“Today is just… different.”
Tears streamed down Schlus’s cheeks.
“I miss you so much…”
At that heartfelt cry, Trie felt her heart ache.
She didn’t even know who Julia was. She didn’t know the relationship between her and Schlus.
But it felt like Schlus’s emotions were conveyed directly to her.
‘I have to go…’
She saw something she wasn’t supposed to.
Perhaps Schlus wanted to keep it a secret.
Thus, Trie decided to act as if she hadn’t seen anything today and turned around.
*Crunch…*
She stepped on a branch, breaking it.
“Is someone there?”
“······!”
Trie covered her mouth and plopped down.
Fortunately, she was hidden by the tombstone and couldn’t be seen by Schlus.
Holding her breath, she waited for Schlus to dismiss the suspicion, but—
“Don’t hide your body; come out. Otherwise, I’ll consider you an enemy and attack.”
There was no hint of that at all.
In the end, Trie had no choice but to slowly rise while hunching down.
“······Trie.”
“I’m sorry. I was snooping.”
She thought he would be angry.
Instead, Schlus let out a sigh, showing no signs of displeasure.
“Can you keep it a secret?”
“What kind of…?”
“Everything you’ve seen here today.”
“Ah, I got it.”
Trie nodded vigorously, accepting.
If all it took was to stay quiet to be forgiven, she’d gladly comply.
After all, secretly trailing someone was clearly wrong.
“But you know…”
She couldn’t help but be curious.
Who on earth was Julia? What was their relationship?
“If it’s not too much trouble, can I ask what kind of relationship you had with her?”
Trie couldn’t help but pry when she was curious.
Schlus, gazing softly at the tombstone, smiled and spoke.
“That’s a bit rude, Trie.”
“Oops. Sorry…”
“A precious person.”
“Huh?”
“She was someone more precious to me than anything else.”
“······.”
At that bittersweet smile, Trie fell silent.
It was an old story that he could now speak of with a smile, but the weight of that emotion seemed undiminished.
“It’s time to head back.”
Following Schlus as he turned, Trie walked silently.
She wanted to ask more, but looking at Schlus’s face made her hesitant.
“By the way, do you have any aftereffects?”
“Aftereffects? What are you talking about?”
“From the injury of being stabbed with a sword.”
“······ No, I don’t have any.”
Schlus looked down at Trie, as if questioning what kind of nonsense she was saying.
She blushed slightly, realizing she had worried for nothing.
*
“Julia von Iceburg…”
Back at the mansion, Trie repeated the name she had seen at the grave.
He had called her a precious person.
Was she perhaps a lover…? Just as that thought crossed her mind.
“Miss, where did you hear that name?”
“Ah, Maid Chief.”
The Maid Chief approached with a puzzled expression.
Now that she thought about it, she recalled that the Maid Chief was from the northern region…
“Are you perhaps…?”
“Yes. I am from Iceburg. Ten years ago, I was a maid in the Iceburg household.”
“Ah…”
Bingo.
The information she wanted turned out to be surprisingly close.
“Then you must know Julia von Iceburg?”
“Of course. I served her.”
“Then Maid Chief… If you don’t mind, could you tell me about Julia?”
“Of course, miss.”
The Maid Chief sat down graciously in the chair Trie pulled out for her.
It seemed like the story would be quite lengthy.
“Lady Julia was the daughter of the Count of Iceburg. She was truly lovely. Just as beautiful as you are.”
“Cut out the flattery in the middle.”
“Yes, yes. Lady Julia became a topic of discussion when her father announced he would pass on the title. But then she fell ill and could no longer move, so the succession was canceled, and interest faded.”
“······.”
“After that, Lady Julia stayed locked up in her room. Her health gradually deteriorated, and she didn’t want others to see her in that condition. Then the war broke out, and in the winter of the second year of the war, she passed away.”
“Could it have been due to the kingdom’s winter offensive?”
The unexpected counterattack from the kingdom had indeed occurred that winter in the second year of the war.
She had heard the kingdom’s forces reached Iceburg; could it have been then…?
“No. Lady Julia passed away before the offensive. The kingdom’s forces arrived ten days after.”
“Oh, I see… Then was Schlus Hainkel also from Iceburg?”
“Yes, that’s correct. He is the son of a guard from Iceburg and remembers being friends with Lady Julia since childhood.”
“No… Then why didn’t you mention it until now?”
Trie let out a sigh, astonished.
Schlus Hainkel had become a person everyone in the institution knew.
She had talked about him a couple of times in front of the Maid Chief.
So why had the Maid Chief remained silent all this time?
“You never asked.”
“Huh…?”
Trie was left speechless by the Maid Chief’s smile.
“Everyone has parts of their past they don’t want to remember, you know, miss.”
“Is that so…?”
“And until recently, I thought Schlus had died.”
“······.”
It seemed the Maid Chief didn’t hold any fond memories of her time in Iceburg.
*
“Julia.”
As soon as Madam Lichtenburg entered the room, she rushed to her daughter.
Receiving her embrace, Julia smiled back.
It seemed she was always conveying her heartfelt apologies from that warm embrace.
“I have a favor to ask…”
“Yes, Mother. Please, go on.”
“I’m really sorry, but could you have dinner by yourself tonight?”
“······.”
After a moment of silence, Madam Lichtenburg hung her head low.
Despite suffering from an inexplicable illness, she had tried to share love with her daughter as much as she could.
Thus, leaving her alone during mealtime was something she would never ordinarily do.
“Is a guest coming?”
“······.”
Hit hard with that question, Madam Lichtenburg nodded silently.
Her daughter was unusually mature and perceptive at such a young age.
If she weren’t sick, she would surely have excelled in school with her smart mind…
“Is this person from Iceburg?”
“······.”
Madam Lichtenburg nodded again.
“And they know Julia von Iceburg.”
“······ Yes, that’s right.”
Julia seemed to see through everything.
Yet, she just smiled as if she had already come to terms with it.
Madam Lichtenburg chewed her lip, displeased with this unexpected maturity.
“You know that when someone like that meets you… it’s usually not a pleasant occurrence.”
The Julia of Iceburg and this child were entirely different people; at least, that was what she believed.
But those who knew the Julia of Iceburg kept saying strange things whenever they saw her daughter.
They would speak of how she looked just like Lady Julia. With the same name, it surely meant she was the reincarnation of Lady Julia.
They kept projecting a deceased person onto her daughter for no reason.
Simply sharing a name and a resemblance was all it was.
In those moments, Julia would make a terribly pained expression.
It seemed her reluctance to go out was somewhat influenced by her fear of encountering such people.
“I understand, Mother. I will have dinner in the staff dining room with the maids.”
“Yes… I’m really sorry, my daughter. For making you go through this.”
“No, it’s not your fault.”
Madam Lichtenburg embraced Julia again.
As Madam Lichtenburg swallowed her tears of regret—
‘It’s actually my fault.’
Julia muttered internally.
*
Today, she was holed up in the training room, spending another day just like any other.
Wielding her sword. Challenging herself to finish her major texts…
It was when she remembered she had forgotten something that…
It was then, upon scraping her leg on the floor, that she noticed.
“Tsk. There’s quite a bit of blood.”
It was a simple scratch.
The skin wasn’t even torn.
Just a bit of the outer layer had been scraped off.
So, there wasn’t much blood, but the wide area of the wound made it quite troublesome to treat.
“Ah. Recovery potion.”
Speaking of which, there were recovery potions in the shop.
Although it wasn’t a serious enough wound to require spending coins, she thought it might be good to buy one just to check its efficacy and usage.
So when she opened the shop window—
[Shop]
[You can buy items using shop coins.]
[Coins held: 11]
[Shop Upgrade]
[Upgrading the shop adds new items.]
“Right.”
She realized she had forgotten about the option to upgrade the shop.
She could pay 10 coins to upgrade the shop.
And she just got 10 coins from completing a quest on the Day of Magic, so she had enough coins.
“Should I buy it? Or not?”
To be honest, the current items in the shop weren’t anything special.
While the Forbidden Elixir, priced at 5 coins, was still viable, its efficiency didn’t match the initial potency.
Recovery potions could easily be obtained from Iris in emergencies, making them not very useful right now.
So it made sense to invest 10 coins to check out other items.
Events like exploring Whist Forest or the Civil War, which would require a stat boost, were still far-off as well.
It would probably be better to upgrade the shop when she had the leisure.
“Okay. It’s decided.”
She inwardly recited the shop upgrade.
[The shop has been upgraded.]
[Items have been added to the list.]
“Tsk.”
She had expected some bonus like last time when she opened the shop, but there was none.
Let’s see what was added.
[Item List]
[Forbidden Elixir]
[Low-grade Recovery Potion]
[High-grade Recovery Potion]
[Judgment Day]
[Elixir]
[Durandal]
The added items were the Elixir and Durandal.
Of those, naturally, the one that caught her attention was—
“Whoa. An Elixir, huh?”
The Elixir was said to be made from a highly rare mushroom extract and was the best potion in the story.
It was comparable to a panacea, boasting exceptional efficacy.
It could neutralize any abnormal state and heal any injury.
While it couldn’t regrow severed limbs, it could fuse stumps together if the cut was neat.
As long as it wasn’t from natural aging, it could save anyone on the brink of death—a total cheat potion.
However, its quantity was so low that even the Emperor of the Freya Empire, who conquered the continent, would take over a year to obtain one.
By the way, the Elixir wouldn’t be effective on Julia’s illness.
After all, it’s not a disease. It’s her fate itself, so there’s no way to heal it.
Just as she cannot escape the endless cycle of reincarnation, she cannot eradicate that incurable sickness either.
“Let me check the price…”
Returning to the Elixir, its price was crucial.
Of course, she didn’t expect such an overpowered potion to be cheap—
[Elixir]
[Price: 50 Shop Coins]
“Ugh.”
The price was beyond her imagination.
Since quests that provided coins don’t appear that often, asking her to gather 50 coins was outrageous.
Truly showcasing the might of a panacea.
From now on, she needed to collect shop coins rather assiduously.
The Elixir could unexpectedly be helpful in many situations.
She figured it would likely come in handy during the Civil War.
But she didn’t think she’d be able to collect 50 coins by then.
“Durandal, huh…”
Along with the Elixir, the added item was Durandal.
A sword inspired by the legendary holy sword.
It was used by the Majin, Tiltitz, in the story.
At this point in time, Tiltitz probably hadn’t obtained Durandal yet.
But what would happen if she bought it first…?
Would there be two? Would Tiltitz end up unable to acquire Durandal?
[Durandal]
[Price: 100 Shop Coins]
“Ugh.”
Such worries were pointless in the end.
She couldn’t afford that price anyway.
By the way, why did items like Judgment Day and Durandal keep coming up in the inventory?
Was it insisting she become a master swordsman or something?
“Sigh. That’s enough for today.”
Feeling it was about time, she closed the shop window and stood up.
As she opened the training room door, she noticed the sun had already set quite a bit.
“Miss Emilia, I’m going to have dinner and come back.”
“Yes. You mentioned you were invited to dinner at the Lichtenburg estate…”
“That’s right.”
“Please be careful.”
Bowing politely to Emilia, she left the mansion.
Though she didn’t show it on her face, she was clearly on high alert—something I, as the writer, could sense.
She was probably worried that her stance would change while interacting with the noble class.
After all, she had informed the intelligence agency that she aimed for peace with the kingdom.
What if she blended in with the imperial elite and changed to a stance that meant wiping the kingdom off the continent?
She wanted to reassure her that it was all right to be at ease.
After all, she was only going to probe Madam Lichtenburg.
Though she knew all about the lady’s setup, she needed to check if there had been any changes in her with all the story changes since her rebirth.
She had mentioned she would send a carriage by 6 o’clock.
However, it was only 4 o’clock, so waiting until 6 felt a bit tedious. Thus, she decided to walk.
While it felt improper to arrive earlier than the invitation time, she decided it didn’t matter too much.
It might not be a bad thing to leave a strong impression, regardless of whether it was good or bad.
“Is this the place?”
5 o’clock. She arrived earlier than expected.
A bit of a walk from the bustling area of the new town brought her to this place.
Compared to a single dorm room, the massive mansion looked almost cute in stature.
Indeed, the mansion of a prestigious family was on a different level.
As she approached the main gate to call for the servants, she suddenly heard—
“Miss! It’s you! The flower that has not yet withered!”
Her breath caught in her throat.
She hoped she had misseen.
That wheelchair. And the pure white dress.
She wished it was all just a figment of her imagination.
The moment she turned and met my gaze, my body froze like it had been electrocuted.
For quite some time, we stared at each other, dazed, without exchanging a single word.
