CH 171

Turning back time, slightly, 1 week after the start of the school exams and after the ladies’ practical exams were over, Helmut visited House Reingen.

“Oh! Lord Royce! It’s a pleasure to see you again.”

“It’s my pleasure as well,” Helmut said.

As soon as he reaches the mansion, he is let through and receives a warm welcome from Marquis Karl von Reingen. Karl’s wife, Marianne, was also present, and both of them welcomed Helmut with smiles.

House Reingen is in big trouble now. Each House within the Bayen Faction is being investigated for investment fraud, and every family has had members interrogated and arrested one after another. House Reingen is no exception, and is still in a difficult situation.

However, there was only one bright side within House Reingen. Their daughter, who had been depressed to the point of feeling like she had gone insane, came back to her normal self. There is certainly some conflict between Karl and Marianne and their daughter Christiane. But still, to the two of them, Christiane is their adorable daughter. The two were deeply grateful to Helmut for bringing their daughter back from her depression.

“My daughter is also waiting for you,” Marianne said. “Come now, let’s go.”

She let Helmut go straight to her daughter’s room before even hearing what business he was here for. Of course, Helmut had business with Christa, so there was no problem, but he was a little confused. The two hurriedly threw Helmut into Christa’s room, ignoring his signs of confusion.

“It’s been a long time, Lady Christiane. Have you had any incidents since?” Helmut asked as he now sat facing Christa.

“Yes, I have,” Christa said, smiling gently as she drinks her tea. “Thank you for your consideration.”

Judging from Christa’s calm appearance, you couldn’t believe she was in her near-catatonic state earlier.

“What business do you bring today?” Christa asked.

“Right,” Helmut said, pulling a letter out of his pocket. “I come bearing a letter from Miss Flora.”

Christa took, immediately opened it, and read it. “My! To Floto’s parent’s manor…” she said.

The content of the letter was an invitation to visit Flora’s parent’s house during the school’s long vacation. Christa had been depressed at the prospect of seeing neither Flora nor Helmut for 2 months.

“I’d really like to go, but… I don’t expect my parents to permit me at a time like this…” Christa said, averting her gaze as she gives a sad little smile.

This is a difficult time for House Reingen. You’d wonder if her parents would allow her to go to Flora’s parent’s home and their territory at a time like this. More than anything, Christa’s conscience was troubled by her going out to play around and enjoy herself while her parents were in such deep trouble.

“Lady Cristiane, I will persuade your parents,” Helmut said, looking straight at Christa with a serious expression. “So please, answer me with how you feel. I don’t care about anything else. I want to hear what you have to say.”

“Mr. Helmut…” Christa said, unable to look away.

After a while, she opened her mouth again, as if she had collected her thoughts.

“I… I want to go to Floto’s parents’ house! I want to spend this holiday with her and you, Mr. Helmut!”

“Very well, Miss Christiane,” Helmut said as he put his hand on his chest and bowed his head. “Please, leave everything to me.”

Christa gently smiled at him.

After confirming Christa’s feelings, Helmut leaves Christa’s room and meets Karl and Marianne again. His purpose, of course, is to get Christa permission to leave for Carruthers and Caan territories over the long vacation.

""

“Marquis Karl, please allow me to invite Lady Christiane to my territory during the school’s long vacation.”

“”…………””

Karl and Marianne looked at each other at the sudden declaration. Normally, it would be unthinkable to entrust their young daughter to a young man and his territory for as long as 2 months. If you do something like that, even if the two are not in that kind of relationship, there is a risk that they’ll start getting rumors about them and it will become a scandal.

In the Kingdom of Ploiss, there is no particular belief in virginity, and people who have dated around before without getting married are not looked at with such harsh eyes. Some people have been married and divorced countless times, and there are many attractive men and beautiful women who are known to have affairs.

However, if it spreads that a young lady of her age and before marriage had gone to a young man’s territory for 2 months to recuperate, it would undoubtedly become a major obstacle to her future marriage prospects. It was also a love affair between the daughter of a marquis and a viscount. There will also be people who use that to try to grab House Reingen by the legs and hold it up by them, rendering it vulnerable once more.

However… if things continue as they are, House Reingen may be destined to sink along with House Bayen. If that’s the case…if their daughter so wishes…it might be fine to let at least one person live as they please. This might also be a chance for them to secure an heir beyond the death of the House name. Assuming House Reingen is accused and charged with investment fraud in the future, there may be no one else who will marry into them.

If that’s the case… it might be a good idea to entrust it to this sincere young man… if it’s the man who brought their daughter back to sanity, who they couldn’t help no matter what they did.

“Lord Royce… no! Helmut! Please take care of my daughter!” Karl said.

“If you have any problems with Christiane, please come and talk to me anytime,” Marianne said.

“Yes! Thank you very much!” Helmut said.

In this way, Helmut “had received permission for Christa to travel to Carruthers and Caan territories.” And Karl and Marianne “had given permission to introduce Christa to her partner’s parents.”

Helmut, who didn’t realize that he was gradually filling up the outer moat into the castle of House Reingen’s hearts, left the Reingen Residence, satisfied that he had fulfilled the job Flora gave him.

""

After watching Helmut leave for home through the window, Karl and Marianne visited Christa’s room. She had heard from Helmut earlier that he was going to get her permission to travel, but now she was welcoming her parents into her room and wondering what in the hell happened.

“Father, Mother? What’s going on?” Christa asked.

“It’s alright, Christa,” Karl said. “Listen to us carefully. We won’t stop you from having romantic feelings for any other person. If you, yourself, are ready for it, regardless of your partner’s background, we won’t stop you or care.”

“We weren’t good parents for you, always so concerned about our House… but from now on, House Reingen will be going through such difficult times,” Marianne said. “That is why… you should live your life how you please, Christa. If you can live your life with a viscount, we are not against it.”

“Huh? What?” Christa asked, tilting her head and wondering what this was all about.

But her parents didn’t stop talking.

“We will entrust you to Viscount Royce for 2 months. During that time, you’ll likely have all manner of experiences. So, make sure to greet his family properly then, alright?”

“I want to see grandchildren as soon as possible, but I wonder what it would be like to become a grandparent while you’re at the Academy…” Marianne said. “I believe it’s best to keep things in moderation but it’s all up to you. Rumors might abound from you being a student and pregnant, but we won’t care anymore.”

“Uh, umm…?” Christa said.

She was confused about “talking to Helmut’s family” or her “being pregnant,” but she now turned bright red and stiff. She doesn’t know why her parents suddenly said all this. In the first place, Christa is going to Carruthers territory. Flora and Helmut intended to include Carruthers and Caan territory, but from the perspective of other Houses, Caan territory was unfamiliar, so they can’t help but just mention her parent’s territory and not her own.

Even so, Christa understood that for some reason both Karl and Marianne seemed to be agreeing to entrust her to the Royce Viscountcy.

But… if her parents allowed it, why would she hesitate? If her parents allowed me to date and marry a viscount while she was a marquis’ daughter, even if it was someone who wasn’t the heir to the title… then, wouldn’t it be better for her to make a move to capture Helmut’s heart?

It’s true that Christa is going to the Carruthers’ territory, but as a servant of House Carruthers, House Royce will also be in the Carruthers’ territory. Thinking that it would be a good idea to take this opportunity to say hello to Helmut’s parents, Christa silently followed her parents’ ideas.

On the day of departure, the closing ceremony ended yesterday at the academy, and the curriculum for the 1st term ended. It was a long vacation for 2 months from today, and it was the day of departure for Christa’s first trip to Carruthers territory.

Until now, Christa has only been to the territory of her House, Bayen territory, and the area around the capital. In this country, long-distance travel or extended travel is still life-threatening and requires a massive time and resource investment. You can’t go that far from home without great effort.

She felt a little sick from being shaken by the carriage running at super high speed but somehow managed to endure it for 7 days. According to Flora, it would take around 10 days, but it seems they were able to shorten the schedule significantly.

Although Christa and the other guests don’t know about it, Flora has started to improve the roads in the Caan and Carruthers territory in the name of establishing a better distribution network. In addition, they had increased the number of station houses and expanded their stables, and with so many more replacement horses, so there is less need to worry about the horse’s stamina than before.

And although it is still incomplete, the improvement of the carriage is progressing greatly. Although severe shaking still occurs, they are still developing a new type of carriage that can run faster than the previous carriage and is less likely to go off balance or tip over. From Flora’s point of view, it doesn’t seem like such a revolutionary improvement or evolution has been made, but even with just a little knowledge and advice from Flora, its performance has improved dramatically.

It’s still in the prototype stage, so of course, it’s not on sale, but the performance test of these improved carriages was also carried out, so they were able to shorten the schedule significantly.

“At least if I had rubber, these things could run much faster…” Flora muttered. “Tires, rim spokes, suspension… if only I had these, it would have made a much more dramatic change…”

She says these things from time to time as the carriage rocks. No one knows what that words mean. But everyone close to her knows that Flora has moments like this. They supposed it was just one of those times and let her be.

“Is that Carruzan, Carruthers territory’s capital?” Christa asked, leaning against the window and surprised at the scenery outside it.

It is a fortified city surrounded by splendid walls. Even from a distance, you can see its enormity. Helene and the others had ridiculed it as a rural city, but if you actually look at it, such thoughts will be blown away.

When they entered Carruzan, although the size and population were inferior to the royal capital, its vibrancy was as good as the royal capital. Above all, the town is very beautiful. As soon as you enter a back alley, you will find that hygiene is so thorough that it can be said that it is different than the capital, oftentimes full of filth.

But it was too early to be surprised. For some reason, the carriage passes by Carruzan and heads for the forest. However, even though they were supposed to be running through the woods, they traveled or roads smoothed out more beautifully than any highway Christa had ever been on. She had never seen or heard of such a beautiful road.

After passing through the forest, they could see a town with neatly arranged buildings in an open space. Even though it was supposed to be a small town in the forest without a castle or fortifications, the townscape was so advanced that it seemed to Christa that it was much better than the royal capital.

It’s a planned and well-maintained settlement. The number of people walking is more numerous and livelier than in the royal capital and Kazan. You can still hear the sound of buildings being built here and there.

Above all, at first, Christa thought it was a small town in the forest, but once she entered it, it was surprisingly large. It was only when they reached the road that crisscrossed the main highway that ran from Carruzan that she finally felt how large it all was.

The highway running from Carruzan runs north-south and intersects with a large highway running east-west on the way. The highway that runs from the east-west is so long that you can’t see it from end to end. Buildings are lined up along the road. It was there that Christa finally understood, far from being a small town, it was quite large in terms of sheer footage alone.

Of course, there are many buildings where small objects and trees are used. Compared to the capital, which is lined with large brick buildings of several stories, you might feel that it is quite simple. However, the guests sensed that this town was still in the development stage and that it was a promising planned city with room for further development, albeit to varying degrees.

In addition, the townscape is overwhelmingly more beautiful than the royal capital and Carruzan, and it is logically and systematically maintained. There were many strange things all around town. Looking at them from a carriage, you strongly feel that you want to walk through this settlement as soon as possible.

“Amazing… what an incredible town!” Christa said.

“Fufu, thank you, Christa,” Flora said. “Now then… everyone, welcome to Caanburg.”

And with that, the owner of this town gave a mischievous smile as the guests got off and into a waiting welcome party at the largest mansion in town.