As soon as the noble man finished speaking, the bearded man grabbed the child’s hair.

He raised his hand high as if about to strike the child’s cheek.

Surprised by this sight, Karina quickly shouted and blocked him.

“Stop! What do you think you’re doing?”

At Karina’s shout, the bearded man turned with a fierce expression.

“Who are you?”

Despite the threatening demeanor, Karina did not back down.

“Why are you trying to beat a young child so ruthlessly?”

The man growled in an irritated voice.

“If you don’t know the person, why don’t you just mind your own business and be on your way?”

“Answer my question.”

“Can’t you understand when I’m asking nicely?”

The man roughly grabbed Karina’s wrist.

“Let go!”

Karina tried to shake off the man’s hand, but to no avail.

“Don’t butt in where you don’t belong and get lost before you see something unsightly.”

“What unsightly thing?”

Mikhail, who had just returned, removed the man’s hand gripping Karina’s wrist.

Then he twisted it behind the man’s back to the point of nearly breaking.

“Arghh!”

Mikhail paid no heed to the man’s pained scream as his hand was twisted.

“Mikhail. That’s enough. Stop it.”

Only at Karina’s urging did Mikhail cease twisting the man’s hand.

Then he threw the bearded man to the ground, just as the child had been treated earlier.

“Ugh!”

Mikhail checked on Karina’s condition, regardless of whether the man fell or not.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Karina nodded, reassuring Mikhail.

At that moment, the noble man who had been watching from a step behind recognized Karina.

“Oh? Who do we have here. Isn’t this the Grand Duchess?”

He approached Karina closely.

“I didn’t recognize you at first because of your clothes.”

Karina had deliberately chosen to wear plain and simple clothes today.

There was no benefit in advertising that the Grand Duchess had come to the black market wearing expensive attire.

“Who are you?”

“I am Revals, the second son of Count Lambada.”

Karina’s brow furrowed at the mention of Count Lambada.

It was a family that was very close to Caroline and acted as her minions.

“We meet again here.”

“Have you seen me before?”

“I saw you at the banquet hall during the last gathering. You showed such bizarre and strange things, it was truly impressive.”

“……”

“I’m quite looking forward to when you’ll show us something interesting again.”

Karina made no reply.

Revals then looked Karina up and down, his eyes glinting.

“Where have you been today to be dressed like this?”

He also glanced sideways at Mikhail standing nearby.

“It seems you came out alone with that man. I wonder what kind of relationship he has with the Grand Duchess.”

He smiled unpleasantly as he looked back and forth between Karina and Mikhail.

“This person is my guard. Is there a problem with me going out with my guard?”

At Karina’s words, Revals asked with wide eyes:

“I didn’t say there was any problem. Is there something you feel guilty about?”

Having said that, Revals spoke mockingly, as if he had caught onto something.

“Could there be… a problem?”

Karina frowned at his behavior.

“No. There’s no problem.”

“You’re reacting so defensively to something so trivial.”

Revals took a step closer to Karina and whispered the rest of his vulgar words.

“It makes one suspect you might have come out for a secret rendezvous with your lover.”

“Cut out the nonsense and answer my question.”

Karina firmly cut off the topic and asked again.

“What wrong has this child done for you to treat him like this?”

Revals answered with an expression of disappointment at the change of subject.

“That filthy little brat stole the money pouch my attendant was carrying.”

At Revals’ gesture, the attendant who had his money pouch stolen stepped forward.

He quickly gathered the fallen money pouch and silver coins from the ground.

“I was only trying to retrieve my stolen money.”

“I didn’t steal it!”

At that moment, the child cried out with an aggrieved expression.

“You little liar! How dare you deny it when the silver coins were scattered right here!”

The bearded man yelled, grabbing the child by the nape to prevent him from running away.

“I didn’t steal it. I just picked it up because it was lying on the ground.”

“Then why did you run away!”

“Because you were chasing after me so frighteningly!”

“What? Do you take me for a fool!”

“Enough.”

Revals waved his hand with an annoyed expression.

“No need to waste time. He stole from a noble, so we should cut off his hands and feet as an example, according to the rules. Cut them off.”

“Yes.”

Shing.

The bearded man drew the sword at his waist.

“The child says he didn’t steal it.”

Karina intervened.

“Those who grow up in back alleys are known to lie as easily as they breathe.”

“The child’s words could be true.”

“Do you believe those words? How naive.”

“Even if the child really did steal, cutting off his hands and feet is too cruel a punishment.”

“I’m simply following the rules.”

Revals gestured for them to continue.

The bearded man firmly gripped the child’s wrist to prevent him from escaping.

“Waaah! I really didn’t steal it! It’s true!”

The child struggled and burst into tears.

But the man ignored the child’s pleas and raised his sword.

“Stop it!”

Karina shouted.

Mikhail swiftly blocked the man’s wrist.

And in an icy voice, he said:

“Can’t you understand what people are saying? The Grand Duchess told you to stop.”

Mikhail’s red eyes flashed like blood.

Though intimidated by Mikhail’s aura, the bearded man couldn’t easily back down with his master right beside him.

“I’ll give you the money, so leave the child alone.”

Karina declared boldly.

“Even if you are the Grand Duchess, you can’t break the rules.”

Revals’ words weren’t wrong.

But still, cutting off the hands and feet of a child barely surviving day to day on the streets was extremely cruel.

It was practically telling him to die, just short of killing him directly.

“Well, if you pay 10 times the amount stolen, that might be a different story.”

Revals added nonchalantly.

It was said quietly, but clearly meant for Karina to hear.

‘What? 10 times?’

Karina bit her lower lip at his ridiculous attitude.

‘This bastard kept going on about rules, rules?’

Though anger and frustration welled up, there was no other choice.

“Fine. I’ll pay 10 times! I’ll give you 10 times the stolen amount, so let the child go.”

Hearing Karina’s words, Revals smiled wickedly.

In contrast to his expression, he feigned a quite troubled tone of voice.

“Ah, this is troublesome…”

He pretended to deliberate, dragging out the time.

“Can you pay within this week?”

“…!”

At his probing question, Karina clenched her fist and replied.

“…I’ll pay within the week. Send the bill to the Grand Duke’s residence.”

Only then did Revals instruct the bearded man to stand down.

“I’ll let it slide just this once, in consideration of the Grand Duchess’s face.”

Grinning, he opened his mouth again.

“How interesting. Are you perhaps trying to win over the hearts of the lower classes?”

“You’d do well to refrain from baseless speculation.”

“Of course.”

Before leaving, Revals spoke to the released child.

“You’re lucky, kid. I’m being generous and letting you off this time, but if you catch my eye again, I won’t be so lenient.”

‘Generous my ass.’

Karina glared at Revals.

“Then this concludes the matter with the child?”

“That’s correct.”

Revals said with a satisfied expression.

At his answer, Karina also raised one corner of her mouth in a smile.

“Then, now we just need to decide how to compensate for the disrespect your underling showed me?”

“…Pardon?”

Revals asked with wide eyes at Karina’s words.

“That bearded man dared to lay hands on me earlier. And he even spouted impudent words to me, the Grand Duchess.”

“That… that’s.”

Revals stammered, seeming flustered.

“The master must take responsibility for the wrongdoings of his subordinates. Isn’t that the rule? Am I wrong?”

Karina invoked the rules, just as Revals had done earlier.

“…What do you want?”

Revals asked her with a sour expression.

“How much did you ask me for earlier? It was 10 times, wasn’t it?”

Karina held up three fingers.

“I want 3 times that 10 times.”

Revals’ expression twisted at Karina’s words.

“I’ll let you off with that much. Because I’m generous.”

“What nonsense is this! This is absurd!”

Revals fumed, breathing heavily.

“Nonsense? It’s much less than 10 times, isn’t it?”

Karina looked at him as if to ask why he was acting like this.

“Or should we make it 10 times, just like before? 3 times or 10 times. Take your pick. I’ll give you the choice.”

Karina smiled leisurely.

Having successfully driven away Revals and his group, Karina.

“Whew.”

She pressed her forehead and let out a deep sigh.

“Come to think of it, where’s the carriage?”

Karina asked, only now realizing the carriage was missing.

“All the carriages for hire are out right now. They said we’d have to wait at least 2 hours.”

“2 hours…”

As Karina murmured, Mikhail smiled and nodded towards the child.

“That’s enough time to hear the story, isn’t it?”

“Hic. Th-thank you.”

The child thanked Karina with tears in his eyes.

“But I really didn’t do it.”

The child continued speaking while sniffling.

“I just picked up a pretty pouch that was lying on the ground.”

Then he grabbed Karina’s collar with trembling hands.

Karina looked down at the little one quietly before speaking.

“Kid.”

“Yes?”

“You’re terribly unskilled, aren’t you?”

“What?”

“There’s no money in there.”

“Ah…! No. This is…”

The surprised child pleaded in a desperate voice, begging her to believe him.

“Please let me off just this once. I haven’t eaten for four days already.”

The child wrung his hands, then wiped tears from his eyes with the back of his hand.

“My little sibling is sick and we have nothing to eat, that’s why I did it.”

“Your fake crying is clumsy too.”

Karina said bluntly, not falling for it.

“Tch!”

Seeing her reaction, the child thought he had failed and instantly changed his expression.

“What’s with you, lady? When did you figure it out?”

“From the beginning.”

“From the beginning?”

The child’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected answer.

But only for a moment.

“Why did you help me then? Did you think I’d be grateful if you helped?”

Karina stifled a laugh at the child’s quick change in attitude.

“I could have escaped easily originally, but I got caught because I bumped into you, lady. Ugh.”

‘Look at how this cunning little brat talks.’

Karina pondered what to do with this brazen child.

“It’s not too late now.”

Mikhail, who had been quietly observing from the side, stepped in.

“Shall we cut off his hands and feet?”

The brutal words completely mismatched his brightly smiling face.