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Chapter 6
Startled, Lucy immediately lowered her body.
Though unintended, she had ended up spying on him.
‘Did he see me?’
She wasn’t sure.
First, run.
Thinking that, Lucy quietly slipped out of the herb room.
Whether because of her terrible stamina or her tension, cold sweat ran down her back.
‘Why is there a place like that inside the herb room?’
It hadn’t looked like a simple bath.
Though something about it bothered her, Lucy headed back to her bedroom for now.
* * *
That afternoon, Cecil came to see Lucy again.
“Princess Adlestein. We will proceed with the afternoon rehabilitation treatment in the same manner as this morning.”
He spoke in a businesslike tone, his gaze falling on the sacred dumbbell.
That was the moment Lucy quickly held out the medicinal herbs she had prepared beforehand.
Remembering the saying that no one spits on a smiling face, she even put on a bright, innocent smile.
‘He’ll recognize it as a blend he likes just from the scent.’
Cecil glanced once at Lucy, then at the cloth bundle in her hands.
Soon, his lips slowly parted.
Expecting a positive response, Lucy waited eagerly to hear what he would say.
But—
“I don’t need it.”
Cecil rejected it flatly.
‘Why?’
It felt as though a loud gong rang inside Lucy’s head.
‘Did I mistake Cecil’s preferred herb mixture?’
There was no way.
As if reading her confusion, a system window appeared.
[※ While under the “Charm Status Ailment,” there is a certain probability that item gifts may be rejected.]
She was doomed.
In her previous life, while playing the game, she had never suffered from a status ailment, so she hadn’t known.
‘If I can’t give gifts to Cecil…’
Then how was she supposed to raise his affection level?
‘And my plan to improve my stamina has already failed.’
Lucy felt a sense of crisis.
She had a strong premonition that she would fail the very first quest.
After all, clearing the quest required stable stamina and Cecil’s help.
‘At this rate, I’ll fail the first quest, never get the squishy sticky-rice-puff puppy…’
Her reputation stat would fall even further, and she’d continue playing under increasingly terrible conditions…
‘And eventually fail the true ending and lose my sense of self.’
Lucy’s head drooped.
Watching her, Cecil let out a sigh.
“So you do have the energy for pointless things like this. It would be better if you used that strength to recover instead.”
“……”
“And to think you dared touch the temple’s medicine on your own. People are expelled from the temple merely for failing to take a priest’s medicine as instructed. Mishandling sacred medicine is punishable.”
Cecil’s gaze shifted to the cloth bundle in Lucy’s hands.
“And this wasn’t even taken from the ordinary herb room.”
Lucy lifted her head.
Seeing her puzzled expression, Cecil continued.
“Judging by the color, that cloth belongs to the herb room inside the special management section.”
The special management section.
At that moment, Lucy finally understood why that man had been there.
“I could confiscate the herbs myself.”
Crossing his arms, Cecil spoke calmly.
“But it would be best if you returned them personally. Even if you don’t have the strength to lift dumbbells, you clearly have enough energy to wander around.”
The sadistic healer apparently held grudges more than expected.
* * *
The next day.
Ding!
[Stat Change Notification!]
[Your stamina has increased by 1.
Current Stamina: -49]
Thanks to diligently lifting and lowering the sacred dumbbell yesterday and today, Lucy’s stamina had risen by a whopping 2 points.
If she hadn’t suffered muscle loss from crying at the beginning, it could have been -48 instead, but she didn’t particularly regret it.
There wasn’t much difference between -49 and -48 anyway.
‘At this rate, my stamina will still be negative by the day of the imperial banquet.’
Lucy glared at the sacred dumbbell in her hand.
‘What’s the point of all this?’
Setting the dumbbell down, she shifted her gaze.
A servant in charge of cleaning was tidying Lucy’s room.
An NPC whose sole reason for existence was cleaning.
‘That servant probably doesn’t even know he’s an NPC in a game.’
But Lucy was different.
If she failed the true ending, she would know she had transmigrated into a game, yet still be forced to move and speak regardless of her will.
Forever.
Comparing herself to the servant, Lucy grew even more depressed.
‘I should just return the herbs.’
She stood up and prepared to leave.
After watching the servant continue polishing the windowsill until she exited the room, Lucy headed toward the herb room, retracing yesterday’s memory.
Without even knocking, she stepped inside—then froze.
Because a man was there.
Just as she thought his back looked familiar, the man sensed her presence and turned around.
As expected, it was the man who had taken Alexander’s place as heir to the Faraday family.
This time, Lucy hadn’t been spying on him, so she straightened her shoulders confidently.
‘Perfect. This is my chance to figure out who this man really is.’
If she approached him, would the system window trigger a new event?
Lucy had just taken a step toward him when her expression turned strange.
The man was burning herb bundles in a lantern flame.
Beside him was a pile of herb packets that looked like several days’ worth.
‘Why is he burning those?’
Wasn’t he so sick he coughed up blood and required special care?
Lucy couldn’t understand his actions.
The man silently stared at her for a moment before apparently deciding to treat her as nonexistent and turning away again.
Just as he was about to burn another bundle, Lucy shouted instinctively.
“Wait!”
She hurried over and stopped him.
“If you throw away medicine given by a priest, you could be expelled from the temple. And you might even be punished for mishandling sacred medicine—”
“……”
“Huh?”
Lucy tilted her head.
‘Did I just…?’
Had she spoken in full sentences instead of single words?
Had she mistaken thoughts spoken in her mind for words she actually said because she wanted to speak so badly?
She had even run over on legs that usually trembled from simple walking.
Lucy looked at the man.
Though his expressionless face created an atmosphere difficult to approach, Lucy paid it no mind.
“Can you hear what I’m saying?”
“I can.”
Lucy’s eyes widened.
Without realizing it, she moved even closer and thrust her face toward him.
“W-What did I just say?”
A faint crease formed between the man’s brows.
“I suppose you were saying something unnecessarily meddlesome.”
Speaking in a cold voice, the man tried to turn away again, but Lucy grabbed his arm.
“What are you doing?”
“Please ask me what the Empire’s Three Great Taboos are!”
Irritation slowly appeared on the formerly expressionless man’s face.
Then, without him even asking, Lucy recited the Empire’s Three Great Taboos.
“I’m not an idiot, you know. Even if I fell from the terrace headfirst!”
Lucy felt so happy she almost wanted to jump around.
Then she suddenly paused.
“…Sorry, but there’s one more thing I want to confirm.”
As she spoke, Lucy began taking off her shoes.
“I know this might look strange, but could you please understand?”
Without waiting for his response, Lucy left the herb room and headed toward the back garden.
Her pace gradually quickened until she finally began to run.
The soft grass and cool soil brushed against her bare feet.
‘How long has it been since I last ran like this?’
Because of her negative stats, Lucy had never been able to move freely according to her own will.
She always had to walk carefully, and even slight movement exhausted her.
But now?
Not only could she move freely like in her previous life, she could even run with all her strength.
The man silently watched Lucy.
Her flowing dress fluttered in the wind.
His gaze slowly lifted.
It lingered for quite some time on her face, smiling innocently like a child’s.
As though venting all the frustration she had built up, Lucy ran a full lap around the garden before returning to stand before him again.
Bent over, catching her breath, Lucy asked,
“I look crazy, don’t I?”
Then she brushed the fallen strands of hair behind her ear and raised her head.
For an instant, the man’s eyes trembled slightly.
Lucy was smiling brightly, her eyes curved.
Her flushed cheeks from running gave her face a lively glow.
“But I’m not crazy.”
“……”
“I feel like you’d understand that I’m not crazy.”
She didn’t know why, but in front of this man, she could speak and act freely.
The influence of those awful stats and even the system window’s interference were gone.
‘I found it.’
My lifeline.
Lucy smiled even more brightly as she looked at him.
The man stared at her silently before averting his gaze.
“I’m not interested.”
Ah.
Lucy’s lips parted blankly.
Meanwhile, the man seemed to have given up on burning the herbs altogether and started leaving the herb room.
Lucy had no choice but to grab him once more.
“Could you please take an interest in me? Because I’m very interested in you.”
After finally finding her lifeline—
there was no way she could let it go this easily.
“Right, first, tell me your name.”
Blurting the words out, Lucy quickly added,
“My name is Lucy Adlestein.”
Perhaps because she had introduced herself first, the man could no longer ignore her completely.
“Bartholomew Faraday.”
Bartholomew!
After learning his name, Lucy hurriedly searched through her memories, but it was still a name she had never heard before.
But that didn’t matter.
Lucy immediately grabbed Bartholomew’s hand with both of hers.
“Young Lord Bartholomew. As we get to know each other better…”
With desperate hope shining in her eyes, Lucy looked up at him.
“Would you become someone inseparable from me?”
