Cold sweat soaked Janet’s back, leaving her clothes damp and clammy. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, unable to steady her ragged breathing.
Her trembling fingertips twitched as her eyes darted around the room.
Dark eyes, still clouded with fear, swept over her surroundings in haste.
Beside the bed, a young maid sat slumped in a chair, nodding off in sleep.
‘Why is a maid here…?’
Ah, right. She had collapsed after clutching that burning teapot.
When she checked her injury, she found bandages wrapped around it. 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 thoughts drifted through her mind, her hazy consciousness slowly cleared. Even so, the remnants of the nightmare still lingered vividly in her head.
‘What in the world was that dream…?’
It had felt more real than reality itself, yet now that she was awake, she couldn’t remember any of it clearly.
All she vaguely recalled was an intense, blinding light flashing before her eyes.
And something on her wrist had been glowing too…
“Ugh.”
Janet instinctively touched her wrist and let out a low groan. A sharp sting pulsed through it, as though she had been cut by something razor-thin.
The moment she checked the source of the pain—
“What… is this?”
The traces of sleep vanished instantly.
“Salvation.”
On the inside of her wrist, hidden where it was difficult to notice, glowing letters had appeared.
The pale white text shone softly for a moment, as though merely to announce its existence to Janet, before slowly fading away.
The next day.
At the crack of dawn, Julieta came to visit Janet.
“How’s your body? Does it hurt? Are you uncomfortable moving around?”
“I’m fine. The doctor said I’d be alright too.”
The doctor standing quietly nearby nodded vigorously.
“To be honest, I was quite worried yesterday, but the inflammation has gone down significantly overnight. As long as you manage the scar carefully, there shouldn’t be any problems. Truly, it can only be said that Lord Dake has blessed you…”
At the mention of Dake, Janet glanced subtly at her wrist.
Not the right wrist that had been burned, but the left one where the word Salvation had appeared during the night.
The Latrian Empire officially allowed freedom of religion, but most of its citizens worshipped the one true god, Dake.
After all, the empire itself had originated from a holy kingdom devoted to Dake from the very beginning.
Followers of Dake offered a blessing prayer when a child turned ten years old. It was a long-standing tradition meant to pray for the child’s health and future success.
But sometimes, the god answered those prayers.
That was what people called a Blessed Verse.
When a child received a response from the divine, words would be engraved somewhere upon their body. The inscription only revealed itself and emitted light when the related blessing power was activated.
‘Could this be a Blessed Verse too?’
Had she also received a divine response on her tenth birthday?
But even if that were true, she had no idea what Salvation was supposed to mean.
What exactly was she meant to save?
Janet’s thoughts were interrupted by the doctor’s voice.
“Apply the medicine to the wound twice a day. And avoid letting water touch it for a while.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Then, if you’ll excuse me…”
The doctor carefully gauged the atmosphere, and Julieta flicked her hand dismissively.
Not missing the chance, the doctor bowed deeply and hurried out.
Julieta dropped heavily into the chair beside the bed, looking utterly drained.
“Young lady, you should sit somewhere more comfortable—”
“It’s fine. I’m comfortable here.”
Julieta answered gruffly before letting out a long sigh.
“I’ve had Sien confined to her room for now. I’ll leave her punishment up to you, so tell me if there’s anything you want done.”
Punishment, huh.
“Young lady, there’s actually something bothering me regarding Sien.”
“Something bothering you?”
“A while ago, the marquis who wrote me a recommendation letter sent me a gift.”
Technically, it had been Theo who sent it, but Janet couldn’t exactly say that aloud.
Especially since the gifts had arrived under the marquis’s name.
“Oh, I heard about that. Apparently the scale of the gifts was enormous.”
Janet laughed awkwardly.
“Yes. It honestly felt a bit excessive. Anyway… one of those gifts disappeared.”
“What? A gift disappeared?”
“Yes. The day after the gifts arrived, I received a full inventory list. I checked it carefully just in case, and one yellow diamond was missing.”
“My goodness. Something that valuable vanished?!”
Yellow diamonds were not gemstones one could easily 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.”
“And you’re bringing this up in relation to Sien because…?”
Julieta caught on immediately, and Janet nodded.
“The other servants said it was Sien who instructed them to move the gifts into a first-floor room that day. And apparently, she was the only person who entered that room afterward.”
“That insolent little—!”
Julieta shot to her feet, furious.
“As if deliberately shoving someone into boiling water wasn’t enough, now she’s stealing too?!”
“It’s not confirmed yet. It’s only suspicion for now.”
“With that much evidence, it’s obvious.”
“Even so, the investigation should be thorough.”
At Janet’s calm reply, Julieta forced herself to settle down and nodded.
“You’re right. Then I’ll tell the head butler to mobilize the Ludwig internal investigation unit.”
“Thank you, young lady.”
“In that case, it would probably be best to decide her punishment after the theft investigation is completed.”
“I agree.”
Janet smiled faintly and lowered her head.
“Thank you for taking care of so many things for me, young lady.”
“…It’s nothing. You don’t need to thank me.”
Though her tone remained prickly, there was something dejected about it. Julieta slumped back into the chair and hesitated.
Like a child who had done something wrong and was moments away from being caught.
After struggling with herself for a long while, she finally spoke with a sigh.
“To be honest… the reason Sien acted that way might partly be my fault.”
“Hm?”
“I hated the idea of having a maid. Absolutely hated it. The thought of someone constantly following me around and attending to me irritated me just imagining it. So I wanted to drive you away.”
She let out another long breath.
“When Sien said she’d help, I told her to go ahead. But honestly, I never imagined she’d take it this far. And besides, I already told her she didn’t need to help me anymore…!”
“I see.”
Janet’s calm response made Julieta flinch.
…She must be disappointed. Probably disgusted with her.
The very master she had risked her body to save had actually been desperate to get rid of her.
“Young lady.”
“Mm.”
“Do you feel sorry toward me? Or… do you still want to drive me away?”
Julieta blinked at the direct question. After a moment of hesitation, she opened her mouth awkwardly.
“I-I’m sorry. I deliberately treated you badly because I wanted you gone. And I…”
You…
Biting her lip tightly, Julieta forced herself to continue.
“I don’t want to send you away anymore.”
“Yes. Then that’s enough.”
“…What?”
This time, it was Julieta who looked stunned by the unexpectedly cheerful response.
“You apologized, and you no longer want to chase me away. 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 we think.”
People get angry.
Then they apologize.
Then they reconcile.
And little by little, they grow closer.
“Once again, I look forward to working with you from now on, young lady.”
At Janet’s bright greeting, Julieta’s eyelashes trembled faintly.
She squeezed her aching eyes shut for a moment before opening them again.
Then, hesitantly, she spoke.
“Me too. I look forward to being with you too, Janet.”
“……”
“……”
Silence lingered briefly after their exchange.
The two stared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter at the same time.
Warm sunlight poured gently into the room.
