If she recognized me, the plan could go awry.

There could be misunderstandings about a duchess coming to this remote border and acting suspiciously.

“You… are the blacksmith’s daughter, right?”

I reflexively nodded. Then the soldier snapped his fingers and laughed.

“The old blacksmith said he’d never show his daughter even if he died, but there was a reason he didn’t show her. It’s beyond imagination. He hid her because she’s the prettiest in the village.”

Fortunately, he was just surprised by my appearance. I let out a sigh of relief inwardly.

“But soldier, your leg seems to be in discomfort. Are you alright?”

“You have a kind heart too. When did you notice my gait?”

“Are you badly injured?”

The soldier sat on a rough wooden box and rolled up his pants. Red blood was oozing between long gashes on his shin.

“The orc bastard’s claws were sharp and scratched me. For a manly man like me, a mere scratch like this will heal quickly with just some spit.”

But the wound looked quite deep.

“Don’t you have any medicine?”

“That’s for weak races like you. Kurcians don’t need medicine.”

The soldier said boastfully.

But he didn’t know.

That this was the cause of Kurcia’s downfall.

There are numerous temples within Kurcia.

Throughout the history of Kurcia, called the homeland of gods, gods were always present.

Thus, they heavily relied on the divine power of saints and priests who received power from the gods.

When sick, one could simply go to a nearby temple for treatment.

As dependence increased, medical development lagged. They had no need for medical advancement.

‘But what if there’s no more divine power?’

There would be nothing to treat them.

Now, without a temple nearby, they had to endure even when sick.

“I’ll apply medicine for you.”

I decided to sell herbs to these people. If we need to give a fortune to the Kurcians to retrieve our citizens, that money should come from their pockets.

“I said it’s fine.”

“Tsk. You’re in pain. With this wound, you won’t be able to wash or walk properly for days. Besides, you said orc blood is toxic. If poison enters the wound, your leg might rot.”

Only then did the soldier close his mouth.

I opened my basket and took out herbs for wound healing and detoxification.

“You think you can heal a wound with mere weeds?”

The soldier snorted when he saw them.

“They’re not weeds, they’re medicinal herbs.”

“At the temple, a wound like this would heal in seconds.”

“So can you go to a temple now?”

“Ahem.”

After applying the herbs densely over the long gash, I wrapped the wound area with clean cloth. Then I handed him a pain-relieving potion I had prepared.

“Drink it all.”

The soldier looked at the bottle of brown liquid with strange eyes.

“Is it poison?”

“Why would I poison you after treating your wound?”

“The color is strange…”

For the suspicious soldier, I personally opened the medicine bottle.

“Think of it as something good for your body and drink it all at once.”

He finally downed the medicine in one gulp and choked.

“How can water be so bitter!”

“It’s a potion. Medicine is usually bitter.”

“Are Requiesians crazy? They believe this stuff heals the body and drink it?”

The soldier pranced around the barracks making a fuss like a child trying medicine for the first time.

Seeing him spinning around and tattling to other soldiers, it seems the potion has been fully absorbed.

“You don’t seem to be in pain. You’re walking well.”

“It doesn’t hurt… huh?”

Only then did the soldier realize his condition and moved his leg back and forth. The sudden disappearance of pain was clearly surprising.

“Did you put divine power in this?”

“In Requies, divine power is so rare that even royalty can hardly receive it.”

“You’re saying it’s really just weeds and muddy water that stopped the pain?”

The soldier asked, full of suspicion.

“All I did was apply some herbs.”

“But… the wound hasn’t even healed yet.”

Blood was seeping through the cloth wrapped around the wound.

“It takes at least a week for a wound to heal. I’ll give you some herbs, so reapply them with clean cloth once a day.”

“You’re saying it only takes a week?”

“Yes. If you drink this potion, it will heal even faster.”

The soldier, who had called it muddy water earlier, now carefully tucked the potion I handed him deep in his pocket.

To them, medicine was like a whole new world.

Though there are many temples in Kurcia, it’s hard to find an apothecary.

In the near future, temples will fall.

The divine power, Pater, supplied from temple wells will no longer be provided and will be cut off.

Divine healing will no longer be possible, and except for the existing Ophil Kingdom, numerous diseases will begin to spread throughout the entire Kurcian Empire, leading to the death of 1/3 of the imperial citizens.

Those who witness the deaths of people before their eyes will brutally invade neighboring countries, starting raids to seize medicine.

At that time, there’s an episode where Serdis is almost attacked but Violet saves him, bringing the two closer.

“I’ll come again tomorrow.”

I couldn’t waste this good opportunity just for Violet and Serdis’s romance.

Not unless I could squeeze out a huge sum of money by cunningly using it.

When I just arrived home, I ran into Lilly. It was awkward to face her, but avoiding her wouldn’t solve the problem.

“It’s cold, let’s talk inside.”

I hurriedly moved inside. I didn’t miss her glaring at me as we passed by.

It seems Lilly has taken a strong dislike to me.

I entered the reception room and handed her a cup of warm tea.

She sat with her arms crossed, looking out the window with a sullen face.

“Are you still upset?”

I asked gently.

I tried to correct Lilly’s bad habit because I wanted to get along well with her while I’m here. What’s the point of being mean to Lilly, who is also family to Hertian?

“Who’s upset?”

She shouted, turning her head sharply.

“Are you angry that I didn’t take your side?”

“No? What do you take me for?”

She irritated me by subtly using informal speech. But I’m a kind new sister-in-law. I could overlook this much.

“I heard that woman from back then was a citizen specially returned from Kurcia by the Duke. We shouldn’t treat fellow Blandiche people like that.”

She put down her teacup so roughly it almost broke.

“Fellow citizen? She’s a woman who knew they were from an enemy country but still settled down and had a child with them. She’s a traitor.”

“She was practically taken as a slave to a foreign country. In a situation where she couldn’t eat or sleep properly, isn’t it natural to go somewhere that offers to take her in?”

“It’s better to die than cling to such people.”

Lilly spat out coldly and stood up. It seemed she no longer wanted to continue the conversation.

“And new sister-in-law. Don’t mind me either. You and Hertian aren’t even a real couple anyway.”

“Why do you still think that?”

Even though we had safely passed the wedding night, her eyes were filled with certainty that we were fake.

“Hertian has another mate…”

That’s when it happened.

Along with a knock, the butler entered the reception room.

“My lady. All the merchants have arrived.”

Lilly muttered something to herself and left the reception room without a greeting.

I think Lilly said something, but I couldn’t hear it.

I complained to the butler with a bewildered face.

“Sigh. It’s hard to handle a teenage girl.”

My troubled feelings were completely cleared thanks to the piles of herbs in the carriage.

“My lady!”

At Bonisa’s voice, the merchants’ heads all turned at once.

“Young lady Anette?”

“It’s been a while, sir. As you can see, I’m no longer a young lady.”

“I was too busy with the family business to hear the news. …I greet Your Grace the Duchess!”

The merchants politely clasped their hands and greeted. The merchants I had gathered were from three families in total. They were families I had frequently interacted with since childhood due to the sickly siblings.

“Thank you for purchasing so many herbs that were always difficult to handle.”

“I should be thanking you for selling the herbs so cheaply.”

I bought most of the herbs they had. But that doesn’t mean all the herbs in the capital have run out. Requies has many herb cultivation sites.

“I heard that herbs are also grown separately in the north, is there a reason you need them?”

“Those are herbs for the citizens, and these are for other uses.”

“Other uses, you say?”

“It’s a secret.”

There was no good in them knowing that I was going to sell herbs to Kurcians.

Even if it’s business, they would view any interaction with the enemy country negatively.

“By the way, you dried the herbs well. They’re in good condition.”

I touched the dried herbs piled high in the three carriages and smiled with satisfaction.

‘Now these herbs will turn into gold nuggets.’

At that moment, Hertian came down to the lobby, having heard the news.

“Wife. What is all this?”

His eyes widened at the piles of herbs worth several years.

“In order, it’s houttuynia, long pepper, and sage.”

They were the most common but widely used herbs.

Herbs that reduce inflammation, heal wounds, and relieve pain.

These were very common herbs in Requies.

I whispered so only he could hear.

“I plan to start a business with these.”

Hertian tilted his head. Herbs were not a profitable business to begin with. Unless you rip someone off like Baron Melson, herbs were something any imperial citizen could easily obtain.

“What is the reason for suddenly starting a business?”

Hertian took me into the study. Unlike before, the study was warmly heated. I excitedly explained to Hertian in detail.

“Looking at the budget, quite a large amount flows out to Kurcia every year. To rescue all the citizens, we need at least 7 billion, but it’s risky to keep taking such a large amount from the territory’s budget. And it’s also sad for the citizens who have been waiting to return home for a long time in a foreign country.”

“So you’re saying you’re starting a herb business to earn that money?”

“Yes!”

I answered brightly.

Hertian would think I’m admirable, right?

“That’s not something you need to worry about, wife.”

“What?”

But contrary to expectations, Hertian’s expression was dark.

“You don’t need to bear that burden. This is a matter for me as the Duke and our territory.”

“But I’m the Duchess too, aren’t I?”

“It’s just a contractual relationship, isn’t it? You shouldn’t overexert yourself and collapse.”

It was clearly out of concern for me. But the words “just a contractual relationship” sounded a bit painful.

I tried to persuade him with a forced smile.

“It’s not much of a business. There’s nothing special that requires physical effort. All I have to do is stamp the approval documents if there are any.”

“I appreciate your concern for the territory. But I’ll take care of this from now on. I don’t want to trouble you with the territory’s problems.”

“I want to do it.”

“Don’t worry about such things and just rest comfortably.”

For the first time, I clashed with Hertian, who had always gotten along well.

I understood his concern since I had a history of collapsing in the castle once.

And Hertian needed a Duchess in name only, not someone to take care of the household affairs.

It might seem strange for me to step up and try to solve the territory’s problems.

I couldn’t bring myself to tell him, who had just returned from war and was swamped with work, that it was because the Duke’s castle was full of holes and cold.

‘I’ll have to handle it myself.’