"So... Rodele is dead, then..."
One month had passed since the suppression of Marquis Eiger's rebellion.
Hearing the news at the Rosemary family's townhouse, Rest felt a strange sense of loneliness.
He sat on his bed in his room and let out a sigh, feeling strangely desolate despite it already being summer.
(If he was going to die anyway, should I have just killed him on the battlefield?)
Perhaps that would have been kinder than being forced to drink poison.
For a man of such pride, a month spent waiting for death must have been excruciating.
Rodele Aiwood was an unpleasant man.
He had certain unsettling similarities to his foolish elder brother Cedric, and Rest had always considered him the type he could never bring himself to like.
And yet... when they had faced each other on the battlefield, Rest had felt an inexplicable sense of kinship.
If only the man had been just a little more decent... perhaps they could have shared a future fighting side by side as comrades-in-arms.
It was a vague, half-formed thought, nothing more.
(Rodele's body won't be buried in the royal family's tomb—he'll be taken in as an anonymous corpse by a monastery on the frontier, huh... In that case, maybe I should build a temple somewhere and commission a proper grave for him.)
Even if Rodele had been a villain of the highest order... it was wrong to treat a man of power's remains so carelessly.
If he came back as a vengeful spirit like Taira no Masakado or Sugawara no Michizane, that would be nothing but trouble.
Their duel on the battlefield was, at the very least, some kind of bond between them.
Rest resolved that when he eventually received his own domain, he would have Rodele's remains transferred and a temple built in his honor.
(Still... I never thought I'd become a count.)
In the span of this single month, much had changed in the Kingdom of Aiwood. The same was true for those around Rest.
First, punishments were handed down to the nobles of the queen dowager's faction who had sided with Eiger, Marquis of Eiger.
Every noble who had directly participated in the rebellion was sentenced to death without exception. Those close to the ringleaders were executed along with their entire families through collective punishment.
Those who had belonged to the faction but had not joined the rebel army also received appropriate punishments. Their domains and properties were stripped away, and they were reduced to commoners.
As for the nobles who had barely managed to stop themselves—those who had left the faction the moment Eiger, Marquis of Eiger, raised his banner—they were granted pardons, though their ranks were demoted and they were ordered to be transferred.
The domains that had been owned by the nobles of the queen dowager's faction were divided up: key strongholds were placed under the direct control of the royal family, while the remaining lands were distributed to the royalist nobles who had participated in the suppression.
House Rosemary also had its domain expanded, and its head, Albert, was busily traveling back and forth between the domain and the royal capital without rest.
And as for Rest—he was awarded a count's title, a medal, and a monetary reward for his contributions in battle.
At the investiture ceremony that had already taken place, he received personal words of praise from the king and was even allowed to have a friendly conversation with the crown prince.
During the ceremony, he had to put up with other nobles seizing every opportunity to approach him and try to sell him their daughters as potential wives. It was thoroughly exhausting.
Viola and Primula, who were standing beside him, were none too pleased about it either.
The Royal Academy, which had been closed since the incident at the Magic Hunt Festival, had already resumed classes—but Rest had barely attended.
He had shown his face exactly once, only to be accosted by female students offering to become his wife or even his concubine, and male students demanding he make them his deputies, swearing they would serve as his retainers.
The domain granted to Rest was almost entirely undeveloped plains, but even so, it held the potential for future development and was home to enormous latent profits.
That potential drew people in like moths to a flame—and in the worst cases, those seeking to enter his service even showed up at House Rosemary's townhouse in the capital.
"On top of everything... Rodele's inheritance. It looks like I've got even more trouble heading my way..."
Rest flopped onto his bed and unfolded the letter sent from the royal family.
It stated that, according to the last will and testament of Rodele Aiwood—who had drunk the poisoned cup—Rest was to inherit his estate.
What Rodele had left behind was the queen dowager's hidden fortune. It was the secret savings she must have amassed during her lifetime.
Among the items were national treasures that had previously been declared lost, and their combined value was said to rival the national budget.
The royal family had reclaimed the paintings, vases, and sculptures they held—but as for liquid assets like gold coins and gemstones, those were to be granted directly to Rest.
On top of that, magical tomes of dubious value and title deeds to plots of frontier land were forced upon him as well.
Having money was nice, but honestly, more gold than he could spend in a hundred lifetimes was nothing but a nuisance.
Those who possessed wealth were compelled to put it to use.
If they didn't, the economy would stagnate, and people would come swarming around them like ants.
It was the same as winning the lottery and immediately being hit with pitches for donations and investments, or receiving calls from self-proclaimed friends whose numbers he had no memory of ever exchanging.
(If that kind of attention was bothersome, the simplest thing would be to spend it all in a flash—but having a designated purpose for the money was its own kind of problem...)
"...Guess I'll do it—frontier development in the demon realm."
Normally, such an undertaking would be carried out under the royal family's leadership... but it would be wise to get a head start by breaking ground on the domain he had been given, at the very least.
Honestly, he even privately suspected that this was exactly what the royal family was after—offloading the money so he would take on the burden of development.
"I should talk to my father-in-law about this..."
Rest rose from his bed and headed to his father-in-law's office to discuss the development of the Sabnock Plains.