Side Story 6

Reibella stared at the mountain of paperwork with a blank expression and asked her aide, Fabian.

Fabian, who had been working at Reliccarve Castle first, answered with fatigue evident on his face.

“Since there has been no person in charge for the past 10 years, administrative work hasn’t been properly processed. There are many duplicate documents, calculations don’t match, and there are many problematic new policies. So……”

Fabian explained in detail, but it could all be summarized in one sentence.

“……So all of this is paperwork I need to review.”

Though she had arrived and entered the office just minutes ago, looking at this flood of documents made her feel overwhelmed before even starting.

She looked sympathetically at Fabian who must have reviewed all these documents and energetically picked up a nearby document.

Even at a glance, it was a mess.

The sources and exact purposes of taxes collected in Reliccarve weren’t even organized properly. This couldn’t be considered a proper report.

“I wonder if the documents submitted to the imperial palace are any different. I should ask Calyx.”

“Since the problem arose from having no one in charge, I doubt what was sent to the imperial palace would be much different, but I’ll check.”

Reliccarve was a strategic location of the country with fertile land that generated abundant tax revenue. The neglect of its management seemed intended to make an example of the traitor Felicity’s territory.

The severely fire-damaged castle left abandoned was proof that her conjecture wasn’t far from the truth.

“How should I approve things? Would it be okay to use Felicity?”

There were still official procedures remaining before the title of Duke Felicity could be restored.

Since Calyx’s imperial coronation came first, it would only be possible a year later when the coronation ceremony would be held.

“It would be better to use Vicheravali Castle. Since Felicity hasn’t been officially restored yet, there could be controversy over your signature later.”

“Then I’ll have to think of myself as the estate manager until then.”

As Reibella smiled and looked at another document, the corridor seemed to become noisy, and then Cleo appeared.

Unlike his usual expressionless demeanor, he looked somewhat flustered.

“Miss, people have gathered.”

“……People?”

“Yes, it seems the locals from nearby estates have gathered after hearing that you’ve arrived at the castle.”

He seemed flustered by the sudden influx of people, as the castle walls weren’t fully restored yet.

“They’re determined not to leave until they see you in person, so I’m reporting this.”

“Where are they?”

As Reibella put down the document and asked, Cleo immediately took the lead.

Following him outside, she first noticed workers busily repairing the castle. They were gathering the ruins of the damaged castle in one place and removing the blackened burn marks—a series of processes being carried out energetically.

It was a different atmosphere from when she had come to retrieve her parents’ remains.

As she walked watching the scenery, she soon reached a place where many knights had gathered.

The first person to approach her was Ilius.

“Miss, the locals say they have requests.”

“Requests?”

“They say that due to the absence of a manager, the estate hasn’t been managed, and they’re waiting for you to address this quickly.”

She could tell just from the documents she had briefly reviewed. Administrators who wrote such sloppy reports couldn’t have properly addressed the locals’ complaints.

“What would you like to do?”

“I should meet them.”

She remembered the warm welcome the locals had shown when she came to bury her parents’ remains. They were kind-hearted people who blessed the returned heir of Felicity.

Reibella sincerely wanted to help those who had been unintentionally neglected for a long time.

Before officially starting work, listening to their grievances seemed to be the top priority.

Ilius sighed softly at Reibella’s answer.

“……I thought you might say that, so I spoke with them first. They promised to maintain proper etiquette.”

Though he gave permission, he still seemed concerned about her safety, with worry filling his face.

Reibella gave him an apologetic look and stepped forward through the knights.

Behind the knights, countless people were waiting for her with determined expressions.

The moment she appeared, people began shouting from all directions.

“The bridge in our village has collapsed! We can’t travel!”

“The medical center has closed. In our village, there’s a patient……”

“Please, find the person who killed my son!”

With everyone speaking at once, she couldn’t clearly understand each issue, but one thing was certain.

She would have a lot of work to do starting today.

Reibella composed herself once more and introduced herself with a bright smile.

“I am Reibella Vicheravali, heir of Uriah Felicity.”

A name she was proud of, enough to warm her heart.

* * *

On a night when moonlight fell dimly.

‘Miss. If you don’t go to sleep now, I’m going to contact the Duke.’

Despite entering her room to sleep due to Charlotte’s firm attitude, she couldn’t easily fall asleep.

It was because the stories she had heard from the locals all day still echoed in her ears.

Today, she had truly heard many stories.

About how unfairly they had been living all this time, and what they needed.

What they wanted wasn’t anything special.

Just rebuilding a bridge washed away by the river, maintaining medical facilities and deploying doctors for sick elderly and children, punishing criminals—only essential livelihood issues necessary for their daily lives.

Things that anyone who took their taxes should definitely listen to.

The fact that their requests had been casually ignored made her anger toward the tyrant, Liam Curtis Rastel, surge again, while also feeling self-reproach for not having paid attention sooner.

At the time, she had deliberately pretended not to know, fearing that Vicheravali might also face repercussions because of her, and there was no capacity due to the endless war.

Feeling stifled, Reibella carefully got out of bed so as not to wake Leon and stepped out of the bedroom.

She intended to clear her troubled mind by breathing in the fresh air.

The corridor was quiet.

The servants who had been sweeping, cleaning, and organizing the castle seemed to have all returned to their quarters as the night deepened.

Looking at the walls of the corridor, she noticed black marks that still hadn’t been erased. Traces of that day when everything burned to ashes.

She slowly left the annex building and walked toward the main castle.

Though it was gradually regaining its original appearance as people worked on it, she still felt as if she could smell the acrid smoke inside.

Upon entering through the main entrance, the central staircase first caught her eye.

On top of the blackened stairs remained traces of her father’s burned portrait.

Suddenly, she recalled what the locals had told her.

‘Duke Felicity was a very energetic and cheerful person.’

‘Yes, the Duke I remember was like that too. Always smiling and listening to our stories.’

‘Sometimes he would come out in disguise and secretly share drinks with us. It was so hard to pretend not to know.’

‘The Duchess was also beautiful and full of dignity. On days when the two of them came out for dates, everyone would stare in awe……’

The locals shared stories about her parents that only they knew, telling her what good lords her parents had been.

Those stories made her feel nostalgic and burdened.

Could she fulfill their expectations like her parents had?

Could she become a proper lord and lead everyone to happiness?

Though it wasn’t something she hadn’t done before, she became uncertain whether she could follow the path of her perfect father and mother.

“……I miss you.”

The moment she murmured quietly, a transparent butterfly appeared from somewhere and flew onto her shoulder, leaving traces of light.

It was a spirit. It seemed to have been near her.

The moment she thought she had made a mistake,

The places the spirit had passed while fluttering its wings began to restore to their original state.

The scattered and broken pieces absorbed the light scattered by the spirit and sparkled, then found their places one by one. As the pieces fit together, the place returned to a clean state as if it had never been broken.

The chandelier that had melted and fallen to the floor, the carpets and curtains torn by fire, and decorations all regained their complete forms and returned to the images in her memory.

It was the perfect scenery of Reliccarve Castle that she had known.

And in the center of this nostalgic scenery formed by particles of light…

“……Dad?”

There stood Uriah Felicity.