‘I probably won’t end up getting married. With this mindset of mine…’

 

She has no lingering attachments. If she ends up living alone, she’ll be alone, so what? Well, Torizabeth is there, so strictly speaking, she’s not alone.

Whack!

 

“Ow.”

“Ouch!”

 

As she turned the corner, an unfortunate collision occurred.

Laila let out a small groan and rubbed her forehead where they had collided.

 

“…Thomis?”

 

She quickly recognized the other party. It was none other than Thomis Hildegarde, who shouted loudly upon colliding with Laila.

Despite the loud shout, Thomis didn’t seem to be particularly hurt.

 

“How about keeping your eyes open when walking?”

 

Thomis threw out the words she had expected him to say.

Since they collided together, both were at fault, but it was typical of Thomis to shift all the blame onto Laila.

 

“Sure.”

 

Laila replied vaguely. She had predetermined responses when dealing with Thomis. Yeah, okay, right, sure, whatever.

Today, she chose “sure.” 

Laila responded with four-letter words and tried to walk right past him.

But suddenly, she sensed that Thomis was a bit different than usual.

Just before completely passing Thomis, Laila glanced back at him.

His complexion seemed pale somehow. He seemed uneasy.

That appearance, it felt like…

 

‘Did he lose something precious?’

 

That could be a possibility. Well, it’s not her business to know.

Laila left Thomis behind and walked on.

 

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

 

Laila belatedly wondered if perhaps what Thomis had lost could be a person.

 

“They said Angela quit her job.”

“Who’s Angela?”

“She’s young Master Thomis’ maid.”

 

After dinner, Marie and Laila had this conversation in the bedroom.

Laila thought about Angela, the maid who had quit, planning to delay drinking the tea prepared by Marie. Her face quickly came to mind.

The woman who was almost always by Thomis’s side.

Even though she was his personal maid, she spent a lot of time with Thomis.

……Come to think of it, she had such thoughts before.

The lake wolf incident.

The plan was too sinister for a child to come up with alone, so she wondered if it came from the maid’s head…

 

‘Well, it’s just speculation.’

 

Moreover, even if it really was a plan made by the maid, what can be done now?

Angela left the marquisate. She became someone she could never see again.

Laila sank deeper into the chair, still holding the teacup.

 

“So, Thomis is supposedly feeling down because his dedicated maid has quit?”

“He seems to be in low spirits. I didn’t see it myself, though.”

 

Laila had seen Thomis himself. She wasn’t sure if he was sad, but he seemed to be in a bad mood.

 

“I see.”

 

Laila replied lightly, casting her eyes downward.

She had nothing more to say.

Which meant she’d run out of excuses to put off drinking tea.

Marie noticed that Laila was deliberately dragging out the time while holding just the teacup; her gaze sharpened.

 

“Drink it before it gets lukewarm. You’ll get the most benefit when it’s still hot.”

“……Yes.”

 

Oh well. Laila closed her eyes tightly and downed the tea.

Marie, who usually brings her tea in the middle of the night, or, in other words, at bedtime, had appeared in her bedroom early today, and it was all because of her sibling.

Her sibling had started feeling unwell.

To be precise, he had been suffering from a fever every night for the past three days.

The next morning, when Laila saw Marie entering the room to tidy up the bedding, she became immediately aware.

Her sibling’s fever hasn’t subsided.

Marie’s complexion looked dreadful. Dark shadows had spread widely under her eyes.

Laila hesitated and asked if she was okay. She said yes.

Of course, she didn’t look fine at all.

 

“…Marie seems to be deeply worried these days.”

 

Eventually, even Taylor mentioned Marie.

It was during Sion’s swordsmanship training.

 

“Her sibling is sick. For a couple days now.”

“I heard he was running a fever. So it still hasn’t improved?”

“It seems like it.”

“What did Elvin say it was?”

“He said it’s a cold. Mason tends to feel particularly weak at night, so his fever spikes in the evenings.”

 

Laila replied, having gone to Elvin herself to get the answer.

 

“…I feel it every time, at moments like this, that Mason isn’t well.”

 

Mason was Marie’s younger sibling. Laila answered almost to herself. That’s right.

 

“It’s strange. He looks like me, but I’ve never caught a cold in my life.”

 

Taylor brought up a topic without being asked. Laila realized that Taylor must also be aware that Mason shares some resemblance to him, and she briefly glanced at Sion.

Sion had put down his sword and had been nearby since Laila and Taylor started chatting.

 

“Would you like to go out tomorrow at noon?”

 

It was a sudden suggestion, but Sion silently nodded his head.

Surprisingly, Taylor, who hadn’t been asked, showed a rather lively reaction.

 

“Where are you going?”

“Just walking around within the estate. I want to look around.”

“Why?”

“I want to buy a gift for Marie.”

 

Marie’s sibling, Mason, fell ill about twice a year.

However, even though it was something they experienced frequently, Marie always seemed equally distressed whenever her sibling was sick.

Laila also didn’t feel good seeing Marie in distress like that.

 

‘If it were Elvin, he could probably heal Mason quickly.’

 

Laila recalled her past thoughts.

Mason’s condition was worse than she had thought. Laila now had to admit that she had been too optimistic back then.

 

‘…but he is improving, at least.’

 

Roughly speaking, within the next seven years, he should recover to the level of an average person’s health.

That had to happen. Laila had already decided to leave Hildegarde Manor with Marie, Mason, and Elvin before then.

So that the future Sion would be able to take down Hildegarde more easily.

Laila met Sion’s eyes as he imagined the future.

Laila reflexively smiled slightly. Sion’s eyes widened a bit, and he averted his gaze.

……What? Why are you avoiding me? Just as Laila’s mood subtly sank, Taylor’s voice was heard.

 

“Alright. I’ll also prepare.”

“Prepare for what?”

“For going out.”

“You’re going out during the day? You’re supposed to be at training.”

“If you request a guard, I can skip the training.”

 

Laila chuckled at the cheeky response.

 

“Sir, don’t you think you’re neglecting your training too much? You’ll end up weaker than Sion.”

“It’s okay; I’m already weak.”

 

Laila paused. Why is he so confident?

 

“Are you boasting?”

“How can I brag about it when it’s true for everyone?”

“……what do you mean?”

 

Taylor brought his mouth to Laila’s ear to whisper. Taylor didn’t have to bend down as much because of Laila’s recent growth spurt.

 

“There’s no one in Hildegarde Manor who can defeat Sion.”

“…….”

“Maybe it wasn’t true long ago, but now it’s certain.”

 

With that, Taylor straightened up and winked with one eye. Laila was impressed.

 

“Anyway, can I come along with you tomorrow?”

“Sure…….”

 

If she refused, it was obvious that he would persist until she allowed him to go.

After seeing Taylor cheer enthusiastically, Laila looked back at Sion.

Sion, who had become stronger than anyone else in Hildegarde Manor, in the future will…

Suddenly, she recalled Elvin’s words from the previous day.

 

‘Aren’t his knees hurting?’

“Sion.”

 

It had been quite some time since their eye levels had clearly started to differ. Sion looked down at Laila.

 

“Is your knee not hurting?”

“…My knee?”

“Elvin told me to ask you. He said that with someone like you growing taller so quickly, your knees must hurt.”

“I’m fine. But more importantly…”

 

Sion’s gaze passed over Laila’s face and dropped significantly lower.

Laila immediately understood what Sion was concerned about.

An area hidden under her voluminous skirt, not immediately visible to the naked eye.

 

“I’m fine, too. I told you before; the cut wasn’t very deep. It’ll heal quickly.”