Richel pulled her horse up quickly.

The horse stamped its feet irritably on the ground beneath her.

One after another, the others brought their horses to a halt behind her.

The people who had suddenly rushed onto the road were women dressed in worn, shabby clothes.

They tightly clutched children no older than five or six in their arms, and the children trembled violently with fear.

Frowning deeply, Richel spoke.

“You were told not to come through this area at this hour, weren’t you?”

The butler had thoroughly prepared the area for today’s outing.

This included clearing and inspecting the riding paths, as well as sending a warning through each village not to pass through at this time.

“Go back. If you have something to say, relay it through Clompo—”

At that moment, the trembling women collapsed to the ground.

“We came to beg for forgiveness. Please… please show us mercy, my lady.”

Richel looked down at the terrified villagers kneeling before her.

Their trouser legs and sleeves were caked in dirt, and their bare hands were red and cracked from the cold.

They hadn’t come by road.

Instead, they had climbed up through the fields and over the embankment.

The women continued tearfully.

“We heard our husbands damaged the road through recklessness. We heard they were going to be exiled… We have lived here our entire lives. Please, we beg you for mercy…”

Richel immediately understood the situation.

These were the families of the villagers who had damaged the embankment.

The women kneeling before her pleaded desperately.

“Please, my lady… Just this once, please forgive them. We’ll do anything from now on. We can do any kind of work.”

Without listening any further, Richel called for Edwin.

He guided his horse over to her.

Dressed impeccably, he looked every inch the count.

Gradually, the desperate cries of the villagers began to falter.

To them, Edwin was a cold and indifferent lord.

He had never once shown any concern for the suffering or hardships endured by those living under his rule.

The villagers kneeling on the ground exchanged uneasy glances with one another.

Then Richel spoke calmly.

“Edwin. Take Uncle and the others back to the estate first. If you follow this road, there’ll be guards stationed along the way. They’ll guide you back.”

The situation with the guests had already turned into a complete disaster.

Richel decided to leave them in Edwin’s care while she dealt with the situation herself.

She looked down at the trembling villagers.

The person who had advised them to do this had taken the worst possible approach.

Edwin looked at her.

“You’re staying here alone?”

“I need to deal with this first.”

“By yourself? How are you planning to manage it…?”

“There are guards following behind us. We just need to wait until they arrive.”

Guards had been stationed along the entire route for today’s outing.

They were positioned at regular intervals along the riding course. Once Richel’s group had safely passed through each section, the guards were supposed to follow behind at regular intervals.

Straightening slightly in the saddle, Edwin glanced behind him.

It would still take some time for the guards to catch up with them, but he could already see faint movement in the distance.

From the back of the group, James urged his horse forward.

Looking down at the people kneeling on the ground, he saw their faces, and his expression darkened sharply.

“To think villagers would charge in like this…”

The villagers recoiled further at his tone.

Some of the children looked as though they were about to cry; their mothers hurriedly covered their mouths and pulled them close.

James clicked his tongue.

“The order within this territory is a mess. After all that explanation about the embankment, this completely ruins the impression.”

Losing control of a single road was clearly a failure of management.

It was not even a complicated issue — it was something utterly basic.

No matter how much the territory had improved or how well the roads had been rebuilt, it could hardly be considered competent governance if the villagers themselves could not be controlled.

‘Of all times for this to happen…’

The thought crossed Richel’s mind, but she quickly suppressed it.

Right now, excuses were not what mattered.

What mattered was resolving the situation.

She spoke calmly.

“I apologize. Internal matters of the territory have disrupted today’s schedule. Edwin will lead the way from here, so please follow him back.”

“You’re remaining here, Countess?”

Cornelia asked.

When something happened within a territory, it was the lord’s responsibility to deal with it.

The lord governed the land, managed it, and bore responsibility for it.

Richel answered honestly.

“This concerns the embankment road. The problem exists because of my own mistake, so I should handle it myself.”

She had been proudly explaining the embankment only moments earlier, and now this had happened.

It was humiliating in every possible way.

‘What else can I do? This is also a result of my own decisions.’

Whenever someone tried to drive a project forward, there were inevitably moments when they had to take responsibility for unpleasant, embarrassing or ugly situations.

Today was one of those days.

After apologizing once more, Richel called Edwin forward.

He hesitated briefly before finally leading his horse forward.

It was only then that the returning guards noticed that the Countess’s horse had been left behind.

Stopping during a ride to rest was common enough.

But being separated from the group was not.

The guards immediately hurried towards her.

“My lady, what happened? Why are you here alone—”

Richel remained seated on her horse, sharply tilting her chin towards the group ahead.

A group of villagers were huddled together.

The guards recognized them immediately.

They were the families of the villagers who had damaged the embankment.

Whenever Clompo toured the territory, these people would appear, begging desperately for mercy.

But by then, it was too late for their pleas.

Clompo had endured their endless pleas so often that he had gone grey from the stress, yet he had never once passed their requests along.

‘And they chose the exact moment the Count’s guests arrived to storm in.’

The guards cautiously watched the Countess’s expression.

Her face had gone completely cold.

She addressed them sharply.

“I was told the entire riding route was inspected this morning.”

“Yes, my lady. We split into groups and checked the roads thoroughly.”

“Then what exactly is this situation? If the inspections were properly done, how did villagers manage to break in here?”

The villagers could not have rushed onto the embankment at that exact moment by chance.

They must have been hiding under it since morning, waiting for the group to arrive.

The guards were entirely responsible for failing to discover them beforehand.

This meant that they had failed to properly inspect the area and manage the situation in advance.

Richel reprimanded them harshly.

“Did I tell you to take a leisurely stroll along the embankment? If you were going to let things turn out like this, what was the point of the inspection at all?!”

The guards lowered their heads without saying a word.

The Countess of Isle was a kind person, but she was by no means soft-hearted.

Above all, she despised careless work like this.

“The family’s dignity has fallen straight into the mud. Does it even make sense that we couldn’t control a single road in front of guests?”

“We apologize, my lady. This was our failure.”

“Report this situation to Hans. Tell him to bring me the full list of guards assigned to inspect this section.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Asking for the list would result in punishment.

Judging by her tone and attitude, the least they could expect was a pay cut — not to mention Hans’ furious reprimands and grueling training sessions.

Richel gestured sharply towards the villagers.

“Drag them out.”

The guards seized the villagers and pulled them toward the edge of the embankment.

“Waaah!”

One of the children burst into terrified sobs.

“S-sorry… We’re sorry. The child is still very young…”

The mother held the crying child close and spoke through trembling lips.

Richel’s gaze fell upon the child’s red, raw ears and neck, exposed to the cold.

Suddenly, the sound of galloping hooves echoed through the air.

Richel frowned and looked up.

“Edwin?”

It was Edwin’s horse.

A purebred stallion, it was entirely black and the most expensive horse in the family’s possession.

It charged towards her at tremendous speed.

Edwin skillfully tightened the reins, slowing the horse down.

He must have ridden at full gallop the entire way, as his hair and clothes were completely disheveled.

The guards stepped aside, still restraining the villagers.

Richel spoke first.

“Why did you come back all of a sudden? Did something happen?”

“No.”

Edwin shook his head.

“I just thought I should stay. This is a matter concerning the territory after all… I had the guards escort Uncle and the others back instead.”

At those words, Richel’s expression darkened immediately.

Leaving guests in the care of guards alone was terrible hospitality.

Slightly angered, she said.

“How could you do that? Your uncle already finds all of this distasteful enough as it is…”

“It’s alright. Uncle was the one who brought it up first.”

“What do you mean?”

“He said that if the Count hid behind the Countess, then it was no different from when I disappeared.”

“……”

“So I admitted my thinking had been shallow and said I’d come help handle things.”

His explanation was delivered so calmly that Richel found herself momentarily speechless.

Anyone could tell James’s words had been meant to emphasize Edwin’s incompetence.

Yet Edwin had simply accepted them and returned here.

“Do you even realize what your uncle actually meant by those words? He wasn’t telling you to help with this—”

“I know.”

Edwin interrupted quietly.

“He just wanted to say I was pathetic.”

And then he smiled cleanly, almost lightly.

A man whose pride once towered above everything was now saying such things without hesitation.

“You… are you actually alright right now?”

In response to her question, Edwin let out a faint laugh as though she had said something absurd.

Richel stared at him for a long moment, her gaze expressing both suspicion and confusion, because he looked too normal.

However, Edwin paid no attention to her reaction.

Instead, he guided his horse closer to hers.

Her earlier words still echoed vividly in his mind.

“This concerns the embankment road. The problem exists because of my own mistake, so I should handle it myself.”

James had openly voiced his displeasure.

Everyone witnessed the disaster unfold before their eyes.

Despite the humiliating situation, however, Richel immediately acknowledged her mistakes and shortcomings.

Admitting one’s failures.

Enduring shame and humiliation without flinching.

These were things that Edwin had never managed to do.

As he rode back with the others, his thoughts remained fixed on Richel the entire time.

He was reminded of the days when he had stood alone in front of mirrors, mimicking her movements time and again.

James’ harsh words had provided him with an opportunity to return to her side.

At this point, the intention behind those words no longer mattered.

Edwin looked straight at Richel.

“I came back because I wanted to see you… No, because I wanted to learn from you.”

What if someone acknowledged their own incompetence, confronted it directly, and endured the subsequent humiliation and shame?

What would come afterwards?

For the first time in his life, Edwin found himself pondering such questions.

He wanted to know how Richel had endured it all yet still kept moving forward.

He wanted to observe her.

He wanted to learn from her.

Of course, Richel had no way of understanding what Edwin truly meant.

She only stared at him in complete disbelief.

“Here? No, wait… what exactly are you trying to learn? How to deal with villagers?”

“Just… everything.”

Edwin answered vaguely.

He could not exactly say that he wanted to learn how to escape his inferiority.

‘What on earth is wrong with him?’

Initially, Richel found Edwin strange, but she soon changed her attitude towards him.

After all, he would eventually have to take responsibility for the territory.

Whatever his approach to ‘learning’ was, it could hardly be a bad thing if it helped with estate management.

Richel shifted her gaze back towards the villagers.

Their clothes were soaked from being dragged through the snow when they collapsed, and their hands and feet were swollen and red from the cold.

Speaking briskly, she said.

“Explain why you came all the way here. Any one of you can answer.”