events that got in the way of transferring information."
"All I can see is the Queen leaving this for me to handle since it's basically my fault. Whatever. I probably deserve it. What else is there?"
Count Brenn started to list off everything and it progressively got ridiculous. Her deadpan face at the end of the whole list made the man stifle his laughter.
"Unfortunately, these are the kinds of problem you encounter as the Duchess of a kingdom as small as ours."
"They call it a neutral zone but tell me the truth, it's basically abandoned by the royal family and controlled by the nobles, right?"
"The nobles won't dare cross their boundaries and have found a way to co-exist. You going there would definitely disrupt that balance and I'm eager to see what would happen."
Just as Natalia was regretting her decision, they reached the engineering town and passed through it. It was a town with an unmistakable scent of smoke and exhaust. The men who walked along were covered in dirt and dark debris, clearly working in and out of the workshop. The carriage passing through made them curious because most of them could recognize the emblem of the house Adamantine but they couldn't tell who was in the carriage because there wasn't a royal escort. Natalia was traveling without an escort because she hadn't hired any yet.
"Does it always look like this?"
"Unfortunately, your grace."
"Hmmm…."
It reminded her of Traisen's boundary with the forest of damnation. The ungodly stench that can kill the faint hearted was exactly the same. She didn't think she had the heart to visit the place.
"Are you sure you don't want to stop here?"
"Do not test me, Count Brenn."
"Yes, your grace" he smiled.
They made it out but it took a while for the air to start smelling fresh again. Natalia wondered how those men could live in that pollution so readily. They made it to the weaving town but it was significantly smaller in size and population. At least the air was cleaner. However, they had to stop there for lunch and to rest. The horse was led off to be fed while Natalia was taken to the home of the Marquis.
"Welcome to our humble home, Duchess Adamantine. It must have been a long journey. Please, do come in."
Unlike Ducroft, the Marquis didn't have an elaborate house and she was a woman. She obviously had two children but her husband was nowhere nearby. Natalia didn't pry and followed her in to be entertained.
The interior was as warm and cozy as the exterior. The size wasn't lost on Natalia but she already decided not to comment on it. As they traveled north, it progressively became colder so some things made sense. She had lunch, thanked her host but didn't stay for long and continued on her journey. She was determined to reach Graviscera that day.
"I admire your perseverance, your grace. Perhaps this is why you didn't want to take the sky tube back here?"
"Does it extend this far back?"
"The last stop is the exchange town for easier transactions."
"I see. Well, we can continue on our journey nonetheless."
Count Brenn was amused with her blatant avoidance of the Sky tube. Since the people of Polivia have been using it for a long time, it wasn't strange or unsafe to them. Visitors however considered it an obscenity and some, a defiance of god's will. There were a lot of gods so that didn't really make sense to them.
They passed through the last village without fanfare and finally made it to the place with a sign that read 'Welcome to Graviscera' in Polivian. It was a wooden sign with directions for carriages and travelers, which looked really worn. They could've missed the direction on it if the coachman didn't know the way.
"It's not very….remarkable."
"The only thing remarkable about this stretch of land are the mountain mines of Mythril. The rest is a stretch of unlivable unproductive land that had been rocked to instability by the natural event that blocked the mountain mines. Please do address that with urgency, your grace."
Natalia rolled her eyes but felt excitement rising in her as they started to approach the boundary gate she saw on the map. Behind the boundary gate were both the exchange town and the mining town. This meant both towns were under the influence of the new Duchess of Graviscera. On the gates and parts of the town, the emblem of the Adamantine ducal family had been etched. When Natalia's carriage passed by, it drew curious people who wondered what their new Duchess looked like.
"This place is a lot less peaceful than it looks. I'm the one her majesty placed in charge of this place so I should know. You would require some level of caution dealing with the people who work here."
"Noted."
They finally made it to the huge castle that was located on the hill that overshadowed the exchange town and one could see the mining town from there as well. This was Natalia's new home.