The Viridescent Tiara

Chapter 4

“What?” Lan looked up.

Ross watched her as he answered. “The captain of the guards.”

“Send him where?”

“Near the Door.”

“Did you not just hear?” Lan asked.

She lifted her cup and blew on it. This was not exemplary noble daughter behavior, but it was better than touching hot tea with her tongue.

As she sipped some of the hot tea, Ross asked her again. “You are sending the captain of the guards toward the Door to get rid of him, aren’t you, my lady?”

This made sense since the most dangerous magic beasts lived near the Door.

“Why would I do that?” Lan drew her attention away from the tea and back to Ross.

“To destroy Lord Eustaph’s power,” Ross said darkly.

Lan couldn’t help but smile. This made Ross frown.

“What is this?”

“Strange to ask so directly. You’re asking me outright, ‘You’re trying to murder my brother, aren’t you?’” Lan laughed cheerfully and rested her chin in her hands. Her jade-colored eyes were oddly translucent. “It isn’t like that. I am simply trusting him to accomplish the job.”

“You trust him?”

“Eus trusts him, so I trust him. Is that not all right?”

Ross looked skeptical. He went on, “And how are you able to do that?”

“What now?”

“You were not even educated to become the head of the house. Well, I suppose you have seemed to take your lessons from the tutor more seriously recently, but...”

Still, did it make any sense for a nineteen-year-old girl to abruptly take on the head of the house’s responsibilities and fulfill them with such skill?

“It’s like you were ready. Like you were waiting for this to happen.”

“That’s not true,” Lan said and sipped her red tea.

Frankly, this was the situation she had wanted to avoid the most. She had hoped to block her family’s deaths. Yet, her family died, and Lan established a theory.

No matter what she did, the main events of the story would not change. Perhaps the turning points of fate would always stay the same.

“I am simply doing my best where I can. I may look fine, but my head is about to explode.”

Lan went on, “When you tell Eustaph, try to make him worry less.”

“That is if he worries about you,” Ross retorted.

Lan laughed. “That’s true.”

“You aren’t angry?”

Lan wrapped her fingers around the cup. Cups that black tea was served in were wide, so the tea cooled quickly.

She lifted the tea that was a nice temperature now to her lips and asked, “Why would I be angry?”

“Well...”

Ross was uncharacteristically speechless.

Lan sipped her tea and said, “I want to be family with Eus. It may be too much to ask that we become like amicable siblings, but that’s what I want.”

Lan looked at Ross.

“But I’m not going to force it on him. I’m just going to do my best from where I stand. Eus was abused by my mother and,” she went on hesitantly, “and me, and I am not trying to pretend like that didn’t happen. The past is the past. I want to go a different way now.”

Clink

Lan put down her empty cup and poured a second cup. The sweet fragrance of tea swirled up with steam.

“So I’m not angry. All of this depends on Eus.”

Ross looked as if he had witnessed something utterly bizarre.

Lan stealthily tugged a paper from the pile of papers and put it on top of the desk.

She knew the financial situation was a disaster. What did that mean for the work that had fallen behind?

She was quite sure that the administrator, Elizabeth, would have wanted to grab her by the throat when she asked her to take care of the late work. Yet she didn’t show a thing. She is a good administrator.

Most of the requests required funds. For instance, the clocktower that had been in need of repairs for years now… But I think repairing the bridge is a higher priority. I mean, even the road that got covered up during the landslide three years ago hasn’t been recovered yet.

Her goal for now was to go through the entire pile of papers.

Let’s do this.

Lan took a few deep breaths before quickly scanning the paper in front of her. Speed-reading was one of her talents. It was a good thing that she was able to do this in the face of this mountain of papers.

And…

The formatting is all a mess.

The paperwork did not abide by the proper formatting. These were more like letters to the lord than real documents.

This needs to be fixed first. Lan needed to establish a basic format. This would already drastically reduce the reading time.

Flip flip

Ross was curious to know whether Lan was actually reading the documents as she flipped through the pages with great speed. Around the time he was getting bored by her speed, there was a loud knock at the door.

Both Ross and Lan looked up in surprise.

Ross raised his sword. The door swung open.

“Lan!”

Baron Lindbergh was the one to barge in loudly.

“Uncle.” Lan got out of her seat. “What brings you here?”

“It is impossible to meet with you. I got worried that something had happened to you.” Baron Lindbergh panted as he walked inside.

Ross blocked his way. “You may not meet with the head of the house without permission.”

“I am her uncle! And I am more concerned to see such a vile boy here!”

“Uncle, he is my loyal vassal.”

Ross was secretly surprised when Lan defended him.

Lindbergh scoffed. “Loyal, my foot.”

Lan turned to Ross.

“Give him space.”

Without a word, Ross moved out of the way. Lindbergh walked in confidently and sat down, though Lan hadn’t said he could. It was rude behavior that was not befitting of a vassal.

Yet, Lan sat down without saying anything and asked, “What is the matter, Uncle?”

“I want to give you a guard.”

“Give me a guard?”

“That’s right! Not a disloyal fellow like him, but a true one recommended by me.”

Lindbergh’s words were easy to read.

“Uncle, Sir Ross is already sufficient. There is no need to increase my guards.”

Lindbergh furrowed his brow, then spoke more quietly. “Lan.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know that your mother was indebted to me?”

Baron Lindbergh said this to throw her off. He took a document out of his breast pocket.

“She wanted to buy a necklace. It was quite tough on me because she borrowed it so suddenly.”

He showed the document to Lan, and Lan opened it expressionlessly. It was an IOU.

It said that her mother had borrowed 10,000 berats. The interest was set at ten percent. The debt increased by 1,000 berats every month. It was an exorbitant amount. 3,000 berats was enough to replace all the knights’ equipment.

Should I be relieved that she only borrowed 10,000?

I guess it would have been hard for Baron Lindbergh to hand over any more than 10,000 berats in cash.

The barony’s yearly income was probably around 15,000 berats.

The berat itself was a currency increment hardly used by anyone other than nobles.

A 10,000 berat necklace? Lan recalled her mother’s ornate accessories. That reminds me of Antoinette’s diamond necklace. Her necklace that no one ever saw had caused all sorts of talk.

“According to this IOU, this must be repaid at the end of this year.”

“Yes, but then your mother got into a terrible accident,” the baron said somberly. “It was a large sum for me too. I wondered if you might be unaware of this. That is why I wanted to tell you.”

He cleared his throat lightly, then said more frankly, “But you are my niece. So I am considering canceling the debt.”

“Canceling it?”

Lan looked at him with bewilderment. Baron Lindbergh stroked his well-groomed beard.

“I mean that I want to be your genuine family.”

“We are already kin.”

Lan didn’t want to use the word “family,” so she used a different word. Yet, the baron simply smiled, not noticing the distance she was trying to create.

“I want to set you up with my son.”

Shit.

Lan suppressed a scoff.

“Your son? My cousin Robbie?”

Lan had seen him several times. He was someone who prioritized manly, virile behavior, and relished typical “manly” vices.

To Lan, he was scum.

He probably gambles too.

“That’s right. I’m sure you are aware that there is only a four year age difference between you two. It’s perfect.”

Bullshit.

Lan did not say this out loud.

It was too early.

Too early to make an outright enemy out of him. She needed to wait until the duke’s finances and businesses were stronger.

During the meeting… she had emphasized the Azure Ring, but she knew there were still people who did not approve of her being the temporary head of the house. She presumed that Baron Lindbergh had distributed quite a bit of money here and there to grow his internal influence.

Well, it’s not like the baron is the only character around.

The fortunate thing in all of this was that, as the original author, she knew exactly who the loyal houses were and whom she could promote and rely on. It’s a good thing.

Lan smiled in an embarrassed fashion.

“Uncle, I am very grateful for what you say. However, marriage... is too sudden. And, erm...”

Lan scratched her cheek.

“I don’t particularly like the idea of... getting married because of a debt.”

She admitted this was a bit girly to say, but to the baron, she simply sounded naïve.

“But it is 10,000 berats. Do you know what kind of money that is? And the duke’s house has other debts. This is not a problem you can handle alone.” Lindbergh leaned toward her. “You need the advice of a wiser one.”

“You mean your advice, Uncle?”

“Yes.”

Lindbergh nodded, wondering if he was finally getting through to Lan.

Lan glanced at the mountain of paperwork. There was still so much left to do.

She smiled and looked up.

“I would love to hear what you have to say.”

* * *

“Shouldn’t you go to sleep, my lady?” Ross asked.

“Yeah...” Lan answered evasively. Realizing that she wasn’t listening to him at all, he went closer to her and put his hand on top of the paperwork.

Only then did Lan look at him.

“Sir Ross?”

“It’s late.”

“I’ll only be a little longer.”

“Perhaps you should start again tomorrow morning.”

“You think so?”

Lan rubbed her dry eyes. The candle by her desk was bright, but she was still tired.

Ross considered Lan.

When Baron Lindbergh had come and talked Lan’s ears off, he’d really wanted to stab him. As they’d started conversing, he’d girded himself, thinking that what he had expected was finally happening.

But…

She had told Ross everything they had discussed.

He didn’t believe it, of course. There were countless precedents of people building up trust, only to stab each other in the back.

Until she told me about the secret hole…

* * *

“Next time, you can come here and listen when my uncle and I are talking.”

She had led Ross to another room connected to the inner room and pointed at the chimney.

“If you open it, you will be able to hear things clearly.”

“And then you will communicate by writing or exchanging notes, won’t you?” Ross had said.

Lan blinked. Her shoulders went slack.

“I guess... that is possible too. Though I have no intention of doing so.”

“Why are you doing all this?”

“Erm, is it having the opposite effect? I just want to build your trust.”

“Trust.”

“Yes. It is more than worth the effort.” Lan shrugged and went on, “Well, maybe it will be easier once Eustaph graduates.”

This was his last semester. He was supposed to graduate at the end of the winter and return to the manor in the spring. Lan hoped that it would be easier to build trust when they were closer together.

Ross did not respond. The master could think whatever the master wanted. It was not for him to add his opinion.

* * *

Lan marked the page she was on and got up.

“Then I shall take your advice and go to sleep.”

Ross cast his eyes down silently.

Back in her room, a lady-in-waiting attended to Lan and helped her change.

According to custom, she should have moved to the master bedroom, but she insisted on remaining in her room. She emphasized that she was, after all, the temporary head of the house.

As soon as she lay in her usual bed, she fell fast asleep.