Until now, Becky had never once lied to me.

If what Becky said was true, then it meant the two of them had laughed together warmly after discussing whether I lived or died.

After telling him I had been poisoned by Libitina snake venom?

Becky, laughing as she spoke.

Blake, answering as if he were enjoying himself somehow.

I couldn’t clearly tell whether it was a lie, but I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

“Becky.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Becky wasn’t the sort of girl who cried easily. The fact that she had been crying so often lately was strange too.

“I want to go out.”

“Ah, yes. I’ll prepare everything now.”

Perhaps Becky was hiding something from me. If so, could I trust the doctor she contacted all those years ago? But the medical report I saw was genuine.

“No. I’ll go with someone else.”

“What? Why?”

“There’s somewhere I need to stop by.”

“Will you be all right? You might get lost.”

“That’s enough.”

Before I realized it, I had cut her off, not wanting to hear the rest of what she had to say.

“Ah… yes. My lady, then please take this.”

Becky handed me a small rolled note. There was only one person who would send a note like this.

Theodore Merven.

My only remaining friend, and someone who could not enter this mansion.

I unfolded the note.

<I heard what happened. Can we meet at Jennit’s café at five? I’ll be waiting.

—Theo>

“Becky, did you tell Theo…”

“Yes. I told him that you collapsed yesterday. Actually, he came to the ducal residence yesterday as well… but His Grace refused to let him in.”

“I see.”

For some reason, Blake disliked Theodore. I didn’t know why.

Still, he didn’t interfere with us meeting outside. So, while keeping an eye on his mood, I could only meet Theodore outside on rare occasions. It would have been better if Blake had at least explained clearly why he hated him.

Then again, what use was that now?

I didn’t even know what Blake and Becky had been saying to each other.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

As the carriage took me into town, all kinds of thoughts filled my mind.

What would it feel like for my body to stiffen?

If it hardened slowly, as the doctor said it would, until my heart stopped beating completely…

No, I shouldn’t think about it.

The more I thought about it, the more frightened I became.

I found myself gasping involuntarily, as though my breath had risen all the way to my throat. Feeling dizzy, I leaned my face against the window.

The steady clatter of hooves and the rocking of the carriage had a strangely calming effect.

It was as if I were the only thing in the world unable to settle down.

“Are you all right, my lady?”

“…I’m fine.”

Andrea, who occasionally took Becky’s place in attending to me, sat opposite me and watched me quietly.

Like Becky, she was a lady-in-waiting. However, unlike Becky, she was of noble birth and considerably older.

Since I usually went everywhere with Becky, it was rare for Andrea to accompany me outside the ducal residence.

It had been a long time since I had gone out with her.

I had kept my distance from her.

“Please wait a moment. We’re on our way to the hospital.”

Compared to the other servants, who avoided me as though I were a walking calamity, Andrea was better—but that didn’t make her easy to be around.

She was overly formal with me, and now, somehow, even harder to face than Becky.

“Andrea.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Do you believe what Delia said too?”

“……”

Andrea looked at me, startled—and my heart sank.

From her perspective, there was no reason not to believe it.

The incident that made the servants start avoiding me like a disaster had happened because of Delia.

“Please spare me, my lady! I was wrong! Please don’t hit me!”

I had never once laid a hand on Delia.

But she struck her own cheek and caused a scene, and I froze, not knowing what to do.

When people rushed into the drawing room, she stopped harming herself and grabbed at my feet, begging.

“I won’t ever spill tea on your shoes again, my lady!”

The rumors must have begun at that moment.

The rumor that I was a cruel mistress who abused her servants.

“I don’t think it matters who I believe.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know you well, and I don’t know Delia well either. I simply do the job that’s been given to me.”

At that, a small laugh escaped me.

The Andrea I thought was merely cold and formal was, in fact, the one who saw me with the least prejudice.

Just then, the carriage jolted to a stop, and my body tipped forward.

“It seems we’ve arrived.”

“This place is……”

It was a small clinic on the outskirts of the village. From the sign outside, it seemed to have been set up by someone who had previously worked as a director at a national university hospital.

Yet, despite these credentials, the place seemed strangely empty.

Come to think of it, I had heard this doctor’s name before. Not many people had been stripped of their noble status and reduced to commoners.

I hadn’t expected to end up somewhere this remote.

“I’ll go alone.”

I stopped Andrea as she tried to follow and stepped down from the carriage by myself, glancing around at the worn surroundings.

Knock, knock.

I tapped on the clinic door, but there was no response. It seemed the staff inside were busy.

Just as I was about to give up and leave, a voice called out.

“Come in.”

It was the voice of an older woman.

I carefully pushed the door open. Inside, I found a treatment room filled with various pieces of equipment. It was cleaner than it looked from the outside.

“Sit over there. Ah… a noble, are you?”

The woman appeared to be quite advanced in age. Her hair wasn’t completely white, but the streaks of The mixture of grey and black gave it a predominantly silver appearance.

I nodded slowly and sat down where she indicated. The bed was slightly worn, but the sheets were clean. Surgical tools were neatly arranged nearby — it seemed that she occasionally performed operations, too.

“If you’re a noble, why did you come alone?”

“My companion is waiting outside.”

“I see.”

She must have recognized my status from my clothing.

“May I ask what brings you here?”

“This… please take a look at this.”

I rolled up the sleeve of my left arm and extended it toward her. The hourglass-shaped mark was still clearly visible. I had hoped it would fade—but I had been told that if it did, my life would be over.

If only this were a dream.

“Libitina snake venom.”

“Ah… I thought so.”

“May I run a few tests?”

“Yes.”

Once again, it felt as though the ground had given way beneath my feet and my heart had plummeted.

The faint hope I had clung to had vanished completely.

It seemed that the doctor Becky had brought me to see was real after all.

So what had that conversation with Blake actually been about?

“We’ll need to draw some blood. Are you afraid?”

“…A little. I don’t like it very much…”

“Then close your eyes.”

As instructed, I slowly closed my eyes. The sensation of my arm being bound made me tremble. Soon, I felt the cold touch of a blade, followed by sharp, burning pain and dizziness.

When I opened my eyes, I saw blood flowing steadily from my fingertips and collecting neatly in a Petri dish.

Once the dish was full, the doctor pressed a piece of cotton soaked in alcohol onto my arm.

It didn’t feel real; it was as if the dark red blood in the transparent dish didn’t belong to me.

“Press it with your hand. That will stop the bleeding.”

“I understand.”

I did as she said, sitting there and pressing down on my arm.

The cotton felt cold against my skin. As I stared at the blood slowly spreading through it, I looked up at the doctor, who was rummaging through something with a faint clatter.

She transferred my blood into a long, clear container, added a solution from a drawer, and began to shake it.

The blood darkened, turning black and clouding over.

After observing it for a moment, she brought the container over and showed me.

“This test was unnecessary. It is indeed poisoning from Libitina snake venom.”

“Ah…”

How much disappointment would it take for a fool like me to finally accept that I was truly poisoned?

The fact that I had still been hoping felt pathetic.

“You might consider requesting an antidote from the Duke Sigmund family.”

“So… there’s no other way?”

“No.”

There were no comforting words. No sympathy.

She simply stated my condition plainly.

“The report…”

“I’ll write it for you.”

I watched quietly as she wrote the diagnosis in elegant script. Perhaps because I had already been hit by the truth once before, it didn’t hurt as much this time.

Right.

I already knew, didn’t I?

At least no tears fell.

Maybe it was a small mercy not to cry so pitifully.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

With the report in hand, I made my way toward Jennit’s café.

“Aren’t you curious what the doctor said?”

“…No. Didn’t you say not to accompany you because you didn’t want me to know?”

“No, it’s not like that.”

I had simply been afraid that, after confirming it so definitively, I would collapse again.

That was why I hadn’t taken Andrea into the examination room.

I handed her the folded report. Her usually impassive eyes widened slightly before turning toward me.

“Why did you take me to that doctor?”

“Because they are trustworthy. They were once the director of a national university hospital. Though they’ve been demoted now, their skill is among the best in the capital.”

The breeze drifting through the window carried a gentle, pleasant scent. As we entered the town, the air filled with the warmth of people living their everyday lives.

“That report… please hold onto it for me, Andrea.”

“Why?”

“I don’t think I’ll need it. But I can’t bring myself to throw it away.”

“…I will keep it safe.”

I didn’t even know why I had asked for the report.

The important one had already been handed over to Blake.

“We’ve arrived, my lady.”

I opened the carriage door and stepped down. The day was bright and warm. Though the humidity was low, the five o’clock sun was enough to wear anyone down.

Theodore was waiting for me in front of the café.

“I’ve been waiting, Elaine. Here.”

With his sun-red hair and golden eyes, Theodore handed me a bouquet of daffodils and gently took my hand.