The single lily that Stella had held preciously was transferred to someone else’s hands for a few coins.

“Cough!”

But that didn’t mean Stella could eat a whole loaf of bread completely.

“Uh, uh, sister……”

Mary had fallen ill.

“……Sister.”

Small hands wandered weakly in the air. A voice mixed with feverish breathing kept calling for Stella.

“Yes, sister is here.”

Stella, who had tied her brown hair tightly in one bundle, firmly grasped her  hand.

“Sister, it hurts.”

Tears filled Mary’s big eyes.

“It hurts and I’m sc-scared……”

Her throat felt blocked.

Perhaps because she grew up in this environment, Mary didn’t usually say she was in pain or having a hard time with most things.

She just always smiled, saying she was fine while worrying about her.

‘If a child like that is saying it hurts this much, it means she’s really suffering.’

She felt like her insides were boiling. Stella swallowed the anguish that surged up.

“What are you scared of?”

So Stella smiled exactly as much as she felt frustrated.

“Sister is here. If whatever Mary is scared of comes, sister will scold them all.”

“Really……?”

“Of course.”

Stella smiled while repeatedly wiping Mary’s forehead and cheeks with a cloth soaked in cold water.

“Our Mary knows best that sister is strong, right? Last time, sister punished all those stray dogs that were bothering Mary.”

“Right, that happened. Sister defeated them all.”

Mary giggled with her face flushed from fever.

“The doctor will come soon. You have to tell him exactly where and how it hurts, okay?”

“……”

At that moment, Mary’s laughter stopped abruptly. She pulled the old blanket up to the tip of her nose and lowered her gaze.

“Hm? What’s wrong? You don’t want to take medicine?”

“Mmm……”

Mary shook her head. She fidgeted with her small fingers gripping the blanket a few times, then seemed to gather courage and raised her voice.

“Can’t we tell the doctor not to come?”

Though it became small again immediately.

“……We don’t have money at home.”

Ah.

Stella swallowed hard and bit her lower lip tightly. She knew that every time she called a doctor for mother, she would worry for days.

“……That’s not true.”

With the feeling of her throat being blocked, Stella smiled.

“It’s okay, Mary. Our house has lots of money.”

It was such a clumsy lie that even Mary, who believed everything her sister said, looked at her suspiciously.

“Really. You saw sister bring home a basket this big full of flowers last time, right?”

“Mmm.”

“Sister sold all of them.”

“Really? All of that?”

Mary’s eyes widened.

“Yes, all of them.”

“Wow, sister is amazing……”

“And um, the flower shop owner said I could pay for the flowers later. So don’t worry too much, okay?”

Only then did Mary nod slightly with a somewhat relieved expression.

“Good Mary. Let’s sleep for a bit until the doctor comes.”

Stella gave Mary a light kiss on the forehead and left the room, feeling as if the ground beneath her feet was collapsing.

It was true that she had sold all the flowers she brought home in a large basket.

However, the part about being able to pay for the flowers later was a lie.

“Ahem, I’ve been thinking. I need to charge more for the flowers. Otherwise, there’s no benefit for me giving flowers to the young lady, is there?”

Instead, he raised the price even more.

‘What should I do?’

If she begged, he might let her put the medicine cost on credit. But that would only be temporary too.

The leeway a doctor in a poor neighborhood had was limited after all.

‘What should I really do?’

Money…… isn’t there a way to get it? Where should I go? Should I contact uncle for the time being? No. It hasn’t been long since I borrowed money for medicine last time. What should I do?

What more can I do beyond this?

“Sister.”

Her thoughts were cut off. When she lowered her gaze, Sanderson was holding her skirt hem with a frightened face.

“……Is everything okay?”

“Mary is fine. You can’t go in now. She just fell asleep.”

“No, not Mary. You, Sister.”

“Ah.”

Stella smiled brightly.

“Sister is fine too. What about mother and father?”

“Father went out saying he’d try to get money, and mother is writing letters.”

Even their parents, who always maintained composure, seemed helpless against their youngest child’s fever.

Although it was hard to expect good news, somehow just the fact that she had allies on her side made her feel like the burden on her heart was lighter.

“I see. Sanderson, can you watch Mary for a bit? If she wakes up, go in and bring her what she needs. Sister will go look for other work.”

Despite speaking as brightly as possible, her younger brother’s face didn’t brighten.

“I want to work too!”

Sanderson suddenly raised his head and shouted.

“I can work too, sister! I can sell newspapers on the street or shine shoes. I can work as a store porter too!”

Sanderson, gripping her skirt tightly, shouted desperately.

“If that doesn’t work, I can even enter another noble house as a footman—”

“Sanderson.”

Stella grabbed her younger brother’s shoulders and shook her head.

“It’s okay. Really okay. Sister will make sure you and Mary don’t have to do this kind of work.”

Working under false names among commoners, supporting the family while gnawing away at herself like this — she had no intention of passing such work on to Mary or Sanderson.

She wanted to end this kind of pain with herself.

Despite knowing it was unreasonable, she wanted to do so.

“Sister will solve everything. Okay?”

“……”

Unlike Mary, Sanderson didn’t nod easily. He just stared stubbornly at the floor with a sullen face and eyes that seemed about to cry.

“……Okay.”

He was a good child. Sanderson soon gave up his stubbornness.

“I’ll be back, so take good care of Mary. Sorry that sister can’t take proper care of you. Our Sanderson is still young too.”

“What am I, a baby! I’m all grown up!”

“Yes, yes. I made soup on the dining table.”

Stella smiled while loosening her tightly tied hair.

“Sister will be back.”

Though she came out confidently, she still felt lost.

The royal palace had set the mourning period for the two princes at just under two months.

Since they didn’t have to observe the entire period, surely the shops where she worked would open from the middle, but the problem was that Stella didn’t have the luxury to endure even that brief time.

“Sigh……”

She felt frustrated inside. Her steps, not knowing where to go, swayed here and there.

Then, as if this place had been her destination from the beginning, her steps stopped at some point.

“Ah.”

It was in front of the back alley. The place where shops selling alcohol and laughter were gathered, the place where Stella had been asked several times if she wanted to work.

“……”

Stella’s face looking at the back alley sank heavily.

⁕⁕⁕

“Excuse me, Your Grace.”

Wilter, the butler of House Rochester, entered the study.

Kalian only flicked the tip of the pen he was holding without taking his eyes off the documents.

“It’s about time for you to depart.”

Only then did Kalian look away from the documents. As if he’d been reviewing them for a long time, he pressed his fingers firmly against his eyes.

“You have many things to do as soon as you came up to the capital, Your Grace.”

“I’m newly realizing every day, every hour, the fact that there are this many idiots.”

Kalian wore a crooked smile while putting on the coat Wilter brought him.

“If I only had guns in my hands, I’d give them each a friendly shot.”

He was serious.

That there would be so many idiots, this many.

He was always newly surprised every time he read newspapers and processed documents.

“Shall I call servants to accompany you?”

Kalian shook his head at Wilter’s question.

“I’ll be late.”

He rode his horse and left the ducal residence. His destination was a social club in the commercial district.

Whether the whole country was immersed in sorrow or not, money moved without rest.

As Kalian rode his horse, the memorial altar came into his view. Hundreds of flowers decorated beneath the memorial altar where portraits of the two princes hung.

The lanterns that had dazzled Kalian’s eyes last time were still shining beautifully.

Another old memory.

The horse’s gait naturally slowed as it passed in front of the memorial altar.

And.

“Ha.”

The girl from his memory, who had grown up considerably, stood blankly in front of hundreds of flowers.

⁕⁕⁕

“Thank goodness.”

Stella let out a long breath. It was a breath mixed with both relief and resignation.

Earlier, while wandering the streets, she had encountered a maid who used to work at House Ambrose.

Whether it was because she had given her plenty of coins when leaving the mansion, or because she pitied her.

She showed Stella compassion. She arranged a job for her at a social club where she was working.

“You only have to work in the kitchen.”

It was a job that involved doing some cooking, cutting fruit, and preparing drinks without having to appear in front of people.

It was simple work, but the pay wasn’t bad.

It was enough money to cover Mary’s medicine, make cough medicine for her mother, and still put meat on the table once a week.

For Stella, it was such a large sum that she thought it would be worth selling her pride and stubbornness.

“I can’t tell my parents that I’m working at a social club though.”

Women who frequented such establishments were perfect targets for finger-pointing, accused of selling their bodies to live comfortably.

If anyone found out, she would receive the same treatment.

“But there’s nowhere to retreat.”

A young child’s fever was frightening.

Hadn’t she seen healthy children die in just a few days several times?

Children who could have lived with just one doctor’s examination and a few medicines.

She could never let Mary go like that.

Just then, something bumped against Stella’s feet. When she looked down, there was a lily lying there.

“Who dropped you?”

When she carefully picked up the lily and examined it, it was a mess, as if it had been trampled here and there.

“If I remove a few leaves and cut the stem, it might be okay. Since it’s night, the bruises on the flower won’t be visible.”