Asha thought of the people of territory, who might have gobbled up the corn they had seen in a long time, or cried with joy at the sight of potatoes going into their children's mouths. She felt happy to accept her fate, even if it meant her body would be broken to pieces.
With such a heavy heart, she crossed the courtyard of the castle and headed for the workshop, where she met Giles' eyes as he was giving instructions to a servant.
"Ah, Viscount Raphelt."
"Countess Pervaz."
Since they had been on bad terms since their first meeting, they exchanged light greetings and tried to pass each other by, but Giles seemed determined to pick a fight and threw a nasty remark.
"As a lord, you should be moving slowly and deliberately. Where are you running off to in such a hurry this morning, and without an aide?"
"I'm checking every day to make sure the supplies and budget given by His Highness Carlyle are being used properly."
"Aha! I see. Then the people of Pervaz must have never seen that much money before. You'd better watch carefully to make sure no one embezzles it."
Asha's eyebrows twitched.
"No one would embezzle public funds…"
"So, when do you think the people of territory will finally look like humans?"
Giles didn't seem to have wanted an answer in the first place, and he cut off Asha's words and continued to spew more insults.
Asha felt like someone had suddenly grabbed her throat and choked her.
Human form.
Human-like appearance.
Did he mean that the people of territory were nothing but animals in Giles' eyes?
Asha clenched her teeth and glared at him, but Giles continued to speak his mind.
"Even a quick glance around makes me cringe. Are there any people here who are dressed properly or washed properly? No wonder there are rumors that they live with savages…"
"…"
"I agreed to the budget for Pervaz because I thought it was not right for the place where His Highness Carlyle stays to be in such a state, but… sigh…"
There seemed to be a lot implied in his sigh. Asha didn't want to guess what it meant.
"I am grateful to His Highness."
"You should be. Now His Highness has to marry twice in his life, so you should feel a little sorry for him. Now, if you'll excuse me."
With those words, Giles turned and walked away.
It was neither the way he should treat the owner of the castle he was staying in, nor the way he should treat the wife of his lord. But Asha couldn't say anything about it.
'What if he reduces the size of the aid because he's upset with me…?'
Although Carlyle made all the decisions, Giles was the one who could change his mind. All the documents that went to Carlyle went through the hands of Lionel and Giles.
Now that she knew that, she couldn't lash out at Giles like she used to.
But it was also unfair.
'They all know that's not what I wanted. Is it my fault?'
She had heard many times that he had been working hard to make Carlyle the perfect emperor long ago. It must have made him feel sick to his stomach that the perfect emperor had been married twice…
'…What's the big deal? Getting married twice isn't a big deal.'
The current emperor had also been married twice, albeit due to bereavement, and there had been countless emperors in the past who had been married more than twice.
Among them were some emperors who had accomplished so much that they were called 'Great Kings', so being married twice would not be a flaw in a 'perfect emperor'.
'Maybe he's in a bad mood because something didn't go according to plan.'
That seemed more plausible on reflection. As a 'genius', he must have been annoyed that his plans had been derailed, and so he was taking it out on Asha.
'So here I am, witnessing another truth of the world. Geniuses and people of character are two different things…'
Asha clicked her tongue and headed back to the workshop.
"Here you are, my lord!"
Asha was looking around near the workshop when Hector waved his hands from a distance and called her.
"Come quickly! The lumber has arrived!"
Asha hurried over and gasped.
"W-what is all this?"
A huge amount of wood was piled up in front of her eyes. Even more lumber was being brought in by cart from the other side.
"I heard that His Highness Carlyle bought all the spare lumber in the northern territories of the capital. Did you know?"
"Ah, no…"
"And it's all fire-resistant lumber, so it's expensive."
"Is that so?"
Asha tried to act as nonchalant as possible, but she was a little overwhelmed by the sight of the endless piles of expensive lumber.
'When on earth did he buy all this?'
There had been no sign of new supplies being bought on the way to Pervaz.
She caught hold of a lumber salesman who was passing by and asked him.
"When did you receive the order to transport the lumber to Pervaz?"
"Uh… it must have been about a month and a half ago."
"A month ago?"
A month ago was exactly when Asha had named Carlyle as her marriage partner and made a deal with him at the banquet.
At that time, Giles would have been opposed to the marriage, so he would not have approved of the purchase of so much lumber.
'So it was His Highness Carlyle's decision alone… He's a hapless man, but he's certainly different from his father.'
In fact, Asha had been grateful to Carlyle ever since she arrived in Pervaz.
As Decker said, unlike his arrogant attitude that looked down on people, he showed considerable generosity for the reconstruction of Pervaz.
Half of the carriages he brought were filled with items urgently needed for the immediate reconstruction of Pervaz.
Therefore, there was a part that worried me a little.
'Is this what I should be doing?'
Wife in name only.
Actually, I didn't think there was anything I could do that was worth this much.
'Even my life wouldn't be worth this much… What does he want from me?'
I heard that I should stand up as a shield for him when the Emperor or Empress tries to find fault with him.
However, it was closer to a vague image, and I couldn't really think of what exactly he wanted me to do.
While thinking about it and looking at the piled-up lumber, she quickly cleared her thoughts.
'It doesn't matter. I'll do whatever he tells me to do.'
It was no different from Pervaz being rebuilt by Carlyle alone.
The amount of money he spent far exceeded my expectations, and it was right to call it a 'gift'.
So she secretly promised herself that I would gladly follow whatever he wanted.
'He's the one who made my wish come true, so naturally.'
How envious I was when I looked at the sturdy stone wall built around the outskirts of the capital.
Now, we could build a strong defense along the northern border of Pervaz, which is also the border of this empire.
It might be weaker than a stone wall, but it could stop the barbarians from coming and going like they own the place.
Even if it were to catch fire, it would buy us time to prepare for the attack, and we wouldn't be caught off guard.
"We have unloaded all the lumber we brought. Please sign here."
The lumber seller held out a receipt.
Received 100,000 pieces of high-quality lumber from Kagar Construction Lumber.
From now on, we will receive similar receipts from local sellers in Elsir, Runderman, Novasett, and Tailwich regions.
It was almost a miracle that Pervaz, which was reduced to ashes by the Lure tribe, would have a defense built with high-quality timber.
"Excuse me… Your Excellency…?"
The seller called Asha once more. She then came to her senses.
"Oh, yes, of course. Here?"
"Yes."
Asha wrote her name on the bottom of the receipt he extended and signed it. It felt like a big step for the future of Pervaz.
Just then, a servant from the capital arrived and told her that Carlyle was calling for her.
***
"Did you call for me, Your Highness?"
"Ah, it's been a while, Countess Pervaz."
It was the first time Countess Pervaz visited Carlyle's office since she stopped by when he began unpacking supplies a week ago.
During that time, the servants had diligently decorated and organized his office to the point where it was as luxurious as Pervaz Castle itself.
"Is everything going well?"
"Thanks to Your Highness's grace, things are going much better than I anticipated. Thank you."
"Actually, that's what I wanted to ask. I've provided you with funds and supplies, but I haven't heard how you plan to use them."
"Oh! I'm sorry. I should have informed you in advance…"
Asha was genuinely flustered. She hadn't expected Carlyle to be curious about the reconstruction of Pervaz.
So, she was even more pleased.
'He's interested in Pervaz despite pretending not to be? Maybe he's not such a bad person after all.'
For a man above the clouds to take an interest in Pervaz!
'Well, if he wasn't interested, he wouldn't have provided so much money.'
Asha's heart raced at the thought that maybe his statement to the Emperor about "contributing to the reconstruction of Pervaz as part of the empire's affairs" might not have been a lie.
"I'll go get the reconstruction plans and budget allocation documents right away. While some details are still pending, you should be able to grasp the overall framework."
"Huh? Right now?"
"Yes. Please wait a moment."
Asha nodded respectfully and left before Carlyle could say anything to stop her.
"…"
Carlyle stood frozen with his hand awkwardly reaching out towards Asha's back.