“There’s no need to worry about that. We will hand over the rest of the stolen grain to you as payment for repairing the bridges and such. Oh, and by the way, Mr. Adaltine, don’t work yourself up over the loss of the storehouse. It was empty, and we were planning to renovate it soon anyway. All you did was shift the timeline forward slightly. In any case, that is the deal I put before you. How will you proceed?”
“Does this mean we can turn you down?”
“Of course. Consider it a courtesy from my father-in-law. Although, if you don’t take us up on our offer, we will imprison you as a thief and send you back home, so I don’t recommend that option. If it suits you to remain here, the lord will fill you in on any further details you may require. If you wish to consider your options after hearing what he has to say, that’s fine, too. And if the terms aren’t to your liking, you can always press for more.”
“Stop saying such needless things!” the count interjected.
“Come, now. If you don’t acknowledge the rights of your partner when proposing a deal, no one will ever put their trust in you when it comes to business, especially if you want them to work for you for a long time. Now, if it’s all right with you, that will be all from me.”
Conceding that Byletta had wrapped up everything neatly, the count nodded weakly. It seemed he had lost all his will to fight. Arnald, meanwhile, looked as apathetic as ever.
Byletta took that as permission to leave.
“Now, if you will please excuse me.”
She gave a gracious bow and swiftly left the room.
If she stayed, her father-in-law would keep getting angrier and angrier. Unfortunately for Bardu, the count would likely take out his anger on him instead, but he had committed a crime, after all. She was confident he could hang in there.
She silently wished him luck and stifled a yawn.
It was difficult not to just crawl back into bed, but she was hungry. A nap after getting a small bite to eat sounded wonderful. Thinking back on how busy she’d been over the past few days, she couldn’t help but think that much of it had been a colossal waste of time. The amount of work had truly been excessive. Even worse, she would have to head back to the capital with Arnald the next day, which meant another long day with him in that horrible carriage. There wasn’t much time left until the victory celebration, either. They were on a tight schedule.
Byletta did her best to chase the depressing thoughts of tomorrow out of her head by planning the rest of her day. As she headed toward the dining room, there was a spring in her step.
Once Byletta left the room, silence lingered.
Everyone was exchanging looks, undefinable expressions on their faces. An air of total bewilderment sat over the group.
“Did I not tell you that your wife was something else?”
Count Swangan looked at his son with a smile that contained more than a hint of mockery.
“As you just saw, that one’s mind moves frighteningly fast. She also managed to extract a lot of information from her uncle at the Highrain Association. In that respect, she’s very well connected. And with her experience in business, she knows how to maneuver with money.”
“What about those sword skills of hers? I’m sure you weren’t the one to train her.”
Byletta had been masterful at driving back the enemy the previous night. She was evidently very talented in combat.
The first time Arnald had accompanied Byletta in the carriage, he’d felt that something was off about the way her hands felt. As he’d observed them on the way to the estate, he’d noticed that they were quite rough. They weren’t the hands of a noblewoman, but of someone who had trained with a sword over many years. There was no way the talent she displayed could have been cultivated overnight.
But where on earth would a lady learn such abilities? Even though he had seen her swordplay with his own two eyes, Arnald couldn’t help but find it strange.
“She’s been that way ever since she married into our household. She defeated me in a duel quite early on as well. She’s the child of a viscount renowned for his martial prowess, so perhaps it was part of her upbringing, although I’ve never bothered to ask. Perhaps she insisted on it, given her penchant for belligerence and unruliness. As much as she pretends to be a lady, it’s quite difficult to control her.”
Arnald’s father, who always looked upon his own wife with exceeding bitterness, chuckled as if something was funny. He certainly seemed to be in a good mood.
Soon after Arnald had moved back to the capital to gather information on his bride, he’d visited the Swangan’s city estate to confront his father. Having heard rumors, he’d gone with the express purpose of demanding his father take responsibility for his mistress, but his father had refused and warned him not to divorce Byletta. Arnald had been angry at first, thinking his father was using him to keep his lover within easy reach, but that hadn’t turned out to be the case at all. It seemed the count simply relied on her skills.
“I would’ve appreciated knowing that sooner.”
“You didn’t want to hear it. You just turned up all of a sudden, told me to deal with my mistress myself, and stormed off without listening to a word of what I had to say. I am grateful you convinced her not to leave with that wager of yours. You have to hold on tight to that one.”
Arnald had spoken to his father about their month long wager the day after their wedding night. His father was taken aback by its strange terms, but he had smiled meanly all the same when he’d thought about how the unconventional woman would react to such an outrageous offer.
“My lady not only forced the count to return to the estate, but she’s also been a great help in other ways, too,” said Bardu. “She still asks if there’s anything she can assist with, even though she considers maintaining things here the count’s job… And when almost all of my petitions to the count went unanswered, I was able to send them to her instead.”
“You were?”
It looked like the count had been completely unaware. He tutted in annoyance.
“And she gave instructions accordingly?”
“If my lord has no knowledge of it, then yes, I suppose so. From all she said and did last night, it seems to me that she had everyone playing into her hands, including you, my lord.”