Vol. 3 - Chapter 19.5 - Younger love - Grace Carreras
As a member of the bloodline aristocratic faction, the Carreras family attached great importance to their social status. In the Empire, only imperial males had the right to inherit the seat of the head of the family. Grace, being a woman, did not meet this requirement. In other words, no matter how she tried, Grace could not succeed as the next head of the Carreras family. Normally, the theory would be to adopt a noble young man who was unable to become the successor of their family or to have Grace\'s son-in-law take over.
However, this was the unsightly part of the aristocrats who persisted in the name of tradition. Following the wishes of the Carreras family, the grandfather who didn\'t want to show his weakness in front of other families began raising Grace as a man who would succeed the family line as its successor from a young age despite her being a woman.
Of course, no matter how much you gloss over the facts on paper, the holes in the plan will soon be exposed. Even if she\'d believed it during her childhood, once she passed through the growth phase, Grace\'s body completely became that of a woman. Because of that, she became aware of the reckless plan of the Carreras family. In a sense, this was a betrayal to the nation. If it were to get exposed, the Carreras family would definitely be imposed with a penalty. That was why Grace desperately tried to act like a man.
Just at the time she graduated from the Magic Knight Academy, the long-awaited boy they\'d always wanted was born. Nobody knew how much of a bribe the grandfather had to pay, but several months later, Grace became a woman in the family register. And then, at the time Grace graduated, she was banished from the Carreras family.
Naturally, she was filled with resentment at their behaviour of trying to put a lid on the matter. But even more than that, she couldn\'t forgive herself for being powerless to say anything back to her father and grandfather.
There might also be the implication behind the compensation. Conveniently, she was paid five million gold by the Carreras family. With this money, she joined the Commercial Guild, which advocated true abilities, which she had been interested in for a long time, and began to do business. One day, I\'ll make all the members of the Carreras family look back at me. That was what Grace vowed inside her heart at that time.
In the Commercial Guild, the only victor was the one who gained profit regardless of age or status. This clear and simple system worked well for Grace, and she steadily increased her wealth. Even so, only the mixed feelings she had about her family and a sense of inferiority that lived in the depths of her heart hadn\'t vanished.
At that time, she met a mysterious young man in the territory of the Millard family, which even inside the Empire, was the poorest and the most remote region.
The name of the young boy was Grey Millard. His very existence was abnormal.
Of course, it was amazing how he possessed insane abilities which knew no bounds with his lack of common sense, and he could use magic with his hands and feet even more than what an imperial court magician could do, and the item box that stopped time and his teleportation ability were also astonishing.
However, the most notable thing about him was his outstanding mind and his very nature.
After getting acquainted for a while, Grey proposed a new product development business to Grace. In contrast to the original goal, it became something that changed Grace\'s fate.
That was [Hand Pump]. It was an epoch-making invention that had revolutionized the way water was drawn in the world.
In the beginning, Grace couldn\'t see the [Hand Pump] as anything but something that only drew water from a well. However, she was told by Grey that she\'d mistaken greatly in the carriage to the Straheim.
It was pumping water. The technology of this [Hand Pump] could be used as a miracle technology to bring the blessing of water to the land with little precipitation. Even after realizing this fact, Grace couldn\'t think through it and ended up asking for his help. Still, for the first time, Grace was able to leave his own mark on this world. She was just happy about that.
As Grey grew older, so was his craziness with lack of common sense. He began to invent various things like glass and a wristwatch.
And then, his name resounded like thunder all over the world in one night when an unprecedented disaster struck the Empire in the form of Undead.
It was right after this event that Grace was contacted by the Carreras family, who should have already broken ties with her.
Grace had also made a lot of money by this time, and at first, she thought they were shamelessly asking for her support.
However, their goal was not Grace but Grey. They had heard that Grace had been in close contact with Grey and wanted to contact him.
At that time, Grace did not understand her grandfather\'s intentions at all because the Carreras family was in the bloodline aristocratic faction. To them, Gray was a cocky boy who had ruined his fellow brethren, the Cyrus family. Contacting him would be nothing less than an act of defection to the bloodline aristocratic faction.
However, with the strong will to fight against the fate reflecting in their eyes, she didn\'t think that they were opening their mouths due to sophistication or capriciousness.
Aside from her father, her grandfather, for better or worse, was someone well-versed in the inside politics of the Empire to a hateful degree. Perhaps he sensed firsthand that Grey would fundamentally change this Empire.
"Well, Grace, do you intend to marry Lord Grey?"
And then, the one line asked by her grandfather specifically caused a malfunction to a person called Grace. To be more precise, it shattered the stereotypes that she had worked so hard to build up.
After that certain shift in perception, Grace no longer saw Grey as a friend.
When she met him for the first time in the imperial capital, even though he was not much different from his usual self, he was somehow more mature, and for no reason at all, it made her feel hot inside. Somehow, she managed to suppress this feeling and went to the knighthood ceremony.
The Former Emperor declared her as his concubine. Even though it was supposed to be the greatest honour for a woman living in an aristocratic society, at that moment, all Grace felt was intense disgust.
When Grey helped her despite the perilous situation she was in, although it was quite inappropriate, she felt a sense of happiness.
Grey, that blockhead, took her back to his room of all places and handed her the man\'s clothing. He didn\'t understand women\'s feelings in the slightest.
She was unable to control her annoyance. While being annoyed and a little confused, for the first time she told him about her past.
At that time, she had already realised her feelings, and she was already tired of deceiving her feelings as well.
That was why.
"You have to definitely win the match against the Former Emperor, okay?"
"That\'s of cours—"
With these words, she conveyed this strong feeling to him.