A noble young lady traveling without a maid.

Rina blinked hard, struggling to accept it.

In the meantime, Alicia pulled a bag out from under the bed.

“Here, this is yours too, Rina.”

The worn leather bag was filled to the brim with copper coins.

“This is……”

It was the money Anna and Sonya had received as payment for what they had done to Alicia.

“Thanks to you and your brother’s help, we were able to catch the culprits. So this rightfully belongs to you.”

“N, no, I couldn’t……”

“Take it. You have so many siblings to look after. It would put my mind at ease, even just a little.”

“……”

Rina’s eyes wavered in that moment.

“That money will be more than enough to take care of your siblings. Oh, and I’m giving you time off, so go home and visit them.”

“M, Miss……”

“Don’t refuse. This is the last gift I can give you.”

Alicia pulled Rina into an embrace.

“Thank you for everything.”

In those simple words, Rina understood.

That every word Alicia said was the truth, without a single lie.

And that this farewell was truly the last one.

An inexplicable sadness settled in, and Rina’s sigh grew heavy.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Late afternoon.

Dressed in her going-out clothes for the first time in a while, Rina boarded a carriage and headed home.

‘She even prepared a carriage for me……’

A luxury she had never enjoyed in her life.

Half a day’s ride later, she arrived at the home she had missed so dearly.

She pushed open the small, worn wooden door and stepped inside.

Creak.

The familiar smell that greeted her the moment the door opened brought a wave of comfort.

“Oh? It’s Rina!”

“What? Rina? It really is!”

Her siblings, whom she had not seen in so long, came running.

“Sis, how did you get here? Did you get fired?”

“You little brat, it’s nothing like that.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Miss Alicia gave me time off.”

“Really?”

“I’m telling you.”

“The rumors say she’s terrible, but I guess not?”

Rina fell into thought at her sibling’s words.

She really was different from the rumors.

Or more precisely, she had changed.

Rina pushed down the heaviness creeping into her heart and headed to the kitchen.

“All right, today your big sister is going to cook something delicious for the first time in ages. Eat as much as you want. I bought plenty.”

She opened the door and was about to set down the sacks of grain and meat on the pantry shelf when,

“……What’s this?”

The pantry, which should have been empty, was packed with dried meat and grain.

“Oh, that was sent over from the comital household, apparently.”

“What? From the comital household?”

“Yeah. We’ve been eating well for the past few days because of it. Look. My belly’s gotten rounder.”

Her little sibling rubbed their protruding belly and laughed.

‘Could it be…… the Miss?’

It could not have been anyone else.

The carriage and the money.

The time off, and on top of that, help for her siblings.

It was unconditional help she had never received once since her parents passed. For Rina, who had been looking after her siblings all on her own, it was a kindness she had never known in her life.

That warmth, ordinary to some, pressed gently and painfully against Rina’s heart.

‘Don’t worry. I’m going alone.’

Alicia’s voice came back to her.

But Rina knew. She knew the fear Alicia was working so hard to hide.

What on earth is she doing all of this for……

As a maid of common birth, she could not fully understand her mistress’s intentions.

But one thing she did know.

‘The Miss…… needs someone……’

In that moment, Rina took a deep breath and handed the leather bag to her younger brother.

“Sam, you can look after the others, can’t you?”

“Why are you asking all of a sudden?”

“I’m telling you to stay out of trouble and take care of them. Can you do it or not?”

Sam grew serious in turn at his sister’s unusually calm tone.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. But why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Like you’re about to go somewhere.”

Rina slowly nodded.

“That’s right. I have somewhere I need to go.”

“Far away?”

“……It might take a while.”

Rina stroked each of her siblings’ heads with a tender gaze and hugged them one by one.

Then she stepped out of the house with purpose.

‘I need to hurry if I want to get there by morning.’

Outside, the sun had long since set and night had fallen.

Rina’s footsteps quickened.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

The next morning.

A small commotion stirred in the Windmore comital household.

It was because of a decision from Alicia that no one had anticipated.

“Alicia, what do you mean? You won’t take a maid with you?”

Countess Emily asked with wide eyes.

“I’ll find one once I arrive in the capital. I’ll be assigned a lady’s maid when I reach the castle anyway, so I just have to manage until then.”

“Is this because of what the maids were saying?”

Countess Emily had known about the maids’ worries as well. It would have been stranger not to, given that it was the topic of every gathering among them.

“Unless it’s someone I can trust, there’s no point in bringing anyone. They wouldn’t be of any help either.”

“But isn’t Rina trustworthy? The road is long, and the thought of you going alone still doesn’t sit well with me……”

“I’ll be fine. From now on, you need to trust me more than anyone.”

Alicia made her position clear once more.

Unable to argue further, Countess Emily left the bedchamber with a worried expression.

“Phew.”

Left alone, Alicia looked out the window and drew a long breath.

Her revenge was not a simple thing.

It was not a matter of facing one woman.

She had to bring down a towering mountain that stood on the backs of countless people, with the Empire itself behind it.

A path with no certain end in sight.

She had no intention of dragging an innocent person into that thorny road.

Right. This is the right way.

Then, click, the door opened and someone walked in.

“Goodness, at this pace we’ll never leave. We’re going to be late at this rate.”

Chestnut hair. A round figure.

A flustered voice. It was Rina.

“……Rina?”

“You should have the servants handle this, not do it yourself, Miss. You’re about to become Grand Duchess.”

Alicia blinked.

“I gave you time off. Why are you back already?”

“Because I couldn’t bear to send my Miss off alone. Someone has to be by your side.”

“……Why?”

Rina scratched the back of her neck.

“Well…… I figured there would be a lot of good food to eat along the way. I heard the capital has so many delicious desserts?”

It was a ridiculous excuse.

Alicia understood why Rina was doing this.

“……It seems I made a mistake.”

Rina waved her hand dismissively.

“What are you talking about? It was the most touching thing anyone has ever done for me in my entire life.”

“Rina, you don’t have to do this. It’s far too dangerous.”

Rina nodded.

“I know that very well. I’ve been right beside you through everything. This is a decision I made with full awareness of what it means.”

“You might not come back.”

“Well, you’ll give me a nice gravestone, won’t you? I’ve slept in a worn-out bed my whole life, so it would be a bit sad to have a shabby gravestone on top of it.”

Rina made a joke. But Alicia still could not smile.

“What about your siblings?”

“Thanks to you, Miss, they now have enough to live on for the rest of their lives. Sam is grown up enough to manage. And more than anything……”

Rina turned her head and looked at Alicia.

“I believe you will succeed, Miss. Whatever it is you’re trying to do.”

An unwavering gaze.

It was trust that came from the heart.

“In the end, we’ll come back together. Back to our home, Darlington.”

In that moment, Alicia bit down hard on her lip.

Her eyes grew warm and wet.

To hide her feelings, Rina started chattering and carrying luggage.

“Come on, come on, let’s get moving. We’re going to be late!”

Rina took the lead with exaggerated energy.

“Haa……”

Left alone for a moment, Alicia drew a deep breath.

She curled her hands into fists with all her strength and steadied herself.

‘This time, I will not lose anyone who is mine……’

That was why her revenge had to be more perfect than ever.