The Yandere villainess loves the useless engineer

Chapter 77: The greenhouse

Around a week passed before the gunpowder processing facility was finally completed.

At first—

The daily dates with Lillith had actually been enjoyable.

Surprisingly enjoyable.

The first few days had felt very relaxing compared to giant rats, railway construction, industrial expansion, and near-death experiences.

But—

After the fourth date, exhaustion started winning.

Every morning I worked from sunrise until evening supervising construction.

Then every night I got dragged across the Nightbane capital for another date.

By the seventh day my soul had started filing formal complaints.

Meanwhile Lillith somehow remained endlessly energetic.

The facility itself slowly transformed from a construction site into a functioning industrial operation.

Storage buildings got completed.

Grinding equipment got installed.

Refining systems became operational.

The workers hired from Blackwater gradually learned how everything functioned.

Then I spent an additional week drilling safety procedures into them.

Which everyone hated.

"You’re being paranoid."

"No."

One worker pointed toward the giant warning signs.

"Nobody is going to accidentally blow themselves up."

I pointed toward the giant barrels of explosive powder.

"That sounds exactly like something somebody who is about to blow themselves up would say."

The workers groaned.

Finn immediately supported me.

"He’s right."

Everyone looked shocked.

Including me.

Garrick folded his arms.

"The first intelligent thing he’s said this month."

"I hate both of you."

The safety lectures continued anyway.

Eventually even the workers gave up arguing.

Because I absolutely refused to leave until I was convinced nobody would accidentally transform the facility into a crater.

Finally—

Everything was finished.

The workers had jobs.

The facility had management.

Production had begun.

Which meant for the first time in weeks—

I could actually leave.

The next morning I boarded the train alongside Finn and Lillith as we departed Blackwater Hollow.

The locomotive roared to life while steam billowed upward into the winter sky.

Then the train began moving.

Slowly at first.

Then faster.

The rails hummed beneath the wheels while snowy forests rolled past outside.

Meanwhile Lillith looked deeply unimpressed.

"This is loud."

"It’s a train."

"It’s slow."

"It’s faster than a horse."

She crossed her arms.

"I’m faster."

"You’re not helping."

Lillith gestured dramatically toward herself.

"Why do you even need these things?"

I frowned slightly.

"What things."

She pointed out the window.

"The railway."

"The trains."

"The stations."

"All of it."

Then she leaned closer.

"You already have me."

Finn immediately looked out the opposite window.

Pretending not to exist.

I sighed.

"Lillith."

"I’m serious."

"You won’t always be around."

She stared at me.

Then suddenly smiled.

A dangerous smile.

"Oh?"

Before I could react she slid closer until her body pressed against my side.

Then she leaned toward my ear. ƒreewebɳovel.com

"Maybe not for now."

My survival instincts immediately activated.

"But after I graduate?"

Her voice lowered slightly.

"I’ll be more attached to you than your own shadow."

"...That’s concerning."

"It wasn’t supposed to be."

"It absolutely was."

Lillith looked very pleased with herself.

The rest of the trip passed surprisingly peacefully.

Mostly because I eventually distracted her by explaining how steam engines worked.

She still didn’t understand them.

But she listened.

Which was honestly more surprising.

The following morning the train finally rolled into Aldric territory.

The familiar industrial district came into view outside the windows.

Smoke rose from workshops.

Waterwheels turned steadily.

Workers moved between buildings carrying steel beams and machinery.

The place looked larger than when I left.

Again.

I stepped off the train and stretched slightly.

My first priority was obvious. freeweɓnovel.cøm

I needed to speak with Father.

Specifically about rifles.

The war still continued.

And if guns were going to matter—

The soldiers needed training.

I intended to work on creating dedicated rifle units.

But the moment I approached the manor, something else caught my attention.

A wagon stood parked outside.

A very familiar wagon.

Then the owner stepped out.

Cedric from the Valmere corporation.

The merchant representative immediately spotted me.

His smile widened.

"Lord Leon."

I blinked.

"...Cedric?"

"What a perfect coincidence."

That sentence immediately worried me.

Then Cedric gestured toward the wagon.

"I have exactly what you wanted."

My confusion only increased.

Until he pulled back part of the wagon covering.

Then I froze.

Inside sat a semi large glass container.

Runes glowed faintly along the top.

Several enchanted lights illuminated the interior.

And in the center—

A small sapling.

My eyes widened.

"No way."

I immediately walked closer.

Rubber.

A rubber tree.

I had completely forgotten about asking Cedric to get one months ago.

Carefully I lifted the container and inspected the tiny sapling inside.

It was beautiful.

Absolutely beautiful.

My future industrial capabilities practically flashed before my eyes.

Seals.

Gaskets.

Shock absorbers.

Insulation.

Flexible tubing.

The possibilities were endless.

I might have actually danced slightly.

Behind me—

Lillith looked deeply offended by the amount of attention I was giving the tree.

Then Cedric leaned closer.

And whispered the price.

I nearly dropped the container.

"IT COSTS WHAT?!"

Several nearby servants physically jumped.

Cedric looked offended.

"That price is entirely reasonable."

"Reasonable?!"

I pointed accusingly at the sapling.

"It’s a tree!"

Cedric immediately started explaining.

"Transportation."

"Protection."

"Specialized preservation."

Then he pointed toward the runes embedded throughout the glass container.

"Those runes required constant replacement throughout the journey."

His expression darkened slightly.

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to keep a tropical plant alive for several months?"

"...Apparently very."

I stared at the sapling again.

Then sighed heavily.

A greenhouse.

I definitely needed a greenhouse now.

Slowly and painfully—

I handed over an enormous sack of gold.

Cedric accepted it immediately.

The robbery was completed.

Then just before he left—

Something caught my eye.

I frowned slightly.

"Wait."

Cedric paused.

I pulled the wagon covering aside again.

Then froze.

Inside sat another plant.

Small.

Green.

Covered with bright red fruits.

My eyes widened.

"No way."

A chili pepper plant.

For a brief moment memories from my previous life resurfaced.

Spicy food.

Curries.

Hot sauces.

Actual flavor.

I immediately pointed toward it.

"How much."

Cedric smiled.

Then named a number.

My soul left my body.

"The same price?!"

"Identical transportation costs."

"That’s ridiculous."

"That’s economics."

I stared at the plant.

Then at my empty coin purse.

Then back at the plant.

Life was cruel.

I slowly lowered my head.

Then suddenly—

Lillith stepped beside me.

"Bill the Nightbane household."

Silence.

Cedric smiled instantly.

"Of course."

I looked toward her.

Then immediately grabbed both her hands.

"Lillith."

She looked incredibly pleased.

"You’re welcome."

For a brief moment she looked absolutely radiant.

Then she leaned closer.

Very close.

And whispered:

"Nothing is free."

My smile disappeared instantly.

"Oh no."

Suddenly I wasn’t sure the peppers were worth it anymore.

I immediately turned around.

"Wait, Cedric—"

Too late.

The wagon was already moving away.

Cedric waved cheerfully from the driver’s seat.

The traitor.

Meanwhile Lillith stood beside me smiling innocently.

Which somehow felt significantly more terrifying than the giant magic rat.

The moment I stepped inside the manor, I immediately started looking for Father.

Or Alex.

Preferably both.

The rifle situation couldn’t wait forever.

And when that happened—

The advantage disappeared.

Unfortunately neither of them were there.

Mother was sitting near one of the reading rooms when I found her.

She looked up from her book immediately.

"Leon."

I nodded slightly.

"Mother."

Then I looked around.

"Where’s Father?"

She closed the book.

"Still at the border."

That wasn’t surprising.

"And Alex?"

"The same place."

I sighed quietly.

The war really had swallowed them whole.

Mother’s expression softened slightly.

"They’ve barely been back for months."

I already knew that.

Every time they returned, they looked exhausted.

The war might not have reached Aldric territory directly, but it was still draining everything around it.

Eventually I rubbed my forehead.

"I wanted to speak with him about rifles."

Mother smiled faintly.

"I’m sure he’ll be interested."

Then she noticed the glass container in my hands.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"...Why are you carrying a tree?"

I looked down at the sapling.

Then back toward her.

"It’s important."

Mother slowly nodded.

That was probably the most concerning answer I could have given.

A few minutes later I gave up waiting and headed back toward the industrial district.

The moment we arrived, I found myself stopping briefly.

Because the place had changed.

Again.

Months ago it had been a steel factory.

Now—

It was something else entirely.

Workshops filled entire sections of the district.

Foundries operated day and night.

Machine shops produced gears, valves, and steel components.

Storage yards held mountains of coal and iron.

Steam-powered machinery hissed from multiple buildings while workers moved materials between stations using carts and rails.

The railway project had forced everything to expand.

One workshop supplied steel.

Another produced rails.

Another specialized in wheel assemblies.

Several existed solely to manufacture of parts for steam engines.

The entire district felt alive.

Industrial.

Growing.

And somehow it all started from one shack.

Finn stood beside me holding the chili plant.

"Every time I leave this place it gets bigger."

"That’s generally how construction works."

"You know what I mean."

I did.

The growth had become difficult to ignore.

Workers recognized us immediately and moved aside as we headed toward the workshop I used most often.

The building sat slightly removed from the others.

Part laboratory.

Part machine shop.

Part disaster waiting to happen.

I carefully placed the rubber tree onto one of the workbenches.

Finn set the chili plant beside it.

For several moments all of us simply stared at them.

Months of travel.

Thousands of kilometers.

An absurd amount of gold.

All for two plants.

I reached out and tapped one of the glowing runes embedded into the glass container.

The light flickered faintly.

Then stabilized again.

I frowned.

"When do you think these run out?"

Lillith leaned comfortably against my shoulder before looking at the enchantments.

The runes glowed softly within her purple eyes.

"They’re weak."

That wasn’t reassuring.

"How weak?"

She studied them for several moments.

Then shrugged.

"Two days."

My heart nearly stopped.

Then she added:

"Maybe three if you’re lucky."

That wasn’t much better.

I immediately turned toward the workers.

"We need a greenhouse."

Fin blinked.

"Today?"

"Now."

The next two and a half days became controlled chaos.

The first problem was glass.

Large sheets didn’t exist naturally within our current manufacturing capabilities.

At least not easily.

Instead we produced dozens of smaller panes using improved glassmaking techniques from the industrial district.

The process remained slow.

Molten glass got poured onto prepared surfaces before being flattened and polished as carefully as possible.

Imperfections still existed.

But perfection wasn’t necessary.

The plants just needed sunlight.

Meanwhile another team prepared the frame.

Wood would’ve worked.

Steel worked better.

Using rolled steel sections produced from the factory, workers assembled a skeleton structure beside the workshop district.

Nothing enormous.

Just large enough to safely house the plants and allow future expansion.

The frame itself went up surprisingly quickly.

Steel columns.

Cross supports.

Reinforced roof sections.

Every piece got bolted together using parts manufactured inside the district itself.

Watching the workers assemble it felt strangely satisfying.

A few years ago none of this would’ve been possible.

Now we produced the materials ourselves.

The second challenge was heat.

Winter still covered the territory.

Without temperature control, both plants would die almost immediately.

That meant steam.

Naturally.

We installed insulated pipes around the greenhouse using excess piping from previous railway construction.

A small boiler system got positioned nearby where it could continuously circulate warm water through the network.

Not elegant.

But effective.

The warm pipes transformed the entire floor into a primitive heating system.

Then came irrigation.

Workers dug shallow channels while several metalworkers helped create basic valves and water storage tanks.

Gravity handled most of the work.

Water flowed from elevated reservoirs and distributed itself throughout the greenhouse using simple pipe systems.

Primitive.

Reliable.

Exactly what I wanted.

Sleep became optional.

Meals became occasional.

By the second day everybody looked exhausted.

Including me.

Especially me.

The only person completely unaffected seemed to be Lillith.

Mostly because she spent most of her time following me around while occasionally reminding me of the insane amount of money she spent on me, although to her it was the equivalent of change.

Toward the end of the second day I noticed the runes flickering more frequently.

The light felt weaker.

Duller.

Time was running out.

Workers immediately accelerated construction.

Glass panels got installed throughout the night.

Steam systems got tested repeatedly.

Several leaks appeared.

Then more leaks appeared.

Then even more leaks appeared.

I fixed them personally.

By the middle of the third day the greenhouse finally stood completed.

Warm steam drifted softly through the structure.

Sunlight filtered through the glass panes.

Water flowed through the irrigation channels.

And most importantly—

The temperature remained stable.

I carefully lifted the rubber sapling from its container.

The tree looked fragile now.

Far more fragile than when Cedric first delivered it.

The runes above it flickered weakly.

One final pulse.

Then darkness.

Perfect timing.

Together, several workers and I carefully planted it into prepared soil near the center of the greenhouse.

Afterward we moved the chili plant into a separate section.

Its bright red fruits looked almost unnatural compared to everything else around it.

For several moments nobody spoke.

The two plants simply sat there beneath the filtered sunlight.

Alive.

Finn finally broke the silence.

"...We spent more money those plants than most nobles spend on their estates."

"Correct."

"We also built an entire building for them."

"Correct."

Finn pointed accusingly toward me.

"You’re insane."

I looked toward the rubber tree.

Toward the future machines it could improve.

Toward the possibilities it represented.

Then I looked toward the chili plant.

And remembered actual spicy food.

"...Worth it."

Lillith immediately hugged my arm.

"I still think you looked happier holding the tree than you do holding me."

I wisely chose not to answer.

That felt like a survival decision.