---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, ‌‌‌please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------

Chapter 13 ‌
"Sir Brian!"
Late afternoon.
Brian, the Duke's personal physician, had been enjoying a leisurely time reading when he ‌‌‌‌‌heard the urgent voice of a maid and rose from his seat.
"The Young Miss...!"
Before the breathless maid could even finish speaking, he grabbed ‌‌his medical bag and rushed to Rachel's room. ‌‌‌
But then...
'A girl?'
Lying in Rachel's ‌bed wasn't Rachel, but an unfamiliar young girl.
He realized this ‌must be Rachel's playmate who had been visiting the Villa recently.
And what caught his eye next was...
"Young Miss?"
Rachel's terrified expression.
"...save her."
"...I beg ‌‌your pardon?"
"Please, save this child..."
Rachel's hands gripping the ‌‌‌blanket trembled, as did the ‌‌‌blue eyes meeting his own.
Brian was genuinely startled by this sight.
It was the first time Rachel had shown emotion since witnessing Isela collapse when her condition worsened.
After that, he had never shown emotion again.
He hadn't even wept at Isela's ‌‌‌funeral.
Like a ‌‌‌doll with ‌‌‌all emotion stripped away—that was the ‌‌‌Young Master.
As ‌‌one of the few who knew Rachel was a boy, Brian had worried about him.
Just as the young master had hidden his identity beneath long hair to protect himself, what if he had also hidden his emotions?
What if he had erased himself ‌‌‌entirely?
So while it was a ‌‌relief that Rachel finally showed emotion, it was...
'This situation that triggers trauma is not good.'
Brian first soothed the frightened Rachel. ‌‌
"From what I can see of her complexion alone, it doesn't appear to be anything too ‌‌‌serious. Let me examine her first."
Brian asked Rachel several questions—when Vivian had become like this, how it happened—before beginning his examination.
Rachel stared blankly at Vivian lying in his bed.
He couldn't fathom what possessed him to carry Vivian all the way here.
The image of Vivian collapsed overlapped with the image of his mother dying before him long ago.
Only one thought dominated his mind: he had to save this child.
At ‌the same time, the words and actions he had directed at Vivian flashed through his memory.
[I don't need that kind of thing, so get lost.]
But...
'Now I would gladly accept even a farewell, if only you would be safe.'
Rachel had learned the concept of ‌‌'death' far too early through his mother's passing, and death terrified him.
Rather than lose Vivian forever to a moment of childish anger, it seemed better to ‌believe that the child ‌‌who had turned away from him was alive somewhere.
As I anxiously waited for ‌‌Brian's examination to conclude,
a knock sounded at the door, and Margaret appeared.
"Young Miss, I've come to inform you that it's nearly time for your etiquette lesson...."
Upon entering the room, Margaret caught sight of Vivian collapsed on the floor and gasped in alarm.
"My goodness. Whatever is the matter with this child?"
"She collapsed suddenly, it seems. For now, there are no visible ‌‌‌‌injuries or surface symptoms, but I'll need to examine her more thoroughly to determine what's ‌wrong."
"Oh dear...."
At Brian's explanation, Margaret sighed with apparent concern, her hand ‌‌‌covering her mouth.
Yet beneath her concealing palm, the corners of her lips curved upward ever so slightly.
Margaret observed Rachel's complexion, drained of color by worry, and made a suggestion.
"Young Miss, you seem quite startled. Perhaps it would be best if ‌you rested for a while? Since you've just finished your training, it might be good to bathe and refresh yourself in the meantime."
"...No, I'll stay ‌‌here until the examination is finished."
Rachel, who typically heeded Margaret's words without question, rarely asserted his own opinion.
'Yet the reason he's asserting himself is merely for that young girl.'
Though the fact irritated her, ‌‌she soon smiled warmly and soothed Rachel.
"If that puts your mind at ease, then by all means stay. I shall postpone today's etiquette lesson until tomorrow."
"Thank you, ‌‌Nanny."
Before Margaret turned to leave the room, she cast a sidelong glance at Vivian lying in bed.
'How fortunate. This girl was already becoming a nuisance.'
Margaret had been slowly conditioning Rachel ever since the day Isela died five years ago.
[If you venture beyond the Estate, His Majesty the Emperor—and others—will view you unfavorably.]
She had frightened him into isolation, severing his connections with others so he wouldn't grow close to anyone.
Thus ensuring he relied ‌‌‌only on herself and Sally.
[Should your secret ever be discovered...the Young Miss, ‌‌‌‌of course, but the Duke and everyone ‌in this Estate would face danger. Should such a situation arise, the ‌‌Duke might cast you out to save the people of House of Edelwein....]
[But please don't worry ‌too much, Young Miss. I shall remain by your side ‌‌‌‌until my dying day.]
Kaltz, bound by Isela's final ‌‌‌wishes, concerned herself only with Rachel's survival, not with Rachel ‌‌‌‌himself.
Conditioning a child with nowhere else to turn had been effortless.
Margaret's purpose in conditioning Rachel was singular.
Though Rachel currently ‌masqueraded as a girl, as he grew older, disguising himself in women's clothing would have its limits.
Kaltz understood this as well, which was why she had been secretly training Rachel in magic.
Before long, ‌‌once Rachel matured enough to protect himself, he ‌‌‌would abandon the disguise and emerge as the Young Duke of Edelwein.
'If Rachel has no one to rely on but me and Sally by then, Sally can ‌‌become the Young Duchess.'
But then Vivian appeared and began to unravel years of her carefully laid plans.
How had a ‌‌commoner captured Kaltz's affection? She was drawing him to her side.
She was taking Rachel outside the Estate.
And now Vivian had revealed her illness.
'This is the perfect opportunity to drive that girl away.'
Though Kaltz had taken Vivian in to conceal Rachel's true nature, a sickly child would have to be dismissed.
'I had considered frightening Rachel by suggesting that befriending ‌others might invite the Emperor's punishment, as I did with his other friends....' ‌‌
But this would make things far simpler. ‌‌
Margaret stepped out of the room with a cold smile, ‌‌heading straight for the Duke's Study.
"Your Grace, it's Margaret. I have something to tell you—do you have a moment?"
Soon the door opened, and Owen emerged.
He asked with ‌‌a puzzled expression.
"Isn't this the Young Miss's lesson time?"
"That's ‌‌‌precisely what ‌‌‌I've come to ‌discuss."
Stepping into the Study, I saw the Duke seated at his desk.
Margaret opened her mouth with an expression of deep concern.
"Well, it seems a child who came as a playmate suddenly collapsed while playing with the Young Miss."
At this unexpected news, one of the Duke's eyebrows arched upward.
"Suddenly?"
"Yes. ‌‌‌Sir Brian is examining him now, and the Young Miss wanted to ‌‌stay by his side, so I allowed it for the moment. However...."
Margaret paused, gauging the Duke's reaction before continuing carefully.
"Of course, I hope ‌‌it's nothing serious, but if that child has contracted some grave illness.... I worry the Young Miss might suffer a terrible shock."
So Vivian and Rachel must be separated.
The Duke immediately grasped what Margaret had ‌‌‌left unsaid.
'She has a point.'
Rachel understands the concept of 'death.' So if, by some chance, Vivian were to die....
'It ‌‌‌‌would certainly deal her a severe blow.'
Upon hearing the news about Vivian, both the Duke's and Owen's expressions grew grave.
Margaret smiled with satisfaction as she watched the two of them.
The situation was unfolding exactly ‌as planned.
* * *
"Mmm...."
As I opened my eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling came into ‌‌‌‌view.
'What on earth happened?'
Blinking as I tried to make sense of the situation, I recalled my last memory.
The moment my consciousness had grown hazy from the sudden, stabbing pain in my chest was my final recollection.
Could it be that....
'I actually fainted?!'
While sudden bouts of pain had struck me many times before, losing consciousness was a first.
Startled, I glanced out the window and was relieved to see it was still daylight. It didn't seem like much time had passed.
'What about Rachel?'
Recalling that I had been with Rachel in that final moment, I bolted upright.
At ‌‌‌‌that very ‌‌‌instant, my eyes met those of Rachel, who had been watching me.
‌‌‌‌‌

--------------- ‌
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------