When My Enemies Began to Regret

“She’s lying, Sir! Instead of dressing me, t-this person bullied me!”

“Lady Fanora?!”

“Please help me! Seir is always being mean to me. Help me! All she said was a lie!”

Seir was greatly perplexed because she couldn’t stop her master from speaking in front of Ronwe. She thought she had made Fanora obedient over the years, but Fanora still had the energy to resist.  

“Lady! You’re getting worse today. Even to falsely accuse me…”

“You saw what she was doing now, Sir Ronwe! P-Please, tell my father… no, tell my mother! Please let them know this fact! Or please change my maid! I beg you!”

Ronwe was startled by Fanora’s desperate shout as she was in the situation between being life and death, and he broke down in a cold sweat.

No matter how much Fanora was treated like a worthless person in this mansion, she was still a noble lady. Seir would not be able to avoid punishment if it were revealed to the public that Fanora had been harassed. This was a felony that could easily be sentenced to flogging until death if dragged to the court. But…

“Seir…”

In the Casius Kingdom, the whole process of criminals being brought to justice was entrusted to the parents of minors. In other words, if the parents of this family weren’t willing to punish the maid, things would likely go awry.

Complex thoughts ran through Ronwe’s mind. In the end, he finally made a choice he shouldn’t have made.

Ronwe glanced over his monochrome at Fanora. When he confirmed no visible wounds on her body, he immediately nodded.

The cowardly butler refused to help her, fearing that it might end up harming him.

“Butler, butler…?!”

“Don’t be too harsh, Seir. Put her clothes down there… I have a few questions for you about the last time you took care of the supplies, so please come out.”

“Sir Ronwe!”

Hearing the cry, he stared at Fanora before going out the door with Seir. It was a moment when Fanora started to be afraid of the aftermath.  But most of all, what made Fanora desperate was the appearance of Ronwe’s back, who ignored the request for help as she had worked up her courage.

“Why… Why…”

Fanora at that time thought that the servants in the Count’s mansion were people who didn’t listen to anything she said. However, it would have been different if she had talked about it to the butler of this mansion. Now he even witnessed it, all the butler had to do was to report it to her parents. If the abuse had stopped, she was even willing to live like a dead person in that mansion, but why didn’t he help her?

“Why…”

Fanora felt at that moment that the mansion was worse than a place infested with maggots. The butler, who was her last hope, after all the same human beings with the rest of the people in the mansion. She hated him so much.

Since then, Fanora tried to talk to Ronwe, who was passing by, but she hated how he treated her with squinted eyes as if he was looking at dirty things, telling her not to trouble him.

* * *

Alas, even though it happened several years ago, she felt shame and anger when she thought of those days. But she suppressed her emotions. Whether or not he knew the effort to keep her emotion from leaking out, Ronwe talked while still lying down.

“But why did Lady Celsius come to see me?”

“Ah, I know it’s rude of me to come here unexpectedly, but…”

First of all, Ronwe was a man that was listed on her revenge list. But Ronwe had a slight difference from the others in her revenge list. Even if she didn’t touch him, he would die soon.

Ronwe took a few days off from yesterday due to health reasons. He suffered from minor fatigue, headaches, and weight loss that made him look older. However, the number of times he had disrupted by health reasons would gradually increase in the future. He eventually would announce his intention to retire from being a butler. 

The disease he suffered from was none other than ‘Gustav disease.’ It was a disease that mainly occurred in wealthy people, and it was a disease that had no treatment until she turned 17. A few years later, a cure for Gustav disease was developed through the efforts of scholars, but unfortunately, Ronwe died earlier.

Fanoar stood still for a moment and traced my memory.

When she did a rough calculation, the days that Ronwe could live were only about 400 days left. 

She wanted to shorten Ronwe’s remaining life even a little more. That was why she came all the way here.

“Lady Celsius…?”

“Right, as to why I came here, when I heard the news that the butler, who had worked so hard, suddenly became ill, I felt worried as a member of Celsius’s family.”

In fact, Fanora had the holy relic, so she could take away his life at any time. But she didn’t do that. Because he was a human being who would die anyway.There was nothing better entertainment than watching him dying. 

“My mother and father don’t seem to care about the butler or servants in the mansion, but… I care about it. You’ve been working so hard in places where your master didn’t even notice your efforts.”

“Lady…”

“As someone who knows Sir Ronwe’s hard work, I couldn’t let it slide when I heard you were ill. That’s why I came to visit you. Are you alright?”

Ronwe’s gaze changed as Fanora tilted her head, mimicking a pitiful expression. Before, his eyes looked at her with contempt that didn’t treat her like a noble, but now, his gaze had become more relaxed.

“So that’s why Lady came all the way here. Hmm, I feel a lot better after a good rest. It’s just overwork, so Lady doesn’t have to worry about it.”

“I’m relieved to hear that. Ah, I couldn’t visit empty-handed, so I brought a small present…”

“Hoho, what does Lady mean about small presents?”

What kind of adult wouldn’t smile if a 15-year-old girl prepared a present for you?

As Ronwe smiled, Fanora opened the package she was holding in her arms and spread it out on the table. Something round popped out from it, rolled small, and wobbled at the edge of the table.

“That?”

“I heard that it is Sir Ronwe’s favorite food. I’m thinking about what I should give you to overcome your illness…”

“It’s popira! I can always eat it!”

The present Fanora bought was popira, a yellow-green fruit with a sour and sweet taste. It was a luxury item that has been popular among the nobles recently because it was said that fruit, which had been cultivated domestically by importing seeds from abroad, had many benefits. It was also said that your skin will be smooth if you eat it frequently.

“I wanted you to be happy, so I bought something fresh.”

“Hey, get me a knife and a place to cut the fruit right away. Ah, Lady Fanora, don’t stand there like that, sit here! How can I eat this alone? Let’s eat together.”

“Is that really okay?”

Fanora readily accepted the butler’s offer, as the fruit she had brought wasn’t poisoned. 

Of course, popira is safe for consumption on the assumption that the person who ate it was not a person who suffered from Gustav disease.

“Ah, it’s as fresh as it looks. The darker the skin color, the ripper this fruit is.”

“Is that so?”

It was only revealed a few years later when treatment for Gustav disease appeared. The more patients with that disease ate this fruit, the worse their disease became. In other words, popira was as good as strangling him, who was showing the early symptoms of Gustav disease.

“This fruit is really delicious.”

“Has Lady never eaten popira before? It’s very tasty when you put this on the cake.”

“That, anyway, I’ve tasted it. Sir Ronwe too…”

Fanora made an innocent and bright face, then gave a lot of popiras to him.

“Go ahead and eat it!”

Those words have the same meaning as ‘Hurry up and die!’

* * *

After giving popiras to Ronwe, Fanora returned to my mansion with a refreshing feeling. As she arrived at the mansion, the sun was already setting.

It was fortunate that she still had money left to buy high-quality fruit while getting off the carriage. 

Hanar and Bael didn’t want to expose the harassment Fanora received even if they treated her like a ghost, so they gave her some allowance every year as formality. It was a cost to maintain dignity. Not for Fanora, but the dignity of both her parents.

However, Fanora didn’t know where to spend the money in the past, so she kept the allowance she had received all her life. So now, she has a lot of money.

In addition, at Fanora’s 16th birthday party, Count Bael Celsius gave her his first and last gift.

It was the transfer ownership of the sapphire mine. She didn’t understand why Bael gave her such a big gift at that time, but now she could guess why. That was probably just an act of care.

But, for whatever reason, if she combined this sapphire mine with the allowance she hadn’t spent so far, her total wealth would grow quite a bit. But the problem was that in her last life, all of these properties were swindled and taken away by Haures.

Fortunately, the present Fanora regressed with all those memories. She went up to her room, saying that she wouldn’t repeat the same mistake. Her new exclusive servant, Cecil, stood by to help her change back after going out.

“I will comb Lady’s hair.”

“No, that’s enough for today. Rather…”

Fanora,, dressed in her pajamas, said to her maid, who had been dressing her.

“I’m not feeling well, and these days the night is so cold. But I don’t want to wear a thick duvet, so could you bring me some shawls to wear over?”

“Isn’t a robe better than that?”

“Robe would be nice. And…”

The sun outside had already fallen below the horizon, and night had come, but Fanora still had a schedule for today.

“I like it if the color is black.”

Fanora decided to practice using the holy relic Io that she possessed for today. She obtained the black robe through Cecil then waited until it was time for all the servants to fall asleep.