At Rosalie’s command, Gilbert quickly moved to reposition the targets. Some of the targets were closer together and some were farther apart.
“Doing this will make it harder for you to hit them.”
Despite Aaron’s words, Rosalie paid no attention, took a stance and began shooting the crossbow.
“Oh my gosh…”
The arrows fired from Rosalie’s crossbow began to hit the exact center of the targets. Thanks to the crossbow’s excellent function, some of the arrows even penetrated the target and left holes. Rosalie, who hit all the targets, took her eyes off the scope and spoke calmly.
“It’s good enough. Let’s keep it this way. How about the quantity?”
Seeing Rosalie’s marksmanship, their jaws dropped. As she cleared her throat, Gilbert, who came to his senses, spoke up.
“The quantity you ordered is almost complete. We were just waiting for the final approval from the Duchess so we can put the finishing touches. We can deliver it to the Duchy soon.”
“Okay. Aaron, double-check the quantity and make sure the goods are delivered to the castle.”
“…Yes. Understood.”
Aaron walked into the forge with Gilbert, looking bewildered, and Rosalie put down the crossbow and followed them.
Erudit stared at the bull’s-eye with a hole in the center until the very end, but Rosalie’s movements caught his attention and he began to walk.
As they entered the smithy, the place was filled with the heat that had not yet dissipated. Not fond of the heat, Rosalie went out without looking around.
“Did the Duchess go outside?”
Aaron asked Erudit, who was wandering around the shop.
“She said she didn’t like the heat.”
“It is pretty hot in here. It would be great if she had a dagger made while she’s here.”
“Does the Duchess use a dagger?”
“She’s a genius when it comes to daggers.”
Erudit looked troubled for a moment. As Aaron and Gilbert continued their conversation, Erudit also came out of the blacksmith’s shop. As he stepped out of the heat-filled blacksmith’s shop, the cool breeze blowing was especially refreshing. Rosalie, who went outside first, opened her mouth as she saw Erudit.
“What about Sir Aaron?”
“I think the conversation will be long.”
Rosalie walked past Erudit and entered the smithy. Soon after, she came out.
“Let’s go see the village.”
“What? How about Sir Aaron..?”
“Sir Aaron will go back to the Duchy after finishing his work. It’s annoying to drive a horse around the village, so let’s walk.”
Without a second thought, Erudit followed Rosalie as she began to walk. Since the blacksmith’s shop was a little far from the village center, it took them quite some time to walk there.
However, as they walked without talking, Erudit felt a little awkward. Rosalie was the first to speak in the midst of the awkwardness.
“Fortunately, the lives of the people in this territory are not bad.”
“It’s because what Bella touched was the property of the Duke. Although it worsened the business and administration, it was already something that had been sluggish since the previous Duke’s management, so the impact was not big enough for the people of the territory to feel it.”
As Erudit unconsciously continued to talk while looking around the village, he suddenly regained his senses and spoke urgently.
“I mean, but because of the wealth, reputation, and legacy accumulated by the previous Duke, there were no losses in this situation.”
“You said what was right, so there’s no need to beat around the bush.”
Rosalie’s lighthearted comment made him glance at her. A normal noble would have been offended, but her expression was impassive.
“You are not offended, are you?”
“If Erudit says so, then it must be true. And the important thing is how to overcome it.”
At Rosalie’s casual reply, Erudit no longer responded and only adjusted his glasses.
The center of the village was crowded with people, and the two wandered among the people and looked around the village. However, as time passed, Erudit’s complexion became pale because of his bad physical condition. Rosalie, who noticed it, pointed to a cafe.
“Erudit. Let’s have a cup of tea.”
Erudit gave her a quick nod.
“Why don’t you go inside first?”
“Where is the Duchess going?”
“I’ll be back in a moment.”
With a bewildered expression, Erudit entered the cafe first. There were not many customers in the small cafe, and there was only one female server.
He sat at a table and ordered a cup of tea, taking a breath. Soon, the tea he had ordered was quickly served on the table, and when Erudit picked up the teacup to take a sip, a small commotion broke out inside the cafe.
“Don’t touch me!”
“Hehe, what are you going to do after work? We know a fun place.”
It seemed that a group of three men were harassing the female server. When the commotion grew too loud to be ignored, Erudit clicked his tongue, got up, and approached the source of the disturbance.
“You guys are being noisy. If you continue this, I will call security.”
“What are you babbling about?”
The men responded with a menacing attitude after hearing Erudit’s words. However, Erudit continued speaking without batting an eye.
“I’ll call the guards.”
The men glared at him, spat on the floor, and rose from the table, then grabbed him roughly by the scruff of the neck, causing the server next to him to let out a short scream.
“Kyaaa!”
“Come with us, you bastard! We’ll beat that pretty face of yours.”
Erudit was helplessly dragged away by the men. His body staggered as the men who had dragged him to the street roughly released their grip.
“Are you biting your teeth?”
Erudit shut his eyes tightly as one of the men raised his fist. However, to his surprise, he did not feel any pain, and only a strong sound of impact rang in his ears.
When he opened his eyes in confusion, he saw that Rosalie had suddenly appeared in front of him and was crushing one of the men with her foot.
“What the heck, these guys.”
As Rosalie spat out the words with a sour expression, the rest of the men took out daggers and began to raise them. Rosalie just stared at the glinting, sharp blades, but Erudit behind her started to panic.
“You guys sure you want to draw those daggers?”
Rosalie also took out a dagger from her thigh and engaged the men in an instant. As the men swung their daggers with enthusiasm, Rosalie easily sidestepped them, darted inward, and struck them under the chin with the hilt of her dagger. The man who had bitten his tongue fell to the street, bleeding.
‘Still, I’m the Duchess, so I shouldn’t kill him.’
Rosalie parried another man’s dagger. This time, her foot struck the man squarely in the center between his legs, and the dull thud of something breaking echoed through the air as he collapsed in a heap, his mouth foaming. Despite the men writhing in pain on the street, Rosalie didn’t even bother to look at them, instead examining her dagger.
“Ah, my dagger is cracked.”
It was the one she’d used in training, and she suspected that it cracked from the impact earlier.
Erudit wanted to ask if Rosalie was injured, but it seemed like a stupid question after witnessing the fight just a moment ago.
“Let’s go, Erudit.”
Rosalie sheathed her dagger and called out to him. He nodded slowly, feeling his heart beating faster. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the intense fight he just witnessed or because of Rosalie’s confident posture and demeanor.
Due to the small commotion, Rosalie and Erudit took a carriage and returned to the mansion.
As they got off the carriage and headed towards their rooms, Rosalie called out to Erudit and handed him a small paper box wrapped in something from her pocket.
“What is this?”
“A glasses chain. I saw them while we were walking and you looked tired, so I went to buy them myself.”
When Erudit opened the box, there was a silver glasses chain inside. The silver chains were studded with tiny silver jewels and they were simple but striking.
“I thought they’d look good on you. Now go rest.”
Rosalie turned around and left. Erudit took the glasses chain out of the box, examined them, and squeezed them. Behind his glasses, the corners of his eyes seemed to burn red.
⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰
That night, feeling like Nathan would visit her soon, Rosaliei left the terrace door open. As she expected, she heard a familiar voice as a cold breeze filled the room.
“Hello, Rosalie.”
“You found me well.”
“It’s because I remember the sound of Rosalie’s heart.”
Nathan walked into the room with a cheesy grin and sat down on the couch. Rosalie set a tray of chocolates and candy on the table.
“Anything unusual?”
Nathan replied, munching on chocolate.
“Apparently, Bella is trying to meet with a man named Marquis Windell.”
“And?”
“Bella told me that Marquis Windell is a coward. He looks like he wants to attack his prey but doesn’t actually do it, which frustrates her. So, I asked what kind of prey it was, and Bella said it looked like a weak rabbit.”
Rosalie’s mind began to work quickly, while Nathan was still focused on his chocolate.
‘I need to make sure to publicize the sale of the Goredic Mine.’
As Rosalie expected, the story went wrong and the Marquis of Windell didn’t want to take the initiative. She felt the need to shake the bait more. Lost in her thoughts, something slipped into Rosalie’s mouth.
Then it melted, leaving a cringe-worthy sweetness in her mouth. When she turned to look at Nathan, he licked the chocolate off his finger and smiled slyly.
“When I eat something sweet, my mind works better.”
This time, Nathan took a candy and held it out to Rosalie.
“You picked that up with the same finger you were licking.”
Rosalie said, scrunching her face in disapproval.
When Rosalie frowned, the candy Nathan was holding slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. Nathan stared into Rosalie’s eyes for a long moment, then burst out laughing.
“Rosalie, have you never been in love before?”
“…Why do you ask?”
Nathan’s question made Rosalie pause before she answered bluntly.
True to his word, Rosalie hadn’t been in a relationship in the 32 years before she entered the novel. She hadn’t felt the need and in the end, there was no romance in her life.
