“We’ve arrived. This is the place.”

Thompson said as he slightly lifted the curtain when the carriage stopped.

It seemed we had finally reached our destination.

As I shifted my body to look at the scenery beyond the window, he closed the curtain again and turned to me.

“Please stay inside for now. Until I inform the village chief of Her Highness’s arrival.”

When I nodded, Thompson immediately got off the carriage and headed towards the village entrance.

“Your Highness, will you really be alright?”

Mina’s question made the other maids’ gazes simultaneously turn to me.

Their eyes were filled with concern.

“Those people, they won’t be favorable towards Your Highness.”

“That’s right. Of course, we will do our best to defend you, Your Highness…but please don’t be too surprised.”

I tried to smile to reassure them.

“You all seem more worried than I am. I’ll be fine, so don’t worry too much, everyone.”

Saying that, I slightly lifted the curtain to survey the outside.

At the entrance of the village where the carriage was parked, there was a small signboard fixed to a tree.

Beyond it, I could see an ordinary and humble village at a glance.

Inside the village fence, there were cozy yet unique houses lined up, and white smoke rose from each chimney.

It seemed they were just starting to prepare for breakfast.

Despite the mothers’ nagging to come and eat, the children just laughed brightly and played on the trails.

At that moment, when a smile unconsciously escaped me at the heartwarming sight, I saw Thompson returning to the carriage from afar.

I closed the curtain and waited for him as if nothing had happened. How long had it been?

Finally, when Thompson opened the carriage door, his expression looked a bit troubled.

“For now, I’ve informed the village chief and a few other village leaders. Please come out.”

I got off the carriage with the maids and unloaded the luggage we brought from the luggage compartment.

“What is this?”

Thompson, who was standing next to me, showed interest.

“I couldn’t come empty-handed. It’s a small token of sincerity.”

“It’s quite a lot for a small token.”

He said that and snatched the luggage from my hand.

“Thompson, I can carry this much myself.”

At my words, Thompson’s eyebrows arched up like mountains in surprise.

But he soon returned to his grumpy original expression.

“I clearly told you. No matter what situation arises, I will not help Your Highness.”

Thompson repeated the same words as if emphasizing them.

I took the luggage back from his hands and replied,

“I know. Your determination not to help me starts from this very moment, Thompson.”

Then Thompson shook his head and walked ahead towards the village entrance.

When we finally reached the center of the village, following behind him,

a man who was sitting on a bench and laughing heartily casually looked at me and tilted his head.

The man looked at my face intently again, seemingly confused by my simple attire and hat.

Then the man’s face soon wrinkled ferociously.

“You are…?!”

With that, other gazes around him also began to turn towards me one by one.

“That woman, isn’t she the Grand Duchess of the Twins?”

“I think it’s her? But why did that woman come here?”

“…How brazen! Tsk!”

The saliva roughly spat out by the young man fell at my feet.

Mina, whose face hardened in an instant, quickly stepped forward.

“It’s been a while, Roy.”

“You…Mina? What’s going on here? With that brazen woman too!”

At the man’s words, Mina’s face hardened even more coldly.

She exhaled a long breath with an expression of trying hard to suppress her anger.

“Regardless of what you think, this person is the Grand Duchess of the Twins family, the center of our half-blood demons.”

“Hey, Mina…”

“So you better watch your words.”

Mina warned coldly.

Then the man, who was making an absurd expression, soon started sneering.

“Yeah, you’re still a person of the Twins family, so you’ll say that. I also took the Grand Duchess’s side and said the same thing back then! But how did that woman repay me?”

The man, who got up from the bench with a rapidly agitated expression, shouted roughly.

“Discrimination, contempt, and a notice of dismissal!”

At the man’s cry, the gazes of the surrounding villagers focused on me again.

Mina looked around once and growled a warning to the man in a lowered voice.

“Mind your manners, Roy. We didn’t come here to fight with you, our fellow tribesmen.”

But the young man’s face only distorted more viciously.

“How can we believe that?! Especially your words, when you brought that wicked Grand Duchess to our village!”

At the same time, the eyes of the people surrounding us also began to boil more fiercely.

“That’s right! That woman treated us so recklessly!”

“Whenever it rained, the places where I was whipped with her still ache!”

“And yet she entered our village on her own accord, so that woman must pay the price!”

The atmosphere gradually became bleak.

A situation on the verge of exploding. Just as the maids were forming a circle around me as if to protect me,

“Stop it, Roy.”

An old man’s voice somewhat quelled the atmosphere that had been boiling with anger.

Turning my head, I saw an old man with a bushy white beard and a skinny physique.

The old man, who was standing next to the flustered Thompson, approached me with slow steps and slightly bowed his head.

“I’m Devon, the village chief of Grayzone Village. Since I was the head butler at the Mansion of Light, you might remember me.”

I also bowed my head in response.

“It’s good to see you, Devon.”

Village Chief Devon’s attitude was more polite than Thompson’s or Roy’s.

But even he couldn’t hide the wary look in his eyes towards me.

“I just heard from Thompson. You came to meet our villagers?”

At those words, the villagers’ glares became even more piercing.

They were now standing with farming tools or shovel handles raised high.

Swallowing dry saliva at their fierce spirit, I looked at Village Chief Devon again.

“Yes. It’s shameless of me, but I had something to tell you, so I came to visit despite the impoliteness.”

The eyebrows of Village Chief Devon, with long white hair, arched greatly.

He also seemed unable to hide his surprise at the Grand Duchess’s polite attitude, which was different from before.

Then, after glancing at the maids surrounding me, he opened his mouth again.

“You didn’t bring any escort knights?”

“No, it’s just them.”

“Then it seems you truly…did not come to eliminate our village. I’m relieved to hear that.”

Village Chief Devon seemed to have suspected that I had come to punish Grayzone Village.

‘I thought it would be like this. It was a good decision to only bring the maids.’

The Rebecca of the past was more than capable of doing such a thing.

So Village Chief Devon’s suspicion was something that could be fully expected.

“I thought my maids would be enough for an escort. Because I didn’t come here to fight…but to apologize.”

At my words, Village Chief Devon’s eyes slowly widened.

“You came to apologize to us?”

Small exclamations flowed from the crowds of villagers here and there.

They also seemed surprised just like Village Chief Devon.

“Yes. I sincerely apologize and intend to return the jobs I took from you.”

“Jobs?”

“I plan to establish a welfare foundation for half-blood demons. A foundation to help half-blood demons who are treated unfairly in the human world.”

“…”

“I hope you will all work as members of that foundation.”

I looked at Village Chief Devon with an unwavering gaze.

On the other hand, small ripples appeared in Village Chief Devon’s eyes.

“Are you…serious now?”

Along with Village Chief Devon’s question, a round of murmurs arose from the surroundings.

I slowly looked around at the villagers and continued,

“Of course I’m serious. So please give me a chance to apologize to you.”

“…”

“I beg you.”

I politely bowed my head.

Then the murmurs of the crowd stopped in an instant.

In the silence mixed with shock and surprise,

the maids began to step forward in front of me one by one.

“Village Chief Devon, Her Highness has changed from before.”

“We who have been close by her side can vouch for that!”

“That’s right, so now even His Grace the Grand Duke truly cherishes our duchess!”

At the last maid’s words, a scoffing sound escaped from the surroundings.

“What? His Grace the Grand Duke cherishes the Grand Duchess?”

Soon, scoffing sounds poured out from here and there.

“Hahaha! A passing dog would laugh at that!”

“Pfft…I mean, who’s denying it?”

Then the maids shouted, each with a bright red face.

“It’s true! Do you need His Grace the Grand Duke himself to appear for you to believe me?”

And at that moment,

from the entrance of the village, the sound of a horse being ridden roughly began to approach with a huge sandstorm.

* * *

In an instant, people’s gazes turned to one place.

As the swirling sandstorm cleared, the figure of a person riding a huge black horse became more distinct.

‘Why is that person here…?’

Suddenly turning my head, I couldn’t hide my surprised expression.

Mina must have felt the same way, as she grabbed my arm and asked in a dumbfounded tone,

“Your Highness, that person over there…it’s His Grace the Grand Duke, right?”

“Uh, it seems so…?”

But he was somehow different from the leisurely Cedric of usual.

Looking at his angry face as if chasing a runaway thief, I blinked slowly.

‘Was there a reason for Cedric to urgently seek out Grayzone Village like that?’

While blankly staring at Cedric with such thoughts,

our eyes met as he was constantly surveying the surroundings.

Then Cedric’s jaw hardened at once, and he increased the horse’s speed, rushing into the center of the village in one breath.

The black horse finally stopped in front of me, and a huge sand storm rose up again.

“Cough, hack…who is that person…?”

The villagers kept coughing but glanced at each other in surprise.

“T-The Grand Duke? Why did His Grace suddenly come without notice…”

Soon, admiration and reverence for Cedric began to sparkle in numerous eyes.

Some even covered their mouths to hold back screams of adoration.

‘I knew the Twins family was respected as the leaders of the half-blood demons…but I didn’t know it was to this extent.’

As I was looking around in amazement at the villagers’ sudden change in attitude, I heard a voice.

“Rebecca.”

A low-pitched voice that sounded gloomy called out.

Turning my head, my eyes met again with Cedric’s, who was looking down at me from atop the huge black horse.

His eyes, which had recently been filled with warmth, had now turned cold again.

But beneath that chilly exterior, I could feel something boiling hot.

He stared at me with a snare-like gaze for a long time.

Finally, Cedric’s lips parted slowly.

“…I finally found you.”