“No, have you bestowed grace?”

“Grace?”

With a flustered face, Sir Mild whispered to me.

“It might be better to have this conversation over there. The Count does not know about it.”

“……?”

I moved to a place a little apart with Sir Mild.

The knights were standing tall, and the villain was earnestly patting the lady’s shoulder. It was a comforting atmosphere.

After watching this for a moment, Sir Mild spoke in a small and cautious voice.

“So, you lent money to some of the peasants, didn’t you?”

“Me?”

When I questioned, Sir Mild looked even more perplexed.

“Madam?”

“It’s okay now. It must have been a shock when I wrote the divorce papers.”

“……”

“Sir Mild, you won’t understand. The shock was so great that I wanted to die. There are things I don’t remember.”

I wasn’t lying about the shock being great, so I held my head up shamelessly.

“So if you ask, just explain.”

He sighed softly and added an explanation.

In summary, I was the owner of an unlicensed lending business. Although small because I was doing it behind Philip’s back, I had a separate ledger.

‘I was… I was the owner of a lending business…’

On top of that, I was a minefield wherever I went. Am I a minefield detection expert?

Then, realizing that I said ‘was,’ I asked again.

“So it’s not now?”

“Your subordinates committed other heinous crimes and were executed by the Count……”

“Heinous crime?”

“Don’t you remember that either? They were scoundrels who committed heinous crimes against women and children.”

“……”

“You found out and executed them all ten months ago.”

My heart pounded, and I began to sweat. No matter how wicked I pretended to be, this wouldn’t do.

“Di, did I order it?”

Sir Mild’s eyes were filled with pity. He seemed to feel very sorry for me. On the other hand, I also glimpsed something like guilt.

Did he belatedly regret not stopping me from commissioning heinous crimes?

“Madam, I’m sorry for not realizing the extent of the shock from the divorce.”

He sighed deeply and shook his head.

“That incident had nothing to do with you, Madam. They committed it in another territory and fled to this one.”

Phew, I was relieved that it wasn’t that extreme.

“So the business ended because there are no employees?”

“That’s about right. But the ledger should still be there.”

At that moment, the lady’s crying began to subside. It seemed to be calming down thanks to the villain’s soothing.

It seemed that I could talk to her now.

But as I approached, she started crying again.

“Lady Countess, sob, sob!”

She begged, bending down so much that her head touched the ground, and clapping her hands.

“Stop crying. I came for something else, and the debt will be reduced. But if you keep crying, I’ll get annoyed, and you’ll have to pay the debt right away.”

Miss’s crying stopped at once.

The short gasping sound of breath soon calmed down. However, her eyes were swollen, and her face was unsightly, stained with tears.

“Wash your face and come.”

At the calm command, the young lady headed to the well. As she staggered, the bandit quickly followed to support her, even scooping the well water for her.

The knights exchanged idle chatter at this sight, such as ‘The bandit is kind, too.’

Of course, a bandit can be warm to a woman sometimes.

‘For example, if he feels affectionate?’

When the young lady finished washing her face, the bandit who had been watching her all along awkwardly rubbed his pants.

He wanted to hand her a towel, but he looked regretful since he didn’t have one.

“Hey.”

A knight who saw this shook his handkerchief at the bandit.

“……!”

The bandit was agile, and his movement was really fast.

He quickly took the knight’s handkerchief and handed it to the young lady.

“Ththank you.”

The young lady sent a friendly look to the bandit.

‘Is the young lady also giving the green light?’

However, as the young lady wiped the water off her face with the handkerchief, she paused for a moment.

Soon, she took a deep breath and then said, “It smells good.” She went in front of the knights and greeted them.

“Sir, thank you. I’ll wash the handkerchief and return it.”

Looking at the flushed face of the young lady as if she had never cried, Knight Hoil tried hard to smile. And the bandit looked sulky.

.

.

.

The wooden building where the young lady lived was not as dark as it appeared from the outside. However, it was overall old and bare.

On a large table on one side, the young lady served barley tea and hard bread in awkwardly made wooden cups. I and the knights could not bring ourselves to touch it.

“I’m sorry I don’t have anything better to offer.”

‘How do we eat this? Is this some kind of revenge?’

“Oh my! Thank you!”

Then the bandit very happily drank the barley tea.

The young lady who had smiled once at the bandit also drank the barley tea.

Seeing them drink comfortably from the same container, it seemed like she did entertain them to some extent.

But I unconsciously frowned.

Even the slums of the city did not look this poor.

“Do the people of the territory drink tea from these wooden cups?”

The young lady’s face turned red.

“I’m sorry.”

The young lady named ‘Milga Teiper’ was 28 this year, and since she was young, she has been running a candle manufacturing company with her father.

“My father is a candle artisan, and I inherited his skill.”

Together with the employees, the two produced really highquality candles.

“But about 11 years ago from abroad……”

Milga carefully rolled her eyes.

“We were able to survive until a large quantity of candles came in.”

I felt like I knew who she meant, even though she didn’t pinpoint a specific company.

The strategic marriage with the Lenoar merchants turned out to be a disaster.

To make matters worse, her father fell while fixing the roof and broke both his legs.

So Milga borrowed 1 gold coin from a loan shark for her father’s treatment.

But the treatment did not turn out well. The pain was alleviated, but he had to have his legs amputated.

The money borrowed from Ellen’s loan shark quickly grew to 5 gold coins with interest.

And about four months ago, she received a letter threatening to sell her to a tavern if she didn’t pay.

From whom? From Ellen.

She wiped the tears flowing from her eyes with the handkerchief and lamented.

“I’m sorry, Countess. I want to pay right away, but we can’t afford it. And if I am sold, my disabled father won’t survive.”

She then explained her repayment plan to me. She worked alone in a wheat field behind her house and planned to sell the harvest. She was also diligently raising her three chickens.

“It may not amount to 5 gold coins, but I will definitely repay you. Can you give me a little more time?”