Chapter 5: The Unexpected Visitor.

Ah… I must have fallen asleep without realizing.

When I slowly force my heavy eyelids open, the sun has already begun to slant low.
Through the window beside the bed pours a reddish-orange light tinged with the color of sunset.

It seems my body has been gently cleansed while I slept, and I’m now dressed in fresh nightclothes.

──My throat is so dry.

I muster what little strength I have in both arms and push my upper body upright.
Reaching for the glass sitting on the bedside table, I try to lift it.

Ah—it’s going to fall.

Crash!

My weakened state must have thrown off my sense of how much force to use—I’d reached for it with the same grip strength as always.
The glass tumbles from the table and shatters pitifully on the floor.
Water spreads everywhere in a glistening puddle.

…Oops. I really did it now.

I stretch my arm toward the bell by the pillow to call for help—

“Miss! What happened?!”

Sara bursts into the room almost instantly.
She must have been waiting just outside my door.

“Ah… I was trying to get a drink of water.”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I’m fine. Thank you.”

“Then allow me to pour you a fresh glass.
You’re only just recovering from illness—it’s perfectly natural that your strength hasn’t returned yet.”

Sara fills a spare glass with water, slips one arm behind my back to support me, and gently brings the rim to my lips, letting the cool liquid flow in little by little.

Ah… I feel alive again.
Well… I really did come back to life, didn’t I?

Once I’ve finished drinking, Sara carefully eases me back down onto the pillows with slow, tender movements.
She steps out of the room for a moment, then returns almost immediately with cleaning supplies in hand.
In no time at all, both the broken shards and the spilled water vanish as though they had never existed.

“Sara, I’m so sorry for causing you trouble again.”

“What are you saying, Miss! You’ve always pushed yourself far too hard.
It’s about time you let yourself rest a little.”

“…Sara. Thank you, always.”

Sara’s eyes widen in surprise.
But the very next moment her face blooms into a bright, delighted smile.

Seeing that expression, I am struck with sudden horror.
Had the old me really never once spoken words of gratitude to this woman who served me so devotedly?

Born as the daughter of a marquis, Rachel had always felt superior—special—above everyone else.
To her, servants had been little more than part of the scenery.
Sara alone had always stayed close by her side, attending to her needs with such care that, somehow, she had become a special existence.

And yet even to that one special person, I had never once offered a word of thanks.

Servants are people too. Commoners are people too.
They have families.
To someone, they are irreplaceable.
They live, they feel—just like me.

How could I have failed to notice something so obvious?

Come to think of it, the young noble ladies I once called friends all turned their backs on me the moment His Highness broke off our engagement.
They cast scornful glances my way, whispering and snickering behind their hands.

Perhaps I never had a single true friend.

But Sara was different.
Even when I took out my frustrations on her, she stayed by my side until the very end.

I—the one who could not treasure someone who treasured me so much.
I had clung so stubbornly to meaningless things: status, mana, superiority.

Rachel gazes at Sara’s smiling face through vision blurred by tears—tears born of regret for her former self, and quiet happiness that she now has a chance to start over.

And yet—

“Ah, Miss! There was something important I needed to tell you!”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Just a little while ago, while you were sleeping, Master returned from the palace.
He came to see your sleeping face.
And… he left a message.
It seems His Highness the Crown Prince is on his way here right now to pay you a visit.”

Sara smiles warmly and says, “Isn’t that wonderful?”

As I stare at her gentle expression, my face stiffens.
A cold sweat trickles down my back.

…Ah.

I completely forgot.

I’m still… His Highness the Crown Prince’s fiancée.