Four months into my new lifestyle of being the Duchess of a land I'd never seen, I could probably recite the entire budget and every available resource without ever having to look at my volumes of notes. Howard and the rest of the household staff had been very impressed by my strides in both trying to be a decent ruler and a decent human being, and I'd even wormed myself into the good graces of the knights tasked with guarding the estate. I feel like Hilde would have been impressed with me too, but she was too busy trying to keep me alive and reign in my more excitable moments – I'd befriended most of the vendors in the town market now and I think she made it her personal assignment to ensure I wouldn't be killed by bad food.
So I thought this was as good a time as any to enact step two.
"I need to tour the province."
Howard took a long sip of his morning tea. I made a mental note to "discover" the process of distilling whiskey so he'd have something to soothe his nerves later.
"Why?" Hilde asked, then belatedly tacked on a respectful "Your Grace."
"What do you mean, why? I'm the Duchess, so shouldn't I know what the duchy looks like?"
"The Duchess manages the estate, and in times of the Duke's absence, handles immediate matters in the province," Howard interjected. Given that most of my budget reforms had been organizational matters that could easily be undone by Heero if he wanted, there hadn't been any opposition to it, but I guess a provincial tour was pushing the limit.
I changed tracks. "I want to go on holiday then," I said.
Howard poured himself more tea. Maybe I'll rethink the discovery of whiskey, he'd clearly just turn into an alcoholic and I didn't want a drunk butler wandering through the halls.
They obviously knew what I was doing but humored me anyway. "The Yuy family does own some vacation properties in the duchy, which ones were you keen on?" Howard asked.
"Taketoyo, Sawara, and Aoba-ku." A port city, a farming town, and a mountain town.
"May I suggest places that actually have vacation properties?"
"Yes."
"...Will you actually consider going to these places instead?"
"No." I kept smiling.
Howard looked forlornly into his teacup. Hilde looked skyward, then declared she would organize the security detail.
---
Taketoyo sat northwest to the capital of the province, its port settled on the open sea. Most naval travelers went east or west depending on destination, selling their wares to the numerous provinces of Sanc via the coast that curved westward, or trading with the more open-minded peoples of the Romefeller Empire under the hostile stares of it ruling class. The port was the richest of the territories within the Yuy domain, prosperous for its seafood and its trade.
Taketoyo was only ever mentioned in the novel, never once seen by the intrepid protagonist Relena. It was just another informed attribute of the Yuy duchy, used to help illustrate the numerous assets Heero held as a possible love interest.
I was more interested in its ships.
Those used by Sanc and the other kingdoms of this bizarre continent were reminiscent of medieval sailing vessels, dependent on sails and rigging to get from point A to point B. It wasn't a bad form of transportation and it got the job done, but being that I came from a time where I could expect a delivery from a drone within 24 hours, letting the wind and sea decide transport speed seemed a bit too lax.
Good transportation and infrastructure were important elements to any prosperous society. If I wanted to give the citizens of the Yuy province a good life, I'd need to improve their ability to transport their goods and themselves.
It was with this in mind that I came ready with rolls upon rolls of parchment, all scrawled with the detailed structure and intended uses of Sanc's first ever steam engine.
So, after a few days into our undercover – to Hilde's vast annoyance and the guards' amusement – tour of Taketoyo, I asked to meet with some engineers.
"Engineers..." Hilde echoed in bafflement, like I'd asked her to let me interview a polar bear for their opinion on global warming. "It won't be difficult to meet with them, so long as I tell them your true identity, but if you want something developed – the Duke took the best of them with him on his expedition."
That didn't really matter, as I'd already "developed" the technology myself by studying my ass off for the engineering and thermodynamics Master's degree I held. I just needed some people who could actually understand what my self-published instruction guide meant and implement it. At this point in time, engineering was a branch of development mostly concentrated on the development of weapons, so they weren't likely to develop steam power for commercial use until much later – which is why I'd decided to give it a kickstart.
"That's fine, I actually want to run a few ideas by them and see if it looks good," I said instead, because explaining the ins-and-outs of steam power to Hilde was not in my schedule for the day.
"Ideas?" Hilde tilted her head in confusion.
I smiled at her. "I'm so excited to meet with the engineering experts of our domain!"
Hilde set the appointment and snuck a bottle of wine into her room later that night.
---
"This-- This is incredible, Your Grace!"
I tried my damnedest to look very humbly surprised, smiling airily at the handful of engineers peering through my steam engine schematics. "I'm so happy to hear that! So it really is feasible?"
"It's more than just feasible! We could make a working prototype by the end of the next fortnight!" the lead engineer, Sir Markus, gushed excitedly. "These schematics are so detailed, it's like you've already crafted them yourself!"
"You flatter me," I replied, remembering long and horrifying hours spent in undergraduate study.
"Sir, this one can be used to siphon out water!"
"Why didn't we ever think to use a cylinder with a piston?"
"If it generates enough continuous power, we could use it for more than just pumping the water out of the mines..."
"Oh, this one uses two cylinders?! It looks like that would save on fuel costs."
I let their excited discussions wash over me and valiantly tried not to look traumatized by how close this was starting to sound like my undergraduate study groups. This ended up with me staring at Hilde, who was gawking at the schematics. I knew for a fact she wouldn't be able to understand them completely, but I guess the engineers' babble was enough for her to glean what was going on. She turned that gaping stare on me incredulously.
I immediately turned away.
"So I think we should call it a steam engine," I informed the lead engineer.
"The Yuy steam engine!" one of the engineers crowed.
What? Oh, right, I was Duo Maxwell-Yuy.
"The Maxwell-Yuy steam engine," another engineer corrected waspishly. "His Grace the Duchess was the one who developed it!"
"'Yuy steam engine' is fine," I added, but this contribution went ignored as someone finally made it to the compound engine schematics, starting another round of excited discussion.
I smiled into the air. Perhaps if I looked dopey enough, Hilde might actually buy it.
---
Hilde did not buy it.
"Your Grace, pardon my question, but when did you learn engineering?"
Contrary to her polite phrasing, Hilde looked scarred for life. This was likely the result of narrowly avoiding being abducted by the engineers, who very much wanted me to stay longer in Taketoyo and bless them with more schematics.
"Oh, is that not part of my dandy etiquette lessons?" I mused airily.
"It's not."
"Wait – so there really are dandy etiquette lessons?!" Had I been acting un-dandy-ish all this time and no one ever thought to stop me?!
Mikhail, one of the knights guarding me, choked down a snort of laughter at my horror.
"You did receive etiquette lessons prior to your marriage to the duke," Hilde allowed the momentary segue. "We can get you a tutor once we return to the estate."
Oh god, the studying just never stopped, did it? Maybe I could barter with them, convince them that my contributions to technological development should excuse the un-dandy-like behavior. At Hilde's darkly contemplative expression, I'd probably have a better bet at bartering with Howard rather than her.
"That doesn't answer my first question," Hilde continued, tacking on another belated "Your Grace."
Nice to see my constant parade of shocking behavior was wearing down her stuffy demeanor. Maybe one day she'd finally vocalize the "you idiot" she'd been keeping in for years.
"Would you believe I've always had a hidden interest in mechanics?" I asked, since that at least made more sense than the truth.
"No."
"It came to me in a dream?"
"..."
"I saw a one-armed peasant woman rotating a spitjack and wondered how to solve the problem if she lost her other arm?"
"......"
"I was once burned by steam and vowed to tame it?"
It was amazing how Hilde could convey 'shut up' with nothing but her eyes.
---
Sawara was one of the few farming towns within the province. While all villages, towns, and cities had some level of farming, very few of them within the Yuy duchy had made it their chief export as arable land was scarce. Thus Sawara was one of the few population centers that had enough fertile land to grow a decent amount of crops, and these crops were sent throughout the duchy as both part of their tax paid to the Duke and as a trade item with other towns.
Barley and corn were part of their main staples, which was why I chose them.
There wasn't much description of the food and beverages of the Sanc Kingdom in the novel; the most description given to foodstuff were reserved for the cakes and desserts that Relena would partake in at tea parties. At the few banquets she had attended only wine had ever been mentioned, and the celebratory feast at the end made no mention of food as Relena had had eyes only for Heero.
Reality was a lot less rose-colored.
The diet in the kingdom, as far as I understood it, was heavy; the Yuy duchy offered a lighter fare, many of its towns relying on poultry, pork, or seafood – but the further inland you got to the Capital, the more red the meat. For nobility, a multiple-course meal was common, so nearly every dinner was followed by a sweet dessert, not including the confections served at teatime in the afternoon. Every meal was washed down with beer or tea, and to make it worse – I couldn't stomach their beer!
If I was going to be living my life in horrible other-me's skin, I wanted at least a good drink every now and then.
It was with this in mind I continued my mission of inadvertently scarring Hilde: "I'd like to meet with this town's brewers."
"I thought you didn't like beer," Hilde replied with another hastily added "Your Grace" at the end.
"I don't, but I've got an idea."
"Are you going to give them the 'steam engine', Your Grace?" my guard, Lyle, asked me excitedly.
I shook my head. The five guards that made up my security detail – Mikhail, Lyle, Asahi, Sayaka, and Berion – had warmed up to me considerably on the trip. Given my good behavior back at the Yuy estate and my "stroke of brilliance" with the schematics, as Mikhail had described it, they must have figured my amnesia completely altered my personality.
"It wouldn't really help them," I replied. It's still far too early for a steam-powered locomotive, which could have been used to transport their goods faster and farther.
"What did you have in mind then, Your Grace?"
I smiled.
I swear to god Hilde shuddered.
---
The people of the Yuy duchy were not in poor condition. Though most of the duchy's retinue came from the maintenance and deployment of their soldiers, it was through clever utilization of the province's resources and the meticulous management of the Yuy family that ensured it was one of the strongest domains in the kingdom. Had it not been for Heero's illegitimate birth, he would have been one of the most desired husbands in Sanc.
Honestly, he'd been wasted on other-me. Not just anyone could be a romance novel love interest – I was really looking forward to Heero's eventual romance with Relena. He'd suit the princess perfectly.
"You gave them the schematics to an improved distiller?!"
Ignoring Hilde's dumbfounded screech, I wondered if I'd live long enough to actually see my husband. I got the feeling that Hilde would soon murder me just so I'd stop confusing her.
"This one in particular is for distillation process of whiskey," I told her. I'd already improved the distillers back in the capital, although that was through quietly sneaking the blueprints to the merchants while going around the town market.
I'd hid it from Hilde and the others, since I didn't want them to ask too many questions back then as it was still too early in my trust exercises for that, but it did feel kind of illegal. Especially when those merchants got back to me, more willing than ever to trade with me. I kept getting offered free gossip too...
"And what hell is 'whiskey', Your Grace?!"
Ooh, Hilde, cursing in front of your duchess now? I could see that fraying thread of self-control close to snapping in her mind.
"Different sort of alcoholic beverage. I wanted to try it, and Sawara has the best sort of crops to produce it."
"Where did you even hear about it?" Hilde continued grilling me. God, I couldn't even tell where her paranoia was directed at – me or the imaginary people selling me on whiskey.
I wasn't going to explain to her that I'd come up with it, mentioned it to a few merchants I'd met in the town market so they could look into finding this mysterious beverage for me even though it hadn't actually been invented yet. However, it did help generate interest in the merchants who went traveling to and fro, so that Sawara could sell its goods to more than me in the future.
"There was a traveling merchant in the town market that mentioned it to me previously," I explained. "He mentioned the taste was stronger than beer, except that the fermentation process was a bit different since they used sour-mash. It got me curious, so I played with a few ideas and extrapolated a bit, and, uh, came up with a new distiller in the process too."
"..."
"You know how these things are," I laughed off, waving my hand dismissively. Perhaps if I played it cool enough, she would think nothing of her duchess casually improving the distillation process and creating a new liquor.
The thread snapped.
---
Aoba-ku was our last stop in my not-a-province-inspection trip, and was the smallest and poorest of the three. It claimed the label of "town" only by the skin of its teeth, with enough arable land to sustain its people and pay its provincial taxes. For towns like Aoba-ku, it wasn't uncommon for second and third-born children to be sent to larger towns to find more work, and the withered look of its vendor stalls was enough of an indication to see that its time was drawing near – they'd be forced to abandon it, perhaps within the next generation or two.
This was the only town we went to where I allowed the town leadership to know my true identity, so we were greeted by the town governor and allowed to reside in his home. I think if Aoba-ku had been mentioned with more detail in the novel and had even been visited by the book's characters, it was likely the governor would have been a minor villain, an easy enough target to blame for the town's dwindling state.
However, Governor Rohito was a dutiful man in his late 40s, whose entire focus was on bettering his town and its people. This was a godsend for me, because if I had to battle a corrupt official at this point, I may just have to take the easy route and have him killed.
"You have my apologies that we have so little to offer you, Your Grace," Governor Rohito said sadly, sat on the other side of the garden table which was stacked with local pastries. I knew I was scrawny, but why did everyone insist on feeding me bread and sweets?
"No apologies necessary, this is lovely," I said with a small grin. Rohito smiled back at me kindly without a hint of surprise in his face.
Good. That meant he probably never met other-me face-to-face. Anyone who had would look as uneasy as Hilde currently did.
After a pleasant teatime where I pretended to enjoy the butter-heavy pastries presented to me, Rohito gave me the much more dirty rundown of Aoba-ku's current state. It was very refreshing to speak with someone who didn't try to sugarcoat the facts with feigned politeness, and I really hoped most bureaucrats in the duchy were like this. It would make working to help the province thrive much easier.
The problems were as I'd expected: not enough growth to sustain its rising population, so young adults were leaving to find work elsewhere. While they were still meeting their quota, it grew harder every year and they weren't able to expand to other avenues of development. Aoba-ku was expected to be a ghost town within the next 15 to 20 years.
There was also the problem of bandits around the two major routes out of town. Traders and merchants were dissuaded from visiting for fear of them, and recently they'd been making attacks on the townspeople as their usual prey were no longer passing by.
Dinner was thankfully lighter than our conversation topic, and I must have looked euphoric eating the fish entrees because Hilde feverishly told me that she'd made note to add it to the cook's menu back at the Yuy estate.
The second day was when I'd decided to truly get started. Iron ore wasn't going to just find itself.
"Let's go hunting!"
"Duchesses don't hunt, Your Grace," Hilde returned, unruffled. I had a feeling those dandy etiquette lessons were going to start the first day I got back.
My understanding of medieval hobbies appropriate for nobility was limited, especially as I was one of the few nobles I actually knew. I was sure there was a hunting scene in the novel too, so I couldn't help but think this was just another way for Hilde to limit my inclination for adventure.
"Wasn't there a Hunt I attended?" I asked.
Hilde glanced at me, surprised. "Well, I do believe you attended the Royal Hunt with your father and brother, prior to your marriage to the duke. You were not part of the actual hunt though, Your Grace," she explained. "As a dandy, you stayed in the camp and received the prize if the hunters were successful."
Oh, so hunting was a thing for nobles, just not for noble dandies. Unfortunately, there went my most ready excuse. I'd already narrowed down the possible location of the iron ore mine to the mountains around the town, so I needed to be able to freely explore them in order to "stumble across" the iron deposits.
"I feel like I need to commune with nature," I tried instead. "After the greenhouse burnt down, I haven't had much time to just be one with the plants."
Hilde's look clearly said 'is that the best you got?'
"I'm going on a walk," I said with finality. "Come on, Mikhail and Lyle, let's stretch those legs."
"You must take at least three guards with you, Your Grace."
"Alright, Asahi can come too—"
"Asahi, Sayaka, and Berion," Hilde corrected, because we all knew Lyle and Mikhail would only encourage my bad habits.
Hilde really needed a vacation. Maybe if she spent some time alone, she'd be less inclined to thwarting me.
---
Randomly discovering an iron ore deposit was a lot harder than I thought it'd be.
I guess I'd hoped novel-luck would have boosted my chances, but it seems fate was more intent on waiting for Relena to come into Heero's life. However, that would take years, and boosting the Yuy dukedom's economy enough to not be executed by my husband was something that needed to happen sooner.
A week into my stay at Aoba-ku, and even my guard escort had been revolving shifts in order to follow my daily escapes into nature. Hilde declined to follow me; surprisingly, she seemed averse to spending time hiking. I plotted to use that information in the future if I ever needed to escape her.
"You really like the outdoors, don't you, Your Grace?" Lyle mused on day 8 of my self-guided mountain hike. The knights had abandoned their heavy armor back on day 3, preferring the more lightweight leather as they followed me around Aoba-ku's terrain.
I wish I liked the outdoors. I was a city-boy back home, and the body of other-me wasn't used to anything more strenuous than a walk around the garden. Stubbornness and the desperate desire to live past glimpsing Heero Yuy's face was the only thing keeping me hiking at this point.
"It's...important...to get...to know...the land..." I huffed out.
Mikhail's smile bordered on sadistic. "It sure is, Your Grace!" he agreed brightly. While Mikhail was more lax, he was also prone to teasing which meant his targets were either me or Lyle, and at least Lyle could keep up.
"Hope...you...step in...animal shit..."
Mikhail laughed loudly. "I don't think a duchess is supposed to curse, Your Grace," he chortled.
"Lyle...hit him...for me..."
"Of course, Your Grace!"
Ignoring them as they tussled behind me, I scanned the small clearing we'd stopped in. I could only keep at this for so long, and I was starting to run out of excuses to stay in the small town. I'd now nobly settled on getting rid of Aoba-ku's bandit problem as my last reason for the extension, and though Hilde hadn't argued it, I could tell I was nearing her internal deadline. I'm pretty sure she only allowed me to take two guards today because she planned to lead the other three to hunt down the bandits on her own.
I could probably stretch this another few days. After that, if I still hadn't found the iron ore, I would have to go back to the estate and rely on my 'I heard from a traveling merchant...' gossip strategy, and plant the idea of an iron mine existing in the area. At the very least, others looking to cash in would start scouring the mountain range for it. If novel-logic won out, it would be someone from Aoba-ku so that the town could be revitalized.
It was with this thought in mind that I tripped on my next step and narrowly missed the arrow aimed for my head.
"Your Grace!"
"Your Grace-!"
Having landed on my hands and knees to catch my fall, I scrambled back up at the sight of the arrow lodged in the tree trunk a few seconds too late – the bandits were already upon us. Both Lyle and Mikhail had drawn their swords, but they were outnumbered 2 to 1 and their prerogative was protecting me.
Me - the guy currently being held hostage by what I could only assume was the bandit leader.
"Surprised ol' Ikkei missed ya, but sure am glad he did," was leered into my ear. "Would've been disappointing to lose such a pretty little thing."
"How dare you even lay a hand on him!" Lyle cried out, trying to speak up in defense of my virtue or something. "Get your scum hands off of him!"
When has that line ever worked?!
Is this the price of having a non-corrupt mayor – shitty bandits? I guess someone had to play the minor villain around here, but I really didn't want to have first-hand experience with it. No wonder Hilde and Howard never let me out of the mansion.
Being held at knifepoint wasn't as frightening as it should have been, but this was mostly due to my colorful life back home. Spending most of my formative years as a street kid, and then getting into as many fights as I could stand before I sorted myself out meant that I could keep my wits in the face of someone threatening my life.
Not to mention I wasn't even alone now. Both Mikhail and Lyle were knights of the Yuy dukedom, and they'd been specifically chosen by the astute Hilde to guard the duchess of the domain. By virtue of their very training and experience, they held themselves differently, and their skill was evident in the careful control of their movements, keeping everyone in sight without faltering.
This was probably why the bandits were starting to look a bit uneasy – no one was behaving like they should have been. It was obvious we weren't locals, but the steely control of Mikhail and Lyle painted them as more than just guards for a wealthy passing merchant.
"Don't get any funny ideas!" the bandit leader sneered. His breath was rank and I couldn't help but gag a little. "One wrong move and I can't promise the dandy gets to keep his pretty face!"
Damn, did I just have a sign on me that said 'dandy'?!
Wait, no, I had to focus on the issue at hand. What would a helpless dandy say? "Oh no...please don't hurt me..." I begged, valiantly not choking on the words as they fell awkwardly from my mouth.
Mikhail's mouth twitched in what I recognized as him choking back his laughter. That bastard! Let's see what he did once he was held hostage! I was trying my best to be the damsel in distress here!
"You bitch, are you mocking us?!" the bandit leader growled, brandishing his knife like he was afraid I'd somehow overlooked it.
"No, no, I'm definitely in distress!" I replied, irritated he wasn't recognizing all my hard work of acting fearful. "Sorry, it's just the first time I've ever been taken hostage, I'll try to get it right!"
"DO NOT try to get it right, Your Grace!" Lyle interjected. "We're not letting this happen again!"
Damn it, Lyle! I wouldn't get this chance often since Relena would be taking over the role soon enough! Let me have my moment!
"Life is full of many surprises," I said to my knight sagely. "We must accept them as they come."
Lyle was not appeased, and neither was Mikhail. "Please don't get used to being held hostage, Your Grace."
Wow, was this Pick On Duo's Aspirations Day?
"Don't fucking ignore us!" the bandits screeched in outrage.
Bandit Leader had reached his toleration limit, knife to my throat stinging in warning as he jerked me back into his chest by the twisted arm he held behind my back. A body is conditioned to react, so even though my mind was telling me what I could do to break free with years' worth of streetfighting experience, my duchess-conditioned body remained helpless and weak.
This was all for about 15 seconds, as my mind finally won the mental boxing match and I leapt up to headbutt the Bandit Leader in the chin with all my might.
Stinging pain flared from my neck, so I knew he'd managed to knick me. I didn't cry out, gritting my teeth to stop the reflexive cry, but my guards were both keen-eyed and obsessive, so the sight of my blood flipped the switch and an all-out brawl ensued.
For all the advantage they had in numbers, they were still nothing more than countryside bandits, poor in diet and with feeble weapons stolen from passing mercs. Compared to the well-trained knights wielding the best iron-forged weapons the duchy could buy, the fight would not last long.
Unfortunately for me, it may last long enough for me to be killed by a very pissed off Bandit Leader.
It was clear now that I didn't have the novel on my side – I wasn't the protagonist Relena. Since the greenhouse fire didn't kill me, then it was very likely a mountainside bandit would. Heero would return home to the sad(?) fact that his amnesiac husband died while traveling the province, and knowing my luck, my corpse would probably be found near the future iron mine, like some morbid mine marker.
Dodging around trees and debris, heart hammering in my chest, I kept an ear out for the clanging of swords and cries to make sure I couldn't hear Lyle or Mikhail being struck down. The Bandit Leader was in hot pursuit so I couldn't turn around to see, instead just trying to put some obstacles between me and death.
I was slipping through dead leaves and rocky ground now, and for all his many faults, the Bandit Leader still had more practice with this kind of terrain than I did. Adrenaline got me this far but it wouldn't take me much further. Either the knights would have to come save me or I'd get slain by the bandit, and the latter was starting to look far more likely.
At least it wasn't death by fire this time. That was the only consolation.
"You might as well give up, Your Grace," Bandit Leader cajoled mockingly. He was closing in on me but I guess he didn't feel the need to do so too quickly – it was obvious I was slowing down. He must have had more faith in his cohorts than I realized, probably thinking their numbers were enough to subdue my knights. I hoped Mikhail and Lyle killed him bloodily.
My heavy footfalls were loud, even to me. My breaths were shorter now, my limbs heavier – I was almost at my limit. I wanted to curse other-me even more now; if he'd been even slightly more athletic, I may have lasted long enough to get saved.
"I'm gonna catch you~!"
To be killed by this kind of hokey, third-rate villain was the worst!!!
An upturned tree root was what did me in. I was sent to the ground in an undignified heap, knees and hands stinging from my second rough landing. I tried to get back up but a foot made heavy contact with my side and I was sent back down to the ground with a pained yelp. Another kick landed me further away, and I rolled down a slight decline until my back hit a fallen log.
"Caught you~!" the Bandit Leader grinned down at me.
He was missing three teeth, the rest looking rotted brown. There was a scar running length-wise down one cheek. A dirty bandana covered his bald head, bushy black brows above beady dark eyes.
Truly the epitome of a third-rate minor villain...
"I'd wanted to have a little fun with you before I killed you," he sneered. "But now I just wanna kill you."
With lines like that, I could see why an editor would have cut his appearance from the novel. What a walking cliché.
He drew the point of his shortsword threateningly over my chest. "Quick or slow, dandy? I might let you pick..."
"Whatever option means you shut the hell up."
That earned me another kick, this one sending me over the fallen log to land amongst the jagged edges of rocks. I picked myself up to bleeding hands and knees, trying to keep him in my field of vision despite having the wind knocked out of me again.
His mouth was opening, likely to deliver another awful villainous line, but his words were cut off in a spray of blood as red-stained metal plunged through his torso. I must have looked as surprised as he did, especially as the blade was pulled out with a sickening splurch! sound, the bandit's eyes rolling up as he collapsed to the ground dead.
Mikhail, standing behind him, looked absolutely pissed. Lyle was running towards us as well, and though blood splattered their garments, it was clear they were both unharmed and no worse for wear. The Yuy knights were really impressive!
"Your Grace, where does it hurt?" Mikhail asked in a rush, clambering down the tiny slope to meet me. "Lyle, get the salve and bandages!"
As Lyle went through the knapsack carrying our medical supplies, I remembered the stinging pain on my neck. I winced as I sat up, one hand holding my side where the bandit had kicked me twice. "Your timing is too good," I muttered, grimacing slightly – no broken bones but I was definitely bruised as hell. "Thanks for killing him before I had to listen to any more of his bullshit."
I expected Mikhail to rib me over the cursing again, but he just grinded his teeth, vein over his temple throbbing as he cleaned the wound on my neck and bandaged me up. Lyle took our point position, scanning the area with his sword still drawn.
Guess they were still in battle mode. I'll shut up then.
Mikhail looked to internally agonize over checking my ribs to make sure they weren't broken but not wanting to take off my shirt to touch my bare skin. Caution beat out modesty and my shirt was tugged up, his hands warily skimming my sides to validate my initial internal evaluation: nothing broken or fractured, but definitely bruised.
I pulled my shirt back down, Mikhail putting away the supplies, still grim-faced. Since they were still in fight-or-flight mode, I decided to keep my idle thoughts to myself, looking around while they began to wrap up the bandit's body.
The rocks I fell onto looked to have been the result of a cave entrance. They littered the ground, mixed with the dead leaves and dirt that tracked into the cave mouth, a natural archway that broke into three gaping mouths draped in green moss. It was too dark inside to see the true extent of the interior, and I was too exhausted to explore further – something told me that this would be my last day of hiking, once Hilde saw these injuries.
I idly kicked a nearby rock, feeling put-out. I got nearly killed for nothing! And my knights were angry to boot, likely because I was too weak to defend myself and now they'd be blamed for me getting injured on their watch. It was like being kicked back to square one when everyone feared and hated me!
I kicked another rock, mulishly watching it hit a larger, orange-ish rock and rebounding. I tilted my head in curiosity – was that orange moss? – but then the large chunk seemed to sparkle.
I froze. No fucking way.
"Your Grace, we should head back—" Mikhail began to call behind me but I wasn't hearing it. I dashed towards the larger rock which sat closer to the mouth of the cave, ignoring the confused cries behind me.
Dropping to my knees – ow! – I inspected the rock closely; it gleamed dusty silver back into my eyes. I tore my gaze off it to look further into the cave, eyes following the trail of shining debris where I knew even more awaited.
"Iron ore," I murmured. "It's iron ore!"
I found it!
Holy shit, novel-logic strikes again! I guess one near-death experience was needed to discover it after all!
Picking up a hand-sized piece, I turned around in excitement to face my two knights, who were now only a scant step behind me. "This is an iron ore deposit!" I exclaimed in triumph. "If we mine this, we'll have our own supply of iron!"
They gaped at the gleaming piece held out in my hand.
There's no way they could stay angry at me over this!
---
They stayed angry.
Well, not at me precisely – Mikhail and Lyle seemed more upset that I had been injured, but not in the "we failed our job so the boss is angry" way, but more like "we fail as human beings because we couldn't protect our precious lord" sort of way. Twas the way of romance novel-knights, but I still felt bad.
I felt less bad when their drive to protect me became an obsession, which meant anything that even slightly inconvenienced me would be regarded with wary suspicion. Even worse, they'd gotten the rest of the guards in on it so I couldn't even sneeze without someone trying to wrap me in something warm and feed me hot soup. I never knew being surrounded by mother hens would be akin to a circle of hell...
And Hilde was actually worse.
When we finally got back to the town and she saw me wrapped in bandages and heavily bruised, it took all I had to convince her not to bundle me up and leave Aoba-ku that very moment. It didn't help that Mikhail whole-heartedly agreed with her, so I had to use my Scary Duchess Powers to lay down the law.
That, and when I whimpered pitifully enough that I was "just so tired and in so much pain," they thought the journey back would be too much for me in my current state and finally conceded to staying. I did have to stop them from desecrating the bandit leader's corpse though, that wouldn't do any good for their public image.
While confined to bedrest by my fanatical caretakers, I revealed my discovery of the iron ore deposit to Rohito. He and some of the villagers, along with Lyle, went back to the site to check it out: it was indeed a natural iron ore deposit, the cave system going very far in that they wouldn't be able to explore it all in one day.
Naturally, Rohito was delighted by the discovery, thanking me profusely and gushing about how this was sure to revitalize Aoba-ku. I – still confined to my bedroom by the way, if I even dared try to take a step outside the house, I had at least three frantic knights ushering me back in – asked Rohito to gather his town's engineers.
Unfortunately, Aoba-ku didn't have any engineers. They had a few architects and blacksmiths, but given that their town focused more on farming than anything else, I decided I'd have to send actual engineers down here once I'd returned to the estate.
"What do you need engineers for, Your Grace?" Rohito asked. He'd always been respectful, ever since I'd first arrived here, as was due to me as the duchess – but now his tones were bordering on reverent.
I pretended not to notice. Maybe if I didn't acknowledge it, it would go away on its own. "For the mining," I said. "I want to make sure that we're following all safety protocols, as it'll be especially dangerous once we start tunneling deeper. We've also recently developed a steam engine that is able to pump out the water that collects in the mines so we'll need to start making those as well."
"The Maxwell-Yuy steam engine," Lyle jumped in from his guard position in the corner of my room. "His Grace the Duchess created it himself. The engineers in Taketoyo were amazed!"
...I should probably pray for forgiveness from the actual inventors later...
Vehemently ignoring the even more worshipful look on Rohito's face, I continued on. "I've made some improvements on the blast furnaces we use to smelt iron as well, so I'll have them start to construct those nearby."
---
Schematics given to the mayor – I had copies back home, which would be reproduced and given to the engineers sent down here – and still not able to go farther than the drawing room, I boredly waited for my body to feel less beat up. Now that my mission was completed, I was fine with leaving Aoba-ku but I probably had to wait until I stopped wincing every time I took my shirt off before my guards would let me.
"I think I'll write a letter," I decided, the third day into my smothering hospitalization. "And no, Hilde, writing a letter is not a strenuous activity – don't even start."
Hilde's mouth closed, her eyes burning in rebellion.
She eventually relented when I promised to rest after I was done, so quill and paper were given in short order. There weren't many people to write to for me; I could ask for updates from the Taketoyo engineers or the Sawara brewers, or I could try to reason with Howard ahead of time before Hilde got to him first, but I decided on Heero in the end.
Not for any romantic reasons, of course. If anything, it was more like a stress reliever – kind of like writing to your favorite celebrity without any expectation of a response.
Dearest Husband...
I paused. Should I continue the trend of the first letter, using the most flowery and romantic language I could muster? But now that I had a good grasp on his identity, the idea seemed distasteful and insincere – wouldn't it be better to write as me now? Other-me was awful, and there should be limits on what exactly I needed to replicate from him after all.
Scratching out the first line, I started again.
Dear Heero...