ESHPS 10

Chapter – 10

Roshane had spent her entire life watching Duke Leilaten’s moods. Of course, this was a one-sided memory seen only from Roshane’s perspective.

However, it was true that the Duke did not have a good relationship with her.

But why was he getting so angry now?

Roshane tilted her head.

“That’s not what I—”

“Silence!”

The Duke shouted in fury, and all the household servants flinched and quickly lowered their heads.

Reading the atmosphere, Roshane also slowly lowered her head.

“What were you all doing while the person you serve was climbing a tree?!”

“We were cleaning up after dessert…”

“You’re not telling me you were so busy putting away a few plates and teacups that you didn’t even notice your mistress climbing a tree, are you?”

“We-we’re sorry, Your Grace!”

The maids who attended Roshane threw themselves flat at his feet. But the Duke paid no attention to their voices.

“Call the head maid. I will have them all dismissed.”

“Your Grace! Please forgive us!”

“We’re sorry!”

“What I need are people who move exactly as I command, not those who look around, think for themselves, and act however they please.”

As the Duke coldly rebuked them and turned away, Roshane stepped forward and quietly blocked his path.

“Duke.”

“Roshane, move aside.”

“If the attendants who serve me must take responsibility for this accident because they took their eyes off me, then shouldn’t the same apply to you, Duke?”

“What?”

“Then who should I call? Should I summon the Emperor and ask him to replace my father?”

The already frozen atmosphere turned even colder. The maids, still kneeling, looked at Roshane’s back with tearful eyes as she stood protectively before them.

“Roshane. Are you really trying to defend them by speaking to me like this…?”

“It’s the parents who should never take their eyes off their child. If even my own parent doesn’t look at me, how could strangers possibly respect or follow me?”

“So you’re saying this is my fault, Roshane?”

“The way the people in this estate treat me, what they think of me… all of it begins with you, my father, the Duke. When you treat me like I’m nothing and trample over me, who would ever think to treat me as someone precious?”

Duke Leilaten pressed his lips into a thin line. His wrinkled jaw looked tense with anger, yet at the same time as if he had been struck speechless by the truth.

“So don’t blame innocent people, Duke. Even if you replace them, don’t think the new ones will treat me with respect. No matter who comes, I will still be…”

“……”

“…Roshane Leilaten, the illegitimate child who is not loved by the Duke.”

The Duke’s blue eyes—identical to Roshane’s—trembled like ripples on water.

“So get up, all of you.”

“M-Miss…”

“I was the one who asked you to clean up. Who else would be at fault?”

“But… but…”

The maids looked at Roshane’s back with trembling eyes.

The small back that had always seemed so timid was now standing straight.

“Didn’t you hear what the Duke just said? You serve me, so you should follow my orders. Stand up.”

At her gesture, the maids hesitantly rose from the floor.

Even after seeing this, the Duke said nothing.

“Duke. I’m busy, so I’ll be going now.”

Roshane gave a small nod and left first. The servants who attended her followed after her.

“Your Grace.”

The butler, who had been observing everything from behind, approached the Duke and carefully examined his expression.

“About Roshane.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“No… it’s nothing.”

The Duke stared intently at Roshane’s retreating figure. It occurred to him that this might be the first time he had looked at his daughter for so long.

It was the middle of the night.

Roshane, who seemed to be fast asleep, quietly opened her eyes. After confirming there was no presence around her bedroom, she changed into the light activity clothes she had prepared beforehand.

I should see how the world has changed while I was sealed away.

Earlier that day, after climbing the tree and seeing the vast plains, she had wanted to see with her own eyes how the rest of the world had changed.

After all, it was land she had once protected.

It would have been easier to simply walk out through the gates during the day, but the Duke’s refusal to allow her outside was the problem.

I’ll be back.

Dressed in comfortable clothes and wearing a robe to cover her face, Roshane stepped onto the window frame. Then she leaped out.

Her body traced a wide arc through the air before landing safely on the ground. Of course, that didn’t mean the landing was painless.

“Ugh.”

She rolled onto her shoulder. She wasn’t seriously hurt, but unlike when she had the body of a hero, she now felt the pain directly.

“This body really is…”

Hard to get used to.

Used to throwing herself into danger without hesitation, Roshane grabbed her shoulder and stood up, scanning her surroundings.

Fortunately, since she had sensed any presence beforehand, no one was nearby.

I should fix that habit of throwing my body first too.

Moving quietly like a cat, she slipped out of the Duke’s estate.

The estate security was quite strict, but of course that posed no problem for Roshane.

If I want to understand the state of the world, I should look in the darker corners.

She moved swiftly and entered the night streets she knew so well. Streets that were full of people and children during the day were completely different at night.

Drunks sprawled across the ground, men shouting curses as they fought, children pickpocketing unsuspecting passersby, and mercenaries openly carrying knives.

The night streets were not a place for ordinary people to walk safely.

The Empire is rotting.

With her robe pulled low, Roshane walked through an alley. It didn’t take many steps to see the reality clearly.

It was very different from the peaceful scenery she had seen from the tree earlier that day.

The inside of the Empire is decaying like this…

Roshane suddenly thought of the Emperor who had summoned her only to wage wars. But it wasn’t just this Emperor.

For generations, the imperial bloodline had always been brave.

They loved wars they were certain to win and reckless territorial conflicts.

It was a dangerous addiction—an addiction to war.

Naturally so. The Empire had a hero. From the beginning, it was a game they couldn’t lose.

“Please! Please! My father hasn’t eaten for days!”

Roshane stopped walking when she heard a desperate cry. In front of a shabby, collapsing house, a child was holding a middle-aged man and crying.

“Please let him at least have a piece of bread!”

“Who’s stopping him? Buy it.”

“If you take rent and street fees… we don’t even have enough money for bread, let alone my father’s medicine!”

“Then pay the rent and the fee and buy it with what’s left! Who told you to earn so little?”

A large man shouted harshly at the child, who barely reached his thigh. The child flinched but did not step back.

“We pay the rent every month! We already pay taxes to live here—how can you demand another tax just for standing here?!”

“Kid, maybe you don’t understand yet, but the world is just unfair like that. No one else here complains. Maybe you’re the strange one?”

“That’s because everyone is scared of you!”

“And you’re not scared?”

The grown men pointed at the child and burst into loud laughter.

Rent and street fees?

As if drawn by something, Roshane changed direction and walked toward the child.

“Thugs!”

“…What?”

“Thugs! Criminals!”

“Kid, maybe you need to experience firsthand why nobody dares talk back to us—ugh!”

As the large man reached toward the child, someone grabbed his hand hard.

The grip was unusually strong, forcing a grimace onto his face.

“I’m curious too,”

the person holding his hand murmured quietly. It was a woman’s slender voice.

“Show me why nobody dares say anything to you.”

Roshane was no longer a hero. She was merely a noble lady who could have ignored this situation.

No one knew she was a hero, and no one would have blamed her if she had turned away out of fear.

But Roshane did not turn her back.

It was part of her identity, forged through centuries of protecting this land and its people as a hero.

I’m wearing a robe. As long as I don’t reveal myself, no one will know who I am.

Everything living on this land was beautiful and precious to her.

All life was a gift she had protected.

And anyone who threatened that life… was an enemy.

“I can understand charging rent. But charging a separate street fee too? Even the Emperor doesn’t go that far.”

“Ggh!”

Even though her face was hidden by the robe, her small frame made her gender obvious. Combined with her voice, she was clearly a woman.

The man tried to pull his hand free, but it didn’t budge. In fact, the grip only grew stronger.

Even hardened mercenaries lowered their eyes around here—yet he was being overpowered by a woman like this?!

“You just thought, ‘she’s just a woman,’ didn’t you?”

Roshane muttered, seeing straight through his crude expression.

“It’s fine. You’re not the only one. Everyone thinks that when they first meet me. That I’m just a woman. And then…”

“Aaaagh! My hand!”

“They only come to their senses after they experience it themselves.”

Roshane lightly twisted his wrist and then flung him aside.

She was no longer a hero, but some habits didn’t disappear so easily.