As the carriage carrying the Grand Duke and his wife slowly passed through the city fountain and entered the square where the treatment tents were set up, a thunderous cheer erupted with a “Waaah!”

Yuriella’s eyes widened as she opened the carriage window and looked outside.

“What is all this…!”

There were two entrances to the treatment tents, and the waiting lines starting from each entrance spiraled like giant snail shells, turning and turning and turning… endlessly winding all the way to the square fountain!

Yuriella got out of the carriage with her mouth agape, supported by the Grand Duke.

“You have arrived, Your Highness.”

The Grand Duke shot a displeased look at the mayor who had hurried over.

“Well, you’ve certainly been overzealous in your work. Did you send messengers throughout all of Colina Rosa? Do you see my rain as some giant golem made of iron?”

“Ah… that’s not it, it’s just that word spread that today is the last day Your Highness and the Saint will be providing treatment. Everyone flocked here like this, saying they couldn’t miss today, even if just to catch a glimpse…”

“Not Saint, but Saint candidate.”

As Frost corrected the title, the Saint candidate Carina Pioni came running quickly towards Yuriella, as if dancing the Little Polka.

“Rain, Rain!”

Tsk. Yuriella clicked her tongue as she squinted at Carina.

Panting and flushing red, Carina did not look at all like an evil woman tainted by black magic, at least on the surface.

“You’re here? I’ve been waiting so long for you, Rain.”

The Saint candidate in pristine priest’s robes, who had familiarly linked arms with Yuriella, looked so holy and noble that she seemed ready to float up to the heavens if only she had wings.

“Your Highness. Saint candidate. Please provide treatment as much as you feel comfortable. They are already overjoyed just to see your faces directly, as if they’ve taken a panacea.”

The mayor wiped the cold sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, flustered by the Grand Duke’s sharp gaze fixed on his face.

“How is this any different from putting candy in a child’s hand and telling them not to eat it? Tsk.”

Frost looked at his wife, who was already rolling up her sleeves with sparkling eyes full of enthusiasm, and let out a shallow sigh.

He was proud of Yuriella, who pushed herself to the point of falling ill with fatigue every time she came to the treatment tents, but he couldn’t help worrying.

“Rain. You heard the mayor, didn’t you? I’ve already arranged plenty of medical personnel to provide treatment, so today, just think of it as saying farewell and don’t overdo it.”

“Yes! I won’t overdo it!”

His wife’s energetic response, clenching her fists tightly while saying she wouldn’t overdo it, made it clear she would undoubtedly use up her last bit of strength trying to treat even one more patient and spend the night suffering from exhaustion.

The Archmage and Delilah, along with the Grand Duke’s servants and the medicine peddlers, got out of the carriages that arrived after. Frost gave a look to the head butler and head maid, asking them to take good care of his wife.

Just then, a murmuring sound like an incoming wave could be heard from among the territory’s people gathered in the square.

“T-there, the beacon…!”

“Oh… Uva Rosa again…!”

The citizens of Colina Rosa sighed and lamented, their faces turning pale as they looked in the direction of the rising beacon.

The smoke from the beacon was rising from the direction of the disaster relief supplies warehouse, quite far from the city center. It seemed that thieves had broken into the place where materials for rebuilding the city were coming and going daily.

“Uva Rosa, you say…?”

Yuriella, who had been looking at the beacon, turned her worried gaze to the Grand Duke.

It was the name of the thieves she had heard about from the head butler before coming to Colina Rosa.

‘Uva Rosa’, meaning ‘red grape’, was a group of bandits formed by some of the territory’s people who had lost their homes after Solas’ punitive forces trampled Colina Rosa, becoming wanderers and eventually drifting into the mountains.

Despite the North’s strict security forces, wealthy nobles and merchants were being robbed of jewels and cash by Uva Rosa, and the city was having its relief supplies for reconstruction stolen, she had heard.

The serious issue was that among them were territory residents who were former mercenaries with excellent combat skills, making bloodshed unavoidable whenever they clashed.

“…Yuriella. Don’t worry and go about your work. I’ll be back soon.”

Before mounting the black horse Mars, Frost gently patted Yuriella’s shoulder to comfort her.

“Your Highness…”

It seemed like the Grand Duke was the one who needed comforting.

Yuriella’s heart ached as if pierced by thousands of ice picks, feeling sorry as she saw how heavy and sad the Grand Duke’s shoulders looked as he went to deal with the thieves.

It was bewildering and devastating that the Grand Duke had to take the punishment when the crime had been committed by her former self.

Head maid Rosalinne approached Yuriella, who had turned pale with tightly pressed lips, to console her.

“Don’t worry, Rain. His Grace the Grand Duke is not one to be bested by mere thieves.”

It wasn’t that she worried the Grand Duke would be defeated by the thieves.

What pained her heart was the fact that those thieves had once been the Grand Duke’s people, tilling fields on his land and dreaming of a happy future.

It was horrific that the master of the North, who had protected them with all his heart, now had to mercilessly cut them down with his own hands.

With what feelings would he draw his sword…

How would he feel seeing the red blood staining that sword…

It felt like her heart, which had been frivolously excited in the carriage, was sinking into an endless abyss. Blood flowed in her mouth from biting her lip.

“Let’s… go inside…”

Yuriella saw off the Grand Duke and the Angelus Knights with vacant eyes until they were out of sight, then turned her steps towards the treatment tent.

‘I’ll feel sorry later.’

She put strength back into her steps. She also clenched her trembling fists tightly.

‘Bowing my head in guilt will also come later…’

Feeling sorry and receiving punishment for the sin of bloodshed were things to be done after earning the right to do so.

For now, she just had to…

‘Do what needs to be done. Heal and save even one more person.’

Yuriella smiled brightly and clearly as she entered the treatment tent.

“Hello? You’ve been waiting a long time, haven’t you?”

She had the patients who had been waiting in line since dawn lie down on the beds and opened the silver needle case handed to her by Cassandra.

“What’s bothering you today?”

Seeing the Grand Duchess’s bright smile, the expressions of the territory’s people, who had been frightened by the beacon, also brightened.

The thieves would be driven away by the mighty Grand Duke.

The beautiful Grand Duchess was now touching and treating their festering wounds without hesitation.

So nothing would go wrong. They were safe, and would become healthy and happy.

As the Grand Duchess took heart, the medical staff and servants also began to diligently carry out their assigned tasks.

Even while disinfecting wounds and applying silver needles, Yuriella did not neglect to listen to the painful circumstances of the territory’s people.

“I want to be treated by the Grand Duchess too…”

People who had been in line for the Saint candidate began to slip out of the queue.

Although the treatment by the Saint candidate, whose fingertips burst with pure holy power, looked good too, they were more drawn to the gentle touch of the mistress of the North.

They began to wait their turn, craning their necks at the back of the Grand Duchess’s ever-lengthening queue.

Before long, Carina’s waiting line had shrunk to half the size of Yuriella’s.

The High Priest of Comboni, who had been anxiously looking back and forth between the two lines, complained to Carina.

“Lady Carina. Please make an effort. Smile more brightly. Speak kindly and listen to the patients’ stories like the Grand Duchess does. People who don’t know might think the Grand Duchess is the Saint.”

Shaking his thick chin and even clicking his tongue.

“Have you dabbled in black magic and turned your heart dark too? Even your expression is gloomy.”

Carina narrowed her eyes and whispered in the High Priest’s ear.

“With holy power as meager as mouse piss, you’ve managed to secure the High Priest position, so I thought you’d have some sense. If you want to wake up tomorrow morning as a real mouse, keep running that mouth of yours.”

The High Priest’s plump cheeks trembled at Carina’s sarcasm. How dare this young girl…!

‘But can she really turn people into mice…?’

Though anger and fear were mixed, fear seemed to win out as the High Priest quickly walked towards the tent entrance to escape this situation. He just wanted to get out of this smelly place and wet his throat with some fresh wine.

But before the High Priest could reach the entrance.

– Bang! Boom! Bang!

Fire magic stones exploded simultaneously at one entrance and two exits.

“Ugh!”

The High Priest’s hefty bottom hit the ground with a thud as he was startled.

The territory’s people and medical staff inside the tent were terrified, crouching down and hiding under tables or beds.

The only ones left standing amidst the hazy smoke were the Grand Duchess, the Saint candidate, the Archmage, the black mage, and the future ruler of the Empire. Just five people.

Men wearing red hoods poured in through the entrance that hadn’t been damaged by the fire magic stones.

It was Uva Rosa!

A large man who seemed to be the leader stepped forward, looked around, and called out names one by one in a low voice.

“Chirino Sava. Romano Callivita. Lauto Ropo. Druso Roche.”

The large man in worn leather clothes exuded a chilling aura of fear, like a grim reaper in a black robe holding a giant scythe.

‘Hic.’

‘Huk…’

‘Ah…’

‘Damn it!’

Low gasps and curses could be heard from those who were called, not far from where Yuriella was standing.

Turning her gaze, she saw four trembling men hiding.

‘Chirino Sava. Romano Callivita… Ah. So they are…!’

They were the four informants who had turned in Uva Rosa’s leader to the security forces last month.

They had received a hefty reward for their betrayal and were even under strict protection from the security forces.

The large thief seemed to have located their positions too, as he snorted towards where the informants were hiding.

“The little rats have gathered here well today! You wanted to sell out the boss to the security forces and receive blessings from the esteemed Grand Duchess and Saint, did you? Not knowing that the grim reaper would come to take you to hell!”

It seems Uva Rosa’s real target was those informants from the beginning.

They must have thought that now, with the security forces and Angelus Knights gone with the Grand Duke, was the perfect opportunity to deal with the informants.

The only people left here were patients and their guardians, and the personnel needed for treatment.

The large man gave a slight nod of respect to Yuriella and jerked his chin towards the informants.

“Your Highness. We will quietly leave with just those men. After we’re gone, please continue what you were doing and return safely.”

Sighs of relief could be heard from here and there.

Their purpose wasn’t slaughter and plunder. They just needed to hand over the informants.

“They are my people.”

But the Grand Duchess seemed to have a different idea.

“Take them if you can.”

“It seems our mother of the North is braver than she looks?”

The large man smirked as he took off his red hood. Scratching his short, stiff hair like pig bristles, he approached Yuriella and thrust his face close threateningly. The scar running from his forehead through his left eye to his cheek looked fierce.

One of the Grand Duchess’s eyebrows raised crookedly.

“Didio Bovola. If you don’t want the decent half of your face to get hurt and become even uglier, quietly get lost.”

The large man flinched.

‘How does she know that name!’

Didio Bovola was the alias he had used during his days as a mercenary.

There was not a single person in Colina Rosa who knew that name… How did the Grand Duchess know his name?

Moreover, he had gathered only the elites of Uva Rosa for this raid, but this delicate woman didn’t even flinch, let alone tremble.

“Do you… know me?”

“Yes. I also know how to defeat you.”

The Grand Duchess’s rose-red lips curved into a triumphant smile.

‘I also know that I gave you that scar. You attacked me, suspecting I was a woman because I looked too pretty, so I challenged you to a duel. You lost to me and had to call me “elder brother” for a month, and I know all about how you drank alone in secret and cried.’

Didio laughed loudly, “Hahaha!”

“I acknowledge your courage. Don’t worry, Your Highness, we won’t touch the patients.”

Didio, his shoulders shaking with laughter, strode towards the informant hiding under the medicine shelf and reached out to grab him by the scruff of the neck.

But he was blocked by the Grand Duchess’s slender sword, suddenly at his throat.

The heirloom sword gifted by the Grand Duke, once belonging to the previous Grand Duchess, glinted coldly in the light swaying from the ceiling.

“I said they are my people.”

“Your Highness. Swords are very dangerous things. You’ll get badly hurt. Hold needles that suit your pretty hands instead.”

Didio slowly grabbed Yuriella’s sword with his hand as large as a pot lid and yanked it.