I had to spend quite some time with the wide-open window, letting the fresh mountain breeze hit my face to cool down the heat that had soaked into my cheeks.

‘Cedric, why say unnecessary things.’

Cedric had just arrived at the cabin when he received a scorpion from Chief Devin and went back outside. It was about discussing matters for the village’s maintenance. I blamed Cedric alone and spent a long time cooling down my flushed emotions.

Only after the heat had subsided a bit did Cedric’s parting words before leaving come to my mind.

‘If you want to help the villagers, go near the inn. The villagers gather there every day to work together.’

While saying that, he didn’t forget to mention that if the villagers behaved rudely, I should come straight back to the cabin. It seemed clear that even in Cedric’s eyes, the people here harbored ill feelings toward me.

‘If I go, everyone will probably dislike it, but since I’ve come this far, I should make an effort.’

Leaving the cabin, I savored the tranquility of the secluded path, sparsely populated. The chirping of birds and the clear air filling my lungs made my mind feel refreshed.

However, it was only for a moment.

As I approached the center of the village, I began to feel the gradually increasing warm glances and criticisms directed at me.

“Who likes us enough to come to our village?”

“That’s right! It’s really shameless! Ugh, ugh, truly shameless!”

There were people in the distance, rolling their eyes while muttering curses, and others brandishing dangerous farm tools, glaring menacingly.

Being showered with warm gazes and blame for no apparent reason, all I felt was an unjust heartache.

I wanted to pour out curses to those who had lived a life of being cursed like Rebecca, who had already left me with a pile of garbage to dispose of.

But the real Rebecca, who should have received curses from the people here, had already comfortably disappeared, leaving me with the burden of this body.

‘Haah… Of all things, I have to blame myself in this situation.’

All I could do now was to pretend not to notice the warm glares and criticisms raining down on me.

Walking alone, hiding any signs of fear.

After a while, just as the village inn building came into view in the distance, I saw Mina waiting for me in front of it.

At that moment, when relief caused a sigh to escape my lips involuntarily.

“Oh? Lady Bea!”

As soon as Mina spotted me, she ran towards me with a bright smile.

Beside her, other maids were also present.

“Is it a message from the Duke? Have you been together in that cabin until now? Just the two of you, right?”

Simultaneously, other maids crowded around me and started bombarding me with questions.

“What have you two been doing all this time?”

“You’ve been heading towards the cabin for quite a while!”

In their eyes, there was an inexplicable anticipation.

Then, they burst into laughter, and facing those smiling faces, I forced a smirk.
“Stop the useless chatter. By the way, was everyone here except me? Especially you, Mina. I feel a bit hurt, you know?”

Upon hearing that, Mina rolled her lips with an expression as if imagining something she shouldn’t be imagining and asked, “Aigoo… Would you have had a better time without us?”

Blushing on her cheeks and twisting her body in embarrassment, I pitifully stared at Mina. Then, I shook my head with a shudder and turned my gaze towards the village inn.

“Are you all here to help with village work?”

Among the maids nodding vigorously, Mina, as always, answered with a bright voice, “Yes, it’s not like we don’t know. Everyone is busy working, so we wanted to help a bit!”

The moment she finished speaking, Mina’s face, which had been spreading a radiant smile, began to awkwardly stiffen.

Suddenly, an ominous feeling crept in.

For a moment, they exchanged uneasy glances among the maids.

With a sense of anxiety, Mina’s gaze slowly turned towards me.

“Come to think of it, Lady Bea… What brings you here?”

Snap! Suddenly, a loud sound echoed through the workroom.

As expected, the people in the workshop showed signs of displeasure at my appearance.

They soon ignored me, focusing solely on their work.

The work here involved preparing the fish caught in the sea below the cliffs to be sold.

It was one of the main livelihoods of the Grayzone Village, located near mountains and the sea.

“Lady Bea, really… Are you okay?”

“Huh? What?”

When I turned my head indifferently, including Mina, all the maids were making distressed expressions.

“A person who has lived their entire life without seeing such things directly… coming all the way here…”

“You won’t faint, right? No, that’s not right! Let’s just go right now!”

It seemed the women in the workshop felt the same way, looking at me with indifference before suddenly turning around and shouting.

“Oh, right! Don’t bother us and leave! It’s a relief if you don’t cause an accident while handling fish, especially in front of Duke Cedric!”

The elegant Duchess Bea Rebecca coming to help with their work seemed to be more of a nuisance to them.