The Abandoned Duchess Seems to Want a Peaceful Life - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Pioneer Settlement and the Bodyguard Knight's Principle

"It's coming into view... but are you truly going, Madam?"

Cedric, riding alongside, asked through the carriage window.

"Cedric, there's no way I'd turn straight back after coming all this way."

"But a serf settlement is not a place for you to set foot in. It is unsanitary, and they have no manners."

"Expecting serfs to observe the etiquette owed to royalty is the unreasonable thing. We are the ones going to ask them for work, so I have no intention of telling them to conform to our ways."

Cedric wore an expression that was exactly half anxiety and half displeasure. To the earnest, rigid bodyguard knight, serfs were those who faithfully carried out what they were commanded, and a lord was one who gave commands.

Into that, a vague, equal word like "ask" had no room to enter, surely.

From Cedric's attitude, his distrust of Melfina came through keenly.

An ignorant noble daughter who had fled her husband's house the day after the wedding and was now playing at being a lord at the edge of the country. What kind of education had she received? It was deplorable and irritating. Even so, because of their ranks he had no choice but to obey. Perhaps it was something like that.

What she was actually doing was utterly unconventional, so it could not be helped if he thought so. It was unreasonable to expect him, who had lived earnestly as a knight, to take Melfina's actions kindly.

While she ignored the silent Cedric, the carriage driven by Rad reached the entrance of the settlement. A simple fence to keep out beasts ran all around it. There was no gate, only a section left open and a trodden path of sorts.

At night, they probably drove stakes into this open section as well and set up a simple fence.

When she stepped down from the carriage, several children were watching them with a mix of curiosity and fear. When she crouched and beckoned, a boy who seemed to be their leader, the eldest, approached slowly.

His ill-fitting clothes were adjusted with a cord tied at the waist. The sleeves and hems were frayed and ragged, so worn that they looked as though they would tear easily if pulled hard. The other children were all dressed the same way.

"Madam, please stand up."

"Hello, I'm Melfina. Will you tell me your name?"

"Rod!"

"Rod. Could you bring one of the adults of the village, preferably the leader? If he's working, his wife will do."

"Okay!"

Rod said so energetically and ran off. The children who had been watching from a distance followed after him.

"Madam, to kneel before a serf..."

"It's better to talk to children at eye level."

"They are not children, they are serfs."

"We'll talk about that later, Cedric."

What Cedric said was by no means wrong.

Nobles managed their people and commoners, and part of what protected them was behaving arrogantly, as though they were of a different order of being from commoners. The notion of democracy and equality before the law, as in her previous life, would get one's sanity doubted here just for saying it aloud.

For someone like him, from a noble family and holding the rank of a knight, where hierarchy was strictly defined, it was Melfina who was violating that order all the more.

It was natural that her values, carrying her previous life's memories, and those of Cedric, born and raised in a society where class was taken for granted, did not mesh. Because her rank was higher, he obeyed, however reluctantly, and it was plain that dissatisfaction was building within him.

Somewhere, they would need to sit down and properly reconcile their intentions.

—If it were the Duchess Melfina von Oldrand of the original game, she would have brushed him off with "a mere bodyguard knight has no business interfering in what I do," and might even have struck him across the face with her fan.

She knew that if she behaved overbearingly, Cedric, so strict about rank, would have no choice but to fall silent, but she could not do such a thing, and she did not want to. As she was thinking so, a man was pulled along by Rod, and children running around them came toward her. She smiled warmly at the fact that there were more children than before.

"Um, sorry to keep you waiting, I..."

"No, I'm sorry for calling so suddenly. I am Melfina von Oldrand. I am the Duke of Oldrand's wife, and I have newly become the lord of the entire Enkar region. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Um, I'm Nid. I'm, well, supposedly the leader of this settlement."

"Thank you for your work. Is the clearing going well?"

His thick beard made him look older, but judging from the vigor of his voice, he was probably not yet in middle age. He was trying his hardest to answer politely, but, not being used to such language, he nearly bit his tongue at times.

"Now that winter's over, we starve the children less often. As for the clearing, we've cut back the forest to a degree and made some flat land, but growing enough crops to pay taxes is still difficult..."

Nid spoke haltingly, choosing his words, but his answers themselves were sound. His language was not too rough, and he did not seem to fear her to excess, as Lutz, the chief of Enkar Village, had.

"No, I haven't come to talk about taxes. I won't make any unreasonable demands. Could you show me a bit of the land you've cleared?"

"Understood. Then, um, shall we go by carriage?"

"If you're going on foot, so will I. Rod."

The boy who seemed to be Nid's son trotted over at the sound of his name.

"Little knight, will you show me around the settlement?"

"Yes! Big sister, are you a princess?"

"Not a princess, but a lord."

"The Lord, then! This way!"

He was probably used to looking after younger children, for he took her hand quite naturally, and at the instant she smiled at him, there was a whistling sound of something cutting the air. It lifted her long golden hair lightly, and in the next moment Rod's small body was blown away.

"What—Cedric!"

"Insolent wretch. This lady is the Duchess. A serf has no right to lay hands on—"

Melfina thrust out both hands and pushed his chest with a thud, and he did not get to finish.

Against a thoroughly trained knight, whatever a noble daughter who had never lifted anything heavier than tableware could do was probably no great impact. Cedric did not so much as stagger, but his eyes widened in astonished shock.

"You will say no more, Cedric."

"But Madam—"

"Silence! If you cannot obey my orders, go back to the ducal capital this instant!"

She did not like to shout in anger. But she could not stay silent. She rebuked Cedric and ran toward Rod. He was holding his stomach with his arm, so he had probably been kicked. The thin boy lay on the ground, having tumbled backward.

"Rod, Rod! Are you all right?"

"Ow... I'm fine. I did a proper roll."

"Did you hit your head? A blow to the stomach is frightening. Even if you feel fine, rest today."

"I'm fine! I fell off the big rock in the west the other day too, and I was fine!"

Rod grinned broadly, but his small body was trembling. Of course it was. Anyone would be terrified at being suddenly assaulted by an adult man, a stranger, far larger than himself.

She put a hand to his back to help him sit up and checked whether his color was poor and whether he had hurt anywhere else.

His face and arms were faintly covered in dirt. He was skinny, with the bones showing at the joints of his limbs. His clothes were crude, ragged cloth with a coarse weave; it must be cold even though it was spring. In this region, where winters were especially severe, had they been able to keep properly warm?

It could not be an easy life. Many times, their spirits must have grown rough. Even so, this was the boy who had taken Melfina's hand and smiled and said he would show her around the settlement.

"I'm sorry. I truly am sorry."

"The Lord didn't do it, so you don't have to say sorry, you know?"

"No. What my bodyguard knight does is the same as what the lord does. So I'm truly sorry."

Rod did not look convinced, but eventually he nodded slightly.

"I forgive you. I forgive you, so I don't mind, so please don't say sorry, Lord."

"Thank you. You are a kind child."

She took Rod's hand and stood up. After checking again that he wasn't unsteady and didn't feel ill, she turned to Nid, who stood rooted to the spot.

"We'll go home for today. I am truly sorry for the violence done to your son."

"No, no! You shouldn't apologize, Lord! It was my boy who was presumptuous and touched your hand, and..."

"It's all right. I was the one who asked him to show me around, so Rod did nothing wrong. If he feels unwell, please send word to the manor right away."

After telling him thoroughly, she returned to the carriage.

Cedric looked as if he had swallowed a stone, but she had no wish to speak to him now.