Someone’s stuttering words opened the floodgates. Then, people began to speak in a disorderly manner.

“It’s hot in this season, it’s hot!”

“What’s going on, how did this happen…?”

“Am I going crazy? Or have we all gone mad at once?”

“Is the world ending right now?”

No matter what happens, children are always the quickest to adapt. Skinny children with long limbs ran around the courtyard, giggling.

“Wow! This is exciting!”

“It’s so nice and warm!”

Seeing their innocent behavior, the faces of the adults who were scared and confused gradually relaxed. And they too began to enjoy the warm weather little by little. Laughter erupted here and there.

“……”

Amy and Noah climbed to the top of the outer wall to observe the scene. Her eyes fixed on the fields beyond the village. As the snow slowly melted, brown and green bare ground was being revealed.

Amy thought to herself.

‘I really have regressed.’

How should I put it, now that she realized she had regressed, she felt as if all the emotions she had been holding back while rushing to prepare and arrive in the North were hitting her all at once in this moment.

She had already confirmed several times that the events from her past life were happening exactly as she remembered. But she had never felt it so vividly, to the point of shuddering.

Amy placed both hands on the parapet of the wall, her eyes shining as she suppressed the rising excitement.

‘Now there’s nothing to stop me.’

The day in the Grand Duke’s castle began vigorously.

“Hey, kids, get out of the way. Stone coming through!”

“Ahhh!”

As the stonemasons carrying marble slabs shouted with fierce faces, the children herding goats and sheep screamed and ran away. The animals followed, trotting behind them.

In the kitchen, the fire heating the stove had continued burning all night until morning. The newly hired chef hired by Amy stirred the soup in the large pot while scolding the clumsy apprentice cooks. In the corner, maids and servants were busy preparing mountains of ingredients.

In the storehouse across from the kitchen, servants were cutting sausages that were drying on horizontal poles under the roof, and young maids were filling baskets with them to carry to the kitchen.

Strong servants were constantly fetching water from the well. Boys from the village with dirty knees excitedly crossed the central courtyard, pulling carts loaded with barrels of flour.

“……”

Noah was watching all of this through the window of his office. Behind him, Joseph reported in an emotional voice.

“The sentries and village farmers left at dawn. They plan to go south to bring back seeds.”

With the climate change, the crops to be grown and harvested also had to change. The North, which could only grow cold-resistant plants by breaking up the frozen ground, was now expected to see many changes.

At the center of that change was Amy.

“Where’s Amy?”

Noah turned around, standing with his back to the window, and asked. Joseph tilted his head.

“The Head Maid? Well, she was at the guard post until just now.”

“I should go see her.”

Noah strode out of the office as soon as he finished speaking. Then he suddenly stopped and stood still. Joseph, who had been hurriedly following him and almost bumped into his back, also managed to stop.

Soon after, he took out a handkerchief from his pocket, carefully placed dried apple and cheese pieces from a small basket on the table in the center of the handkerchief, and wrapped it up.

“Your Highness? Why are you…?”

Joseph asked in bewilderment, but Noah didn’t answer and went outside. As he descended the stairs and entered the courtyard, people passing by greeted him cheerfully.

“Your Highness! Did you sleep well?”

“Hello, Grand Duke!”

Everyone’s faces were bright. It seems that with just the weather changing, people’s personalities had changed too. According to the maid Rita, even old man Vince from the village below the castle, who was famous for always being angry, has been smiling constantly these days. That’s how powerful the warmth was.

‘It would have been nice if the whole territory, no, the entire northern region had become warm.’

The effect of the magical tool only extended to the directly ruled area. Only about a third of the territory had its climate changed.

But fortunately, according to what Amy found out by sending people to investigate, that one-third of land was estimated to be fertile farmland. So…

‘The severe food shortage in the North won’t last much longer.’

If they bought seeds from the south and cultivated crops that suited this land well, in a few years, there would be no one starving to death in this territory.

“Wow, it’s the Grand Duke~!”

Noah waved to the children jumping up and down, then walked quickly towards the guard post above the castle gate. And as he turned around the storage tower, he saw Amy standing in front of the castle gate, having a serious conversation with Dwayne and Jack.

“Amy…!”

He was about to call out to her in delight but stopped short. Amy suddenly frowned and started hitting Dwayne’s back. Dwayne whined dramatically, hiding behind Jack’s back and pouting as he mumbled something. Then Amy pressed her hand to her forehead as if she had a headache.

Laughter erupted from the people around them. Everyone in the castle looked at them with affectionate eyes. Since Noah became the Grand Duke, only good things had been happening, so their group was treated as a kind of lucky charm, an amulet by the people of the castle.

Among them, the most popular people were undoubtedly the Grand Duke Noah and Amy.

“Excuse me, Head Maid. Would you bless our daughter?”

A woman wearing a shabby headscarf said shyly, placing a small girl in front of Amy. The child’s face was flushed red, as if it wasn’t a lie that she admired Amy.

“Well, if I’m good enough, I’d be happy to.”

Amy didn’t seem to understand why such requests were pouring in for her, but she willingly kissed the child’s forehead.

“Listen to your parents well and grow up healthy.”

As she gave her blessing in a gentle voice, bright smiles appeared on the faces of the child and mother. Afterwards, she waved to the mother and daughter who left while repeatedly bowing until they were out of sight.

“People are so strange. They want to receive blessings even though the Head Maid hits me like this?”

Dwayne grumbled.

“It’s too violent to be a lucky charm, don’t you think?”

Jack, who was listening nearby, took a step back from Dwayne’s side, afraid of getting caught in the crossfire. Amy glared at Dwayne silently and then turned to Jack and said,

“I’d like to leave as soon as possible, when do you think we can depart?”

Jack frowned.

“We need to reorganize the patrol team, so at the earliest, we can leave in two days. You said it was the territory of Viscount Seymour in the west, right?”

Jack sighed and muttered weakly that he should familiarize himself with the map first.

“Don’t worry, Head Maid. I’ll definitely find it.”

Dwayne said with a bright smile, seemingly having forgotten his displeasure from a few minutes ago. Amy looked at Dwayne dubiously but eventually closed her mouth and nodded.

“Amy.”

Noah finally moved and approached her. Amy turned her head to look at him and smiled broadly.

“Your Highness. How did you come all the way here?”

Amy quickly approached and examined Noah’s body. It had been two months since they arrived at the Grand Duke’s castle. The boy had gained some weight and grown a little taller, probably because he had been eating and resting well. Amy smiled contentedly as she looked at Noah’s glowing face.

Noah took out the handkerchief wrapped with food from his pocket and handed it to Amy. She naturally received it, unfolded it, and spoke while picking up apple and cheese pieces with her hand and quickly chewing them.

“I would have come if you had called for me.”

After devouring everything in an instant and shaking out the handkerchief, Noah shook his head as he watched her.

“You’re busy, Amy.”

“No matter how busy I am, I would drop everything and come if Your Highness called. You know that.”

Amy checked Noah’s attire, straightening his crooked collar. Every time her hands brushed his nape or the back of his hand, Noah’s cheeks turned pink. People around them watched this scene with fond and proud looks.

“Have you had breakfast?”

Amy led Noah towards the hall. The people surrounding them quickly stepped back, creating a path. As they walked through it, Noah shook his head.

“Not yet.”

“Why? I told Joseph to escort you.”

As Amy frowned, Noah grinned.

“I can go now, can’t I?”

“Shall we?”

The two chatted as they walked. As they entered the corridor, dazzling sunlight poured into the courtyard.

“Amy, about that…”

“You mean the magical tool?”

Amy seemed to understand perfectly what Noah was trying to say without even mentioning the subject. Noah nodded and looked at Amy with a worried expression, as if concerned that she might be upset.

“How did you say you found it?”

“…I heard it from someone.”

Amy hesitated for a moment before answering honestly. Noah bit his lip and then carefully asked again.

“Who did you hear it from?”

“……”

Amy closed her mouth and stared at Noah. Thinking he had overstepped his bounds, Noah’s eyes were shaking wildly. Just as he was about to say she didn’t have to tell him, Amy answered.

“It was someone who’s already dead. I heard it in passing. I wasn’t sure at the time… but since I came to the North anyway, I decided to look for it. And it really was there. I was lucky.”

“I see…”

Relief and joy appeared on Noah’s face in turn. His fingers tapped cheerfully on his thigh as he walked looking straight ahead.

Amy observed him and decided to share one more thing since she had already revealed the truth.

“Dwayne and Jack, whom you saw earlier, will be leaving the castle soon.”