Randolph, who had been curious about that, asked. His master, Cahirun de Hilic, exuded an aura of a ruler that anyone could see.

It was incomprehensible that someone could mistake him for a servant attending to someone else, let alone not even being a high-ranking noble.

“It’s natural to be misunderstood when you stand guard all night over someone trying to escape.”

Machi, who was there that night, shook his head as if disgusted.

“What do you mean?”

As Machi explained to Randolph what had happened then, Cahirun recalled the day he first met Reneola.

After the disastrous war with Piton ended, Cahirun didn’t immediately announce the victory. This was because quite a significant change had occurred in the kingdom while he was away on the battlefield.

His foolish younger brother Eric had begun a noisy romance. Normally, Cahirun wouldn’t care about Eric’s love affairs, but the problem was that the other party was quite formidable.

Floria Violet was a woman who received the sympathy of the kingdom’s people, not because of her family’s influence or social status.

The romance of a prince who saved a girl suffering from her family’s abuse won the love of the kingdom’s people, and it soon led to support for Eric.

It was something Cahirun, who was building a solid foundation for succession to the throne, couldn’t ignore.

So he visited the Violet household, intending to do some simple spying.

“There are servants of the Second Prince inside now, so it would be best to be careful not to be noticed.”

Cahirun moved forward, disregarding Machi’s advice. He approached the mansion without making a sound and tilted his head.

It looked much better than where commoners usually lived, but upon closer inspection, it was a dilapidated mansion with cracks and many areas in need of repair.

“To think a woman said to be so kind that angels descended would drive her family to such a place.”

Cahirun thought of Eric. People don’t change easily, so his brother would still be stupid and simple-minded.

Yet he had a fiery temperament that would trample on anything that bothered him to the end. There’s no way Eric would have shown such petty consideration, so Floria Violet must have manipulated him.

Not only the territory that Count Violet ruled but also the local people in this area revered Floria and pointed fingers at the Violet family.

Commoners instinctively dislike nobles, so it was natural for them to bite at them, but even so, the rumors were too malicious towards just one side.

“As expected. She’s not ordinary.”

Cahirun smirked.

Just then, he sensed movement above, and as he lifted his head, something was thrown out of the window.

With a thud, a travel carrier fell to the ground. The carrier burst open upon impact, spilling its contents everywhere.

‘Oh dear.’

He quickly hid his body, worried that someone might come out due to the commotion. But fortunately, no one came out.

Thinking he should leave as there was nothing more to see, a rope made of tied-up cloth suddenly appeared from the window that had thrown the carrier.

‘What on earth.’

Wondering if they had some strange hobby of throwing things out the window, he looked up. A bottom in a dress peeked out of the window. Then, after hesitating for a while, it slowly stepped out.

‘Ah.’

He realized why Eric’s servants had come to the Violet household. For some reason, she had said she would take in the sister who had been bullying her as a maid.

‘Is that woman Reneola Violet?’

Cahirun glanced at the carrier. It seems she was trying to escape, afraid of retaliation from the stepsister she had bullied so much when she was called.

But that plan seemed to have gone awry from the start. The cloth was shorter than expected. Sure enough, the woman was dangling at the end of the rope, unable to do anything.

‘Didn’t even check, I see.’

Cahirun let out a laugh at the utterly clumsy sight. He watched with his arms crossed, wondering what the woman would do now.

“Ah, damn it. To make such a stupid mistake!”

The woman growled, cursing herself as if she wanted to bang her head somewhere.

“Ha. Really unlucky. Of all places to be reincarnated, to end up here doing this hard labor. Couldn’t they at least give me some ability? Nothing at all, just left to be pecked at by pigeons? If this is how it’s going to be, why reincarnate me at all, you damned god!”

Words like reincarnation and damned. There were quite a few words the woman said that he couldn’t understand, but one thing was clear.

‘She has a foul mouth.’

It wasn’t like the noble lady he knew. After pouring out her resentment towards god for a while, the woman finally seemed to calm down and took a deep breath.

“It’s okay. It’s only one story high. I won’t die if I fall.”

Though she said that, she still hesitated to let go of the cloth, seemingly lacking courage.

“Will it hurt? Of course, it will hurt. Damn it.”

Watching the woman repeatedly saying “Will it hurt?”, Cahirun felt frustrated and blurted out without thinking.

“When do you plan to jump?”

Startled by the sudden voice, the woman visibly flinched and fell. Cahirun immediately caught her in his arms.

The woman’s eyes, which had been tightly shut in fear, slowly opened. Then she stared at him intently with increasingly widening eyes.

He was used to gazes directed at him, but it was the first time someone had looked at him so blatantly. Cahirun immediately threw the woman to the ground.

“Eek!”

Some might say it was too harsh, but anyone who knew him would have known that catching a falling person in the first place was an extremely kind gesture for him.

For example, Machi, who was hiding not far away, had his mouth wide open.

But the woman who had been thrown down had no way of knowing him. She rubbed her bottom and shot Cahirun a resentful glare.

“You’re heavier than you look.”

The woman’s expression, which seemed to be softening a bit, immediately scrunched up. She jumped to her feet and confronted Cahirun.

“Who are you? How did you get in here?”

The woman looked Cahirun up and down. Although he had changed into plain clothes before entering the village, the woman seemed to think he was a noble, as her expression became even more guarded.

“Shouldn’t you thank me for helping you first?”

Cahirun tilted his head with his arms crossed. At his words, the woman couldn’t hide her extreme displeasure, but reluctantly curtsied, lifting the hem of her dress.

“Thanks to you, I was able to be safe. Thank you.”

It wasn’t difficult to guess the words she swallowed in silence. Cahirun smirked and turned his head towards the carrier.

“Are you trying to run away? With that?”

At his words, the woman noticeably panicked and fidgeted. She seemed busy thinking of an excuse. After waiting to see what excuse she would make, her expression suddenly changed, and she calmly said:

“I accidentally dropped it out the window.”

“You accidentally dropped something that heavy?”

“The wardrobe is near the window.”

The woman responded brazenly with a look that clearly indicated she knew she was talking nonsense. Despite his probing gaze, the woman didn’t avert her eyes.

Yet her eyes trembled, betraying her nervousness. Finding it quite amusing, Cahirun pretended to let it slide.

“Then pick it up and go back inside.”

As if she had been waiting for those words, the woman quickly turned and started picking up her belongings. As he watched, he saw Machi gesturing urgently for him to come.

‘Hmm.’

After thinking for a moment, Cahirun picked up a bag of bread at his feet.

It was funny how she snatched it away as quickly as a cat catching a fish, so he held out another bag of bread next to it. The woman looked him up and down with a disgusted expression.

“You’ve packed quite neatly.”

“I eat more than I look.”

The curt response was a lingering reaction to what he had said earlier. He hadn’t meant anything by it, but it seemed to have offended her.

As the woman entered the house, grumbling, Machi approached as if he had been waiting.

“How could you reveal your face?”

“I couldn’t just let her fall, could I?”

“You usually have no problem letting people fall. I know you clearly saw the knife flying at me last time and ignored it.”

Of course, Machi himself wasn’t someone who couldn’t dodge a mere knife, and Cahirun knew that well, which is why he had done so, but Machi couldn’t help feeling a bit upset and grumbled.

“We should go now. We’ve wasted time.”

“She doesn’t seem like she’ll give up right away.”

“Pardon?”

Machi looked at him with eyes that seemed to say, “So what are you going to do about it?” He sighed and returned to his previous position. Cahirun stood under the window and looked up.

A moment later, when the woman peeked her head out of the window and met Cahirun’s eyes, she quickly hid again.

“Pfft.”

Finding her shocked expression amusing, Cahirun deliberately kept his position out of mischief. Later, he sat on a branch near the window and kept watch, causing the woman to grind her teeth with an exasperated expression.

Finding her face amusing, he kept his position until dawn broke. The woman, who had attempted to escape several times, seemed to have finally given up, as she didn’t show her face again after glaring at him resentfully one last time.

As Cahirun left with Machi, who looked thoroughly fed up, he glanced back at the window.

‘They said she was an extremely wicked woman, but she doesn’t seem that way at all.’

Though her personality was quite rough.

Cahirun’s lips curved into a smile as he recalled Reneola Violet baring her teeth at him with an irritated expression.