After seeing Martha off from the castle, Shioana found the office on this floor.
When her father and brother did not care about the house, Shioana grew mature from an early age.
The Count invested money in an office in the capital, but paid no attention to the estate. He entrusted full authority to Eli, but since her brother was always in the gambling house, she naturally took over the family's affairs.
"Today, I need to take a look at the profits of the territory".
She opened a very thick book and began to fill in the blanks.
"That's strange. Why do we keep losing money?"
Even though she clenched her jaw and calculated the numbers for a long time, they didn't have enough money.
It was really strange that the estate was making a little profit, but there was not enough money every month.
After rummaging through the papers and books for a long time, before she knew it, rain falling from the darkened sky of Regbel began to knock on the window.
She put down her pen and got up, and looked out the window.
"I hate rain, but I can't do it."
Martha, who was heading to the village, asked for a favor.
"They say hunting dogs go wild when starved. I'd like to ask you just this once before you go to bed."
In fact, she said that they once starved and escaped from the cage and bit both rabbits and chickens to death.
In fact, it was not something that a nobleman could do. However, it was unavoidable because the situation became difficult, and it was not possible to have many employees.
She couldn't let Joseph, who was lying down sick, or the gardener and stable keeper, who were not returning home, let it go.
Shioana, who came down the stairs with a grumble, frowned.
"It's a really fierce day."
Shioana, wearing a raincoat, carefully opened the door.
The back of her head seemed to stand on end at the grotesque sound, but she closed her eyes tightly and went outside.
Shoot.
The rain was much heavier than what she had seen inside the house. The candle she had brought out went out as soon as it came out, so it was of no use.
"I don't see anything."
As she passed through the dark garden and walked around the buildings, she came to a kennel made of iron bars. The hunting dogs that her father and Eli drove out every hunting season showed their sharp teeth at her appearance.
In order not to look intimidated, Shioana shouted loudly for no reason.
"Be quiet!"
When she put the dog food she brought from the kitchen in a bowl from a distance, the excited dogs stuck their snouts through the bars and drooled.
"Go away!"
Stirring the iron scoop, Shioana defended herself.
It felt like the hound was going to break through the bars and attack her, and her pores began to tingle. When she finished feeding them, a sweet smell wafted from her nostrils.
"Now I have to go back."
Leaving the dog house behind, she opened the front of her raincoat hard. She walked on the floor that had started to get wet with rainwater, but she couldn't move fast.
She was in such a hurry on the road, but she felt strange from earlier.
"I feel like someone is following me."
However, now that no one in Regbel could protect her, she was even more nervous.
Splashing.
Shioana heard someone stepping on a puddle. She thought that it might not be suspicious anymore, so she grabbed the candlestick she was holding with all her might.
It was then.
The sky flashed, and there was a rumbling sound.
"...Oh."
Her fear reached its peak, and even though she stood still, her legs were shaking.
Just as she was holding the candlestick, something that she didn't know whether it was sweat or rainwater was forming, a pillar of fire descended from the sky and struck directly into the large tree that supported the mansion.
The tree that had been patronized for many years was engulfed in flames by a single bolt of lightning and immediately shattered.
Bang!!
"Wow!"
She was so surprised that Shioana fell backwards and couldn't move. She was crouching down and closing her eyes tightly when someone appeared and snatched the candlestick she was holding and threw it away.
"...?"
Surprised, Shioana opened her eyes, and lightning flashed again, illuminating the face of the being looking down on her.
Red eyes...!
It was the slave that her father had brought with him a few days ago. After a moment of relief, Shioana was frightened again by the sudden appearance of the slave.
'Why did you take away the candlestick?'
She wondered if it was coveted because it was made of silver.
Perhaps reading the young horror in her blue eyes, he fell a little away from Shioana. Then he bowed down and held out his back to her.
"What, what!"
It seemed like he had to carry her up, but Shioana had no intention of doing so at all.
However, the slave, soaked without a raincoat, did not move. Shioana tried to stand up by herself a few times, but she couldn't move. It was clear that she had sprained her ankle when he fell.
In the end, Shioana had no choice but to crawl around and grab his neck. With more strength than she expected, he carried Shioana on his back and stood up in one fell swoop.
"It's a big deal for anyone to see."
In particular, if brother Eli sees this scene, he might beat her.
She didn't know how to protect her body and was carried by a beggar like this.
But it was strange. The slave's back was damp, but she felt a warm aura.
'What is it? It smells good.'
Wet clothes smelled of well-dried hay. As if the tension was relaxed, her eyes were blurred. Feeling depressed, she buried her face a little more in the slave's back.
"I can't fall asleep..."
It was a night of endless rain.
***
It was two days later that Shioana woke up again. Her leg was also broken, and she had a cold and suffered from a high fever.
"My young lady, I've only been away from home for a day, and what if you get sick?"
Shioana smiled faintly at the cold energy of the wet towel that wiped her forehead. She had a headache that felt like it was going to break, but she gritted her teeth.
"Martha, did you solve the problem well? Are the child and mother safe?"
"Is it time to worry about others?"
Martha let out a heavy sigh.
It was heartbreaking to leave Shioana alone on a rainy night, but this happened.
"By the way, how did you get to the bedroom when you were so sick?"
It was the next morning that Martha returned to the Evgenian mansion.
However, Shioana, who had a fever, was lying on the bed with a wet towel on her forehead.
It was a strange thing that a sick young lady couldn't do such a thing with her own hands, and no one in the house could take care of her.
"...Oh, that's it."
Martha's question made Shioana's red cheeks heat up even more.
It's not a big deal, but she was hesitant to talk about what happened in the garden. She only agreed to Martha's request, so why does she think she must have sinned?
'If she finds out that I am carried on the back of a lowly thing, Martha will faint.'
He and Shioana should never get along.
As Shioana quietly confessed to herself, Martha made a fuss.
"I think you still have a lot of fever. Look at the red cheeks."
Martha spooned a fever-reducing potion and held it out.
"Take more medicine quickly. If you don't catch the heat in time. It's a big deal."
This is not because of fever...
Shioana, who was swallowing the terribly bitter potion, smiled awkwardly
It took her more than ten days to fully recover. As soon as she recovered, what Shioana did was to find support.
"...You!"
As she expected, he was in patronage.
When he found Shioana, who was cleaning the hound cage, he turned his head.
"Hey! I'll call you."
She doesn't know why he turned away from her, but for a moment, the heat of shame rose.
I didn't come to him for this...
She was going to thank him for helping her that day. However, her lips, which betrayed her will, kept pouring out uneven words.
"Are you going to be cheeky about slavery?"
Despite Shioana's call, he soon moved to the stable next to him. His back was nothing short of shallow, pushing a cart full of hay.
Her legs weren't all healed, so she barely outsmarted him.
When Shioana opened her arms and blocked the way, his movements stopped.
And she couldn't help but be surprised.
When he first came, he must have been smaller and thinner than her, but his shoulders in front of Shioana felt very broad and firm.
How tall he was, and Shioana, who was standing closer, had to look up to see his face.
At that moment, a howling wind blew in all directions, blowing the shaggy hair that covered his face.
"...Oh."
Only then did Shioana's cheeks turn red when she looked closely at the slave's face.
His face felt very different from the day they first met.
His straight forehead was exposed, and under his piercing red eyes, his plump nose and thin lips were in harmony.
"I've never seen anyone more handsome than my brother or father."
She was ashamed that she had thought this, so she screamed again.
"If I say so, then you will stand. Why are you ignoring me!"
It is said that his father saved him, but he was only an employee of Regbel, and she was his master.
Despite Shioana's cries, he did not show any compliance.
"..."
On the contrary, when he frowned, it was Shioana who was taken aback.
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