TISND Chapter 42

Chapter 42

The assailants who attacked Helena were permanently exiled.
No lives were lost, and only minor injuries occurred.
On the surface, it seemed like everything had been resolved.
But Helena found herself growing increasingly cautious about venturing outside.

As expected, her father had begun to act.
He started gathering funds at an explosive rate, presumably to target Frantor.
The first to suffer were innocent civilians.
Under absurd pretexts, their lives were destroyed, or they vanished altogether.

Helena believed such incidents would only continue, with worse to come.
As she bore these concerns alone, rumors began spreading among the townsfolk.
In the factory, where workers were cutting leather and hand-stitching as usual, conversations sparked.

“Did you hear the Duchess was attacked?”

“What? By whom?”

Normally, news of the Duke and Duchess being attacked would be kept quiet for security reasons.
Yet, strangely, this incident spread faster than any before.

“Apparently, it was people who lost family or suffered under Count Eskel.”

“Well… Eskel being Eskel, I suppose.”

It was a case too delicate to discuss lightly.
As outsiders, it was impossible to take sides.

While they pitied the Duchess for being attacked, the victims’ stories were equally tragic.
Count Eskel was nothing short of a walking disaster.
He disrupted peaceful lives regardless of status, noble or commoner alike.
And the Duchess was, after all, his daughter.

She might now be the beloved mistress of Frantor, but the fact that she was Eskel’s daughter cast a shadow.

“Is that why the mistress hasn’t been going out recently?”

“Apparently so. She hasn’t been to the clinic or the factory lately. She’s staying locked up in the manor.”

A woman stitching muttered softly.

“I get it, though. She must be scared someone might try to attack her again. And knowing her, she’d never want to burden others…”

“They say she let all the attackers go unharmed.”

The townsfolk harbored mixed feelings about Helena.
Of course, the Eskel people were despicable and deserved punishment. But Helena—the Duchess—was different.

“At the very least, she should be able to live in peace here in Frantor.”

Then someone murmured,
“What do you mean by that?”

“Think about everything the Duchess has done for us. She’s made it so we can visit the clinic without fear, and we no longer dread the winters.”

“That’s true.”

“And now she’s working on developing medicine, isn’t she? She’s only ever done good for us.”

Helena was nothing more than a young, delicate girl barely past twenty.

“Of course, the Eskel scum deserve divine retribution and the most excruciating torment imaginable. But the Duchess… well, at least here in Frantor, she deserves respect.”

A shy, kind-hearted, and intelligent young woman.
A girl so gentle and reserved, yet she endured humiliation simply because she was Eskel’s daughter.

“We should be repaying her kindness, not leaving her afraid to walk freely in Frantor. It’s heartbreaking.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?”

“Help? What could we possibly do?”

As the workers began discussing earnestly, others in the factory, curious, joined in.

“At least here in Frantor, we should make sure she feels safe.”

“How? We can’t fight.”

“We don’t need to fight. We just need to stay by her side.”

The workers paused their sewing, brainstorming ideas.

“We could surround her and protect her. That way, no assassin would dare come near. And if one does, we’ll just rip their hood off!”

“Good idea! We’ll strip them of their disguise and hang it in the town square for everyone to see!”

“Let’s spread the word to as many people as possible. We’ll protect the Duchess ourselves! That’s how we can repay her.”

“Wait, I’ll tell the people at the clinic too!”

—

That day, Helena had no choice but to step outside.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid…”

Helena muttered, clutching her head in frustration.
She’d failed once again to create a viable plan for her so-called “Destroy the Eskel Family” strategy.

In truth, she had a rough outline in mind: gather information, find evidence, and expose them.
It sounded simple, but the execution was far from easy.

The biggest issue was her lack of confidence.
Aiden’s words held her back like chains: ‘It’s a futile effort. You’ll only get hurt. In the end, you’ll achieve nothing.’

“Could I really do it? Could I truly bring down my father’s family?”

Fear and hesitation kept her from forming any concrete plans.
If she had known it would come to this, she wouldn’t have told the victims to trust her and wait.
Here she was, afraid to even step outside.

But today, something felt… strange.

“Duchess! It’s been a while!”

“My Lady!”

Usually, the townsfolk would greet her briefly and quickly move on.
Helena’s shy demeanor played a part, and most people were busy with their own errands.
But not today.

“Why… why are they following me?”

After stepping down from the carriage, the residents she encountered began trailing behind her.

Flustered, Helena timidly asked,
“Haha! It’s just because we’re so glad to see you, my Lady.”

“Oh, what lovely weather we’re having today.”

The growing crowd even started scanning their surroundings with sharp, vigilant eyes.

‘What is going on? Did something happen?’

Completely unaccustomed to such displays of kindness, she couldn’t bring herself to reject them.
Reluctantly, she made her way to the factory, her steps slow and hesitant.

With every step she took, more people joined her.
By the time she entered the factory, she was surrounded by a sea of people.

‘Am I going to be dragged to some secluded place and stoned to death?’ she wondered anxiously.

Inside the factory, the crowd encircled her, their faces beaming with smiles.

“You’re as radiant as ever, my Lady. By the way, the items from Countess Enphirem arrived last night.”

“Th-thank you…”

Once again, she felt overwhelmed. Helena found people’s kindness almost unbearably awkward and embarrassing.
And with so many gazing at her with such admiration, all she wanted to do was disappear.

There were far more people here than usual.

‘Stay calm. Focus. Just get this over with and leave before my face bursts from blushing.’

“I’ve brought some cake today. It was an accidental over-order from the manor, so please enjoy it without worry.”

With that, Helena hurriedly tried to make her exit, hoping to flee the overwhelming attention.
But from the factory all the way to her carriage, the road was packed with people.

“Good day to you, Duchess!”

“Thank you for the care you showed my son at the clinic last time.”

‘Why… why are there so many people?’

Helena’s face turned bright red.

“Hurry inside. It’s far too chilly to be out here—you’ll catch a cold…”

Her voice grew quieter and quieter as she spoke.
Realizing she was advising them to avoid catching a cold, the townsfolk couldn’t help but laugh warmly.

‘What’s going on? Why are they acting like this? What’s with these people?’

Helena bolted back to her manor, fleeing as fast as she could.

—

Already feeling small and overwhelmed, the sudden crowd left her completely flustered.

‘Did I do something wrong again?’

‘Could it be that Father has caused trouble again?’
That thought weighed on her mind.

Late at night, she heard movement outside her room.
“Jeremy?”

When she opened the door, she found Jeremy sitting in front of her room, trembling in the cold.

“What are you doing out here in the hallway? Did you come to see me?”

“Who said I came to see you? I was just… just sitting here in front of your room!”

“In front of my room? Why?”

Her sharp question caught him off guard, his eyes widening in surprise. Then, his face flushed red as he burst out,
“I came to patrol and make sure no assassins were sneaking in!”

“…You knew about it?”

“Of course I knew! How could I not?! Why didn’t you tell me? I’m strong enough to protect you! I could take down any assassin with just one finger!”

Helena touched his cold ears and cheeks. It seemed he’d been sitting in the hallway for quite some time.

“You’ll catch a cold sitting out here. Come inside.”

“I-inside your room?”

“Yes, it’s late. Let’s sleep together. I’ll let you stay here tonight.”

“Sleep together? Yes! Let’s do that!”

For someone claiming to protect her, he was now eagerly asking to stay with her.
Helena chuckled at the child’s innocence.

‘He was worried about me.’
The realization warmed her heart.

She stoked the fire in the hearth and tucked Jeremy under a soft, goose-down blanket. Before long, he was fast asleep.

Knock, knock.

“Helena, may I come in? Is Jeremy in there by any chance?”

“Come in.”

At her permission, Joshua entered the room. He spotted Jeremy sound asleep on the bed and chuckled.

“I knew it.”

“Sorry. I ended up worrying both you and Jeremy because of this mess.”

“Yes, you did. We were really worried.”

“…”

“Do you know how much the townsfolk were worried about you?”

“Huh?”

“Father let the people know about what happened. And when they heard, they volunteered to help protect you.”

The townsfolk who had surrounded her earlier that day, as if shielding her…

‘So that’s what it was about.’

Her eyes began to sting with emotion.

“So, if things get dangerous, don’t dig yourself into a hole. Tell us anytime.”

“…”

“If you don’t, I won’t forgive you. That would mean you don’t trust us.”

Grumbling, Joshua picked up the sleeping Jeremy and left.

Left alone in her room, Helena sniffled softly.

“…It wasn’t meaningless after all.”

At first, she had thrown herself into the clinic and her business out of guilt.
But that wasn’t the reason anymore. Looking back, she realized she wasn’t alone.

People had stayed by her side. People who cared about her.

When she first arrived in Frantor, she had felt nothing but despair.
But now, things were different.

She’d come to see the warm side of the man she loved.
She’d met children she wanted to see grow happy.
She’d encountered people who worked hard and looked forward to tomorrow.

And for those people, she now felt a desire to protect them.

Even if it seemed futile. Even if, compared to Caligo, her actions seemed small and insignificant. It didn’t matter.

She didn’t want to stop. She just wanted to protect them and love them, as she did now.

She didn’t want to hesitate anymore.

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