Niyue had come for a one-week trip. She was going to be staying over at one of our guest rooms which happened to be close to mine. The official purpose was for her to observe our library and deliver a personal letter from her father to Dominic.
However, I had a feeling this was obviously more. Still, to send his daughter… why does he show so much interest now all of a sudden. Niyue was currently in her room, doing whatever. So, I took the opportunity to visit the library from which I was banned no longer and spent a good chunk of time exploring the maps and zoning out.
"We have so much land," I mumbled.
And by the literal frigging border no less. I thought there were other stuff between the border and us but apparently those villages and Baronies also belonged to us.
"Yes sir," Molly said.
She and Airy stood by me, offering tidbits every now and then. "I get why we have such a large area, but why do the Barrets?"
"Lord Barret owned half of the land, and after merging with his current wife's family, his land only grew," Airy said.
"I see. Still, it's a-"
"Yes, when compared to other counties, and dukedoms, his county is indeed spacious," she said. "However, you should note, they too share a border with the Onion."
Onion?
"And he's looking to expand it even more," I murmured.
Both of their eyes fell on me and although neither said anything, I had a feeling they agreed.
So, he sent his daughter to use our vast lands for his own purposes.
But obviously it wasn't going to work that way. Even if he married his daughter to our house, then what? It wasn't like I or Damian were going to just give up our rights and-
But they already know that. So why?
"How exactly can he expand his land?" I asked.
"Your tea time is up, my lord," Airy said, taking the tea tray back.
Meanwhile, Molly looked a tad puzzled. "I wish I knew, sir."
Even if they did, it wasn't likely they would share their insights with me. Firstly, they were maids. And secondly, if they said something atrocious, they could be charged or let go… neither of which I'm sure they wanted.
"By the way-" I pointed towards the right of the map, at the hundreds of small city like structures which happened to be joined. "What about this? What even is this?"
If I recall, there were many countries to the west of our nation. But those were clearly 'many nations' and warring states. Not a coagulated piece of land like this map made it out to be. Was this map a couple of decades old or something?
"That sir is the Great Onion of Katabun. They only formed last year but I'm sure you've heard about them before, yes?"
I haven't? I couldn't recall anything about them, both from my previous life and in this one. I went about searching the other maps and books and history and… it was all the same. The great Onion… was indeed a thing.
This is new… a bead of cold sweat formed and dripped down.
History has changed….
***
During dinner, I sat with Niyue, or rather she sat next to me and we had dinner.
She didn't say much or complain. Our family didn't speak much either.
"Was the food to your liking, lady Niyue?" Dominic asked.
"It indeed was, Mr. Galford."
"I am pleased to hear that." His eyes fell on me for a couple of seconds, which felt like forever, before he glanced back at her; the hell did he even expect from me? To be a chatterbox? "Since this is your first visit to our city, would you like to explore the cityscape?"
"I would like to, yes." She spoke fluently, as though she'd practiced her words for days, no, years. No apparent emotion, almost like she was devoid of them. Yet, she didn't feel like a machine. She didn't feel the least robotic.
However… for some reason my body hair kept jumping up in goosebumps. Why am I so on edge?
Well, at least she didn't reek of sweat as usual. Wait, maybe David just assumed-
"Then, David-"
"Yes, father?"
"Please escort Lady Niyue through the city tomorrow. You may take Alberto with you."
"Yes, father."
Sigh… I caught Damian smirking smugly but seriously…. Sigh.
I went to my room, locked up, jumped and fell flat on the bed and let out a mild scream in my pillow. I heard some rustling outside but Molly probably wouldn't bother running in-
No, no she would. You idiot!
Sighing, I opened the door and found a frantic Molly who paused to give my face a stare and ran for me so hard I started contemplating what would happen if she were to tackle me right now. Luckily, she didn't. "Slowly, slowly!" I yelled. But she didn't listen and took me up in her arms, clearly frightened.
Meanwhile, a guard ran to me frantically and went inside the room to check for intruders or rather, assassins. Apparently, if I opened a minute later, they would have broken in.
He found no one, cause there was no one.
I might or might not have forgotten that we had an important guest over and so, it was possible we'd get assassins despite our heavy security. How the hell did that slip my mind? Sighing, "Relax guys, I was just frustrated. Nothing's amiss."
I sighed and watched the color return to Molly's face who barely said a word and just kept on hugging me and stuff. I suppose my life was really that important to her. She'll lose her job without you….
"If you're worried," I said. "You can sleep with me."
She nodded.
The windows were already secure but the guard still double checked everything. Afterwards he assured me, he would die before anything happened to me. It was his job to, and he got paid handsomely for it. Still, I doubted the words. Who was going to just give up everything and die? No, a lot of people would for shit they believed in… Anyway, I bid farewell to the soldier and locked the door. Molly climbed onto the bed and turned off the light.
"Don't hesitate to wake me up," Molly said.
"Right, right."
Well, at least I'll have a fluffy pillow.