She seemed both to believe and disbelieve that Barmas loved her. In truth, Romei herself found it puzzling.

Along with her feelings toward Barmas.

Noticing this, Barmas asked, “So what do you think?”

“About what?”

“Do you think I love you?”

“…”

Romei didn’t answer his question that struck right to the heart of the matter. She couldn’t give a simple “yes” or “no” response.

However, one thing was certain.

“Before, I thought you were just lying to keep me here. That you believed if you seduced me this way, I would fall completely for you and stay by your side.”

“…”

“But now I think it might not be a lie.”

As she spoke, Romei met Barmas’s gaze.

Unlike her past eyes that resembled dead fish, filled with emptiness and futility like a thick fog, her blue eyes now shone with a faint but definite light.

Unaware of this change, Romei expected Barmas to be disappointed by her honest assessment. It was such a small change compared to all the effort he had put into her.

Contrary to her expectations, however, relief colored Barmas’s red eyes. She could sense his sharp emotions, anxiety and impatience, gently subsiding.

“That’s enough for me,” Barmas’s low voice resonated.

“I told you. Whether you forgive me or not, whether you believe my sincerity or not, I’ll stay by your side until you do believe.”

“…”

“Feel free to measure me all you want, Romei. If after measuring me, you still think I’m not sincere, you can kill me.”

“…”

“Do you remember the method I taught you?”

Barmas asked. The method he taught her would have been how to kill him.

Romei’s gaze naturally moved to Barmas’s chest. The spot where he had placed her hand.

Barmas pulled up one corner of his mouth into a smile at Romei’s gaze, which accurately targeted his vital point.

“You remember well.”

“…It wasn’t that long ago when you taught me.”

“You probably don’t know how many idiots immediately forget even after being taught.”

Barmas slightly furrowed his brow and clicked his tongue, perhaps recalling those idiots in his mind. He seemed irritated just by remembering their actions.

Romei only half-listened to what he was saying.

Even though he claimed to have changed now, considering his previous foul personality that wouldn’t forgive even the smallest mistake, it was clear that just about anyone would fall into his category of “idiots.”

“Anyway, if you think I’m lying to you or trying to trick you, kill me. I’d even welcome you killing me because you don’t want to be abandoned by me again.”

“…”

“Until you kill me, I’ll probably stick to you tenaciously like a parasite.”

Having quickly composed his expression, Barmas said this and then calmly changed the subject. He picked up the spoon he had momentarily forgotten and fed Romei the slightly cooled tomato soup.

“Practice using the spoon later. I’ll bring you one that isn’t being used. You probably don’t want me to keep feeding you.”

“…I don’t mind it.”

Romei, who had been mulling over his words, suddenly came to her senses and answered. Then, just when Barmas’s eyes widened in surprise, she disappointed him.

“But I think it’s not right to make someone else do it when my hands are still functional.”

“…I might want to do it.”

“Still, I want to eat with my own hands.”

Despite showing disappointment at her firm answer, Barmas said nothing more. He had decided to respect Romei’s wishes.

With Barmas’s help, Romei finished the entire bowl of soup. She savored the feeling of fullness she hadn’t experienced in a long time and the delicious taste of tomato soup lingering in her mouth.

‘I should probably work on being able to move my body properly.’

Romei had nothing left.

Someone who had already been declared dead and had their funeral held had nowhere to return to, and her friends who had been dispatched to Picardin to investigate the disappearances had all returned to the capital.

Her sense of duty as a holy knight who wanted to reveal the secret of the trap to save people, and all her past efforts toward that goal, had also disappeared when she paid with her friends’ lives.

Romei had become someone who could do nothing and needed to do nothing.

She was literally in ruins. Nevertheless, if there was one thing that remained, it was Romei’s own life.

And now Romei had to choose again what to do with that life.

When she was wandering the streets and taken in by Brodie, Romei believed that her mission was to help people as a holy knight and that it was the right thing to do.

When Barmas took everything from her and left her with only the bleak future of serving him, Romei sought escape through death.

Now, because Romei had nothing, she was paradoxically free to determine her own life. No sense of mission or duty, no coercion or threat bound her.

Romei didn’t know what kind of life she wanted to live or whether she wanted to stay by Barmas’s side, but she did know one thing:

To restart the one life she had left, she needed to rise from the ruins.

* * *

Romei’s actions to restart her life were simple. First, she began waking up regularly and eating meals on time.

Until now, she had barely sustained her life with some miraculous medicine of unknown origin, but that couldn’t continue. She needed to consume food through proper chewing motions like a living person.

The day after intensively practicing how to hold a spoon with the unused one Barmas had given her, when Romei went to sleep on time and woke up in the morning, his reaction was extremely simple.

“…What?”

Barmas stared at Romei, who had risen with the morning sun, looking like he’d seen a ghost.

Despite Barmas’s startled gaze, Romei calmly covered her mouth and yawned long. Her large eyes blinked drowsily, suggesting she still felt sleepy.

“Yaaawn…”

“What is this? What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

Romei asked, shaking off her sleepiness. Her completely natural response momentarily confused Barmas’s mind.

Unless someone had secretly put hallucinogens in the bedroom, or the world was playing a trick on him, there was no reason for Romei to wake up within the normal range of waking hours without any reason.

Romei burst into a small laugh at Barmas’s expression, which strangely combined disbelief, surprise, suspicion, and joy.

“Why are you looking at me with such a surprised face? Was I not supposed to get up? If you don’t like it, I’ll go back to sleep.”

“Ah, no. Why wouldn’t I like it?”

Barmas hurriedly stopped Romei, without time to organize his confused thoughts. Then he offered what even he thought was a clumsy excuse.

“I’m just… so surprised, that’s all, just surprised…”

“I’m planning to wake up around this time every day from now on, so it would be troublesome if you react like this each time.”

“From now on… every day…?”

Barmas repeated her words thoughtfully.

Waking up on time was a very positive development, and he had hoped for it, but when it actually happened, he couldn’t believe it. It felt like he was having a very realistic dream.

However, Romei spoke with a faint smile, suggesting this was no dream.

“I’d like to practice using a spoon after breakfast. Would you help me, if that’s okay?”

“Hmm…?”

“Oh, and walking practice too. If you’re busy, you can assign a familiar to help me.”

The moment the word “familiar” left Romei’s lips, Barmas frowned severely and shook his head. It was a gesture that conveyed resolute determination.

“No. Do it with me. I’m not busy at all.”

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

After agreeing to spend time with him, Romei requested breakfast. Barmas, docile as a lamb, called a servant and ordered:

“Prepare breakfast and bring it up. Since it’s morning, exclude anything too greasy.”

“Yes, Lord Barmas.”

The servant who received his order quietly bowed before leaving the bedroom. Soon, they returned with cream stew containing potatoes.

Romei examined the stew and two small pieces of bread placed before her. Initially, she hadn’t felt particularly hungry, but facing the meal, she realized she was famished.

‘It feels like being alive…’

For the first time since Barmas had proposed the humiliating bet, Romei sensed life. And it wasn’t such a bad feeling.

While Barmas dismissed the servant, Romei began eating.

Although she had practiced holding utensils for a long time yesterday, she still felt somewhat clumsy. Bending her joints was especially difficult; she had to exert considerable effort just to curl her hand into a grip.

“Phew…”

Holding the spoon with the feeling of training with dumbbells, Romei trembled slightly as she scooped up some stew. Instead of bringing the spoon to her mouth, she brought her mouth close to the spoon.

Her mouth filled with the soft flavor of cream and the savory taste of potatoes.

Though she found her eating form somewhat ridiculous and a bit sad, the excellent taste of the food easily erased that sadness.

“How is it? Is it okay?”

Barmas, who had been quietly watching her eat from beside her, asked.

Romei nodded.

“It’s much better than I expected.”

“That’s good. Tell me if you get tired while eating. I’ll feed you.”

“Thank you. I’ll let you know if it gets difficult.”

Though she said this to Barmas, Romei intended to finish by herself even if the stew before her got cold.

She did feel Barmas’s gaze watching her intently, perhaps concerned about her unsteady spooning, but she managed to get through it safely.

By the time she finished her meal, she felt muscle pain so severe it seemed her arms might fall off.

‘Even though I’ve lost all my muscles, I can still feel muscle pain…’

Romei inwardly laughed at the wonder and absurdity of it all while massaging her throbbing arms. It was especially ironic because her forearms felt nothing but bone in her grip, with no trace of muscle.

‘Perhaps it’s natural, since I can’t even hold a spoon properly.’

Although she had resolved to rehabilitate herself, it was inevitable that her determination would waver when even eating a meal was so difficult.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t give up here.

‘If I do what I can and work hard, someday…’

She would recover enough to walk around the garden without Barmas’s help.

Just as she was thinking this, Barmas moved closer and reached behind her, placing his hand over hers as she massaged her arm.

When Romei looked up at the solid warmth enveloping her body, Barmas pulled up one corner of his mouth in a smile and looked at her with approving eyes.

“Well done, Romei.”