The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 425

Chapter 425
Wailing for Me (Third Update)

“Eivass,” Isabel asked seriously, “no offense… but if I remember correctly, you lived in an orphanage, right?”

“Mm,” Eivass nodded.

Isabel spoke softly, unable to bear it, “I also went to see the orphanage specifically. The children there were eating some kind of brown paste whose raw ingredients I couldn’t even understand, and even then, they weren’t getting enough. They didn’t have cotton clothes, and in winter, they didn’t even have hot water for bathing. The orphanage didn’t have separate toilets for men and women, nor separate stalls. Everyone slept together, with many children lying on one bed.”

“The orphanage on Glass Island is definitely different from the outside.”

Eivass sighed and explained, “The orphanage I lived in was invested in and sponsored by my foster father. Although we barely had enough to eat, we had meat once a week. On holidays, we even had roast chicken, barbecue, fried cod fillets, and haggis pudding. As for not having enough to eat… that was to prevent the children from being too energetic and restless. Just like a prison wouldn’t let inmates eat their fill. As for sleeping – although we didn’t have separate rooms, we had separate beds. There were eight to twelve beds in each room, and I always slept with Yulia. Because if she woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t see me, she would be very scared, and her body temperature would immediately rise.”

“…Even orphanages are different.”

Isabel murmured, “Why is it like this…”

Eivass shook his head slightly and said softly, “Because of the port, Isabel. Glass Island has Avalon’s largest port, and it’s protected by Avalon’s most griffins and knights escorting merchants and goods. With that, wealth will naturally gather here from all directions.”

Seeing Isabel’s dejected look, Eivass felt a sense of relief.

—It had to happen at least once.

It wasn’t bad that Isabel, who hadn’t experienced hardship like losing her country and family, had this “incognito visit.” The blow she was suffering now, the pain and confusion she felt… it proved that even without enduring such suffering, without becoming the iron-willed “Queen of Flowers,” Isabel still possessed her kind and gentle heart.

As a monarch, she might seem a bit weak, but Eivass would rather pledge his loyalty to such an Isabel.

Eivass comforted her softly, “I will help you, Isabel.”

After speaking, Eivass laid out the entire transaction he had with Grandet.

Isabel was very intelligent. Without Eivass explaining, she immediately reacted, “With a cargo railway, the economies of those remote cities should improve, right?”

“The difference between before and after will be like heaven and earth.”

Eivass answered very directly, “For places where even carriages have trouble transporting goods, if a high-speed railway connecting the whole country is built… Undoubtedly, wealth and happiness will expand at a visible rate.”

To get rich, build roads first. This saying is definitely true.

“In that case… I’ll have many solutions!”

Isabel’s eyes widened excitedly. Her emerald pupils, which had been dimmed by fatigue and sorrow, brightened again. “Thank you, Eivass! I’ll find a way to let goblins and trolls work on Avalon. As for the port… um, leave the rest to me!”

She paused at this, asking curiously, “By the way… is the money Grandet gave you considered a bribe?”

But soon, Isabel realized her words didn’t sound right, so she quickly explained a little flustered, “Ah, I don’t mean to pry, it’s your money, and you’ve helped me immensely. It’s just… I’m just a little curious, as it’s my first time seeing something like this…”

“—It is.”

Isabel was still struggling with how to phrase her question, but Eivass directly and very confidently replied, “Not only a bribe, but also an instigation.”

“Instigation?” Isabel was confused.

“Although the family has some money, there’s a difference between liquid funds and fixed assets, not to mention this is a huge sum of money completely unregulated by the market. With this considerable sum of active money flowing directly into my hands, I can easily use it as leverage to exert several times the actual influence…”

Eivass explained.

Seeing Isabel looking a little dazed, her tired brain seemingly unable to process this information, Eivass skipped the intermediate steps and went straight to the conclusion, “This is his financial sponsorship for my usurpation of power.”

“…Huh?”

Isabel froze for a long time.

She hesitated, and asked weakly, “Are you going to usurp power, Eivass? Then maybe I should directly…”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Eivass waved his hand, “What I mean is, he’s cultivating my ambition by removing the constraints on me… The saying ‘a man with money turns bad’ probably means this.”

“…So, is he a bad person?” Isabel paused for a moment and asked.

“He’s not a good person. But we might still be able to cooperate.”

Eivass laughed, “After all, the person isn’t good, but the money is good money. With his sponsorship, the things you worry about and suffer from can all be resolved. You don’t have to worry about these matters, leave them all to me to solve…”

He had only said this much when Isabel suddenly got up from the table and threw herself into Eivass’s arms.

Rather than an embrace, it was more like she’d run into him.

She buried her head in Eivass’s neck, one leg kneeling on Eivass’s thigh, her whole body prostrate, burying her head forcefully on Eivass’s shoulder. As if trying to suppress her silent sobs, or as if sighing in sorrow, or perhaps just yawning as if waking from a deep sleep… She took a trembling, deep breath, and slowly, longingly exhaled warm air.

Her body trembled slightly with each inhale. With her breathing, the grip of her arms around Eivass’s elbow and fingers also tightened slightly.

Even while hugging Eivass’s neck and taking deep breaths, Isabel tried to maintain a distance between herself and Eivass.

Eivass initially thought this was Isabel keeping her distance, but he soon realized—this was out of politeness.

Because Eivass had never acted too presumptuously towards her, Isabel didn’t want to pressure or imply anything to Eivass with her power.

…What a naive, shy coward.

She didn’t seem like a girl of unparalleled beauty, but rather like a little boy who had never been in love, so cautious.

“It’s okay to come a little closer.”

Eivass sighed and whispered softly in Isabel’s ear.

He reached out and firmly hugged Isabel’s back, allowing her to lean against him completely rather than remaining stiff, and then pushed the crown on the table further away to avoid knocking over the black tea.

Just by Isabel leaning on him, Eivass could clearly feel the weight of her heavy ceremonial dress. Let alone Isabel, who had been wearing it all along.

“I’m sorry, Eivass…”

Isabel’s voice was very, very soft. She almost greedily inhaled the damp scent from Eivass’s neck, who had just showered, her fingers unconsciously grasping his cool, jade-like, white-gold long hair. “I just want to rest for a bit…”

As she spoke, her voice gradually became tinged with a slight, imperceptible sob. “I’m so tired… I don’t know what to do… Thankfully, I have you…”

“You’ve already improved very quickly, Isabel.”

Eivass comforted her softly, “Few people can change everything in such a short period… This can be called a miracle.”

He spoke from the bottom of his heart.

From not daring to speak to strangers at first, to now being able to impersonate someone and tour incognito alone; from having to ask her teacher and grandmother about everything before daring to act, to now traveling the country alone to complete the pilgrimage ritual without any Fifth Tier confidants protecting her; from opening her mouth three sentences into her Ascension Ritual at first and exposing herself, to now being able to go to unknown cities alone to investigate civilians without being discovered…

Isabel had become stronger and grown at a visible pace.

It had only been two months since she first arrived.

Eivass closed his eyes slightly and hugged Isabel tighter, as if embracing himself.

—How long had it been since he awakened his past life memories? How long had it been from knowing that the world he was familiar with was about to be destroyed, to him completely resolving all of this…

It seemed like only two months.

Eivass’s words were as much for Isabel as they were for himself.

He whispered softly in Isabel’s ear, “So, don’t cry anymore. I am with you.”

But as soon as Eivass said this, Isabel couldn’t hold back anymore. Her whole body trembled, and she burst into tears.

Eivass was a little at a loss—after the first sob, Isabel’s crying grew louder.

It was as if she was wronged, or as if she was venting; as if she was lamenting, or as if she felt secure.

While sobbing, she incoherently apologized, shamefully saying she shouldn’t cry…

This made Eivass helplessly hold the Her Majesty the Queen, who was only a year older than him, and comfort her like a child, “Oh well, it’s okay to cry occasionally,” unsure whether to laugh or cry.

But for some reason, Eivass’s mood inexplicably improved.

It seemed that a cloud that he himself had never noticed was also dispelled from his heart by these cries.

—It was as if Isabel was crying for Eivass, who never cried.

Chapter Three, eight thousand words of an update!
I was a little late asking for leave yesterday, so adding an extra chapter + early update as compensation for the leave!