ESML 11

Chapter: 11

The fingers of the man lying in the room twitched.

Noticing the small movement, Herald immediately walked over to the bed.

“Your Grace, are you awake?”

After looking around, Kaiden pushed himself up and immediately asked Herald,

“The child.”

“Young Master Ivan is safe.”

Answering at once, Herald clicked his tongue in exasperation.

“I told you. You should’ve rested and gone with us. Just look at the state you’re in.”

“If I had, the child would already be dead.”

Herald had spoken out of concern, but the reply he received was as cold as ever.

“Ah, yes, yes~ Says the man who couldn’t even move because of the poison. Oh, right. I guess you can act tough now that you’ve been completely detoxified?”

“Give me some water.”

Kaiden frowned, cutting off Herald’s nonsense.

“Sigh Here you go.”

Instead of provoking him further, Herald quickly handed him a cup of water.

As Kaiden drank, his prominent Adam’s apple moved up and down.

Watching it, Herald grumbled inwardly.

Even his Adam’s apple has to look so perfect. Annoying.

Meanwhile, as Kaiden drank and gathered his thoughts, a certain scene suddenly flashed through his mind.

The memory was so unexpectedly embarrassing that—

“Cough! Cough!”

“Y-Your Grace! Are you all right?”

Kaiden suddenly broke into a violent coughing fit, causing Herald’s eyes to widen.

It wasn’t so much concern as sheer shock.

That man… choking on water? Just from drinking water?!

Kaiden was the kind of person who could calmly eat through the most suffocatingly formal banquets without batting an eye.

Even after enduring training so brutal it nearly took his breath away, he had never coughed once.

“And you’re still in this bad of a condition? Should I call the physician again?”

Herald examined his superior with a serious expression.

After all, this was a matter that could very well determine the fate of his own career.

“Nonsense.”

Kaiden rebuked him and quickly forced the memory from his mind.

Only then did he finally regain his composure, wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

“So, where is that woman?”

Because he had lost consciousness, he hadn’t even been able to thank her properly.

Of course, he had no doubt his aide would have treated her well, but he intended to meet her himself.

Remembering the vivid sensation of the delicate body that had clung to him, Kaiden unconsciously clenched his fist.

How in the world did she come up with such an unbelievable method?

He had only met her briefly, yet he couldn’t help wanting to look inside her head.

He stepped out of bed and slipped on the shirt that had been prepared for him.

Just as he reached for the first button, Herald gave an answer he never expected.

“She left immediately.”

“…What?”

Emilia let out a sigh so deep it seemed like the ground might cave in.

She looked up at the rows of shops lining both sides of the street before muttering blankly,

“There are so many stores… and yet not a single one where I can work…”

She had arrived in the capital full of hope.

But it hadn’t taken long for that confidence to disappear.

She had expected to find a job quickly and settle into life in the capital without much trouble.

Apparently, she had underestimated just how difficult the capital would be.

“What makes you think we’d hire you?”

“Do you at least have a letter of recommendation?”

“You think you’re the only young woman who’s come to the capital full of dreams?”

She had pleaded with them to let her work for just one day.

But every answer had been a rejection.

Eventually, one shop finally agreed to hire her…

Only to make her do every kind of odd job imaginable during a so-called probation period while barely paying her anything.

Fine. I could tolerate that much…

But the moment the probation period ended, they fired me.

The oily, smug face of the shop owner flashed through her mind.

Emilia stomped her foot in frustration.

But she soon realized she was only exhausting herself and stopped.

I’d better just go home for now.

When morning came, she’d start looking for work again.

With that thought, Emilia turned away and headed home.

The place she returned to was a residential neighborhood in the old district.

Among the buildings stood an aging apartment complex that looked as though it had been built when the Empire itself was founded.

That was where Emilia lived.

It was cramped and received very little sunlight, but to her, it was an irreplaceable home.

However, the area around it was unusually noisy.

The neighbors had gathered together, whispering among themselves.

What’s going on?

Confused, Emilia approached a woman she knew.

“Ma’am.”

“Oh my, dear! You’re just getting back?”

The woman greeted Emilia with exaggerated concern.

“Yes. But why is everyone gathered here? Did something happen?”

Looking more closely, Emilia noticed that no one looked happy.

“Oh dear… Well… It’s just… No, you probably wouldn’t believe me if I only told you…”

The woman rambled incoherently before patting Emilia’s shoulder sympathetically and urging her to hurry home.

Still not understanding, Emilia rounded the corner toward her apartment.

Then—

“What… is that?”

She blinked several times in disbelief.

The entire building had completely collapsed.

She had sighed as though the ground might cave in…

But she hadn’t actually meant it.

“No… This can’t be real… It can’t…”

Emilia felt as though she was losing her mind from everything that kept happening to her.

How does a house just collapse while someone’s living in it?

Several days had already passed since her home had collapsed—

No, since it had practically vanished.

Overnight, she had literally become homeless.

Sometimes mysterious resonating sounds and gusts of wind had echoed from inside the walls.

Who would have thought those had been warning signs before the collapse?

Fortunately, everyone had evacuated just before the building came down, so no one was injured.

Well… at least that’s something.

Still…

Why had the building she lived in collapsed when every other building nearby was perfectly fine?

Emilia swallowed a bitter laugh.

Can someone really have this little luck?

No matter how she thought about it, it felt as though the gods had abandoned her.

Gods…

That thought led her to a perfectly reasonable suspicion.

Could it be because the soul inside me isn’t originally from this world?

If that was the case, then the gods were unbelievably petty.

Feeling depressed, Emilia sat down by the fountain in the town square.

“Sigh…”

She had finally made it to the capital.

Yet nothing had gone right.

Forget finding a job—even the place she had been staying had disappeared like a mirage.

Come to think of it, she had already gone through a major ordeal before even reaching the capital.

…Then again, maybe I’m actually lucky if I think about it differently.

Back then, and this time as well…

She had managed to survive without suffering any serious harm.

I don’t know anymore.

Emilia barely managed to suppress a huge yawn that threatened to split her mouth wide open.

But she couldn’t stop her eyelids from growing heavier.

As her head nodded under the warm afternoon sun and finally began to tip to one side—

Thud.

Someone gently caught her head before it could fall.