“I’ll just live as a villain.

Chapter 20

As promised, Ridan came to see me at dawn. I greeted him in the reception room and asked Emma to prepare some tea. Seeing this, Ridan let out a dry laugh and took a seat.

“I never thought the day would come when I’d be served tea by Ibria Oberon.”

“I never thought the day would come when I’d serve tea to Your Highness either, so I suppose we’re even.”

“I didn’t realize you were someone so good with words.”

“Thank you very much for complimenting me on that.”

“Did that sound like a compliment? I was teasing you, saying you speak so properly.”

“Did it really sound like I was thankful? You clearly pretended not to know on purpose.”

“What?”

Ridan chuckled again and raised his hands.

“I can’t win at all. Ibria Oberon in Erel is completely different from the one in the royal city. Is it even possible for a person to change this much?”

“Experience and environment shape people.”

While Ridan and I exchanged meaningless wordplay, Emma brought in the tea.

“Shall I take the human out while you talk?”

Emma asked cautiously, sensing the tension between Ridan and me.

“Yes, please.”

“Of course, miss.”

Emma bowed and left with all the servants.

“Harry, you go too.”

Harry, who was guarding the door, became her target. He looked at her hand and then at me.

[What should I do?]

[Be good and quiet outside.]

[I’m always good and quiet.]

[Sure, keep telling yourself that.]

[Call me if anything happens. I’ll come running.]

Harry glanced at Ridan, then followed Emma out. With everyone gone, leaving just the two of us, Ridan finally spoke.

“Let’s continue our unfinished conversation. Start with the main point, just like yesterday.”

“A very satisfactory suggestion.”

I smiled and repeated the conversation I’d had with Harry yesterday in front of Ridan. As the conversation went on, Ridan’s expression changed several times—serious, surprised, and finally, a wry smile.

“I thought it was a poisoned chalice.”

“I told you, there’s no poison in that chalice.”

“This offer is strange—I have nothing to lose, so it feels oddly bewildering. I never imagined it could be so favorable to me.”

“You’ll need to write a proper report to the king, though. That’s quite troublesome, isn’t it?”

‘I’ve always hated writing reports or proposals to superiors.’

No matter how well I wrote, I’d always get criticized for minor issues.

“With this kind of reward, I suppose enduring that trouble is easy enough.”

“Write only good things. Say Erel is very peaceful.”

“If there weren’t the wyvern problem, that would already be true without exaggeration.”

“That’s not entirely the case. Until recently, the whole territory was in uproar over timber issues…”

As the conversation continued, I remembered something I needed to confront Ridan about. Since I was giving him a significant gift, it was the perfect timing.

“Speaking of which, if we have problems in the future, let’s fight one-on-one, fair and square. Don’t drag others in sneakily.”

“What do you mean?”

“The timber issue. I understand you lost patience with me, but isn’t taking out your anger on all of Erel a bit much? Everyone almost froze to death.”

If I hadn’t called Harry and obtained the blue flame, I would have been the first victim of freezing. Yet Ridan still looked puzzled. I pointed to the fireplace in frustration.

“You cut off all timber coming into Erel, so no one could light fires…”

“Timber?”

He raised his hand, clearly not following my point.

“You cut off timber coming into Erel? Who would do that? I thought the cold here is severe enough that you can’t survive without wood?”

It was unexpectedly reasonable.

‘That’s not something the person who cut off timber would normally say.’

I paused, looking at Ridan. His frown looked genuinely honest, which slightly weakened my anger.

“…What are you talking about? You had the Melior family cut off timber trades with Ocal Trading on purpose to corner me, and now you’re pretending not to know?”

“So what exactly are you saying?”

Ridan ran a hand through his hair, still looking confused.

“Did you think I’d go to such lengths just to make you suffer?”

“You dislike me a lot, so I thought it was entirely possible.”

“Ridiculous. I certainly disliked you. I even thought I didn’t want to be close to you.”

“Oh… thank you for saying that to my face?”

Ridan chuckled dryly.

“Who would thank you for that? Besides, it was Erel that unilaterally ended the trade with Ocal, wasn’t it?”

‘What now?’

I quickly argued.

“That’s impossible. Timber is essential for Erel—why would we end that trade?”

“Erel is part of the Oberon duchy, and Ocal has profited a lot from the trade. They had no reason to break it either.”

“So I thought the trade was broken because of me…”

“Don’t underestimate Ocal. If money is involved, they rush in. They’re even called nouveau riche for it.”

Indeed, such stories existed.

“My uncle would laugh if I asked him to break off trade just because I was upset with Erel.”

Merchant houses run by nobles often failed to negotiate properly to maintain face, but Ocal, under Melior, was ruthless for profit and criticized as vulgar.

‘They earned a lot but gained plenty of gossip too.’

The Melior family was one of the wealthiest in Geraint. If honor was old power, money was the new one. People would complain behind their backs but grovel in front.

The Melior family was Ridan’s maternal side. As the 1st Prince faction’s head opposing the Cassian faction, anyone loyal to Ridan would follow him even at a slight loss—but Ridan frowned as if that were nonsense.

“Well, if I paid Ocal out of pocket for losses, they might move. But there’s no reason to trouble the young lady. There are plenty of cost-free ways to handle it.”

Having read the original story, I knew this wasn’t just bravado. Luke, head of the Information Guild, could assist Ridan in very creative ways.

In <Lady Catherine>, there was even an episode where Luke made a lady who had kept Catherine standing all day at a tea party pay dearly.

“But I heard clearly. The trade was broken by Ocal, leaving Erel without firewood.”

The butler and Emma confirmed this, and I had seen it with my own eyes.

“At that time, I thought Your Highness intervened, since I couldn’t think of any other reason for breaking such a long-standing trade.”

“Our side thought the opposite: that you had issues with Ocal and decided not to trade with them anymore.”

“Ridiculous. When I first arrived, I was treated as a nuisance. There was no way anyone would break trade for me.”

After airing both sides, the situation was even stranger. Neither Ocal nor Erel had reason to break the trade. So someone must have intentionally driven a wedge between them.

“Something smells fishy.”

Ridan’s words exactly matched my thought.

“Someone wants bad blood between the Melior family running Ocal and the Oberon duchy controlling Erel. That’s probably the culprit.”

He tapped the table and muttered as he reasoned.

“Who benefits if Melior and Oberon are at odds? The one profiting from driving a wedge between them…”

His reasoning suddenly stopped, and the tapping ceased. I waited for him to continue, but he didn’t give a conclusion.

“Who benefits?”

I pressed him. Ridan glanced at me.

“I have someone in mind, but I can’t say for sure until I confirm it.”

“Is there a way to confirm?”

“Probably. I have an excellent guide.”

The ‘guide’ was a euphemism for an informant.

‘He must mean Luke.’

Ridan and Luke were casual friends. A prince and a streetwise man being friends was absurd, but in the novel world, absurd things happened all the time.

The story went like this: Ridan, hiding his identity, goes out on patrol and accidentally meets Luke. Luke recognizes him but pretends not to, hoping to gather useful information. Through various incidents, they discover each other’s worth and become friends, often involving Catherine, the heroine, who mediates misunderstandings.

‘Catherine really gets involved in everything, doesn’t she?’

But that’s the protagonist’s virtue—getting involved wherever she goes.

“First, I need to clear the misunderstanding with Baron Incetia. He was scolded over the broken Erel trade because of me.”

Ridan said and rose, ready to meet the baron.

“I owe you in many ways this time. I will repay it.”

“I wasn’t doing it for Your Highness, but if you insist on repaying, I won’t refuse. Charity and repayment come in the form of money, you know?”

“You say the same as my uncle.”

“I’ve never met him, but I can tell he’s a proper businessman.”

Ridan smiled the gentlest I’d ever seen and left.

‘I forgot to ask when he would leave.’

That was the most important question. I had given gifts to drive away Catherine’s annoying little fish.

‘Well, there’s nothing left here, so he’ll probably return to the royal city soon.’

With the wyvern problem resolved, the royal knights had no reason to stay in Erel. They’d likely return quickly.

‘Erel will be peaceful again.’

The maids, who enjoyed seeing the refined knights from the royal city, might feel a little disappointed, but soon there would be the impressive sight of dragon knights in Erel.

‘I still can’t imagine Lionel fighting on a wyvern’s back…’

If Lionel was the only problem, I could manage. I drank the remaining tea, trying to stay positive.

The next day, Baron Incetia came to see me. Though we lived in the same mansion, our schedules and routines rarely intersected. The baron running his estate and me, a leisurely noblewoman, naturally moved in different circles, so him coming to see me was unusual.

Since Ridan had met the baron yesterday about Ocal Trading, he likely came because of that.

“Welcome. You met the First Prince yesterday?”

I greeted him warmly. I had matters to discuss anyway, and if he hadn’t come first, I would have requested a meeting.

“We cleared up the misunderstanding with Ocal. There are still doubts, but the prince promised to clarify the truth.”

“So the trade with Ocal resumes?”

“Yes, but they won’t import timber, which was Ocal’s biggest source of income.”

The reason was obvious. Erel’s Black Forest had plenty of black ironwood, so no need for outside timber anymore.

“Count Melior must have been upset.”

“He profited from taking advantage of our situation, so he’ll have to endure that.”

A classic “make the most while you can” situation.

‘With timber import costs gone, maybe the estate’s situation improves.’

I thought of the children from the orphanage Emma and I visited. With the estate’s finances better, their lives could improve slightly.

“By the way, the First Prince told an interesting story yesterday.”

“Oh, about the dragon knights? You’ve already heard?”

“Is it true? So he wasn’t joking.”

The baron frowned, worried.

“Is it a problem that I want to interfere with the Fifth Frost Knights?”

Though the Frost Knights belonged to the Oberon family, not all swore loyalty directly to the duke. They could choose a master freely.

‘Most still serve the duke anyway.’

Or later, they might pledge loyalty to a minor duke. The Fifth Knights were unique—they were Frost Knights but free agents, closer to mercenaries, hired to fight wyverns. Without wyverns, their existence could be at risk.

‘I can’t let so many become unemployed. That’s cruel.’

So I thought of the knights who would ride wyverns. Solves wyvern problem and unemployment—two birds, one stone.

“The Fifth Frost Knights are different from the main Frost Knights, so I thought it was fine to intervene. It’s actually beneficial for them.”

The baron nodded, slightly surprised.

“You understand correctly. Unlike the main Frost Knights, I command the Fifth Knights. I operate independently in Erel without involving the duke.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“How much do you know about the Fifth Knights?”

“They’re more like mercenaries, and my father’s influence doesn’t directly reach them.”

“What about their skill?”

“They’re still knights. Even if mercenary-like, they wouldn’t pick just anyone.”

“That’s…”

The baron looked awkward.

“They pick anyone, really.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Who would want to settle in such a cold, harsh place? The capable ones always leave for bigger opportunities.”

“Then that means…”

I felt a bad premonition and trailed off. The baron scratched his neck awkwardly.

“It means the applicants are predictable. Even after selecting from the best…”

“I understand.”

I raised my hand to stop him. I was starting to grasp the situation.

“So the carefully chosen person is someone like Lionel Dilph, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Baron.”

“Yes?”

“Can the knights even ride wyverns properly?”

“That’s my question too.”

‘No! Dragon knights are supposed to be amazing! Why can’t I get it!’

I grabbed my head in despair.

<To be continued in the next volume>