“What did you say you wanted to do?”

“I want to build a training room.”

At Estella’s words, which she spoke upon entering the marquis’s office, Marquis Cassian put down the document he’d been holding. He’d expected her to ask for dresses or jewelry like she used to—but a training room, of all things?

“Why would you need that?”

He was genuinely curious. For Estella to make such a request—it was absurdly out of character. Though he had heard reports that she’d been exercising diligently every morning.

He knew she’d lost a significant amount of weight compared to before. He’d found it commendable—getting healthier was a good thing. But a dedicated training room? That seemed excessive.

Besides, the knights’ training grounds already had equipment for physical training.

“The knights’ training grounds don’t suit me.”

When Estella answered, as if reading his thoughts, the marquis’s gaze narrowed slightly.

“Aren’t you already running at the training ground every morning?”

“Just running isn’t enough. I’ve made some plans—would you like to take a look?”

Thinking it better to show than explain a hundred times, Estella handed him what she’d prepared. She had no talent for drawing, so she’d enlisted Ria’s help, and she’d written out the explanations as clearly as she could.

Still feeling dazed, the marquis reluctantly accepted the scroll she offered. With a skeptical expression, he glanced at his daughter, then shifted his gaze to the scroll.

“Hm?”

It was filled with bizarre contraptions the marquis had never seen before. Adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses, he stared at the scroll for a long time without looking away.

“Are you really going to allow it?”

After Estella left the office, Raul asked with a puzzled look. The scroll Estella brought had been full of strange items. She’d claimed they were for physical training, but considering they already had swords and shields, he questioned whether such crude-looking things were necessary.

“This is a first.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s the first time Estella has come to me saying she wants to do something.”

“Ah…”

Only then did Raul seem to understand why the marquis had agreed so readily after reading the scroll. The marquis was genuinely pleased by his eldest daughter’s change. Though his blunt personality made it hard to see on the surface, Raul—who had served him for years—knew exactly how proud the marquis was of Estella right now.

Still, with the territory in its current financial state, it was hard not to worry.

“She said she’d sell her own jewels to fund it. Let’s just wait and see. She needs to take responsibility for her own words. We’re not going to give her money.”

Pride was pride, but the marquis wanted Estella to see the project through from beginning to end with full accountability.

He was also curious—how far could she really take this?

“I’ll give her the unused storage shed next to the training ground. I hear it leaks, so we’ll have to get that repaired. She probably doesn’t need a tea table or anything… right?”

Though Raul voiced his concerns, he was genuinely glad about Estella’s change. As he thought about it, he began mentally listing all the things the young lady might need. A training room, after all, would need a resting area too.

“Go ahead.”

With a short reply, the marquis turned his eyes back to the documents. But Raul didn’t miss the subtle upward curve at the edge of his master’s lips.

He, too, began scribbling ideas into his notebook—furniture and items that might be useful in the break room. His quill danced across the page.

Having received her father’s permission, Estella immediately brought out all the jewels from her dressing room and sold them to the largest jeweler in Wintfall Town. Thanks to Raul’s introduction, they paid her quite handsomely.

With her now-bulging pouch of gold coins, she made her way to the territory’s only smithy.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

As she approached, the rhythmic sound of hammers echoed through the air.

Gai, who had been assigned to escort her by the marquis’s order, stood by her side looking annoyed. He felt like this was a waste of training time. The whole idea of building something next to the training grounds irked him.

Why not just keep running? What’s the point of all this?

His frustration kept bubbling up, but he clenched his jaw and said nothing.

No matter how useless or pathetic the noble daughter might be, she was still the marquis’s child—and the marquis was his lord.

I wish I’d been assigned to guard Lady Katrin instead.

Though Estella had lost quite a bit of weight, Gai didn’t think she was anywhere near Katrin’s level in terms of beauty or elegance. With his complaints piling up, he followed behind her reluctantly.

Inside the smithy, the heat was stifling thanks to the molten red-hot metal. The blacksmiths’ bodies were slick and glistening with sweat as they pounded away with unrelenting force.

The moment she stepped inside, the intense stench of sweat, oil, and scorched metal assaulted her. Most would’ve grimaced at the stink, but not Estella—her face showed no discomfort. On the contrary, she looked around with wide, curious eyes, studying every part of the smithy with keen interest.

Soon enough, one of the smiths noticed her and quickly set his hammer down, jumping to his feet.

“You must be Dolan?”

Estella asked, looking at the man who had stepped forward and bowed low to her.

He was said to be a dwarf half-blood, and he was a full head shorter than Estella. His forehead had a shape like a giant M, and his sharply arched brows gave him a fierce expression.

“Yes, but… what brings someone of your status here…?”

It was unheard of for nobles—especially a young noble lady—to step inside a smithy. Judging by her attire and the knight escorting her, she was clearly someone of high rank. Dolan instinctively tensed, worried she might be here to pick a fight.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Estella. I came because I’d like to place a commission. Sorry for dropping by unannounced.”

Instead of picking a fight, Estella grabbed his filthy hand without hesitation and gave it a cheerful shake, smiling brightly.

Dolan was stunned.

She even apologized for showing up without notice? A noble apologizing to a commoner? He’d never seen or heard of such a thing.

Estella? That name sounds familiar… Wait, isn’t she—?

Only then did Dolan realize who she was, and his face darkened.

The rumors about Estella were terrible among the townspeople.

A foolish noble girl obsessed with food.

A greedy woman who always coveted her kind and beautiful younger sister’s things.

A spoiled brat who indulged in luxury with no regard for the state of the land and mistreated her servants.

A noblewoman who considered her own people nothing more than insects.

There wasn’t a single good rumor.

But now, the very same woman was holding his dirty hand and smiling like it was nothing.

Was it all nonsense?

“You… want me to make this?”

It was strange enough that she’d come to the smithy herself. But what she asked him to build was even stranger.

It wasn’t quite a weapon—too blunt.

Nor was it decorative—it wasn’t pretty at all.

Definitely not something a noblewoman would use.

“Yes. Just like this. But I’d like the center part to be wrapped in leather since that’s the handle. You’ll need to ask the tanner about that.”

Estella’s eyes sparkled as she passionately explained the various pieces of equipment she wanted made.

She pointed at each drawing, explained its function, and double-checked that Dolan understood her clearly.

The explanation went on for nearly an hour, with Dolan asking occasional questions.

“The dumbal—uh, if we’re just melting iron blocks, that’s easy enough…”

“Dumbbell.”

“Ahem. Dumbbell, right. That’s fine. But the barbell is a different issue.”

Dolan tapped the sketch with his thick finger. He prided himself on knowing more about metal than anyone else, but the things this young lady brought were all utterly foreign.

“If we’re putting weights on such a long bar, balance is crucial. If it’s too heavy, it’ll be hard to manage. Too light, and it won’t be effective.”

Estella nodded—he had a point.

“That’s why I want to make it adjustable.”

“Adjustable?”

The idea of adjusting iron weight on a whim was absurd, and Dolan’s voice instinctively rose. He was already deeply engrossed in the conversation, though he hadn’t realized it yet.

“Yeah. We’ll make separate discs that you can add or remove depending on what you need. See those differently sized discs in the drawing? Those are for adjusting the bar’s weight. There’s even a hole in the middle. You just need to make a lock so they don’t fall off.”

“But if we’re going to make it like this, the cost—”

Thud!

Before Dolan could finish, Estella dropped a heavy pouch of gold coins onto the wooden table.

It landed with a loud thump.

Chapter 7

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