The sun slowly set behind the strider's wall. An orange light beamed onto the sky as final goodbyes of the sun. At least for tonight.

The wagon took an old dirt road towards the farm. It was to dodge the guard patrols that take place on the main road.

The farm was far from civilization. One would thank that means it would be guarded by many soldiers, given that the Duchess of Neustadt lived there, but the truth was different.

As they arrived at the farm, only one room had any lights on.

Only the Duchess lived here. Alone.

The wagon did not stay for much. The moment the two jumped out in the back, the driver whipped between the horses and left towards the nearest town.

"Rude." Naomi drew a frown. "Seems like people don't really like the Duchess. Or at least those who are affiliated with her."

"How come you think that?" Gabriel asked while approaching the entrance.

"Just think about it! Shouldn't there be any guards? Or at least some patriots? If there was at least one person in this world who cared about the Duchess, we couldn't just waltz through the front door like this!"

Gabriel took a long stare at the front door. There was a square-shaped hole, covered by a mosquito net. It was the cheapest form of ventilation for a room with only a few windows.

Gabriel peeked through the thick wall of the net and saw a small table inside. The table was set with dishes, glasses, and spoons.

The Duchess entered the room with a large pot in her hands. Warm steam flew out of the pot, which was so hot, that the Duchess had to hold it with oven gloves on her hand.

She placed the soup in the center of the table and adjusted the spoons with the same depressed expression. She took the napkin laid next to her seat and wiped the sweat off of her forehead.

She lowered the napkin to put it down when seemingly she had an idea. Carefully, she looked around to make sure nobody was looking. She held the napkin closer to her face and when she was sure no one was looking, she licked the sweaty napkin.

"Ph!" She spat with a disgusted look. Clearly, she regretted her latter action, and already felt shameful about it.

But of course, that did not mean she would not do it again. And she did.

Much to the same results.

Gabriel watched the girl through the cover of the door with her eyes wide from the shock. Naomi was right next to him, gazing at Her Majesty with a confused and slightly curious look.

"Does sweat really taste that bad?" He thought aloud, but Gabriel stopped him before doing anything he could regret.

"Quit being so childish! Speaking of," He peeked through the door once more. "It was already weird that there were no guards around the farm. But don't you think her parents should at least be around? Just how old is she?"

Naomi rubbed his chin.

"Well, even if she's an adult, she's clearly not in shape to defend herself. Maybe she's an orphan?"

"Even then, she should at least have a bodyguard."

"Maybe people really do hate her so much that nobody wants to defend her. But then why is she still a Duchess? Why doesn't she resign?"

The number of questions only grew as they observed the silent royalty sit in her chair. She gazed at the steam coming from the soup, not pouring any for herself, but patiently waiting for the two men to arrive.

She looked depressed, broken to the very core.

The two men realized her pain. Naomi proposed a plan, and after Gabriel hesitantly agreed, they burst through the front door.

The Duchess nearly fell back in her chair from getting scared.

"Good evening, Duchess!" Naomi approached her with a wide smile. "Looks like you prepared quite a meal, aye?"

"We did not know you were such a good cook." Gabriel repeated his line with a blank expression.

"Aye-Aye!" Naomi nodded. "I can't wait to taste your delicious food! What ingredients did you use? Carrots? Uh… Potatoes? I'm not sure what soups are made of."

"Soup-dust." Gabriel answered sarcastically.

"Yes, that!" Naomi nodded even faster. "But I'm sure you soup-dust is better than anyone else's, Miss Duchess!"

She looked at him with the same expressionless eyes. Although she got scared, which certainly changed her look, it only strengthened her dissatisfied frown.

If anything, she felt like being surrounded by two monkeys.

Not saying anything, she stood up from her chair and poured soup for the two.

It was a mixture of all vegetables around the farm. Inside the soup were potatoes, carrots, green beans, and small pieces of nokedli, a type of small noodle with eggs.

It lacked the necessary amount of salt to be tasty enough, but considering the many different plants and goodies she cut inside, it was tasty enough for one to say it was good.

Considering she was an amateur in the kitchen, and someone who most likely self-taught cooking without any help, it was safe to say she made a pretty good job.

Naomi tasted the warm soup. He slung the soup from one side of his mouth to another, playing around with his tongue to have all his taste buds get a good look at her soup.

"Six-and-a-half out of ten." Naomi rated the food.

Gabriel was quite fascinated. This was the first time he would taste the food of whom he considered in his previous life as "lowly folks" and "commoners" at best.

However, putting a spoonful of vegetables and nokedli in his mouth, it did not take long for him to regret ever looking down on such godly food.

"This is incredible!" Gabriel gasped after swallowing the warm goods. "To think I've been missing out on something so good!"

Completely lacking any elegance, he savagely bombarded the soup without saying another word. In a matter of a few seconds, he had already eaten more than half of the steaming hot food.

"H-Hey!" Naomi tried to raise his voice. "Have some decency, man! Where did all that elegance of your go––"

A switch went off in his brain.

Fighting so many monsters and living through so many near-death experiences, he forgot just how hungry he was.

Now that all the adrenaline pumping in his veins disappeared, he finally felt hungry again.

"I take it back!" He spoke while gobbling the goods. "This soup is amazing! Ten out of ten! Just please bring us some more!"

The Duchess' expression did not change. However, her frown was no more. She stood up and approached the kitchen to refill their pot.