Rishi heard about the final moments of Glorben Wittle from Jamie.

Even though he was once the father whose death she heard about, Rishi’s expression remained unchanged.

“He’s dead, Glorben Wittle.”

Glorben, the one who brought Rishi into existence, the one who made her live through despairing darkness, was the culprit.

In her past life, Glorben appeared to Rishi like a terribly large and frightening demon.

An invincible demon who wouldn’t die no matter what he did and would drag Rishi into hell.

It was absurd that such a person died merely due to the shock of losing territory and title.

Why did she fear this weak man so much in her past life?

Denise and Brittany had no time to mourn Glorben’s death; they only mentioned that they barely held a funeral and left the ducal mansion.

“They didn’t leave; they were driven out. According to people, Brittany Wittle resisted until the end, claiming this was her home, but eventually, she was forced out.”

It was easy to guess how Brittany behaved.

“The territory they received is a rural area at the outskirts of the Gavizar Empire. It’s embarrassing to call it a village since there are no cities.”

The Wittle mother and daughter had to clean the ducal mansion themselves since there was no longer anyone to manage it. Even though the mansion was in disarray, there was no money to hire help. They had to sell everything they had, but it wasn’t enough to pay off their debts, leaving them unable to afford hired help.

They had to clean the mansion themselves and sell their skills to put food on the table.

Such was the life of a fallen noble.

Denise and Brittany, the fallen nobles, whom Denise and Brittany despised so much, were now living the life they used to look down on – a life where they had to work for what little they could eat and drink.

“It will be a life more terrible than death for Denise and Brittany.”

A life where they had to work for what they ate, a life where they could only eat and drink what they earned.

“That’s right. They say they get cursed everywhere they work because they don’t know how to do anything.”

Denise and Brittany didn’t reflect on themselves. They had to work to survive, but they stuck to an attitude that said, ‘I am different from you.’

Despite that, because the Wittle mother and daughter couldn’t do even the simplest tasks due to their previous life, commoners were accumulating dissatisfaction.

“It’s only a matter of time before people explode.”

Even though commoners may try to endure the nobles for now, no one knew how long that would last.

When the time came, they would know how Rishi was treated at the Wittle mansion.

“That’s enough about the Wittles. Now, tell me some good news.”

Jamie smiled at Rishi’s words.

“Green Duke will be back tomorrow.”

The Green Duke.

Rishi smiled with a sly grin.

Kei, who sent Mari back to Minas Arik in January of this year, spoke after being lost in thought for a while.
[Dash] “This can’t go on, Rishi. I thought something like a title wouldn’t matter much, but…”

After saying that, Kei suddenly checked the military forces, organized elite troops, and set out to subdue the roaming Ogres in the southwest of the Gavizar Empire.

Ogres were monsters that had long existed on the continent, including Orcs, Ogres, and a race with human blood, closer to monsters than humans.

They were larger and had tougher skin than humans, and they were intelligent, making it impossible to completely exterminate them.

Ogres formed groups all over the continent, occasionally invading human territories and establishing their own countries.

The particularly clever leaders of the Ogres occasionally sent envoys to the Sacred Empire, requesting recognition as ‘humans,’ but the Sacred Empire consistently refused.

If they accepted the Ogres as humans, they would have to recognize the ‘beastmen’ as humans as well.

Kei’s army, consisting of Kei, Nadan, Wolass, Eugene, and thirty elite knights and about a hundred soldiers, slaughtered the group of Ogres numbering in the hundreds.

The Emperor of the Gavizar Empire, who was already troubled by the Ogres, praised Kei and bestowed the title of Count in the Gavizar Empire, while the Sacred Empire promoted Kei to a duke.

After briefly returning to convey his regards to Rishi after ending the war, Kei left in a hurry to receive the title from the Sacred Empire.

“Now you’re a duchess.”

Rishi first met Kei in Creed in August 2015.

Now, a year later, the Wittle duchy had fallen, and Iris had become the Duchess of Green.

“Yeah, it took only a year.”

In fact, receiving the title of Duke from the Sacred Empire was something Kei could have done anytime if he wished.

The problem was the next step.

Even if a duke gained enough power to rival a king, establishing a country was a challenging task.

Legitimacy and support were needed.

From now on, Rishi planned to create a foundation for that.

‘I have enough money.’

The profits from selling Mertium and the assets accumulated through the management of Gaussur were enormous, and most of them were invested in the bathhouse business.