Chapter 8

It should have taken hours to assess the damage, yet he had already come outside after such a short time.

‘He is not coming to scold me, right?’

That none of the recovery efforts were sufficient, that something was lacking, that he had found a flaw and wanted to nag me about it.

Judging from the baffled expression he gave when he saw me, probably not.

But if he really was here to do that, I was prepared to show him a legendary level of viciousness that history would remember forever.

“The disaster response was handled well. There was barely anything I needed to order personally.”

“Is that so.”

“This time, I owe you a debt.”

“…Wait a moment.”

Thinking I had misheard, I dug a finger into my ear.

But the sound was clear, and the moment the duke’s face twisted slightly under my stare, it became certain that I had not imagined it.

He looked like he hated admitting it even while he spoke.

I muttered without meaning to.

“It is unusual for Your Grace to acknowledge my efforts. This is not like you at all.”

“A debt is a debt. If you had not happened to stop by today, the damage would have been far worse.”

“…”

His unexpectedly honest answer made me fall silent.

In the slight awkwardness that followed, the duke cleared his throat as if embarrassed.

Then his expression shifted at once.

“I will take care of the remaining work. So my lady no longer has any reason to stay.”

“Pardon?”

“It means you should return to the castle first.”

He jerked his chin toward the exit, his expression firm. As if the strange atmosphere earlier had been my imagination, his face now rejected any chance of rebuttal.

Business was business and personal matters were personal.

He seemed worried I would misunderstand and cling to him like the real Elicia.

‘As if I would cling to you. What a flattering imagination.’

I scoffed internally, then sensed several gazes around us.

The monks, nuns, and clinic workers who had struggled alongside me had all come out to see the duchess off.

‘Did I make my dislike too obvious…’

A newlywed ducal couple leaving separately was not good for the family’s reputation.

It was no different from announcing marital discord to the entire territory.

And discord between the lord and lady could easily unsettle the residents.

So I forced myself to act regretful.

“It is unfortunate, but it cannot be helped. I will return first, so finish your work slowly.”

“I suspected it, but you were truly waiting for me.”

Trying to act for the sake of the onlookers, I was met with the duke staring at me like I had lost my mind.

“This sort of obsession is a little overwhelming.”

“…What?”

“That you would stand here in this cold wind to wait for me. I am glad I came out to check. If my lady had frozen to death outside, even I would not escape blame from the imperial family.”

What kind of nonsense was this.

If I handed him a script, he should at least follow it. Why was he twisting it into such delusion.

I hurried to correct him.

“No no, unfortunately I was not waiting for Your Grace. I have another companion.”

“Hmm?”

Suspicion filled the duke’s eyes as he stared down at me.

The knights behind him wore the same expression.

I was a simple citizen at heart, so I felt a little intimidated, but I tried to answer casually.

“I was waiting for Baron Conte.”

“Baron Conte, I see.”

“…”

“So your taste runs in that… direction. Well, this is… hm.”

He should have backed off by now, but instead he rubbed his chin with a troubled expression and gave that ridiculous reply.

The look he gave me even held a trace of pity.

‘What. What exactly are you imagining?!’

With eyes that were not glued to the soles of my feet, how could anyone find Baron Conte attractive.

This was an outrageous insult to my eyesight.

I could not stand it. I was about to protest when the duke spoke first.

“My lady, if you do not wish for the baron to suddenly disappear from the world one day, I advise you to behave.”

“…”

“I am telling you to consider your reputation.”

I was struck speechless by the absurdity.

I glared up at him, meaning to accuse him of insulting my vision, but he did not withdraw that pitying look.

I quietly turned away.

‘Forget it. Why should I bother dealing with someone like him.’

Not because even the knights were giving me sympathetic looks. But because I saw no point in talking to the duke any further.

Truly.

Thus, under the uncomfortable stares of everyone there, I abandoned the duke and the baron who had approached as if it were only natural, and got into my carriage.

* * *

The duchess’s carriage gradually disappeared from the monastery grounds.

The duke, watching it leave, let his eyes grow cold and sharp.

“Abbot Filio.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Filio bowed politely.

Without looking at him, the duke spoke.

“Tell me everything that happened today.”

“E, everything?”

“From the moment the duchess first entered this place. Leave nothing out.”

Filio had spent his entire life serving others in accordance with divine will.

He believed he had learned how to read people’s hearts to some degree.

But now, he could read nothing from the duke’s gaze.

It felt like staring into a pitch-black forest.

* * *

Late at night.

Under the dim lanterns of the clinic, hushed voices murmured.

“Good grief, I finally got to breathe.”

“In all my years, I have never seen an accident this big. Patients kept pouring in nonstop. I froze in fear without meaning to.”

The speakers were the clinic workers.

They had not eaten properly all day and had run around until their legs nearly fell off. Only now did they have a moment to sit.

But instead of resting, they finally let out thoughts they had held in since morning.

“If she had not been here, we could not have handled this.”

“I hate to admit it, but she saved us. She replenished the herbs and supplies immediately, and she even forced those arrogant inner wall physicians to come. Those nobles never listen to orders from the castle office.”

“Agreed. That was impressive.”

They still felt strangely dazed.

Normally, they would never obey such a woman’s order.

But today was different. Their bodies had moved on their own when she commanded.

“Is it not strange? She is nothing like the rumors.”

“She does have quite a temper, though…”

“But oddly enough, she is not unbearable. She acts as wildly as the rumors say, but when you listen closely, every word she says makes sense, so you cannot argue.”

That was the strange part.

Yes, she cursed like no one they had ever met, and her temper was vile. But the substance of what she said was always correct.

It meant that even being cursed at had not felt unpleasant.

“I even heard she shed tears when she saw the miners dying.”

“What?”

“I saw it myself. When she donated, she wiped her eyes quietly. She looked genuinely sorrowful.”

“Come to think of it, when Thompson spat at her, she did not get angry. She just calmly treated the other patients.”

The more they thought about it, the less sense it made.

She had done good and took no credit for it.

Nothing like other noble ladies who used charity to build a reputation and impress the residents.

Why was she like that.

‘Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.’

A line from scripture flashed across all their minds at once.

“But wait!”

“I do not know anymore. But I do not think she is as terrible as the rumors make her sound.”

“Honestly… same here.”

The workers exchanged awkward glances.

They suddenly felt ashamed of how they had believed the rumors and badmouthed her.

“If anyone slanders her from now on, I will correct them. Her mouth is foul, but her heart is strangely gentle.”

“Agreed. I have some shame too.”

“I hope we can help her in some way.”

Thus, the way they referred to Elicia shifted from “that woman” to “the madam whose mouth is harsh but whose heart is strangely warm.”

* * *

After returning from the monastery, I collapsed in bed that very night.

I could not take one step outside my room from the muscle pain, and by midnight I even ran a fever that made the Lombard family physician come and go several times.

One day of work had destroyed me. My body was incredibly inefficient.

“I thought I was going to die.”

By the time I felt human again, several days had passed.

I blinked blankly at the swirling snow outside the window. A blizzard had turned the entire world white.

‘In the past, I would have been forced out to shovel snow from dawn.’

Now I was hugging a warm hand warmer while lying on a soft bed.

The change felt strange yet blissfully comforting.

‘I wonder if the injured miners are all right.’

I tried to sleep again, but random thoughts drifted around my mind.

The injured workers writhing on the floor, the clinic that had barely held up, the inner wall physicians who had kept glancing at me nervously.

‘Those physicians… they did not run away the moment I turned my back, did they?’

It was entirely possible, which made it worse.

During the previous mining accident, I had sent request after request for cooperation from the castle office, but every one of them avoided responsibility.

There was no guarantee things would be different now.

‘I should go there myself and crush them if needed—’

I froze mid-thought and shook my head violently.

No. Stop. This is not my responsibility anymore.

I would eat, play, and do nothing. I would wipe my mind clean and enjoy a brainless life of pleasure.

…That was what I had sworn.

Yet I ruffled my hair in frustration and shouted:

“This motherf*cker. I need to go out! Prepare the carriage!”