Gasp!

I opened my eyes with a start as I felt myself falling in spirals.

My body was drenched in cold sweat.

I remained dazed for a while, but as I looked around, everything slowly came back to me.

Yes, this is the castle from 130 years ago.

My castle.

And…

Suddenly, my mind cleared as if fireworks had exploded in my head.

That’s right! Last night we locked that suspicious guy in a room across the hallway!

I quickly tried to get up, but a scream escaped my lips.

Every part of my body ached. It felt like I had been thoroughly beaten.

Especially my arms—as Marina had predicted, I could barely lift them.

I finally managed to roll halfway off the bed.

Since I woke up safely, it seems that suspicious man didn’t transform into a rioter and set fire to the castle overnight, but I still couldn’t relax.

I opened the door and tiptoed past the stairs to the opposite side of the corridor, then stopped in my tracks.

Hubert was asleep on the cold stone floor of the corridor.

The bald butler had fallen asleep with his back against the locked door, legs stretched out, and a poker in his hand.

Seeing this, my nose tingled and my heart tightened.

This man, despite being so malnourished that he wobbled like a paper doll, had stayed here all night to protect Marina and me.

No one had ever done anything like this for me before.

Even the man who was my biological father never made time to see me—I had lived such a cold life.

Even if it wasn’t really for me personally, I felt like crying with gratitude for the elderly butler’s life-risking devotion.

Just as I sniffled, the poker in Hubert’s hand slipped and fell with a loud crash.

The noise caused the butler to open his eyes wide and hurriedly stand up.

“You scoundrels! No! No!”

“It’s me, it’s me!”

When I tapped his shoulder, relief washed over Hubert’s eyes, which had grown round with surprise.

“Miss.”

“Did you spend the night here?”

“I didn’t know what that fellow might do.”

“What if you caught a cold or put yourself in danger!”

“Miss! Butler!”

Marina came running from the other end of the corridor, rubbing her eyes as if she had just woken up.

She was properly dressed, but hadn’t had time to braid her hair, so her long auburn hair was disheveled.

“Marina! What kind of appearance is that! As I’ve repeatedly said, although we may call the Baron ‘Miss’ and live comfortably in this castle for now, there are still rules that must be……”

“Rules and norms to follow. Yes, yes, Butler. I remember it clearly.”

Marina grumbled as she began braiding her hair while standing in the corridor.

“But I hardly slept all night! I was so worried someone might start a fire while we were sleeping. I had nightmares the entire time.”

Now that I looked closely, Marina’s eyes were bloodshot.

Everything was quiet, but a faint smell of smoke still lingered in the air.

“That man hasn’t come out yet. I’ve been leaning against the door all night.”

Hubert said, taking a key out of his pocket.

“Well, if he really wanted to, he could have escaped through the window.”

I gestured for him to hurry and open the door.

Click.

As the key turned and the door opened, we all rushed inside.

But we were a bit stunned by the scene in the room.

With the curtains drawn, the room was very dark.

This side must not get much sunlight, as it was much colder than my room. I could even see my breath slightly.

The man was lying straight on the bed.

He was in a neat position, eyes tightly closed, with both arms straight at his sides.

The bandage that Marina had tightly wrapped around his head last night was still in place.

“Aack! Is he dead……”

Marina, who was about to scream, closed her mouth when she saw the man’s chest rising and falling.

“No, he’s still alive.”

“Hey! Wake up now. Let’s see if you remember anything……”

Hubert stepped forward and poked the man.

But the man didn’t move at all.

He was clearly breathing, but he wouldn’t open his eyes or respond.

“Hey! Pretending to sleep won’t help!”

Standing at the foot of the bed, I tapped the man’s bare foot and was startled.

“Wait! He’s burning up!”

“What?”

Marina quickly approached and placed her hand on the man’s forehead.

Only then did the man make a faint groan.

Marina quickly brought her face close to examine him.

“This is bad. He seems to be in a coma. He’s burning with fever.”

“Oh dear.”

As they both looked at me with dismayed expressions, I realized how foolish I had been.

Some castle owner I was, unable to make even this basic judgment.

Whether he was suspicious or not, if I wanted to interrogate him, I should have kept him alive first.

It was only natural that he’d fallen ill after being left all night in this freezing room with a deep head wound and unable to even remember his own name.

“Let’s give him medicine quickly.”

I regretted my words as soon as they left my mouth.

In my previous life, a few antipyretics and antibiotics would have been sufficient, but there was no way such things existed here.

So how did people in this era handle situations like this?

***

“Apothecary Rosenthal is a good person, though you might not know him, Miss. We often visited him when we were sick. That is…… before everyone ran away.”

Marina said sadly.

“Dr. Lansfield would be in league with Mr. Feldwell, but if we explain the situation to Old Man Rosenthal, he’ll give us medicine. The problem is……”

“I know, money.”

I had heard so many concerns on our way here that money worries were now firmly planted in my mind.

In my previous life, I had so much of it without giving it a thought.

It wasn’t even money I had earned through hard work—it was just there from the day I was born—yet I never felt grateful for it.

I only lamented that money was useless in my situation where I had to live in hiding.

But now, I wish I had even a quarter of a quarter of what I used to spend as daily pocket money.

That would have been enough to buy bread and soup until everyone’s stomachs burst, with plenty left over.

“Ah!”

Lost in thought, I quickly grabbed the reins when my horse suddenly staggered.

“Oh my, be careful, Miss!”

We were being taken to the village by two horses named “Thunder” and “Lightning.”

‘We sold the carriage last month, Miss. We used that money to buy a sack of potatoes. Now all we have left are Thunder and Lightning. Don’t you remember?’

I had some expectations because of their names…… but what appeared were completely different creatures.

Both might have once been vigorous and beautiful, but now they were old, weak, and moved sluggishly.

They moved so slowly and occasionally staggered that I felt sorry for riding on their backs.

Fortunately, I had consistently taken horseback riding lessons in my previous life.

Such things were important back then. To socialize with similar people in that world, I had to learn horseback riding, golf, and social dancing.

Even so, I ended up surrounded only by fellow “children of darkness” like myself since the privileged always stuck together, which was depressing, but at least the skills remained.

I gently soothed the wobbling Thunder as we moved forward.

“Here we are. Fortunately, Old Man Rosenthal’s house is at the edge of the village, almost right next to the forest. We can sneak in without being seen by people.”

According to Marina’s explanation, Old Man Rosenthal was a pharmacist past his prime.

Though he was so old that he was virtually retired, the elderly people in the village still sought out Old Man Rosenthal rather than Dr. Lansfield when they fell ill.

The apothecary’s home was a pretty, toylike house surrounded by a small fence.

As we entered the small courtyard and were tying up our horses, the front door opened and an elderly woman with her white hair tied up in a bun emerged.

“Who……”

The old woman’s expression, which had been smiling as she began to speak, froze when she saw me.

“Hello. From the castle……”

Marina had just begun to speak when—

“Why have you come here!”

The old woman interrupted hurriedly and rushed out.

“Please go back immediately!”

She gestured frantically while lowering her voice as if afraid someone might hear.

“We urgently need medicine. We have a patient with a wound who’s developed a fever……”

“I tell you, we can’t help! We recently joined the association! If they find out you’re here, they won’t leave us alone. So please just……”

“Rosie!”

We all looked up to see a short elderly man with a white beard standing in the open doorway.

“Old Man!”

Marina, who had been looking upset and confused, called out happily.

“I’ve brought Miss, I mean, the Baron! Please help us!”

“Marina?”

The old man gazed at me carefully.

His brown eyes were soft and warm.

“Miss Clarence, no, Baron.”

Old Man Rosenthal bowed to me, ignoring his wife’s fierce glare.

I bowed back and was just about to open my mouth to explain the situation when—

“Baron? What nonsense is that? Has the deceased Baron Philoraine risen from the dead and returned?”

A mocking voice came from behind.