Chapter 22: The Possibility of Reversing History
The wheat fields swayed in waves beneath the wind blowing down from the high ground.
The green carpet of fresh leaves changed color with the seasons, now buried beneath the golden wheat fields. While other lands faced the crisis of poor harvests, only this place seemed blessed, with bountiful wheat and grapes in sight.
The only thing the girl, born into a border noble family, could take pride in was this land.
At the time, a nobleman's daughter had no need for education or refinement. Her existence was merely one of the family's assets.
Her value lay in bringing wealth to the family by taking in a husband or marrying into another family to forge ties.
Near her family's home, rooted at the edge of the country, there were neither schools nor monasteries. Even her blood relatives saw her only as a piece to maintain their social standing.
Naturally, stationed at the border as she was, she had no noble friends. Her only playmates were farmers' children.
Possessing both the qualities of a proper lady and a wild tomboy, she learned how to play outdoors and in the fields, as well as how to grow wheat.
Her grandfather loved books, so she taught herself enough to read and write. Secretly defying her father, she put into practice the new farming methods recorded in the unopened books her grandfather had entrusted to her before his death. If her father had ignored the customs of the time and allowed her to devote herself to learning, the history of their family might have changed because of it.
The result was this vast expanse of golden wheat.
In recent years, the worsening cold had caused farmers without winter stores to die one after another from epidemics. Excessive