Chapter 069
“What is this? It’s weird.”
“It’s not weird at all; it looks good on you. Why?”
It was clear that I looked rather ridiculous, so as I hurried to untie the towel, Evan was busy stifling his laughter and stopping me.
“If you untie it like that, you’ll never get it off for the rest of your life. Just give up and drink some water.”
As I struggled to loosen the tightly tied knot, a glass of water was held out in front of me.
Evan had rummaged through the basket again and found some water to hand to me.
Receiving the glass, I took a sip and looked at Evan, who seemed preoccupied with searching through the basket I had brought.
He would probably give me whatever else he found useful.
‘He’s definitely changed.’
I recalled how Evan used to avoid me until recently.
It felt like he had returned to the way he was before the incident at the lake.
‘Could it be because of what I said back then?’
The day we headed toward Deling Street together.
The expression Evan made when I said that if anything happened to me, he could just come save me came vividly to mind.
He hadn’t said anything, but I could feel that he was greatly unsettled by my words at that moment.
It must have been since that day.
That Evan stopped avoiding me.
“Uh? Evan, what happened to your left hand?”
It was just a moment of distraction when I noticed a wound on Evan’s left hand that I hadn’t seen until a few days ago.
I immediately reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling it close to my face.
The long scratch across his palm looked like it was made from gripping a sword with bare hands…
“…I just got a little scratched during training.”
As I examined the wound closely, Evan clenched his fist and spoke in a calm tone.
For something that he said was no big deal, he seemed a bit urgent in his fist-clenching…
Looking down at his fist, which seemed unlikely to open no matter what, I thought hard.
I knew a way to make Evan open his fist right now.
“Evan, your hand is really hot. Are you going to keep holding on?”
I said this because his fist had also caught my hand in his grip.
“I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Evan stammered oddly and quickly released his hand.
He was just as consistent as when we first met, he readily massaged my hand just like when my leg hurt.
“I still have training left, so I’ll be on my way.”
As I watched his back quickly turn to head back to the training grounds, I fell into thought for a moment.
‘He doesn’t avoid me, but he draws the line at crucial moments.’
While I pondered what the standard was for the line he drew, I heard a gentle voice.
“Hello, my lady.”
“Roman.”
Turning around to follow the gentle voice, I saw Roman standing there with a soft smile.
As I examined Roman’s face for a moment, I cautiously asked him.
“Have you been very busy lately? It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”
His friendly smile was still there, but there was an undeniable fatigue radiating from his face.
Upon hearing my words, Roman seemed a bit surprised, widening his eyes before he chuckled lightly in response.
“Haha. I cannot deceive the lady’s eyes. In fact, I started investigating the outskirts of the territory on the Duke’s orders a week ago, so I’ve had a lot to do.”
“The outskirts, you say?”
“Yes. It seems that we need to learn more about the area in detail now. No matter what anyone says, this place is now under the Duke’s jurisdiction.”
Despite looking worn out from fatigue, Roman’s face appeared lively as he spoke gently.
I smiled back at Roman in agreement and nodded, then fell into deep thought for a moment.
Since arriving in the territory, the focus had been on restoring the castle and caring for the residents.
‘It’s about time to start looking for something profitable.’
Every noble family had its own specialty products that could generate income.
Families without territories or resources for special products were often eager to expand their business to grow their estates.
‘This place especially needs more money.’
The Duchy of Balestain was a strategic location directly adjacent to the kingdom.
This meant that maintaining military strength required more wealth and manpower than any other territory.
‘Right now, we have some leeway thanks to war bounties and support from the royal family, but to continue operating the territory in the future, we need regular income.’
Although the land is fertile, implementing anything immediately would be difficult due to the devastation caused by the war.
“Ah…!”
Just as I was starting to feel a bit troubled, a fragment of a memory from the past suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘Wait a minute. Isn’t that here?’
I barely managed to cover my mouth to stifle the exclamation that was about to escape.
“My lady, are you feeling unwell?”
Seeing me shudder and cover my mouth, Roman approached with a worried expression.
“No, I’m fine. By the way, have you had any progress with that investigation?”
Roman kindly answered my question without adding anything further to my sudden change of topic.
“Well… it’s embarrassing, but there hasn’t been any significant progress yet. Since the territory is so vast, it will probably take at least another two months to examine everything.”
Even though it wasn’t his fault.
Roman, who was explaining the progress of the investigation to me as if reporting, lowered his head, looking somewhat ashamed.
“It’s only been a week, so that’s understandable. By the way, is there any chance there are mines in the outskirts?”
I offered some comfort with my words while subtly adding my curious inquiry.
“Mines, you say? When I conducted a preliminary survey of the entire territory, I didn’t find any mines. But why are you looking for mines?”
Roman asked my question with a face full of curiosity.
It made sense; it was hard to imagine a mine in an area that had long survived under the royal family’s authority by relying only on farming.
“I’m just wondering. Although it was a hundred years ago, the noble who owned this place before it fell under royal control was quite famous for their mineral business.”
“That certainly makes sense. As you said, my lady, I should pay more attention to see if there are any mines.”
I hastily brought up something I had read in a history book, and Roman sincerely accepted my opinion with an exclamation of admiration.
‘By the way, if there are no mines… Then it will take quite a while to find Tilke deposits.’
While conversing with Roman, I was also busy organizing my thoughts quickly in my mind.
‘Tilke’ was a new mineral that would be recognized in two years as being more important than iron ore for weapon production.
Swords made of Tilke would be at least ten times stronger than those made from smelted iron ore.
The quality of weapons is one of the crucial factors that can determine the outcome of a war.
This was a tremendous discovery that would cause a stir across the continent, even beyond the empire.
And the place where Tilke was first discovered and most abundantly buried was none other than the Duchy of Ballestain.
“I should have remembered it in more detail.”
Having recalled that much, I sighed softly and muttered to myself.
Tilke was a mineral whose uses were known only just before the rebellion broke out.
If its applications had been recognized even a little earlier, the Duchy of Ballestain would have accumulated immense wealth, and the restoration of the territory would have progressed much more smoothly than it is now.
‘Since it can happen now, there’s no need to regret it.’
However, the problem was that there was no way to know where and how Tilke was discovered.
How could one find that stone in this vast land?
Tilke, which suddenly made the Duchy of Ballestain wealthy, had an unusual origin.
Though it looked like just an ordinary stone lying by the roadside, its characteristic was that when split in half, it had a very dark cross-section.
Because of this characteristic, it is said that even after the first discovery of Tilk, its use was not found for a year, and it was simply left alone.
It wasn’t a mineral that shone like a jewel, and its color was black, so it lacked any special allure.
“Roman, when is the next expedition scheduled to depart?”
“It’s planned to leave in two days.”
“I’ll join this expedition.”