2. An Anxious Beginning

Despite the late evening hour, the mansion was bustling. They needed to prepare a late dinner for Eve, who had newly arrived at the estate.

After resting in her room, Eve was guided to the dining hall by Marie.

As Eve took her seat at the end of the long table, servants skillfully poured wine into her glass.

She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until the aroma of meat, stew, and warm food stimulated her senses. Although she didn’t want to eat soup and bread, which she had grown tired of in the basement, she put a spoonful of soup into her mouth to satisfy her rumbling stomach.

“!”

A rich, savory taste filled her mouth.

It was a flavor that made her regret thinking all soups were the same. Her hand moved busily as she continued to eat the soup.

She silently thanked Medric for allowing her to eat such food.

When she had emptied about half the bowl, she noticed bread before her.

Despite her vow never to eat bread again after leaving the basement, she couldn’t take her eyes off the perfectly browned loaf. Following her instinct, she picked up the bread and took a large bite.

‘Goodness. The bread is delicious too.’

The oats between the moist, savory bread created an exquisite texture. Eve continued to put the bread and soup into her mouth.

But this action soon led to regret.

Shortly after, herring fry, beef olives, and what appeared to be the main dish—lamb loin—were placed on the table.

An endless feast unfolded before her. She was already quite full from the bread and soup. Even feeling her stomach filling up, she couldn’t give up the food in front of her and continued to stuff her mouth.

When she awkwardly cut the lamb loin and put it in her mouth, it felt like fireworks exploding in her head.

It had been so long since she’d eaten proper food that she chewed slowly, savoring it. The salty-savory flavors clinging to her tongue, mouth, and palate were heavenly.

The servants watching Eve were tense.

They worried whether the food suited the palate of the person their master had ordered them to treat with respect, but Eve was too focused on the food to notice their concern.

By the time she had nearly finished eating, Medric arrived at the dining hall.

When Eve tried to stand up to show respect, Medric gestured for her to remain seated. He sat across from Eve and immediately began eating the food prepared for him.

As he skillfully cut the meat before him, he slowly spoke.

“It’s late today, so we’ll draw up the contract tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

So his promise to write a contract hadn’t been a lie after all.

‘A man impossible to read.’

He could suddenly change his mind and throw her out, or send her back to the Renox family.

Following him had been a gamble, but so far there was nothing to regret.

Medric paused his knife work and looked at Eve.

“Aren’t you eating?”

“Ah, I’ve finished…”

Medric instructed a nearby servant to bring Eve some tea. Drinking the warm tea seemed to calm her anxious mind a little.

“I don’t know your size, so there aren’t many clothes available. I’ll call for someone from the dress shop as soon as day breaks tomorrow so you can order clothes.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“If you need anything, be sure to tell Hans. This is absolutely not empty talk, so please do so.”

“Yes.”

Medric was excessively attentive and caring toward Eve. When she was at Count Renox’s mansion, she thought it was an illusion due to the chaotic situation, but now she realized it wasn’t.

Was there a need to be this kind to a business partner?

Medric exchanged a few more words with Eve, made a few more cuts with his knife, then rose from his seat. He had eaten less than half of the food served.

“Are you leaving already?”

“I only came to see you briefly because I heard you were dining.”

‘See who? Me?’

Eve blinked at his incomprehensible statement.

“I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

Medric left the dining hall without hesitation. Left alone, Eve stared at the place he had gone for a long time.

***

Medric sank into a plush chair. Documents filled with dense text were piled on his study desk.
Despite the late hour approaching dawn, Medric had not returned to his room. Besides the
accumulated and delayed work, he had much to think about.

‘Returned, huh…’

Though rationally he thought it impossible, his body moved quickly to resolve matters.
The fortunate thing was that he remembered that Modga, who had survived, had family bloodlines tied to both the royal family and the Renox County.

Though his memory was hazy since it happened long ago, he slowly untangled the threads in his mind.

In his previous life, he and Eve had only been acquaintances, not particularly close, so he didn’t know the details of her circumstances.

Nevertheless, seeing Eve’s condition in the Renox mansion’s basement filled him with rage.

‘Is it because she’s the hero who will save the country?’

He never dreamed she would be living in such terrible conditions. Anyone would have been angry seeing Eve treated as less than human.

‘Yes, I’ll need to stir things up with the Renox family.’

Medric irritably ran his hand through his hair, gazing at the lights of buildings visible through the window before slowly closing his eyes.

As he closed his eyes, he vaguely remembered the day he first met Eve in the Kingdom of Ptotr.

“Who is this person?”

“She says she fled and arrived here. What should we do?”

He remembered David, exhausted from paperwork, pointing at Eve with his haggard face.

At that time, Medric had been dispatched to various parts of the kingdom and didn’t have much time to stay at the family mansion. He didn’t have much time for marriage or family business.

He had just returned to the mansion after two months of directly meeting and mediating with foreign powers trying to devour a country struggling with financial difficulties. Medric had given the kneeling woman before him a cursory glance before rifling through the documents in his study.

“Quite a pile.”

“That’s after reducing it significantly…”

“I’m sure. Give the woman some food and let her leave.”

The woman with her head bowed low shed tears. Yet she made no request of Medric. If she had fled this far, she must have had a reason to escape. It must have been difficult.

But that was as far as it went.

Both Medric and David were very tired. In the midst of dealing with national and territorial affairs, they didn’t have the luxury to extend kindness to a stranger with no connections. Providing just enough help to keep someone from dying—that was the most they could do. David, despite his sympathetic eyes, turned his gaze away from her as she left the study.

That was Medric and Eve’s first meeting.

Medric emerged from his reverie and lifted his eyelids.

His first meeting with Eve had changed. Perhaps this could twist the axis of future events somewhat.

Medric set aside his scattered thoughts and began looking at the documents before him again.

“Your Grace!”

David called out to Medric from the corridor as he rushed into the study.

“How annoying.”

As David burst through the door, catching his breath, Medric reprimanded him, making David clear his throat uncomfortably.

“Ahem, first of all, you disappeared without saying anything. Did you resolve the matter successfully?”

“Well, more or less.”

“Was the reason for your hasty departure merely because of a woman? Since when have you been so passionately in love…”

When Medric glared at David, he flinched and lowered his eyes. Looking dejected, David tapped the floor with his toe and grumbled.

“I couldn’t even sleep while working hard during your absence, so couldn’t you at least give me that much explanation…”

When Medric gave him another cold look, David said it was nothing and began organizing the documents on the desk.

“The work that’s piled up is mountainous.”

“I have eyes, you know.”

“Really, even when I speak, you always… These documents need your approval by today. The relief center in the northern part of the duchy will likely run out of supplies in about a month.”

“Relief center?”

“Yes, they’re calling for physicians from other cities, but they say they’re reaching their limits.”

David tilted his head at Medric’s words.

“Already? The epidemic has been spreading southward from the grand duchy to the kingdom for over a month. Didn’t you hear about it at the grand council?”

“…Right.”

Medric covered his gaping mouth with his hand. The events he remembered were progressing faster than expected.

This was troubling.

‘I’ll need to move quickly.’

David, thinking Medric’s mind was wandering from overwork, continued organizing the documents without much concern.

While reviewing the work, Medric picked up a letter tucked between the documents.

“Investment proposal from Duke Maltein…?”

The Maltein ducal family. A historically significant family that had protected Ptotr for a long time, alternating between first and second place with the Archild ducal family whenever the heads of the families changed. Because of this, the two families were not on good terms.

“I heard the Maltein ducal family is starting a cruise ship business. Many families are already saying they’ll participate in the investment to support Maltein.”

“Ah.”

‘How could I have forgotten this?’

Medric placed the document on the desk and tapped it with his fingers. Then he curled up the corner of his mouth.

“David, has news of this reached Count Renox?”

“Probably not. Very few people know about it, and it’s still in the planning stages.”

“Then deliver this to the Renox mansion in my name. Say it’s a reward for Eve.”

“What? Yes…”

It seemed the opportunity to give Count Renox a hard time would come sooner than expected.