“You looked pale and cold.”
Laches said this and then, without hesitation, let go of my wrist and fastened the buttons of my thin robe.
His light, seemingly insubstantial attitude was strangely unsettling.
My head, which had cooled down in an instant, began to heat up again.
“If Count Nirielle really cared about his daughter, he would have already known about the two scoundrels betraying his daughter, worthy of being chewed up and spit out.”
As if to comfort me… or perhaps to comfort the deceased Lepherentia Nirielle, Laches murmured softly in a gentle voice.
I was amazed to hear my own thoughts flow from his lips.
‘Now that I think about it, even at the first memorial service…’
Surely, when we first met at the memorial service, Laches had spoken exactly what I had been thinking.
A person who understands me well.
Does that mean he knows me well?
“Let’s call it a night and go in.”
Laches skillfully cut off the flow of my thoughts, grabbed my shoulder, turned me around, and gently pushed me towards the annex.
“What about you…”
“Go to sleep. It’s already late for getting up to work.”
Laches cut off his sentence and turned away first, walking towards the main building.
I bowed to the departing Laches, closing my eyes tightly.
The steady footsteps disappeared at a regular pace. The confident stride.
Despite just being footsteps, I clung to them desperately, hoping for a night without trembling in fear.
‘Laches might not be the murderer trying to kill me, so I need to keep up with the news from the capital. I should be aware of what happens there after my death.’
After confirming Laches’ footsteps had completely vanished, I returned to the bedroom.
The other maids in the room were still sound asleep. I removed my robe and approached the bed of the maid next to me.
Careful not to wake her, I gently grabbed her hand with an apology in my heart.
It was the only way to check.
“……!”
The maid’s memories flooded in like a tidal wave.
My ability to read memories was still there.
I quickly released her hand and then took hold of another maid’s hand.
“……”
This time, too, I could read the memories without any issue.
Now that I’ve confirmed there’s nothing wrong with my ability, I stopped reading others’ memories.
But why then?
‘Why can’t I read Laches’ memories?’
Out of all the people, why is it limited to just that one person?
“Yawn, it’s already morning… Aaah!”
The maid whose eyes had just opened screamed upon seeing me.
“What, what?!”
Specifically, it was because she saw me sitting on the floor, hugging my knees.
With groggy eyes, I greeted the startled maid.
“……Hello. Good morning.”
“Why, why are you here like this?! Your bed is over there! I almost fainted from the shock!”
“……Uh.”
“……What’s wrong with her? Your eyes are all dark, are you okay?”
The maid, who always looked at me with pity, hurriedly got out of bed upon seeing my condition, which seemed too dreadful to ignore.
“I couldn’t sleep, I’m fine.”
“You didn’t sleep?”
“……Yes.”
Going out in just a thin robe last night was a mistake.
Despite trying to sleep under the blanket, I was shivering and too cold to fall asleep.
“My spot is too cold…”
I hugged my knees tighter to prevent any heat from escaping and pointed with my chin towards the fireplace.
“I thought I’d try sleeping here since it’s closer to the fireplace. But it’s already morning…”
“Cold? In this weather?”
The maid looked at the window with a refreshed face.
“The weather is warming up with the season changing, isn’t it?”
“I’m new to the north, so even this feels cold to me. But don’t worry, I won’t be a bother.”
The maid let out a small sigh, as if she hadn’t considered this. She looked back and forth between my spot by the window and me.
“Sorry, I didn’t think it would be cold when I gave you that spot.”
She apologized and covered my shoulders with her blanket.
Would it have made a difference? We couldn’t help each other out for fear of the housekeeper’s disapproval.
“Your name is Lea, right?”
“……Yes.”
“I’m Celie. We share the same room, so we should at least know each other’s names. How are you feeling? Most people get seriously sick when they first come to the north. I should have warned you sooner, but I was too concerned about the housekeeper’s watch.”
Celie blushed with embarrassment.
Maids are dismissed for no reason if they fall out of the housekeeper’s favor, making it difficult to find new jobs and threatening their livelihood.
It was a natural response. I had no intention of blaming the maids.
“The housekeeper doesn’t like it when we take a day off regardless of the situation. Can you work today, or should I help you out a bit?”
Celie, the maid, reached out to me. She then grabbed my hand to check my temperature.
“……!”
At the same time, Celie’s memories unexpectedly flowed into me.
Surprisingly, I could find Laches’ memories in Celie’s recollections.
It was an unexpected discovery.
‘Why is Laches looking for Demaroxin?’
The memory was brief.
Laches had ordered a knight to find ‘Demaroxin’, a highly toxic substance banned in the empire.
At the time, Celie was cleaning when Laches ordered her to leave, so she couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation.
But just the fact that Laches was looking for Demaroxin was enough to make my lips quiver in terror.
Facing endless fear, my face turned ashen as if hit by a snowstorm.
“Oh my. You’re really sick? Maybe you should take some medicine.”
Celie let go of my hand and quickly woke up the other maids still sleeping.
Demaroxin.
A deadly poison banned in the empire, and one of the causes of my many deaths.
I don’t remember which life it was.
After bitterly avenging Detor and Delia, there was a day I indulged in joy.
I drank the wine brought by a servant and subsequently suffered in agony, dying from poisoning.
When I was resurrected, I discovered that the wine I drank contained the deadly poison Demaroxin.
Of course, there was also a time when I avoided the poisoned drink only to die in a fire that broke out in my bedroom.
From then on, I tirelessly avoided alcohol and Demaroxin in countless lives.
I tried to find the sellers and buyers, but to no avail…
‘Was Laches searching for that poison?’
All the doubts and evidence kept pointing to one person.
The most suspicious person.
“She’s really sick! She’s sweating cold!”
“Does anyone have any hidden medicine?”
“Leila in the next room might have some. I’ll go get it!”
Listening to the noisy conversation of the maids, I struggled to calm my rapid breathing.
‘If I was this scared, I should have just jumped off the cliff back then.’
Scolding myself harshly, I repeatedly swept my trembling hands across my face.
‘Could that man really be the one?’
Of course, just the situation of searching for Demaroxin isn’t enough to be certain of anything. It doesn’t mean he’s the murderer who killed me.
But even my fiancé and friend, whom I had trusted for years, betrayed me in an instant.
How could I trust anyone then?
I had to doubt everything. Always pushing myself to the extreme, constantly distrusting small pieces of evidence and inexplicable acts of kindness.
“I have to go to work, so please move.”
I got up with the help of the maids, my body trembling as if it was rejecting the instinctual fear.
I couldn’t read Laches’ memories. So, I had to read the memories of those around him.
Fortunately, as a maid, I had a reason to move freely around the mansion.
‘The blond knight who followed Laches’ orders. I need to meet and confirm with that knight.’
I hurriedly left the bedroom and hastened my steps.
“Amazing, isn’t she? If it were me, I’d just say I’m sick and rest.”
“I thought she came here with great connections since she passed without even seeing the housekeeper. Guess not.”
“If she wanted an easy job, why come to the cold and harsh north? She seems weak to the cold…”
And so, without realizing, I was becoming the subject of misunderstandings.
Top Celebrity Younger Brother Bears Her Child (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: Forced to live stream romance with a top celebrity in a female-dominant world.
Yan Jin transmigrated into a brothel, with a fellow transmigrated junior beside her.
Hearing the obscene words coming from outside, the unfortunate junior covered his ears tightly, his cheeks flushed red, and whispered to comfort her, “Don’t worry, I will definitely help you escape.”
“Don’t worry, I will definitely defend your chastity.” Yan Jin looked at the flawless and delicate features of the unfortunate junior and gently comforted, “Because we have transmigrated into a female-dominant world.”
※※※
Top celebrity Yu Shu suddenly fell into a coma during a concert.
Research scientist Yan Jin fainted in the lab after working overtime.
Two people with no connection were rushed to the same hospital.
Three days later, neither of them had woken up.
Suddenly, the entire nation discovered that a live streaming app had been forcibly installed on their phones.
Upon opening it, they heard the two discussing how to escape from the brothel.
The entire internet was in an uproar.
After the two successfully escaped from the brothel, Yu Shu’s fan group rushed to make a banner and sent it to the hospital overnight.
“Big sister bravely took action to defend the chastity of our idol!”
※※※
When Yu Shu was diagnosed with pregnancy, Yan Jin stared at his belly for a long time.
Covering his stomach, he muttered gloomily, “If you don’t like it, I’ll go get an abortion.”
“It’s not that I don’t like it.” Yan Jin hugged Yu Shu and said softly, “I just feel like I’m not human.”
Yu Shu comforted Yan Jin, “I was already an adult when we got together.”
Yan Jin hesitated, “But you won’t be of legal marriageable age even after giving birth to the child.”
At the same time, a flood of bullet comments appeared in the live streaming room that the two couldn’t see.
[Although it’s inappropriate, I also want a young and handsome boyfriend to have my child.]
①Male pregnancy (highlighted)
The female lead is five years older than the male lead, and the male lead is already an adult when he appears.
