Crackle, crackle.

For a moment, only the sound of burning torches could be heard.

I could see Hubert’s hands trembling in front of me.

Marina’s hand, which painfully gripped my arm, was also shaking.

The thugs exchanged confused glances, apparently not expecting this answer.

“Ha! You hired a new worker? After claiming you don’t have a penny to your name, you somehow found money through the back door……”

The man at the front seemed to regain his composure first, spitting on the ground and taking a step forward.

“Take one more step forward, I dare you.”

A chillingly low voice spoke.

It was a small, low, calm voice, but it felt extremely creepy.

Everyone turned to look in that direction, dumbfounded.

The barefoot, stumbling amnesiac man suddenly picked up a thick branch from the ground, thrust it into the smoldering flames by the flower bed, and lit it on fire.

“Ugh!”

Hubert cried out in surprise at the burning branch in the man’s hand and stepped back, but the man remained calm.

“Have you ever smelled burning human flesh?”

As he walked slowly, barefoot, holding the burning branch, the thugs retreated step by step.

“It smells like roasting pork.”

“Hup!”

Marina started to scream but quickly covered her mouth.

When our eyes met, I could tell we were thinking the same thing.

What is this person? A psychopath?

“Well! Do you want to burn this place down? Go ahead and try! No one will leave here alive tonight.”

When he thrust the torch close to the face of the nearest thug, one of them panicked, stumbled backward, and fell.

“I think it’s perfectly fine to burn to death those who break into someone else’s home in the middle of the night without permission. Whose head should I set on fire first?”

With a faint smile on his lips, the man moved closer, and the thugs’ faces turned pale.

“This guy is…… c-crazy.”

The branch in his hand was burning more and more intensely, about to burn his hand, but he didn’t even blink.

“Come on! Someone step forward! I’ll roast you nicely and offer you as a sacrifice to the Baron!”

Just as the man shouted loudly and thrust the burning branch in front of the face of the man at the front—

“Aaaah! This b-bastard is insane! Completely mad!”

The pale-faced thug screamed and backed away.

“Oh my!”

“Ugh!”

Marina and Hubert cried out in surprise, but their voices were drowned out by an even louder groan.

“Aaaaargh! Aaaaaaaargh!”

The hair of the thug at the front had caught fire and was burning. The smell of burning hair filled the air.

The man frantically tried to put out the fire by beating his head with both hands, flailing like a gorilla.

His companion standing behind quickly helped up the fallen man. Meanwhile, the man who had been punched in the nose also got up quickly, and the three fled in panic without looking back.

“Aaaagh! My hair! My haaaaaair!”

Even as they escaped through the castle entrance, the man’s desperate screams echoed like a long tail.

“Next time you come back, be prepared to die!”

The man’s thunderous voice followed the trio as they fled, clutching their remaining torch like a lifeline.

“Miss!”

“Butler!”

“Marina!”

After they disappeared, the three of us grabbed each other’s arms and tried to calm our racing hearts.

My heart was pounding so hard I could barely speak.

“Wow, I really……”

Just as I managed to open my mouth—

“Aaaah!”

Hubert pointed behind me, and simultaneously, a thud was heard.

Looking back, the man who had been boldly commanding with the burning branch just moments ago had collapsed on the ground, his face pale.

Blood was trickling down his neck. The wound on the back of his head seemed to have opened wider.

We looked at each other again.

It had been a very, very long night.

***

“I didn’t expect to be doing this twice in one day.”

I leaned against the closed door, massaging my arms and panting.

“I won’t be able to lift my arms tomorrow.”

Marina groaned.

“At least he was somewhat cooperative this time. He regained consciousness halfway up the stairs and walked on his own feet.”

A gruff voice spoke from inside the room.

“Even supporting someone requires tremendous strength! Do you realize how tall you are?”

I shouted through the closed door.

He must have found it difficult to respond to that, as I heard quiet grumbling.

“But is this really going to be all right?”

Marina whispered worriedly.

We had all agreed to let this suspicious man stay in the castle for the night, but to lock the door from the outside.

The man’s identity remained unknown, but he was claiming to have lost his memory, his physical condition wasn’t great, and he had done us a significant service tonight.

“We can’t keep him tied to the bed like livestock all night just because he’s suspicious. For now, we’ll lock the door from outside, and I’ll open it again in the morning.”

Hubert whispered.

But a wooden door like this could easily be broken down with a few kicks.

The man seemed to guess my thoughts and quickly spoke up.

“Look, I understand what you’re thinking……”

“How dare you! Addressing the Baron so casually! No matter how addled your mind is, I cannot tolerate any more rudeness toward someone who is providing you shelter for the night. If necessary, we could still throw you out into the forest in the middle of the night……”

“Fine. Then, ‘Baron.'”

When Hubert got angry, the man sighed reluctantly and changed his tone.

“I could break down this flimsy door if I wanted to, but I have no such intention.”

His tone was somewhat arrogant and rough, yet strangely trustworthy.

“I’m confused about everything right now. My mind has gone completely blank, so instead of unnecessary suspicion, perhaps you could show some compassion to a bewildered person.”

“It’s only out of compassion that we’re even listening to you! Your condescending tone is problematic from the start. How can we readily trust you when we don’t know what kind of person you were before losing your memory? You could be a thief for all we know.”

“That’s why I’ll prove myself to you! I won’t move an inch from this room all night, so rest assured!”

Judging by his raised voice, he seemed genuinely angry this time.

“Let’s just see how this goes for now. After all, we do owe him for tonight.”

“That’s true. Without him, who knows what would have happened tonight……”

Marina muttered, shivering.

So we exchanged solemn glances and finally dispersed to our respective rooms.

It was already past midnight, but after experiencing such chaos, proper sleep was unlikely.

Moreover, when I searched through Clarence’s wardrobe, I found only embarrassingly thin nightgowns that revealed everything underneath, which I couldn’t possibly wear.

I didn’t mind the embarrassment, but wearing only that to sleep would likely result in a severe cold.

I glared resentfully at the cold bedroom fireplace before finally jumping into bed fully clothed and pulling the blanket up to my neck.

A fireplace like that would be essential in such a large castle.

The fire should have been lit hours before bedtime.

I’d had enough of fire for tonight, but I still longed for a warm bed.

In my previous life, I just had to flip a switch on the heater to solve the problem. That’s all useless talk now.

Come to think of it, it hasn’t even been a full day since I became Clarence Philoraine, has it?

I’ve experienced so much that it feels like ten years have passed.

Still, thanks to the diary, I managed to overcome the crisis, which is fortunate…

Right, the diary!

The sudden thought made me sit up again.

I quickly jumped out of bed and reached under the mattress…… and there it was!

I felt the familiar sensation at my fingertips.

A hard object wrapped in soft velvet cloth—Clarence’s diary.

It was in much better condition than when I first found it.

The back pages were completely empty, but the content I remembered from the front remained the same.

Of course, since the mob didn’t strike my head with a stone as planned today, that part of the content would change. I would need to write a new diary entry.

But come to think of it…

If I recall correctly, the diary only mentioned the incident where the mob broke in and tried to set fire to the castle.

There was no mention anywhere of a handsome, suspicious man found half-n*ked and collapsed in the castle pond on the same day.

What could this mean? Had Clarence never met that man?

Did he appear here because of me? Or perhaps…… did he appear at the wrong time?

If so, what significance does that man’s existence hold in this timeline where everything has started to change slightly since my arrival?