Chapter 71
That night, as soon as Donghee returned to Grace Castle, she lay limp like a corpse while the maids attended to her bath. She was so exhausted that she didn’t want to lift a finger.
“Delma, you must be tired too. Go and rest.”
Although Delma had run around all day just like Donghee, she seemed to be in better condition.
“I’m fine. I’ll sleep after seeing that my lord has gone to bed.”
“If you stay here watching me, it’ll only make you more tired. Just go and sleep. On your way, tell the steward and the treasurer to rest as well. I can’t do anything more today.”
Before ending her day, Donghee usually received a report from the treasurer about Grace Castle’s current financial situation and construction costs, and from the steward about construction progress and labor management. She didn’t need to know every detail, but she had to at least keep track of how far along the work was, how much money had been spent, and how much remained.
“Yes, my lord.”
Delma no longer insisted and quietly left the bath.
When warm water embraced her whole body, it felt as though all her fatigue melted away.
“It would be nice if our villagers also had a bathhouse. If I could build a public bathhouse for them, that would be wonderful.”
But for now, there wasn’t even enough drinking water. Unless a hot spring suddenly burst out of the ground, building a public bathhouse in such a barren village was impossible.
She felt a little guilty, as if she were indulging in luxury alone.
* * *
The construction that had gone on all day didn’t stop even after the sun went down and nothing was visible. Instead, torches blazed all over the construction site.
Hidden at a distance, watching and waiting for the palisade to be completed, Batre’s group grumbled.
“When the hell are they going to stop? Don’t they sleep?”
“Exactly. We can’t do anything until they’re done.”
Around the palisade, knights dispatched from Grace Castle stood on strict guard in case of emergencies. When Uno stumbled and fell with a thud, the knights even came close to patrol after hearing the sound. If not for Albert—who, despite his age, still had sharp eyes and ears—their plan would have ended before it even started.
Even after Batre’s grumbling, the construction dragged on for hours until dawn finally broke.
“Persistent bastards, they actually finished it.”
Uno muttered as he watched the Builder inspect the last section of the completed palisade.
After construction ended, the Builder walked from one end of the palisade to the other three times, carefully checking for weak spots, gaps, or unstable sections that might collapse when shaken.
“What’s the point? We’ll be attacking from the sky anyway.”
Uno chuckled as the Builder kept inspecting again and again. But Batre’s face hardened as he watched the man refuse to leave even until dawn.
It felt… unsettling.
Destroying one or two weak villages was nothing to Batre. In fact, he once considered it his duty to end the lives of people crushed by poverty, believing that death was a mercy compared to their daily suffering. But Morta Village was different.
Instead of despair, all he saw was people struggling fiercely to survive. Despite working endlessly, smiles never left their faces. Even the children, whose labor was exploited, were no exception.
“They’re still just serfs.”
Batre muttered through clenched teeth as the Builder finally left after his last inspection.
At last, only the knights—standing guard in shifts—remained around the palisade.
Batre signaled his men. Like shadows in the dark, they moved swiftly and silently toward the palisade.
Pressing their backs tightly against the wooden wall, they pulled limp baby Qulen beasts from their pouches.
After sprinkling sleeping incense at the cave entrance to knock out the adults, they had sneaked in and stolen only the cubs. Now, with their throats slit, the cubs hung like gutted fish, blood dripping onto the ground.
“Boss, should we roast one of these? I heard Qulen meat is really good for men, if you know what I mean.”
Uno lifted one of the carcasses with a sly grin.
Batre shot him a chilling glare for joking at such a critical time. The others, too, clicked their tongues and shook their heads. Embarrassed, Uno slowly lowered the dead cub.
“Spread out. Splash the cubs’ blood around the palisade and throw the carcasses at intervals. The mothers will be waking up soon.”
With a quick signal and curt whisper, Batre gave his orders.
* * *
When Donghee woke in the morning, the first thing she did was stretch to loosen her stiff body.
“Ughhhh! Arms, legs, shoulders—everything aches. What a pathetic body.”
Her body was slim, which was nice, but it tired easily and left her groaning in pain all night.
“This won’t do. I need to build stamina.”
She decided to start exercising a little every morning. Then she wondered if maybe the Hidden Shop sold something that could help.
“Wait, didn’t I buy strength-enhancing gloves from the Hidden Shop before? Where did I put those?”
She had purchased them with Hidden Points long ago but had never really used them.
Now that she remembered, she rummaged through her vanity and drawers, recalling she had stashed them away somewhere.
“Where did I leave them…”
She finally found the gloves in the bottom drawer of the vanity. They looked ordinary—delicate lace, finely woven, nothing special.
“How much stronger do they make me, I wonder?”
Slipping them on, she glanced around her room, then approached a heavy armchair.
“No way these would let me lift something like this… right?”
Tilting her head, she grabbed the chair with both hands—only to lift it effortlessly.
“What, seriously?!”
The chair, which she could never have lifted alone, felt as light as a teddy bear. Excited, she tried lifting other pieces of furniture around the room.
After testing for a while, she dusted her hands and came to her conclusion.
“The bed is still kinda tough, but wow… this is basically Avengers-level.”
As she grinned at the gloves, a knock came at the door.
“Come in.”
This morning, Anna entered first, not Delma.
“My lady, did you sleep well—huh?! What happened here? Was there a thief?!”
Anna had come to help her lord get ready, but the sight of the room shocked her: chairs, tables, even the vanity were all out of place, the whole room a mess.
“No thief. I was just looking for something.”
“You, my lady?!”
Anna blinked as she looked between the disheveled room and her smiling lord.
“Where’s Delma? Is she sick?”
“Oh, yes. She tried to get up earlier, but she’s burning with fever. She took medicine and went back to bed.”
So Delma had just as weak a constitution as her. Donghee was only slightly better because she could still move around.
“Anna, after breakfast, please call the steward and treasurer to my office.”
“Yes, my lady!” Anna replied with sparkling eyes.
Chloe Grace’s outfit was a pair of culottes and a comfortable blouse. She had thrown away suffocating corsets that made her breathless after a few steps. Loose, comfortable clothing made her feel alive again.
“How do I look?”
Even without her usual dresses, the sight of her lady made Anna’s eyes widen in admiration. Without heavy jewelry, she seemed even more graceful and dignified.
“You look beautiful and noble.”
Anna’s answer was sincere.
“It doesn’t look strange?”
Since it wasn’t a familiar style in this land, Donghee was curious how others would see it. Though she had asked the tailors to make them, this was her first time wearing culottes outside her room.
“It looks wonderful! Everyone would want clothes like that.”
The perfect answer. Someday, women here too would walk freely in pants, and Grace would be the first place to embrace it.
As she smiled at her reflection in the mirror, a bright blue status window popped up before her eyes.
– The palisade construction in Morta Village has been successfully completed. As a reward for making the village much safer, you receive 1,000 Hidden Points. Congratulations! 🎉
The Builder must have finished the palisade. She was happy to get the points, but she also felt proud and moved for the villagers who had worked so hard through the night. She wanted to clear quests quickly and earn more Hidden Points, so the villagers could live safer lives.
Donghee opened her status window to check the changes.
[Status Window]
Username: Chloe Grace
Occupation: Part-timer / Lord of Grace Territory
Abilities: 2 / Terrain Info Lv.1 (Morta Village only), Lv.1 advice in Architecture & Agriculture
Physical Level: 2 (Side-effects overcome, powered up by gloves – may vary depending on whether gloves are worn)
Activity Range: 4.5 / Basement one-room, convenience store, Borim-dang and surrounding area, entire 1st floor of supermarket
Traits: 2 / Still a poor territory (without “dirt-poor”). ★Obsessed with choco roll bread, likes to brag over small things. Growing into the role of a lord. Commendable. Still terrible at naming things.
Villager Affection: –2,000p
Inventory (Lv.7): Storage, Base Capacity (0/800)
mp: 1,235 / 86,400
Wearing the gloves had boosted her physical level to 2. For some reason, the “dirt-poor” trait had disappeared, leaving only “poor territory.” Villager affection had risen significantly, now at –2,000. She might even escape the negatives by the end of the day.
Donghee was smiling proudly at the status window—when suddenly, the once-blue screen turned blood red.
