***

After settling down and finishing dinner, night quickly fell.

However, I couldn’t fall asleep until the fingernail-sized moon cast a bright light.

It could have been due to the changed environment or because of the horrific beheadings I had witnessed for the first time in my life.

“Mmm.”

Leaving Irena tossing and turning, I exited the carriage and saw knights standing guard.

When I gave them a light nod in greeting, they bowed their heads in return.

Turning my head, I also saw the Grand Duke leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. Why was he there when there was a perfectly good tent?

I sent him an annoyed look, then walked with muffled footsteps. To reach the bonfire, I had no choice but to pass in front of him.

At that moment, a low voice entered my ears.

“My lady.”

Of course. There was no way I could sneak past unnoticed.

I sighed faintly and answered.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

He spoke with his eyes still closed.

“How would you have dealt with the bandits?”

“I would have killed them.”

I answered his second question calmly, and the Grand Duke’s eyelids slowly rose.

I was reflected in his golden eyes, which had deepened in the bonfire’s light.

He tilted his head slightly as if telling me to continue. A vein nearly popped in my head at his arrogant posture, but reminding myself that this was a class society, I mentally gave myself a knock on the head.

That made me feel a little better.

“Your Highness. Are you troubled by what I said earlier?”

He remained silent. Reading agreement in that silence, I plopped down on a nearby tree.

“It’s a ruler’s concern.”

Yes. While he was merciless to criminals, he wasn’t a person who didn’t know compassion. The fact that he listened to my fuss about Mia proves that.

Under the night’s sentiment and the bonfire’s atmosphere, my gaze toward him softened a bit. So, I changed my mind about giving a perfunctory answer and leaving.

Rustle-

The Grand Duke quietly took in the sight of me making myself comfortable and opening my mouth. I gazed at the harmony between the blazing bonfire and the night sky as I spoke.

“The bandits’ circumstances were a tiny bit pitiful, but I don’t think that justifies murder. They had to receive proper punishment.”

By the standards here, that punishment was execution. Perhaps because this was a fantasy world, it was very straightforward.

Not that I enjoyed watching an execution scene live.

Humans are multidimensional, so there’s no such thing as absolute evil. That’s why both the Grand Duke and I feel uneasy about the bandits’ situation and can’t sleep.

Hmm. Or maybe not the Grand Duke?

Anyway, looking at the Grand Duke, who was staring at the bonfire with his eyes lowered and a languid expression, I continued.

“But after punishment, it’s worth thinking about why they had to be that way. What the problem was. Because Your Highness can prevent the same things from happening again.”

He smiled self-deprecatingly.

He seemed to think my words were idealistic.

Well, even when I lived in South Korea, the same incidents kept repeating.

Managing numerous lords in a place without infrastructure wouldn’t be as simple as in novels. The shoulders of those with power are always heavy.

Soon after, a low voice resonated in my ears.

“What solution do you have in mind?”

A solution. I blinked a few times and erased the smile that had been on my lips.

Then, with a serious face, I met his eyes and raised a hand to my neck.

“First, we should slash the throat of the lord who rules Hellin village.”

As I made a slitting gesture across my neck, he laughed slightly, curving his eyes.

His eyes, visible beneath his eyelashes, were blazing in the reflection of the bonfire.

“And then?”

“Then!”

I shook my clenched fist, and he chuckled once more at my exaggerated gesture.

“Your Highness should think about that.”

As I looked directly into his eyes and curved my eyes, he curved his eyes as well.

“My lady. I believe I told you I don’t like wordplay.”

But the content was chillingly cold.

That warning made my knees weak, but if he had been serious, he would have cut me down already.

Or not? Does he also give two chances?

Glancing at his waist, fortunately, his hand wasn’t on his sword.

With newfound confidence, I shrugged.

“But it’s true. Just because you identify a problem doesn’t mean you have a solution with it.”

“Then I would watch my mouth until I could present a solution together. If I were you, that is.”

He recited another warning in a monotone voice. But it was my principle to finish what I started saying.

“Then it would take ages to solve, and more people would suffer in the meantime.”

“You have no fear.”

He said with a smile, but his eyes were somehow coldly blazing.

I hoped it was because of the bonfire, but it didn’t seem like it.

Now was the time to exercise restraint. However, in this moment, without anyone to stop me, my mouth didn’t follow its owner’s will and kept babbling on its own.

“Your Highness. Knowing and turning a blind eye is a sin.”

“A sin. Who judges that sin?”

At his low question, I quietly pointed to the sky with my index finger.

“God.”

Ignoring his disbelieving laughter at my words, I lowered my finger and pointed to his chest.

“And your conscience.”

Instantly, his lips hardened.

I immediately tried to smooth things over by smiling brightly and changing the atmosphere.

“Ah, I got carried away by the night sky and spouted a nice quote. Well then, I’ll be going now.”

Abruptly-

No, I stood up to escape. But he stood up with me.

I carefully watched whether his hand went to his sword.

Though even if I did, he could draw it in an instant if he wanted to, so I would die without even knowing I was dying.

As I observed him with a bright smile, his lips opened.

“We should part ways at the next territory.”

“Why?”

“Didn’t my lady say so?”

He raised the corner of his mouth and brought his hand to his neck.

Then he followed my earlier action and drew a line across his throat. It seemed he intended to start by punishing whoever was the lord of Hellin village.

His execution speed was incredibly fast.

“There won’t be any monsters from here on. But just in case, I’ll assign you a few knights.”

“Yes. Thank you for everything so far.”

Even though we’d arrive tomorrow and there wouldn’t be any monsters near the Grand Duke’s residence, I smiled and expressed my gratitude for a beautiful ending. And I felt that I shouldn’t act out anymore here.

When I gave him a clean farewell, he twisted up one corner of his mouth with a strange expression.

“My lady seems pleased to part with me. Your expression has brightened.”

I had tried not to show it, but apparently my joy had leaked out.

“Not at all. But I was worried that if I entered the Grand Duchy with Your Highness, it might cause a scandal.”

“So being associated with me would be a scandal for my lady.”

He was an expert at nitpicking. Typical of those in power.

“The scandal would be for Your Highness, being associated with an illegitimate child.”

“That cannot become a scandal for a Kalschmitz.”

“Yes. I suppose so.”

Only after I responded with a sour expression and a reluctant answer was I finally released from him.

I gave a slight bow, and he nodded his head. Then we walked in opposite directions.

I couldn’t even enjoy looking at the bonfire and got caught by the Grand Duke for nothing, just having my energy drained. Walking while grumbling only inwardly in case he might hear, someone approached me.

Turning around at the presence, I saw Sion.

“Lady Lora.”

“Yes?”

“Are you alright?”

“Of course. I had a very enlightening conversation with the Grand Duke.”

I couldn’t say I was tired and annoyed in front of the Grand Duke’s back which hadn’t yet disappeared, so I expressed it with my face.

Sion looked at me with a pitying expression.

“I’ll escort you to the carriage.”

“No. I’m going somewhere for a moment.”

Besides, the carriage was only a minute away, so there was no need to escort me.

As I headed toward the forest, Sion followed.

I said to him with an awkward face.

“Sion. Don’t follow me.”

“It’s Tangerous.”

“I’m going to the bathroom.”

“….”

Leaving Sion, whose footsteps had stopped abruptly, I muttered as I entered the forest.

“Can’t even go to the bathroom freely in this damn Grand Duke’s land.”

Then I didn’t forget to check if the Grand Duke had heard me.