Chapter 37

# 37

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Nabia jolted awake.

'Where am I?'

A space dark as pitch.

In it, Nabia scanned her surroundings with a trembling, anxious gaze.

Am I dead? Could it be that a new cycle has started? But the regression is over now.

Throb!

At that moment, a vague pain was felt throughout her body, and her confused mind cleared up.

Nabia slowly blinked and calmed her breath, which had been agitated with anxiety.

'I’m not dead.'

The situation before she fainted flashed through her mind like a slideshow.

The rain as cold as ice, the floor bursting open, the mud that drenched her body, the heavy and cold clothes.

The foot that kicked her. The sore neck.

The man with red eyes who suddenly appeared.

"Please... save me."

At that moment, she had done something she couldn’t understand herself.

'I begged for my life.'

In the previous 9 cycles, Nabia had begged for her life countless times. But those were all calculated words based on necessity.

This was the first time she had genuinely begged for her life.

'Still, I’m alive.'

She thought she was going to die for sure, but she survived.

'Could that man with the red eyes be Duke Larc Esselred?'

Nabia sat up.

The place was pitch black.

Black canopy. Black blanket. Black walls. Black furniture. Black floor.

There was only one place in the world like this.

The Esselred mansion. She was inside it.

Nabia lowered her head to look at the nightgown she was wearing.

The fabric felt very soft against her skin, as if it were made of high-quality material. Just like Vivian’s nightgown.

This time, she checked her body.

'My wounds have been treated, and my body has been cleaned.'

Moreover, the pain was quite faint despite the numerous healing marks on her body.

"Did they use anesthetic herbs?"

Anesthetic herbs were quite expensive due to the limited number of farms that could cultivate them.

Additionally, they were strictly regulated by the empire because they could be used as drugs.

Favors always came with a price.

Nabia thought this would be no different.

Perhaps they believed they could gain something from her.

'I hope that’s the case.'

That way, she could negotiate for mutual benefit.

'Anyway, what’s important now is to proceed with the next step before it’s too late.'

Nabia looked out the window.

It was still raining.

Until the 8th cycle, it had rained without fail on the day after she escaped from Agnes, and only for that one day.

So, if nothing unusual happened, it was either the day she escaped or about a day later.

'Given that there are no signs of nursing and no maid has been assigned, it’s more likely that it’s the day I escaped from Agnes.'

If so, time was still on her side.

Nabia checked her wrist.

Seeing that the Black Moon, which had drained all her mana, was now calm, she felt reassured.

'The Black Moon is my only ally in this world.'

Just knowing that made her tense nerves relax a bit.

Nabia got out of bed, swaying slightly.

The pain in her body was annoying, but she could move.

On the contrary, the chronic headache she had always felt was gone thanks to the anesthetic herbs, making her mind much clearer, which she found satisfying.

She had a lot to think about. Even though she had escaped from Agnes, she was still within its sphere of influence.

'Nikan might hire an assassin to deal with me, or I need to publicize this situation before the royal family forces me to become a foster daughter.'

The justification was with Esselred, so if she could use it, she could buy more time to escape.

To do that, she had to successfully negotiate with Duke Esselred.

A negotiation for her safety and Esselred’s benefit.

Rumble.

Before that, she was extremely hungry.

"…I’m hungry."

Nabia clutched her flat, pitifully growling stomach.

She thought she needed to quell this intense hunger before doing anything else.

'I need to drink some water.'

It was fortunate that she was used to filling her stomach with water to ease her hunger.

Nabia looked at the side table where the water jug was placed.

On the side table, there was medicine, water, and a glass bottle filled with sweet candies.

Nabia stared at them.

'Are they telling me to eat?'

It seemed so, given the circumstances.

First, she took the medicine. Then, she drank the water. But she didn’t touch the candies.

It was just a habit.

Clunk.

At that moment, something hit the cup.

Nabia put down the cup and picked it up. It was a pearl hairpin.

The hairpin was not something a noble lady would use. Now, due to rough handling, the paint had peeled off, making it look even more shabby and pitiful.

"This hairpin made it here."

If this were Agnes, she would have been glad she didn’t lose the hairpin.

Now?

Thud.

Nabia walked to the window and opened it wide. A cold rainstorm blew in through the open window.

The black curtains fluttered in the rainstorm, and Nabia’s silver hair, which had been let down, danced in the air and scattered.

Among the monochrome, her cold, vivid red eyes stood out like drops of blood.

The hairpin was no longer needed.

She didn’t want anything given by her adoptive father.

'Soon, I’ll even discard the name attached to me.'

Just like this hairpin.

Nabia threw the hairpin.

At that moment, as the hairpin disappeared into the rain,

"Ah."

The rain turned to snow.

Nabia looked up at the sky with wide, surprised eyes.

'Snow in November?'

Could this also be a result of the dragon’s awakening? Nabia watched the small snowflakes dance in the wind, then, realizing her body had grown cold, she closed the window and wrapped herself in a blanket.

She had no good memories of snow, so she didn’t get excited like a typical child.

Nabia disliked snow. She disliked rain as well.

She disliked anything related to her death.

'…I need to find Duke Esselred before it’s too late.'

Nabia shook off her thoughts.

Just before she grabbed the doorknob to leave the room, the door was roughly opened.

Bam!

Nabia, with a slightly surprised expression, identified the person.

His black hair, slicked back to a shine, his murky purple eyes, and his ostentatiously lavish attire.

'Theo Alvin, the Earl.'

He was the Duke’s cousin.

Nabia knew this person quite well.

Not because he was a remarkable figure, but because his strong desire for social advancement made him meddle in everything and cause many incidents.

'A man who only cared about money and power, lacking even basic manners and common sense.'

Theo was indeed no different from Nabia’s memory. He burst in without knocking and didn’t hide his displeasure at seeing the young Nabia.

A clear and intense hostility flooded in with the cold air.

Nabia took a slow, deep breath.

Did he know?

This sharpened her senses even more.

Nabia instantly put on a meek facade, pretending not to recognize Theo and showing proper respect.

"…Pleased to meet you. I’m Nabia."

Theo clicked his tongue.

"Tsk!"

'This girl is a prisoner captured after attacking the Duke’s family.'

The fact that such a ridiculous person was being treated in a nice room and was in good condition was extremely unpleasant and annoying to him.

"I should have taken care of the household myself! This is outrageous!"

Nabia stood still, not moving a muscle, despite Theo’s sudden outburst.

Her mind, however, was busy.

'Was Theo Alvin the acting head of the family?'

Acting head of the family.

This position was usually held by the heir or a direct relative of the head.

If the acting head was appointed, they had the authority to handle the family’s affairs when the head was unable to perform their duties.

They wouldn’t entrust such an important position to Theo unless they were crazy.

'But currently, Duke Esselred has no heir and no other direct relatives.'

Therefore, Theo inevitably became the acting head of the Esselred family.

As expected, Theo, who was supposed to handle the family’s external activities in place of Larc, who couldn’t perform his duties, did not do his job diligently.

Thus, the Esselred family suffered from financial difficulties, and they were planning to disband their private army soon.

'So, I have a chance.'

Nabia had a trump card to deal with Theo, and she planned to use it to negotiate with Duke Esselred.