C147
After finishing eating that day, I went back to sleep and dreamed of going to the academy.
Intuitively, I could feel that it was actually about Ethel's first life.
It was the first time I remembered Ethel's memories after receiving the power of the divine beast in the mine, and accepting other powers into my body seemed to bring back memories of Ethel.
In my dream, I, or rather Ethel, studied, made friends, and thought about her career like other students.
I can't say there were no difficult moments, but overall, it was a memory painted with warm colors.
I felt curious again. Where did she disappear to?
The next morning, when I woke up, I felt unusually energetic and moved my body.
I was definitely filled with energy, probably because I received Terence's power.
Well, Lucy said it was poisonous if taken too much at once.
"It's okay, let's get going now."
It was time to wake up those affected by Liena's blessing.
I checked the list I had previously made of the names of the people I needed to wake up.
Among them, there were many people on the list, including Cassius's distant relatives and Duchess Luciano, but one person, in particular, caught my attention.
Someone who would benefit from my blessing as soon as possible, but the problem was that he wasn't ready yet.
"—Ethel-nim, are you awake!"
At that moment, Laura entered my room.
Laura shook what she had in her hand with excitement on her face.
"Today, I found another note in my pocket again!"
A satisfied smile appeared on my face as I checked the content of the note Laura handed me.
With this, all the preparations were completed.
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Isaac, whom Liena had been waiting for so long, did not reveal his presence until around noon.
"Liena, are you okay?"
Upon hearing a voice outside the door, Liena, who had fallen onto the bed, ran in that direction.
"Uncle! Why are you coming just now?"
The last time she spoke to Isaac was yesterday at lunchtime, so more than 24 hours had passed.
In other words, Liena was starving.
"Do you starve someone for a day and then ask how they are?!"
Isaac calmly responded to Liena's shout.
"You were the one who said you were going to starve, right?"
"But will you really not give me any food? This is violence and torture!"
"Are you that hungry?"
"Do you need to ask? Of course, I am!"
"I didn't know. I heard you've fasted several times, so I thought you wouldn't mind even for a day."
"My father and brothers never let me go hungry for more than two meals."
Indeed, Liena had never gone hungry for a single meal since being adopted by Cassius.
Even during the hunger strike, the maids, worried that the precious young lady's body would suffer harm, secretly brought her food.
Of course, Duke Cassius and his two sons had no idea about this fact.
Anyway, because of that, it was extremely difficult for her to starve for up to three meals.
In her previous life, she was used to hunger due to living in poverty, but in this life, Liena has experienced a life that is one of the richest in the empire for the past ten years.
Now, it was natural that it was hard to endure without a single meal a day.
"Uncle, this is too much. I was so hungry that I thought my stomach would burst..."
Overwhelmed by the emotion of unexpected difficulties, Liena cried.
"My little bunny, I'm sorry."
Then Isaac spoke gently.
"I didn't even know it was like that. Cheer up because I brought food that our little bunny likes."
She barely managed to suppress the words "If you let me out of here, you wouldn't need to bring all the meals."
Because she was so hungry, she didn't have the energy to fight against Isaac.
"It's okay, give it to me quickly."
Although Liena spoke bluntly, she looked inwardly at the hole with anticipation.
However, her face turned cold when she saw the tray Isaac had pushed toward her.
"W-what is this?"
"Why?"
"These are carrots! And raw carrots!"
"Yes, they are carrots."
"Uncle, don't you know that I hate carrots?"
"Oh, is that so? Why does a bunny hate carrots?"
"I hate them so much that I can't even eat a single bite!"
"Really? Wow, that's surprising. I thought you liked them because you're a bunny."
Liena was shocked and dumbfounded by Isaac's natural reaction.
"What kind of logic is that? Does it make sense for my nickname to be Bunny and for me to also like carrots?"
"Yes, you're a bunny."
"... Fine. Let's not argue anymore. Take this back and give me the bread and salad you gave me yesterday."
"Is there no more? I threw it away because you didn't eat it."
"Then you can bring me another meal."
"I'm sorry, but right now, there are only raw carrots in the mansion."
"What?"
"I'm really sorry. Just endure and eat it. You're a bunny, so it might taste good if you eat it."
"Uncle, are you kidding me?"
"Because you're a little bunny..."
Liena's patience suddenly ran out.
"Please, stop with that! How can a person be a rabbit? I'm human! I'm human! Give me proper food, not carrots, and get them out of here quickly... Ugh."
Liena, who was shouting, stumbled.
She was so hungry that she had no strength, but when she started yelling, she felt dizzy.
"Oh, is that so?"
Although Liena was going through such a difficult time, Isaac's attitude was insensitive.
In the end, Liena had no choice but to remember the possibility she had buried because she didn't want to believe it.
"Uncle, did you meet Ethel?"
"Ethel? Who is that?"
"Don't act like a fool. Otherwise, my uncle wouldn't do this to me suddenly."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I don't know what Ethel said, but my uncle is being deceived. Open your eyes! I'm Liena, whom my uncle found so cute!"
"... You're so damn shameless."
Liena's heart instantly skipped a beat at the low growl.
But Isaac soon returned to his usual voice and spoke cheerfully.
"That's it! It's time for the appointment. Liena, then, I'll see you at dinner."
"What? Wait! You have to give me another meal!"
Liena's shouts were in vain, and Isaac's presence beyond the door quickly disappeared.
Judging by Isaac's reaction a moment ago, it seemed clear that there was a problem with the blessing Liena had received.
In that case, the culprit is Ethel. In other words, it was clear that Ethel had instigated Liena to receive such a humiliating and inhumane treatment.
"How dare you do this to me?"
Liena pressed her hungry stomach and clenched her teeth.
"But if you think I'll keep suffering like this, you're very wrong."
Who is she?
She is Liena Cassius. From a defenseless orphan, she became Cassius's princess, elevated a bankrupt merchant to the highest status, and soon got engaged to the legitimate prince.
Naturally, she was careful enough to always have at least one or two means to protect herself.
Liena untied the ribbons from her hair, which were tied in two braids, and held them in her hands.
Although they looked like ordinary hair ribbons on the outside, they were actually unique artifacts in the world that Kais had made for her.
One is an artifact that forms a shield and protects her body from attacks.
Since Isaac did not use violence against Liena, that ribbon did not activate.
Liena held the red ribbon in her hand and tried to estimate the date.
"He definitely said he would return to the capital this afternoon."
Perhaps soon the other person would be within range to receive the signal from the ribbon.
Matisse, one of Liena's subordinates and a man with a natural talent for the sword.
He had an artifact connected to this braid and could use it to detect Liena's location at any time.
It was a privilege granted to him because he was Liena's dedicated knight escort, no one else.
Liena clicked her tongue, thinking that he was not in the capital during such a serious crisis.
"If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn't have sent him to Mikhail."
At Liena's request, Matisse set out to persuade Mikhail, who had arbitrarily postponed his engagement and left.
Among those around her, Matisse was the closest to Mikhail, so she had no choice but to ask him.
The two had been jealous for a long time, and their relationship was not good because one had been by Liena's side for a long time, and the other was Liena's lover.
However, after growling like that and clashing swords a few times under the pretext of training, the two came to recognize each other and developed a friendly relationship.
Unfortunately, not even Matisse managed to persuade Mikhail, but anyway, today was the day he announced that he would return to the capital.
Liena rubbed the jewels on the ribbon.
But there was no reaction. It seemed that Matisse had not yet entered the capital.
Liena waited for about thirty minutes and tried rubbing the jewel again. Still no response.
"Well, it might take a little while."
"I really hate it, but I can't help it, so let's fill my stomach with raw carrots and wait."
Liena held back the nausea and rubbed the jewel while chewing on a raw carrot.
"Just wait until he comes. Everyone will die."
After being rescued by Matisse, she was thinking about how to get revenge on Ethel and Isaac.
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Meanwhile, at a similar moment, she was gathered with a guest in the annex hall thanks to Tara's arrangement.
"Thank you!"
He bowed deeply to me.
"I misunderstood Viscountess Lucibiu all this time. What can I say, I feel like I've finally awakened from a long dream."
"Oh, I didn't do much."
"No. Not only did you awaken a dream I had long forgotten, but you also showed me the location of the Sword Saint that had disappeared!"
Matisse exclaimed with an excited face.
"Thanks to you, I decided to leave the empire to follow the teachings of the Sword Saint, something I had dreamed of since I was young."
"Good luck!"
I enthusiastically supported Matisse's dream.