The drive back home felt too short and the duchess got out to escort me to my door. And again, the guard gave me a catch glare and his eyes told me to be careful in the future.
I unlocked my door and waited for the duchess to speak up. After all, she did seem like she wanted to say something to me.
Ultimately, she was not able to take it and ended up spilling.
"Shopkeeper, I apologize for what happened with Madam Shelly. The reason I took you there was because I wanted to test you…however, now I know that it was not a good idea on my part. Please, forgive me."
The duchess told me and I felt like I had to think over my words next.
[Ding! 10 faith points rewarded]
The sudden message came out of nowhere but my logic told me that the duchess was connected to it somehow. So I decided to test my theory.
"Hmm, I have to admit that I do feel a little…annoyed by what happened, but I am willing to overlook things this time."
I told the duchess with a straight face, but inside I felt my heart thunder at what I had just done.
"Y-You fuc…how dare you tell the duchess…"
The guard looked angry and he stepped toward me while taking his sword out. I felt too frozen in fear to move but my face remained the same stoic one.
'Shit-! Me and my big mouth. Am I going to die?'
I questioned. But my luck proved to be phenomenal because the duchess decided to step forward and save me.
"Guard, what do you think you are doing to my guest? Shopkeeper, I apologize for what happened. I promise I will take care not to repeat the same mistakes in the future. I shall take my leave now."
The duchess told me and I let out a sigh of relief as I watched her retreat.
My legs felt a little weak as the last of the sword disappeared back into the sheath and the guard gave me a scoff before he followed the duchess.
I decided to take no chances and I quickly went back into my shop before the guard decided to charge at me.
Finally, my back touched the bed and I felt my body sink. I was finally back in my bed.
Grrr
The puppy in my bag also let out a content-filled growl to be back home and I let out a sigh.
"Wow-! Today was such a huge shock to me. So, does that mean I am not in the past but in some kind of…new world? Fuck-! Did I get isekai'd into a fantasy world or something? Doesn't this come with some kind of warning or something?"
At least, that was what usually happened in all the stories I saw until now.
Not that I had anything to complain about.
Most people who ended up in a fantasy world had hard lives and had to survive. Compared to them, I was living a much better life without any danger.
Even the brush against the supernatural world was…minimum and had posed no threat to my life until now.
"Well, even if I want to panic, it won't help. And it's not like I can do anything about my situation. My life is not in danger or anything…and if it is, that's likely due to my own actions. The best course of action is to continue living as I have been. As long as I pretend everything is normal, things don't have to change."
There was no telling how long I would have to live in this world, so I needed to start adapting.
Luckily, whatever magic that had brought me here seemed to have changed me mentally as well. There was no other explanation for why I was adapting so well to this world.
"Let's stop thinking about all this now. I need to sleep if I want to wake up in a few hours and feed the puppy. Hmm, I think it's also time I let it out of the basket and let it roam around."
I told myself before I closed my eyes and went to sleep.
Falling asleep was easy, but waking up on time to feed the puppy was a little tough. I felt like I got almost no sleep due to this routine.
But once the morning came, everything felt normal once more…and I also recalled something important—the herbs were never delivered to my shop yesterday, but I had already paid for them.
"Shit-! Did I get scammed-! Ugh, what do I do now? Do I even remember where I bought those herbs from?"
I asked myself but the unfortunate answer was no. And even if I did know, I did not have time to go there and inquire about it.
"What do I do now? Just how much money did I lose this time? Ugh, this shitty world is still the same—out to get me and my money."
"Don't you dare think about doing something to my benefactor, guard. Otherwise, I would make sure it's your last day on earth."
The duchess warned her guard who looked slightly shaken by her warning. He was not aware that the duchess had noticed his looks.
But since he was noticed already, he felt that it was only right that he warn the duchess of the impending danger she was putting herself into by associating with the shopkeeper.
"Duchess Isabella, you need to consider your position. You cannot favor a shopkeeper like you are, no matter how useful he is—"
The air tensed and the guard suddenly clutched his neck as it became difficult to breathe.
He looked up, only to see dark eyes looking back at him.
"Hmm, and since when were humans able to tell me what and what not to do? Even my own brother, the emperor cannot do that. You better keep yourself in check next time."
The duchess warned the guard and the guard nodded. Finally, the duchess released her magic and the guard took a deep breath.
He pretended to have dropped this topic, but in reality, he was far from done. He was going to teach the shopkeeper a lesson as soon as he was able to.
'Tsk, that shopkeeper is so troublesome. Who does he think he is to try and get close to the duchess? Does he think I will allow his plans to go his way?'
The guard asked himself as he planned on what to do next. But to do it under the duchess's watchful glance would be difficult.
'I will need to get external help and I know just the place. But first, I need to get away from the duchess and wait for her guard to drop. I cannot allow someone like that shopkeeper to influence the duchess's decisions.'
The guard nodded to himself as he made plans for the future. He was convinced that he was doing the right thing.
As soon as the duchess returned home, the guard went to report the outing and then head home. He could still feel the duchess's magic keeping an eye on him so he decided to keep his head down.