“Ugh…”

Evolaine’s eyes slowly opened to throbbing pain. A sharp scent lingered faintly in her nose. She slowly sat up. Once she pushed away the fluffy blanket covering her, she felt chilly.

“Huh? You’re already awake?”

A woman in a white gown spoke to her warmly. Who is she?

Strangers still made her uncomfortable. She could accept the Duke of Radelica and the people here because they were necessary for her future, but there was no reason for anyone else.

For Evolaine, who didn’t have many good memories of relationships with people, this was quite difficult.

“Ah, I’m a physician working in the infirmary. My name is Rebecca.”

“…”

Evolaine couldn’t meet Rebecca’s eyes. Instead, she pulled over the blanket she’d pushed aside and gripped it tightly. Her sweat-dampened palms dried a bit as they rubbed against the blanket.

Rebecca didn’t rush Evolaine for an answer. Though she didn’t know the details, she’d vaguely heard that Evolaine wasn’t a child who’d grown up normally.

“Sir Leopold should be here soon. Until then, you’ll need to stay with me… Is that okay?”

“…Yes.”

Rebecca smiled brightly at Evolaine, who slowly nodded to express her permission. She’d meant it as a gesture of reassurance, but it left Evolaine somewhat flustered.

‘Why is she smiling like that?’

She couldn’t understand how someone could smile so easily even though they’d just met. Especially since no one had ever smiled at her before—not in her two past lives or now.

To begin with, Evolaine wasn’t familiar with bright emotions, so to her, it just looked like a bizarre expression.

“Evolaine, is your head all right?”

Leopold arrived at the infirmary soon after, seemingly having stepped out briefly. Seeing Rebecca’s awkward smile, he guessed what had happened while he was gone.

“…I’m fine except for a slight headache.”

Rebecca was inwardly surprised at how much more talkative Evolaine suddenly became. Did she get along reasonably well with Sir Leopold?

“You’ve been treated, so you’ll be fine. Just lie down a bit longer.”

“No, I want to go to the dormitory.”

“Do as the child wishes. All she’d do in the infirmary is lie down before leaving anyway.”

At Rebecca’s agreement, Leopold nodded. He judged it would be better for her peace of mind to rest in her room.

“This white pill is a painkiller. It’s medicine that reduces pain, so when your head hurts, just swallow it with water.”

Rebecca put the pill she’d taken out for explanation back into the medicine envelope. She sealed it with tape that wasn’t too sticky and handed it over. Evolaine looked at the envelope with curious eyes.

“…Thank you.”

“It’s nothing.”

What, she thanked me. Rebecca’s shoulders rose as her mood improved.

“Thank you for your hard work, Lady Rebecca.”

“Not at all, Sir. You worked much harder.”

Rebecca recalled the hectic situation from earlier.

She’d been resting leisurely in her room when a sudden summons brought her rushing down to the infirmary.

“…Ruth?”

She’d been flustered to see Ruth, who was on duty at the infirmary, collapsed like she’d fainted, but more serious was the young girl bleeding from her head.

“Lady Rebecca, I’m sorry for the urgent summons. As you can see, Physician Ruth is like this because of Lady Lucia…”

“Ah…”

So the youngest princess tormented Ruth again. Having roughly grasped the situation, Rebecca soon treated Evolaine and asked Leopold, who’d summoned her, to take Ruth to his room.

That was why Leopold had briefly stepped away.

“What can you do about him being weak-hearted? He’s most afraid of the youngest princess, and she gave him such a hard time that it must have been difficult for him to keep his wits.”

“…I’ll ask Her Highness to show restraint.”

“I’ll nag Ruth to toughen up her heart.”

When Rebecca laughed and brushed it off casually, Leopold finally felt somewhat relieved.

That was because Ruth’s suffering at Lucia’s hands wasn’t just a day or two old, so he understood her feelings.

“Go ahead and take her to the dormitory. If Evolaine has trouble later, please contact me.”

“Yes, understood.”

Leaving Rebecca’s farewell behind, Leopold and Evolaine walked to the dormitory.

Evolaine’s heart swelled at the fact that she was getting her own space for the first time. Though a maid had attacked her and she’d injured her head, it was still fortunate that things had ended well.

Come to think of it, that maid had said something.

“But what can you do? His Grace really did call for you.”

“He couldn’t have called for me. It doesn’t add up.”

“Right, it doesn’t add up. Because that duke isn’t the one who brought you here.”

If not the Duke of Radelica, then who? Was there another ducal family in the empire? But how did that ducal family know about her and target her?

However, no matter how much she racked her brain, Evolaine, who only knew of the Marquisate of La Voletta among noble families, couldn’t possibly know.

‘Could the marchioness know I’m here?’

If so, things roughly added up. She didn’t know how she’d found out, but if the marchioness knew, she’d obviously have leaked information to that ducal family.

By now, she’d be desperate to extract her somehow.

Just like she’d killed her in two lives to steal Kelic, this life would be the same.

“Evolaine, are you uncomfortable with people?”

At the sudden question, Evolaine’s consciousness rose to the surface. Why is he asking that out of the blue?

“…Why do you ask?”

“You seemed uncomfortable with Physician Rebecca. She’s someone with good social skills, so it’s understandable you’d find her burdensome.”

“…”

“But even if it wasn’t her, I got the feeling you would have acted the same way with anyone else.”

How does he know? Can the commander see into hearts too?

“…You’re amazing, Commander.”

“What is?”

“Because you seem to know my heart even when I don’t.”

At Evolaine’s honest answer, Leopold let out a small laugh. Yes, to you who are clumsy at everything, I must seem like a mind reader who sees through everything.

“…I don’t like people. No one ever tried to be good to me.”

That’s why she died, and died again. And gained this third life. She was struggling to make this life different, but honestly, it was overwhelming.

She hadn’t even started yet, but the fear that the vast world would swallow her whole made Evolaine shrink. Had stepping into a place filled entirely with unfamiliar things been the right choice?

Evolaine still wondered.

“…But I’m trying to change. Nothing changes if you just stay still.”

“…You’re amazing.”

“What?”

“Trying to change yourself isn’t easy. For instance, if there’s a knight who learned incorrect swordsmanship, the master teaching him must correct it. But most can’t accept it. Because they don’t want to admit that the time and effort they’ve spent learning was in vain.”

In the end, knights who can’t accept correction and won’t bend their stubbornness give up on their master’s teachings. Even if they’re lucky enough to find another master, situations rarely change.

Eventually, they put down their swords and only regret it after a long time has passed. They realize their mistakes too late.

“I used knights as an example, but change isn’t easy in anything. That’s why accepting change and working toward it is an amazing thing.”

“…”

“Don’t be too impatient. There’s plenty of time.”

Until they arrived at the dormitory, Evolaine kept her mouth firmly shut. Not a single sound leaked out, like she’d frozen solid.

But Leopold knew. The reason Evolaine kept her mouth shut was because she was desperately trying to hold back tears.

Evolaine’s twisted face looked like it was standing on grief deeper than anyone’s.

* * *

In the complete space she had for the first time, Evolaine greeted a comfortable morning. Though her eyes were puffy from crying yesterday, she felt much better after pouring out her emotions so refreshingly.

Evolaine simply washed her face with cold water and changed clothes. Today was the second day Leopold would help with training.

He would only teach her the basics of swordsmanship for three more days. He said he planned to help with training for a total of five days before having her take the entrance exam.

“I must get in.”

To take revenge on the marchioness. To cultivate the strength to protect myself.

Early morning. Lucia caught Cardel, who was tediously going in and out of the library, and dragged him to her room.

Thanks to that, Cardel was playing along with Lucia’s tea party practice disguised as playing house, which wasn’t even on his schedule.

Mostly Lucia chattered away and occasionally threw in questions, at which point Cardel would give brief answers, but Lucia found something so amusing that she repeatedly talked and laughed by herself.

“Oh, right. Brother, did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“Today is the Lacrel Knights entrance exam. That girl Father brought is taking the test too.”

“…Girl?”

The girl training with Leopold came to mind in Cardel’s head. Lucia must have heard the news too.

She’d almost been adopted but was preparing to enter the knight order… That story had made the entire ducal household buzz, so it was natural Lucia knew.

“But brother, you start external activities next month, right? You’ll be able to go out freely now.”

“Why bring that up?”

“If that girl enters the knight order, choose her as your escort.”

Lucia smiled brightly. If it were their father, he’d have made a complete fuss, rubbing his beard against the soft baby-skin cheeks with his eyes half-unfocused.

Cardel shuddered at his father’s disgusting love for his youngest sibling, but simultaneously felt doubtful about Lucia’s words.

Though still a young sibling, the things Lucia said tended to turn out well.

“There must be a reason Father brought that girl specifically. And that reason would be because he saw something in her.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Simply my intuition. But you have to choose an escort from among the knight squires anyway. If you’re going to choose, wouldn’t it be better to go long-term with good talent?”

“…”

All heirs of the Duchy of Radelica could start external activities after turning twelve. However, Cardel had postponed external activities until this year when he turned fourteen.