“Commercial district?”

“Yes!”

“Why all of a sudden?”

The Duke tilted his head with a puzzled expression.

Originally, I would have answered, “Just to hang out!” according to the plan…

But the plan had changed a bit.

I immediately placed both hands neatly over my belly button and spoke with the utmost composure.

“As the heir of a family, I believed it was essential to see and understand the lives of the people directly. I was going to be a great successor.”

“…Hmm?”

“…Yes?”

Both the Duke and Mina seemed momentarily taken aback, forgetting to pick up their paper and pen as they each let out a confused sound.

Yes, I knew. It must have been surprising for them to see a child who showed no enthusiasm for lessons just half a day ago suddenly acting like this.

But I intended to take the Oblene estate from the Viscount, and for that, I needed the name of the Duke of Everdeen.

‘The Viscount’s land is mine, the Viscount’s land is mine.’

I felt my cheeks flush but kept repeating that to myself, pretending not to hear their words and maintaining a calm demeanor.

I’m not embarrassed, I’m not embarrassed, ugh.

Fortunately, the Duke regained his composure before I was overwhelmed by embarrassment.

“…Alright. Do as you wish.”

“Thank you!”

“But you can’t go alone. Take Mina and two escort knights with you.”

The Duke handed me a paper with a face more resolute than ever. It was clear he wouldn’t back down on this matter.

Sigh. Now I had to find a way to shake off those three. But there was no choice.

I answered with a wide smile, pulling my lips into a grin.

“Yes, that’s fine!”

* * *

After a pleasant meal, the Duke carried me to the knights’ quarters.

“I can walk on my own…”

Startled by the Duke’s matter-of-fact gesture of opening his arms, I hesitated, and he looked at me with eyes so pitiful they seemed on the verge of tears.

In the end, I lost the staring contest and sat quietly in his arms as we moved—were moved—to the knights’ quarters.

“You’re so light.”

The Duke muttered briefly as we entered the entrance of the knights’ quarters.

He probably thought I wouldn’t hear him, but unfortunately, being close meant I heard it even better.

‘What’s so light about me?’

I might have been a bit short, but surely I was heavy enough.

I glanced at my wrist hidden under my sleeve and pouted.

“My lord?”

Inside the indoor training ground of the Duke’s knights. It was only upon arriving there that the Duke set me down.

The knights who were training turned their eyes wide to look at us. Some were so surprised they dropped their wooden swords. Oh dear.

It was then that the knights suddenly shivered and began to move in perfect unison.

“Quickly, quickly!”

“Do it properly! Don’t let there be any gaps!”

“Over there! Keep the spacing right!”

I tilted my head, wondering what they were doing, and unconsciously opened my mouth.

…What on earth is that?

“…What are they doing?”

The Duke seemed just as bewildered, speaking in a bemused tone.

Numerous knights lined up in a perfect row without a single error, making it look like there was only one person from where the Duke and I stood.

At the front of the line, the captain, Mikhail Surton, raised his voice robustly.

“Yes, my lord! Taking a lesson from last time, we practiced in advance for when the young lady visits!”

“I believe I asked why, though.”

“Ah. W-we thought the young lady might be frightened by the sight of so many rugged people gathered…”

The captain finally noticed the expressions on the Duke’s and my faces and began to stammer.

As the knights behind him twitched their heads and hands, apparently trying to see our faces, the neat line quickly fell into disarray.

‘That just makes it weirder.’

I briefly frowned at the sight of the knights looking like they were dancing in unison, but soon I laughed.

Knowing that they had wracked their brains with worry that I might be afraid of them made my heart ticklish.

“Hello!”

I raised my voice more cheerfully than usual, wearing a gentle smile. Then, I placed my hands over my belly button and bowed politely.

“Teresia… Everdeen. Nice to meet you!”

After introducing myself, I hesitated before carefully pronouncing the surname “Everdeen” and then bowed deeply.

Teresia Everdeen, Teresia Everdeen.

It didn’t sound too bad. I felt my cheeks flush slightly, unsure if it was from embarrassment or something else.

But why was everyone so quiet?

I straightened up, feeling puzzled.

Both the Duke beside me and the knights lined up in front of me were staring at me with surprised expressions, as if they had all agreed to do so.

‘…Did I get ahead of myself?’

Was I being presumptuous? Was my attitude too enthusiastic?

Oh no, did they realize that I planned to use the Duke’s influence to take over the Viscount’s territory?

A flurry of thoughts ran through my mind, and my eyes darted around anxiously.

The knights finally snapped out of their daze, hurriedly gathered in front of me, and bowed with flustered greetings.

“Hello, Lady Teresia! I’m Deputy Commander Redin Arvolt…!”

“Deputy Commander, she can’t hear us.”

“Oh right, where’s my paper?”

“Pen! Someone find a pen!”

“That’s mine!”

The barrage of words made my head spin.

Thankfully, before I got too dizzy, the Duke stepped in front of me and sternly addressed them.

“You’ll scare the child. Quiet down.”

“Oops.”

Dozens of knights simultaneously inhaled and held their breath, finally bringing silence to the surroundings.

With a small sigh, the Duke brought up the purpose of our visit, which he had delayed mentioning.

“Terry wants to visit the commercial district tomorrow, so I’m assigning two escorts. Any volunteers?”

Curious, I peeked out from behind the Duke and glanced at the knights.

Every knight’s hand shot up into the air.

“Me, I’ll go!”

“No, choose me!”

“I’ll be the lady’s steed! Just leave it to me!”

Oh, no. I don’t need a steed or anything like that.

The Duke was the one who calmed the chaos. Clicking his tongue, he realized this could go on forever and promptly pointed out two people.

“Mikhail, Redin. You two will go. Since the commander and deputy commander will be absent, I’ll handle training tomorrow afternoon.”

“No way!”

A collective groan of despair erupted from the knights, except for the commander and deputy commander.

Regardless, Mikhail and Redin, looking pleased, each held a piece of paper and approached me.

“I’m Commander Mikhail Surton. I’ll serve you with all my heart, my lady.”

“I’m Deputy Commander Redin Arvolt! Thank you for sparing me, my lady.”

“Teresia, oh dear, Everdeen, oh my…”

Distracted by the knights behind them crawling on all fours and neighing like horses, I responded absently.

Despite my distracted greeting, Mikhail and Redin continued to smile broadly. What’s with this place? It’s strange here too.

* * *

The next afternoon.

After finishing my morning classes, I set out from the Everdeen estate with Mikhail, Redin, and Mina.

Rick and Selena were with us too, but those two wouldn’t know about it.

‘Just wait, you little brat. I’ll slice you up…’

I spent the entire morning trying to stop Selena from strangling Baron Ganess, and I had no idea where the time went.

Even though I hadn’t done anything, I already felt tired as I stepped out of the estate.

Fortunately, that feeling vanished as soon as I saw the bustling streets filled with people.

‘People!’

I beamed at the presence of people, or more precisely, living people.

Even when I was at the Oblene estate, I rarely ventured outside, so being in a crowded place like this always lifted my spirits. I couldn’t help but tug on Mina’s hand and urge her on.

“Let’s go, hurry!”

Mina looked down at me with a somewhat troubled expression, but then she relaxed and nodded. Her small hat bobbed gently with the movement.

‘Is she tired?’

I tilted my head, puzzled by her slightly downcast face, and soon realized why.