chapter 52
Chapter 52 The Reality of Poor Nobles
Feeling my gaze, Alexia reluctantly opened her mouth.
“Do you have anything to say?”
“That… Right, how are you doing?”
Alexia kept her head still and turned her gaze to me.
Even after she threw the branches into the bonfire, she opened her mouth after a while.
“I’d say it’s the worst, but it’s more comfortable than I thought. As a slave.”
“Yes. It is also my job to provide food, clothing and shelter. But don’t compare it to her life as an aristocrat.”
When I said that, Alexia giggled and laughed.
She wondered what was funny. She put on a puzzled expression and Alexia put her mouth on her wooden cup.
Inside is a warm drink made with apple cider vinegar and honey water.
She prepared a drink that is excellent for relieving fatigue and replenishing water.
She is a common drink in the kingdom, and even Alexia, who was embarrassed at first, now drinks well.
“Hey, Master? Do you know the life of an aristocrat at the bottom where only the status is noble? Even if she’s the second generation, she’s a merchant, so can’t you guess?”
“That….”
The owner shut her mouth.
Alexia is a noble who was abandoned by the empire.
In other words, she is an aristocrat who can be discarded from the point of view of the Empire. It was the lower class aristocracy that Alexia spoke of.
“Please speak comfortably.”
“Sorry.”
“No, tell me.”
The owner surrendered to the glaring eyes.
If you don’t tell me, you’ll get even more angry.
She’s a woman with a strong sense of pride.
“You must be in a hurry to make ends meet. It seems to me, yes.”
“It’s worse. She is better now than when she was living in the Empire.”
It was almost a self-deprecating voice.
Nobility. Noble blue blood. They are regarded as special beings, but the reality is diverse.
The source of their power is land and authority.
The greater the nobility, the greater the power, and with that power, it grew larger.
Money follows power.
When you reach a great nobleman, the merchant bows his head and asks you to borrow money.
There was a corner where the money would come in, so it was easy to collect.
On the other hand, what about the lesser nobility?
Poor land, there is a round and round round, rather, there is a loss of interest. Nevertheless, dignity had to be maintained because of the face of the nobility. There are many aristocrats who have borrowed money with difficulty but have not been able to pay it back and are sitting on a pile of debt.
Aristocrats on the frontlines also needed armaments, so it was natural for them to go bankrupt if their profits weren’t high.
The internal affairs of kingdoms, empires, and nobles are not very different.
Merchants jokingly say that not having money is like not having a head, but nobles who only have titles are so poor that they are abandoned like Alexia. This means that the head can be cut off at any time.
Alexia and her father were sacrificed.
If the owner hadn’t bought it, Alexia would have been reduced to just a toy.
“My house is… Maybe 200 years ago? He was recognized for his contribution to protecting the border from monsters and became a nobleman. At the time, he was excellent at dancing and was quite wealthy thanks to the resources of monsters. His father often told him to imitate his ancestors.”
The sound of the campfire seemed to resonate with Alexia’s words.
Alexia lowered her head under her.
Her wavy hair hid her profile, making her expression invisible.
The barely visible mouth seemed to be crying or laughing.
“It makes me laugh. Unlike now, there were crappy weapons, few soldiers and poorly fed horses. Even so, my father took the lead, saying that it was for the sake of the empire. I didn’t stop even though the results were obvious. I couldn’t stop. All I could do was go along.”
“Yes.”
Alexia put her mouth to the cup again, but it was empty.
The owner poured water boiled over a campfire into a cup and stirred it with apple cider vinegar and honey.
Alexia said a small thank you.
“If you say noble, this is it.”
“But you helped me. It was only possible because you are nobles.”
“That… It’s just a little bit of what I saw in the Empire. The guardian was friendly with the cardinal of the Sun God Church.”
The owner didn’t say anything.
I poured boiled water into a cup and sipped little by little.
“What should I have done?”
“Okay. I think I was already out of hand… “
“The count, the guardian who said he would come as a reinforcement, never showed up. In the end, he said that his father was the source of the conflict. He was just following the Empire’s policy.”
The owner listened quietly.
Alexia’s father was probably a great man.
The proof is that she has a strong sense of pride, but does not harbor any ill will on her part.
She lost her status as a noble and became a slave, but she was still noble.
An aristocrat who tries to save face despite being poor is something that ordinary merchants can hardly understand.
The merchant made money by deceiving the country in one way or another, but the noble aristocrat couldn’t do that because she was all about her face.
In the end, what is called noblesse oblige restricts one’s actions.
From the owner’s point of view, a noble who fulfills his own self-interest was much more understandable.
Because they know the power of money.
If you have money, you can develop your territory. Then you can increase the power of the nobility and collect more money.
The land now bustling has a good location, but it has certainly gone through that process.
And vice versa…
“Well, it’s already over.”
Alexia said that and raised her head.
Power returned to the voice.
As usual, it was a beautiful expression that showed dignity and spirit.
After that, time passed without a conversation.