I’m Going to Marry a Poor Count in the Middle of Nowhere and I’m Going to Work Hard to Reform My Territory - CH 20

Serge and Angelique “did it” for the first time that night.

In Mrs. Berean’s words, they are now “united as husband and wife.”

Angelique blushed with embarrassment when she thought about it.

‘The first kiss was much more romantic than Ms. Berean had told me, and I was a little afraid of what would happen next, but Serge was so nice to me that I felt comfortable leaving it up to him. I was happy that I had done it right, and my heart was full of joy. thinking about it now. I could never do something like that with Ernest. But with Serge, I’m happy.’

“I would like to… Can we do it again? Angelique…”

He wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear. In bed before dawn, Angelique almost melted.

She never imagined the day would come when she would have to wear the slinky nightgown Mrs. Berean had recommended.

Her heart pounded so hard every night that she thought she would die.

“Serge…”

“Angelique…”

The joy continues.

—○█○—

Serge and Angelique spent the next month or so as if they were in a flower garden, giggling and laughing all day. Meanwhile, the days passed quickly. The evening meetings turned into love sessions, but the rest of the time they both worked hard.

They planted sweet potatoes on their barren land, made buckwheat noodles after the wheat was harvested, and grew a variety of leafy vegetables that could be harvested quickly in the summer months.

Angelique and Serge drove their beautiful carriage around the estate every day, distributing seedlings and seeds in different parts of the estate.

The plants, selected for their soil characteristics, grew well and were harvested in the harvest season to enrich the tables of the people.

And Angelique learned to drive a horse-drawn cart by herself. Now she can drive alone to the surrounding villages.

She often went to the Montan farm in Vignoa to buy what she needed, and each time she gave away a dress that she had divided into several pieces because she thought it would lose value if she sold it all at once. She had no regrets because she would probably never wear it.

She also wrote letters that were sent by horse-drawn carriage every time she went to Vignoa.

She also received many letters from the royal capital and from her friends at the Academy.

The contents varied, but Angelique kept them all to herself.

Gradually, but methodically, she began to plant fruit trees that would not yield an immediate harvest.

Those who knew how to handle livestock were given cows, chickens, and pigs, with the promise that they would return the same livestock to Serge once it was profitable. If the mother cow gave birth to a second calf, a cow was to be returned, and this was to be done slowly. And the milk would be the income of the farmer who took care of them.

Little by little, the citizens became prosperous.

Summer came and went in no time. Farmers sowed wheat after harvesting vegetables and buckwheat to prepare for winter.

During the winter, each household’s food depot was stocked with buckwheat noodles, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and watermelons.

So Serge raised the tax rate to 6%, but no one objected.

—○█○—

October

When she and Serge went to the autumn festivals in different towns, everyone smiled.

“This year we will get through the winter without having to work.”

“Thank you, Lord and Lady.”

People thanked them everywhere they went to festivals.

“That’s because you all worked so hard,” Serge said, and Angelique agreed, “You did your best.”

Everyone is saying thank you to one another.

The weather wasn’t too bad, and everything was going swimmingly.

Angelique was happy.

There was still a lot to do, such as building roads and bridges, but the first goal had been achieved. She wanted to give her people a winter in which their husbands and fathers would not become migrant workers.

Though the first goal was achieved, there was still much to be done, for example, building roads and bridges.

With the money left over from selling the clothes and the taxes collected, she recruited people to join the cultivation team.

Serge and Angelique reduced the number of inspections once they had chosen a leader and could trust him to do the work.

Four months had passed since Angelique had married in Bourg. In the meantime, her family had made several inquiries about the wedding, but nothing definitive had been written down.

Life with Serge had just begun.

‘On paper, we’re already married.’

She wondered if it was necessary to have a wedding ceremony now, and she quickly realized that her bad habit was kicking in once again.

But she still couldn’t bring herself to do it, and she couldn’t answer any questions about the wedding.