The Walsh family supplied a large share of the mineral resources in the Kingdom of Luarl. As expected of a marquisate, they possessed a long history and earned widespread recognition for their contributions to the nation.
In reality, however, the internal state of affairs was a completely different story.
While it was true that they had led the domestic mineral market for many years, the yield of minerals within their domain had sharply declined over the past few years.
(Resources are inherently finite. It’s only natural.)
With that thought, Flare picked up the report resting on the official desk. It was an investigation into the domain’s mineral reserves that she had personally requested, but its contents were far from promising.
“As expected, the numbers have dropped even lower than last month’s.”
“You already knew we were running out of time, didn’t you?”
Lucius’s reaction was lukewarm, likely because he had already anticipated as much.
The sole reason the Walsh house had enjoyed such wealth was the bounty of its minerals. Samuel ought to have understood this better than anyone else.
“I wonder when Lord Samuel will finally realize that we cannot go on like this?”
“I doubt that man will ever notice.”
Lucius offered a bitter reply to Flare’s quiet murmur.
When all was said and done, Samuel was merely a pampered, wealthy young master of a marquisate.
In short, he lacked any sense of urgency.
Because his parents and grandparents had lived in peaceful comfort, he took it for granted, showing little interest in managing the domain’s enterprises. The fact that he had lost his parents who should have guided him at a young age was likely part of the reason as well.
In the vast domain of the marquisate, bailiffs were stationed in each district to manage the work of the populace and submit regular reports.
Normally, Samuel should have used those reports as a foundation to plan the governance of his lands. Yet, he left the management entirely in the hands of his bailiffs without a second thought.
(He is supposed to be reading over the reports, at least…)
If he had actually been thinking carefully, he would have noticed the impending crisis.
While running an estate required a certain business acumen, this level of negligence was staggering.
In that regard, perhaps because Flare was born into a family running a major merchant guild, she had been taught the intricacies of management from a young age despite being a woman. On top of that, she was naturally perceptive when it came to such matters.
(Even if Lord Samuel had no interest in managing the domain, I thought I could simply support him.)
In fact, ever since their engagement—reasoning that they were getting married anyway—Flare had participated in the management of the Walsh house with Samuel’s consent.
Just as the saying “the right person for the right job” went, she believed it was ideal for her, with her knack for business, to manage the domain, while Samuel, who excelled in social settings, handled networking in the royal capital.
However, aside from Samuel, the only people who knew about this until now were the head steward of the Walsh house and the local bailiffs.
Since they were not yet officially married, the servants at the townhouse had not been informed.
“On top of that, his plan is to use your dowry to cover the deficit in management, isn’t it? I can only feel deep concern over whether that man will actually keep his promise.”
At Lucius’s words, Flare let out a soft sigh.
Before transferring her dowry to the Walsh house, Flare had made one condition with Samuel.
It didn’t need to happen immediately, but the Muller family had to be made self-sufficient in the future.
Currently, the financial situation of the Walsh house was deteriorating faster than expected.
To cope with the depletion of resources, they had to cut expenses and explore new business ventures.
Indeed, the very first step was cutting back on unnecessary spending.
“Just how long does he intend to keep footing the living expenses for that shameless mother and daughter?”
Lucius spoke with a scowl, glancing at the documents he was preparing to hand over to Flare.
In his hands was the breakdown of the domain’s expenditure.
“I suggested recommending a distant relative to inherit their title, but it seems there is no suitable candidate. So, I then proposed a marriage between Lady Lillian and someone whose family could provide financial support only for Lady Lillian to fiercely reject the idea.”
Ever since the death of the baron, the head of the Muller family, the Walsh house had been supporting both the administration of their small barony and the living expenses of Camilla and Lillian out of past friendship.
Helping someone in need was not a bad thing, but it could not continue indefinitely.
That was precisely why she had made that promise with Samuel.
In truth, the Walsh house had no obligation to support the Muller family in the first place.
Yet, Samuel continued to provide aid on the grounds that Camilla had been his wet nurse and Lillian was his childhood friend.
(Although it is strange that Camilla, a commoner, served as a wet nurse despite being a baroness perhaps it was part of the aid given to the barony.)
Musing over this, Flare scanned the documents Lucius handed her.
“For a young lady who claims to be so delicate and sickly that she can barely attend social gatherings, I hardly think she needs this many dresses and pieces of jewelry?”
Just as Lucius pointed out, the expense list included substantial amounts spent on Lillian’s dresses and accessories.
Combined with the Muller family’s living expenses, it added up to a staggering sum.
“With no heir and no marriage in sight, the only option left is to surrender the title and domain back to the crown, but I doubt they would ever agree to that.”
And that applied not only to Lillian, but to Samuel as well.
“Neither of them is looking at reality.”
Lucius remained consistently scathing toward Samuel and Lillian.
Even so, he hadn’t been quite this harsh until Flare was stood up at her own wedding.
Yesterday’s incident had clearly crossed a line in his mind that should never have been crossed.
And the very same was true for Flare.
“Perhaps, I wasn’t looking at reality either.”
“Lady Flare?”
Lucius opened his eyes wide in surprise at her unexpected words.
“I really did love him, you know…”
Even if she wasn’t the most important person in Samuel’s heart.
She had loved him enough to fool herself into ignoring it.
What it was or where it came from was hard to pinpoint; she had simply, truly loved him.
(Human emotions really are beyond our control, aren’t they?)
To an outsider, Flare’s choices must have seemed utterly foolish.
To fall in love with a man who prioritized someone else over her, and even attempt to marry him…
It was truly a case of love being blind.
But Flare had finally woken up.
Yesterday’s event had brought her back to her senses.
“Lucius, I intend to call off this marriage.”
“…! Is that true?! But how do you plan to do it?”
Perhaps because he had been holding in so much resentment over Samuel’s actions, Lucius’s face lit up at Flare’s declaration.
At the same time, a trace of worry crept into his voice.
After all, Flare had already moved into the Walsh estate, and her upcoming marriage to Samuel had been publicly announced to the world.
Looking at Lucius, Flare offered a serene smile.
And then, she slowly opened her mouth to speak.