“Honey! Honey!”
Baroness Harwin rushed forward and quickly removed the gag from Baron Harwin’s mouth.
The moment Philip set down the five sacks of wheat on the opposite side of the zelkova tree and disappeared, Baron Harwin—who had been dangling from the treetop by a rope—slid down with a soft thud.
If they had brought more people, or if there had been no wheat, they would have simply cut the rope. In that case, Baron Harwin would have died instantly.
Just then, the assailant who had leapt down from the tree slung the five sacks of wheat over his shoulder and vanished into the distance.
“Puh… hah…”
Baron Harwin, now on the ground, gasped for breath.
The baroness hurriedly untied the rope.
“Damn it… those bastards moved this quickly…”
In truth, Baron Harwin had no memory of what happened after the western knights arrived. He had been struck on the head and knocked unconscious.
“What happened?” he asked.
At his question, the baroness eagerly explained everything from beginning to end.
“What?”
His eyes widened as he listened.
“You handed over Jezel Street and Veron? For just five sacks of wheat? Have you lost your mind?”
“I only handed them over temporarily. Don’t worry.”
Baroness Harwin smiled calmly.
“Tom and Dahlia will be bringing Brisa here soon.”
Tom was the baron’s stablehand.
Even if he wasn’t a knight, he could easily subdue a twelve-year-old girl.
“I even brought all the documents.”
The baroness pulled papers from her clothes.
“We’ll threaten her to sign them again if she doesn’t want to die. Then we can take everything back.”
“She might sign now, sure. But do you really think that girl will keep her mouth shut? What if her brother comes back in a month—”
“That’s why we kill her now.”
The baroness raised an eyebrow.
“The kidnappers are going to live as fugitives anyway. We just pin it on them! Even if Marquis Sears comes back in a month, do you really think he’ll care about a half-sister he never even knew existed?”
“Oh.”
Baron Harwin blinked in admiration.
“My goodness… I had no idea you were this clever.”
“It’s all for our family.”
This was a hill at the very edge of the territory. Monsters were said to appear here, so hardly anyone ever came.
The kidnappers would likely risk their lives crossing into Count Joachim’s lands… and once dead, they wouldn’t even be able to defend themselves.
That was when—
“Mother! Father!”
Dahlia came running up. Behind her was Tom, carrying Brisa over his shoulder.
“We’re back!”
“Dahlia!”
Baroness Harwin rushed forward and hugged her tightly, her voice full of excitement.
Baron Harwin grinned and brushed himself off as he stood.
“My goodness. You all did wonderfully.”
Under the zelkova tree at the base of the quiet hill, Tom set Brisa down.
Baron Harwin personally removed the blindfold from Brisa’s eyes.
With a gag still in her mouth, Brisa glared fiercely at him.
“Well, Brisa.”
He grinned as he held out the documents.
“Did you enjoy playing the lord of your reclaimed land for half a day? You’ve had your fun—now it’s time to return it to its rightful owner.”
Baroness Harwin quickly shoved a quill into Brisa’s hand.
“Sign it,” she whispered.
“Just like I did this morning. If you keep resisting, your corpse will be buried in that damn potato field.”
Brisa didn’t struggle much, but her large eyes darted back and forth between the baron and baroness.
“Sign it, Brisa.”
Dahlia cut in with a giggle.
“Oh, are you going to start quoting imperial law again? Too bad. No one even saw you get kidnapped.”
“……”
Even so, Brisa refused to take the quill.
Baron Harwin raised an eyebrow.
“You see, Tom here is very good at beating horses. If you keep this up, my dear niece, he might beat you the same way.”
He grabbed Brisa’s chin threateningly.
“In that case, even after you sign, you won’t be able to walk back to your territory on your own. Let’s not waste each other’s strength.”
That was when—
“My God.”
A voice filled with fury rang out from the darkness.
“To think a beast like this is my uncle…”
For the first time, even Brisa—who had remained calm until now—was completely shocked. This was something she had never anticipated.
“I’ll make sure you can’t walk on your own, starting with you!”
The man who emerged, radiating killing intent, was Alphius—the war hero of the North.
No—what the hell is going on?!
Why is Alphius here?!
With a gag in my mouth, I couldn’t say a word. I just stared with my eyes wide open.
“Milady!”
Philip rushed over and lifted me into his arms.
“You’ve suffered greatly!”
“Mmph!”
“Oh! I’ll remove the gag!”
“Haah!”
As soon as I could breathe, I looked around in disbelief.
Being kidnapped, and Philip rescuing me—that part had all gone exactly as I’d expected.
From the start, it made no sense that Philip wouldn’t notice Tom lurking near Dahlia. He was the deputy commander of a capable mercenary unit that had ended the war alongside Alphius.
Even if he’d been farming potatoes until recently.
He was nothing like a stablehand from the peaceful central region where territorial wars never happened. That was why I had given him instructions in advance.
“If I disappear, I’ll probably be kidnapped. For now, don’t interfere.”
“What? Why would—”
“They’ll definitely try to threaten me to get Jezel Street and Veron back.”
“But must you really go through such hardship, milady?”
“I have to.”
Everything so far had gone according to my plan.
“Simply taking back Jezel Street and Veron isn’t enough for me.”
They were far too vile for peaceful coexistence.
Even if this future had been altered, they were still the ones who had sold me off.
Keeping them as neighboring lords was too dangerous. They would continue to look for opportunities to hand me over to the Kingdom of Seven Kings.
“Then what exactly are you planning to do?”
“There’s a way.”
I had prepared everything.
But Alphius’s appearance was completely beyond my calculations.
‘The warp gate shouldn’t activate for another month.’
Yet Alphius looked perfectly fine. He must have taken my awakening herb on time.
“I didn’t recognize you because of the name Harwin—but you’re my uncle? Huh?”
Alphius grabbed Baron Harwin by the collar and lifted him off the ground, then slammed him hard against the zelkova tree.
“Are you even human? Kidnapping your starving niece just to steal her land?”
I, who had once kidnapped my starving uncle and taken his land, quietly shut my mouth.
Meanwhile, Wendy—who had been hiding nearby—tied up Dahlia and Baroness Harwin.
“Um, milady,” Wendy said, blinking.
“I did as you ordered, but… was the commander—no, the marquis—showing up part of the plan too?”
She muttered uncertainly.
“If you graduated second in your class and speak five languages, should you be able to predict that too?”
“Of course not.”
I answered calmly.
“I’m very surprised right now.”
“You don’t look surprised at all… Anyway, the marquis’s appearance surprised you too, right?”
“His appearance is one thing, but what on earth is that horrible cloth tied around his neck? It’s not a cravat.”
“Ah… it’s a floral handkerchief.”
I was horrified.
“Why would anyone tie a handkerchief around their neck?!”
At the funeral, Alphius had been in mourning clothes—neat and dignified. This was the first time I’d seen him in casual wear.
‘In the original story, after his corruption, he only wore black. No wonder no one criticized his fashion!’
The uncorrupted protagonist’s fashion sense was… something else.
At that moment, Alphius was punching Baron Harwin in the face.
I screamed.
“Don’t kill him!”
He had to stay alive.
Because…
