I Became the Master of a Suspicious Count

When I turned around, I saw the small elderly woman hurrying toward us, out of breath.

The path at the edge of the forest wasn’t particularly steep, but the tall weeds were tangled everywhere, making me worry she might fall.

“Huff! Huff!”

Mrs. Rosenthal approached us, breathing heavily, and reached into her pocket to take something out.

“This! My husband asked me to give you this……”

It was a small green bottle containing a potion and a tiny container of ointment.

“This is……”

“Twice a day, mix five or six drops of this medicine in half a cup of water, and it will bring down the fever. Apply this ointment to the wound.”

I accepted the medicine that was suddenly thrust at me, unable to say anything as I stared at Mrs. Rosenthal’s face.

“But…… that association……”

“Yes, they won’t leave us alone if they find out. But my husband can’t bear to see someone sick without helping.”

Mrs. Rosenthal grumbled with tears in her eyes.

“Anyway, this is all we can do for you. Please don’t come back again. We need to survive too. I beg you.”

My heart ached as I watched the elderly woman with her white hair bow her head.

“Wait! Just a moment!”

I quickly turned and called out to the old woman who was about to leave.

“Here!”

“What?”

“I left in such a hurry that I couldn’t bring anything substantial.”

I pressed a small silver perfume bottle into the old woman’s hand.

“But this is……”

“I grabbed it from the table in my room just in case. For the medicine.”

I shrugged at Marina.

“For now…… this is all I can give you, but I’ll find a way to repay you properly soon.”

The old woman didn’t respond to my words.

She simply hesitated for a long time before accepting the perfume bottle, carefully putting it in her pocket, and turning to walk away.

Well, in this worst-case scenario, there wasn’t much else to say to each other.

We watched the old woman’s retreating back before turning around and starting to trudge along again.

Neither of us knew what to say, so we just kept walking, looking straight ahead.

“Um……”

Marina, who had been watching me cautiously for a while, carefully spoke up.

“Shall we take a detour that way? We might be able to gather some acorns and tree fruits like last time.”

“Like last time? Ah, I recall you mentioned gathering things from the forest and boiling them to eat.”

“Oh, please don’t talk about it like it’s someone else’s story! It makes my heart sink.”

Marina’s eyes widened again as she grumbled.

“Wait! Come to think of it, that half-n*ked man isn’t the only problem! You’re not in good shape either. You fell from a height yesterday and might have injured your head! We should have seen Dr. Lansfield while we were in the village.”

“Forget it! Didn’t you hear what Feldwell said earlier? I won’t go down to the village carelessly until we’ve properly prepared. Besides, I don’t need a doctor. I’m fine.”

I tapped my head to show her.

“I remember everything! How your grandmother said there’s surprisingly plenty to eat in the forest, and how we went there together. I remember it all!”

I boldly led the way, recalling the contents written in the diary.

“Oh my! Left, go left! Seeing you hesitate at the fork in the road, I can tell your memory hasn’t fully recovered yet.”

Marina pointed the way, grumbling.

I followed Marina, giggling.

After laughing, I still felt frustrated, but not as bitter as I had expected.

Considering the humiliations I endured in my previous life, I could withstand this level of insult.

It’s only been two days.

Now that I’ve grasped the situation, I need to plan how to solve this problem.

With that thought, I began to feel energized.

The unpleasant pressure in my head was gone, and I no longer got short of breath from walking too long or suddenly had nosebleeds.

My wrists were as thin as twigs, and I had a weak body that was always hungry and lacked strength, but I was still alive.

This is my land, and that castle in the distance is my home.

I also have my family members who stay by my side.

My people whom I must protect, my allies who believe in me.

With these thoughts, my fighting spirit blazed up.

Marina and I collected plenty of acorns and hazelnuts in our aprons as we walked through the grass, holding the horses’ reins.

Marina knew quite a lot about “edible” plants and fruits, which was a great help.

Finding a lot of “Jerusalem artichokes”¹ was also a big harvest, though we couldn’t load too many on the saddles for fear the horses might stagger.

But can people really survive on just these things?

Just as I was starting to worry, an unexpected stroke of luck appeared.

We heard a “tok tok tok tok” sound from somewhere.

“What’s that sound?”

“I’m not sure. It doesn’t seem to be raining…… what could it be……”

“Ah! Over there!”

I pointed at something glimpsed through the grass.

“Oh? That’s a chicken!”

Something white hopped forward from among the thick weeds and tree stumps.

“Judging by its small, pointed comb and short, stubby tail, it must be a hen. I remember my mother teaching me how to tell them apart when I was young.”

“Why on earth is there a chicken in the mountains?”

“I’m not sure. It might have escaped from someone’s home. Ah! It’s probably from Old Man Pebble’s house. He lives on the other side of the forest and is so forgetful that he often forgets to close his fence gate.”

“Really?”

I fell into thought for a moment.

I shouldn’t be thinking this way after just resolving to live well from now on, but I can’t help it.

“But there’s no proof, right?”

“Well, that’s true. They don’t put name tags on chickens.”

“Hmm.”

The chicken approached us without much fear, perhaps because it was hungry.

It seemed to have wandered in the forest for quite some time.

It appeared to be searching for food, pecking at leaves with its beak.

“Let’s take it to the castle.”

“What?”

“You said it’s a hen, right?”

“Yes…… probably.”

“Then it will lay eggs. That means we can get eggs.”

Marina’s eyes widened.

“But keeping a chicken at the castle? I mean…… the butler and I would have to……”

“I’m here too, so don’t worry.”

“But you’ve never raised one before.”

“Well, how hard can it be? Just give it some food, give it baths occasionally, and care for it with love, and it will lay eggs abundantly. Then we won’t have to go begging in the village.”

But hmm…… can chickens be bathed?

“Come on! Stop talking and let’s catch that thing! Follow me!”

“Oh my! Miss!!”

***

“What! What happened? Were you a-a-attacked?”

Hubert, who came out to greet us, stammered in shock at our terrible appearance.

I silently thrust forward the chicken I had been holding in my arms.

The creature, which had been flapping and scattering feathers everywhere during our journey, now seemed to have lost its strength and was just blinking its eyes quietly.

Hubert took the chicken, caught off guard.

“What? What on earth is this?”

“It’s our new family member. Prepare a place for it to sleep.”

I said only that and trudged inside.

I was too exhausted to even keep my eyes open.

We had wasted an hour in the forest trying to catch that troublesome chicken.

The creature had clucked and fled in all directions, forcing us to chase it with all our might.

We were both completely worn out, and our clothes and hair were a mess of dirt, moss, and leaves.

“I didn’t know chickens could fly.”

We muttered as we trudged to the stable with the horses after leaving the chicken with Hubert.

“That thing might not be a chicken but some kind of supernatural creature. It really flew two or three meters in one go. I was so surprised! Oh! How’s your knee from when you fell earlier?”

“Ah, it’s just a little scraped. But at least we won’t have to worry about eggs anymore, which is fortunate.”

I felt Marina’s gaze carefully examining me as we walked to the stable, put the horses in their stalls, and removed their harnesses.

“What? Why are you staring at me?”

“W-what?”

I burst out laughing when I saw Marina stammer in confusion.

“If you have something to say, just say it. I don’t think formalities are very important here anymore.”

“Ah.”

Marina smiled awkwardly.

“How should I put it… Miss, you seem…… completely different now. Honestly……”

I tensed up, not knowing what she would say next, when Marina grinned.

“You were really impressive.”

I stared at Marina blankly with my mouth open.

No one had ever said such a thing to me before.

“You were like a real lord. When you scolded that annoying man, it was truly satisfying—Oh! My goodness! What am I doing? I’m sorry, Miss. How dare I……”

“No!”

I grabbed Marina’s arm firmly.

“Can you say it again?”

“What?”

“What you just said, just one more time……”

That’s when it happened.

“Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!”

A terrible, desperate scream came from somewhere.

We looked at each other simultaneously.

“Oh!”

“What was that?”

“It’s the butler!”