The chickens and ducks, who had fallen asleep at her late visit, trembled and soon fell silent.
"Why is it so cold?"
She put it on warmly, but a white breath spread out. The barn, which had no stove or warm blankets, was not much different from the outside.
She was trembling all over, and when she went inside, she found the slave leaning on the rice straw.
"...Oh."
The other person was in a more serious condition than she thought. He seemed to be suffering from a high fever and let out a groaning sound. His wet clothes didn't seem to be dry, and the wound seemed to be dripping with yellow pus and blood.
Whenever she mustered up the courage to come to visit, Shioana was suddenly frightened.
'I shouldn't have come here.'
If anyone saw her so close to the slave, they would blame her. But the only good thing about this desolate place was that there was no one around.
'Let's save him for now.'
She quickly bent down and covered the other person's body with the blanket she had brought. He opened his eyes for a moment at the sudden warmth, as if he was checking on the other person.
"Is it time for you to worry about that now?"
Shioana, who read the refusal that appeared in his blurred eyes, spoke coldly. He struggled to remove the cloth covering him with his weak hands.
"Stay still. You could die if you do this."
She pressed down on his emaciated wrist and took the vial to his mouth. The slave struggled not to swallow, but could not overcome Shioana's strength.
"...Phew."
When she wrapped the visible wound with the cloth she brought, his whole body lost all its energy.
"I have to go back."
Shioana sat with her back to the rice straw and looked up. A small hole in the roof gave her a glimpse of the night sky.
His eyes kept closing as he looked at the twinkling starlight, and soon he fell into a deep sleep.
***
When Etienne Bernhardt first opened his eyes, he thought he was really dead this time. Because he was really not feeling well the other night.
The fever was overwhelming, and he couldn't move his bones as if they were broken. At what might be the last moment, he couldn't even laugh because he felt sorry for himself.
'Edwin, I'm so sorry.'
He may not be able to fulfill his brother's wish to live well as his brother's share. But what he really regrets is that he abandoned his will to live. After leaving home, he lived a carefree life.
'...I feel like my head is going to break.'
He touched his forehead with one hand, and two pieces of cloth that he had not seen were wrapped around his hand. Only then did Etienne feel that he was not dead, and his back stiffened.
"..."
A little distance away from him was a precious young lady of the Evgenian family. Etienne's expression changed as he saw the medicine bottle, food, and cloth lying haphazardly on the floor.
I'm not grateful at all for saving me, but what should I do?
She was a very strange woman. Even though she was clearly very afraid of him, she sympathized with him.
Yesterday, just before he fainted after pouring cold water over him, she came and whispered.
She'll pretend to kick him, so she tells him to fall backwards.
Etienne has seen many nobles before, but he has never seen a woman like this.
'I was right, but she was shaking like she was right.'
He looked into the other person's face, which evoked a strange feeling. Then, when the other person's eyelashes wriggled, Etienne quickly pretended to be asleep again.
"Oh my God, did you fall asleep here?"
Shioana cried as she looked at the straw and dirt on her dress. Then she reached straight under the slave's nose.
"I'm glad you did. You're not dead."
She put the items on the floor back into the basket and hid them well under the rice straw. Then she left the barn without looking back.
***
Her father, who had gone to the capital, stopped by his house for a while, but his expression was not very bright.
"It looks like the ship I invested in met a storm."
Count Evgenia took a few puffs of his pipe tobacco.
"But you don't have to worry. In the first place, if there is an uphill business, there is a downhill slope."
"I only believe in my father."
Eli held the Count's hand tightly and smiled affectionately. The Count opened his mouth as he kicked his tongue.
"Somehow, in our family, the son is more affectionate than the daughter. Yes"
"I'm worried about whether she will be able to get married because of that. That's why I'm going to hire a teacher soon."
Eli laughed at Shioana, who hadn't said a word before.
"I am so confident because of you."
A gentle light appeared in the Count's eyes as he looked at Ell, the heir to the family.
"Joseph! Is he still there?"
The Count took a liking to the slave he had brought in in a carriage accident. When the slave arrived at the drawing room, the Count spoke pleasantly.
"You've grown a lot in the meantime."
Count Evgenia's eyes narrowed, and he looked satisfied.
'You have a foundation, so if I teach you a little, you will become a talent who can empower Eli.'
He doesn't know what made him a slave, but he could feel the dignity in him. No matter how much he tries to hide it, he can't hide it.
However, Eli, who had no way of knowing such a situation, trembled.
"What can such a lowly thing do? Father."
Eli believed that nobles and lowly people were different, even in the air they breathe. However, when the Count defends the slaves, he cannot hide his anger.
"Didn't you always want your brother? When Shioana was born, you cried and asked why she wasn't a boy, but now you have a boy you can hang out with, isn't it good?"
Eli's face turned pale at the Count's words. Eli calmly spoke, trying not to show his annoyance at Count Evgenia's eccentricity.
"Father. I was not a slave to be killed, but I needed someone to spar with me in swordsmanship."
"Joseph! Bring the sword on the wall over there to Eli."
When Eli accepted the sword, the Count signaled with his chin.
"This is insulting to me."
Reluctantly, Eli stood up and raised his sword at the opponent. The cool aura of the sword filled the drawing room, and a cold sweat ran down Shioana's back. A slave without weapons couldn't stop it.
Eli's sharp sword cut through the wind, and Shioana closed her eyes tightly.
A few seconds later, there seemed to be a dull sound, and then she heard Eli's annoying voice. Shioana gently opened her eyes and saw that the slave had blocked his sword with firewood.
"Look at that. Isn't it enough to deal with swordsmanship?"
The Count chuckled, like someone who had seen an interesting spectacle.
"Father, excuse me for a moment."
Eli, unable to control his anger, left the drawing room angrily.
"It's a fate to come to Regbel like this, so take good care of Eli. Because he will become the Count of Evgenia in the future."
And the Count went downstairs without even looking at Shioana.
"...Hah."
Shioana's face turned blue as she exhaled the breath she had been holding back.
She was glad that the person she was caring for had recovered and was not injured by Eli's sword. However, she was afraid of what Eli, who had hurt his pride, would do again.
That's when Shioana noticed that he was staring at her. As if he had forgotten that he had just been stabbed with a sword, his eyes were filled with only Shioana's. His fierce momentum forced Shioana to meet his gaze.
'Why do you have eyes like that?'
She barely took her gaze away from his piercing red eyes.
"If you can, don't enter the mansion."
She acted as dignified as possible, but Shioana's voice trembled terribly.
***
The sky was cloudy, and it was a day when it seemed like it was going to rain soon. Feeling anxious for no reason, Shioana grabbed Martha's apron and hung it down.
"Martha, can I sleep with you today?"
The Count who went to the capital had not been heard, and Eli had also left for Hybel two days earlier. When they weren't there, Shioana often made such a fool of Martha.
"Oh my God, what should I do?"
Martha, who looked confused, continued.
"I think Jane, who works in the kitchen today, is going to give birth, so I think I'll have to stay by her side all night."
"...Oh, I see."
There was no market in this place, and it was highly unlikely there would be a doctor, and even if there were, there was no way he would treat an employee. So, Martha, who had experience as a midwife, occasionally acted as the doctor.
"My young lady is all grown up now, so it's okay to be alone, right?"
Seeing Shioana, who had been afraid of thunder and lightning since she was a child, Martha tried her best to make a joke.
"Then I'm not a child anymore."
When Shioana sat upright, Martha looked thrilled.
"Oh my God, you look just like a deceased lady."
"...Ugh."
When she said that she resembled her mother, Shioana smiled awkwardly. It was definitely something she should have liked, but not in this house.
The Count hated his daughter, who reminded him of his dead wife. They said that he didn't even look for Shioana until she was three or four years old. Eli, who was originally sensitive and sharp, naturally imitated his father. He bullied Shioana, who was four years younger, from the time she was lying in the cradle.
'I'm so sad to hear that I resemble my mother.'
Shioana felt a little ridiculous about her situation.
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