***

*Apparently Marquis Helio’s name is Hans. I’ll use ‘Hans’ more often from now on.*

***

Hans of Helio was the overlord of the northwestern region. Although he had the title of “lord,” he didn’t have much status or wealth.

Due to the nature of the northwestern region, the land was barren and there were many violent animals. In addition, different ethnic groups crossed the border from time to time, so they always had to be ready for battle.

Good minerals such as copper, coal, and iron ore could be obtained, but there was not enough manpower to excavate them. The population was small and the stony land was vast.

It became a barren land that no noble wanted to visit, a place where battles between starving animals and tribes took place almost daily.

Hans’s main domain was Leshanta, which was the most prosperous area in this northwest region. It was more appropriately described as the edge of the northeast than the northwest, but it combined the disadvantages of the northwest with the strengths of the northeast.

Leshanta was a fiefdom with a long history and tradition, and the master of Leshanta, Helio, had been one of the main families guarding the frontier for hundreds of years.

However, the region was too far from the capital and too difficult a place to fight for power and to quickly get close to the central power. Hans was no different.

From the day he became the new landlord of Helio at the age of 20, he was solely concerned with the prosperity and stability of his land. He studied farming methods and took the initiative to grow plants that would survive the winter.

However, winter farming methods and plants were not the decisive factors in Leshanta’s rise to fame. The survival rate of children was extremely high in Leshanta compared to other areas.

Because it was not the capital city, winter was a dangerous season for children, and many children died every year.

After the harsh February and March, not only in Leshanta but in all areas, there was always a lot of weeping and wailing from parents who had lost their young children.

Hans tried to solve this problem somehow.

And after much worrying, he created the “Pediatric Clinic”.

It was also a clinic with the full support of the permanent residents, and with very unbeatable conditions for children under the age of ten, who didn’t have to pay for medication.

Many of Helio vassals stopped him, saying that it was like pouring water into a broken bottle; there was no profit, only diminishing money.

But Hans did not waver and pushed through.

And for the first time, he picked up his pen and wrote a letter to the imperial family.

He promised the imperial family that if they sponsor this outrageous project, he would send them a full report on the operation of the “Pediatric clinic” and its future influence.

He will also share the results of whether or not this could have a positive impact on infant mortality in the future.

He also stressed again and again that the source of the patronage would be disclosed clearly and transparently. However, the emperor’s reaction was cold.

He sternly advised him, “The greatest generosity he can show is not to further increase the taxes of Leshanta,” and closed his mouth.

The crown prince had no reply, and the prime minister dismissed him, saying that he had no funds to spend on such an outrageous charity.

Everyone laughed at or ignored his pediatric clinic, but there was only one person.

[I’ll sponsor it even if it’s a small amount compared to the importance of what you’re trying to do. I hope you’ll show me a good result.]

The young Crown Princess responded with an enthusiastic patronage.

He later found out that the amount she sent me was not from the royal treasury, but from her personal funds.

After persuading the Duke of Sunset to give her some more support, the Crown Princess actively supported and endorsed Hans.

She was the intelligent and beautiful granddaughter that the previous Duke of Sunset had cherished.

She was the very Roselyn V Sunset whom the emperor had tried to bring in even if she had to break her previous engagement.

After that, Hans became the most active supporter of the Crown Princess, or rather the Empress.

Fortunately, the pediatric clinic brought tangible results within two years.

The survival rate of children increased, and the birth rate was also higher due to the confidence in their safety. As the satisfaction with the management of the estate increased, the loyalty of the estate’s people had no choice but to naturally increase.

They voluntarily worked hard and trusted and relied on their lord.

As the children became healthy, the social activity rate of adults was also bound to improve.

Finances were always tight for the children’s clinic, but Leshanta was turning into a different place day by day.

As they were able to afford human resources, they cultivated farmland and increased the number of soldiers.

Although it was not his intention, Hans’s fame grew more and more.

It was so natural that more and more people followed him, who was clean and honest.

It was also at this time that Roselyn began to pay attention to the nobleman Hans of Helio.

Hans did not have the charisma to imprint on someone or overwhelm them into immobility.He had a good bearing, but he was not a sword wielder, nor was he a deceiver with his words.

He was just a listener.

He was a person who listened, figured out what was needed, and tried to find the right answer for the situation.

That was why many people followed him.

And that was exactly why the imperial family was wary of him, despite the fact that he was a nobleman who had never made it to the center.

Gillotti, after borrowing Natasha’s idea and making all kinds of excuses, sent him away to the northwest, the more extreme region.

He was driven out.

He was ordered to leave the Northwest only until his “crime” was removed, though the Emperor never touched his main estate, Leshanta.

It wasn’t enough that he was neither a knight nor a prosecutor to force him to give up his “crime of failing to protect the frontier,” it was nothing short of banishment that drove him to a region where he fought battles every day.

Still, Hans did not give up.

With the same brilliance that had made Leschanta prosperous, he strove to protect the northwestern part of the country, a place of extreme evil, at all costs.

When the young nobles who followed him made a move to get their act together, Gillotti cut them off.

He decided to cover Hans’ hands, feet, eyes and mouth.

A strange situation was created.

Because of Hans’ superior personality and abilities, Gillotti was extremely aware of Hans.

Perhaps it was an instinctive hostility.

Just as Gillotti was wary of Roselyn, he probably saw Hans as a threat to him.

Their competence make Gillotti’s incompetence stand out more!

The emperor must have felt that his position and status were threatened because of this.

It was for this reason that Gillotti did not hesitate to drive out capable and competent people.

He did not know that this was a shortcut to his eventual downfall.

“If you’re blind to too close practicality, you’ll miss the future.”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“What? What did you say just now….?”

Asha, who was seeing Hans off, shook her head, brushing aside the brief recap of what had just happened.

Unable to get back on his horse, Hans looked at Asha with a mixture of concern and worry in his eyes.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

His heavy question was laced with many worries.

The biggest worry of them all was probably whether it was okay to send him this way.

“Are you really imposing such a tremendous and large task on me?”

“The decision is yours, but I bet my future on you.”

“…… I’m nothing.”

“ I was also nothing. Didn’t you believe in me like that back then?”

“But …………………”

Hans gritted his teeth.

For the first time in his life, his body trembled.

The horror was natural. But the problem was that this shaking wasn’t created by fear alone.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

After their earlier conversation, his heart was pounding.

Vitality was rampant in his body to the point where he couldn’t believe that he had barely slept.

“Do you really believe in me?”

At Hans’ question, Asha stared into his eyes.

Hans’ blue eyes were oddly similar to her grandfather’s.It was a warm, nostalgic look in his eyes.

Asha smiled quietly, then asked back.

“Are you not confident that you will become emperor?”

“….”

“Then say it now. I’ll find someone else.”

“Why!”

Hans’s voice was urgent.

He asked her in a suppressed voice.

“Why ……? Why don’t you take the throne?”

“…”

“I think you are the most deserving person of all.”

Asha did not answer clearly.

She knew very well why Hans felt that way.

The answer, however, was clear.

She answered in a slightly lighter voice.

“Because I don’t want it.”

“…What?”

“I don’t want to involve myself in something I don’t want to do any more. I was just up there by the will of someone else. And as I learned and learned, I had to do my duties according to my position, and so I acted.”

Of course, it wasn’t that she didn’t like her job as Empress.

To some extent, it was her natural job, and she even enjoyed it in her own way.

However, that was not why she should become “emperor”.

As ‘Aranrosia Asha’ and not Roselyn, she didn’t want to be an empress or emperor anymore. Her role was to be the cornerstone of reversing the tide of war, and the helper to make it complete.

That was the role she wanted.

“But you’re not different.” (Roselyn)

“….”

“Because you also want Tanatos to be better, to be a better country, and to have a more honorable leader.” (Roselyn)

Roselyn smiled slightly as she walked past and stood in his path.

Her legs no longer wavered or limped as she walked ahead of him.

Hans looked at her with a strange look in his eyes as she walked normally.

“That’s why you’re better suited for this than I am.” (Roselyn)

Reaching out a hand, she looked back at Hans.

“Go.”

It’s your path.

Hans stared at Roselyn and mounted his horse.

His men were already waiting for him in front of him.

Roselyn greeted him with a quiet, gentle smile.

“I’ll see you there.”

“…I’ll see you there.”

He gave a short salute and turned away without looking back.

Tamon came up to Roselyn as she was watching the back of Hans running vigorously.

“Are you sure it’s okay to send him like this?”

Roselyn smiled and nodded.

“This will be sufficient.”

She felt relieved.

***

*Just a reminder: every time you see the name Asha being used, it’s either from the point of view of mostly Tamon, or someone close to her like Arsene..or just the people in Amor in general.

And the name Roselyn is mostly from the narrator.