Chapter 199

Rina von Adelheit slowly opened her eyes.

Antique walls, an oil painting of a dandelion hanging on one wall, curtains fluttering above a large bed, and all the expensive furniture handcrafted by renowned artisans…

This was her room, Rina von Adelheit’s room. A familiar landscape.

‘…What kind of delusion is this?’

She had a dream.

A dream of wandering freely outside, walking in a bustling place filled with crowds.

Food being sold at various stalls, darts being thrown, balloons being handed out, and people passing by Rina’s side, holding delicious drinks and street food.

Rina vaguely knew that this place didn’t exist in the city. How could someone like her, who had never been outside, imagine such a place?

It was all a product of her imagination. Rina tried hard to suppress the feeling of melancholy.

She closed her eyes again. To return to sleep.

As she lay her upper body down on the soft bed, a comforting and drowsy sensation enveloped her.

The reason she had woken up briefly and was trying to sleep again was simple.

‘The fireworks.’

She hadn’t been able to see the fireworks in the middle of the festival she was enjoying in her dream before waking up. Rina was whimsically thinking that if she fell asleep right away, she might be able to continue that dream.

However, sleep wouldn’t come.

As if refusing her the chance to see the fireworks. Even in her dreams, it was as though she wouldn’t be allowed to experience the warmth of human presence and the kind of freedom that made one feel euphoric.

After struggling with her tightly closed eyes for a long while, Rina finally sat up again. Her body, buried in the blanket, trembled slightly from the chilly autumn air.

‘Even in a dream, it seems like it’s not meant to be. I….’

Rina couldn’t hold back her gloomy feelings. It felt like tears might spill out any moment.

But she shouldn’t cry. If someone were to see her like that, her beloved family would surely worry.

Rina was a mature child. There was undoubtedly a sense of maturity and composure that belied her age, and she was aware of it.

But if someone were to ask her if that was a good thing… Rina felt she wouldn’t be able to answer confidently.

“Hah…”

At the chill that brushed against her nape, Rina shivered and pulled the blanket around her. The crisp autumn wind, for someone ordinary, might not feel too cold, but Rina, whose body was particularly weak, shivered even from such a slight breeze.

Naturally, Rina’s gaze turned toward the large window on one side of her room. Following the advice of her doctor to enjoy sunlight, her room rarely had the curtains drawn.

The bright view of the garden, as bright as midday, came into Rina’s sight. No, it was probably that bright because it was indeed day.

‘…How long have I been asleep?’

Rina began to stir her mind, somewhat awake from sleep.

Her last memory was of speaking with Priest Luciana after her doctor, Moritz, had finished an examination and left her room.

“Time…”

Rina rubbed her dry eyes. Hanging where her gaze fell was an antique wall clock.

If there was any solace, it was that time hadn’t passed too long since her last memory. It seemed she had only dozed off for a fleeting moment.

However, Rina did not like that.

‘If only I had fallen completely asleep…’

Then the guests who were about to visit Duke Adelhaid would have returned without meeting her. That was what Rina wished for.

But now that she was awake…

– Knock knock.

A calm rhythm of knocking on the door. Startled by the sound, Rina jolted as if caught doing something bad.

Having been lost in deep thought, she reacted sensitively even to the small sound. Her red eyes, slightly trembling, naturally turned toward the door.

– Miss. It’s Luciana Risikova. I have guests.

The owner of the knock was Priest Luciana. Upon hearing her voice from beyond the door, Rina had the fleeting thought of pretending to be asleep—

‘…No.’

Ultimately, avoiding them wouldn’t do her any good. Since it hadn’t been long since Moritz had left, the guests would have met Moritz already.

Seeing her doctor just leave the room and then pretending to sleep? That would be extremely rude. It would be akin to openly saying, “I don’t want to meet you.”

Avoiding conversation just because she didn’t want to talk would be easy at the moment, but it would indeed be considered quite disrespectful to pick and choose her guests. If that happened, her father would undoubtedly hear about it.

And as someone who had entered this mansion as a guest of her beloved father, Duke Maximilian von Adelheit, there was no way Rina could act so shamelessly. Perhaps her sister Laura might be able to manage it, though.

“…You can come in, Luciana.”

Watching the door slowly open, Rina let out a shallow sigh without realizing it.

Ultimately, the direction Rina chose was to face it head-on.

Following the guidance of Priest Luciana, Sofia, the sub-priest, and I stepped out of the reception room and headed toward Rina von Adelheit’s room.

Butler Alfred didn’t accompany us. He was likely attending to the Duke’s wife, who held the highest authority in the mansion.

On our way toward Rina’s room, as we passed by the entrance hall, Sofia and I unexpectedly encountered a familiar face.

‘…Doctor Moritz?’

It was indeed Moritz. He was just about to leave the mansion and caught my eye through the open door, offering a slight nod as a greeting.

It wasn’t the kind of atmosphere for waving hands and making a fuss, so Moritz and I exchanged nods and turned our gazes away.

“Priest Luciana. Just now, that person is….”

“Oh, you mean Doctor Moritz? He is Rina’s attending physician.”

Moritz is Rina’s attending physician? Since when?

The twists and turns of human connections are truly unpredictable.

Even with this unexpected encounter, we had a more important purpose. We continued to walk, following Priest Luciana’s guidance.

We passed through the familiar corridors of the mansion, nodding to the staff we passed as they greeted us, and climbed the stairs twice.

“This is it.”

With Priest Luciana’s guidance, Sofia and I halted in front of an unremarkable door that didn’t seem different from any other room. A faint presence could be felt from within.

“Do we just go in here?”

“Ah. Before entering, just a moment…”

After Priest Luciana sanitized us and made us wear masks, Sofia and I were finally allowed to enter Rina’s room.

– Knock knock.

“Miss. It’s Luciana Risikova. I have guests.”

A brief silence fell. Surely, she wasn’t asleep?

– …You can come in, Luciana.

The way she called Priest Luciana by her name suggested that they were likely quite close. Sofia and I gradually stepped inside as the door opened.

What greeted us for the first time was the dimly lit room, which had not been illuminated.

Having once entered Laura’s room, it wasn’t an impressive sight. The overall layout was quite similar to Laura’s room, and in fact, the level of decoration and opulence was less than Laura’s.

In summary, it was a typical noble girl’s room, furnished at a level that I or Sofia wouldn’t feel overly burdened being in.

Warm autumn sunlight streamed through the window with the curtains drawn, bathing everything in light, cascading down to meet the large bed placed in the middle of the room.

It was immediately apparent why the lights didn’t need to be turned on; the sunlight in this room was ample. It was close to being greedy to expect complete sunshine to reach the interiors of such a large mansion in the daytime.

Turning my gaze away from the window, I caught sight of sparkling white hair, glowing warmly in the sunlight. That white hair resembled Laura’s too much.

In the light covering half of her face, her ruby-colored eyes, reminiscent of a strange blood hue, shone brightly.

Seated on the large bed, slightly sunken into the cushions, was a beautiful girl who looked a bit frail, evoking a protective urge.

Sofia and I paused, taking in the sight of her. The girl’s eyes sparkled in our direction, and the corners of her lips turned upwards, hinting at a gentle smile.

“Welcome, everyone.”

The girl sitting on the bed, Rina von Adelheit.

She greeted us with a soft smile and a slight bow of her head.

“I apologize for not being able to stand to welcome you due to my personal circumstances.”

“…No, please don’t worry. Just make yourself comfortable.”

“Thank you. You’re quite considerate, Priest.”

Still maintaining her smile, Rina gestured toward us and pointed to the chairs.

“Don’t just stand there; please sit down in the comfortable chairs. Luciana?”

“Professor, over here…”

Following Priest Luciana’s lead, I carefully sat down in the plush chair she had set up beside the bed. Sofia also took a seat in the chair right next to mine.

Thus, Sofia and I were able to observe Rina von Adelheit even more closely.

In that moment, my first impression of seeing Rina up close was…

‘She looks… so frail.’

As I had been hearing repeatedly from Duke Adelhaid, Laura, and Duchess Adelhaid, Rina’s body was slightly thinner compared to her peers.

It didn’t give the impression of being slender; rather, it strongly conveyed the sense of being underweight to the point of looking ill.

Her face, extremely similar to Laura’s, made her seem as if Laura had fallen severely ill and was bedridden.

Adding in her timid personality and smoothing out her wavy hair, which fluttered down to her waist, and replacing Laura’s typically haughty demeanor with humility, one might say that this was Rina.

“…Um.”

Her clear pink lips, as if untouched by anyone, parted slightly, revealing her white teeth, and Rina finally spoke, which had been hesitantly held back.

Sofia and I, who had been quietly observing Rina, stopped and met her gaze.

“Could you please introduce yourselves?”

“…Ah.”

Had Duke Adelhaid not mentioned us yet?

As it turned out, this was quite fortunate. Getting to know each other step by step from the start was a good way to go about the conversation. I bowed my head slightly and spoke.

“Pleased to meet you. I am Lucio Antorelli, a Professor of Theology and the head priest of the Main Chapel at the Caldera Imperial Academy. This is my sub-priest, Sofia.”

“Ah, hello. Nice to meet you.”

Rina’s gaze towards Sofia and me held some confusion. Though it didn’t seem like she was genuinely welcoming us, her faint smile remained.

“Yes. Nice to meet you. As you may already know, my name is Rina von Adelheit. You can simply call me Rina.”

With those words, the conversation with Rina momentarily came to a halt. Rina, slowly gazing at Sofia and me, finally opened her mouth after a few minutes.

“…So you came from the Academy. I see…”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then, is it for the purpose of informing me that my enrollment for next year has been rejected, as a guest of my father?”

“…No.”

I briefly exchanged glances with Sofia before nodding to indicate otherwise, then turned back to Rina.

“Rina, would you like to join us for the Fall Festival at the Academy tomorrow?”

The single phrase that slipped from my lips…

Upon hearing that line, I did not miss seeing Rina’s eyes widen for a moment.