How the Villainous Consort Avoids His Death Ending

…The black wave that visited the Earldom of Van Chekhov devoured the prosperous estate to its very bones. In the fields where the grains had been on the verge of harvest, nothing but pitch black remnants of locusts and ruins remained.
“Forgive me, Your Excellency.”
Count Van Chekhov, whose hair had turned stark white in just a matter of days, bowed his waist toward the Grand Duke. It was an indirect declaration that he could no longer support the Imperial Grandson, Constantine. It was devastating news, but it was already foreseen. The Count’s estate was so utterly devastated that even self-sufficiency was difficult. There was no way he had the luxury to interfere in the power struggle between Crown Prince Everett and Imperial Grandson Constantine.
However, the full story of the incident lay far beyond their imagination.
…After long research, Everett’s direct research institute found a way to perfectly control a specific environment to cultivate locust larvae. Subsequently, they completed the task of artificially mass-producing the larvae.
In accordance with a thorough plan, hundreds of millions of larvae were released into the air at a specific time when the wind flowed southward. The larvae that rode the wind and traveled south became adults in just a few days, and they had raided the estate of Count Van Chekhov, one of Constantine’s powerful supporting forces…

“Ah, damn it…”

I closed my eyes tightly, opened them, and read the sentences displayed on the status window over and over again. Cold sweat trickled down my spine.

It was exactly as I had anticipated. The reason the timing was pulled forward must be because Hezekia, unlike in the original work, had achieved rapid prosperity. An anxious Everett must have rushed the research. And instead of the Count Van Chekhov estate of the future, he had directly attacked Hezekia.

Turning my gaze, I stared blankly out the window.

A black night pushed into the space where the sunset had vanished. Beneath the sporadically burning torches, people listlessly walking back and forth across the devastated fields caught my eye. A bleak and gloomy energy heavily weighed down upon the estate. Even though the voices of the vassals rejoicing that this year was a magnificent harvest and that no one would go hungry were still vivid in my ears.

However, I could not just sit with my hands bound in despair like this. Someday… until Tristan returns, I had to endure this situation in his stead.

I pulled the bell cord to summon a servant and commanded.

“Call the vassals. We will begin the meeting.”

❖ ❖ ❖

The Hezekia Relief Center, located on the outskirts of the Grand Ducal Castle, was boisterous from early morning with the estate residents who had swarmed in. Farmers dressed in shabby attire glanced at the relief center with anxious eyes, and a low murmur and uneasy whispering spread among them.

Finally, the solid wooden door opened and officials made their appearance. Small sacks containing crops were handed out one by one to the people lined up in a long queue, but the expressions of those who received the crops after a long wait were by no means bright. On the faces of the estate residents who were bewildered by the unfamiliar crops, suspicion, confusion, and fear intersected. People rummaging inside their sacks with awkward gestures whispered uneasily.

“I have absolutely no idea what on earth this is. Is this not what they use as pig feed in distant regions?”

“No, it would be a relief if even pigs could eat it. Does it not look exactly like a poisonous fruit?”

“I am worried that eating this might cause some serious illness.”

Anxious voices full of suspicion spread across the plaza in front of the relief center. From the terrace on the second floor of the relief center, I quietly looked down at that sight and gripped the railing tightly with a complicated feeling.

The crops distributed to the estate residents as a last resort were batatas, meaning potatoes, as well as sweet potatoes and corn, which had been brought in from the Taurraka Continent. Historically, in the place where I used to live, all of these were used as famine relief crops.

However, in this place, they were nothing more than bizarre plants with unfamiliar shapes. Furthermore, unlike ordinary crops, they were told to eat the roots that had been buried underground rather than the leaves or fruits…

“I wonder if it will turn out well, Your Highness. Since the situation leaves no other choice, we went ahead and distributed them first, but…”

Wilhelm murmured like a sigh to himself with a worried face. I could not help but let out a sigh as well.

It was within my expectations that the backlash would be severe. No, if it were only backlash, that would rather be a relief. Beyond that, I was more concerned about the various potential side effects. In the worst case scenario…