Lord Burnette could feel the disapproval rolling off Layla and her maid in spades. They kept their expressions neutral, but their eyes told them they thought of him as a despicable lord.

'Am I being looked down upon? I will not have that! What does this kid know about nobles and how hard we have it? All she needs to do is eat and sleep under Duke Lockhart's protection while I work hard to earn every penny.

This is not fair.'

Despite his inner turmoil, Lord Burnette made a gentle face when he looked at Layla. He wanted to leave a good impression on her, his vulnerability shining through his façade.

"Young miss, there are many things in life that you need to compromise over. I made a deal with the church people because I wanted them to keep my people safe.

I would rather have a contaminated pond nearby than wild beasts attack us daily."

The nobleman spoke confidently, revealing more and more of his character.

"So, you failed to do your duty and decided to hand it over to someone else? I can now see what kind of noble you are."

Layla spoke with certainty, and it made the young master go speechless.

"I…that is not what… the money that is needed…What does a little kid like you even know? You don't know how dangerous and evil this world is, so don't speak like this. This conversation is over, so please leave."

Lord Burnette could not take it anymore. He had been shamed enough by this child, and he had endured it all because she was from Duke Lockhart's household.

But this girl was not even a noble and had no strong ties with the Dukedom.

He had entertained her more than enough, which the Local Lord believed.

Those were the reasons he gave himself while quickly standing up to walk away. However, the man felt extremely jealous and disturbed by what he heard.

It was true that the nobles were responsible for protecting their territories, and they took it seriously. But he was not the same as everyone else.

He had a small territory, so hardly any tax came his way. And what little that came, he needed to donate to the temple. That was the only way for him to survive and keep his territory and title.

The temple was responsible for protecting its territory, and the local lord needed to do what he could to keep things this way.

After all, the thought of going into a battle terrified this man.

"Lord Burnette, I will give you one last chance to rectify your mistake. If you refuse again, you will force my hand here."

Layla warned, but the local lord was not afraid of her. He was sure that a child like her wouldn't be able to do anything to a noble like him.

"Do what you want to. Even I want to see what someone like you can achieve without friends or people. I am a noble, so of course I will-"

Something sharp touched the Local Lord's neck before it got embedded into the wall behind him.

He felt his body shiver in fright as he turned around to see what happened.

"Oops! Looks like I missed this time. Next time, I will hit his heart more closely, Miss Layla. Please don't be annoyed at what happened."

Mary made an almost sad face as she looked at her miss. Her eyes hid Mary's real feelings, but Layla knew her maid enjoyed it.

"Y-You cannot do this to me! I am a noble, and I-"

"Oh, but we already received the approval of the Duke on what to do. You see since your actions have endangered my current employees, I am well within my rights to take retribution for it.

Now, how about you hand over this village and its management to me, and we can even call it?"

Layla asked, but the Local lord was not ready to admit it.

"Employees-! What employees? None of the people in this village are your employees. I would know because I own them all-."

"Well then, it's good that my employees are not from your village. Rather, they are the Dark elves in the forest here. I heard your orders caused them a lot of trouble, and I can't have that.

So that's why I will make sure no one will be able to harm them ever again. You are on that list as well, my lord. Mary, I will leave it all up to you."

Layla ordered her maid, who quickly bowed to her miss before she grabbed the local lord out.

All this while, the butler watching this did not raise a hand.

He knew what was good for this land and its people; his young lord was surely not among them. That was why he decided to play a bi-stander and see his young master getting dragged away like this.

"Butler, what would you like to do now? It seems your master has taken away in front of your eyes."

Layla asked, and the butler prepared his answer in advance.

"My master got taken away? I did not see anything like that, young miss."

The butler pretended to be ignorant, which made Layla like him. He was loyal, but not to the local lord. The butler seemed to be faithful to his village and its people.

"Well, it's good that you were not here when your lord got caught and punished for his crimes. Please ensure the next lord does not follow the same footsteps."

Layla informed the butler, and he looked surprised at her words. He had not experienced Layla having this attitude. Especially after she shafted the local lord and almost killed him.

"Of course! I will make sure to guide our next lord, right? I will also ensure they follow the right manner once the war for succession breaks out."

The butler was smart and offered this to Layla on a silver platter.

"I will count on your support. For now, I should get going. One of my subordinates is waiting for me to rescue him."