Episode 3
I was about to turn the doorknob, then stopped and tilted my head.
She said she wasn’t allowed to speak to anyone without permission.
What kind of crap rule is that?
[Who told you that?]
[My father…]
Her father told a kid something like that?
The more I heard, the less sense any of this made, and my brows knitted instinctively.
It felt like I had accidentally stumbled into a scene I definitely shouldn’t just walk away from.
Wait—could the reason there was no nameplate on the door be because no one had ever even given her a name?
[Hey, what’s your name?]
[…What’s that?]
You’ve got to be kidding me. She doesn’t have one?
I pressed my hand against my throbbing forehead and let out a long sigh.
Something told me that if I got involved any further, this was going to be a huge headache. My instincts were screaming it at me.
But honestly, how was I supposed to just walk away after hearing that? I wasn’t raised that way.
[Listen, first of all—]
I was about to ask a few more questions to understand the situation better when I suddenly felt my body sway violently, my fingertips slowly fading away.
A sure sign my body was waking up from sleep.
And of course, it had to be now…!
I glanced between my disappearing hands and the darkness, raising my voice.
[You there!]
[Y-Yes?]
[At this time tomorrow! I’ll come back for sure! Wait for me!]
[Come… back?]
[Yeah! I’ll be back!]
The moment I shouted that, a heavyweight wrapped around my entire body, as if I’d been buried under a giant, waterlogged sponge.
No matter how many times it happened, I could never get used to this feeling.
I slowly lifted my trembling eyelids, letting out a faint groan. That’s when I heard Tina’s worried voice close by.
“I’m sorry, Young Lady. It must have been noisy.”
I opened my eyes fully and quickly took in my surroundings—an anxious Tina, and the firmly shut bedroom door.
“How much longer am I supposed to wait?!”
The shout from outside was loud enough to push its way past the closed door.
“Ahh…”
As soon as I grasped the situation, I let out a long sigh.
“So we have a guest.”
That was rare.
The Sidus family wasn’t exactly the type to get many visitors. Which made sense—these days, our family was on the verge of ruin. Who in their right mind would want to associate with us now?
Sure, the Sidus name still carried the weight of an old and noble count’s lineage—but that only mattered if there was an eligible child to marry off.
The Sidus family’s only daughter was… well, me. And forget marriage—I was living day to day.
So if someone was here, there was only one real possibility.
A loan shark, here to collect.
I had a feeling things were heading this way. I guess we’d finally reached the point of borrowing from shady lenders.
Judging by the shouting, this wasn’t even a recent loan.
“They’ll leave soon,” Tina said quickly when she saw my frown, probably thinking the noise outside was making me nervous.
Not exactly. Tina just tended to think I was more fragile than I was.
“How long has it been like this?” I asked, tossing the covers aside.
Tina hesitated, then answered carefully, “Not long at all. The Master went to the parlor about fifteen minutes ago…”
Before she could finish, another loud shout bled into the room.
I turned my head toward the door and noticed a thick cloth wedged into the crack to block sound.
They’d gone to great lengths to keep me from hearing. No doubt at my parents’ orders.
“The Master said you should rest peacefully” Tina explained, catching my look.
I nodded slowly. Of course, they wouldn’t want their only daughter to see this—especially when the whole mess was partly because of me.
They should have just given up already. But no, they kept clinging to useless pride.
In most stories, people like me—too sick to be “useful”—get tossed out. But not my family. And here I was, suffering for it.
“I’m going out,” I said.
First, I needed to see exactly what was happening.
The familiar ache in my body protested as I swung my legs over the bed.
“No, Young Lady,” Tina said, moving to block me. “The Master gave strict orders not to let you leave until the guest is gone.”
“Tina.”
“You’re not well…”
She was going to bring that up now? True, but still.
If I said, “This is because of me,” Tina would just deny it in a panic. If I claimed I wanted a walk, she’d never buy it either.
Which left only one option.
“Alright,” I said, climbing back into bed.
Tina let out a quiet sigh of relief, glad I wasn’t making a fuss.
Yes, Tina. I’m not a child. I’m not going to throw a tantrum over being told “no.” That would take more energy than I have anyway.
I’ll just stay put. Quietly, or at least, my body will pretend to agree with my brain.
“Cough! Hack! Kahh!”
I began hacking violently, clawing at my throat. I didn’t even have to fake it—holding it back earlier made it all the more convincing.
“Young Lady!” Tina rushed to prop me up, offering a glass of water.
I took it with shaking hands and promptly spilled it.
Maybe that was too much, but it couldn’t be helped.
“Tina cough! Water and cough medicine when you come back”
“Just a moment! I’ll be right back!”
She bolted before I’d even finished, and I kept coughing until the door closed completely behind her.
The dining room was far from my bedroom, and the parlor was in the opposite direction. Plus, she’d have to fetch the medicine.
In other words, now was the perfect time to slip out.
“Sorry, Tina,” I muttered.
Sitting still just wasn’t my style.
I left the bed and made for the parlor, moving as fast as I dared.
If I wanted to beat Tina there, I’d have to hurry.
Good thing I’d kept up my daily walks—even for someone who was supposedly too sick to see another winter, I was still holding together.
Though admittedly, every sprint probably shaved a few months off my lifespan.
“Haah… haah… oh, hell…”
Nope, definitely can’t do that twice.
I reached the parlor and wiped the sweat from my forehead, grateful that there were so few servants left.
If we still had a full staff, I’d have been caught and dragged back to bed already.
Of course, the only reason there were fewer servants was that we couldn’t pay them.
Yeah, I guess that was on me, too.
After a deep breath, I slowly opened the parlor door.
Inside, two voices clashed, one angry, one flustered.
“If you borrow money, you pay it back! If you can’t even cover the interest, what am I supposed to do?!”
“Just give me a little more time. And charging interest that high is—”
“Then you shouldn’t have borrowed from me at all! How dare you ignore your debt like this?!”
“There’s still time before the repayment date—”
Wow. What a mess. I couldn’t even tell who was entering the room at this point.
I turned the doorknob slowly to avoid making a sound.
The first thing I saw was a man standing in front of the table, pointing accusingly at the man sitting across from him—my father.
…Did that guy just point a finger at my father?
That was it. My blood was boiling.
“Even if I wait, will you be able to pay the interest? I hear the mine you put up as collateral is on the verge of closing. You swore that wouldn’t happen!”
“That… that’s…”
My father’s face turned pale. He did not argue.
Of course not. If he had one, he wouldn’t have borrowed from a loan shark in the first place.
I should’ve done more to stop things from getting to this point—or convinced him to give up on me entirely.
I shook my head and stepped further inside.
Neither of them even noticed me, still too busy arguing.
“If you can’t repay me, then I’ll take this estate instead!”
“Low your voice, and please think of me as a fellow father—”
Oh great, now I’m being brought into this. Probably not the best moment to make my entrance.
I began to step back when my breath caught and a deep cough ripped its way out.
“Cough!”
