15. The First Day of Marriage   

For the month that Darius had been in the south negotiating his marriage, all administrative work in the Grand Duchy had come to a halt.  

So when we entered the main hall where petitions from the citizens were received, I saw a mountain of documents piled up next to the large chair.  

‘Wow, look at all those petitions. But it’s not like I’m the one who has to deal with them.’  

“Lady Ygret seems like a good person. She could leave tasks like attending to me to the maids, though.”  

“Lady Ygret is a distant aunt. She married into our family, but her husband passed away, leaving her alone.”  

“Ah, I see.”  

Darius was now reviewing the first petition of the day. It was a request for a permit to expand the blacksmith guild.  

“We may be poor, but surely we can afford to build a blacksmith’s workshop, right?”  

“We have enough funds to get through this winter.”  

No, male lead, that’s not true. Lady Ygret has already taken all the money from this estate and run off with it.  

Even the food and cotton I brought as part of my dowry are useless because she took all the cash!  

This was exactly why I was wary of Lady Ygret. In the original story, when Darius had just become the Grand Duke and didn’t know much, Lady Ygret managed the Grand Duchy’s finances and then disappeared with the wealth.  

As a result, Darius, left without funds, had to personally lead the knights and even participate in wars in other territories to maintain the dignity of the Grand Duchy. He was essentially a mercenary.  

“Have you ever thought that if you weren’t born a Grand Duke, you might have lived freely as a wandering mercenary?”  

“A knight, a merchant, a scholar. Of all the professions, why a mercenary?”  

“Hmm, it just came to mind.”  

Because in the original story, you were too good at being a mercenary. Every war you participated in ended in victory, so that says it all.  

“It’s true that northern mercenaries are famous. But I have no intention of making money at the cost of the lives of my valuable citizens. And we’re not so short on funds that it’s necessary.”  

Darius spoke firmly. He seemed to think my question was a suggestion to revive the territory by investing in the mercenary industry.  

“Of course.”  

Not wanting to exploit citizens’ lives for money, especially when the situation isn’t dire.  

That was his true sentiment, but the original story, ‘The Forsaken Saintess Goes to the Northern Grand Duke,’ was a novel that pushed the male lead to the brink.  

Whenever things seemed to improve, famine, plague, or demonic beasts would attack the north. Other regions ignored the north and never once offered help.  

Despite this, Darius steadfastly protected his citizens in the neglected north, even though he could have rebelled, claiming that others didn’t appreciate how the north shielded them from demonic beasts.  

Eventually, with the arrival of the heroine who’s a saintess, the north began to develop, and together with her, Darius defeated the Demon King. That was the original plot.  

It was fortunate that the story was told from the heroine’s perspective because Darius’s life was nothing but hardship.  

‘Betrayed even by a trusted relative, Darius’s personality became even darker.’  

This was why, when he first met the heroine, who had been cast out of the temple, he was reluctant to trust her.  

Lady Ygret’s name wasn’t mentioned in the original story, so I hadn’t realized her role at first.  

‘It must have been easy for Lady Ygret to embezzle funds after the previous Grand Duke’s death and while Darius was still settling into his role. But Darius wouldn’t rely on her forever, so she probably decided to withdraw now.’  

With all the wealth she had accumulated, of course.  

I recalled Lady Ygret’s gentle smile as she subtly tried to assert dominance over me, unwilling to relinquish control.  

Originally, Annette wouldn’t have been able to come to the Grand Duchy, so Lady Ygret could have continued her schemes for a while longer.  

‘But coincidentally, I’m here. The real mistress of the house who can inspect the ledgers.’  

As I mulled over these thoughts, I sat quietly in the large Grand Duchess’s chair. The thrones for the Grand Duke and Duchess were the kind of grand golden chairs you’d see in games or movies.  

‘Maybe it’s because the chair is so big, but Darius keeps losing his posture.’  

“Your Grace, the armrest is here.”  

I smiled as I adjusted his arm so he wouldn’t feel awkward. He had absentmindedly extended his hand toward me.  

His outstretched fingertips brushed against mine.  

“Annette, your armrest is over here.”  

It wasn’t like he was in a position to talk. Our hands kept colliding on the two armrests placed right next to each other.  

I gave up and folded my hands neatly in my lap. Fine, take the armrest.  

* * *  

Gnome Gilbert had been working at the largest blacksmith’s workshop in the north for over 15 years. He was also part of the Northern Blacksmith Guild’s management team.  

“…So we’d like to request permission from Your Grace for a full-scale renovation.”  

Though Gilbert was usually good at bargaining in the marketplace, he found himself stumbling over his words in front of the almighty Grand Duke.  

‘This isn’t even my job. What am I doing here, out of place like this?’  

Gilbert silently cursed the guild leader who had dumped the meeting with the lord on him.  

He explained the production and consumption rates of the northern iron mines as best he could, but he didn’t realize that the increasingly technical discussion was causing the Grand Duke and Duchess to lose interest.  

“Wait a moment. If we consider building a blacksmith’s workshop as a ten-step process, what level would you say our current workshop is at?”  

“Pardon?”  

Gilbert’s heart pounded just from the sight of the raven-haired Grand Duke, but now the young girl beside him was asking a question.  

What was her name again? She was supposed to be their new mistress, right?  

“If we say an ideal blacksmith’s workshop, capable of working with mythical materials like orichalcum, is at level 10, what level would you say the northern workshops are currently at?”  

“By that standard… I’d say we’re at level 4, no, maybe level 3. With this renovation, we could reach level 4.”  

“What? That’s all?”  

When the girl frowned, Gilbert felt a pang of guilt. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but he felt as though he had.  

“How much will the renovation cost?”  

“We’ve estimated about 20 carts of materials, 10 carts of iron, and 1,000 gold coins.”  

This was the minimum estimate. While the guild would invest its own funds into the project, a large-scale endeavor like this required the Grand Duchy’s support.  

“If we renovate the workshop, we’ll be able to hire more workers and produce more refined iron. It’ll benefit the north in every way.”  

Gilbert, sweating profusely, passionately argued that the workshop expansion was essential for the regional economy. At the same time, he felt grateful for Annette’s intervention.  

‘Thank goodness the lady asked me to explain the workshop’s level using a ten-step scale. If I had gone on about waste management or other technical details, the nobles would’ve lost interest.’  

A scale of 1 to 10 was much more intuitive.  

“Your Grace, the fact that this is the first agenda item today shows how important your retainers consider this issue.”  

Darius nodded at Annette’s words, seeming to agree with the necessity of the renovation.  

“So I propose not only approving the renovation but also expanding it further.”  

“Expanding it further?”  

Gilbert’s eyes widened at Annette’s unexpected suggestion.  

‘I would’ve been grateful just to get the renovation approved!’  

A larger-scale project? Was this a dream? As expected, the Grand Duke, who had been quietly listening, intervened.  

“After hearing the explanation, I, too, feel this project is necessary. But additional expansion, which they haven’t even proposed—what are you talking about, Annette?”  

“No. At this pace, it’s too slow.”  

Annette turned back to Gilbert.  

“If our northern workshop is at level 3, what level are workshops in other cities?”  

“Other cities… In the capital, the best workshops are probably at level 5 or 6.”  

“And on average?”  

“Around level 4.”  

“So every other region has workshops more advanced than our level 3 workshop. We’re far behind.”  

Annette sighed regretfully.  

If the best workshop in the nation was at level 6, the northern workshops were barely half that level.  

Hearing this, not only Gilbert but even Darius began to feel as though the situation was more serious than they had realized.  

“If there’s one thing the north is known for, it’s its military strength and logistics. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if the north, famous for its might, had to import weapons from elsewhere?”  

There had never been a precedent in northern history for large-scale weapon imports from other territories. But as Annette spoke, Gilbert found himself nodding as if spellbound.  

“Exactly! If you approve the renovation, we’ll prove our worth with results.”  

Thanks to Annette’s advice, the blacksmith workshop renovation was approved on a larger scale than expected.  

* * *  

‘This is strange. At this level, it doesn’t seem like we’ll be able to keep up.’  

In the original story, the north was portrayed as a harsh, frozen land hiding treasures beneath its surface. While it was plagued by demonic beasts, its soldiers were strong, and its abundant iron ore deposits made northern weapons famous.  

‘But now, we’re far behind even the capital’s top workshops?’  

I asked about the mythical orichalcum because it was the material for the sword the protagonist was supposed to wield in the final battle in the original story.  

Before the final battle, the protagonist’s party had repaired their weapons at none other than a northern workshop.  

‘The one with the grand name “The Forge at the End of the World.”’  

But mythical orichalcum? Forget that—right now, the north was struggling just to increase its iron production.  

With facilities like this, how would we handle supplies during the final war when the Demon King leads his monsters south? That’s why I pushed so hard for the expansion.  

‘Could there be another issue that hasn’t been mentioned yet?’  

If so, I need to find out.