The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke

Grace looked out the window behind Sally and saw the slightly tattered appearance of the Felton Knights visible outside.

“…By chance?”

Grace asked again.

Sally naturally blocked Grace’s view.

“Yes, by chance!”

Grace thought to herself.

‘No wonder it felt awkward.’

What happens if someone says, “I don’t like navy blue”? Grace didn’t know what kind of creature a Rehton was, but she knew that creatures were generally annoying and troublesome to deal with.

‘Of course, they didn’t catch a Rehton, just to make a cloak for me.’

But for some reason, it seemed like they had just acquired the cloak.

At least Grace had that much perception.

She didn’t want to be a tasteless host who complained about the color of a cloak made from non-lowest-grade creature fur.

“Sally, move aside for a moment.”

Grace pushed Sally aside and approached the window to look outside.

“…”

Some of the knights were huddled in a corner, looking very tired.

“Sally, did you really just happen to find this?”

“W-well…”

Sally hugged the cloak tightly and looked at Grace.

“Did Your Majesty ask you to say you found it by chance?”

“…”

There was silence. Grace narrowed her eyes.

“M-Madam is fragile. The festival is long and there are many people…”

“Fragile?”

Grace looked at herself reflected in the window. She was a thick-bodied creature far from fragile.

“But we didn’t just catch it now!”

“Okay.”

“We’ve been lurking around for a few months to find it.”

“….?”

Grace looked at Sally, wondering what she was talking about. Sally began to speak like a sinner confessing her sins.

“We selected a team specifically to find Rehtons because they’re not active right now. And also…”

“No, that’s enough. Stop talking.”

Grace raised her hand to stop Sally from speaking.

“…hmm.”

Grace furrowed her brow and fell into thought. What should she do about this?

Even if she didn’t think about why Benjamin gave her a cloak made of creature fur, she felt like she should give some kind of compensation to those knights.

Of course, Benjamin would give them fair compensation for their labor, but it was inevitable that she would be concerned.

It wasn’t easy for the knights to lurk and catch the elusive creature just to make the Duchess’s cloak.

‘Hmm?’

Grace narrowed her eyes as she looked at the navy blue cloak Sally was holding.

The golden string on the navy blue cloak had an emerald brooch on its edge.

“…This.”

“Isn’t it to your liking?”

“No.”

Grace knew this cloak.

‘This seems like the first gift Benjamin would give after kidnapping Aria.’

After the Duchess died and Benjamin became a widower, he kidnapped Aria and covered her with a cloak.

Then there was a scene where he smiled and said it suited her well.

‘That smile was affectionate, but Aria was scared.’

Of course, she would be scared. It was natural to be afraid of a crazy person trying to be affectionate.

Grace tried to be subtle again but regained her composure. Yes, Benjamin’s affection towards Grace was all to prove his loyalty to the royal family.

His sincerity was all for Aria and so on. Grace repeated this to herself three times and was able to suppress her rising expectations.

“I’ll just wear it. It seems okay,” 

Sally’s expression brightened at Grace’s affirmation.

“And we should give gifts to the knights who went to get this cloak.”

“Gifts?”

“Isn’t it insincere to just give them money?”

As expected, money was good. But just giving money seemed insincere. Grace pondered.

However, money was good.

While recalling the golden omnipotence prevalent in online communities in her past life, Grace also remembered the days when her home was prosperous but still miserable.

“Besides money… I wish I had something to give”

It would be nice to give them something to eat, but lately, Grace had been on an extreme diet, so there was no sweet food in the annex.

Grace searched her memory and came up with a good idea.

“Can we buy a cookie set from outside that matches the number of people?”

“Yes!”

Come to think of it, Benjamin would give them money, so Grace didn’t need to give anything.

When it comes to money, someone might feel unsatisfied with the amount, and someone else could feel bad about the honor of the knights or something.