She felt her breath catch in her throat.
‘I’ve been found out.’
She had thought herself lucky to have fooled them even this much. But she hadn’t expected to be discovered this quickly.
Was her judgment clouded because her condition had suddenly worsened?
‘Now I’ll be disciplined.’
In the Navy, no matter what the circumstances, it was forbidden to submit a false report to the higher-ups.
No exceptions.
From the moment a lie was uncovered, punishment would be determined by the severity of the deception.
Even back when it was revealed that she had covered up a subordinate’s misconduct, she had been punished publicly, in front of everyone.
There had been no way around it.
“Everyone, look at Mare Akera and take this as a reminder of your duty.”
She had once been a naval officer who upheld justice.
“If someone who claims to stand for justice gives in to temptation, then who will protect order on the seas? Who will defend this empire?”
What she had done had disrupted the order within the Navy.
“We are the Navy. As one, we must uphold order. Anyone who disrupts that cannot be tolerated.”
The higher-ups had been right. She had been wrong. One must never let personal feelings get in the way, no matter the situation… so what had she been doing?
But even if she tried to tell the truth about returning to the past, no one would believe her.
Not even the wisest person could control time. That was a domain reserved for gods alone.
If they didn’t believe her—if they thought she was insane—what if she became nothing more than a useless burden and got discarded even faster?
When something loses its usefulness, it gets thrown away.
If she had no value, then being discarded was inevitable.
Deception, when exposed, only brought punishment…
“What are you thinking about now?”
“……..”
“I’m just upset.”
Nereus looked at her.
His rugged face was strangely twisted in pain.
‘What is that expression…?’
Had she ever seen someone look at her like that when she was alive?
Faint memories flickered through her mind—
Large, rough hands gently wiping her brow while she burned with fever.
The warmth that stayed by her side as she gasped for breath.
In her dim, clouded vision, there had always been one man standing there.
‘It was always Nereus.’
Always. Constantly. Forever.
Back then, he didn’t even know what a proper guardian was and would often leave her in dangerous places without a second thought.
But now—now he was looking at her with eyes filled with worry.
Yes, that’s what this was: worry.
A kind of concern she had never received during her time in the Navy.
‘…Ah.’
It felt unfamiliar. And yet… she had missed it.
“Lala, like I said before, it’s okay if you don’t want to talk. All of us in this family have secrets we don’t share with one another. Even a six-year-old can have secrets, right?”
“Yeah.”
“But tell me just one thing.”
“Okay…”
“Do you need help right now? Then I’ll help you. I won’t stop you from doing what you want to do.”
The Navy had never been wrong. They were always right. Years of training had drilled that into her.
It was an undeniable truth.
By Navy standards, she had just lied to Nereus. And Nereus, at this very moment, had every right to get angry and punish her for it.
‘So why… why am I like this?’
Her throat tightened.
The words wouldn’t come out.
But what was welling up from deep inside her—this wasn’t fear.
It was something else.
She wanted to say something, anything, but what finally slipped past her lips was just a single, fragile syllable.
“…Okay.”
Help me. I need help.
Honestly, my whole body hurts, and it’s hard to keep going.
But I have to do this. Please trust me. Help me with faith that I’ll make it through.
Just this once. Once I get better, I promise I won’t be like this again…
It was a childish plea she had never uttered, not even once, during her time in the Navy.
Then, like a child far too young for her age, she burst into tears.
“Hahaha! So my little girl’s been acting so calm lately, but now she’s finally crying, huh!”
Nereus immediately scooped her into his arms, laughing heartily.
“Didn’t you bawl like this the first time you met me too? Huh?”
“Th-that’s a lie… hic… you’re lying!”
“Yeah, I am.”
Even as his laughter faded, she could tell—
“It’s a lie.”
Even as her senses dulled, one thing remained clear.
Nereus was still smiling gently.
“Our Lala never cried in front of me. Not once.”
***
We gathered late at night, after everyone had finished their work and was resting.
Nereus had called the whole family to the drawing room and sat me beside him as he spoke solemnly.
“Now, the reason we’ve all gathered here—”
“The captain called us, so it probably isn’t anything serious.”
“Hmm…”
“Whoa~ Don’t tell me you found the Eternal Compass from Treasure Island?”
“This ship is incredible! I think we should order something like this for the Navirbarco fleet!”
Everyone kept interrupting Nereus with their own chatter.
Amid the noisy atmosphere, Nereus didn’t so much as flinch and calmly continued.
“The reason I gathered you all here is because Polaris is sick.”
“Huh? Captain, why didn’t you just say that straight away?!”
“L-Lala?! Lala?! Are you okay?!”
The room erupted in a whole new kind of chaos.
“Shouldn’t we call Dr. Ethan?!”
“Lala! Are you really sick?! I-I’m sorry I didn’t notice! Do you want to lie down?!”
And now it was a proper commotion.
“Shut it, idiots!! Don’t cause a scene in front of the patient!”
“…Dad, you’re the loudest one.”
Nereus pulled me in close with one arm and shouted, “Wah!”
At that, everyone froze in place, wide-eyed, and sat down in stunned silence.
I could feel every pair of eyes turning toward me.
I cleared my throat and moistened my dry lips before speaking.
“I’ve caught the same illness that’s been spreading through the Tenus Territory. Ah, but don’t worry—it’s not contagious.”
No doubt, they wouldn’t believe it easily.
“Cough… It’s an acute version that progresses more rapidly than usual. The source is the water supply in Tenus. We need to extract the necessary components from the sample we collected to make a cure.”
Would they really believe all this coming from a six-year-old?
Even though I’d proven myself to Caelum multiple times, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy every time I had to speak.
Back when I was an adult, even a slightly unsupported claim wouldn’t pass scrutiny.
‘I can back this up with evidence if they ask.’
Ask me anything, I thought, balling my fists in readiness.
“So basically, if we make that medicine quickly, you won’t be sick anymore—is that right?”
“Yeah, right? That’s what you mean? Lala, why are you so nervous, huh?”
“M-Maybe it’s not nerves, but just because she’s not feeling well?”
“U-Um?”
Isaac, Clara, and Dexter chimed in one after another.
Their unexpected understanding made my eyes go wide.
“Uwaaahh, sniff… Lala~ Are you hurting a lot?”
Titan burst into tears again.
The whole scene resembled a chaotic countryside marketplace.
“It does hurt… but I’m not at death’s door just yet.”
I began speaking to calm them down a bit.
“But I might be dead in a few days.”
Though I was trying to explain the situation rationally, the atmosphere only grew more absurd.
“D-D-Dead…?”
“Hey! Kid! You shouldn’t say stuff like that so easily!”
“I mean, blindly saying everything will be fine won’t help either.”
We need to face the reality and find an actual solution.
“The treatment for water poisoning is more or less standardized. If we apply that knowledge, we can make the cure quickly.”
“And how do you even know that?”
“From Ethan’s infirmary.”
This excuse might not work for much longer… but whatever. I’m a genius, after all.
‘A six-year-old genius is probably more believable than saying I came back from the dead.’
Cough.
I pulled out a green book that I had shoved into the corner of my bag.
Inside, I wrote down several formulas and recipes.
‘The real problem is how to extract the needed substance from the minerals.’
We don’t have the equipment for such advanced techniques.
There’s only one way forward.
‘Just go for it like a madwoman.’
I devised five different extraction methods.
One of them had to work.
“Everyone, will you help me?”
I had to find the right answer before I completely collapsed.
***
Signs of Pond Poisoning (caused by contaminated water) appear once bruises start to show on the body.
The more active you are, the heavier and more sluggish your body feels. Sleepiness sets in.
Eventually, breathing becomes difficult, and it feels like your lungs are filling with water.
That’s because even after the disease manifests, the patient keeps ingesting the contaminated water.
‘I asked Gilbert to prepare separate drinking water just for me.’
So Gilbert came in person.
‘He had his face covered in the strangest way.’
Covered from head to toe, Gilbert declared he’d handle all meal preparations for the entire castle for a while.
With Gilbert staying behind, Isaac and Titan returned home.
Judging by the fact that they were let go so easily, it seemed clear the Terminus family already knew we outnumbered them.
When we were alone, Gilbert mentioned there were signs of someone spying nearby, which confirmed it even more.
‘But still… using divine power so recklessly—is that really okay for the Darkness?’
Despite showing the initial signs of darkness last time, they’re someone I just can’t figure out.
“Ah.”
The experiments.
I tried all five of the extraction methods I’d come up with…
‘I screwed up.’
Every single one of them failed.
