Richel jolted awake.

A pounding headache struck her almost immediately afterward.

Pressing a hand against her forehead, she slowly tried to piece together her memories.

Beating Edwin senseless.

Climbing into the mansion attic and drinking recklessly.

Talking endlessly with Hans.

The memories returned one after another.

The room was dark and silent.

‘I slept for that long, and it’s still the middle of the night? Don’t tell me I slept all the way until nighttime again….’

She let out a sigh.

To think she had wasted an entire day sleeping just because she got drunk at dawn.

There was no doubt work had piled up again in the meantime.

Feeling frustrated, she pushed herself upright.

The lamp on the bedside table cast long wavering shadows across the room, while the fireplace crackled softly in one corner.

Richel reached for the glass of water beside the bed and drank.

The water had gone cold.

At least her stomach settled a little afterward.

‘Why does nothing ever resolve cleanly? And Edwin keeps insisting he won’t divorce me….’

She frowned deeply.

When preparing the divorce papers, she had never imagined things would turn out like this.

She had assumed that the moment she handed him the documents, he would sign them immediately.

‘What if this drags on so long that I can’t divorce him at all?’

Quickly shaking her head, she forced the thought away.

The longer she dwelled on thoughts like that, the more ominous they felt.

“If it really comes down to it, then we can at least separate. I’ll just move somewhere far away and live alone in another estate—”

At that moment, a sudden flash of light burst beyond the curtains.

Startled, Richel turned toward the window just as thunder rumbled through the sky.

‘What? Don’t tell me… is it raining right now?’

She hurried toward the window and pulled the curtains aside.

Raindrops pelted noisily against the glass.

“Rain… in the middle of winter…? Ah—!”

She opened the window only to slam it shut again immediately.

The rain crashing inside was far harsher than she had expected.

Night.

A violent storm.

Something about it felt deeply ominous.

Throwing a long robe over her nightclothes, Richel hurriedly pulled the cord hanging beside the bed.

Moments later, lights flared to life throughout the mansion’s entrance hall and the guards’ quarters.

Voices began rising noisily from the lobby and front entrance.

Outside, the sound of the rain intensified further, roaring down like a waterfall.

Richel waited there for the guards and for Hans.

They had rushed out into the territory to inspect the reservoirs and river levels.

The rain only grew heavier and more violent with time.

Hans did not return until much later.

By then, he looked like a drowned rat, soaked from head to toe.

The servants quickly handed him a large towel.

“Good grief… what kind of rain even is this…?”

Roughly drying himself off, Hans gave his report to Richel.

“The rivers and reservoirs are still holding for now. We’ve had such a long drought that the water levels were already low to begin with. The rain is intense, but I think everything should hold out until morning.”

“Haa… thank goodness.”

Richel let out a breath of relief.

If the reservoirs or rivers overflowed, the farmland would flood all at once.

The wheat meant for next year’s harvest would be submerged and destroyed entirely.

For the villagers enduring winter while waiting desperately for the late-spring harvest, there could be no worse disaster.

After finishing his report, Hans pulled off his shoes with a groan.

Water sloshed heavily inside them.

“This damned storm even sobered up my hangover.”

The moment he joked, the mansion doors suddenly burst open once more as Clompo came running inside.

“T-there’s a huge problem!”

His face was deathly pale.

“They say… the river embankment might collapse.”

“What are you talking about? Collapse? Who said that?”

“One of the villagers did. Apparently part of the embankment collapsed last autumn, but they only piled dirt over it without reinforcing it properly.”

Clompo gestured toward the villager who had come with him.

The older man looked just as pale.

Whether from being drenched or from sheer terror, his whole body trembled violently.

“W-we usually repair the embankments in spring. So when it collapsed, we just covered it roughly with dirt for the time being. But the rain’s falling too hard now, and… and I think that section might give way….”

The explanation came out in disjointed fragments.

The Isle territory rarely received rain or snow during winter.

Throughout the cold season, the river and reservoir levels normally dropped lower and lower before rising again with the spring rains.

Because the villagers worked according to that cycle, repairs to embankments and reservoirs were always carried out in early spring.

During winter, even if damage appeared, they simply left it alone.

Normally, that made perfect sense.

The ground froze constantly in the cold weather.

But in this situation, it had become a disaster waiting to happen.

If the embankment burst, the surrounding land would be completely submerged.

A sharp tension instantly filled the mansion.

Richel immediately asked about the embankment’s location.

“Where exactly is it?”

“Along the middle-upper section of the river near the upper village. Not far from where the river branches….”

Clompo answered in place of the villager.

The man who brought the news was too shaken to explain properly anymore.

His hands trembled violently from cold and fear alike.

Hans glared at the villager with frightening intensity.

“Is the embankment collapsing? Why didn’t the nearby villages report it sooner? Who is the village representative? How could someone so incompetent be handling something this important?”

The villager hiccuped in terror, his face turning even paler.

Richel stepped in immediately.

“Hans, stop it! This isn’t the time for that, is it? Someone take him away and get him changed into dry clothes. Make sure he warms up too.”

One of the servants quickly led the villager away.

Hans continued glaring furiously in the direction the man had disappeared.

Management of the river embankments had always been Hans’s responsibility.

He stepped toward Richel and lowered his head.

“My apologies, my lady. This happened because I failed to inspect things properly.”

“We can figure out who’s responsible later. For now, we need to deal with the situation. Hans, instruct the guards to gather all the sandbags stored in the mansion and bring them here.”

“You’re planning to reinforce the weakened embankment with sandbags? We’ll need a lot for that. The embankment is fairly high, so there’s a good chance we won’t have enough soil.”

If they began the work without enough materials and the embankment collapsed midway through, the situation would only worsen.

The workers themselves could be swept away, causing casualties on top of everything else.

Richel waved her hand sharply.

“Even so, we have to do as much as we can. Use everything stored in the mansion, and bring every sandbag from the nearby villages as well.”

She slowly looked around at everyone gathered there before speaking in a clear, steady voice.

“Just handle it the same way we did during the last flood.”

Everyone lowered their heads in acknowledgment.

Richel turned toward the butler.

“Butler, quickly take an inventory of the empty sacks and fill them with whatever you can find, such as rocks or dirt. Rocks might actually be better. Make them as heavy as possible.”

The butler hurried off after answering immediately.

Hans also withdrew alongside the guards.

Richel then turned to Clompo, who still remained.

After running through the freezing rain, even his lips had turned faintly purple.

“You should warm yourself up and change clothes too. Right now, only you and that villager know exactly where the weakened embankment is. Rest for a bit and wait. We’ll probably head out together soon.”

“Yes, my lady. Ah, while I’m at the stables, I’ll tell the stablekeeper to prepare your horse as well.”

He smiled lightly as he said it.

Having traveled around with her so often, he already knew exactly how Richel would respond in situations like this.

She was not the type to stay safely inside the mansion and merely wait for reports.

If something happened, she would ride directly to the scene herself.

Richel smiled back at him.

“Alright, Clompo. I’ll see you shortly.”

She immediately headed up to her office.

Pulling out the box stored beneath her bed, she retrieved a large rain cloak and a pair of rough heavy boots.

“I never thought I’d need these during winter….”

Floods and violent storms usually came during summer.

The crude clothes—closer to workwear than noble attire—would normally end up soaked in mud and rain before being cleaned and packed away once autumn arrived.

This was the first time she had ever opened that box during winter.

Richel threw the rain cloak over her lighter clothes and pulled on the boots.

The boots were thick-soled and heavily reinforced, making them extremely heavy.

Still, nothing worked better for walking through soaked, muddy ground.

Just as she finished preparing to leave, the door suddenly burst open and Edwin rushed inside.

“Where are you going?”

The moment he saw what she was wearing, unease flickered across his face.

Richel frowned the instant she noticed he was barefoot again.

‘At this point, I should probably assume he’s lost all feeling in the soles of his feet.’

The thought crossed her mind briefly before she ignored him and continued moving.

Things were urgent.

And regardless, he would not be useful in this situation.

Edwin grabbed her arm.

“I asked where you’re going. Everyone downstairs is in chaos… and what are you even wearing…?”

His voice trailed off as he stared at her clothes.

The outfit looked more like layers of rough sacks wrapped around her body than something a noblewoman would ever wear.

His grip stubbornly refused to loosen, and Richel answered with a frown.

“There’s a problem in the territory. I need to go out immediately.”

“…The territory? What happened?”

“Can’t you tell? It’s pouring outside.”

She answered irritably.

Edwin looked at her with even greater confusion.

Of course he knew it was raining heavily.

The storm was deafening, with thunder and lightning crashing endlessly outside.

If anything, shouldn’t that mean she ought to stay safely inside the mansion?

“…I don’t fully understand what’s happening, but wait until morning to go. It’s still night, and the rain is too dangerous.”

“That’s exactly why I have to go. I need to assess the situation and deal with it—”

“What situation?”

At that moment, irritation surged sharply through Richel.

In a farming territory, the problems caused by torrential rain were obvious.

Flooded farmland.

Overflowing rivers.

Stored grain or seeds being swept away.

The fact that she had to explain something so self-evident infuriated her.

Frowning deeply, she shook off his grip.

“This isn’t something you need to worry about. It’s not even something you need to know. Go back to sleep instead of wasting my time.”

At that instant, lightning flashed brilliantly outside, illuminating the space between them in stark white light.

Edwin’s face had gone deathly pale.

The light vanished, followed immediately by another deafening crash of thunder.

Leaving him behind, Richel headed straight toward the mansion lobby.