‘It really does feel like pudding.’

Darius pulled the blanket up over Anette’s sleeping body. After visiting the strangers’ tent, Anette seemed to be in a daze.

Was that such a surprising statement?

The strangers, those who never blend with the North.

Even before the Inkharts took over the northern territory, their kingdom was nestled in the mountains, and they said they wandered because they would someday return to their homeland.

“It’s a vagrant’s lie.”

Although their entry is permitted in hopes they will integrate into the North due to the lack of population, anyone who has lived long in Inkhart territory knows they are unpleasant beings.

That’s what the previous Inkhart Grand Duke had said.

Was that really true? Darius had his own small doubts.

But who knows. There might be another secret Anette is hiding.

“It’s alright, though.”

If Anette has a secret she wants to hide, he would protect that secret too.

* * *

…ette.

…Anette.

…Like this… still strength…

Sizzle sizzle sizzle.

‘It feels like someone kept calling my name in my dream.’

“Did you sleep well?”

I blinked my eyes.

“I kept my promise.”

Darius showed me his untied hands proudly.

Yes, thank you. But that’s not what’s important right now…

“Ouch ouch ouch!”

“…”

“Aaagh!”

“Ah, Anette?”

The morning after a wonderful date was greeted with a splitting headache.

“Ouch ouch ouch!”

“Anette, are you alright?”

“No, I’m not. It hurts!”

It felt like my brain was shaking with even the slightest movement.

I was at the point of wanting to see even that quack Owen, but of all things, our castle had no doctor because I had messed up medieval medicine.

It was some time after I forcibly sent Darius to work, as he looked down at me with eyes dripping with worry, that Schmidt arrived from the nearest village to Inkhart Castle, where he had been working day and night to spread sound medical knowledge.

“My lady, here’s a painkiller made from willow.”

To think that I, who came from a world where aspirin was common, would have to drink willow bark tea.

Schmidt’s prescription was effective this time too, but it didn’t completely erase my sadness.

Am I from the Joseon Dynasty? Drinking willow bark tea and enduring?

“Such a severe headache, what on earth happened yesterday?”

“I ate street food of questionable hygiene, went to places I don’t usually go, and even met the strangers.”

“The strangers? Did you go inside their tent by any chance?”

Schmidt nodded as if he knew.

“They use hallucinogens without a second thought. It’s picked from the mountains, so we don’t even know what it’s made of.”

Then he observed me closely again.

“But it shouldn’t be this painful… My lady must have a particularly sensitive constitution. But will this be enough? I wonder if we need to use more medicine.”

“No, it’s fine. I think it’s working. I’m always very grateful.”

Schmidt looked dumbfounded as I, who had been dying from a headache just moments ago, downed the willow bark tea in one shot and returned to normal.

It was an expression that said, ‘Could it be that I, an ordinary person, actually have such amazing medical skills?’

As if that would be the case.

‘It’s just my malingering.’

It’s true that I had a headache when I woke up, but now it’s all gone. Nevertheless, I had to pretend that the headache was still severe.

Because I couldn’t look Darius straight in the face.

When Darius waved his clasped hands in front of me this morning.

The memory of my disgraceful behavior last night came vividly to mind, and my head went blank.

What.

Have I.

Done.

Even if I felt like a lonely soul dropped into this world without roots, there’s a limit, how could I act so miserably there?

Do you think suddenly grabbing Darius will magically create a non-existent relationship?

‘You crazy girl!’

I should have been cutting off any growing feelings, but instead, I poured them out.

Since when did I love and miss Earth so much!

‘Well, of course, seeing this reality where willow bark tea is considered a painkiller does make me miss my original world a bit!’

At this rate, even if Darius looks at me with romantic eyes and says, “Why were you so nice to me? Why did you tame me when you’re not going to take responsibility!” I’d have nothing to say. I’m a player and a tease. Sob sob sob.

“Sniff. When will news of Evangeline arrive.”

It’s been quite a while since I asked the temple priest I met then. If there’s no contact by this week, I should tell Barbarossa to find out in detail as soon as he returns.

“Ah, they said this was henna.”

Come to think of it, the pattern I drew in the stranger’s tent yesterday was all smudged. What was that about opening the path of the soul and giving wisdom? It didn’t even last a day.

* * *

Tiberius territory. The territorial war broke out as if it had been waiting for Anette to form a mercenary group.

Count Tiberius, who hadn’t known until the end that war would break out, was taken aback by Viscount Shire’s rebellion and immediately requested military assistance from the neighboring Inkhart Grand Duchy.

However, Inkhart refused to get involved in the disputes of other territories. Officially.

In the original work, Darius directly participated in the Tiberius territorial war, leading thousands of soldiers, but this time, it was the mercenary group formed by Anette and led by Barbarossa that would participate.

Anette, whose goal was to create her own force separate from the Inkhart Grand Duchy, ultimately failed to create a secret mercenary group directly under the Grand Duchess.

The newly created mercenary group officially had no connection to the Inkhart Grand Duchy.

However, the funds that created the mercenary group and the people belonging to it all had deep connections with the Inkhart Grand Duchy.

Former soldiers of the Inkhart Grand Duchy, those who failed the knight test but received high-level martial arts training, and so on.

By giving them dual status, the Inkhart Grand Duchy effectively gained more troops while avoiding others’ eyes.

‘Did the lady plan this far? If it’s true, she’s a strategist in her own right. But when I first met her, her intention was clearly to make a profit for herself.’

Barbarossa thought, swishing a bottle of alcohol on top of the night wall.

After returning to Inkhart Castle, Barbarossa got along quite well with the former knights.

Barbarossa had the talent to be quite cheerful when he put his mind to it.

There was much to say about that, but the testimonies that followed were even more outrageous.

These fools who only swing swords must believe exactly what they see before their eyes.

When Barbarossa threw a frivolous temptation at Anette, she did firmly block Barbarossa by bringing up her husband.

But Anette’s attitude when mentioning her ‘handsome husband’ seemed more like stating an objective fact rather than mentioning him out of love.

‘The lady likes the lord tremendously?’

How could that face be seen as the expression of a newlywed bride head over heels for her newlywed groom?

Rather.

The one who’s head over heels is.

The lord’s side.

The gaze that met for a brief moment. The moment he received that look, he felt a chill he had never felt on any battlefield.

Darius Inkhart. The new lord of the North whom he hadn’t properly seen when he was in the knights.

Even though he had delivered it disguised as a joke, his rational attraction to Anette was somewhat sincere, but the moment he saw Darius’s warning, he realized.

If he didn’t withdraw that attraction, he would really be done for soon.

“They’re an interesting couple to watch.”

Barbarossa shrugged his shoulders. They were known externally as an incredibly lovey-dovey couple, but in reality, the woman was drawing a line, and the man knew this and was getting anxious.

‘But you know.’

Is there a reason to push away?

Barbarossa scratched his cheek.

Just like how that woman treated him roughly but gained a reputation as a kind lady among the people of the territory, she could act kinder to the lord than usual in front of others. When they’re alone, she might act shy because of awkwardness. But…

‘Even while going around saying she was the Inkhart Grand Duchess, she didn’t seem to think of herself as the lord’s wife. That woman.’

It was a reaction similar to the expression Barbarossa would make when seeing an ordinary family.

Envious, knowing it’s good, but.

Like ‘That will never be mine.’

An attitude of clearly knowing it will never be mine.

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

Would it be too much speculation to say that she seems ready to abandon her current position as the Inkhart Grand Duchess without regret at any time?