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Grace decided to give something other than money. After all, it was better to leave financial matters to Benjamin.
Sally set off to buy a set of cookies at Grace’s command.
Grace casually threw her cloak onto the bed and headed to the study.
When she opened the first drawer in the study, it was still full of bookmarks.
“These are all handmade.”
Even though Grace knew almost nothing about the names of flowers, she liked them anyway. Among them, she had pressed the flowers she liked the most and kept them, not just as keepsakes but as bookmarks. It was a way she could incorporate them into her favorite pastime: reading.
“Grace’s hobbies are mostly things she can enjoy quietly by herself. But it seems she hardly remembers the types of flowers.”
Usually, having a hobby meant taking an interest in it, didn’t it? Yet, not knowing the types or names was surprising. Then she concluded that perhaps it was simply because she liked them for their beauty.
“You don’t have to know everything to like something…”
Grace thought she was similar to her past-life self.
“Of course, my past self had almost no choices.”
She muttered softly as she counted the bookmarks. There seemed to be enough, and it seemed sufficient to show her goodwill.
“If they don’t like them, it can’t be helped.”
Still, they were gifts from the Duchess, so surely they wouldn’t throw them away.
⋆★⋆
The knights of the Pelton family, returning from a long expedition, collapsed to the floor with worn-out expressions. Their comrades welcomed them with sympathetic looks.
“They used the gate on the way back, right?”
“Our lord spares no support for the knights…”
Lechtern appeared every two years. If he appeared once in a year, he would vanish entirely the next year.
The Pelton knights—or rather, all the servants working for the Pelton family—were generally very satisfied with how the family treated them.
Fair wages, good benefits, guaranteed holidays, and a gentle, competent lord who was understanding. Satisfaction was inevitable. Some even wished to be born and die within the Pelton estate.
But this expedition was excessive. This year was Lechtern’s rest period, his time of complete absence. So absent, in fact, that people would pray for him to appear when he usually didn’t.
“It’s okay. If I think of it as being for my lady, I can endure it. But no matter how I think about it, in the end, our lord…”
One knight rubbed his dark eyes and sniffled mid-sentence.
“Mark, are you crying?”
“Shut up. I swore loyalty to my lady.”
Mark remembered that day.
It was shortly after Grace had become a minor duchess, when news arrived that his sister back home had fallen ill with an epidemic.
Later, a saint appeared and resolved the situation, but at that time, the saint had not yet been discovered.
Everyone thought Mark’s sister would die. Orphaned, Mark’s sister was his only family.
All he wished for was a painless death for her. The Empire even seemed ready to abandon the entire village.
Upon hearing this, Grace opened her resources to care for the village’s patients. Benjamin, having been informed of the severity of the epidemic and that they were about to be isolated, personally intervened to protect and financially support them.
Even though everyone said it was dangerous, Grace insisted it would be fine with just one visit. She even quarantined herself afterward just in case.
While Grace’s kindness might not have been of much practical help, the number of deaths sharply decreased afterward.
Mark called this event the miracle of the Duchess.
“I think it’s most unreasonable that this didn’t become a major topic in the Empire,” he said.
“Hm.”
One of Mark’s comrades nodded in agreement.
“It’s not just a topic—it’s something that should go down in history. But my lady…”
Just as Mark was about to speak, his comrade lightly tapped his head with the scabbard, causing no pain.
“Enough talking. Knights talk too much.”
“Ugh.”
“And your sister is here.”
The comrade nodded and pointed to one side.
When Mark turned, he saw a maid carrying a basket, walking with a plump woman.
“Sister!”
He jumped up, beaming, and went to meet Sally. Then he stiffened when he noticed Grace standing next to her.
“L-Lady?”
“…Ah, hello?”
Grace hesitated over the greeting, and Mark tensed, wondering what brought her all the way here.
“What brings my lady here?”
When she said she came for them, the knights all straightened in formation to show respect.
“I heard you all went through so much for me. It’s nothing much, but I prepared this as a token of my gratitude.”
The knights looked at Grace in confusion.
Sally handed the basket she was carrying to Grace. Grace began taking out individually wrapped cookies and bookmarks, then stopped.
“…Ah.”
She looked at them, a bit awkward.
“Are you the ones who went after Lechtern?”
From Grace’s expression and behavior, the knights realized she had come to give them gifts personally.
The knights, who had spent hours complaining about how hard it was, now stood neatly in formation, eager to identify themselves as the ones who had gone.
Grace found their behavior strangely endearing.
“Thank you!”
‘It’s nothing special, yet they really like it.’
Everyone happily received the cookies and bookmarks Grace gave out.
‘In the novel, there are so many belittling remarks about the Duchess, I thought the knights wouldn’t like me.’
Not knowing her reputation outside the annex, Grace was surprised at how gladly the knights accepted her gifts.
“…Ma’am.”
“Eek?!”
Still, taking the kindness at face value, Grace smiled at the knights’ favorable reaction. Behind her, a soft, intimate voice spoke.
Startled, Grace let out a shrill scream and turned around, seeing Benjamin.
He didn’t seem intent on startling her, and instead, he looked flustered as he steadied her.
“…Ah.”
He let go after a moment, frowning slightly.
Grace rubbed the part of her arm he had held and looked at him.
“Oh, when did you get here?”
“I just arrived. But more importantly…”
Benjamin glanced at the knights who had just received gifts from Grace.
“What did you give them?”
“Oh, it’s because they went after a beast called Lechtan on my behalf.”
Strictly speaking, it was Lechtern, but no one corrected her.
“….”
However, Benjamin looked displeased with her answer.
He muttered softly.
“…I went after it too, you know.”
“Huh?”
Benjamin glared down at Grace with a sullen expression.
“I joined at the end and found the lair of Lechtern myself. I was more helpful than them.”
Grace looked at him as if to say, So what?
“…Hmm.”
Since Sally bought cookies to match the number of knights, they were all gone. Grace hesitated, then took one of the remaining bookmarks from the basket and handed it to him.
“Even this…?”
Benjamin’s frown finally relaxed, though his smile was subtle.
“Th-thank you…”
The pressed flower on the bookmark Grace gave him was a blue morning glory.
‘I guess I was a bit harsh.’
The cookies and bookmarks were meant as an apology for involving the knights in Benjamin’s mysterious order. But in hindsight, she also needed to give Benjamin a token of gratitude.
‘But what should I give him?’
Anything she bought would ultimately be Benjamin’s money.
Even if she made something herself, Grace couldn’t cook. And if the Duchess suddenly went into the kitchen to bake or cook, the chef probably wouldn’t be pleased.
If she were to do it, it would have to be in the middle of the night, when no one was around.
And Grace wasn’t confident she could avoid an accident—her usual thought process was, Eh, it’ll be fine, nothing will happen, which always led to trouble.
‘Usually, when someone is possessed, they go to the kitchen to cook and end up…’
This was the first time with food, and it won everyone’s favor, then led to being scolded, then loved.
Grace’s thoughts turned to the people in the annex.
‘They seem to treat me extremely well.’
Whether out of sympathy or not, they treated her well. That was enough. She didn’t prefer pity, but since she would leave eventually, she could just make good use of any condescending goodwill.
Having calmly decided that she wouldn’t be hurt if the annex staff overheard her thoughts, Grace nodded to herself.
