When Lena opened her eyes again, Penna was still by her side.

“Miss! You’re awake!”

She burst into tears and threw herself at her.

After comforting the flustered Penna, Lena asked.

“What time is it now……”

“Sniff… it’s 2 PM. Hiccup… Miss. Would you like to eat first? Or should I call a doctor first?”

Lena shook her head, saying she was fine.

“Miss… no, exactly where and how much are you hurting to have collapsed like that?”

Lena smiled bitterly. It had been so long since anyone had worried about her. It felt almost awkward.

‘It’s warm.’

It felt like a corner of her empty, hollow heart was being filled.

‘Is this what happiness feels like……?’

Lena reached out and stroked Penna’s head as she worried about her.

When her thin, rough palm touched her, Penna flinched slightly but quietly accepted the touch.

“Anyone would think I was dying……”

When Lena spoke slowly, Penna became serious, saying she shouldn’t even joke about such things.

‘Ah, I am dying though.’

Lena thought absently to herself.

Slightly more lucid now, Lena leaned back against the bed with Penna’s help and said.

“Don’t tell anyone.”

“I didn’t even tell the Duke.”

“Did he come looking for me?”

“Yes, he asked if you would like to have lunch together…… But when I told him you were sound asleep, he just left.”

She could clearly picture him furrowing his brow in disappointment, pacing back and forth for a long time.

When Lena laughed happily, Penna inwardly swallowed a sigh.

In truth, the Duke had caused such a commotion—asking why she was sleeping so late, if she was sick again, if she had eaten breakfast before sleeping, if she was sleeping without even drinking a sip of water, if he should call a doctor first, and so on!!

It had been exhausting to send him away after his tirade, which would make her mouth sore just to repeat, but she had decided to keep it secret from Lena.

So that her tender-hearted mistress wouldn’t worry unnecessarily about her oversized master.

Penna was prepared to endure that level of fatigue for her mistress.

Lena looked at Penna and carefully opened her mouth.

“You were worried, weren’t you? It’s my constitution.”

“Your constitution?”

“I’m like this sometimes. I’ve always been frail……”

“You don’t have some kind of illness, do you?”

Lena floundered for a moment.

“Umm… I’ve always been like this. Since I was very young. For more than 10 years. They say it’s not an illness. Just… uh, I have a weak stomach.”

“Stomach?”

Penna’s eyes widened at the unfamiliar word.

Ordinary people weren’t familiar with even simple medical terms. Yet there was a reason Lena used the term so comfortably.

Roberto, who had been interested in many different areas since childhood, often brought various books from here and there, allowing Lena to access more books more easily than others.

Among them, what caught Lena’s interest were pharmaceutical and medical books.

To cure her incurable disease, Lena had read and reread every pharmaceutical and medical book she could get her hands on.

Lena pointed to her upper abdomen and said.

“It’s where our food is digested.”

Despite Lena’s explanation, Penna just blinked. She clearly didn’t understand. Lena told a lie without even wetting her lips.

“Mine is weaker than other people’s. So I just… throw up like this. So don’t worry. Look, I’m fine now.”

With her deathly pale complexion, deep shadows under her eyes, and parched lips, her words lacked any persuasiveness.

However, though she didn’t understand the medical terms, Penna noticed that Lena was doing her best to make excuses and quietly nodded.

‘She must have her reasons.’

The experienced maid’s eyes were accurate.

“So please don’t tell the Duke or the Grand Madame.”

“But they might be able to help cure it.”

“Penna, please.”

“……”

Penna pressed her lips together in disapproval but ultimately had to nod.

Having already hidden it once, it would be awkward to speak up now.

“But please promise me one thing.”

“Yes, I will.”

“Please tell me when you’re in pain, at least to me.”

“……”

“Please, Miss. I already know your stomach… isn’t well.”

Despite Penna’s worried words, Lena couldn’t easily make the promise.

“If I can’t do anything else, at least let me pat your back.”

At Penna’s continued earnest request, Lena reluctantly agreed.

“Really? You must tell me when you’re in pain!”

“Alright. I’ll definitely tell you.”

Penna stroked her chest as if relieved just by that.

As she left the room telling Lena to rest well, she kept glancing back worriedly. Lena waved her hand gently, telling her not to worry.

After Penna left, Lena stared blankly at her blanket for a while, then turned her head to look outside the window.

Lying down and looking out the window was the same now as before, but her heart felt much more at ease.

‘And maybe because someone is looking after me, it’s not as hard as before.’

It was strange.

She had never known that someone’s concern could be this sweet and warm.

Out of habit, she thought of her family again.

‘Family……’

They say memories become reminiscences as time passes.

Any painful memory, any cruel memory, eventually gets worn down by the weathering of time and becomes beautified.

‘It must be true.’

The family she had hated so much, the family she had thought was so terrible, the people she had never wanted to see again… amusingly, she became curious about them.

It wasn’t that she wanted to see them or missed them.

She was just curious.

‘Are they all… living well?’

Were they deprived of money because she didn’t die? Had they become more impoverished without her sewing? Were they still eating only potatoes? Perhaps… had she misheard back then…?

‘While I’m living in such luxury……’

No. Since Delian had killed the monster and saved the village, he must have received money from the village chief.

They might be eating meat every day like her and enjoying delicious desserts.

‘I hope that’s the case.’

Yes, she hoped they were doing well.

Since they had sold her, since they had driven her to the edge of a cliff to die, she hoped they were at least living well with that money.

It would be unfair to lose a child and not receive any money.

‘That would make me feel less uncomfortable too.’

Though she knew it was a foolish thought, the idea that her family might be suffering while she alone was living in luxury gnawed at her.

For her peace of mind, she decided to wish for her family’s comfort.

Lena slowly closed her eyes.

After a nap, she would definitely have dinner with the Duke.

Tap… tap! …taptap!

Lena opened her eyes at the sound of something hitting the window.

“What is it?”

When Lena slowly approached, the sound stopped.

Opening the window, a cold wind rushed in. While she was fixing her hair blown by the sudden wind, a voice came from beside her.

“Sis!”

“……!!!”

Lena covered her mouth in shock.

The person sitting on the tree covered in snow flowers was none other than Roberto. Her younger brother.

“R-Roberto?!”

“It really is you, Sis!”

Roberto smiled brightly.

Roberto was sitting on a tree that was three stories high.

While Lena was flustered by his unexpected appearance, Roberto spoke again.

“I missed you, Sis.”

“It’s really fortunate that my sister is so stupid.”

At that moment, Roberto’s voice from the sacrificial altar overlapped in her mind. Gripped by fear again, Lena unconsciously hugged her shoulders.

Seeing this, Roberto laughed and said.

“Can I come in?”

“What?”

“I’m so cold, Sis.”

Lena tried to say no.

It was truly cold outside, but that wasn’t her concern.

Lena glared at him fiercely.

Then she spotted his red hands gripping the tree covered in snow flowers. Her heart suddenly stirred.

‘No, don’t weaken. He’s the boy who tried to kill me.’

Even as she thought this, her heart ached out of habit.

Lena barely opened her mouth.

“This isn’t my room, so I’m not sure. It probably won’t be possible. But I can listen to what you have to say from there.”

“Really? That’s too bad.”

Roberto didn’t seem to mind Lena’s answer.

“What’s going on? No, how did you get here?”

“Come on, Sis, have you already forgotten? I’m smart. There are many ways to infiltrate a ducal residence.”

His attitude was truly confident.

“It’s really fortunate that my sister is so stupid.”

The auditory hallucination overlapped again.

Roberto continued speaking.

“It’s nothing else… you know. Mother is very ill.”

“What?!”

Lena rushed toward Roberto.

Not properly dressed in outerwear, the cold winter wind seeped into her upper body as she leaned out the window.

“H-how… which part of her is ill and how badly?”

At Lena’s concern, Roberto had already erased his smile and answered with a face that looked like he might burst into tears at any moment.

“We don’t have money, so we couldn’t even go to a doctor.”

“What?! But……”

She almost asked, ‘What about the money you exchanged for my life?’

It seemed they hadn’t received the money after all.

Despite the terrible treatment she had endured, Lena’s heart ached. She knew well the pain of not being able to get even a diagnosis when sick.

‘Because I’ve been there.’

After being diagnosed with an incurable disease, she had wanted to visit doctors for examinations many times. Hoping it was a misdiagnosis.

But she had no money.

‘That’s right, I had no money then too.’

D*mn money, what was it good for anyway?

Roberto stared at Lena for a moment, then began to sob, his shoulders shaking.

“So I came to find you, even though it’s shameless.”

“……”

“Uncle Bill, who delivers goods to the ducal residence, said he saw you.”

“……”

“Actually, I was so scared then. I thought you were going to die.”

Lies.

Blatant lies.

Roberto had clearly laughed at her then.

“I’m so glad you didn’t die, Sis.”

Roberto smiled broadly through his tears.