Chapter 19: Unveiled Truths

Surely, everyone in the mansion, including Anna, thought Hawk and Fine were the ideal couple.

‘I should’ve vowed “no physical contact for two years” instead of “no children.”’

Fine hadn’t anticipated Hawk’s reaction to her condition.

‘Even last night, he was so relentless—’

Her face flushed with embarrassment at the thought.

Hawk noticed her subtle change.

“Feeling hot?”

“N-no, it’s nothing!”

Hawk tilted his head at her flustered response.

Hawk led her to his study, distinct from his private room next to the bedroom.

It was in the lord’s hall, where clerks and warriors came and went.

“Sit there.”

He pointed to a sofa, and Fine sat.

A maid promptly brought tea, and Fine sipped it while scanning the room.

It was larger than her own study, with shields and armor displayed along the walls.

“See something unusual?”

“I was just noticing the armor and shields.”

“Ah.”

Hawk nodded.

“Those aren’t decorations.

I wore them in battle.”

Fine caught her breath.

“I’m sorry.”

She apologized, realizing he’d risked his life in them.

Mistaking them for decor might have offended him.

“No, it’s fine.

The reason I called you here—”

Hawk fixed his gaze on her.

“The wasteland near the mansion has turned into a grassland.

Did you do something?”

“No, nothing.”

Fine shook her head.

‘Val’s soil improvement must’ve caused grass to grow.’

It was definitely her doing, but she didn’t want to be accused of arrogance like with Banaji.

“No need to hide it.

Your Divine Blessing is ‘hearing the earth’s voice,’ right?

An impressive power.”

Fine looked up from her teacup.

“How are you so certain it’s my blessing?”

“It’s obvious with a little thought.

The ‘Green Hand’ could do this, but there’s no such holder in Rosaider.

So, it’s natural to conclude you influenced the soil.”

“That makes sense.”

In the capital, her sister Reina, with the “Green Hand,” was always nearby.

Many attributed the Diner Dukedom and Shot Marquis’s fertile lands to Reina.

Only Fine’s parents and the bedridden Duke of Diner knew it was Fine’s doing.

But Reina wasn’t here.

It was logical to deduce Fine’s blessing was responsible.

“I called on the earth spirits to make the soil suitable for plants.”

“I see.

That explains why the Diner Dukedom and Shot Marquis’s crop yields surged over the past decade.”

Hawk nodded.

“You don’t think it’s my sister’s doing?

Reina’s blessing is the ‘Green Hand.’”

“No.

The Green Hand promotes plant growth, but it’s not sustainable.

Maintaining it across a vast territory is impractical.

Your blessing, however, can change the soil’s nature through spirits.

The credit is clearly yours.”

Fine’s eyes widened at his words.

‘We’ve only known each other a short time, and I haven’t explained my blessing in detail—’

He was the kind who grasped ten from one, she thought.

‘Now I understand why Banaji hated him.

Hawk must’ve been far superior, out of Banaji’s league.’

Even without witnessing it, she could imagine Banaji’s one-sided jealousy and hostility toward Hawk.

“As you know, Rosaider’s land is barren, barely growing anything but potatoes.

This soil improvement will delight the people.

Thank you.”

“No need for thanks.”

Unused to such praise, Fine felt flustered.

Seeing her slight blush, Hawk chuckled.

“And this arrived.”

He handed her an envelope.

“This is—”

Fine turned it over, revealing the crest of the Diner Dukedom—her former fiancé Banaji’s family.