“So what? If I inform the head maid about it, I doubt you can stay here anymore.”

    “Why are you so sure of that?”

    When I responded to her, she appeared frightened and even took a step back.

    “Th-that’s because I am a witness of you not using magic properly!”

    I stopped right in front of her, glancing at her like she was ridiculous. “Rhody, can you tell me if it has anything to do with you? Let me remind you that it’s better to use your time on more important matters.”

    “What?”

    “If only you spent your time doing your job rather than threatening others, you would set a good example.”

    Rhody widened her eyes, dumbfounded by how I attacked her. Rhody being envious of Laila was one of the conflicts in the story. She was so envious that she slacked off on her work. That was why she threatened others to do her job for her, so she wouldn’t give the head maid a reason to reprimand her.

    As such, on the surface, Rhody was a diligent maid.

    “Not only this, but you also threaten others, which leaves them no choice but to cover up for your work. In that case, you’ll be the one leaving this place, not me.”

    “You...” Rhody looked at me in confusion.

    “How do I know?”

    Seeing my smile, Rhody hesitated and stepped back once more.

    I stared straight at her. “My magic is pretty good at that kind of thing.”

    She kept silent, and the next second, she dashed away in the opposite direction.

    Before I continued heading back, I looked around my surroundings. Although I was only capable of using water magic, lying was better than being bothered.

    My steps towards my room were slower since I had exhausted myself after my conversation with Rhody.

    That’s why I didn’t want to meet her.

    The people in this mansion were really good at making you tired and bored.

    ? ? ?

    The next morning, as soon as I woke up, I went to the back door of the kitchen to get my meal. There were already people lining up.

    It was finally my turn. Deevher’s expression was unpleasant.

    “Is something wrong?”

    Then the person next to me replied, “We’re running low on ingredients for what we need today, so she reported it to Duke Orchid—”

    “Shut up. What’s the point of talking about it? You should just set up more mousetraps.” Deevher angrily held out a food tray.

    Regardless of her anger, today’s food was no different than before. I carefully accepted my tray and turned around.

    I looked at Deevher’s face, which was still wrinkled. I supposed she received a scolding from Duke Orchid.

    If she had given me two trays, I wouldn’t have gone to the pantry. I should notify Derol that there would be more mousetraps in the pantry.

    Well, Derol might already know.

    He was always a sharp mouse who noticed things right away. Although he had been caught by Jonok once, he had never been caught again.

    Instead of going to my room, I knocked on Ardion’s door. I thought it would be good to get to know him by eating together.

    However, there was no response from inside when I knocked on the door.

    “Young Master?”

    “...”

    Ardion remained silent.

    I leaned against the door. “Young Master, I came for breakfast.”

    “...”

    Derol squeaked. “I know. There were more shabby things when I went this morning.”

    “Be careful just in case, okay?”

    “Yes, I will keep it in mind.”

    I finished wringing the handkerchief and turned around. Derol was staring up at me.

    “Derol, I have to go to Ardion right now. Do you have something to say?”

    “Can I help you?”

    “You?”

    “Yes, I would like to help you more since you are busy.” Derol put his small hands together.

    I hesitated for a moment and then bent down to hold out my hand. Derol quickly climbed onto my hand, and I put him in my pocket.

    “I don’t need your help right now, but I guess you’d be bored alone.”

    Derol raised his head out of my pocket. “You knew I was bored?”

    “Yes, it looks even more like it when you put your hands together.”

    While speaking, I opened the door of Ardion’s room.

    When I entered, Ardion was still curled up on the bed.

    I pulled back the blanket completely, neatly arranged the handkerchief, and placed it on his forehead. When I searched through my pocket, Derol handed me the brown bottle.

    “Thank you, Derol,” I whispered softly. Derol squeaked in response.

    I quickly opened the brown bottle and leaned over to place it carefully on Ardion’s mouth. He opened his mouth slightly but didn’t eat it.

    “Young Master, this is medicine. If you eat it, you’ll get better.”

    Hearing what I said, Ardion opened his mouth slightly. “... I won’t eat it.”

    He turned his head, struggling to breathe.

    “Young Master.”

    “How would I know if there’s poison in it?”

    “You ate the food I gave you yesterday.”

    “Exactly. I got this fever after eating the food you gave me.”

    I blinked for a moment. The food I brought from the pantry yesterday was all fresh.

    How in the world did he get a fever?

    Suddenly, a line from the original story came to mind.

    [“The mana emanating from Ardion’s body occasionally changed direction as it moved within his body. Each time it happened, he experienced a surge of heat.”]

    When Ardion was young, the influence was so great that he had suffered from a severe fever. But after getting older, he said he was able to utilize the flow of mana well and wasn’t affected much.

    In the original story, Ardion had two fevers when he was young. Once when he was very young, and the second time was now.

    “Get out of here.” A sharp voice sounded.

    Derol looked up at me and muttered, “Master, I’ve never seen someone like that before. But you still take care of him...”

    I raised the corners of my mouth. “It’s okay. It’s only natural that Ardion thinks that way because of what he ate yesterday.”

    Ardion certainly seemed to have suffered a lot before coming here. He didn’t trust people easily.

    Rowell had only been a negative influence on Ardion.

    Come to think of it, Rowell was a very shameless guy in the story. He was Ardion’s half-brother, but he envied his abilities and was jealous of his younger siblings too.

    It’s amazing that Ardion grew up properly under someone like that.