In front of Kuren, Lux seemed completely confident, as though she had everything under control.
But once Kuren had returned to his room, reassured, Lux could only clutch her sword with all her might.
"Karya, what in the world is going on?"
Clearly, the young Crownguard princess wasn't as confident as she seemed.
Or rather, she had gradually grown accustomed to this state of affairs: Even if things are far stranger than I could have imagined, I still have to look calm and collected.
The source of her confidence was Karya.
Though she wouldn't admit it aloud, Lux knew her teacher was a seasoned old hand. Even with limited information, he could still see straight through the nobles' dirty schemes.
If Lux had to handle it herself...
She'd probably have to learn the hard way.
Lux was confident she could sort everything out, but there were always going to be detours before she got it done.
Now, seeing that the trip to Silvermine City seemed to be getting a little out of hand, Lux had no hesitation about calling in support from the sidelines.
Karya didn't refuse Lux's plea for help.
But unlike their relatively simple dealings with the nobles back in Demacia City, this time Karya planned to leave more of the decisions to Lux herself.
As for Karya, he would switch from being her instructor to playing a supporting role.
After all, the trip to Silvermine City was a rare opportunity for Lux to grow. If she wanted to become someone who could stand on her own, simply following a set path and observing from the sidelines wouldn't be enough.
So after Kuren left, Karya didn't immediately tell Lux what to do. Instead, he first helped her "analyze the situation."
"First, do you think your 'relatives' in Silvermine City have been up to anything shady?"
"It's hard to believe, but thinking about it carefully, it's probably quite likely." Once the complicated problem had been broken down, Lux felt less lost. "But I can't be completely sure yet."
"So?"
"So I should deal with it based on the facts, like you taught me." Lux quickly found her first opening. "I need to learn about the area around Silvermine City and see whether it really has been hit by frost."
"Then here's the question: how should you check? The time? The place? The method?" Karya continued guiding her.
"I can check the areas around Silvermine City one by one, following the map." Lux blinked. "You know how to tell whether wheat has been frosted, right?"
"I do," Karya replied confidently. "What about the timing? Those people in Silvermine City are keeping an eye on you!"
"Then... shed my pursuers, like you taught me!" Lux smiled. "Well, I'm a noble young lady who came here from Demacia City. Even though I lived here for a while, it'd be easy enough for the journey to wear me out and make me feel unwell!"
"Good. You've got a clear plan, but pretending to be sick won't buy you much time."
"A week should be enough." Lux built on the idea. "I can stay at a farmhouse, as... as a traveler!"
"Nobody in Demacia wanders around for no reason," Karya corrected her. "Pretend you're visiting relatives."
"Then I'll visit relatives." Lux readily went along with it. "I can use the opportunity to learn about the local farmers' situation, too."
"Good thinking." Karya looked as if he were pleased with his pupil. "Some cunning nobles even resort to tricks. If I were them, and I'd decided to underreport my taxes, I'd collect less tax from the farmers. That way, the peasants would naturally side with them!"
"They can do that?!" Lux genuinely hadn't considered it. "That's so devious. The lord and the farmers working together..."
"So think about it: if you ran into that situation, what would you do?" Karya didn't give her time to dwell on it. "If you uncovered this, what would you do?"
"Obviously, I'd enforce the law!" Lux answered instinctively. "Collect the unpaid taxes and punish the nobles who underreported them."
"What if the farmers can't afford to pay?" Karya pressed her. "They don't know the tax was reduced because of underreporting. All they know is that a young lady from the capital has come to raise their taxes—and if things reach that point, the outcome could be disastrous."
"Then... forgive the part they hadn't paid before and let them off with a warning?" Lux blinked. "It should be enough to deal with the nobles causing trouble, right?"
"What if the nobles incite the farmers?" Karya still wasn't going to let Lux off easily. "Don't forget, in this hypothetical situation, the normal land tax is higher than what's being collected now."
At that moment, Lux felt her head begin to ache.
In truth, Karya's hypothetical might not be true. But if it was, Lux really wouldn't know what to do.
"You see? That's one of the problems you might face." Karya took the opportunity to raise a broader topic. "The farmers don't want to pay taxes, and the lords don't want to pay taxes to their liege houses. And aside from your family, most of the other noble houses don't want to pay Jiawen III either. So two or more of those groups might collude."
"Listening to you, I can see that's probably what's happening." Lux nodded. "But why?"
"This has to do with the relationship between rights and obligations." Karya chuckled. "Paying taxes is the farmers' obligation. So think about it: what right do they get in return?"
"...The right to be protected!" Remembering The Grand Etiquette, Lux's eyes lit up. "Farmers don't have to serve in the army generation after generation like nobles do. Unless there's an emergency, they only serve as militia or support staff, or perform corvée labor. Unless they volunteer for the army, they usually don't have to go to the front lines!"
"From Demacia's perspective—or rather, from the perspective of Demacian Nobles—that's certainly the case." Karya's tone grew more cheerful. "But if they could choose, do you think the farmers would rather be nobles or farmers?"
"Um..." Lux, who had barely ever interacted with commoners, was stumped by the question. "I've never thought about that—but aren't we getting off topic? It doesn't seem to have anything to do with finding a guide or figuring out whether there's been a frost!"
"Trust me, Lux. This is the fundamental problem." Karya spoke meaningfully. "Look, you don't even understand those farmers. How can you really solve a problem that affects them?"
"..."
At that, Lux finally furrowed her brow and fell silent for a long time.
She felt Karya was deliberately guiding her to see something and do something, but for now, Lux still didn't know what he wanted her to see or do.
But... if Karya said she should go take a look, then she'd go take a look!
She sprang into action.
Lux quickly put on her coat and knocked on the door of the room next door.
"Mr. Kuren, I have an idea, though it may be a little half-baked!"
The next day, the nobles of Silvermine City received the latest news: Miss Luxanna Crown Guard, who had come from Demacia City, had caught a slight chill and was temporarily halting her journey in Vilos Town, three days' travel from Silvermine City. The messenger had seen Lux looking pale and reported back at once.
The assembled nobles were stunned at first, then couldn't help but breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Good thing she was sick!
That young lady from the capital really was something. They'd barely had enough time to rehearse a little performance in three days, and now Lux had fallen ill!
For the Crownguard family's cadet-branch nobles, who needed time to cover their tracks, Lux's illness couldn't have come at a better moment!
Everyone celebrated, but Dili, who had been quietly brooding all along, went home and immediately ordered a servant to fetch his son.
"You rascal, put your charm to good use!" Dili beamed. "Set out right now. Ride my fastest white horse to Vilos!"
"To meet our young lady?" His son, Gao Kan Crownguard, who had inherited his father's good looks to perfection, blinked and casually wiped a lipstick mark from his neck. "Win her heart? But honestly, twelve is really too young..."
"Cut out that damn frivolity!" Dili barked. "Gao Kan, she's not like those floozies you've been messing around with. She's your ticket into the upper class!"
"So this time, I'm supposed to be serious?" Gao Kan raised an eyebrow. "But... twelve really is a little too young for anything serious."
"Gao Kan!" Dili reached for the longsword on the rack. "I'm not joking. You fool, even though the other families question whether your mother and I are truly together, you should know the truth. We're a family, and I can be honest with you: I did gain the Crownguard name because of her, but our love is faithful!"
Gao Kan grinned but said nothing.
Truthfully, Dili might once have been a notorious playboy, but after marrying into the Crownguard family, he and his wife had always had a good relationship.
Perhaps, just as he'd said, it was a union of both ambition and love.
So he hoped Gao Kan could find true love with Lux, just as he had.
"Remember what I told you?" Dili gripped the longsword. "Lux loves art, so from the very start—"
"From the very start, I approach her through art. She likes classical music, excels at bas-relief and realistic painting, and has impeccable manners that she always maintains. So unless we're close enough, I absolutely mustn't overstep in the name of romance." Gao Kan finally dropped his frivolous air. "But is she really as you say? Going to parties at barely ten years old without a single misstep?"
"At the very least, she's completely cemented the alliance between Lightshield, Crownguard, and Buweier, and brought the royal family, the Fearless Vanguard, and the Illuminators into close alignment." Dili finally put down the longsword. "Honestly, I'm a little worried you won't be able to handle this. I'd planned to give you some more time."
"Come on, she's just a twelve-year-old girl." Gao Kan finished getting ready, a warm, utterly genuine smile on his face. "Trust me—but honestly, Dad, I really hate this feeling."
"You'll enjoy it one day!" Dili patted his son on the shoulder and handed him his riding crop. "Do your best. At least this time, you won't have to change your name."
"..."
His father's awful joke made Gao Kan shudder. He nodded, strode out of the room, and swung himself onto his horse.
"Hyah!"
Before you continue