Knock. Knock.

“……”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

A rhythmic water sound could be heard from somewhere.

The sound of water droplets slowly falling from the ceiling and hitting the floor.

Belladonna, who had faintly regained consciousness, frowned.

Where is this……?

As she slowly lifted her heavy eyelids, an entirely new space unfolded before her eyes.

Belladonna looked around with a bewildered face. It was a place she had never been to before, a place she had never seen in her life.

Not Astanya, not Griblata.

No, not even the Elinerus Empire at all. Where is this place?

{Are you awake?}

A low voice flowed into her mind.

Belladonna turned her head in surprise.

But the surroundings continued to be filled with only the sound of water, just an empty blue space with nothing else.

Just where is this……!

Belladonna hunched her shoulders and looked around.

{Here.}

Through her mind, the voice from earlier was heard again.

Belladonna got up from where she had been lying and slowly moved her steps.

She didn’t know where to go, but she walked forward.

Just, she felt like she had to.

{Well done. But that’s not the right direction.}

Another sound.

Belladonna turned her head to the opposite side in surprise.

She saw a woman sitting quietly in the place where she had been lying until just now.

The silver hair flowing down her back seemed familiar.

Who is it?

At that moment, the woman turned her head towards her.

That’s……!

A woman with sparkling blue eyes and silver hair was smiling at her.

That’s Saint Belladonna, isn’t it?

Belladonna, upon confirming her appearance, collapsed to the ground as her legs gave out.

{Oh my, you should be careful.}

The saint spoke in a kind voice towards Belladonna who had fallen.

Belladonna still stared at her with a dazed face.

Is it a mirror? Or…….

Belladonna frowned and looked down at herself.

Palms that were terribly swollen with blisters and scratches all over.

Dark skin color miserably tanned by the sun. Skinny legs marked with small wounds.

She pushed against the floor in shock and moved backward.

This, this is me when I was a farmer’s daughter in my previous life……!

{That’s right. That’s you.}

The saint opened her mouth.

Belladonna looked up at her with trembling eyes.

The saint looked at her with a benevolent smile.

{How was it being me?}

Belladonna slowly shook her head.

What, what is this……? Am, am I dead again?

{Don’t worry. You’re not dead. I just called you here for a moment because I was curious.}

Curious? Called here for a moment?

Belladonna looked up at the saint with a face still not understanding what was going on.

{You still don’t understand, do you?}

I don’t understand…….

Who you are, who I am, where this place is, I don’t understand any of it…….

Belladonna raised both arms and clutched her hair.

The hair that wrapped around her fingers was not lush silver hair, but terribly split black hair.

The saint, who had been watching the confused Belladonna, smiled inexplicably and opened her mouth.

{How is it, do you like that appearance? Or do you prefer your current appearance?}

Of, of course…….

Belladonna, who was about to answer that she preferred the saint’s appearance, hesitated without being able to open her mouth.

……Is the life of Saint Belladonna really a good life?

She had a beautiful appearance, never did any work hard enough to hurt her body, and always ate good food living in an abundant castle.

{Of course me?}

But she…….

Belladonna frowned as she recalled the cunning and vicious appearance of the pope and the two-faced people.

A chilly feeling came from inside, and soon she felt so disgusted that she almost retched.

“Ugh……!”

Belladonna covered her mouth with both hands at the sudden surge of nausea.

{Indeed, it’s a difficult question.}

The saint, who had risen from her seat, spun around with a seemingly pleased smile.

{But you wouldn’t like the short-lived, poor farmer’s daughter either, right? I feel somewhat sorry for only being able to give you such a life.}

The saint, who had stopped spinning in place, slowly approached her.

Finally, she extended her finger to lift Belladonna’s chin, met her eyes, and curled up the corners of her mouth.

{Hmm….. I guess I called you too hastily. I was just so curious. I’m less patient than I thought, you see.}

Belladonna looked up at the saint with tears welling up in her eyes.

She was confused and afraid.

There was not a single thing she could understand about what was happening to her, and why these things were happening.

{Well then, stay a little longer. I’ll call you again later. Don’t cry.}

As soon as the saint finished speaking, the blue space-time began to distort from the outside.

What, what’s going on……!

Belladonna looked around in shock at her surroundings crumpling like scraps of paper.

The space that had been slowly distorting quickly approached Belladonna and the saint, and eventually swallowed them up.

No……!!

[This is the timeline separator]

“Huh……!”

Belladonna woke up from her dream with rough breaths.

Where is this?

An unfamiliar yet familiar ceiling.

Belladonna blinked her wide-open eyes repeatedly, trying to calm her violently beating heart.

‘What was that? I feel like I had some kind of dream…..’

She couldn’t remember anything at all.

Why are my eyes wet….. Did I have a scary dream without realizing it?

A few minutes later, as her heart slowly regained its normal pace, Belladonna slowly turned her head.

Thud.

The sound of a wet towel that had been on her forehead falling onto the bed was heard.

Her gaze moved from where the towel had fallen, following the bed.

At the end of her gaze, she saw the figure of a man sitting in a chair next to the bed, quietly watching her.

Cold golden eyes looking down at her with a lowered gaze.

[This is the timeline separator]

Urgent footsteps echoed through the corridor.

The owner of the footsteps, barely keeping up with the man in front, opened his mouth.

“My Lord! Please, please calm down!”

Escalion, striding ahead, did not slow his pace.

Damn it…….

The muscles of his sculpted jaw swelled up as if enraged.

He kept repeating vulgar curses in his mind as he took quick steps.

Bang!

“My, My Lord!”

As he opened the door and entered, the maid with a tear-stained face turned and stood up from her seat.

Behind her, a small figure lying on the bed could be seen.

“Since when?”

“Ah, earlier in the day….. She was taking a short walk in the garden after the jeweler and tailor couple left, when suddenly……”

The maid answered, sobbing.

Escalion passed by her and looked down at Belladonna on the bed.

Wolf, who had rushed into the room a step behind, patted Cindy’s shoulder to comfort her as she cried.

“Cindy, you must have been very shocked too. You’ve done well.”

“No, no, Butler. Sob……”

“What did the physician say?”

Escalion asked in a low voice, clenching his fists.

She collapsed in the afternoon, he said. While she had collapsed and the physician had come and gone afterward, he, like an idiot, had been spending time outside the castle.

“He, he said it’s the flu….. It seems she’s been overexerting herself recently or exposed to cold wind for too long.”

“And?”

“Fortunately, he said there’s no danger to her life. But she’s in a very weakened state….. He said we need to keep watching her condition until it improves……”

Only after hearing that there was no danger to her life did he feel like the blockage in his throat near his Adam’s apple had cleared.

Even that didn’t feel completely satisfying.

“The medicine?”

“I’ve already given her the medicine. Her fever has gone down a lot since earlier, but she still has a slight fever……”

“Isn’t she a saint? Can’t she use her holy power to heal herself?”

“Holy power inherently puts a burden on the user’s body, whether they realize it or not….. Especially the saint’s holy power, that is, her healing power, uses a certain amount of life force each time it’s used. It would be quite a strain on the saint’s body, so it’s thought to be difficult for her to heal herself.”

“….I see.”

Escalion said, narrowing his brows.

“You may leave now.”

“Pardon……?”

“……”

“Let’s go, let’s go. We should leave now.”

In place of Escalion, who gave no answer, Wolf grabbed Cindy’s shoulder and pulled her.

Cindy looked at Escalion’s back with an expression of not understanding what was going on.

“But, but……”

“My Lord, then we will come to see you again tomorrow morning.”

The quick-witted Wolf dragged Cindy out into the corridor and then closed the door behind them.

Cindy quickly turned around to try to go back into the room.

“Butler! The Madam is still……”

“Shh! Stay still. Didn’t the Lord say he would do it this way?”

“But I need to stay by the Madam’s side and watch over her……”

“Let’s go back now. The Lord should be able to do most things for the Madam.”

Cindy looked at Wolf with an aggrieved face.

“It’s absolutely not because you’re lacking.”

“Then why……?”

“….It’s because the Lord is overflowing.”

Cindy still had a face that didn’t understand what was going on, but she reluctantly turned around at the repeated dissuasion.

Beyond the corridor, the sound of two sets of footsteps gradually faded away.

“……”

Escalion, who sat down in the chair where the maid had been sitting until just now, quietly looked down at Belladonna on the bed.

“Sob….. Huh……”

She seemed to be in a lot of pain, exhaling rough breaths with a frown.

Escalion, who had been looking down at Belladonna with his jaw clenched, reached out his hand to her forehead.

The lukewarm wet towel was now in his hand.

Splash, splash.

He rinsed the lukewarm wet towel several times in the cold water contained in a nearby basin.

After completely wringing out the water with his large hands, he placed it back on her forehead.

“Haa……”

Although her face looked much more comfortable than before, it was still a labored breath.

Escalion tightly clenched his fists placed on his knees.

Why am I so angry?

He couldn’t understand why he was so consumed with anger.

Because the woman he had brought in with an expensive dowry was so weak?

Because she was foolish enough to go along with wherever he took her without a word, and then caught the flu after being exposed to the cold sea breeze?

Or…….

Because this happened to his wife while he was out? Was he angry at himself for being complacent?

Perhaps there could be other reasons, or all of these could be the reason.

“Ugh……”

At that moment, a very small voice flowed out through her slightly parted lips.

Escalion looked down at Belladonna with a hardened face.

“Ugh….. Sob……”

Belladonna was letting out small groans.

Escalion’s golden eyes dilated slightly.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her and unknowingly held his breath.