Marked as the Tyrant's Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 29

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Before the sun had even risen, Briton woke up and trained in swordsmanship on the training grounds. Only after the sky had brightened did he head towards the Emperor’s office.

Upon arriving at the office, he saw Emperor Parmes Aslet reading reports on state affairs since early morning.

The symbol of the Aslet Imperial family: silver hair and an atmosphere so cold it chilled one’s liver and gall.

“Your Majesty, it’s Briton.”

Although he had known Briton had arrived long ago, only after hearing his voice did he take his eyes off the documents.

There was no fatigue in Parmes’ red eyes, but his gaze seemed particularly dry today.

Briton noticed the faint smell of blood emanating from him.

There were also light bloodstains splattered on the collar of his uniform.

It was clear that last night’s interrogation had been quite lengthy.

“Yes, Crown Prince.”

Parmes moved his lips with a low voice.

“Has the matter from last night been settled?”

A moment of silence passed.

Now it was Briton’s turn to report.

If those who were interrogated hadn’t all died, Briton’s report would serve as reference material for the interrogation.

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. I will report on last night’s events.”

Duke Guermont had given a brief report, but Briton was the one who had been in the situation from the start.

“The remnants of the 2nd Prince were waiting inside the pond. They probably intended to attack when prominent figures came out to enjoy secret meetings. My appearance must have been a welcome harvest for them as well.”

“They weren’t targeting Arinel?”

“From what I could tell, they seemed unaware of Arinel. However, they tried to kill Arinel, who was with me, to silence us.”

Briton’s blue eyes flashed with killing intent.

It seemed they didn’t know that Arinel, who was with the Crown Prince, was the daughter of Marquis Mylar, and Briton’s words confirmed this to be true.

To dig into that, he had to knock out a few of them. Parmes frowned for a moment.

“Although Duke Guermont has reportedly captured all of their remaining forces who were on standby, there must surely be an internal spy who helped them enter. The depth of the pond is uneven, and to lie in ambush at regular intervals there, one would need to know the terrain in advance. It would be good to thoroughly investigate the servants and maids who are familiar with that location.”

“Yes, that’s a good point.”

As Briton said, there must be someone who helped them in advance, and whoever it is, they will end up in the underground prison.

“By the way, you said you bought time with Arinel until Duke Guermont, who was patrolling outside the ballroom, arrived.”

“……”

“You wouldn’t have had a sword at the time, but they would have been armed.”

Briton looked at Parmes for a moment.

His cold and sharp gaze, penetrating to the core, made those who stood before him unable to hide their secrets.

Although he must have heard the answers from those interrogated yesterday, he wanted to hear about this matter from Briton once more.

“I… owe Arinel my life.”

Briton moved his lips with a low voice.

His blue eyes were immersed in deep darkness.

Last night, for the first time in his life, Briton experienced a terrible sense of helplessness.

More frightening than the fact that he could die was the possibility that he might not be able to protect Arinel.

That fear became a reality, and the misguided judgment of not carrying a sword due to it being a masked ball pushed the threat of the enemies right up to his neck.

“When death was imminent, Arinel used elemental magic to push them away.”

Briton reported to Parmes that he had escaped the crisis thanks to Arinel.

Parmes’ red pupils shook somewhat violently as if surprised upon hearing those words.

‘Has Arinel awakened the power of the elementals! And…’

Just as Mylar had protected him, his daughter Arinel had now protected Briton.

“……”

Briton kept his head down and didn’t open his mouth for a long time, but his eyes were glowing ominously.

Even while learning swordsmanship, he didn’t have a clear purpose. He had been accustomed to a situation without risk, like a carp living in a pond without predators.

For such a Briton, yesterday’s precarious situation gave him a more certain motivation than ever before.

“I’ve painfully realized my powerlessness and reflected on it.”

Briton, with his fist clenched, said to Parmes.

Parmes’ cold eyes were reproaching Briton, but at the same time, they were also encouraging him.

“I will become stronger so that child will never be in danger again.”

Briton’s blue eyes gleamed coldly.

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“Ugh!”

As soon as I woke up and stretched, I prepared to go to the market.

I chose clothes that were easy to move in rather than a dress with lace. After all, I’d have to walk a lot today.

‘Mrs. Alens might have something to say about my fashion sense if she saw me.’

“All set!”

It will take time for the red sugar beets to grow in the field I recently purchased through Count Anus. So until then, I needed to buy fresh red sugar beets to use as ingredients.

‘I’m also thinking about holding a tasting event before officially starting the business, so I need to make plenty.’

After the masked ball, red sugar beets became a hot trend among the nobility, and I heard that some tried to recreate the sherbet I had made but failed.

So, Mrs. Alens informed me that many people are waiting for my business to start.

Adam reported on the progress by my side.

“Quite a lot of people have volunteered. Many have worked in the food industry, so we’ve selected half experienced workers and half newcomers.”

“The people hired this time are all for processing work, right?”

“Yes. But they’ve never handled red sugar beets either, so please teach them well, miss.”

“Of course!”

I’m confident in giving lectures on handling red sugar beets. I used to do it whenever I had the chance for three neighbors in Galnem, and two days ago, I even demonstrated it to the chefs at the imperial masked ball.

The head chef’s eyes lit up incredibly when he saw my small, nimble hands. He even earnestly asked if I could drop by later when I visited the palace.

“You have an excellent talent!”

After leaving the marquis’s residence by carriage, we soon stopped in front of the bustling area of the capital.

In the market alley, people were selling various items such as vegetables, meat, and snacks on stalls.

Children were running around, and people attracting attention by juggling in front of shops.

Seeing the lively market scene, I felt excited as if I had really become a child out for market sightseeing.

“Shall we choose some good beets then?”

“Certainly, miss.”

Adam willingly escorted me.

Wearing a hat that shielded me from the sun like a bonnet, I started looking around the market, examining the stalls.

Red sugar beets. There’s a vegetable with a similar name in modern times, but in fact, the red sugar beets here were completely different from those in the modern world.

The red sugar beets here were closer to fruits, and while they taste astringent if not properly prepared when skillfully handled, they taste like a mix of mango and apple with lots of sugar sprinkled on top.

However, people here who didn’t know how to prepare them despised red sugar beets as worthless astringent fruits, and many stalls didn’t even sell them.

So, it was only after visiting several shops that I could find a store selling red sugar beets.

That shop was in the most remote corner of the market alley, and there were even flies buzzing around.

“Child, are you buying all of this?”

The shop owner looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked again.

I nodded with a bright smile.

“Yes.”

“You must raise a lot of livestock. But be careful not to feed too much to horses, they might get indigestion.”

“Ah, it’s not for horses to eat…”

There was a pile of red sugar beets on the stall, and even if I bought them all, it would only cost about the price of a basket of apples.

“It’s for people to eat.”

The shop owner’s eyes twitched at my response.

And then suddenly, with a pitying look in his eyes, he started to look at me.

“Don’t tell me you… eat red sugar beets?”

I answered nonchalantly without much thought.

“Yes.”

Then, after closely examining my somewhat thin arms and small, delicate hands, he suddenly raised his eyebrows and glared at Adam.

“Is what this child saying true?”

Adam nodded with a slightly bewildered expression.

“Well… it is, but…”

The shop owner, seemingly shocked by Adam’s words, stiffened his face and pointed at Adam with his finger as he spoke.

“A perfectly healthy person shouldn’t do this to their daughter, no matter how tight things are. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

I was startled by the sudden reaction.

That look in his eyes was as if… he was looking at the worst scoundrel in the world.

“Wh-what? Me?”

Adam, who had suddenly become a bad father, asked back with a slightly confused expression, pointing at himself with his finger.