Oh My, I Messed Up the Story

Chapter 109: Plans To Rebuild

Al and I spent a lot of time running back and forth working out plans to rebuild for the rest of the summer. We had to talk to Franz to find out what resources we would have then go visit the small band of Kanta on the outskirts of town to figure out how we could utilize them best given what their society was like.

Ayana was a huge help on that front. Even so, it was difficult trying to account for taking care of 60+ people. We didn't know who all from overseas nations would want to come back.

Franz wrote out several identical edicts to be sent back with the last trade ships of the season for each country Annalaias had dealings with. It included a formal apology about the late king's actions and a promise of an alliance and ongoing financial and military support during the rebuilding efforts.

They were signed and stamped with the royal seal by King Franz Leopold McLeod of Annalaias and Clan Leader Alamar de Kanta so it looked very official. I told Al that he needed a royal seal of his own since we were forming an official country but he had no ideas whatsoever.

I ended up consulting Ayana. There hadn't been any official seal before but I figured her input would be helpful coming up with some sort of crest.

We ended up taking inspiration from a type of flower that only grows in the Kanta Mountains and commissioned a craftsman in town to create the seal for us. With that taken care of, we were able to add our own seal to the edicts and make it seem more official.

I couldn't help but wonder how many people would respond. Were there even refugees that made it overseas at all or had everyone ended up in Annalaias or Rowenhilde?

We might end up being a nation made up of sixty-two people after all. Almost sixty-three. Nyla just found out she was pregnant again. There might be a few more babies born scattered throughout the other clansmen as well.

Franz promised he would help us build a settlement for whoever showed up originally but we couldn't rely on his workers forever. I sincerely hoped that whoever would be joining us knew how to build houses.

I knew absolutely nothing about construction in this world and very little from my own. It was time to hit the library. I read every book about building things that I could find in the royal library but worried the practical application would be a lot different.

My original body had been pathetically weak because of all of the joint and muscle issues I had. This one may be tiny but it was healthy. Maybe I needed to practice lifting weights. If they even had the concept of weightlifting here.

There had to be somethingthis country had knights. They had to have some sort of strength training. Did they lift logs or what? There was no way Catherine du Pont would be able to pull that off.

"Do you really think we'll be able to pull this off by spring?" I asked tiredly.

There were still so many logistical things to think of when it came to setting up a country. I learned about constitutions of various nations in college but that was different. We weren't setting up a constitution.

We were bringing a very traditional group of people who had been living in a variety of different countries back together. Keeping with the old and bringing together the new at the same time would be difficult.

And I had seen what the snow was like here on the coast; how much worse would it be up in the mountains? Would we even survive our first winter up there?

We had to figure out what crops could grow, how to organize and divide up whatever resources we were able to get our hands on, and more. Everything I had learned was history or theory so I wasn't sure how helpful it would be.

"Yes," Al said firmly. "We have all winter being shut inside to figure it out. To be perfectly honest, I am more concerned about not getting things with Sigmund settled before we leave."

My paranoia had finally gotten to him because he caught sight of his foster brother for the first time since the coronation and Sigmund was so furious that he began beating up my poor husband. A couple of guards had to break up the scuffle. He was fine but did have a nasty black eye for a few weeks.

Sigmund definitely blamed us for what happened somehow. Al said it didn't seem like he was taking out his anger on an unsuspecting target. All of that rage was directed at him specifically.

I babied him quite a bit after that incident and he soaked up every drop of affection like the lovesick fool he was. At one point he said he should let people beat him up more often if it meant he got extra attention from me. That comment earned him another punch to the shoulder.

I didn't want to think about what that madman would do if he managed to catch me on my own. I was a lot more to blame for this than Al, since my very coming here ruined his predestined kingship.

Granted, he didn't know the original plot, but he did know I had supported Franz since the beginning. That probably made me his number one enemy.

We became very careful about coming and going from the castle without running into him. Rosenia's messages sent through servants didn't mention anything specific he was planning at this point but I couldn't shake the feeling he was up to something big.

If nothing else, we had to worry about random attacks in the halls. He may have lost his rationality but that made him more dangerous than before.