Chapter 54
“It seems I’ll need to come back tomorrow to be sure… For now, make sure she takes the fever-reducing medicine well. It might upset her stomach if taken on an empty stomach, so even if she doesn’t have an appetite, she needs to eat something.”
“Yes.”
The servants who nodded obediently prepared some light food as per the doctor’s instructions.
“Miss, please try to eat this. The doctor said the medicine shouldn’t be taken on an empty stomach.”
The viscount’s daughter, who had barely managed to sit up with the servant’s support, took a few spoonfuls of porridge but soon shook her head.
“If you could just eat a little more…”
“No, this much means it’s not an empty stomach anymore. Miss, you’ll feel better once you take the medicine.”
“Hu… ugh, hu hu.”
Even as her vision blurred from the fever, she was thinking of only one person.
One person who was vividly etched in her mind whether her eyes were open or closed.
“Ah, ahh.”
“Pardon? Miss? What did you say?”
Perhaps because her tongue was stiff from the high fever, her pronunciation wasn’t clear.
Even those closest to her couldn’t tell who she was calling for in her groans.
Well, who could imagine that she had fallen in love at first sight and become lovesick after just one conversation yesterday, and only because he smiled at her?
Being a doctor from the Bartorio Count’s family, he might have vaguely suspected lovesickness and said he’d come back tomorrow.
“Miss? Miss! They said you’d be alright, but are you really…”
“Watch your words, you fool!”
“She needs to finish taking the medicine first, so bring more pillows!”
After the servants had bustled about like that, the young lady was left alone.
She who had been sleeping like the dead for a while due to the effects of the medicine, faintly opened her eyes and parted her dry, cracked lips.
“Don’t… don’t go…”
She unknowingly flailed her arms, trying to grab Lione, but as it was just a hallucination, his figure vanished futilely.
Just that alone made her feel like her heart was being torn apart, and she clutched at her chest, breathing heavily.
It was truly just one encounter, but who knew that one meeting would capture her very soul.
“Lione… Lord Lione.”
Her plaintive, wistful call did not reach him.
The viscount’s daughter, who had been lying down shedding tears, eventually closed her eyes tightly and then opened them.
In the eyes of the young lady, who was weak in body and even weaker in spirit, a resolute will now welled up.
“I must… capture him.”
When she pulled the bell-pull, a servant soon entered.
As she pointed to her throat and waved her hand, they quickly brought lukewarm water, and her parched throat recovered somewhat.
After clearing her throat a few times, she spoke without hesitation.
“Where is Father?”
“The Viscount had to leave for an urgent business deal that couldn’t be postponed.”
“When will he return?”
“He said he was worried about you, so by evening at the latest…”
“I can’t wait.”
Before the servant could finish speaking, the viscount’s daughter wiped her sweaty forehead with a trembling hand.
“Prepare for me to go out.”
Despite the order given in a cracked voice, the servants didn’t move to comply.
At this, the young lady frowned and jerked her chin towards the servants.
Only then did the most experienced among the servants carefully ask.
“Miss? Are you sure you’re alright?”
The young lady looked over the servants watching her with worried expressions and shook her head firmly.
“It’s fine, just hurry and prepare. I need to see Father.”
Knowing her personality well – though weak in body, she was relentless in pushing through once she decided on something – the servants began to move without further argument.
That day, the final puzzle piece that would trigger the event plunging Lione into an abyss of despair and resignation revealed itself.
* * *
Around the time the viscount’s daughter set out to meet her father, dragging her fever-weakened body.
Riina was nodding as she reviewed the documents she had entrusted to Jane.
“As expected, it just needed some time.”
Although still far from perfect, wasn’t it a great improvement compared to when Jane first stepped into the office?
Her learning and skill development were slower than expected, but with enough time invested, she should be able to reach the level of the Jane from before the regression.
Riina, who had perfectly processed in just a few minutes the documents that Jane had spent hours reviewing while getting nosebleeds, turned her gaze to the window.
“It doesn’t look like it’s going to rain.”
“No. The weather is very nice. Shall I open the curtains a bit more?”
The office windows were always half-covered by curtains, ostensibly to prevent the documents from discoloring due to direct sunlight exposure.
Of course, if one looked closely, it was because there were secret documents mixed in that would reveal their contents if exposed to sunlight for a certain period.
“No, leave it. Rather.”
Riina, who had put aside the documents, took out a clean sheet of paper and tapped it.
“What methods are there to greatly increase a small amount of money in a short period?”
“Gambling.”
At the answer that came out immediately, Riina’s pen, which had been moving quickly, stopped abruptly.
Slowly raising her head, she tilted it towards Becky, who was smiling brightly in front of her.
“Gam…bling?”
“Yes. As much as it comes with great risk, it’s also a way to greatly increase a small amount of money in a short time.”
Of course, Becky’s words were nothing but the truth.
But it didn’t seem like something that should be said with a bright smile by someone who had lost not only their family but their entire household to gambling…
As Riina closed her mouth with a strange expression, Becky waved her hands.
“I’m not sick or anything. Especially not in the head, definitely not. It’s just.”
For some reason, Becky, with slightly reddened cheeks, continued.
“Being by your side, Miss, I can talk about gambling without feeling anything at all.”
At that, Riina chuckled.
“Am I some symbol of faith and trust or something?”
“Yes! You’re faith and trust itself!”
Riina was momentarily speechless at the overly sincere and excessively truthful answer to what she had meant as a joking comment.
She unconsciously rubbed her stomach area.
Looking at Becky’s sparkling eyes made her feel somewhat ticklish and queasy inside.
Due to the terrible misfortune permeating her entire life, she never trusted herself, and yet…
“Alright. If anything happens, make sure you do exactly as I say.”
She tried to brush it off with a humorous tone again, but her voice was bone dry.
Even though it was the same conversation for who knows how many times, Becky answered vigorously as if hearing it for the first time.
“Yes!”
At that lively response, Riina’s shoulders, which had tensed up momentarily, relaxed a bit.
Soon, Riina, tapping the pen with her fingertips, tilted her head.
“Gambling, huh.”
It was indeed the easiest way to gain large profits with a small amount of money.
All that was needed was a few coins to start any kind of gambling and a bit of luck.
Having thought that far, Riina drew a long line over the word “gambling” she had scribbled with her pen.
Because she didn’t have that ‘bit of luck’.
And speaking of luck, one person naturally dominated her thoughts.
Einar.
If she gave him just two copper coins and let him spend a day, no, just a few hours in a casino, the casino would probably have to close its doors that very day.
‘It’s over.’
Einar, putting down his cards with an indifferent face.
‘Please, just leave. Please.’
And the casino staff kneeling before him, begging to avoid bankruptcy.
A faint smile spread across Riina’s lips at the scene she could clearly imagine without even seeing it.
Soon, Riina shook her head slightly and opened her mouth.
“Gambling could be one method, but I’d prefer something a bit more stable.”
At that, Becky tilted her head.
“Is there a stable way to increase a small amount of money?”
“Of course there’s risk involved, but there’s a method that relies on this rather than probability or luck like gambling does.”
Saying that, Riina tapped her temple.
Becky, who had been tapping her own temple following Riina, opened her eyes wide.
“The head?”
“Yes. There are things where you can see as much as you know, and earn money as much as you can see.”
At Riina’s enigmatic words, Becky could only keep tilting her head.
Riina gestured towards Becky.
“Get ready to go out. We need to leave.”
* * *
Just as Riina was about to leave the Bolshevik residence.
Jane was slightly furrowing her brow as she received a letter.
“The… Imperial Family?”
Even after rubbing her eyes and looking again, the imperial seal was clearly stamped on it, causing Jane’s brow to furrow even more.
At a time when she had to keep a low profile and lower herself as much as possible, this obstacle called the Imperial Family had suddenly intervened.
Moreover, a letter to herself, who was nothing more than a mere shadow, and a newly arrived shadow at that.
Even if she asked that foolish Hans, the answer would be obvious.
“It’s not good news.”
Jane, unable to contain her nervousness, unknowingly scratched at the end of the letter.
She stopped with an expression that seemed to say “oops,” but the envelope was already badly scratched.
She had been planning to say she hadn’t received the letter if necessary.
Jane, who had been unconsciously biting her lower lip, soon bit down on a handkerchief.
While one’s hand might unconsciously move to protect the lips from damage, Jane, with terrible obsessiveness, had sought out and bitten down on a handkerchief to protect even that hand.
Eventually, Jane pulled out the handkerchief and took a deep breath before exhaling.
“Pull yourself together.”
