Who Brought the Head Maid Back? - Chapter 23

The words stammered by one person broke the dam. Suddenly, a chaotic flood of voices erupted from everywhere.

“It’s hot! In this season, it’s actually hot!”

“What is happening? How did this even come to pass?”

“Have I gone mad? Or have we all lost our minds at once?”

“Is the world ending right now?”

No matter what happened, children were always the fastest to adapt. Scrawny kids with lanky limbs ran through the courtyard, giggling.

“Wow! This is great!”

“It’s so nice because it’s warm!”

At that innocent sight, the faces of the adults, who had been frozen in fear and confusion, gradually softened. They, too, began to bask in the balmy weather bit by bit. Flowers of laughter bloomed here and there.

” ”

Amy stood with Noah atop the outer castle wall, gazing down at the scene. Her eyes fixed on the fields stretching past the village. The snow was slowly melting, revealing patches of brown earth and green sprouts.

Amy thought to herself:

‘I really have regressed.’

It was a strange feeling—as if all the emotions she had suppressed while rushing to prepare for the North were suddenly washing over her now that she could see the proof.

She had confirmed many times that events from her past life were repeating, but she had never felt it as viscerally as this.

Leaning both hands on the stone railing, Amy’s eyes sparkled as she suppressed a surge of excitement.

‘Now, there is nothing to stop us.’

The days at the Grand Ducal Castle began with vibrant energy.

“Hey, kids, move it! Rocks coming through!”

“Eek!”

Stonemasons carrying marble slabs shouted with fierce faces, causing children herding goats and sheep to scream and scatter. The animals leapt and bounded after them.

In the kitchen, the stoves were kept hot from dawn. The new chef Amy had hired stirred a massive pot of soup, barking orders at the clumsy apprentices. In the corner, maids and servants were occupied with preparing a mountain of ingredients.

In the warehouse across from the kitchen, servants sliced sausages that had been drying on rafters, and young maids carried them into the kitchen in overflowing baskets.

Sturdy servants hauled water from the well without rest. Boys from the village with soot-stained knees steered carts loaded with wooden barrels of flour across the center of the courtyard.

” ”

Noah looked down at the entire scene through his office window. Behind him, Joseph reported in a voice thick with emotion.

“The guards and village farmers departed at dawn. They are heading south to secure seeds.”

Since the climate had changed, the crops to be raised and harvested had to change as well. The North, which once could only grow frost-resistant plants by breaking frozen earth, was about to undergo a massive transformation.

And at the center of that change was Amy.

“Where is Amy?”

Noah asked, turning away from the window. Joseph tilted his head.

“The Head Maid? I’m not sure. She was at the guardhouse until a moment ago.”

“I should go see her.”

Noah strode out of the office immediately. Then, he came to a sudden halt. Joseph, who had been scurrying after him, nearly slammed his nose into Noah’s back.

Noah reached into a small basket on a table, took out some dried apples and pieces of cheese, placed them in the center of a handkerchief, and carefully wrapped them up.

“Your Highness? Why that?”

Joseph asked, bewildered, but Noah didn’t answer and headed outside. As he descended the stairs and entered the courtyard, people greeted him warmly.

“Your Highness! Did you rest well?”

“Hello, Grand Duke!”

Everyone’s faces shone brightly. It was as if changing the weather had changed people’s personalities. Rita the maid mentioned that even Old Man Vince, famous for always being angry in the village below, had been smiling constantly lately. Such was the destructive power of warmth.

‘It would have been better if the entire territory—no, the whole North—could have become warm.’

The effect of the magical tool only extended to the direct fief. Only about one-third of the territory’s climate had changed.

Fortunately, according to the scouts Amy had sent, that one-third of land was the most fertile farmland. Which meant…

‘The North’s bitter food shortage is almost over.’

If they bought seeds from the south and cultivated crops suited for this land, no one in this fief would starve to death within a few years.

“Wow, it’s the Grand Duke!”

Noah waved to the jumping children and walked quickly toward the guardhouse atop the gate. As he rounded the storage tower, he spotted Amy standing in front of the gate, deep in serious conversation with Dwayne and Jack.

“Am !”

He started to call her name happily but stopped short. Amy suddenly made a face of absolute exasperation and began thumping Dwayne’s back. Dwayne made a show of being hurt, hid behind Jack’s back, and pouted while grumbling something. Amy pressed her hand to her forehead as if she had a headache.

Laughter erupted from the people surrounding them. The castle staff looked at them with affectionate eyes. Since good things had been happening ever since Noah became Grand Duke, the group was being treated as a kind of lucky charm—an amulet—by the residents.

Among them, the most popular were undoubtedly Noah and Amy.

“Excuse me, Head Maid. Would you grant a blessing to my daughter?”

A woman wearing a tattered headscarf shyly presented a young girl to Amy. The child’s face was flushed red, confirming she truly admired Amy.

“Well, if you’re happy with someone like me, I’d be glad to.”

Amy looked like she didn’t quite understand why such requests were flooding in, but she readily kissed the child’s forehead.

“Listen to your parents and grow up healthy.”

As she offered the blessing in a soft voice, bright smiles appeared on the faces of the mother and daughter. Afterward, she waved to them until they were out of sight as they walked away bowing repeatedly.

“People are so strange. Do they really want a blessing from the Head Maid when she hits me like this?” Dwayne grumbled. “She’s a bit too violent for an amulet, don’t you think?”

Jack, listening nearby, took a step away from Dwayne to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Amy glared at Dwayne in silence before turning to Jack.

“I’d like you to depart as soon as possible. When will you be ready?”

Jack grimaced. “We have to reorganize the patrol units, so we can leave in two days at the earliest. You said it’s Viscount Seymour’s territory to the west?”

Jack sighed and muttered weakly about needing to memorize the map first.

“Don’t worry, Head Maid. I’ll definitely find it.”

Dwayne spoke with a beaming smile, as if he had already forgotten the previous few minutes of grumbling. Amy looked at him skeptically but eventually nodded.

“Amy.”

Noah finally stepped forward. Amy turned to him, her face lighting up with a wide smile.

“Your Highness. What brings you all the way here?”

Amy hurried over and checked Noah’s condition. It had been two months since they arrived at the Grand Ducal Castle. The boy had filled out and grown a bit taller, likely thanks to eating and resting well. Amy smiled proudly at his healthy complexion.

Noah handed her the handkerchief filled with food. Amy accepted it naturally, unwrapped it, and began munching on the apple and cheese pieces as she spoke.

“I would have come to you if you had called.”

Noah shook his head as he watched her finish the snacks in an instant and shake out the handkerchief.

“You’re busy, Amy.”

“No matter how busy I am, I’ll drop everything and come if you call. You know that.”

Amy tidied Noah’s clothes, straightening his collar. Every time her hand brushed against his neck or the back of his hand, a pink hue tinged Noah’s cheeks. The onlookers watched the scene with pride and satisfaction.

“Have you had breakfast?”

Amy led Noah toward the hall. The people surrounding them scurried back to clear a path. As they walked, Noah shook his head.

“Not yet.”

“Why? I told Joseph to take you.”

Amy frowned, and Noah gave a cheeky grin.

“We can go now.”

“Shall we?”

The two walked along, chatting comfortably. As they entered the corridor, dazzling sunlight poured into the central courtyard.

“Amy, about that.”

“Do you mean the magic tool?”

Amy understood exactly what Noah was referring to, even without him naming it. Noah nodded and looked at her with a slightly worried expression, wondering if she was offended.

“How did you say you found it?”

” … I heard about it from someone.”

Amy hesitated for a moment before speaking honestly. Noah bit his lip and asked cautiously again.

“Who did you hear it from?”

” ”

Amy fell silent and gazed at Noah. His eyes were wavering, as if he felt he had overstepped. Just as the flustered boy was about to say she didn’t have to answer, Amy replied.

“They are someone who has already passed away. I heard it in passing. I wasn’t sure at the time, but since I was in the North anyway, I looked for it. And it really was there. I was lucky.”

“I see…”

Relief and joy appeared on Noah’s face in succession. As he walked, looking straight ahead, his fingers drummed rhythmically against his thigh.

Amy watched him and, deciding to share one more thing now that she was being honest, spoke up.

“Dwayne and Jack, whom you saw earlier, will be leaving the castle soon.”

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