I Thought I Was Married, But I Was Left Alone, So I'll Live as I Please. So Please Don't Mind Me Anymore, My Lord of the Border - Chapter 29

By the time I was able to get out of bed and resume my normal life, the wind outside the window had taken on a warmth.

Though only a short time had passed, the seasons were already shifting.

During that period, my uncle and his accomplices had been imprisoned, while the alchemist who kept administering drugs to me and my uncle received the death penalty.

A special tribunal by royal decree had confirmed their guilt, as there was more than enough evidence of their mistreatment toward me.

My remaining aunt and cousin were sent to a remote forced labor camp, where they now live under strict surveillance.

I was asked if I wanted to speak with them before sentencing, but I had nothing to say to those people.

On the day of the verdict, my uncle and the others were charged with their respective crimes and sentenced under the king’s command.

I felt no particular emotion—only that a long nightmare had finally come to an end.

It felt as if the long winter was finally ending.

Now, I am the lord of the Kreuz territory.

At the moment, I’m in my office sorting through a mountain of backlogged paperwork, and for some reason, Lord Oliver and Lady Nia have brought in their own desks and chairs and have been helping me all this time.

“…How long are you two planning to stay here?”

“Hmm? Until we’re ready to take you back to Graphica, of course?”

Lord Oliver tilts his head and smiles as if stating the obvious.

Don’t you make the same face, Lady Nia, even though you’re helping me. What’s with that? It’s kind of cute.

That’s not what I meant by “how long.”

“…I meant, don’t you need to go back?!”

Lord Oliver narrows his eyes slightly and laughs.

“Graphica won’t falter even if we’re apart for a little while.”

Ugh, you’re teasing me on purpose, aren’t you?!

“I will be returning ahead shortly. Please rest assured. His Excellency must welcome Lord Ash to our Graphica.”

You too, Lady Nia?! You master and servant!

Somehow, these two have started showing their true colors—or maybe they’ve stopped holding back—since we decided to get married…

Not that I mind, but still…

“If Lady Nia is returning, then I suppose it’s fine…”

“Lord Ash, you are now officially Lord Oliver’s partner. Please refrain from using honorifics with me.”

“…Uh, yes. Nia.”

When I corrected myself, Nia smiled contentedly and with a hint of joy.

It made me happy, as if I’d been accepted as family.

Happy as I am, thinking practically, there are things that worry me.

“Even so, is it really possible to manage both?”

I can review documents and make decisions from a distance, but I still need to check the actual state of the territory.

If we’re each governing our own lands, that means living apart. So what’s the point of getting married?

There’s quite a distance between Kreuz and Graphica.

Finally realizing the various problems, I posed the question to Lord Oliver.

“Lord Grey has agreed to assist with that, so Ash only needs to come to Kreuz for a few months each year.”

“? Why Lord Grey?”

“Well…”

According to Lord Oliver, Lord Grey had known that my engagement was “an extension of the drug trade.”

That’s precisely why he was the first to act, wishing for me to find happiness this time.

He grew suspicious when, even after the crisis had passed, there was no talk of marriage, and worried that I might be being mistreated, so he came as a special envoy to check on the situation.

And when he actually met us, he saw that Lord Oliver and I got along much better than he’d expected.

In fact, he apparently saw right away that we cared for each other.

So, he judged that the reason for this situation was likely my hesitation, and applied a little pressure, asking, “What do you really want?”…

As a result, things moved quickly toward breaking off the engagement, and it seems Lord Grey was the one who panicked.

Just as things were rolling in the opposite direction from what he’d expected, I was even kidnapped, which made him feel partly responsible, so he’s been smoothing things over behind the scenes ever since.

There’s no reason for Lord Grey to feel responsible, but I’m genuinely grateful that he cared about me.

From now on, the Kreuz territory will be jointly managed with the House of Grey.

The day-to-day operations—like public safety and taxation—will be handled by the earl’s house, while I’ll oversee the territory’s overall direction and supervision.

If, someday, we have a child who takes an interest in the Kreuz territory, they can inherit it.

That’s what I was told.

To think I’d one day share the responsibilities of lordship with someone—I never could have imagined that in the past.

“…Can such a convenient arrangement really come true?”

It aligns so perfectly with my hopes that it feels unreal.

But Lord Oliver gently runs his fingers through my hair and smiles.

“Formal approval is expected at next month’s council. But both the earl and the king are positive about it.”

He tells me it’s practically a done deal and that I can relax, but I don’t know what expression to make.

“Ah. It’s all the people you’ve helped until now. They all said, ‘If it’s for Ash’s happiness,’ and agreed to cooperate.”

“…Really?”

“During my own negotiations, everyone I met spoke favorably of Lord Ash and gladly offered their assistance.”

My eyes grow hot at Lady Nia’s words.

“Normally, it would take months to move even a single document in the royal capital, but this time, Lord Grey pushed it through by force.”

“How impressive… He truly went above and beyond for this matter.”

More people than I’d imagined had been working behind the scenes, unknown to me.

Lord Grey. The people of Kreuz. The citizens of Graphica.

And the faces of all those I’d delivered medicine to until now flash through my mind.

Of course, Lord Oliver and Nia, too.

I only made medicine because I wanted to help whoever was in front of me.

Yet that accumulation of efforts is now supporting me.

“Ash, this is the result of everything you’ve done. You should be proud.”

Lord Oliver, who had walked over to my side, embraced me as I held back tears.

I can live my life holding both my precious person and my precious territory.

I hugged Lord Oliver back tightly.

Once word got out that I’d recovered, people came to the office one after another.

Quinn and Slay also came, and the moment they saw me, they cried and clung to me.

Their warmth made me truly feel that I had come back alive.

As I hugged them back, tears welled in my eyes, too.

Slay calmed down quickly, but Quinn kept crying for a long time, leaving my clothes a mess with tears and snot.

Honestly, you silly thing. You’re washing the clothes you dirtied.

People came and went in a steady stream, filling the mansion with many visitors.

“My Ash is so loved,” Lord Oliver remarked with a proud smile as he attended to the guests, making me feel strangely tickled.