“Not at all. I actually feel better.”

There were no visible black marks like those that had appeared during the rampage.

“My lord!”

“Master! Are you alright?”

Knights and soldiers of the Duchy of Blanchet came rushing in. They must have been unable to approach because of Liandro’s power.

Johan pulled me in abruptly, and swiftly closed the surrounding curtains so that nothing could be seen.

The sunlight disappeared in an instant, and darkness fell.

‘Suddenly?’

I blinked. Johan looked at me and smiled softly.

“Now that I think about it, my lady, I didn’t get to ask because that guy suddenly showed up. Were you tired or in pain taking care of me?”

“There was nothing to worry about, Your Grace.”

“Hmm.”

Johan looked painfully at the red marks left on my wrist, and even at the wounds that had occurred in Johan’s dreams.

My hand was tightly gripped in his, and I couldn’t pull it away. I smiled awkwardly.

‘It doesn’t hurt that much.’

Plus, in the case of the palm wound, there was no pain since it had occurred in a dream. It was almost invisible now.

“My lady, would you like to come with me to the Duchy of Blanchet?”

“The Duchy of Blanchet?”

“It’s about time to go on an inspection, and everyone needs to meet the new Duchess.”

Inspecting the domain was the natural duty and right of the nobles who owned it, just like a landlady had to manage the internal affairs.

And since I was not the real lady in the original story, I didn’t need to inspect the domain. This symbolized that the original story had changed, but it also meant trouble.

‘It’ll be hard to utilize the knowledge from the original story.’

So a deep worry sprung up in my heart.

‘Can I do well?’

The people of the Duchy of Blanchet would reveal more raw emotions compared to the people of the Duke’s mansion. Johan couldn’t control each and every one of their feelings.

‘They’ll probably hate me since I’m from Libertan.’

Then Johan covered my tense hands with his big hands. Warmth flowed through.

“What’s worrying you? I’m here.”

He kissed my hand, saying, ‘What could my lady be worried about?’

“If it’s too hard, we can go next time? It doesn’t have to be now.”

“No, let’s go now.”

But I couldn’t avoid it just because I was scared. The story would continue to differ from the original.

“I guess I’m nervous because I’ve never met many people before. I couldn’t leave Libertan because my body was so weak.”

Johan, who had been looking at me for a moment, lifted the corner of his mouth bitterly.

“Yeah, once we go, you’ll be able to experience everything you couldn’t do before.”

He deliberately mentioned Libertan, but no anger could be felt from Johan’s face. He rather looked sad.

“I’ll never waste my lady’s time.”

“……. ”

“And of course, you’ll be with me all the time.”
Somehow, Johann seemed to have prepared a lot.

‘Why is he so scary?’

Somehow, the preparation he claimed did not seem normal.

(This is a time separator.)

Inside the dark temple.

A deep secret place where no one but high priests could enter. Only a few candles were barely illuminating the darkness.

An elderly priest sighed and said,

“Duke Blanchet has requested a priest.”

“What could he be plotting?”

“I don’t know. Although it’s for healing purposes, how can we guess his intentions? I don’t know who to send.”

Originally, the temple did not have good relations with Duke Blanchet.

A sinner who even ignored the gods.

The priests secretly wanted to punish the wicked sinner, but there was no way to deal with the duke when the world was so powerful.

It was his request.

The priests couldn’t fully grasp the current situation.

“Don’t worry too much.”

A clear voice like a glass marble came from behind the curtain.

The candle flickered, and a woman in solemn attire slowly revealed herself.

Blonde hair as dazzling as the sun, eyes as blue as deep lakes. A woman who looked very refreshing at first glance.

“Estelle Libertan!”

Estelle Libertan.

She was the daughter of the Duchy of Libertan, known to be dead.

Estelle smiled innocently, looking at the anxious priests.

“I will go.”

The high priests gathered there dissuaded Estelle in very worried voices. They could not send Estelle, of all people.

Because she was a saint hidden in the temple.

“……Saint. That is difficult.”

“And rightly so. There is no need for the saint to go to such a dangerous place.”

The saint was a precious being secretly kept in the temple.

Especially after the Duke and Duchess of Libertan were exterminated for treason, how much more careful they had been to keep Saint Estelle’s identity hidden.

Through such painstaking efforts, Estelle was able to live here safely as a saint.

Because even the fearsome Duke Johann Blanchet could not bring the dead back to life, and had to take a fake.

“So all the more I must go.”

Estelle replied with a pitiful voice, fluttering her long eyelashes.

“Because I am the one who should be there originally.”

Estelle was the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Libertan.

At the time, it was believed that she had died, and an impostor had taken her place, but she was alive. In a more noble appearance than anyone else.

If anyone had to be the Duchess of Blanchet, it could only be the real her.

“Duke Blanchet is a sinner who even ignores the gods, Saint.”

“We cannot send you, the precious treasure of the temple, to such a terrifying place.”

In response to the priests’ fears, Estelle showed a rather gentle smile. Her clasped hands were as frail as a tragic heroine.

“It’s probably a trial from the gods. I will become his real wife and try to change him.”

Duke Johann Blanchet.

He was so brutal because the real Estelle did not atone.

Estelle heard rumors in the temple about the duke’s wife.

‘Unfortunately, because she is fake…….’

Duke Blanchet surely did not know love yet.

Because the only person who could truly accept and understand his heart was naturally only her, who was of real blood.

So Estelle had to go.

To atone as the real one.

She strongly believed that Duke Blanchet might love her, although she didn’t mean it.

‘Only my atonement as a saint can save that sinful man.’

It was time to reclaim her place as his wife.