Chapter 53
Chapter 53: What’s a Duchess?
“We’re here!”
“Auntie! Give us pudding!”
The children appeared to range in age from five to nearly ten.
Everyone seemed used to the sudden chaos, playfully shouting along.
“Hurry up, pudding!”
“Oh my, you kids!”
Marie and Jacques stood up, startled. While Marie rushed to calm the kids, Jacques turned to me apologetically.
“I’m sorry, Your Grace. The children often drop by for snacks at this time.”
“It’s fine. No need to worry.”
“Kids, quiet down! Come over here. I’ll give you pudding.”
Marie tried to shush them with a finger over her lips, but that only seemed to excite them more.
“No way!”
“What pudding is it today? I didn’t get any yesterday, so I want two!”
“Shh! A very important guest is here, so be quiet!”
“Important guest?”
“Oh? Look! There’s a goddess over there!”
A young child pointed at me and shouted.
Pfft. I spit out the pie I had in my mouth right onto Norton’s face.
“N-Norton! I’m so sorry! Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
He calmly wiped his soaked face with a handkerchief.
“Where?”
“Over there. She looks just like the goddess!”
“No, she doesn’t have wings!”
“She’s hiding them in front of people!”
Hearing the kids’ innocent chatter made my ears burn with embarrassment.
“Don’t laugh, Cecilia.”
“Laugh? I would never be so disrespectful.”
Cecilia’s twitching cheeks gave her away. I shot her a glare.
Just then, one of the younger kids broke through Marie’s defense and ran up to me.
“Miss, are you a goddess?”
As the child grabbed the hem of my dress, Norton’s hand flinched toward his sword.
“Norton, don’t be so dramatic. Put your hand down.”
“Apologies, Your Grace.”
I knelt down to meet the child’s eyes. There was a dried streak of snot on his cheek, but otherwise, he looked neat.
“I’m not a goddess. I’m a duchess.”
“A duchess? What’s that?”
Good question. What is a duchess?
I found myself speechless. The wife of a duke? The lady of the ducal estate? Either way, it felt awkward to say when I was only here on a one-year contract.
Then I noticed the spicy tomato stew listed on the wall menu.
“Hmm… someone who likes tomato stew.”
It was a silly answer, but thankfully, the child didn’t seem to think it was strange.
“I like tomato stew too! But I like pudding more!”
“Do you now?”
His chubby cheeks were so cute. I took out a handkerchief and wiped the snot off his face.
“Give the kids their pudding, please.”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
While Jacques rushed off to get pudding, I gathered the kids together.
“Leta, do you have any spare coins?”
Leta handed me some coins from her pouch. I gave one ekhnang each to the children.
“I’m giving these to you because you’re all so lovely. Buy something tasty later, okay?”
The older kids, realizing I was someone important, looked a little shy. But the younger ones squealed and quickly grabbed the coins.
With Marie’s prompting, they gave a deep bow and scampered off giggling to eat their pudding.
“Are they local kids?”
“They come from an orphanage nearby.”
“Really?”
I was a little surprised.
They didn’t look ragged or poor like orphans usually might.
Noticing my surprise, Jacques smiled gently.
“The Duke personally supports the place.”
“There are quite a few orphans who’ve lost their parents to monsters. The Commander finds them during his hunts and brings them back.”
Norton explained calmly.
Orphans left alone in this harsh northern land… I glanced at the kids eating pudding at the corner table. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, which was a relief.
“Are the puddings made just for the kids?”
“A bit of both. We started by giving them leftovers, but now the kids are the main customers.”
What a kind couple.
“Is it alright for the kids to wander around like that?”
Cecilia asked.
“They’re full of energy at that age.”
Marie smiled.
“If we try to keep them still, they’ll just cause trouble. It’s better to let them run around where we can see them.”
“But the orphanage has teachers, right?”
“There’s never enough help. Even after feeding them early, there’s still a mountain of work left.”
Running a household alone must already be hard, yet they even look after orphans.
I suddenly felt admiration for the couple.
And I’d been complaining every day about being bored in the ducal estate.
Do I even deserve to be called a duchess like this?
It was probably only natural that I couldn’t easily answer the child earlier when they asked what a “Grand Duchess” was.
For some reason, it made me feel a little embarrassed.
“I’m sure the recipe will be a huge hit!”
As we left the inn, Cecilia spoke confidently.
Although we could hear Norton grumbling behind us, everyone seemed to agree with her.
Outside, it had already gotten quite dark.
As I was about to get into the carriage, I looked back. Standing in the shadows, Morina looked smaller than usual.
“Sir Norton? Let’s take this child home first. Morina, get in too.”
Morina, who had been bowing politely, looked startled and glanced at her sister.
“N-no, Your Highness. I couldn’t possibly…”
“It’s already dark.”
Leta looked uncomfortable, glancing between me and Morina. She couldn’t just leave her post, but she also didn’t want to send her younger sister home alone.
“It won’t take long by carriage, right Sir Norton?”
“Where do you live?”
Norton looked at Morina and asked.
She shrank back at the memory of being threatened by him with a sword, so Leta answered instead.
“She lives in Jennin Street.”
“That’s not really on our way.”
Norton turned to me and said.
“Get in.”
I urged Morina.
“Do you want people thinking I’m a cold-hearted Grand Duchess?”
“N-no! Of course not, Your Highness!”
And so, the carriage left with me, Cecilia, and the two sisters inside.
The ride was bumpy and very quiet.
Cecilia was absorbed in reviewing her recipe notes, and the sisters sat quietly across from us.
They were gently holding hands—it was clear they were very close.
‘What were my sister and I like?’
I tried to recall some touching memory, but nothing much came to mind about my sister from before I was reincarnated.
As for my sister in this world, Ladriel… I only remembered her biting me.
“You two are very close.”
Seeing where my gaze had landed, Leta gave a rare, awkward smile.
“We only have each other to rely on.”
‘Do they not have parents?’
When I blinked in surprise, Leta lowered her head as if she’d said something she shouldn’t have.
I realized I didn’t actually know much about my personal maid.
Just then, the carriage arrived at Jennin Street.
The alley was old and shabby, and the darkness seemed extra thick.
“Thank you so much for taking me home, Your Highness!”
“You worked hard. Go on now.”
When I gestured for her to go in, Morina bowed several times, gave her sister a quick glance, and ran off.
“Let’s go home too.”
Just as the carriage began to move again, I saw the small figure of the girl disappearing into the dark alley.
Something didn’t feel right.
“Wait, stop the carriage.”
At my words, Leta knocked on the wall to signal the driver to stop.
“Three Eknang!”
Morina skipped excitedly through the dark alley.
Most days, even after running errands all day, she wouldn’t earn a single Eknang.
But now, she could earn three just for drawing pictures!
Unable to show her excitement in front of the Grand Duchess, she now leaped joyfully up the stone steps.
She had just reached the old alley where her house was when—
As she went to open the door, two men who had been hiding in the darkness appeared.
“Ahh!”
Before she could run, one grabbed her tied-up hair.
“Feeling lucky, little miss? Roaming around this late?”
“Some of us are out here suffering all night because someone ran off with our money, you know.”
“Let me go!”
Morina screamed as loud as she could, but the area was dead silent.
“Trying to get help from the neighbors again? Too bad.”
The other man laughed while grabbing her by the collar.
“We checked. Those helpful folks aren’t around tonight.”
“I still have time left!”
“Yeah, you do. And in that time, you’re going to suffer a bit. We’re raising the interest starting next month.”
“What?! You can’t just do that!”
Morina stared at them in shock. One of the men smirked.
“Around here, I make the rules. Your sister works at the Grand Duke’s palace, right? Tell her to steal some silverware to sell. Or maybe—ugh!”
But the man never finished his sentence.
Morina didn’t understand what had just happened.
“W-wait! Gah—”
There were heavy thudding sounds, followed by the noise of bodies hitting the ground.
She looked up to see Norton standing there.
“S-Sir Knight?”
“Are you alright?”
Norton asked with his usual calm expression.
The two thugs who had been threatening Morina were now lying in a heap, crushed under Norton’s strength.
His sword hadn’t even left its sheath.
“Oh my gosh…”
Morina was stunned.
“Sir Knight… you drew your sword on me, but not even for thugs like these?”
