Chapter 356 Overview
After Rihito and Edward left, Sara found herself alone and decided to take a moment to gather her thoughts about the many things that had been happening lately.
Having time to reflect like this was a habit she had from her past life. By looking at various events, including her own, from a distance, she could make adjustments. This often helped her in her work. However, when she did this in her personal life, it had the side effect of making her see the unpleasant parts of her boyfriend, which sometimes led her to break up with him soon after.
'Why are you suddenly saying you want to break up?'
She remembered being asked that a few times. But for Sara, it was never sudden. It was like slowly filling a balloon named "tolerance" with air until it finally burst one day. It wasn't that she "suddenly changed"; she had just been "holding it in" for a long time. Then, the other person would always say the same thing.
'Why didn't you tell me sooner?'
Most of the time, she had said it many times before, but the other person just wasn't listening. Still, she knew that even if she spoke up, they probably wouldn't understand. It was annoying to spend time on someone like that, so when it happened, she decided to just walk away quickly.
As she revealed in front of Rihito and Edward, there have been times when someone broke up with her first. Sarasa has never clung to someone to try to make them stay. Even if it hurts deeply, she believes that clinging to someone who thinks she isn't good enough will only hurt her more. She doesn't even ask "Why?" because she doesn't think she would understand the answer anyway. Some people have tried to test Sarasa's feelings by suggesting a breakup. When she easily accepted the breakup, she suddenly felt anxious. However, continuing a relationship with someone who tests love usually doesn't lead to good results.
Because of this, people around Sarasa thought she was a cool woman when it came to love. But in reality, Sarasa wasn't skilled enough to control her feelings. She never fell in love on purpose, nor could she stop herself from falling for someone she knew was wrong for her. By the time she realizes it's a bad idea, it's already too late.
However, even if she can't control her feelings, she can control her actions. No matter how much her heart hurts, she can keep a calm appearance. In fact, as she gets older, she becomes better at hiding her true feelings. After a little drinking alone in her room, she cries hard while hugging her knees, but the next day, work awaits her. Even if her eyes are a bit puffy, she can cover it up with makeup. If that doesn't work, she can just say, "I drank too much last night."
Sometimes, while at work, she thinks about whether she'll get a message saying, "Let's try again." But that doesn't make her give up on her beloved job. At least, she doesn't show any signs of being overwhelmed.
'Wait a minute!!! My past life has nothing to do with this!'
Sara realized that because of Rihito, she had ended up looking back at unnecessary memories from her past life. Since she wanted to be happy in this life, she decided to bury those embarrassing memories deep in her mind.
She understood that this reincarnation was due to Marcato's rampage. While she didn't intend to blame anyone for the accident, it was unforgivable to take their souls from Gaia without permission. Kazuya was probably one of those victims too. However, there was no point in making a fuss about it now. They had already been born into this world, and they had family, relatives, and friends. Even Rihito, who had been sulking, seemed to feel affection for Alicia, a descendant who looked a lot like him.
'One day, until the day we return to the cycle over there, we should travel this world and see many interesting sights.'
Sara and Rihito decided to come to terms with their reincarnated lives like that. However, with a friend who was a fairy that controlled time, the two would likely spend a long time in this world.
"Hey? Noir is a fairy of time, but why didn't the royal family of Odel live long? Even looking at history books, their reign wasn't that long. If anything, it should have been about the same as Blaze's parents."
She suddenly wondered about it, but it wasn't something she could easily answer. Sara decided to ask Noir later and set that question aside for now.
'Still, before I knew it, my family and friends have increased.'
The moment Sara remembered Blaze, she started thinking about her relationships in this life. The truth is, there isn't much reason for Sara to stay with the Grandchester family. As an orphan with no power, Sara depended on the Grandchester family to live "as comfortably as possible" in this world, planning to gain strength and become independent. However, now that Sara has gained power much faster than she originally expected, she feels she can go anywhere she wants.
Of course, she doesn't feel ungrateful to the Grandchester family for taking her in as an orphan. But when she thinks about it again, it seems like she has given more benefits to the Grandchester territory and the Grandchester family than she has received.
'No, my grandfather didn't take me in for profit. I feel like thinking this way is wrong. After all, I'm a Grandchester.'
While she has been loved by Marquis Grandchester and Robert, her relationship with the Young Marquis family, which had been strained, is also improving. Meeting Rebecca and the maidens, and interacting with many people, is enough to make Sara feel attached to the Grandchester territory, not just as Sara but also as Sophia.
When Sara lived with her parents, she rarely thought of herself as Sara Grandchester. In fact, she only learned about her last name when her father passed away. Common people usually call each other by their first names. While some commoners do have last names, it's not common to introduce themselves with them, even when meeting someone for the first time. If someone uses their last name, others might think, "What a snob."
Because of this, Sara found out for the first time at her father's funeral that his name was Arthur Grandchester. Her mother also told her that she was Sara Grandchester. However, this didn't change Sara's life, so she quickly pushed it out of her mind.
But after regaining memories from her past life and coming to the Grandchester territory, Sara had completely become Sara Grandchester. It was undoubtedly the crisis in the Grandchester territory that deeply moved her. The territory was in ruins due to a embezzlement scandal, which had severely damaged its internal affairs.
If the Grandchester territory were to fall, her position, which she had only gotten out of sympathy, would also be in danger. So, Sara threw aside the big cat she was holding and helped the bureaucrats with their work.
'...Yeah. I overdid it. But if I hadn't done it, I wouldn't have met so many people.'
Looking back, it's true that there were many excessive things. However, by stopping the act of pretending in front of the bureaucrats, double-entry bookkeeping was introduced, and the office maid was born. The impact of the wheat harvest forecast report was amazing, and it seems that many people at the Academy are also working on research topics related to other crops.
But the biggest thing was probably calling in the guild members. Thanks to that, she met the maidens and was able to acquire Maiden's Tower and Secret Garden. Maybe she still hadn't formed a friendship with the fairies.
'Causality is a complex web, and people are social beings. In the end, living without belonging to something is difficult. I should admit that I'm starting to feel attached to Grandchester.'
Sara realized that the time had come to think about the future.
The crisis in Grandchester, which started with the embezzlement incident, was just a part of a larger conspiracy. The big merchants of the Coastal Union, like Meyer, were launching attacks to put economic pressure on Roisen and Avalon.
If Sara didn't feel attached to the Grandchester territory or the country of Avalon, she might have thought that actually siding with the Coastal Union would be more beneficial. Their methods are rough and not very appealing, but the way they control Roisen and exert pressure on neighboring countries with military backing while siphoning off wealth is likely to succeed with a high probability.
However, if the Coastal Union's unity is weak, it's hard to believe they can last for a long time. Eventually, they will end up fighting ugly battles over the profits they hope to gain.
'Does Meyer really believe their unity is strong, or do they plan to make a big profit quickly and then pull out? Or maybe they want to take over the Coastal Union completely... I really hope that's not the case. If that happens, it would lead to a lot of bloodshed.'
In any case, since she is Sara from Grandchester, she needs to crush the Coastal Union's plans.
'I need more power. Right now, the Sophia Merchant Guild doesn't have enough strength to deal with the Coastal Union, let alone just the Silt Merchant Guild. We can't win against them with just wheat.'
The Sophia Merchant Guild sells unique products, but it is still a small merchant guild with a limited amount of goods. It's normal since they just started. It's actually strange that a merchant guild of this size is monopolizing the wheat in the Grandchester territory.
On the other hand, the Silt Merchant Guild is very large and deals with a wide variety of items. It's at a level similar to the general trading company where Sarasa used to work during the Sarasa era. Even Sara is drawn to the various spices handled by the Silt Merchant Guild and has actually made some purchases. No matter how much money the Sophia Merchant Guild has, they can't just start handling these spices overnight. There are also attractive products like silk threads, silk fabrics, gemstones, precious metals, and rare ingredients and fruits overflowing.
'This is a conflict between nations, so it should really be a problem for the royal families of Avalon and Roisen. I'd like to ignore it if it doesn't directly involve the Grandchester territory, but if they're going to have a serious battle in the wheat market, we can't stay uninvolved. After all, they're causing all sorts of trouble in the Grandchester territory.'
However, Sara felt a bit heavy-hearted. This is because, in order to fight, she needs to form a cooperative relationship with both royal families of Roisen and Avalon. This inevitably leads to the issue of marriage.
'Chloe wants to marry Prince Andrew, so that's fine, but after I become the Viscount Astley's daughter, things might get a bit complicated. If I'm not careful, my father might get promoted to a higher rank as soon as he becomes a Viscount. But I've decided that in this life, I want to have a happy marriage based on love, so I need to be ready to firmly refuse any political marriage proposals.'
Sara held her head in frustration. It was easy to imagine that there were people plotting to marry Chloe to Prince Andrew and to marry herself to Crown Prince Gerhart. Although it would be more natural to marry Chloe to Crown Prince Gerhart since he was older, rumors were spreading among some nobles that Crown Prince Gerhart wanted Sara as a concubine after the hunting tournament.
'I need a card that can negotiate on equal terms with the royal family. Roisen can be dealt with, but the Grandchester family is loyal to King Avalon... I'm not too excited about it, but maybe the only option is the special medicine for the fever. But that would mean trading a person's life, and Rihito would probably hate that. Making magic stones... that's even worse. I need to think of something.'
However, there was a limit to thinking alone. For now, she decided to later involve the maidens and Rihito, and get some ideas from Edward and Elizabeth on how to negotiate favorably as a noble.
Feeling like her head was overheating from overthinking, Sara decided to go outside and move her body a bit. In her previous life, when she felt stuck, working up a sweat at the gym often cleared her mind.
Sara strapped on her rapier and main gauche and started walking toward the garden, which she hoped the golems were clearing.
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