An hour after Isaac and the young man's conversation, a flying carriage pulled up in front of the Golddark family estate. From that carriage descended a tall and stunningly beautiful woman with piercing gray eyes and shimmering silver hair.
The woman, Grace, wore a cold expression on her face as she strode forward toward a group of people seemingly awaiting her arrival.
At the front of this group was Baron Golddark, while behind him stood the other members of his family.
Witnessing the icy expression on Grace's face, the baron's heart tightened as he wondered if he had somehow offended her.
When Grace stopped directly in front of him, the baron bowed curtly and said, "I, the head of the Golddark family and lord of this land, welcome Lady Grace to my estate. I hope your journey here was pleasant."
The old baron felt a twinge of bitterness in his heart as he had to bow to another baron, but it couldn't be helped. Although Grace was a baroness like him, her strength demanded such respect.
Grace said nothing and simply stared at the baron in silence.
Sweat quickly formed on the old man's forehead as he felt the pressure of her gaze.
As the baron wondered if he should say something, Grace finally spoke.
"Why are you so formal with me now, little Isaac?" Grace asked, patting the baron's shoulder with a mischievous grin on her face. "Did you forget the time you brat used to call me big sis and shout everywhere that you would surpass me?"***
The baron and all the people behind him froze in an instant.
Without him realizing it, an embarrassed blush spread across the baron's face.
'D-Did she just call me a brat in front of my descendants?' Isaac wondered, his expression stunned.
At that moment, his ears picked up on a faint chortle behind him. Glancing slightly over his shoulder, he caught sight of a cute young girl with golden hair and sapphire blue eyes—his granddaughter—covering her mouth with her small hands, trying to stifle her laughter.
Thankfully for him, the others were better at hiding their amusement, though he could still see the corners of their mouths curving upward in suppressed smiles.
Isaac coughed and glanced at Grace once again, about to say something, but he was caught off guard when he saw that she was no longer in front of him.
Before he could panic, he heard her voice resound behind him, "Oh, what a cutie~."
Glancing back, he witnessed Grace playfully pinching his granddaughter's cheeks.
The young girl seemed to enjoy the attention. She flashed Grace a childish grin and pounded her chest. "Mm, my grandpa says that I'm the cutest girl around."
"Your grandpa might be right," Grace smiled, "and may I know the name of the cutest girl around?"
"Sasha," the young girl replied, "Sasha Golddark."
"Well then Sasha, would you mind showing me around?" Grace leaned in and whispered in the young girl's ear, not so subtly, "It's supposed to be your grandpa showing me around, but he's too old. I'd prefer your company instead."
'Too old? Didn't you call me a brat moments ago?' Isaac thought indignantly.
"Yes!" Sasha replied energetically, her sapphire eyes brightening as she took Grace's hand and led her inside the mansion. "I will show you all the best places in the mansion!" she exclaimed cheerfully.
***
"Your granddaughter is adorable," Grace said, sitting on a luxurious sofa.
She took a sip of the tea served to her and thought to herself, 'Damn, this tastes bad.'
"Yeah, she is my most precious treasure," Baron Golddark replied, a proud smile finding its way onto his face.
The two of them were in the baron's office, sitting across from each other.
After the baron's reply, a long silence settled between them before he cleared his throat, his expression becoming serious.
"May I know the reason for your visit?" he asked, getting straight to the point.
"Why do you sound so suspicious? Can't it be that I just decided to visit my neighbor?" Grace asked with a chuckle.
Isaac remained silent. He wasn't buying Grace's story for a second, but he also didn't dare to call her out on it.
"Well, since it seems that I'm not really wanted here, I will be leaving," Grace suddenly said, stunning Isaac.
"W-What? I never said that!" Isaac hurriedly spoke, appearing flustered.
"I'm just kidding. I was already supposed to leave an hour ago," Grace said as she stood up. "No need to see me off."
She walked to the office door, but as she grabbed the handle, she glanced back at Isaac, her gray irises flashing with a knowing glint. "You know, now that I think about it, that family motto of yours is a really great one. You should continue to abide by it."
With that, Grace opened the door and left the office, leaving a frowning Isaac behind.
'I should continue to abide by the family motto?' Isaac repeated Grace's words in his mind.
Suddenly, he felt a cold sweat matting his back as he finally realized why Grace had visited.
'She was here to warn me,' he concluded.
The Golddark family had an ironclad rule that every family member, including the head, had to follow: "Unless your hands are tied, steer clear of anything that could potentially bring harm to the family. Always mind your business!"
Thanks to this way of life, the Golddark family managed to maintain their baron status for hundreds of years without making a single enemy among the other noble families.
From Isaac's point of view, Grace coming herself and telling him to continue abiding by this rule could simply be considered a warning.
"Mind your business," that was practically what Grace meant.
If he wasn't completely sure before, now Isaac had confirmation: something fishy was going on!
It wasn't long before he was proven right.
"A convoy of carriages carrying hundreds of people has been spotted traversing the territory from the south," the young man reported to Isaac. "This convoy seems to be heading towards Zindal," he added.
"A convoy of carriages carrying hundreds of people heading towards Zindal, huh?" Isaac repeated in his mind, massaging his temples.
"Should we report this to the imperial family?" the young man wondered.
The imperial family had ordered all noble houses neighboring the territory ruled by Grace to monitor and report anything that caught their attention entering or exiting her territory.
"No, don't report anything. In fact, don't ever bring that matter up, do you hear me?" Isaac instructed.
"Yes," the young man nodded.
"Good," Isaac nodded, "you can go now."
The young man bowed to him and left the office.
Just as the office door closed, Isaac slumped in his chair, feeling a sudden wave of fatigue hit him. He had just gone against the imperial family's order, and just that made him feel as if he had aged a few more years.
Ultimately, he still felt that his decision had been the correct one. Although the imperial family was much more powerful than Grace alone, he judged her to be much more dangerous, at least to him.
While the imperial family resided thousands of kilometers from his territory, Grace lived just in the neighboring territory. If she decided to harm him or his family for spilling the beans, she would do so long before the troops of the empire came to save them—if the empire bothered to send someone in the first place.
Plus, he had a good impression of Grace from years ago, so if he could avoid creating trouble for her by turning a blind eye to the situation, he would do so.
As he was lost in thought, Isaac heard the door of his office slightly open, and the adorable head of his granddaughter peeked inside, her round and childish eyes scanning around. When she saw that only her grandfather was inside the room, she opened the door and darted toward him before leaping into his arms.
"Oof, you are heavy," Isaac faked a pained groan as he caught Sasha.
"Nuh-uh, that's false. I'm light as a feather," the little girl retorted, pouting.
"If you say so, little one," Isaac said with a fond smile. "So, why did you decide to visit me this time?" he wondered as he patted Sasha's head.
"I came to show something to the pretty lady," Sasha revealed as her eyes darted across the office, "but apparently she left," she added with a disappointed expression.
"D-Don't worry, little one. I'm certain you will see her later," Isaac hurriedly spoke when he saw the sad expression on Sasha's face. "In the meantime, why don't you show grandpa what you wanted to show her?"
"Hmm..." Sasha thought about it for a moment before her eyes brightened, and she joyously exclaimed, "Okay!"
Seeing the happy expression on his granddaughter's face, Isaac thought he had indeed made the right decision. After all, why would he involve himself in a war that had nothing to do with him?