“After examining it, I can confirm that these are gold coins from 300 years ago. The gold coins themselves are incredibly valuable, but as historical artifacts, if sold to a proper collector, they could fetch twice the price of ordinary gold coins.”

Daniel reported to Darius and me, unable to hide his joy.

The amount of gold coins discovered was equivalent to a month’s operating expenses for the Grand Duchy. If sold at the right price, it would cover about two months of the Grand Duchy’s financial needs.

“How on earth did my lady know there were hidden gold coins in our castle?”

It was no wonder that honey dripped from Daniel’s eyes as he looked at Anette.

‘Indeed, my lady is surely a bringer of fortune!’

“Well, I can only say that our ancestors must have looked upon me favorably. I simply borrowed some documents because I wanted to learn about this castle’s history, being new to the North.”

I laughed softly, trying to suppress my pride that had soared to the sky.

As luck would have it, the castle’s blueprint I was examining had the location of the buried gold coins marked.

Indeed, when it comes to item farming, one must be thorough and meticulous.

‘It must be a treasure left by ancestors for their descendants to use in times of need. I’ll use it well for its intended purpose!’

“Your Grace, I apologize for earlier. I was so overjoyed that I couldn’t contain my excitement.”

“It’s nothing.”

Darius had been in a daze ever since I had hugged him tightly in my joy upon discovering the treasure earlier.

Even though the gold coins were found as I had said, his face didn’t show as much joy as one might expect.

‘Was he that upset about me speaking informally once?’

It’s petty, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ll just have to be more careful.

“Um, I have a place where I’d like to use this money!”

If money became available, I already knew where I wanted to spend it first.

* * *

“Wow, is this really our training ground? Look how smooth it is. A fly would slip on this surface.”

“This is a real training ground! I can’t remember the last time the straw in the training dummies was properly stuffed, Captain.”

The grown knights cheered like boys at the sight of the dramatically improved training ground.

The large Inkhart flag fluttered vigorously. All the weapons and armor were new.

It was unimaginable that this was once the dilapidated place where Anette complained that the ground sank with each step she took.

Moreover, a new building on one side of the training ground provided a space for knights to change clothes comfortably or rest.

“There are books!”

“‘Understanding Cross Tactics and Practical Cases’ – this is hard to get.”

“Should we actually read it?”

Expensive strategic books were also provided for the ‘praiseworthy ones’ who might want to focus on self-improvement during their leisure time. In an era where books themselves were rare, high-level strategic texts were worth their weight in gold.

“We’ve seen the cover, so that counts as reading it.”

Now they no longer have to carefully strike worn-out dummies. They don’t have to train with second-hand weapons missing teeth.

A woman wearing a parasol watched the knights rejoicing like children with a pleased expression.

Lady Anette. A woman who came as a bride from the South, the wife of their lord.

‘Why?’

Lucian was perplexed. He had heard rumors that as soon as the Grand Duchess arrived after her marriage, she somehow found a treasure hidden in the castle.

What was surprising was that she immediately used the discovered gold coins to repair the training ground.

Despite clearly disrespecting the Grand Duchess at their first meeting, deserving punishment, she instead improved the training ground.

‘What’s her angle?’

Unlike the other knights who were rejoicing without suspicion, Lucian felt uneasy due to his past transgression.

“It reminds me of when I first came here. Our Northern knights are strong and brave enough to hold their heads high anywhere in the kingdom. But I felt it was a shame to rely solely on talent while leaving the outdated environment as it was.”

This was my honest feeling. Everywhere in the North, I could see people’s will to somehow manage in difficult environments.

‘Still, that’s not right. Shouldn’t they be given something to work with? How long can they rely on grit alone?’

“Now we have a training ground befitting the kingdom’s finest knight order. Ah, now I won’t have to worry about the ground sinking when I wear shoes here, right?”

“You remembered what I said when I first met you, Your Grace, and yet you still improved our training ground for us.”

“Well, I’m not one to hold onto many things, so I don’t quite remember what you said then. But I do know this.”

Anette gave a bright smile to Lucian, who wore a complex expression.

“Where the loyalty of the Black Knight Order lies. Who is the closest shield of the Inkhart Grand Duchy. That’s what’s important, not whether someone likes or dislikes me, isn’t it?”

Unlike Lady Egritte who backstabbed, Lucian Temery’s loyalty was genuine. I had no reason to dislike someone who would stand alongside the male lead as his reliable right-hand man, cutting through the frontlines together.

A few days later, Lucian came to my room to see me.

“Have you come for the knight order’s loyalty oath?”

I had said it wasn’t necessary, but Darius had been insistent that all the knights of the North should swear loyalty to me after hearing about the commotion at the training ground.

Since Lucian didn’t think favorably of me, he probably thought I had instigated Darius for this event as well.

“If it’s about that ceremony, I also think it’s not absolutely necessary. I may have found the pot of gold coins, but our castle’s financial situation isn’t exactly abundant yet.”

“No, it’s not because of that ceremony. Well, it is because of the ceremony, but not because of that.”

“Pardon?”

The beautiful blonde knight knelt on one knee before me.

“Sir Temery!”

“You repaid my rudeness with kindness, Lady Anette. I have learned a great lesson from this incident.”

When did I ever teach him?

“Those gold coins, I heard you didn’t find them by chance, but while studying the history of our castle. We rejected you for not being from the North, but you showed a warm heart trying to get closer to us despite our rejection.”

No, that was just me looking for a treasure room like the female lead would!

“The reason I came to see you today is not to swear an oath to the Northern mistress, but to offer my oath first as a knight moved by your character, Lady Anette.”

Soon, Darius will make the entire knight order swear loyalty to me, but separately from that, he wants to express his sincere admiration.

Yes, it’s an extremely heavy and serious sentiment.

“Sir Lucian, I didn’t do those things to receive your gratitude.”

“I know. My respect probably means little to someone as noble as you, Lady Anette.”

“If you think about it, fixing the training ground was something I should have done as an employer.”

“This modesty of not boasting about your achievements, I’m learning from this as well.”

Yeah, it’s troublesome. Let him misunderstand as he wishes.

‘Sir Lucian is… quite consistent in his way.’

Before he knew me, he saw me as some kind of spy from the North, and now that he’s getting to know me, he seems to have flipped completely and sees me as some kind of ideal mistress.

* * *

A red velvet carpet was laid in the main hall of the Grand Duchy. A group of knights, fully armored, knelt before the two masters.

A priest dispatched from the temple added blessings to the sacred ceremony.

“Our eternal loyalty to the two masters of the North.”

“We swear our loyalty.”

At the front of the group of knights was Sir Lucian, the captain of the Black Knight Order. He drew his sword in its scabbard and presented it to Darius.

Darius unsheathed the sword, swung it once to test its sharpness, and then handed the sword to me.

‘It’s surprisingly heavy.’

I couldn’t afford to stagger in front of the onlookers, so I gripped my wrist tightly and received the sword Darius handed to me.

“You are my pride, and I am your pride.”

They say it’s the first time in 100 years that the knight order’s loyalty oath ceremony was performed for the Grand Duchess instead of the Grand Duke.

I clearly remembered the maids fussing as they helped the captain prepare today.

“These knights, and my loyalty as well, all to the masters of the North.”

I held my skirt and lightly knelt to greet Darius. Darius smiled at me.

“Waaah!”

People excited by the fairy tale-like scene shouted. Morale was high.

“Sob!”

Among the people elated with joy, I saw a small girl with blonde hair turn her back on the crowd and disappear.

That blonde hair surely belonged to Rose Temery.

‘Come to think of it, this seems to be the first time I’ve seen Rose since I scolded her when I first arrived at the castle.’

“Today is your day. I hope you enjoy it to the fullest.”

Darius showed a confident smile.

‘That’s right.’

There was no time to worry about Rose. The knights were waiting for me.

* * *

‘It was just two pots of gold coins that were rotting away in the castle! Something they didn’t even know existed, what’s so great about that!’

“Eek, Miss Rose!”

“Get out of my way!”

Rose ran without properly looking ahead. Tears blurred her vision. That woman was smiling brightly next to her brother Darius.

‘Who gave her permission to be in that position? A mere woman from the South!’

At first, everyone doubted and mocked that woman.

No matter what anyone says, the real power in the Grand Duchy lies with Lady Egritte. Even if the Grand Duke takes a wife, who would acknowledge a woman from an enemy family?

Everyone clearly said so.

But things changed after that woman arrived. Anette created her own people by directly selecting her close maids from among the castle residents.

Moreover, as soon as she arrived as a bride, she took an interest in the Grand Duchy’s affairs and dove right in. Thanks to that, the atmosphere in the castle these days was quite different from when Anette first arrived.