As soon as they left the castle, they quickly arrived at the village. Leticia toured the village with Christine. The village was small but full of life.

“There are more people here than I expected.”

“It’s surprising.”

However, what Leticia wanted to see wasn’t the village itself but land suitable for farming.

“Madam, it’s a pleasure to meet you for the first time. My name is Philip.”

“Nice to meet you, Philip.”

Leticia met the man she had contacted in advance for this day. He was the elder of the village. Nora, who was from this area, had told her that he was involved in all the important matters of the village.

“I’ve already heard from Nora. I’ll guide you.”

“I’ll leave it to you.”

Philip smiled warmly and led her. Not far from the village, a vast expanse of land came into view. It was better quality land than Leticia had expected—except for the fact that half of it was unusable for farming this year.

“What about that land?”

“Oh, that’s useless land.”

“Why?”

There was a fence on one side. Beyond it, there was nothing. Even so, if that land were cultivated, it seemed like it could yield a considerable amount.

“The Dorel tribe did something wicked, so crops won’t grow properly there.”

“Something wicked?”

“Yes. In any case, no crops can be grown there.”

Philip cut her off firmly, as if he didn’t want to explain further. But that didn’t erase Leticia’s doubts. As soon as she parted from Philip, Leticia turned to Christine.

“Christine, you’ve fought on the side of the Dorel tribe before, haven’t you?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then you must know them well. What does Philip mean by something wicked? What is he talking about?”

“Oh, that’s…”

Christine hesitated for a moment before deciding it didn’t matter and spoke again.

“He’s talking about the sorcery the Dorel tribe uses.”

“Sorcery?”

“Yes. Moving objects without touching them, cursing the land, things like that.”

“Does such a thing really exist?”

It was the first time Leticia had heard that the Dorel tribe could do such things. Surprised, she asked again, and Christine shrugged.

“I don’t know. I only know that such rumors exist.”

“Then it doesn’t exist.”

Leticia mulled over Philip’s words. The animosity between the people of Metherdea and the Dorel tribe was long-standing. However, Leticia had never seen them herself. To her, the Dorel tribe was as much a myth as fire-breathing dragons in fairy tales.

“I think I might have found a way.”

“What? How?”

“First, I need to meet the Dorel tribe.”

“What?”

Christine immediately asked, confused. She couldn’t even guess what kind of plan Leticia had in mind.

—

Callius was reading the newspaper throughout the meal. Judging by the occasional curses he muttered, it didn’t seem like good news.

Leticia wondered whether she should wait until he finished eating, but she doubted his mood would improve even after the meal. So, she decided to speak first.

“About the tenant farmers’ rent.”

“What, have you reconsidered and realized that increasing production is impossible after all?”

Callius didn’t even look at her as he spoke. Leticia, realizing once again that a long preamble would only test his patience, got straight to the point.

“I think it’s possible.”

Only then did Callius’s gaze land on her. He folded the newspaper in half and set it aside. Even with the long dining table between them, Leticia found his gaze intimidating. Perhaps it was because of the curses he had muttered earlier.

“How?”

“There’s land that no one is cultivating.”

“I know. Then you must also know why it isn’t being cultivated.”

He looked as though he found the topic trivial and was about to reopen the newspaper.

“Do you really believe in such ridiculous sorcery?”

“…”

Leticia didn’t believe in such superstitions. If such things were possible, if they truly had that kind of power, there would be no reason for them to wander without proper territory. They would’ve conquered the empire long ago and established their own kingdom. Even if not, they wouldn’t be living under oppression as they were now.

So, the rumors weren’t true. They were baseless stories born out of animosity toward the Dorel tribe. And yet, Callius Maxis believed in such nonsense and left that fertile land unused?

“You don’t know the foreigners.”

“You’re right. But you still haven’t answered my question. Do you really believe in such sorcery?”

“No.”

“Then why…”

“Because it gives a justification to drive them out.”

Leticia was momentarily at a loss for words. The baseless rumors about them had become the reason they were being persecuted.

“You’re not unaware of what I’ve done.”

He had done everything he could to kill and drive out the foreigners from this land. And all of it had been for his ambitions.

“If crops grow on that land, people will realize all the nonsense I’ve done. Then they’ll treat me like a fool. I have no intention of being treated like a fool in my own territory.”

That was too much of an exaggeration. However, Callius’s expression was so sincere that Leticia couldn’t bring herself to speak easily.

“Then let’s end this discussion here.”

“Then have them cultivate it themselves.”

“…”

Callius, who had been about to rise from his seat, froze.

“Even if crops grow, people will think they used some other kind of sorcery. I’ve heard they’re living as captives, barely better than villagers. If they cultivate the land themselves, it’ll reduce the costs spent on them, and you can collect rent from them as well.”

“And what about the complaints from the tenants?”

“You can reduce their rent by a certain percentage.”

The last part was something she had just thought of, but it sounded plausible. Callius remained silent for a long time, seemingly unable to come up with a counterargument. Eventually, unable to find anything to refute, he sat back down. He sighed, raising his eyebrows in dissatisfaction.

“They won’t listen.”

“Make them.”

“If they do, I’ll grant you one thing you want. Of course, it has to be something I can grant immediately.”

That was as good as permission. Leticia’s lips curled up slightly before returning to their original position, careful not to let him notice. This time, Leticia finished her meal first and went up to her room.

Lost in thought, as if mulling over what she had said, Callius was brought back to reality by Nora’s voice.

“That’s great news!”

“We’ll see.”

Nora’s face lit up, but Callius dampened her enthusiasm. Even so, Nora didn’t look discouraged at all.

“I have a really good feeling about this. But Callius, why are you so calm? In the past, you would’ve already gotten angry, shouting about being disrespected…”

“I must’ve finally lost my mind.”

“Oh, come on. I meant it as a compliment!”

Nora shook her head. Despite her praise about his calm demeanor, his words were still laced with thorns. However, compared to before, his attitude had improved significantly. Nora thought that perhaps marriage had made Callius more human.

—

Before dawn, Leticia woke up as usual. No matter how exhausted her body felt, she always woke up at that time.

Leticia no longer needed to wake up so early. After all, as Callius had said, the only thing she needed to do now was “not collapse.”

Running her hand over the blanket tinged with the faint light of dawn, Leticia closed her eyes again. Memories from the past came rushing in like a flood.

[If you fall, Rearbon falls.]

[You must always conduct yourself properly.]

[Don’t be lazy, Leticia. You are the one who will carry on Rearbon’s legacy.]

Startled, Leticia opened her eyes at the sound of her strict father’s voice. The last time she had actually heard his voice was so long ago, during her time at Damian Academy when she received news of his passing. Yet, she could still hear his voice as clearly as if it were yesterday.

“…It’s no use trying to go back to sleep.”

Leticia gave up on sleeping and got out of bed. She shivered momentarily at the cold sensation underfoot. Realizing why it was so cold, she noticed the window was slightly open. Leticia walked over to the balcony to close it.

Before shutting the window, she heard a faint noise from outside. Leticia instinctively pulled back the curtain and looked out.

The cold dawn air rushed into her lungs.

Not far away, she saw Callius. He was practicing swordsmanship under the moonlight. His movements were desperate, as if swinging his sword was the only way to survive.

His sharp movements were mesmerizing, enough to make her lose herself watching. It was as if he truly saw an enemy before him, ready to strike him down.

At that moment, he seemed to sense her gaze and turned around.

All she had done was peek through the curtain, but she felt as though she had been caught doing something wrong. Leticia quickly let the curtain fall back into place.

Soon, she heard heavy footsteps in the hallway. The sound stopped in front of her room, as if heading toward her bedroom.

But then, the footsteps moved away, growing fainter.