Chapter 48

Today, Harnier from the Marquis House of Teresia was trying to escape again.

She was busy scribbling with her pen today.

“Miss Harnier, a letter has arrived.”

Upon hearing the maid say that a letter had arrived, Harnier momentarily stopped writing and sighed softly in response.

“Just throw it away like I told you. It won’t be of any help anyway.”

“What? But Miss…”

“They’re all letters from nobles who are only interested in my appearance.”

Recently, this had become more frequent.

There were rumors about her getting engaged, but everyone seemed skeptical. The Marquis didn’t stop these rumors either.

As a result, men, thinking she was the empire’s most beautiful lady, wanted to get closer to her, and as a result, the number of letters she received doubled.

Harnier’s expression looked utterly exasperated.

“Well… I know that too, but…”

Mina glanced back and forth between the letter and Harnier, unsure of what to do next.

“This letter seems like it shouldn’t just be thrown away?”

“There’s no such thing. Letters from the merchant guild always come under the name of the guild master.”

“But Miss, looking at the emblem on the letter, it seems like it should never be thrown away…”

“Why would you say something like that, Mina? What’s going on?”

Without even looking in her direction, Harnier continued playing with her pen. Only when she asked again did Mina reveal her true feelings.

“Wasn’t there a letter among those addressed to you recently? Something about setting up an appointment or something?”

Harnier looked puzzled.

Mina was a maid recruited from the merchant guild by the Marquis House, but she belonged to Harnier, not the Marquis House.

Given how strongly Mina emphasized this letter, there must have been a reason.

“Could there have been such a letter?”

Scratching her cheek, Harnier thought hard.

Then suddenly, her mind clicked.

“Mina, was this letter from which house?”

Only then did Mina swallow hard and show her the emblem clearly visible on the letter.

“Gosh…”

With a short exclamation, Harnier dropped her pen. The letter bore the emblem of the House of Bargrand, the most powerful family in the empire.

“Phew. I almost threw this away. Why am I doing this lately?”

“It must have been important, then?”

“Yeah, it probably came here because of my mistake.”

“You really should ask one more time, Miss.”

Relieved, Mina handed the letter along with a letter opener.

Opening the seal and reading the contents, Harnier clutched her chest, relieved she hadn’t missed this.

“Anyway, for the House of Bargrand to send a letter to you…”

“Yes. It’s a contract. With the House of Bargrand’s son.”

“Are you okay with that? He’s still a man after all.”

Worriedly asking, Harnier nodded confidently.

“There’s no problem. This man just wants to make a deal with me.”

“A deal?”

“Yes. We’re in similar situations. Neither of us is recognized as family by our families. Or maybe it’s even worse. At least I can use my family’s power.”

“Oh…”

Mina sighed sadly. It was widely known that Carsein Bargrand had taken in a child.

“Since Carsein is in a similar situation, he won’t harbor any ill intentions towards me, unlike other men.”

“He’s the perfect match for you.”

“That’s right.”

Even though he was adopted, Carsein Bargrand was still part of a powerful family. Just his name alone could intimidate most people.

“You should spend time with your fiancé soon. There’s even a party for it!”

“I should, but after seeing today’s letter, I think I need to wait a bit longer.”

“What?”

“The House of Bargrand wants me to stay there for a while.”

Showing Mina the content of the letter, Harnier explained.

“He’s a very smart man. He wouldn’t waste time on trivial matters.”

“Really?”

“The issue is… I’ll have to teach him a lot of things. Haha…”

A smart man who needs teaching? Mina tilted her head in confusion.

‘What should I say?’

Actually, Harnier was worried about how to explain this situation to Carsein.

***

That evening, I thought Clare would never let me into the annex.

It made no sense. Even if there had been such an incident, it couldn’t justify closing the annex. The House of Bargrand had so many businesses that even ten fingers wouldn’t be enough to count them all. Closing the annex now didn’t make sense.

But, incredibly, that unreasonable thing had happened.

Clare, that crazy woman, had actually blocked the annex.

I went to check the annex out of concern and met Sheiden.

“Visiting for treatment, but it seems you’ve already returned from the annex.”

Sheiden seemed to have a rough idea of where I had gone.

“Even if there was such an incident, why block off the building unnecessarily?”

“There are plenty of other buildings in the House of Bargrand. Besides, guests don’t necessarily stay in the annex. They usually stay at nearby inns.”

Most guests stayed at inns near the House of Bargrand.

If they stayed at the annex, they’d stay at the annex, but if not, they’d stay elsewhere.

Damn it. That crazy woman really might have said something like that.

I didn’t need to think about why such unreasonable things were happening.

Returning to my room, I had to figure out another way before falling asleep.

“Hmm. You’ll probably need to apply the medicine a few more times.”

Today, during morning rounds, Sheiden checked the wound and said this.

“Other young ladies would be in a lot of pain with a wound like this in their mouth, but you don’t seem to be bothered much.”

“It’s only a matter of holding out for a few days.”

“It’s not that simple, though…”

Sheiden watched me with surprise as I showed no reaction while he applied the medicine.

‘I shouldn’t be feeling pain now.’

This condition, commonly called stomatitis, was thought to be extremely painful and would prevent eating, but having experienced far worse, it wasn’t as bad as expected.

Before possession, I often got stomatitis.

The reasons varied—sometimes due to being hit, sometimes due to studying late into the night, and sometimes due to working part-time jobs.

I was so used to this kind of pain that it didn’t bother me much.

‘No, it might be because of the modern medicine.’

The moment the cotton ball soaked in medicine touched the sore, the pain or rather the strange sensation.

I had adapted to this pain, making it feel less severe.

“I’ll visit again tomorrow, Sir.”

After finishing the treatment, Sheiden bowed and left.

It was finally time to tell this old man.

“From tomorrow, you don’t need to visit anymore.”

“But the injury hasn’t fully healed…”

“It’s almost healed anyway. Besides, I won’t be here starting tomorrow.”

Noticing my intention, Sheiden asked.

“But Sir, you won’t be able to enter the annex.”

“Yeah, I’ve confirmed that.”

“Then, are you planning to sleep on the street?”

“Don’t worry. I don’t plan on sleeping on the street.”

“Then, what…”

I waved my hand at Sheiden, signaling him to leave.

Although it looked like I was going to sleep on the street, I had found a solution this time.

‘Anyway, my destination is the training hall.’

This was enough reason to avoid meeting those people.

***

Dressed and ready, I moved at a time when my family wouldn’t notice.

To summarize the current situation:

After overcoming the initial crisis in Episode V, Emma’s feet were tied up.

Flora, who could cause trouble in the training hall, hasn’t visited for three days.

Likewise, other family members will avoid me since I plan to take some measures in the training hall.

The most troublesome person is undoubtedly Emma.

Emma is currently locked in an isolation room!

She isn’t being harassed by the maids!

Thanks to Claire, Emma is being framed as the culprit, but there’s no evidence.

Even if I provoked her, she is the head maid of the House of Bargrand. She is someone with considerable status and power within the house.

Trying to frame Emma further would backfire on me. In the game, I tried various ways to handle Emma, but I failed every time.

In other words, as the adopted child of the House of Bargrand, I can’t chase out Emma, who is suspected but not proven guilty.

‘She’s not someone who will easily fall for it. But I can’t afford to waste this time.’

Considering she was the toughest opponent in the game, I needed to prepare thoroughly.

I needed a solid piece of evidence to bring her down.

That’s why I decided to take this step myself.

‘I’m taking the first step.’

Standing at the boundary between the Duke’s Mansion and the training hall.

In the game, crossing this line changes the map name instantly.

Crossing this line means entering Episode V, the troublemaker in the training hall begins.

“Training hall… Phew. A big hurdle.”

How long has it been since I disabled Camila’s Dead Trigger?

It couldn’t have been more than a week.

But once I step into the training hall, Dead Trigger will activate immediately.

I’ll have to find a way to activate it myself to survive.

Staring blankly at the status window, I saw the progress bar indicating the ongoing episode and the pitiful stats.

Taking a deep breath, I calmed my nerves.

And took a step.

Stepped forward.

-Ding!

The ongoing episode is Episode V: The Troublemaker in the Training Hall!

Enter the training hall and talk to the knights!

Along with the notification sound, the progress bar appeared for the first time.

It’s a cruel development.

Not only entering the training hall, but also talking to the knights.

Since I’ve already stepped in, there’s no turning back.

Walking, walking.

I had no choice but to face them head-on.

“Hey, look over there.”

“Whoa, what’s with that face?”

As I walked toward the entrance of the training hall, the spacious training ground immediately focused on me.

It felt like all the sweat from training had evaporated in an instant.

‘It’s understandable. Carsein killed someone in the training hall.’

Killing someone in the story is no small matter.

Especially for knights.

Proud knights who rely on the House of Bargrand.

They would surely be angry knowing a comrade was killed.

And to make matters worse, a commoner like me, who was picked up by the duchess, committed such a crime.

Perhaps, knightly honor itself forbade it.

Proof of this was in the form of the affinity boxes.

Completely different from those of the Duke’s Mansion.

The standard white box on the left extended slightly with a gray slash.

This was not a standard affinity box.

A minus state, known as a negative state.

“Sir Bargrand, what brings you to the training hall?”

Mockingly, they challenged me.

The man who approached sneered without blinking, but his eyes, filled with hostility, suggested he could attack at any moment.

‘Indeed, if I messed up in that state, it would have been a bad ending.’

So, I couldn’t act as I did in the Duke’s Mansion.

But I couldn’t just stand there either.

What will you do?

Options appear.