Elena turned her head away and snorted.
"...Got it."
Old Buck stared at her for a few seconds, nodded, then turned and left.
Elena remained where she was, watching the old man's back vanish at the end of the alley, and suddenly felt a little irritated.
She, Elena, the Grand Duchess of Iris, actually had to promise a country blacksmith that she would not bully anyone.
Irritated as she was, though, she truly did not argue back.
Because during those final years of her previous life, Saina had been the only one to bring her hot soup late at night and massage her shoulders.
Though that foolish woman had used enough force to crush someone's bones while massaging them.
Elena tossed her riding whip onto the table and shouted at the guards.
"What are you standing around for? Paint that wall! At the very least, this dump has to be cleaned up before anyone can live in it!"
The guards shuddered and scrambled off to find brushes.
Outside the courtyard, as Old Buck was walking back to the blacksmith shop, Martha came up to him.
"Well? What kind of attitude did that girl have?"
Old Buck lit his pipe again and took a puff.
"She's not a bad person."
"How could you tell?"
Old Buck did not answer, merely stuffed another puff of smoke into his mouth.
He could tell. Although that girl radiated an air of arrogance from head to toe, when a doddering old man like him laid down conditions, she had actually agreed.
She had not been brushing him off. She had meant it.
For a noble young lady to be held in check by the words of an old countryman, she had to have at least some conscience in her heart.
Martha was still chattering beside