Chapter 20: CH 12.1

Grace decided to give something other than money. As expected, it was better to pass the money problem onto Benjamin.

Sally left to buy a cookie set at Grace’s command.

Grace roughly placed her cloak on the bed and headed to the study.

When she opened the first drawer in the study, there were still plenty of bookmarks.

‘She made all of these herself.’

Grace liked flowers even though she didn’t know the names of the flowers.

So she pressed and stored her favorite flowers as bookmarks instead of just keeping them.

It was a way to enjoy her favorite hobby of reading.

‘Grace’s hobbies were ‌things she can enjoy alone quietly. It seems like she hardly remembers the types of flowers, but she likes them anyway.’

Hobbies are usually about having interest, right? It was fascinating that she didn’t know the types or names of the flowers. But then again, it was possible to just like them because they were pretty.

‘Just because you like something doesn’t mean you can know everything about it…’

Grace thought she was similar to her past self.

“Of course, my past self had almost no choice.”

Grace murmured softly as she counted the number of bookmarks. It didn’t seem like there were too few, and it looked good enough to express some effort.

“There’s nothing I can do If I don’t like it.”

Still, it was a gift from the Duchess, so she wouldn’t openly throw it away.

⋆★⋆

The knights of the Felton Duchy who had just returned from a long expedition were lying on the ground with tired expressions. Their colleagues greeted them with sympathetic expressions.

“But I heard you used the gate on your way back?”

“Because our lord spares no expense in supporting his Knights…”

Rehton appeared every two years. If it appeared once, it wouldn’t even be noticeable the following year.

The Felton Knights, or rather, all the servants working for the Felton Duchy, were generally satisfied with the treatment they received from the Duchy.

Reasonable wages, good benefits, guaranteed holidays, and a gentle and competent owner with understanding.

It was a place where satisfaction could not be low. There were even those who wanted to be born and die in the Felton Duchy.

But no matter how they thought about it, this expedition was just too much. This year was supposed to be a resting period for Rehton. It was a time for its hiding. It was so hidden that they even prayed for Rehton to appear, whom they usually begged to stop showing up.

“It’s okay. We can endure this if we think this was for the sake of Madam. But no matter how I think about it, in the end, our lord…”

One of the knights spoke, but then his eyes became watery and he sniffled.

“Mark, are you crying?”

“Shut up! I have pledged loyalty to the Duchess.”

Mark remembered that day.

When Grace had just become the Duchess, news came from his hometown that his sister had contracted a contagious disease.

Later, a saint appeared and solved the problem, but ‌it was a time when the saint had not yet been discovered.

Everyone said that Mark’s sister would die. Mark, who had been an orphan, had no one but his sister as family.

All he could do was hope for her to die without pain. The Empire showed signs of abandoning the village altogether.

However, when Grace heard the news, she wanted to use her wealth to take care of the patients in the village.

Benjamin, who was briefed on Grace’s actions, also knew the seriousness of the epidemic and the situation where they were about to be isolated, so he stepped forward to protect them and provided financial support.

Despite everyone warning her about the danger, Grace insisted to visit once. She traveled to the Don village where the epidemic had directly hit, and afterward, just in case, quarantined herself.

Anyway, Grace’s kind heart may not have actually been helpful, but the number of deaths decreased dramatically afterward.

Mark called this incident the miracle of the duchess.

“I think it’s the most unreasonable thing that this didn’t become a topic of conversation within the Empire.

“Hmm.”

Mark’s colleague agreed with his words and nodded his head.

“It’s not a big enough topic to become a controversy. This is something that will go down in history. But even the Duchess…”

Just as Mark was about to say something, his colleague swiftly hit him on the head to prevent him from speaking too much.

“Stop talking. You are talking too much.”

“Ugh.”

“See your sister is coming.”

His colleague nodded towards one side.

As Mark turned his head, he saw a maid carrying a basket walking towards them with a plump woman.

“Sister!”

He stood up with a big smile and greeted Sally. Then he noticed Grace standing next to Sally and froze.

“M-Madam?”

“….Oh, hello?”

Grace wondered if this greeting was appropriate, and Mark stiffened, wondering why Grace had come all the way here.