Chapter 9 – The Trap Set by the Saintess (Part 5)

“Sigh…”

Ellerdin’s brows furrowed slightly.

‘It would’ve been a big problem if I had just overlooked it.’

Ellerdin looked at the letters she set aside. Unlike the other letters, these were all old and stained.

They were the type of letters written by commoners, not nobles.

“It’s the first time receiving letters from humans other than those despicable ones.”

Nisroch widened his eyes. It meant he had never received letters from commoners before.

‘It’s not a good sign.’

I need to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

Ellerdin slowly opened the letters.

“……”

“……”

As the letters piled up one by one, an endless silence flowed.

Nisroch glanced at Ellerdin to check her mood. She seemed more downcast than any other time today.

“Um… Madam, is it serious?”

Nisroch slyly took one of the read letters. Quickly skimming through it, it was simply a request for help.

‘…It’s something that happened every day?’

Nisroch thought it was nothing, habitually putting the letter in his mouth.

“Stop.”

A voice that sounded like scolding a child doing something wrong stopped Nisroch. Before he knew it, Ellerdin had turned her gaze from the letters and was looking at him with a firm expression.

Nisroch hesitated and slowly spat out the letter.

“You can’t eat it because we need to reply.”

“Do we… need to reply?”

“If we receive a letter, we must send a reply. It’s the polite thing to do.”

Feeling like a lecture was about to start, Nisroch hurriedly changed the subject.

“By the way, the letters all have similar content. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything need you to worry about, right Madam ?”

Seeing his obvious attempt to change the topic, Ellerdin let out a short sigh. She folded the letters, letting it slide.

“It’s a serious situation. The territory residents are asking for help.”

“Well… everyone is asking for help… Is that something special?”

“If it were nobles, I wouldn’t be so concerned. But territory residents are different. It means they can’t live in the place they’ve lived all their lives.”

Above all, sending a letter to this northern region, which everyone shunned, already meant they were cornered.

What should I do with them? 

The lords aren’t taking care of the territory residents, and the residents themselves have expressed they can no longer live there.

“……”

What if I accept them all? The only territory residents here are Lucy and Liam. The system isn’t established yet, and what if bringing them here causes harm instead?

Above all, accepting the migration of other territory residents could cause conflict. It could be used as an excuse to say they were taken away.

But she can’t just leave them like this.

Ellerdin fell into deep thought.

“What are you doing here?”

Before she knew it, Fernan had approached Ellerdin.

“Fernan?”

Ellerdin looked at him in surprise. Wherever he had been, he was drenched in sweat. His sweat-soaked shirt clung to his body, revealing his muscles.

“…Were you exercising?”

“Oh, yes. I felt like I was lacking in management these days… Do I smell?”

Fernan quickly distanced himself with a shocked expression.

“No, absolutely not.”

Ellerdin turned her gaze away, her face flushed. Perhaps because he had just finished exercising, his body seemed a bit larger than usual.

Ellerdin held up the letter to block her view of his clothes that seemed about to burst.

“Hmm?”

Misunderstanding her action, Fernan took the letter from her hand.

“Oh.”

Before she could say anything, Fernan began to read the letter.

‘Of all times…’

It was a letter sent by the territory residents.

It seemed as if she was hinting for him to accept the territory residents. Ellerdin hurriedly stood up and reached out her hand.

“Please give me the letter.”

Fernan raised his arm, holding the letter up as he followed Ellerdin. She stood on her tiptoes, struggling to snatch the letter from his hand.

“Is this why you were so serious?”

Fernan asked with a joyful laugh. He gently guided Ellerdin to sit on a chair, familiar with the gesture. Unknowingly seated, Ellerdin narrowed her eyes.

Ellerdin glared at Fernan with a pouty expression.

“Well, let’s bring them all. We needed to accept the territory residents anyway.”

Fernan spoke nonchalantly, folding the letter and handing it to Nisroch. Nisroch habitually opened his mouth to take the letter.

“Fernan! Nisroch!”

Ellerdin exclaimed in shock at the familiar sight, as if water flowed.

At her shout, Fernan and Nisroch turned to her in surprise.

“It’s because of you?! The reason Nisroch has such a habit.”

“What? I… didn’t do anything…”

Fernan, flustered, raised both hands. As soon as Nisroch awkwardly spat out the letter, Ellerdin quickly snatched it.

“Don’t give things like this to Nisroch in the future. There must be much healthier food for him.”

Ellerdin began to scold Fernan.

‘Master is shrinking…’

Nisroch broke into a cold sweat, looking at Fernan. It felt as if his body was shrinking under her scolding.

Fernan, with a pleading expression, held onto her sleeve with his large hand.

“…Don’t do it again in the future.”

In the end, unable to resist his gaze, Ellerdin awkwardly concluded her words. As soon as the scolding ended, Fernan smiled innocently.

Ellerdin cleared her throat to organize the situation and spoke.

“Then we’ll accept all the territory residents. How should we send the reply…”

Ellerdin fell into thought. Mollek, who had come beside her before she knew it, raised his hand.

“I have a good idea! How about throwing paper into the air saying the duchy is always open?”

“…I’ll handle the barrier, and Nisroch can deal with the monsters.”

Fernan nodded, adding to the conversation.

As soon as they decided on their course of action, everything proceeded swiftly.

Fernan opened the barrier after notifying the Emperor as before, and Nisroch, along with other demons in the castle, came out to deal with the monsters trying to attack people.

Mollek flew to other territories at night, unnoticed, to scatter the papers.

Initially, they planned to target only territories near the north, but Phil and Pearl also helped scatter papers, suggesting they try even distant regions.

“Hmm… I thought many would come, but not as many as I expected.”

On the seventh day after scattering the papers, Mollek spoke while standing in front of the castle.

“Just wait. Do you think humans are like you?”

Celine scolded him as if looking at a younger brother making foolish remarks.

“What did I…”

“Do you know how rough the journey here is? Some places take at least a month. And I guarantee that in two weeks, a lot of people will flock here.”

Celine sighed, shaking her head. Thinking of Ellerdin, who would take care of all those people, worry already started to set in.

‘Madam will definitely try to take care of all of them.’

She was already frail, and what if she fell ill from overexertion? 

Celine looked at Ellerdin with a worried expression.

She was welcoming some of the migrants.

“It must have been hard to come all this way. Please give me your luggage and rest.”

Ellerdin smiled brightly, reaching for the luggage in the woman’s hand.

“Oh, no! How could we dare! Just being accepted like this is…”

“I’m grateful to you for coming all the way to the north. I was hoping for territory residents since we were lacking.”

Ellerdin smiled broadly, putting strength into her arms to lift the luggage.

‘Hmm…?’

Ellerdin, surprised, tugged at the luggage. It didn’t move as if it were filled with stones.

While Ellerdin tried to hide her surprise, a large hand suddenly appeared from behind. Fernan easily lifted the luggage with one hand, as if her struggling was an exaggeration.

“Please let me handle things like this anytime. You mustn’t get hurt.”

Fernan wrapped one arm around Ellerdin’s shoulder and lightly kissed her cheek.

“Fernan! There are people here…”

Ellerdin lowered her head in embarrassment. Her ears to her neck turned red, showing how flustered she was.

The people present looked at the duke and duchess with shocked expressions.

‘Oh my…’

‘How could they be so…’

‘Cute…!’

Everyone had the same thought simultaneously. It was the first time they saw nobles so unreserved and visibly in love with each other.

However, the more shocking fact was that the duchess, who they thought would be scary, was so cute and considerate of others.

Moreover, the duke, rumored to be a monster, looked like a puppy, following the duchess with a face full of adoration.

We were wrong all along.

People stared blankly at the duke and duchess.