“This is the North.”

I stared blankly at Camilia, who casually brushed off her dress that had wrinkled during the loyalty pledge. I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t speak.

Until just before attending today’s banquet, Ian and I had been worried about the fractures forming among the Northern nobles.

We’d been struggling to figure out how to gain information and trust from the Northern nobles without getting entangled in their demands for a marriage alliance with Ian, but no easy answer had presented itself.

And now everything had been resolved so simply.

“So, do you think the North’s sincerity was properly conveyed to you, aide?”

“It was sufficient.”

“Huh?”

“I mean it was sufficient enough that you didn’t need to show anything more.”

I meant this sincerely. I was genuinely moved by the unity and sincerity the Northern nobles had displayed.

“My noble senior classmate has completely fallen for the North’s charms.”

“Eek.”

Camilia quickly put her arm around my shoulders again, which slightly cooled my previous emotion, but seeing her bright smile as she enjoyed my startled reaction made me feel competitive.

“By the way, you seem close with the Marquis.”

“……Huh?”

“Calling out ‘Dad’ came so naturally to you.”

“……”

“You must have been quite the affectionate daughter?”

It was quite entertaining to see Camilia’s face visibly redden—she clearly hadn’t expected me to counterattack.

“Ah, I’m so jealous. How wonderful it would be if I had a daaaaddy who would move immediately at his daughter’s word.”

“……Stop. Please. I’m dying of embarrassment.”

I broke free from Camilia’s arm around my shoulders and burst into laughter. Seeing her trembling with her fists clenched in frustration at my laughter made me laugh even harder. After a good long laugh, I said to her:

“If you had just spoken honestly to His Highness the Crown Prince from the beginning instead of approaching me specifically, you wouldn’t have had to be embarrassed.”

“Even though we knew His Highness would accept if we showed our sincerity by kneeling, my father is quite proud.”

“And it was your cuteness that moved the proud Marquis.”

“……Weren’t we done with that topic?”

“I guess I was still a bit hung up on someone calling my red eyes unpleasant. Sorry. I can be quite direct too.”

“Haha. You’re really funny. At the academy, you never spoke and seemed so stuck-up.”

“Perhaps I didn’t seem stuck-up because I was quiet, but because I was, as someone put it, a ‘noble top student’?”

“……Wow, I take back calling you funny—you’re actually the unpleasant type.”

“I hear that often.”

“Really? Me too. Maybe we’re alike?”

Camilia extended her hand for a handshake, suggesting we were similar. I seriously considered not taking it, but setting aside personal feelings, I chose to accept her hand.

“Let me introduce myself again, classmate. I’m Camilia Karmel, eldest daughter of the Karmel Marquis family.”

“I’m Ilena Weiana, only daughter of the Weiana family.”

“You asked why I didn’t go directly to His Highness the Crown Prince and went through you instead?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve admired you since our academy days.”

“What?”

“I admired you. Even though I was known as a genius with no equal in the North.”

“……”

“My wish was to beat you just once. But I never achieved it. So even after returning to the North, I thought of you occasionally.”

“Ah……”

“If I’d known I’d think of you this much, I should have at least spoken to you. I regretted it so much. Then perhaps we could have become friends rather than rivals.”

“……”

“Though now it seems we’ve become ruler and subject.”

“Ruler and subject?”

“There are ranks even among subjects. You became His Highness the Crown Prince’s aide right after graduation and have been working by his side all this time.”

“……”

“Rumors about the murderous workload at the Crown Prince’s Palace are widespread in the capital. When I heard you were enduring that workload alone, I thought you were truly amazing.”

“The rumors are wrong.”

“Huh?”

“We usually call ourselves slaves who couldn’t escape.”

“……What? Hahaha!”

“You may be His Highness’s subject, but I’m His Highness’s slave. So what do you think?”

“Huh?”

“We might be subject and slave, but I think we could still be friends.”

“Really? Truly?”

“I’m not someone who speaks idly. What do you think? Will you accept my offer?”

“Absolutely! I told you I wanted to be friends with you!”

“Alright then, I’ll speak informally from now on, Camilia.”

“Great! Ilena!”

As I smiled and took Camilia’s outstretched hand, I thought to myself: I’ve already made friends with Fleur, the original female protagonist, so what’s wrong with befriending Camilia, who I can’t even remember if she appeared in the original story?

“Let me introduce you to my friends. Remember the Viscount’s daughter with the medicinal herbs I mentioned earlier…… Sidin! Come over here!”

“What?”

“I just became friends with the Crown Prince’s one and only aide! This is Ilena! She’s super smart!”

“Ah! So this is the legendary genius you always whined about wanting to beat just once whenever you got drunk?”

“The legendary genius that Camilia couldn’t defeat was the aide?”

Suddenly surrounded by Northern ladies who had quickly gathered—from Camilia calling Lady Hoodin’s name loudly to Lady Hoodin responding just as loudly—I had the rare experience of my face and even my neck turning red from their conversation.

“Oh? The aide’s face is super red!”

“Wow, such fair skin can turn this red too. It really shows!”

“Haha! Ilena, what are you so embarrassed about?”

“What exactly have you been saying about me for all these people to know my name?”

“Camilia said she really wanted you!”

“Whaaat?”

“She said with your jade-white skin and your haughty voice and behavior, she wanted to completely corrupt you!”

“Co…corrupt me? Camilia, didn’t you say you have a lover? So it was you after all?”

“What are you talking about? It’s natural to be attracted to beautiful people, isn’t it?”

“People don’t usually say it so openly!”

“Anyway, this doesn’t seem like an important issue, so let’s move on.”

“It seems plenty important to me!”

I was about to say more to Camilia, who was trying to brush past what I considered a very important matter, when suddenly Lady Hoodin grabbed my hand.

“Aide, aide. A cluster of medicinal herbs that are superior to existing herbs for wound healing has been discovered on our territory. We want to commercialize this medicine—could you help us?”

“Ah….. How effective is it compared to holy water distributed by the temple?”

“It would be at least as effective as mid-grade holy water!”

“And how much of the herb can your territory provide?”

“So much we’re tripping over it! We’ve already completed processing for prototypes too.”

“What about the unit price?”

“About one copper coin per ointment. We can mass-produce it.”

“Even so, if you set the price too low, you risk losing competitiveness against holy water, which is already a proven product. It seems better to initially release it to the market at a price slightly cheaper than the lowest-grade holy water.”

“But we don’t have proper trade routes in the North. The East, West, and even the Central regions keep us in check…… And the North is too poor for domestic consumption……”

“The North has Dongmyeong Port, doesn’t it?”

“Huh?”

“Many port cities in the East, West, or South have sailors who would be major customers for ointments, not to mention soldiers who fight pirates.”

“My goodness!”

“Try developing the market through ships. There will definitely be high demand, and given the nature of port cities, rumors spread quickly.”

“Thank you! I’ll try that!”

“If you provide some of the profits as distribution fees to territories that own Dongmyeong Port, you can also promote regional co-prosperity within the North.”

“That makes sense! Hey, Medi! Your territory has a port, right?”

“Huh? Yes, it does!”

“Let’s make a deal!”

As Lady Hoodin ran off to immediately implement my suggestion without a shred of doubt, I urgently called after her:

“You need to be careful when selecting trade routes! Please!”

“Yes! We’re excellent sailors! Don’t worry!”

As soon as Lady Hoodin left with a happy face after getting advice on how to revitalize the economy using her territory’s specialty products, requests began pouring like rain from the many ladies who had been hovering around me as if waiting for their chance.

“Aide! The swords made from our territory’s steel have incredible durability!”

“Hey, you’re doing well enough already. aide, our territory grows mushrooms with amazing taste and aroma all year round! Have you heard of truffles?”

“Why are you pushing mushrooms? Our local cheese is so good you wouldn’t notice if one person died after two people ate it!”

“I’ll listen to everyone and answer as best I can with my limited knowledge. So please, could you speak more slowly?”

***

“The ladies seem extremely fond of Your Highness’s aide.”

As Marquis Karmel poured me a drink and made this observation, I nodded with pleasure and said:

“She’s a person who can’t help but be popular.”

I wanted to gain the unconditional loyalty of the entire North, and Ilena agreed with this goal. Watching Ilena work harder than anyone, I desperately wanted to secure the North’s loyalty.

I absolutely didn’t want to resort to the extreme method of a marriage alliance, and while I thought I was making sufficient plans and progress, my heart sank when I heard that some Northern nobles had defected.

Because of this, I had considered leaving Ilena behind for this banquet as I had done previously, but today, even if things went wrong, I wanted to proudly introduce her as my person to the Northern nobles.

As soon as we entered the banquet hall, I could only calm my anxious feelings with alcohol as I watched Ilena struggle with Lady Camilia, Marquis Karmel’s eldest daughter, who had approached her immediately.

I was especially concerned because Ilena, having no experience with the North’s direct manner of speech and accent, would find it difficult to handle.

But contrary to my expectations, Ilena quickly recovered from her initial surprise and continued conversing with Lady Camilia without yielding at all.

And she moved Lady Camilia, who in turn moved Marquis Karmel and all the Northern nobles. Though I wasn’t by her side, it was clear that Camilia had been moved by something Ilena had that I lacked.

Even now, Northern ladies crowded around Ilena, bombarding her with questions about commercializing their territories’ specialty products or improving the treatment of their territory residents.

“My daughter seems excited to meet Lady Weiana, whom she admires.”

I had been watching Ilena, caught in the midst of the ladies, with a pleased heart, but Marquis Karmel’s words snapped me to attention.

“What do you mean?”

“Ah, my daughter is a graduate of the capital’s academy. She and Lady Weiana were classmates in the Administrative Department.”

“……Is that so?”

“She’s my daughter I’m proud  of who graduated as the second-highest student.”

“Ah, I see. Ilena was the top student.”

“……Pardon?”

“Is there a problem?”