“I was planning to stop by the kitchen first. I have some questions to ask.”
“Will you be going anywhere else besides the kitchen?”
“Hmm, I’d also like to check out the area around the annex… Oh, by the way, what should I call you?”
“Please call me Pon.”
“Ah, okay. Sir Pon. Then, would you…”
I began rambling a bit, but thankfully Sir Pon kindly agreed to help guide me, even with all my complicated requests.
Thanks to that, the investigation went faster and more smoothly than expected.
“Sir Pon, thank you so much for today.”
“Think nothing of it. I’m glad I could be of help, my lady.”
Pon bowed politely. I returned the gesture with a smile, thinking to myself:
‘I’m really glad I didn’t just ignore this guy back then.’
***
Hurried footsteps echoed outside the study, and moments later, the door swung open as Pon burst in.
“Chade! What’s going on with that lady? Why is she here at the mansion?”
Pon walked quickly toward Chade, who was sitting coolly at his desk.
Chade glanced at him with a calm expression.
“Lady? Who are you talking about?”
Of course, Chade already knew exactly who Pon meant, but pretended not to.
“The one who saved my life! The girl who treated me in that alley!”
Chade nodded lazily.
“Ah, right. She’s here.”
“You invited her? On purpose? To treat Lily?”
“…How did you find that out?”
“I just ran into her! She was wandering around looking for the kitchen. I saw her asking a bunch of questions about the lady’s meals—don’t even try to deny it.”
“Sigh…”
Apparently, it wasn’t just a brief encounter—Pon had actually helped her quite a bit.
Until now, Chade had made sure Pon didn’t go near the annex, but he hadn’t expected the girl herself to come out first.
Chade clicked his tongue and muttered in defense.
“To be clear, I invited her father, not her… But yes, in the end, she’s a guest of the mansion now.”
“…Why didn’t you tell me about something so important?!”
Pon groaned, grabbing his head in frustration. He paced around Chade, anxiously asking questions.
“You’re not going to treat her badly, right? She’s the one who saved my life!”
Feeling worn out by Pon’s pestering, Chade leaned back in his chair with an inward sigh.
‘…I knew this would happen.’
Pon had always been softhearted and loyal, always helping others like it was his own problem.
And now, since the person in question had saved his life, there was no way he’d let it go.
That’s why Chade hadn’t told him—to avoid this exact headache.
“Chade, if it weren’t for that girl, I wouldn’t even be alive right now… Please don’t make me live the rest of my life feeling guilty.”
Listening to Pon’s earnest plea, Chade started to wonder if maybe he should make an exception this time.
Otherwise, Pon would resent him forever.
‘Maybe I’ll just scare her a bit and send her away if she fails.’
Truthfully, even Chade didn’t feel great about using the life of someone who had once helped him as leverage.
Just then, a voice called from outside the door.
“Young master, may I come in?”
It was the head butler, Roman.
Chade motioned for Pon to calm down and then responded.
“Come in.”
The door creaked open, and Roman entered the room with his usual tidy posture.
He went straight to the desk and handed Chade a folder.
“I received a new request from Viscount Limone.”
“A new request?”
“Yes. It seems there’s a disagreement between Viscount Limone and his assistant over the treatment plan for the young lady. They asked if they could submit separate proposals.”
“Separate proposals?”
“Because the illness is so rare, they’re trying different methods. These are summaries of the two treatment plans.”
“…”
Chade paused to think.
If they were that dedicated, he had no reason to stop them.
“What do you think?”
Roman hesitated for a moment before answering carefully.
“Honestly, I don’t think we need to give that much consideration to the assistant’s opinion, especially since she’s not even a licensed physician. Other doctors haven’t submitted multiple plans either.”
“Hmm.”
“Besides, we’ve already made a lot of exceptions… I’m concerned it may be unfair to others.”
Instead of replying, Chade looked down at the two sheets on his desk.
The two plans were different, but both had their own reasoning.
His eyes, which had been scanning the pages, stopped suddenly.
‘Should I give her another chance out of gratitude?’
After thinking it over, Chade gathered the papers and gave an order to Roman.
“Bring the family physician, Maron Gillain. I want him to evaluate both plans once they’re completed. I’ll make my decision based on his judgment.”
“…Young master!”
Roman’s experienced eyes widened in surprise.
Seeing his worried expression, Chade frowned and spoke again.
“Don’t forget—I’m the acting head of this family, Roman.”
“…”
After a brief silence, Roman lowered his head, realizing he had stepped out of line.
“I apologize. I’ll follow your command.”
“Then go.”
Once Roman left, Pon’s tense face finally relaxed into a big smile.
“Chade…!”
“Don’t come any closer or I’ll cancel everything.”
“This is what friends are for, huh? I nearly lost all my pride back there. Oh! And even if her team fails the treatment… you’re not going to lock her up or anything, right?”
Despite smiling, Pon made sure to confirm the most important part.
Chade’s face twisted with annoyance.
“Sigh… fine. Stop asking already.”
“Knew it! You’re the best, young master!”
“But until the treatment’s over, this stays secret from everyone.”
“Yes, yes. Of course.”
Watching Pon grin like nothing was wrong, Chade thought to himself:
‘This much is enough repayment for saving my one and only friend.’
***
“Huh? The young master approved it?”
It had barely been half a day since I asked the head butler, so I was shocked the approval came so fast.
They must be really desperate to help the young lady.
“Just to be clear, the young master has already made many compromises for you two. Please don’t ask for anything more…”
“Of course not! I’ll finish organizing everything and submit the plan with Dad—uh, I mean the Viscount—the day after tomorrow.”
I smiled brightly, but Roman’s face still looked stiff.
He sighed lightly and turned to leave after saying, “I’ll look forward to it.”
Now, all that was left was to finish the treatment plan.
‘I need to rewrite medical terms into something people here can understand.’
Sitting at the desk, I picked up my quill and got to work again.
Some words were hard to explain in this era, but I was ready to stay up all night if needed.
‘Just wait. I will cure her.’
***
Exactly two days after submitting the treatment plans—
We were summoned to the young master’s study.
Before I entered, I felt both nervous and excited—like I was meeting the dark mastermind from a novel.
But the moment I saw him, my thoughts were—
‘Huh? What’s that?’
I was confused.
Because the young master’s face was covered by an animal mask!
It was just like the masks hanging in front of the young lady’s room.
‘Why is he wearing that here? This isn’t the annex…’
I tilted my head in confusion.
‘Was the duke’s family into totemism or something…?’
I thought hard about it.
But I was pretty sure I never read anything like that in the books.
