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Chapter 15
Janette’s back was drenched in cold sweat. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, unable to steady her ragged breathing.
With trembling fingertips, she rolled her eyes around nervously.
Her dark eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.
Beside the bed, a young maid sitting in a chair was nodding off in her sleep.
Why is a maid here…?
Ah, right. She had collapsed while hugging that burning-hot teapot.
When she checked her injuries, bandages had already been wrapped around them. It seemed the doctor had treated her while she was unconscious.
I wonder if the young lady is alright.
She must have been terribly shocked.
As those thoughts crossed her mind, her hazy consciousness gradually cleared. Even so, the remnants of the nightmare still lingered vividly in her head.
What kind of dream was that…?
It had felt more vivid than reality itself, yet now that she was awake, she couldn’t remember anything clearly.
The only thing she vaguely recalled was a blindingly bright light flashing before her eyes.
And something at her wrist had seemed to shine as well…
“Ugh.”
Janette let out a low groan as she unconsciously touched her wrist. A sharp pain stung faintly, as though she had been cut by something.
The moment she checked the spot—
“What is… this?”
The drowsiness lingering in her faded instantly.
「Salvation」
On the inside of her wrist, in a place difficult to notice, faint glowing letters had appeared.
The words that emitted a pale white light slowly disappeared, as though their sole purpose had been to make their presence known to Janette.
The next day.
The moment morning arrived, Julieta came to see Janette.
“How are you feeling? Does it hurt? Is it difficult to move?”
“Yes, I’m alright. The doctor said I was fine too.”
The doctor, who had been quietly standing nearby, nodded vigorously.
“Honestly, I was quite worried until yesterday, but the swelling has gone down a lot overnight. As long as you take care of the scarring, there shouldn’t be any problems. Truly, it can only be said that Lord Dake has blessed you…”
At the mention of Dake, Janette glanced down at her wrist.
Not the right wrist that had been burned, but the left wrist where the word “Salvation” had appeared during the night.
The Latrian Empire generally allowed freedom of religion, but most imperial citizens worshipped the one true god, Dake.
Since the empire itself had originated from a holy nation devoted to Dake, it was only natural.
When children of Dake’s faith turned ten years old, believers offered a Prayer of Blessing, a tradition meant to pray for the child’s health and success.
However, sometimes the god answered those prayers.
That was called a Verse of Blessing.
Children who received a divine response would have a “Verse of Blessing” engraved somewhere on their bodies. It only revealed itself and glowed when they used an ability related to that blessing.
Could this be a Verse of Blessing too?
Had she also received a divine response on her tenth birthday?
But even if that were true, she had no idea what “Salvation” meant.
What exactly was she supposed to save?
Janette’s thoughts were interrupted by the doctor.
“You should apply the medicine to the wound twice a day. And for the time being, avoid getting it wet.”
“Yes, I will.”
“Then, I shall take my leave…”
The doctor cautiously read the room, and Julieta waved her hand dismissively.
Not missing the opportunity, the doctor bowed deeply and quickly left.
Julieta plopped down into the chair beside the bed with an exhausted expression.
“Young lady, please sit somewhere more comfortable…”
“It’s fine. This is comfortable enough.”
Julieta answered gruffly before letting out a deep sigh.
“I’ve confined Sien to her room for now. I’ll leave her punishment up to you, so if there’s anything you want done, tell me.”
Punishment she wanted, huh.
“Young lady, there’s actually something bothering me regarding Sien.”
“Something bothering you?”
“A while ago, the marquis who wrote my recommendation letter sent me some gifts.”
More precisely, they had been gifts from Theo, but she couldn’t exactly say that honestly.
Above all, Theo had sent them under the marquis’s name anyway.
“Ah, I heard about that vaguely. Apparently the gifts were extravagant.”
Janette smiled awkwardly at Julieta’s words.
“Yes. Honestly, they were a bit too generous. Anyway, one of those gifts disappeared.”
“What? A gift disappeared?”
“Yes. The day after the gifts arrived, I received a list of everything included. I checked it carefully just in case, and one yellow diamond was missing.”
“My goodness. That expensive jewel disappeared?!”
Yellow diamonds were not easy to obtain. They were worth at least twice as much as ordinary diamonds.
“This is no small matter.”
“Exactly. More importantly, it means a thief entered your annex, Young Lady.”
“But the fact that you’re bringing this up in relation to Sien means…”
At Julieta’s sharp observation, Janette nodded.
“The other servants said it was Sien who ordered the gifts moved into the first-floor room that day. And apparently, she was the only one who entered that room afterward.”
“That insolent little—!”
Julieta shot to her feet furiously.
“Not only did she deliberately shove someone so they’d be splashed with boiling water, now she’s stealing too?!”
“It’s not certain yet. It’s only suspicion for now.”
“With circumstances like that, it’s obvious enough.”
“Even so, the investigation should still be thorough.”
At Janette’s words, Julieta calmed herself and nodded.
“Fine. Then I’ll tell the head butler to mobilize Ludwig’s internal investigation unit.”
“Please do, Young Lady.”
“In that case, it’d be better to decide her punishment all at once after the theft investigation is completed.”
“Yes. I think so too.”
Janette answered with a faint smile and bowed her head.
“Thank you for taking care of so many things for me, Young Lady.”
“…It’s fine. You don’t need to thank me.”
Though she tried to sound gruff, her voice carried a trace of gloom.
Julieta slumped back into the chair and parted her lips hesitantly.
Like a child who had done something wrong and was just about to be caught.
After hesitating for a long while, she finally spoke with a sigh.
“To be honest, the reason Sien acted that way… might partly be my fault.”
“Huh?”
“I absolutely hated the idea of having a lady’s maid. The thought of someone constantly stuck to my side attending to me annoyed me just imagining it. So I wanted to drive you away.”
Phew.
Julieta sighed once more.
“When Sien said she’d help me, I told her to go ahead. But honestly, I never thought she’d go this far. More importantly, I already told her she didn’t need to help me anymore…!”
“I see. So that happened.”
Janette’s calm response made Julieta flinch.
…She must be disappointed. She probably lost all affection for her.
The master she had thrown herself in harm’s way to save had actually been desperate to chase her away.
“Young Lady.”
“Mm.”
“Do you feel sorry toward me? Or do you still want to drive me away?”
At the blunt question, Julieta blinked.
After hesitating for a moment, she awkwardly opened her mouth.
“I-I’m sorry. I deliberately acted nasty toward you because I wanted you gone. And I…”
You…
Julieta bit her lip tightly before forcing herself to continue.
“I don’t want to drive you away anymore.”
“Yes. Then that’s enough.”
“…What?”
It was Julieta who looked shocked by the unexpectedly cheerful answer.
“You apologized, and you no longer want to throw me out. Then doesn’t that simply mean we can start our relationship over from here?”
“Y-You really mean that’s enough?”
“Of course. Relationships between people are often much simpler than you think.”
People get angry, apologize, make up—
And slowly grow closer that way.
“Once again, I look forward to working with you from now on, Young Lady.”
At Janette’s bright greeting, Julieta’s eyelashes trembled.
She squeezed her stinging eyes shut once before opening them again, then hesitantly spoke.
“Me too. I’ll be in your care as well, Janette.”
“……”
“……”
A brief silence followed their exchange of greetings.
The two stared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter at the same time.
Soft sunlight filled the room completely.
