Either way, he couldn’t just leave a patient. He carried her into any nearby guest room and laid Elodie down.

“They do all kinds of things.”

He came to talk about the Emperor’s birthday celebration and to check casually what Elodie was thinking, but ended up experiencing something unexpected.

He sighed, holding his forehead, when a maid was seen passing beyond the open door.

In his memory, she was the exclusive maid who always accompanied Elodie. Was her name Masa?

She was the second servant he met since entering this annex. The first was a servant who brought tea, but he had not been seen since.

“You there.”

“Yes?”

“Your mistress has fainted.”

At those words, the servant glanced inside the guest room and nodded as if understanding.

“Ah, she fainted again.”

“What?”

“I’ll call the doctor.”

Watching the maid bow politely and back away, Adenmir’s disbelief grew.

‘Ah, she fainted again,’ she said.

Was that a reaction one could have when hearing that her mistress had fainted?

Being here made his head feel strange.

From his fiancée who suddenly wanted to break off their engagement, to the incomprehensible situation in this annex.

Anyway, he had to wait until the doctor arrived, so he pulled up a chair and sat next to Elodie.

She was still not in good shape, but at least it didn’t seem like she would die soon.

During this time, he realized that what he thought was her nervous trembling and cold sweat was all his misunderstanding.

What was he saying in front of a sick person?

“Sigh.”

Holding his throbbing head and sighing, Adenmir noticed something.

“What’s this…”

It had been hidden by her clothes, but she had a bandage wrapped around her arm.

The shoddily wrapped bandage was loose, and inside it was…

A long wound, as if made by something sharp.

Having trained every day, handled swords, and been on the battlefield, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize the wound.

A stab wound.

It was a wound clearly inflicted by a sword. Although not deep, that wasn’t what mattered.

“What on earth…”

An annex without resident servants.

A servant who calmly backed away as if it was a usual occurrence for her mistress to faint.

And now the wound on her arm.

Adenmir’s gaze shifted to Elodie’s face, still with her eyes closed.

For a moment, the face of his fiancée, whom he had always thought dull, seemed unfamiliar.

[Star Icon][Star Icon][Star Icon]

She woke up, grimacing from a slight headache.

“Ugh, my head.”

Though her entire body was still weak due to the remaining poison, she felt much better than before after having slept.
With my left hand clutching my forehead, I felt a sense of discomfort and removed my hand.

Bandage.

While making an antidote, I remembered that if blood is used as an antidote, there is no need to wait. I accidentally wounded my arm while attempting to prick my fingertip lightly.

Probably due to the aftermath of poisoning, my physical condition was not good, and I stumbled.

The bandage I wrapped myself was not properly compressed because of my clumsy skill, but the bandage now wrapped was clearly the work of an expert.

“That fussy old physician. He says he never examines a bastard and hardly ever comes, so what’s going on?”

Although I didn’t openly express it, there were people in the family who disliked me, a bastard, and one of them was the physician of the Ferdia family.

Ignoring it was a familiar thing, so there was nothing surprising about it.

“But where is this place? Who am I…?”

Once I regained my senses, I realized that this bedroom was very unfamiliar.

It seemed to be the guest room of the annex, but why was I here?

Then, I suddenly realized that I had been talking to Prince Adenmir in the reception room.

I could roughly guess the situation. I must have fainted while talking to Prince Adenmir.

Just then, the maid came in.

“You’re awake. I’ve brought lukewarm water. Take the medicine, too.”

Perhaps due to fainting so often from the poison these past few days, the maid did not look very surprised that I had fainted again.

It was not entirely the case, but since my power had awakened, I had blamed it on that, so she seemed to understand.

“Yes. But maid, what about Prince Adenmir?”

“He left as soon as the physician arrived.”

As I expected, I had fainted in front of Prince Adenmir.

‘Well, what can you do?’

People can faint in front of others.

I took the medicine the maid handed to me without making a big deal out of it.

Whether it’s medicine or poison, it will be purified once it enters the body, so it’s useless, but if I don’t take it, the maid will worry.

More importantly, I was curious about how the annulment had concluded…

“The Prince said to tell you when you wake up.”

I read the paper the maid handed me.

[Come to the mansion thirty minutes before the birth party starts. We’ll see then.]

“Huh?”

I let out a strange noise.

I could not understand it at all.

“Why doesn’t he annul the engagement?”

“Who knows? Maybe he’s fallen for you?”

I snorted and ripped the letter in half.

‘Nonsense.’

From the beginning, Prince Adenmir disliked our engagement but maintained it due to political interests.

So if he found someone he liked, I thought Prince Adenmir would naturally ask me for an annulment. He could turn it into his responsibility, keep the political interests, and it was clearly my fault.

Though Prince Adenmir, who was hindering my independence, was quite annoying, I simply set him aside in my priorities.

‘It’s okay. There’s still plenty of time.’

There are 3 years left until my sister is adopted, so I just have to sort things out by then.

My preparation for independence is progressing slowly. Let’s just quietly save money until then!

…or so I thought.

A few days later, while walking down the corridor, I ran into a trivial soldier.

“I wish to see the lady. Where are you going?”

A familiar face. A face I often saw, but since recovering memories of my previous life, it was the first time I had faced it.

At the sight of that face, a line from the book spontaneously came to mind.

[Who would have known? Hector Arold, assistant to Duke Ferdia. That the loyal servant who followed him like a dog would stab a knife into the Duke’s back.]

Hector Arold.

The future traitor.

And three years later, the one who would switch the poison during Estelle’s attempted poisoning, revealing that I was not of Ferdia’s bloodline.