TRVLT 38

Spring came quickly.

Her vision wavered and shook.

“Mom…”

A swaying silhouette appeared before her.

Arileti moved her stiff hand and reached toward the hem of a strange woman’s dress.

Mom. The one who tried to teach me how to live in this world.

But the woman’s silhouette soon disappeared beyond a pure white curtain.

Arileti slowly lowered her short, chubby arm that had reached out to catch her.

Still, Mom. I may not be able to atone for all the sins I committed over two lifetimes… but perhaps my third life could have been someone’s salvation.

‘That’s enough.’

It wasn’t the peaceful death she had wished for, but the world after death was so quiet and calm that she didn’t mind.

The burning pain in her insides was gone.

From March 31 to February 28, she had used almost all the power granted to her by turning back about a month of time.

She should have died the moment she rewound time. Instead, she used the last blessing of the Time Mage to stop her body’s time.

The moment she made a contract with Ellardio, she used up that final power as well. So this must really be heaven.

‘But why does heaven look exactly like my room in the lord’s castle…?’

A warm spring breeze blew in through the open window.

Wrapped in soft sheets, Arileti stared blankly at the fluttering curtains.

Do they have beds and curtains in heaven?

Only then did she realize something was strange.

Her eyes rolled to the side. A figure stood by the window.

“Arileti?”

The silhouette she had thought was her mother—

“Phew.”

—was actually a tall, well-built young man pressing his hand to his forehead.

“I’m seeing things now.”

Arileti opened and closed her mouth.

This is the afterlife. Why is Glen Hezate here?

The young man rubbed his eyes.

“You’re awake— awake—? Damn it. Dr. Sergio!”

At the end of June, three months after the day she collapsed, Arileti woke up.

The sleeping child looked as small and lovely as a fairy.

As warm winds blew through Hezate, more and more people wished for her to wake up.

Even Russo Hezate, though he didn’t show it, seemed concerned. He would quietly appear in her bedroom at dawn when everyone else was asleep.

As for Glen—there was no need to say anything. The cheerful and warm-hearted young man had cried at every chance over the past three months, like someone suffering from depression.

So it wasn’t strange that Arileti was overwhelmed by his fussing after she woke up.

“How are you feeling today, little sage?”

“…Stop teasing.”

“I’m not teasing. I mean it. For breakfast, croissants with freshly made raspberry jam and butter, Princess.”

Arileti’s dull expression shifted slightly.

It almost looked like her ears perked up. Her small nose twitched at the rich smell of butter.

“…Can I eat two?”

Glen gestured silently.

Picnic baskets filled with bread were brought in one after another.

“They’re all yours, Princess.”

“Pick one—Princess or Teacher, Young Master.”

“Yes, little Princess Teacher.”

She wanted to protest the “little” part, but even before turning back time, Arileti had been much younger than Glen.

When he opened the basket, the rich butter scent filled the air. The croissants were baked with expensive butter and packed to the brim.

Not only that—the entire banquet hall was warm. Yellow heated stones placed on each table gave off gentle heat.

While she had been unconscious, the money coming in from the Ismail Merchant Guild must have steadily piled up.

If money comes in, it should be spent.

As she chewed her croissant, Arileti automatically began calculating.

‘We need to start large-scale renovations before it gets too hot.’

The dignity of a territory comes from the size and appearance of its lord’s castle.

It would be nice to show wealth with luxury and extravagance, but Hezate had a strong image as a military stronghold.

A sturdy yet majestic interior would suit it better.

‘Marble floors with heated stones embedded inside…’

The banquet hall could be decorated more lavishly. What if they hired painters to create a ceiling mural? Monsters in various forms, and plenty of knights fighting against them.

Just one mandrake root was incredibly expensive. And this was an entire field growing in a dragon’s nest. They could harvest crates full of rare herbs.

Right now, mandrake was known only for detoxification. But in a few years, tonics made from mandrake root hairs would become popular among high nobles in the capital, Delphor.

‘Mixed with thistle, it becomes a cure for all kinds of viral diseases.’

Even a potion containing just 0.001% mandrake could rake in gold by the shovel.

Smiling happily, Arileti took a bite of her second croissant.

“Young Master, take good care of the mandrake field. It’s a gold mine.”

Glen, who was pouring milk into her special cup, tilted his head.

“Hm? The mandrake field? That’s gone now.”

“You sold it all already? Well… that’s fine. Mandrake grows by feeding on spiritual mana, so it’ll keep growing—”

“That’s not it. You ate it all.”

What?

Arileti dropped the piece of bread still in her hand.

I ate it?

Now that she thought about it, she had felt strangely energetic since waking up.

On the last day of March, during the monster wave, she used her final power to turn back one month. After that, she stopped her body’s time with the Time Mage’s blessing.

She had drained every bit of life force she had left. It was strange enough that she survived.

So this was all because of potions?!

“Three times a day. Every single day. Whole mandrakes boiled and fed to you. After you woke up, one a day.”

“…What?”

“You consumed a total of three hundred roots before you finally survived, Teacher.”

Arileti nearly fainted and threw the croissant away.

“Young Master, are you insane?”

Do you know how much that’s worth?!

When Arileti learned that she had consumed mandrake potions worth thirty thousand gold, she fell back into bed.

Groan.

“My marble… my ceiling mural… my golden beams…”

“We can just hunt more monsters. There are still plenty of things left to sell.”

“Transport costs… labor costs… construction fees…”

With tears in her eyes, Arileti postponed the grand renovation of the lord’s castle to a later priority.

Either find another source of money, or cut unnecessary expenses.

‘If only we could reduce labor costs. Of course, the residents would volunteer…’

But it would be better to hire cheap outside labor than make her own people work for free.

At the very least, she wanted to eliminate transport costs for building materials.

Is there a way? My mandrake field…

Glen, who had been quietly watching her chew croissants in a daze, finally spoke. His voice was serious now, completely different from his playful tone before.

“Arileti, I have something to say.”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to become my father’s youngest daughter?”

“Yes.”

“So that’s a yes? Good. I already prepared the adoption papers. I’ll bring them right now—”

Glen jumped up from his seat.

Arileti snapped back to her senses.

“No!’