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Disastrous.
That was the only word I could think of. I already knew about the territory’s condition, so I was expecting it already… But as I got off the carriage and inhaled the air around me, I realized that the situation was much more devastating than I thought.
“This way. Please be careful.”
A knight guided me to the entrance of the village. The two escort knights didn’t seem to hold hostility towards me—this was something I didn’t expect. But even if they did show their disapproval, I continued on.
As I followed the escort knights, I saw how horrible it was inside the village itself. Most people had lost their homes due to the demonic beasts’ attacks, and the injured people who had yet to receive proper treatment were sitting by the roadside.
The most difficult thing to witness was seeing the food shortage. The root vegetables they ate shouldn’t even be called meals.
…I came out here in the simplest dress I had, but even this was made of silk. Suddenly, I felt that I was too lavish. I realized that the bread and jerky we had brought were too little to be considered as proper aid to these people.
“Now, please get in line.”
But I couldn’t help but give them out in the end, and so the relief aid distribution of bread and jerky proceeded as planned. Wordlessly, I watched the people fall in line according to the knights’ instructions. My feelings were a mess.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you for the food.”
There had been quite a few people who openly showed their hostility towards me, but they never did anything to harm me directly. With their exhaustion apparent on their faces, they just received the food, gave thanks mechanically, then they left. It could be that they had no energy left to spend on resenting someone.
Did my father know of this—this hell that he created?
No, that person was… He wouldn’t bat an eye at this sight. Because my father was the kind of man who would reign in hell. He wasn’t born with any compassion at all.
Why was such a person the Duke of Everett?
Will my father be punished someday?
I was lost in thought as I distributed food, this question repeating in my mind. Then—
“Die! You evil witch! Dirty blood of the Everetts!”
“……!”
A villager who was being given food suddenly rushed in and shouted at me. As soon as his mud-streaked hands tried to grab my neck, a knight quickly grabbed me and pulled me back. It was Jeremy.
At the same time, Will, the other knight, incapacitated the villager and bent his arms at his back to stop him.
It all happened in an instant. The villager was now face first on the ground as he was being held there by Will, but as he looked up at me, he stared at me with red eyes. His gaze was full of resentment.
“Excuse me, you shouldn’t struggle.”
Will tried to stop the villager properly, but he seemed to be more concerned about that man than me. As if he understood the reason why I was attacked a hundred times over.
“Let go of me, Sir Knight. Even if I go to hell, I’ll kill that witch and drag her down with me…! Goddamn Everett! It’s all because of YOU!”
I just stared blankly at the man who continued to shout in anger. The entire time, Will tried to soothe the man, and criticism was drawn towards me from all sides.
Everyone was blaming me. However, here, all I did was give out food.
It was because I was Duke Everett’s daughter.
When in fact, he wasn’t even my biological father…
“You! Your father! Your devil-like older brothers! All you Everetts will be cursed! You’ll all pay for your sins!”
The villager who was causing the disturbance was eventually dragged away by the soldiers who came after hearing the commotion, but he continued to shout at the top of his lungs.”
And all those who looked at the man came into view. Among them, the eyes of those who stared back at me seemed to express this as well.
‘There is no one on your side here. We all despise you.’
* * *
“Are you alright, Madam?”
Charlotte asked anxiously. As I skipped dinner late in the evening, I smiled faintly, not feeling hungry.
If Missus Seymour’s intention was to hurt me mentally on this territorial inspection, then she was successful.
Surrounding me on all sides was this—the misery of the Valentino territory, and… I couldn’t erase this terrible nightmare from my mind.
“You may not have an appetite, but please have at least a warm cup of milk before you sleep. …I’m worried. You skip meals too often these days, Madam.”
“…I’m fine. I’ll eat properly starting tomorrow, so don’t worry anymore.”
Charlotte didn’t seem to believe my words, but she didn’t push the matter any longer. Instead, when I said I’d eat tomorrow, she asked, ‘Will you really?’ And I’m not sure if my answering expression was natural enough.
Eventually, Charlotte exited the room, and I was left alone in the dark room. I tried to lie still in bed and sleep, but I couldn’t. As soon as I closed my eyes, what I saw was the devastated terrains of the territory.
Even though I knew it wasn’t my own sin, I felt a heavy sense of shame and guilt.
Even if I wished to step up and help them… They would only see it as an act of deceit and hypocrisy.
But was it possible to just watch and do nothing? I wouldn’t be able to do that.
So I was left with no choice but to find a way.
* * *
I decided to dispose of almost all the jewelry I brought with me after getting married, leaving only a few.
My father gave these to me as wedding gifts, but he wouldn’t care about what I did with them anyway. In the first place, these gifts were only given for Everett to save face.
Anyway, since these accessories were quite expensive, I was able to get a considerable amount of gold in exchange.
Now, it would be enough to hand these over to the administrator so that they could be added to the territory’s treasury, but they would be opposed to it…
If the bride, who had married into the family less than a week ago, would be seen selling her jewelry and giving it like this, the pride of the Valentino Duchy could be hurt and they would think, ‘How dare this hypocritical daughter of Everett disregard us.’
For this not to happen, I had to use a different method of using this money effectively in the right place. For instance…
“……”
I took out a small box. It was something I brought from the Everett estate.
As the lid opened, a silver object contained within the box shined under the indoor light on which it reflected.
This was the magic tool that Owen gave me.
’If you need to investigate Valentino’s Young Master secretly, use this. It’s a magic tool that allows you to change your appearance into the person you have in mind. There might be a problem if you couldn’t remember the right physical characteristics of that person, but you have a good memory, so…’
I didn’t know that manipulative crazy bastard’s schemes would help me in this way.
Of course, Owen gave me this magic tool with an insidious reason in mind. But at the end of the day, I didn’t wish to dig up the secrets of the Valentino Duchy as Owen instructed me to. I’d just say I tried, but I’ll just say I couldn’t get anything and pretend to be incompetent.
For Owen, Hessen and Father, my incompetence was a given, so they wouldn’t even doubt this.
Above all, Owen firmly believed that he had complete control over me.
With one corner of my lips tilted up, I smirked.
The magic tool took the form of a necklace, and so I hung it on my neck. The oval pendant was just the right size to hide under clothes.
With this, I can turn into either a maid or a knight and go distribute food. I can prepare the food with the money I got from selling the accessories.
One way or another, this was a good method.
* * *
However, even as I thought I hid my tracks well enough, the merchant opened his mouth at will and the news reached my Theodore.
I can’t believe that mouth still opened when I paid him enough to shut him up.
Facing my husband, I sat in front of him and sipped tasteless tea. It’s not that I couldn’t taste anything, but the tea itself didn’t have any flavor. Maybe my tongue had been paralyzed.
Even if this tea had poison, there would be nothing strange about it…
“I heard you sold your jewelry.”
Hearing Theodore’s voice, I looked up.
It didn’t seem like his pride had been hurt. He didn’t seem angry, but he looked annoyed. Even if he thought that I was doing something useless and incomprehensible, I touched my teacup and replied quietly, without hesitation.
“I don’t like those anymore. I want to buy new jewelry.”
Of course, this was a lie.
The fact that I was secretly distributing food was something that only Charlotte knew.
With his brows furrowed, Theodore scoffed loudly, then he retorted.
“You don’t have to sell your old jewelry to get money. No matter how bad the situation of the land is, Valentino is still the reigning Duchy of the north. You can buy enough jewelry without having to stain your dignity.”
“……”
What did he mean?
Theodore was someone who was concerned about the territory and his people’s lives more than anyone else. He must be bluffing in front of me. Perhaps because it was the unwilling spirit to lose to Everett. Well… It didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to tell him the truth anyway.
“I apologize… I’ll be careful next time.”
“……”
When I spoke with a small voice with my head down, it seemed like he had nothing more to say to me. I glanced up and looked at his face. Come to think of it… His condition didn’t look good.
“Are you sick? Your face is so pale. Is it that your compatibility with your contracted spirit still isn’t good?’
But I had no right to utter these words.
“Then you may leave. We have no other business.”
At his order, I stood up from my seat. He looked at me in a way that made me nervous. I didn’t want to be under that gaze anymore, so I tried to rush out.
However, the moment I grabbed the doorknob, he spoke again, as though he had just remembered. It was the clear tone of ridicule.
“After taking a look around my territory, you were so surprised that you wish to be comforted by jewels. Truly, you’re Everett’s daughter. Please be at ease—you will not need to go on such crude sightseeing anymore in the future.”
He didn’t even ask if I had been scared that I was almost choked by that wrathful villager.
No… I believe he would have been rather happy if I was strangled to death right then. I would be one less nuisance to him, and he wouldn’t need to raise a hand himself.
“……”
I bowed silently and left the room.
¡
And it was a few days after this that I saw Theodore acting unusually.