Reincarnated Duchess 1

Once someone saw the figure of the Saint of Light, they wouldn’t think of anything but her.

Upholding the rumor, many engagement-breaking incidents occurred recently among the high-ranking aristocrats of the Kingdom of Hollandia.

Mia, the Saint of Light, came from another world.

Her beauty was like an angel’s and her healing power divine.

Suffice to say, all the ladies of the social circle were displeased by her strong womanly charm.

“—Duchess Alicia Grants, do you have any last words?”

Towards Prince Maximilian’s words, Alicia behaved with dignity.

“None.”

No matter how much of an unparalleled beauty Mia was or how much she resembled the Goddess, to the point of being called the Goddess’ reincarnation—surely, there would be those that wouldn’t fall prey to her charm.

At the very least, not the Crown Prince. After all, he was a prince, he could’ve put up some resistance against Mia’s charm, right?

Alicia believed so—Alicia tried to believe so.

“You’ve attempted to assassinate the Saint of Light, Mia. Prior to that, you were bullying her. Someone like you doesn’t deserve mercy.”

She already knew how useless it was to argue.

After all, Alicia’s father, Duke Grants, and also her brother, Albert—were completely infatuated with Mia.

Even though she was convicted by such outrageous claim, no one would help her.

Alicia also had a magic shackle and collar attached to her. She was wearing cotton rags and was pulled by a rope to climb to the execution site.

Next to Maximilian, Saint Mia trembled in apparent fear.

People all extended their hands towards Mia who fell from another world.

Mia became an adopted daughter of the Earl family. Her appearance in the social circle was akin to a comet.

Afterwards, Mia made countless high-ranking aristocrats fall high over heels for her, one after another.

Alicia would have to admit that she indeed harbored a grudge against that holy woman who had finally managed to win even the Crown Prince’s heart—

—but, to all the Gods above her, Alicia swore she had never bullied the holy woman, nor even attempted to assassinate her.

“—prepare the execution!”

Maximilian declared out loud.

The soldier grabbed her by the shoulder and led Alicia to the decapitation table.

The moment Alicia’s engagement with the crown prince was decided, she truly felt pleased. She wanted to lead a fulfilling life alongside him.

Alicia never said it—but she did favor Maximilian.

She even promised to herself—I will be a worthy partner for him—one that is suitable to stand by his side!—

—and she made sure to give her damnedest.

But all is wasted! Because of someone who hailed from another world, my own world collapsed!

Purse your lips and keep looking forward.

She told herself to be strong, that she mustn’t lose sight of herself until the moment she died—

—for I am the prideful daughter of a Duke.

…If, If I’m reborn, I’m fine with being a blade of grass or a piece of wood, even a stone is fine.

I want to be reborn without a heart.

She could see Maximilian, and the sort of scary face he was making.

That wasn’t the way someone would look at their former fiancée, but at the despicable sight of filth.

The moment Mia distorted her mouth in repugnance, a sharp blade struck Alicia’s neck.

The last thing Alicia saw was of Maximilian gently comforting Mia, who covered her face with both hands as she burst into tears.

Then, the 18-year-old short life of the duke’s daughter Alicia Grants came to an end.

—however, the lady who was so fed-up with being reincarnated as yet another Duke’s daughter was reborn into a poor baron family.

“Alright, alright, as I thought, Ally’s stories are always fun to listen to. Even though you’ve never once seen a duke, you can describe their lifestyle with such a great amount of detail. It feels so real.”

“Right? Okay, Jean, time to go to bed. Since yesterday, your fever hasn’t dropped.”

17-year-old Ally smiled and gently stroked the cheek of her sickly younger brother, Jean.

“I’m tired of sleeping.”

Jean, ten-years-old, puffed his cheeks.

“Come now, if you say that, there will be no dinner for you. Keep in mind that today, I’ve procured a beef shank from Mr. Masudai, the butcher.”

“What!? Really!? That’s great!! Dinner will absolutely taste great!”

Ally hurriedly tried to seize her little brother who was jumping around in a raggedy pajama.

A different life, a different environment, a different name, plus a dear little brother—

—That was everything she received after reincarnating for the tenth time.

Jean was sick, as such, it would be troublesome if he exerted himself—but honestly, he was so cute!

Once he grew up, surely, his constitution would also become sturdier. Above all, he was the poor baron’s eldest son. As such, he would never be prey of ‘Saint Mia’, because not only was he poor, he also had to take care of fields like a peasant.

Jean thinks all my stories up now were fairy tales, but they’re actually true.

In my past nine lives, that holy woman Mia always fell from another world.

But Ally was Alicia no longer. It shouldn’t matter if Mia fell or not.

After all, she was but the member of a Baron family. She wouldn’t be invited to gorgeous balls and other grand events.

Her scholarly father, who would always bury himself in books every day, was an anomaly to the aristocratic society.

Even if Ally attempted to make her social debut at the age of 17 as per society rules, she didn’t have the necessary budget to tailor a dress.

Didn’t matter, though. For Ally had decided to live leisurely in her territory while nursing her younger brother.

On behalf of her father, who kept doing fruitless research, Ally was selling part of their territory. However, compared to that of the Grand Duke’s territory, theirs was only the size of a sparrow’s tears rather than the forehead of a cat.

Her tenth life as Baroness Ally Crunea was hard, in a sense. She had been plowing the fields since she was six-year-old!

“Ohohohohohoho~! But for me, this is a transcendental easy mode~! Blisters and sunburn mean nothing when compared to being beheaded~!”

After adjusting the heat of the shank stew in the kitchen, Ally gripped her hoe and went outside.

Anyway, her house was small. After a meager ten steps, she was already treading on farmland.

The income obtained from the Baron’s land was insignificant, and it was difficult to improve the living environment of the peasants as it was.

But Ally had the accumulated knowledge of all her nine previous lives as a Duchess. A portion of the income was turned into an investment which quickly paid off.

It could be said that the sum was quite hefty, since not only could she build new houses for peasants to live, she was also able to create a small hospital and a school.

“Well, I’m now flat-out broke~! But, I’m sure those people will eventually help Jean in return. Therefore, I have to cherish my people~!”

A hospital was needed for Jean, and the school was also important. Since Ally didn’t plan on ever being a bride, she deemed both dowry and having various dresses unnecessary.

“Aah~ yes! I can feel the soil~! This is what being alive meaaaans~!”

The people of the territory would always gaze warmly at Ally whenever she plowed the field in boisterous excitement.

“I—! Will—! Live—! Here—! Forever—!”

Fardon, the Royal Capital, was far away from the territory of the Baron Crunea.

She never saw Maximilian, and she didn’t know what he was up to because her current location was too remote to gain any information.

“I did make sure that there’s no Alicia in the Duke of Grants family, though!”

After she managed to trace the information back, Ally said in tearful relief—“—good, there won’t be any Duke’s daughter to be executed anymore.”

Back in her first life, she lived normally until she reached 18 years of age.

Then, everything started to become weird in her second life.

“When I thought I was dead due to the decapitation, I rewound to the age of seven when my engagement was made official. Then, I returned to the age of thirteen, after that, 17-years old—then finally, 18-years-old. It’s as if I can’t escape from that conviction!”

Well, in the end, she did manage to go through those repeated lives.

In her tenth life as Ally Crunea, she started life from birth again. Her memory returned when she was seven years old, when usually, it would return on either her eighth or ninth birthday.

Unlike the idiots of the Duke Grants family, the Crunea family was truly warm.

Her father was Joseph (39), her mother Floria (35), and her little brother, Jean (10).

They may be poor, but they were a good family.

“Ally, Ally—! Where are you—!?”

“Yes, Mother, Ally is here~!”

It was super convenient to have farmland near the house. Ally smiled and waved her hand.

“My, Ally~ you mustn’t forget that you’re still a Baron’s daughter! You should be more modest…!”

“Forgive me, Mother, for I have run out of modesty…”

While thinking back about her previous nine lives as a Duchess, Ally wiped mud off of her face.

“What happened, Mother?”

“Ah, right! There’s something very important I need to discuss with you! I recommended you to be a maid at the royal palace! My, you, becoming a royal palace maid, that’s the most honorable thing that could happen to the daughter of a baron!”

“—Huuuuuuuuuuuh?!”

Even within their territory, Ally and her mother always talk (shout) with each other so much that it wasn’t surprising that they came to be regarded as the ‘noisy wife and young lady duo’.

Although this time, there was a difference in the contents of their screams.

Her mother was screaming with joy while Ally was screaming in shock.

“N, n, no way—!!! I’ve decided to never step a foot in the royal capital for the rest of my life, let alone work at the royal palace—!!!”

“But, but, if you become a maid, you can get a lot of money! Ally, all this time, I’ve kept it a secret, but Jean’s illness is actually serious. He won’t be here for long unless he gets an operation at the royal capital.”

“—you’re lyiiing—!!!”

Ally fell down helplessly—fortunately, she landed on the soil she had just cultivated. She got muddy, but she didn’t get hurt.

“To think that I would be involved with Maximilian upon reaching the age of seventeen…”

After investigating various ways and worrying that she might die, in the end, Ally decided to serve as a maid in the royal palace.

Crown Prince Maximilian Orlando was now 19-years-old. For some reason, though, he had no fiancée.

“Jean is truly ill… and just to afford the front payment of the surgery, I had to borrow about three years’ worth of living expenses… even then, I still can’t pay for the actual surgery…”

However, if it was for the sake of her precious Jean, she was alright with it.

Also, even among the royal maids, those that hailed from the families of mere barons were of the lowest of the low. As such, it was unlikely she would even cross paths with the prince.

There were some cases where truly beautiful maids were appointed as ‘hands’ for royalty, but in those cases, what mattered more was the house the woman was born into. The daughter of a duke or an earl was more likely to be appointed as hand.

“In that case, there’s the fifth princess Stila. Because her mother is a low-ranking servant, she’s treated coldly …if I become her maid, everything should be okay.”

Not wanting to meet Maximilian < wanting Jean to live.

Therefore, Ally decided to become a maid.

No matter how much she thought about it, she wasn’t Alicia, but Ally—everything should be fine.

“For the time being, I’ll be a bystander who will only watch the sequence of events following Mia’s descent. It may be terrifying, though… to see the sons of high-ranking aristocrats fall one after another, and finally, Maximilian himself…”

Since she had no money, Ally used a wagon. On the way towards the royal capital, she sometimes stayed at the houses of her father’s acquaintances along the way. Suffice to say, it was quite a long journey.

To travel all by herself at the age of seventeen without any danger like that, was perhaps solid proof that Ally wasn’t a beauty.

“After the first execution, I was in terrible shock, but afterwards, from the second to the ninth executions— “yes, yes, jeer at me as you like! Laugh!”—that kind of mental development happened to me, maybe to cope with the resentment…”

After rewinding her life nine times, in all of which she struggled in vain and died, she didn’t want to see Maximilian ever again.

At the same time, it seemed like after her second life onwards, due to having too much to digest, oftentimes she felt unsure of her reality.

“…I wonder if I was really a duke’s daughter?”

As the royal capital approached, the doubt intensified.

Perhaps it was as Jean said—the memories of her previous lives might be the product of her wild imagination, if not delusions.

“Well, first things first—(1) Never involve yourself with Maximilian, (2) Do not approach Mia, (3) Enjoy the entertaining show from afar, and be sure to keep to the previous two rules.”

Influential men from all over the kingdom would be captured by Saint Mia. It was quite possible that it would lead to the kingdom’s utter destruction.

She felt that it wasn’t a bad thing to enjoy watching the end in the place of Alicia, who no longer existed.