Chapter 1

Nice to meet you. This is my first post.

I hope you enjoy it. (≧▽≦)/

――I was born as the eldest daughter of a duke’s family.

I can vaguely remember that much.

Why?

Because by the time I was old enough to understand things, I was living as a commoner in the city, not in the duke’s household.

However, I had memories from before my reincarnation.

Perhaps due to my past life as an adult, I clearly remember being kidnapped from the duke’s household, even though I was just an infant.

On the night of early summer, the day after my first snowfall birthday, I was taken out of the duke’s household in the arms of a maid.

She was a young maid in her teens, with brown hair and brown eyes.

I don’t know why she did it, but she drove a carriage all night and left me in the forest, crying from hunger.

Unable to crawl, I could only cry as hard as I could.

Even with memories from my past life, I was just a baby who couldn’t walk or talk.

If I stayed like this, I would die.

I didn’t want to die like this.

I hadn’t even met my birth mother or father yet.

As I continued to cry, someone picked me up.

"A baby... here..."

The one who picked me up was the mother who is raising me now.

She was a young woman, with straight, beautiful silver hair and mysterious purple eyes, incredibly beautiful.

She was like a princess from the stories I used to read in my past life.

She said, "There, there. You must be hungry," and immediately offered her breast.

"Hey... Miss!"

Her younger brother, who tried to stop her, was there.

Ignoring his protests, she sat on a nearby rock and let me suckle.

"...Good. The milk is coming out properly."

Mother was on her way back to her parents' house after being expelled from her husband's family due to a stillbirth, which left her unable to have children.

"Oh... so cute... how cute..."

"Golden hair and light green eyes... the same as Master..."

Holding me, a baby, Mother shed tears and her beautiful purple eyes widened in delight.

That was the beginning.

――On that day, we became a family.

◇◇◇

――Five years have passed.

I am five years old, and in a few months, I will turn six.

"Ashera, it's time for lunch," said Uncle Rodin, who was with Mother that day, as he gently patted my head.

Although he is my uncle, he is only 21 years old.

He has silver hair and purple eyes, the same color as Mother, and he is very kind.

We live in a town about two days away from the capital.

Our country was at war with neighboring countries for seven years until last month.

Apparently, various neighboring countries took turns starting small conflicts, trying to take over our country, which is a granary.

Worried about this, and frustrated by the neighboring countries' arrogance, our country finally declared war and, over the course of seven years, made the neighboring countries its vassals.

Now, with the war over, the streets are crowded with people returning from military service.

"Mom, what's for lunch?"

I, whose daily routine is to help at the trading company Uncle runs, ran up to the residential part of the upper floor and hugged my kind mother.

Mother, who picked me up that day, is now 23 years old and has become a very beautiful and charming adult woman.

Mother, who smells of kindness, hugged me tightly and smiled softly with her gentle eyes.

"Your favorite rice ball."

"Wow! I love it!!"

On the plate were two small rice balls and five larger ones.

The small ones are for me, and the larger ones are for Uncle and Link, who runs the company with Uncle, two each. The last one is for Mother.

Simple salted rice balls, but they are very delicious.

The vegetable soup Mother served is also very delicious.

Mother is a very good cook and can make delicious meals even with few ingredients.

Even though we are not blood-related, she treats me very importantly, and I love her very much.

I want to stay with her forever.

Because we are not blood-related, I feel it even more strongly.

During the seven to eight months from my birth in winter to being taken away in early summer, I only met the maids and wet nurses who took care of me.

There were other people, like a doctor, when I was born, but I never saw them again after that day, and no one spoke to me except the maids and wet nurses, so I was very lonely.

――That's why. I wish with all my heart that I never have to let go of this smile, these gentle hands, and these warm arms that embrace me.

Suppressing those feelings, I bite into the shiny rice ball.

When I chew, the flavor of the rice spreads in my mouth, and my cheeks relax in delight.

It is well known that our country is a granary.

However, unlike the neighboring countries, it is rarely affected by natural disasters.

Even when the neighboring countries suffer from droughts or floods, our country is hardly affected.

This is because, in addition to the fact that natural disasters are rare, the country's policies, such as the development of drought-resistant and cold-resistant varieties by engineers and the distribution of water, have been effective.

Moreover, it is so mysterious that during the war, when a large amount of food was needed, the harvest was so abundant that it seemed to be "the will of the gods."

"The civilians who were drafted are returning, and everyone is happy that farm work will be easier," Uncle said, looking out the window.

"Yeah. We don't have to go to war anymore. That's good, that's good," Link, who runs the company with Uncle, agreed.

Indeed, this long war required all, whether nobles or commoners, to serve in the military for about six months.

Link and Uncle served at different times last year.

They did this to protect Mother and me.

Uncle is a Viscount Bertia, whose family has been in the country since its founding.

However, the family has been in poverty for a long time, having been deceived by someone in the great-grandfather's generation.

Uncle started a trading company, showed his business acumen, and finally got the estate management back on track.

He started the company because he couldn't return to the viscount's house after protecting me.

Rather, it was because his father, who didn't want to take in a divorced daughter, wouldn't let him.

He thought he was a noble viscount and that working was for commoners, so he sold the furniture in the house and played around.

He was drafted and returned with an arrow wound in his leg.

Because of the aftereffects of the injury (or rather, because he was lazy to begin with), he couldn't fulfill his duties as a viscount, and he handed over the viscount's position and the debt-ridden estate to Uncle.

Although Uncle received the viscount's position, he still has to work at the viscount's main residence and the company's annex because the old man is still there.

Link is a cousin of Mother and Uncle, the second son of the Earl Dain.

He is a handsome man with silver hair and blue eyes, tall and lean.

He is usually laid-back, but in reality, he is very athletic. I saw him take down a dozen or so ruffians who stormed into the company in an instant, all by himself, and I was amazed by his fluid martial arts.

His loosely tied silver hair fluttered beautifully.

"By the way, after the post-war processing, they are going to have a victory party or something."

"Victory party? ...Before that, they should help the widows and war orphans among the refugees..."

Sighing deeply is because there are war orphans and widows in the city.

If they are from the viscount's territory, we can help them, but in other territories, families who have lost their breadwinners are being abandoned, and they are coming to the viscount's territory in tatters, begging for help.

Moreover, the refugees are committing petty theft and robbery to survive, which is causing the security to deteriorate, and people are living in fear.

Although Uncle is taking measures, the territory is not very wealthy, and he is struggling to find a solution.

"How many refugees have fled to our territory?"

Pressing his temples, Uncle asked.

"Well, there are about 40 to 50 mothers and children now."

Compared to Japan in my past life, the population density in this world is low, probably about a third of Japan's.

Moreover, the viscount's territory is not very large, so the number of people we are already accepting is quite significant.

We allow them to stay in a few small churches, but we have limits on how much we can help for free.

The territory is not wealthy, specializing in agriculture, and we don't have a developed industry or specialty, so we can't think of a good solution.

"The profit from the rice has gone to paying off the debt. Now that other territories are also growing rice, we can't make a huge profit anymore."

――I was the daughter of a farmer in my past life.

A few years ago, the former viscount couldn't forget the taste of rice he had eaten abroad and started growing it in the territory, but he didn't get proper instructions and grew it like wheat, so it didn't grow well.

At the time, I could only speak a little, so I couldn't explain, but I pretended to play and got several small barrels from the warehouse, took some seedlings from the field, and planted them one by one in the barrels, filled them with water, pulled weeds, picked bugs, and considered the sunlight, doing whatever I could remember.

A sprout came out from a single grain, the stalks multiplied, the leaves grew green, and eventually, the ears of rice appeared and bore fruit.

The amazed faces of Mother, Uncle, and Link when they saw the ears of rice that had multiplied a thousandfold are unforgettable.

The next year, when the fields that were used to grow rice were converted to rice paddies, we were able to see a beautiful golden field of rice.

The villagers, being professional farmers, quickly mastered the technique, and this year, the third year, it looks like another good harvest.

"Thanks to Ashera, the rare rice in this country sold at a very high price, and the viscount's debt was paid off."

"But it was a blow that we were asked by the country to teach the cultivation method to other territories for military rations and it is no longer our exclusive specialty..."

Soon it will be harvest time, so the refugees will be valuable labor, but in winter, there will be almost no agricultural work.

If it were only the original residents, they could probably get by with their savings, but it will be tough for those who have no home or job.

"Well, since the war is over, it seems that the refugees who came from near the border are gradually returning to their original territories."

"Next year, we are considering moving many of the refugees in the church's care to other territories as rice cultivation experts."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. If they have added value, other places won't complain. We've also taught the children how to pick medicinal herbs and process wild plants. They should be able to manage."

Right? Link patted my golden head and softened his blue eyes.

――That's right. I, Ashera, am involved in the territory's reform at the age of five.

Thank you for reading.