Rebirth of the Villainess Wife

—Clement of course, turned down my proposal.

The proposal itself was outlandish, of course, but more than that, there was concern for me.

He was concerned that I, as a duchess, wouldn’t be comfortable with a visit to a small village.

Certainly, in his sense, I would have been a boxed-in girl who had hardly ever been to a rural village in my life, from the time I was at home until I married here and lived as a young lady. So it was only natural.

And as for my experience as a twenty-year-old, that was certainly true.

But I have a lot of previous experiences now.

Especially at the end of the previous time… when the wrongdoings of the Dukes of Farrens were exposed and I was being hunted down, I was living a life that would be a much better life for a well-to-do peasant.

I was even sheltered in a farming village to escape my pursuers.

So a farming village was a place that I now feel quite familiar with, even close to.

Of course, there was no way that Clement would understand me when I told him about these circumstances, so I told him a story that would make more sense to him.

That is, that my abilities would have helped Clement.

I have enough power to help Clement, the lord, with clerical work.

And I can see things from the same perspective as Clement.

I thought that it would be helpful to Clement’s governance if I went around to the villages where something unusual was apparently going on. and such.

To begin with, Clement himself has a lot of work to do in the mansion, and when he is not there, he has to spend a lot of time in the royal capital interacting with people from the royal palace, which is a natural obligation for a high-ranking nobleman.

Therefore, it is not so easy to find time to visit the territory directly, and it is not possible to do so frequently.

But what about me?

As the wife of a duke, I also have to organize tea ceremonies and parties.

However, my child has only just been born and is small.

I don’t have to host tea parties and parties at such times, and there is a welcoming culture in this country of avoiding inviting other noblewomen.

In other words, I have much more time to spare than Clement.

Strictly speaking, I also spend more time with Sieghardt than most noblewomen, so I can’t say that I am not busy.

However, during the ten days, I can at least go away for a couple of days away from the mansion.

No, it could even be longer if I wanted to, this is just a rough guide I set up to be with Sieghardt.

And in that case, I would still have to leave little Sieghardt at the mansion. but there are plenty of servants at the mansion who are used to looking after children well enough, and I have no worries about leaving him in their care.

Normally, I should be a little more worried about looking after a duke’s heir, for example, because I have to consider the risk of assassination. but in my case, I know how trustworthy any of my family’s servants are, because I’ve been through it all once.

The servants I asked to look after Sieghardt were only those who shared my family’s fate to the end, including Amalia.

I can say that there is no danger of assassination.

Even so, there are still some defensive magic tools installed without their knowledge, but they probably won’t come into play.

So, in the end, Clement gave his approval about my going out.

◆◆◆◆◆

“…Madame. Are you not tired?”

An elderly servant in the rattling carriage, seated in front of me, asks me this.

His name is Walter.

Until a few years ago, he was the family retainer of the Duke of Farens, but he handed over his responsibilities to his son Ort, and retired himself with Clement’s permission.

However, when he is exceptionally busy, as he was this time, he is often called upon by Clement and Ort to help out in small ways.

I wonder if it’s OK for him to do this even though he’s retired, but he seems to have no problem with it, as it’s a good way for him to earn some extra money.

In addition, he has known Clement since he was a baby, and he appears to enjoy watching him work.

However…

“I’m fine. But I’m sorry. I made you go to all this trouble to do this work when you’re retired… you would have preferred to work by your husband’s side, or Ort’s side.”

Yes.

Walter is riding in the carriage with me now.

The patrol of the rural villages that I proposed to Clement, in the carriage that is running for that purpose.

In other words, Walter was accompanying me this time.

I felt a little bad that he, a retired man who had served as a family retainer, should have to accompany me on a journey that could only be seen as a duchess’ indulgence.

But Walter smiles, moving his well-groomed beard in an elegant manner, and says.

“No, it’s outrageous. I am rather honoured to be allowed to accompany Madame on her journey in this way. In the first place, the Master no longer needs my assistance, and the same goes for Ort. I’m sure Madame would not want an old man like me to disturb her, either…”

“No. No, I’m not. Walter, you are a very good and experienced butler. I’m so glad you’re here. My husband told me that you are also very skilled in magic and martial arts, and with this patrol, it’s even better to have someone like that on hand. But I don’t think we can take members of the Order away from them…”

“Hmm. You mentioned that demons are appearing in the villages… but the reports are not clear.”

“It’s just a guess that Clement and I made from the figures and the remarks. That’s why we decided that we needed to go and see it in person. It’s just…”

“I understand. If it’s true, I hope it will be resolved as soon as possible. But Madame would not be able to deal with all this, That’s where I come in.”

I feel that Walter, who says this to me, is a man who has served as the duke’s family head of household for many years.

However, it’s a little different from what I had in mind… but I can’t speak clearly about it, so I nod vaguely and say

“…Yeah. That would be great.”

I replied.

In fact, I’m going to deal with the demons too…

Well, we can talk about that later, I thought, and I’m not going to explain any more about it.

[We’re about to arrive at the village.]

The voice of the coachman moving the carriage echoes.

It seems that the destination is near.