The war hero, blessed with exceptionally sharp hearing, was back at the door in a flash.
“Hm? Did you want to tell me something?”
To be honest, I didn't have particularly warm feelings toward Alphius.
Objectively speaking, the situation itself made that difficult.
Because of his appearance, I had lost the marquis title that had been right in front of me.
He was exactly the kind of existence my mother had spent her entire life fearing.
That was why, even after impulsively calling him back, I hesitated.
“Brisa, are you worried about being here without an adult? Are you feeling pressured because you'll be acting as the territory's representative while I'm gone?”
Seeing my hesitation, Alphius spoke gently, as though trying to reassure me.
“But my adjutant, Ransi, will be here... and aside from the elite unit, all the knights are staying behind. I've already told them to listen to you. I've also ordered them to protect you, so there shouldn't be any problems with your safety while I'm away.”
I swallowed nervously.
Then I suddenly thrust a small pouch through the crack in the door. Inside was a dried herb.
“Take this.”
“Hm?”
“The herb inside is called Awakening Grass. Academy students use it when they need to stay awake and study before exams.”
At least this seemed like something a normal person—not just a lunatic—might do.
Of course, I could have said this instead:
"Listen. I've realized this world is actually the setting of a novel. If you leave now, half your body will be torn apart, and you won't return for three months. During that time, our territory will collapse, and everyone here—including me—will be slaughtered.
Afterward, your personality will completely change. You'll overcome countless hardships, eventually marry the heroine, and achieve a happy ending... but only after suffering through hell first."
Then the conversation would probably go like this:
"R-Really? Is that true? Can I believe you?"
"No. Objectively speaking, it's far more likely that I've simply gone insane—just like my mother did."
After imagining that exchange, I decided it was a terrible idea.
Alphius had chosen to leave for the capital for the sake of the territory.
The situation was so urgent that he couldn't even spare time to catch his breath before departing.
I didn't want to overturn that decision.
Nor did I have enough confidence—or evidence—to do so.
Still, there was no harm in preparing for the worst.
I spoke clearly.
“Use it when you're so sleepy that you absolutely can't stay awake. Keep it on you at all times.”
If my delusion really was a glimpse of the future...
Then it would become a crucial lifeline for Alphius.
I didn't know him very well yet.
Even so, I had decided to help him.
Think rationally.
Alphius is my only protector now. If our relationship goes badly, I'm the one who'll suffer. Everything I'm doing is for my own sake.
To put it bluntly, Alphius could make me disappear without anyone ever noticing.
In the original story, Alphius was described as a good person.
But realistically, that "original story" was probably nothing more than a product of my imagination.
So I needed to stay alert and approach him carefully.
Will he accept it? Is it too strange?
Still, giving someone a useful herb wasn't that odd, was it?
Even a perfectly sane person could do that.
Silence lingered beyond the door.
Does he think it's just some useless weed? But it's expensive. I only have one left myself.
Just as I was about to explain how valuable Awakening Grass was—
“Thank you...”
A voice thick with emotion reached my ears.
“A token of luck and affection from family... I've never received something like this before in my life. I'll keep it close to my heart forever.”
His voice was overflowing with gratitude.
He's surprisingly sentimental.
Relief washed over me.
At least he won't leave it behind somewhere.
Three days passed after that.
I stayed shut inside my room, waiting for my delusion to disappear.
During that time, a letter of annulment arrived from my fiancé.
Not long afterward, an anonymous bouquet of flowers was delivered.
The maids were ecstatic.
“My goodness! It must be some young nobleman who's secretly in love with you, my lady!”
“He must have been quietly waiting for your engagement to end! Good heavens, this bouquet is incredibly expensive! He must be wealthy too!”
The flowers didn't do much to ease the bitterness left by the annulment.
However, they were effective at preventing the maids from breaking down in tears.
As I quietly handled the matter, I gave them an order.
“I only have one request. I don't want unnecessary gossip, so don't mention this to the people Alphius brought with him.”
The maids snorted indignantly.
“That order isn't even necessary, my lady. What would those uncultured brutes know about noble affairs?”
“Oh.”
I answered calmly.
“Then I suppose I actually have two orders. Don't say things like that anymore, either.”
Of course, judging by their expressions, they would continue broadcasting their opinions with their eyes.
The tension within the marquis household was exactly the same as it had been in the original story.
All the maids had originally served my mother, a princess, and had followed her from the royal palace.
To them, Alphius and his followers were intruders who had appeared out of nowhere to steal everything that belonged to Brisa.
In the original story, Brisa herself had felt the same way.
But in the end, the maids and Brisa all met the same fate.
They starved to death.
The thought slipped into my mind before I suddenly jolted upright.
No. Pull yourself together.
I'm not insane.
My delusions can't possibly be the future.
My uneasiness toward my newly appeared half-brother.
My complicated guilt regarding my mother.
My helplessness over the broken engagement.
My tangled feelings toward my former fiancé.
None of those things even ranked among my priorities right now.
Since when did I ever pay attention to my own feelings?
The most urgent problem was determining whether my brain was functioning normally.
Three days later, however...
After reading the newspaper, I finally accepted that I was probably insane.
This happened exactly the same way in the future I saw.
Everyone in the marquis estate treated it as somebody else's problem.
But once the unprecedented monster wave swept through the western grain-producing regions, food prices would skyrocket.
At the moment, most people were merely thinking:
"Things look a little bad. But they've always been difficult."
Yet I knew better.
The grain merchants in the west, whom we've been buying from on credit, will immediately demand repayment of our debts...
To make matters worse, Alphius would lose contact due to unforeseen circumstances.
I buried my face in my hands.
Our survival is at stake.
I couldn't afford to sit still.
If we don't eat, we die.
I couldn't even think about distant goals anymore.
With Alphius gone, I was acting as the territory's representative.
At this rate, I wouldn't be able to feed the people of the territory—let alone take care of myself.
In the original story, I couldn't endure the hunger. I was tricked by a relative and boarded a ship bound for a foreign country to be sold into slavery alongside the maids!
The knights Alphius had left behind tried to rescue us.
They chased after the ship with everything they had.
In the end, the vessel sank.
Everyone died.
It all starts with starvation.
So we need to prepare for the coming food crisis.
I didn't remember much about my previous life.
But I vaguely felt that I had possessed extensive knowledge of agriculture and livestock farming.
Perhaps I had studied those fields professionally.
I gazed silently at the books lining my room.
During my two years at the academy, those were the only books I ever sought out in the library.
I always visited at night, afraid people would mock me for having interests unbefitting a noble lady.
Crop cultivation.
Farming techniques.
Animal husbandry.
Regional specialties.
Agricultural economics.
For some reason, I had always found those subjects fascinating.
The world of my previous life was completely different from this one.
Yet there were enough similarities that learning and applying such knowledge came surprisingly easily.
So easily, in fact, that I published numerous papers under a pseudonym.
Until now, I hadn't even understood my own strange hobby.
But it seemed that the interests of my previous life had carried over.
Fortunately, Alphius told his people to obey me before he left.
Even though he barely knew me.
That alone was a tremendous stroke of luck.
“Gather the knights immediately.”
The so-called Sayers Knight Order consisted entirely of former mercenaries left behind by Alphius.
The marquis territory had never possessed the funds to maintain a proper military force.
In truth, it had never needed one.
But they were now people of House Sayers.
That meant they were under my protection.
Just as they had risked their lives trying to save me in the original story.
Recalling that scene, I carefully considered my assessment of them.
They probably eat a lot.
And so I summoned the laborers—
No.
The knights.
