Whether it was a message left due to absence, or notice that an auction was underway.
‘There is clearly no servant here who looks like they could intercept letters…’
Liselotte called out to Hedmilton’s back as he climbed the central staircase.
“Who usually receives the letters?”
“My father and mother come by periodically to collect them. Only my father and Aunt Belle have the key to the mansion’s gate.”
Like most old estates, the Rovans mansion had unusually high ceilings and an excessive number of stairs.
With conversation on top of that, she could feel herself getting out of breath.
‘Why did people in the past insist on building ceilings so high, just to test a person’s patience every time they climbed the stairs…’
Now she understood why no thieves had broken in, despite there being no gate.
At this point, unless one was a knight coming specifically to train their stamina, there was no reason to bother climbing up.
She had heard it was a symbol of wealth in that era, but it was hard to accept.
If there had been servants, their knees would have given out first.
Amusingly enough, everyone except Liselotte looked perfectly fine.
‘Right… they’re all knights, and it’s Hedmilton’s own house, so they’re used to physical exertion.’
As Liselotte panted, Eren subtly extended his arm.
“Would this help?”
Yes. In Eren’s eyes, she had clearly become someone who would topple over at the slightest tap.
Right. Stamina was a relative thing.
“Can I cling to you a bit?”
“As much as you like.”
She had not the slightest thought of refusing that rope-like hand.
Liselotte quickly grabbed his arm tightly with both hands and immediately put her weight on it.
Without budging, he held his balance and naturally guided her along.
The weight of living was this heavy.
Just borrowing one arm made it this much lighter.
With a bit more breathing room, Liselotte forced herself up the stairs and asked,
“How is the relationship between Baroness Ezel and your grandmother?”
“In the past, she said she would serve her for the rest of her life. I don’t know why she is acting like this now.”
The area around the corridor was generally messy, but one particular spot stood out as being immaculately cleaned.
Hedmilton headed that way.
In the desolate estate, it was the only place where signs of life could be seen.
Looking around, aside from old furniture, there did not seem to be anything new.
Even that could hardly be called interior decoration, as everything had been shoved off to one side.
Judging by the dust marks left in the empty space, it seemed half the estate had been cleared out after the auction began.
“Grandma, it is Hedmilton!”
Booming, Hedmilton shouted as he opened the door.
Inside the spacious room, an elderly woman lay on the bed, looking somewhat frail.
In an instant, Hedmilton’s face stiffened.
Moving faster than Liselotte had ever seen, he rushed over, placed his fingers beneath the woman’s nose, and held his breath.
When a faint, shallow sound of breathing was heard, only then did Hedmilton return to the appearance Liselotte knew him by.
“Ah, that startled me. Grandma is old, so her hearing is a bit bad. That’s why.”
Seeing him act as if nothing was wrong and behave as usual, Liselotte did not bother to contradict him.
She could not fail to understand.
In her previous life, when her grandmother slept quietly, she too had checked many times just like Hedmilton moments ago.
When her grandmother had been the only family she had in the world, the fear that she might leave at any time had always lingered in one corner of her heart.
Liselotte quietly sat down beside Eren on the chair Hedmilton brought over.
The old Lady of House Rovans, asleep, occasionally twitched her hand. It looked as if she were doing something.
‘What kind of motion is that?’
It was only one hand, but it seemed as though she was grasping something.
A sense of deja vu stirred, as if she had seen it somewhere before, but nothing clearly came to mind.
After briefly checking the room, Eren gave Ail an order.
“You will wait at the estate entrance and escort the High Priest here as soon as he arrives.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Without showing any reluctance, Ail gave a respectful bow and went back down the stairs she had struggled to climb earlier.
Meanwhile, Hedmilton carefully shook his grandmother.
“Grandma, I am here! Can you hear me?”
“…Hedmilton?”
Only after several attempts did the old Lady open her eyes.
Recognizing Hedmilton, she rolled her eyes.
“What brings you here? Where is your father?”
“Father is working right now.”
It was a white lie meant to put her at ease.
He had gone long ago, together with Marsha, to apply for a suspension of the auction using the money Liselotte had lent them.
With his help, the old Lady struggled to sit up.
After looking back and forth between Liselotte and Eren, she seemed startled and offered a slow greeting.
“What brings such honored guests all the way to this humble place, Your Highnesses?”
The Head of House Rovans recognized Liselotte and Eren even without an introduction.
Though her body had grown frail, her mind was still clear.
Liselotte smiled brightly and spoke in a higher tone than usual.
“Madam, today I’m bringing the High Priest with me. You just need to receive treatment.”
“I do not have that kind of money, and I am already old anyway. There is no need to force myself to live… Just give that money to my grandson instead.”
“Grandma! I told you not to say things like that!”
Hedmilton shook his grandmother’s arm in an affectionate manner.
Since he could not bring himself to scold her, it seemed he chose to express it that way.
Liselotte smiled brightly and shook her head.
“It isn’t very expensive! And I recently hired Hedmilton as my aide. He works so well that this does not even count as a bonus!”
At the word “hired”, her eyes widened.
As if it were the first time she had heard it, her trembling hand clutched Hedmilton’s.
Even then, her right hand continued the small twitching motion it made in her sleep.
“Is that true? House Gloria? What about House Gloria…”
“That is, um…”
Flustered, Hedmilton rolled his eyes as he searched for words.
Unlike his usual habit of speaking frankly without hesitation, he was careful this time.
Liselotte, still smiling, explained in his place.
“Hedmilton does his work so well that I personally approached him. Right?”
Liselotte tapped Eren’s thigh lightly, and he flinched for a moment.
When she scolded him with a look, he nodded reluctantly.
“So that is how it turned out.”
‘…He really cannot lie.’
Fortunately, Hedmilton smoothly filled that awkward gap.
“You heard Her Highness, right? Surely Her Highness would not lie? I am doing pretty well these days.”
At the cute bit of bravado, his grandmother smiled.
“Oh dear… I was worried about how your father, that fool, would live after I die. Still, it is a relief that you at least earn your keep.”
“Ah, Grandma. I told you not to say things like that.”
Eren simply watched the scene in silence.
The unfamiliarity, as if this were all new to him, was plainly visible.
She did not want to break the moment.
Liselotte once again felt that deciding to call the High Priest today had not been a mistake.
At the same time, Baroness Belle’s behavior, focused solely on the inheritance, became even harder to understand.
They said that even a decent person could change when money was involved, but every time she saw such reality, the cruelty of humans felt faintly frightening.
Liselotte liked money too. Because she liked it, she had worked herself to the bone to earn it.
But it was not something she wanted badly enough to betray or harm others for.
Thinking of a past she no longer had any attachment to, Liselotte idly smoothed the fine fabric of her dress once.
A slightly restless silence passed.
As five o’clock approached, voices grumbling faintly drifted in from the corridor beyond the door.
“Good grief, my knees are giving out.”
“I was surprised when I first heard it. If it is the Head of House Rovans, is she not the one who even handed out flour during the famine some forty years ago?”
“Ah, I heard about that. I think there were several priests from the East who were indebted to her.”
“That would be her.”
“Ahh…!”
The priests who had come along with the High Priest were letting out groans as they climbed the stairs.
‘So priests are human too…’
It was a strangely familiar exchange.
Soon, Ail opened the door and entered.
“The High Priest has arrived.”
