CH 7

All the employees of the mansion were busy because of Elois’s accident. Initially, the Phlox family did not hire as many employees since they were famous for their integrity, and on a day like today, even if there were guests, one person had to take care of various tasks. Because of that, Hechi, who was supposed to take care of Kalmia, was busy with something else, and didn’t come to her room that day. Since Kalmia wasn’t a child who sulked just because she was deprived of attention, she changed her clothes to pajamas by herself.

But Kalmia couldn’t fall asleep. Kalmia, who had been lying down and staring at the ceiling, got up again. Since she wasn’t sleeping anyway, Kalmia decided to reflect back on her thirty years of life that she remembered. Kalmia pulled out her diary that was hidden deep in the desk’s drawer and opened it at the last page.

So everything started with Elois’s death. At the age of ten, Elois died because he fell off the horse and Count Phlox blamed Kalmia for that several times, since she came back home alive, without her brother. Three months after the accident, Count Phlox began to ignore Kalmia because her face reminded him of Elois. They were twins, so everyone understood Count Phlox. 

Kalmia could still feel the awkward and cold attitudes of the surrounding employees, which began along with the Count’s apathy. Some of the servants constantly tried to help Kalmia, who was left alone, but they still kept their distance from her. They were scared that they might anger the Count if they paid too much attention to Kalmia. 

Without Storoni, Kalmia wouldn’t have been able to withstand the cold gazes at the time. 

Storoni.

The tip of the pen, which she was using to write down words without realising, stopped. A thick mark of ink was left next to the letters ‘Ni’. 

“Storoni…”

It was inevitable for Kalmia to depend on Storoni. It was only natural, since he was the only one who treated Kalmia, who was isolated, in a consistent manner. Kalmia had been obsessed with Storoni for some time and tried to keep him by her side. Storoni also didn’t reject Kalmia’s obsession, and for this reason, there were rumors about the relationship between those two in the mansion. However, it wasn’t enough to express the relationship in words. It was a relationship that was difficult to describe.

Thinking of Storoni made Kalmia troubled, so she put her pen back on the desk. Kalmia began to wonder about her feelings towards Storoni. At some point, he had been seen as Kalmia’s lover, so it wouldn’t be wrong to call them lovers. Not only did she rely on him mentally, but physically as well. So, to some people, it could’ve been viewed as love.

Now that Kalmia had returned to the past, they might not end up in a relationship again. It was inevitable back then, but things had changed. Now that Elois was alive, the Count might not reject Kalmia this time, unlike in Kalmia’s previous life. 

How old was the successor?

The Count who neglected Kalmia was in trouble as well. He was struggling with his health which deteriorated rapidly. It seemed that at the time the Count had fainted, the Count’s people started begging him to officially appoint the heir. 

If she remembered it correctly, the cause of the Count’s fainting were the rumours about Kalmia’s and Storoni’s relationship. Even so, the Count, who opposed it as much as possible, reluctantly gave the position to the only remaining blood relative. That was the year Kalmia turned sixteen. Around that time, Kalmia was in a situation where her dissatisfaction with the Count and the servants was at its peak. 

After appointing Kalmia as the successor, the Count grew weaker with each day. People said it was because Kalmia was the ‘wrong successor’. The person who should have died was living, and the person who should have lived was dead, so it was the price to pay. It was natural for Kalmia to get angry at the nonsensical rumors.

“Seventeen.”

Kalmia glanced at the number ’17’ she had written down. Seventeen. Kalmia fired all of the servants. It didn’t matter to her how long they have worked for the Count. She filled the mansion with people who didn’t know about Elois and made Storoni her close aide. The weak Count had no energy to go against her.

Now that Kalmia started thinking about it, the Count seemed to have given up everything at that time. He was just simply lying down, looking forward to the day he would join the Countess and Elois. His attitude angered Kalmia even more. 

The more Kalmia thought about it, the more she remembered, her memories being filled only with anger and resentment. Kalmia stared at the randomly written sentences and letters and wrote a line at the bottom of the paper.

‘How did I come back to the past?’

Elois was sleeping for three full days.

Meanwhile, Rudbeckia stayed at the Phlox mansion and, apparently, had a long conversation with the Count for the past few days.

Both were silent about the subject of conversation, but judging by the unusual expression on Count Phlox’s face, it was possible to guess that it concerned a serious matter. 

At the same time, Count Phlox had several more guests. They were the escorts and attendants of Rudbeckia. They lost their Young Master while traveling to a place in the vicinity of the Phlox family’s estate and seemed confused about what was going on. Rudbeckia came to those, who almost burst into tears and said: ‘I’m here, don’t worry.’

Unfortunately, Kalmia was able to overhear only a bit of the conversation, when the knights and attendants fell to their knees at once and uttered words of appreciation.

Kalmia quickly headed to Elois’s room, thinking that she would not be able to hide her displeasure if she watched more of the Matari family’s servants worshipping their master.

She heard in the morning that Elois woke up from his deep sleep, but she couldn’t find time to visit him because she had to calm down.

Kalmia was confident that she could face Elois right now, but she regretted it as soon as she walked into the room. 

“W-Was it the Duke of Matari?”

The moment Kalmia entered the room, she saw Elois jumping out of his bed, when he learned who saved him. Obviously his body wasn’t fully healed yet, so as a result, he rolled on the floor in pain, which caused a commotion amongst the servants.

Kalmia looked with pity at Elois who was rolling and groaning because of the pain. She shook her head and turned around. Elois seemed to need more rest.

“Kalmia! I want to meet that older brother! Can you tell him that I want to meet him?”

“Oh, Young Master! He’s not your brother! If you say that, you’ll get in trouble!”

Hechi freaked out and corrected Elois’s words. Thanks to that, Kalmia didn’t have to say anything and left Elois’s room with a shaky expression on her face.

It was obvious what Elois was thinking when he called Rudbeckia ‘brother’. He was a fan of hero stories, so he must be imagining Rudbeckia as a righteous hero.

“Ha…”

The worst part. It felt like everything was becoming a mess again and it would’ve been great if all of this was just a dream. She would even kiss God’s feet to go back to her time.

“Young Lady.”

How did it happen? Kalmia couldn’t understand.

How is it even possible? She has never heard of magic that allows someone to turn back time.