“Hey, she wouldn’t have put poison in the resting area.”

Even so, because they used their bodies all the time, muscle pain was something they had to live with.
While everyone hesitated, one of the brave servants who was scratching his cheek opened the pain relief gel first.

“Well, there’s no harm in giving it a try.”

Opening the lid, a sticky, transparent liquid spilled out.
Without hesitation, he put the gel on his hands.
When he applied it to the painful area according to the instruction manual, he felt a cool feeling along with a pungent smell.

“Oh?”

He let out a small exclamation at the unexpected sensation. It was a sensation he was feeling for the first time in his life.

“What should I say? My muscles feel cool… Ahem, it’s difficult to explain in words. But what’s clear is that it feels pretty good!”
“How do I use it? I want to try it too!”

Everyone was doing work that used their bodies. People who were suffering from muscle pain brightened their faces when they heard that it was good for their muscles.
It was difficult at first, but it was easy after.
Once they confirmed that it wasn’t poison or bad stuff, the curious people reached out to use the pain relief gel.

“Aah…”

In an instant, everyone was spreading the gel on their shoulders or wrists. Then, they lay down comfortably and sighed.
They smiled unconsciously at the pleasant scent that suddenly came out.

Since they were hard-working employees, it was understandable that a smell of sweat would spread out when they gathered.
However, the air freshener Yuria brought here had a refreshing scent.
It was a few herbs, such as lemongrass and rosemary, wrapped in a cloth and hung to clear their tired heads.

There was silence as they were having a pleasant break after a long time.
A young servant opened his mouth.

“I heard Young Lady Yuria made this place for us? I had no idea she was such a kind person since I came to the castle not long ago…”
“Exactly. I didn’t know she would think of us like this either. And not someone else.”
“Even if she doesn’t usually say friendly words, she shows it with her actions. Yeah, actions are better than words after all. Isn’t that right?”

They weren’t just saying nice things because she was the lady they served.
Their evaluation of the pain relief gel improved over time, and they used it more than Yuria had imagined.
It was something that kept coming to mind once they used it.
Employees who went to the resting area were everywhere preaching about the addictive quality of the gel.

Thanks to this, more and more people used the resting area.

“What is it, that pain relief gel thing? Let me use it too! Don’t use all of it!”
“Shouldn’t it be used sparingly? I think we used too much because we were curious… The Young Lady might not give it to us again. Maybe this is expensive.”
“Yeah, you didn’t think of that?”

But there was no need to worry.

“I don’t want you, who work hard for the duchy, to spare this much.”

People were gradually cautious about the use of the pain relief gel, saying it should be used sparingly. Noticing this, Yuria spoke first.

And it wasn’t just words.
Yuria also supplied them with a large amount of gel, so that people would not fight over it.

“Here, try this too.”
“What is this? Hand… cream?”
“It will be especially good for people who touch water a lot while working.”

Then, Yuria prepared an additional hand cream.
This time, they were made to have a slightly different scent depending on the color of the container.
After experiencing the benefits of pain relief gel, everyone rushed to the hand cream without hesitation.

In particular, the kitchen maids and laundry maids, who worked a lot with water, were pleased.
They said it had been a really long time since their hands were smooth and didn’t break from the dryness.
The maids who had come back to work after taking a break at the resting area often approached Yuria first to thank her.

“Where did you get these things, Young Lady? I’m hearing about them for the first time.”
“My hands smell good… Can we use something like this?”

Of course, Yuria never said that she had made it, and was reasonably evasive about the source.

“It was all prepared with my mother’s permission and an allocated budget. There’s no need to thank just me.”

Yuria naturally inserted the name of the Duchess of Primrose.
The employees and knights who had always been kind to her mother nodded, saying that they knew it.

“Which color of hand cream do you like the most?”
“Well, I like all of them…”
“Speak comfortably. Telling me honestly will reduce my troubles. I’m worried about what else to bring when I bring more stuff.”
“Hmm. Then, I like the pink one. I loved the smell of peaches!”

Naturally, it was a beta test.
Yuria checked the preferences of the employees and ranked the cosmetics in terms of viscosity or fragrance.
And people seemed to be even more moved when they saw that.

‘They’ll keep thinking of me every time they use the resting area.’

At first, she thought about the direction of providing goods, not the resting area.
However, she soon concluded that it was better to have a building called ‘the resting area Yuria made for the employees and knights’ firmly established within the castle.
So that their feelings towards her would not end in a temporary mood.
So that they would be reminded of how she was scolded by Jiksen for taking care of them.
The memories of the past continue to fade, but with such a concrete facility, they would keep being reminded of Yuria’s care and competence.

And besides that, there was an additional gain.
The knights and employees used to have no contact with each other, but now, they met more often.
The resting area was about halfway between the training hall and the main building.

“Oh, I saw you the other day…”
“Hello, Mr. Knight.”

Among the employees was someone who had no contact with the knights and had never been able to greet them.
However, if they met often, they would greet each other, and some people with good friendships would even talk in private.
And Jera, the maid, was one of them.

“How were the cookies in the resting area? Of course, it falls short of what the Duke eats, but I asked for a special favor…”
“Ah, the ones I have in my hand right now? I didn’t know that.”
“No! I was hoping that you would eat them. I’m glad you enjoyed them. Hehe…”

Jera smiled innocently. It was a choice, considering that the knights were quite wary of strangers.
Soon, both the knight she had a private conversation with, and Jera, who wanted to marry him, looked quite satisfied.
And that satisfaction led to Jera’s words and actions that followed.

“I feel comfortable in the resting area. Thanks to that, I also met Jera. Young Lady Yuria seems to be a better person than I thought.”
“That’s right. Young Lady Yuria is more affectionate and kind than she looks… Last time, Lady Lilika… No, it’s nothing.”
“No, finish what you were saying. I’m curious.”
“I wonder if it’s alright to say this… Should you know about it?”

Jera brought up the story of Lilika telling Yuria that ‘that was why she was abandoned by her fiancé’.

“I just… I wanted to tell you to be careful because Young Lady Lilika might not be such a good person.”

She didn’t just say it as gossip, but as advice for the other person. She said it seriously.

“I’m just saying it because I want to see Mr. Jomil for a long time. You know my feelings, don’t you?”
“Miss Jera…”

And of course, it didn’t stop with just one knight knowing about it.

“Young Lady Yuria is more mature than I thought.”

The biggest effect of the increased meetings between employees and knights was that what had happened between Lilika and Yuria was not distorted and the facts were known properly.
Until now, the knights thought that Lilika had been caught up in Yuria’s plans to turn her into a person who seduced her sister’s fiancé.
It was inevitable, as there was almost no point of contact with the other employees, and Lilika, the person involved, would tell the story desperately.

“I’m also my father’s daughter… You have dignity, so you won’t betray me, right? Right?”

A weak lady they had to protect because she was treated with disdain for being an illegitimate child.
That was what the knights had always had in mind for Lilika.
However…

“What? She gave the Lady flowers that you bring to a funeral?”
“Yes, and she boiled the syrup in a lead pot and blamed it on the maid. But only the maid was kicked out. The Young Lady wasn’t punished at all.”

Of course, even the knights knew there had been a commotion. They heard that Lilika had caused trouble.
However, the knights closed their ears to the sensational words that ‘Young Lady Lilika almost killed the Duchess’.
They thought that the people who slandered Lilika were up to their tricks again, as it was usual.

“I’m not lying. Both the kitchen people and the butler witnessed the lead pot incident.”

However, the reality they encountered was completely different.

——