The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke

As Grace had a terrible thought and turned pale, a young woman ran towards them with a large envelope in a hurry from a distance.

The children noticed the woman and smiled happily.

“Teacher!”

“Sorry, kids. The store I was going to was crowded today…”

The woman who seemed to be the teacher divided the stale bread one by one from the envelope. She noticed Grace and was surprised.

“Are you a C-customer?”

“Probably looks like a customer.”

“She’s a customer!”

The child who still held onto Grace’s cloak insisted that she was a customer. The orphanage teacher understood the situation and sighed briefly.

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no. It’s okay.”

The woman seemed to know that the soap she had produced was not something that could be sold.

“Are you the director of this orphanage?”

“Oh, no. I’m not the director. I was just a teacher.”

“…?”

Grace looked puzzled at her vague answer. But she couldn’t pry any further. It seemed like she didn’t want to explain anymore.

Grace glanced at the old building.

‘If it’s an orphanage, they must receive donations.’

Even if the donations were not a large amount, there was no need for them to sit there with soap that wouldn’t sell like this.

‘Ahan.’

Grace quickly understood the situation after looking at the woman’s calloused fingertips.

Ignoring whether the director of the orphanage had run away or not, it was evident that he was embezzling money from the orphanage. The woman, referred to as “Teacher,” was taking care of the children and appeared to be collecting money from sources that had been overlooked, in addition to taking on side jobs to provide for them.

‘What a world where good people suffer.’

Grace pondered.

Should she just buy all the soap here and now?

Or should she donate to the orphanage in the name of the Duchess?

‘No, that’s not it.’

Those were only onetime solutions.

Buying soap would only solve the problem for today, and donating in the Duchess’s name was something Grace couldn’t do if she divorced.

‘There must be a way to receive donations again or become self-sufficient without receiving donations…’

Grace’s gaze returned to the soap. The children looked up at her with bright eyes.

The woman spoke to Grace incoherently, 

“Oh, did the kids bring you here? I’m really sorry.”

“What’s your name?” Grace asked.

“Pardon?”

“Ah, I’m Grace… Linden. It was impolite of me not to introduce myself first.” 

Grace started to introduce herself as Grace Felton but corrected herself as Linden, her maiden name.

“I-I’m Cleta Dunn,” the woman said, nodding her head with a bewildered face.

“Okay, Dunn.”

“Dunn, to be honest, I have a lot of soap at home, so I don’t need to buy any.” 

Cleta nodded her head with a dark expression.

“But festivals are the perfect time to buy useless things.”

“….”

Grace looked towards the square. It was still a little past lunchtime.

‘There’s still plenty of time…’

It was a sign from someone to not just pass by but to help.

“My Lady, here you are.”

While Grace was thinking about what to do in her head, Benjamin approached with two drinks of cordial.

“…My Lady?”

“….”

Benjamin looked around and noticed Grace’s serious expression.

Grace muttered.

“Just a moment…”

“Yes?”

“Um, would it be okay if I did something else?”

“….”

At the mention of doing something else, Benjamin looked at Grace with a puzzled expression. Grace added hastily,

“I mean, I know it’s a festival and I know Benny isn’t the kind of person who should do this kind of thing…”

Grace had been confident in front of Cleta, but for some reason, she felt small and timid in front of Benjamin.

Grace’s voice became smaller and smaller.

Cleta, who had been watching them and keeping an eye on their conversation, called out to her.

“Ms. Linden?”

Benjamin realized that Grace’s name was “Linden” and one of his eyebrows raised slightly.

“…Linden?”

“Oh, this is my husband.”

But when Grace introduced Benjamin as her husband to Cleta, his eyebrow immediately returned to its original position, and he spoke in his usual gentle voice.

“I can do anything, it’s okay, My Lady. Don’t worry about it.”

“…Wouldn’t it be better for Benny to just enjoy the festival alone?”

“What joy is there in enjoying it alone? If I help, it will be over quickly. Please ask me for anything. We can finish quickly and enjoy the festival again, can’t we?”

Of course, only if he can be of help. Benjamin nodded with a gentle smile.