Chapter 9

"Zain-sama…!"

Mariah stumbled to her feet and ran straight into Zain's arms.

Zain, in turn, embraced her, whispering in a voice barely audible, "I'm so glad you're safe."

Seeing the two of them, who were supposed to never meet again, my heart gradually warmed.

"…A-ah, that…"

I realized that tears were streaming down my face.

Of course, I was mostly happy, but the relief that Mariah was truly saved was also overwhelming. I had been carrying the pressure of someone else's life, like a constant burden.

"……"

I quickly wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my dress and looked up, only to meet Zain's gaze directly.

Seeing me crying, he widened his golden eyes in surprise. Of course, Zain, being the son of a marquis and quite famous, must have known about Grace.

It was definitely strange for Grace to be in the depths of the mountains, looking disheveled and crying, after her sister had been kidnapped.

"……"

I hadn't thought about what to do when I actually met Zain, even though I had sent him a letter. Still, it was true that thanks to the letter, Mariah was saved.

"Big brother, that person came to save me."

As I was wondering what to do next, Mariah, apparently sensing the strange atmosphere between us, held Zain's hand and introduced me.

Mariah, who was about to debut in society next year, probably didn't know about Grace. While I was glad about this, it also caused me some trouble.

"You came to save your sister here?"

"…Not exactly, I didn't come to save her."

I considered taking credit for the rescue, but the story had already deviated so much that I couldn't explain how I knew about Mariah's kidnapping or how I found this place.

To avoid arousing suspicion, I decided to bluff.

"Ah, Lady Grace! I'm so glad you managed to save Lady Mariah. It was worth coming to such a remote place at this hour."

"……"

"The criminal was almost killed, well, 80% killed, and turned back into a human, so I tied him up and left him there."

Evan, covered in blood, appeared with a cheerful expression and explained in detail, exposing my lie immediately.

Still, it was all thanks to him. I secretly thanked Evan and tried to leave the scene as if fleeing.

"Grace Sentsbury."

My heart skipped a beat when Zain called my name. His voice was so good that it was almost too much.

"If you saved my sister, please let me thank you. But why were you here?"

"……That's…"

It was clearly strange for a marquis's daughter to be alone with a knight in such a remote place at this hour. No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't come up with an excuse.

I was really at my limit at that moment.

I had been a normal office worker in Japan, but I had encountered monsters, seen grotesque corpses, faced a psychopathic criminal, and been attacked by a giant monster and monsters again, all in a short time.

It was impossible to be calm. It was understandable that I would go crazy.

Still, driven by the desire to save Mariah, I had barely managed to keep my sanity, but I finally reached my limit.

As a result, I pulled up a clump of grass from the ground.

"This is a plant called Puha. It's delicious when stir-fried. The thorns are soft, too, as you can see."

"……Huh?"

"I was just gathering food for dinner when I happened to encounter her being attacked. It's true, you can eat it raw too."

Then, in a daze, I ate a leaf. I didn't even know what I was saying or doing anymore.

The only thing I knew was that everything was over.

"……"

"……"

"……"

In the heavy, oppressive silence, I felt like crying. Then, for some reason, Evan started eating something nearby too.

"Ah, it's true. It's really good."

Honestly, I was starting to like Evan. I definitely didn't want to marry him, though.

I didn't want to think about how Zain and Mariah must have perceived us suddenly eating grass.

"Still, if you had said this was your goal from the beginning, we could have looked for more."

While I wanted Zain to believe me, not Evan, I shook my head.

"J-just forget it, let's go! Excuse me!"

I clung to Evan's back and begged him to leave the scene quickly.

◇◇◇

"What should I do, what should I do… what should I do…"

Two days later, I was pulling weeds in the back garden of the marquis's mansion, feeling utterly hopeless.

Now that I had become a strange woman obsessed with wild plants, I couldn't think of a single way to become Zain's lover from this point.

"…You know, I want to open a store."

"A store?"

"Yeah. A place where children can eat for free."

"What's in it for you, Lady?"

"Nothing. That's not the point."

When I was a child, I had sensed the financial difficulties of my family and pretended to eat less, thinking that eating too much was bad.

Looking back, my family's financial situation was so dire that one child eating to their heart's content wouldn't have made a difference.

One day, when I was so hungry that I was eating nuts in the park, a woman from a nearby café called out to me and let me eat my fill. She even said, "When you grow up, come and eat as much as you want," and let me eat for free many times. I was so happy, the food was delicious, and it was warm. I will never forget that taste.

But in the end, I died without being able to eat there much. Still, I want to be the one serving food to someone this time.

"Soon, I want you to buy a piece of land in Evan's name. It should be worth ten times as much."

If the story follows the novel, the price of a certain piece of land in the capital should skyrocket. I want to use the money earned from that to fund the store.

While I could do it with the money I have, I still can't shake the feeling that it's someone else's money. Still, I will end up borrowing the money to buy the land.

"Of course, I want to thank Evan too. But not with a casino."

"But it's fun. Why don't you try it once?"

"…Just once."

As we were talking, Yana came running over, looking very flustered.

"Lady! It's terrible, we have a visitor!"

"Um, who? Do I know them?"

"It's Duke Winslett!"

"……What?"