Chapter 27. After the Recovery Was Complete

Serenia slowly opened her eyes as she awoke from her dream.

A white ceiling and a hanging IV bag came into view through her still-blurry vision.

Realizing she was in a hospital, she felt a small sense of relief and closed her eyes again.

Still caught in the lingering emotions of the dream, her hand unconsciously reached for her neck. Then she remembered.

‘Right. It’s gone now.’

She let her hand fall with a bitter smile.

The absence of the necklace, which had felt like part of her body, left a surprisingly large void.

She tried to ignore the hollow ache that kept tugging at her awareness.

‘I don’t need a trinket like that anymore, anyway.’

That’s what she told herself.

Kalos Barishart, once a mere knight, had been catapulted into nobility when he became a count.
Helen Barishart, who had started as a noble lady’s page and eventually secured a place as a lady-in-waiting to the former queen.

Serenia was the daughter born between the two of them.

She could guess what her mother must have thought about her, a daughter born into such circumstances.

‘Already mocked as upstart nobility with no pedigree… If I got married without even a proper dowry, how much worse would the gossip be?’

Thinking about her mother, who must have worried about such things even at the very end, drained her of energy.

Still, she didn’t regret trading the necklace for those tickets.

His performance had been worth every bit of that price.

Yet no matter how she tried, she couldn’t shake the feeling of a gaping hole left in her heart.

Not even she could understand why she felt that way, so Serenia yanked the blanket up over her head.

Curled up under the covers, she let out deep sighs, one after another.

That was when the hospital room door creaked open, followed seconds later by a sound loud enough to pierce her ears.

“Kyaaah! N-no, noooo!”

With a loud crash, something fell and shattered on the floor, followed by a dramatic shriek that echoed through the room.

Serenia was so startled that she didn’t even think to peek out from under the covers. She froze.

“Why?! It was fine just a moment ago! What happened all of a sudden?!”

A man’s voice, shouting in panic, approached her bedside. Serenia’s eyes widened under the blanket.

‘What’s going on? Did I break something in my sleep? Did I tear the blanket? No…’

Suddenly, a wave of anxiety hit her.

‘W-what if they make me pay for it?!’

Worried, Serenia cautiously pulled the blanket down.

A middle-aged man she had never seen before was sitting on the floor beside her bed, wailing and pounding the ground.

“Oh no, what do I do?! If he finds out about this, not only is my contract extension dead, he’s definitely going to report me to the authorities for tax fraud!”

“…Tax fraud?”

“Yeah! That rat bastard somehow found out about it and used it to blackma—… hmm?”

Their eyes met.

He wore a monocle, had a neatly groomed mustache, and was staring at her in disbelief.

After a few stunned seconds, he leapt to his feet.

“Aaaah! G-ghost! It’s a ghost!!”

Serenia blinked, confused, and pointed at herself.

“Huh? Ghost? Me?”

“Yes! Uuuh… Aaaah! Don’t come near me! Stay back!”

He kicked wildly at the air and began scrambling backward on his butt.

Watching him in bewilderment, Serenia noticed shards of broken glass scattered in his path.

Startled, she didn’t even think before grabbing the leg he was flailing into the air.

“Wait!”

Just before his palms and backside could be shredded, he froze mid-motion.

Serenia, still holding his ankle, looked at him in blank surprise before awkwardly letting go.

His shoe hit the hospital floor with a thud.

“…You’re not dead?”

“Huh? Dead? What do you mean?”

Serenia tilted her head at the man’s dazed muttering.

‘Sure, I did ingest a bit of poison, but it wasn’t that deadly, right?’

She had no idea that her being completely buried under the blanket had caused a small misunderstanding.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged man quietly picked himself up off the floor.

Adjusting his rumpled clothes with a sheepish look and clearing his throat repeatedly, he was interrupted by Serenia’s question.

“So, who are you?”

With a completely different demeanor from his earlier hysteria, the man politely responded.

“Now that you mention it, this is our first formal introduction, Lady Serenia Barishart. I’m William Sitrit.”

“Wha…?”

Serenia mouthed his last name a few times before her eyes widened in realization.

“S-Sitrit… Are you Viscount Sitrit?”

“Oh, to be recognized so quickly—what an honor!”

He replied in a playful tone, bowing with a flourish.

William Sitrit.

He had absolutely no ties to the Barishart family.

A textbook aristocrat who had probably never held anything sharper than a dinner knife, known for never missing a party and indulging in every luxury and pleasure.

In short, someone from an entirely different world.

And yet here he was, in her hospital room.

What on earth was going on?

Before she could voice her confusion, he beat her to it.

“First of all, how much do you remember?”

“Um… I went to see a play at the Capital Grand Theater, but the poison I took before that kicked in and I lost consciousness…”

Even before she finished, William nodded.

“Hmm. Good, sounds like your memory’s intact.”

He nodded again thoughtfully before continuing.

“It was I who brought you here and got you admitted to the hospital.”

Serenia tilted her head again.

‘Wait a second… I could’ve sworn he carried me here…?’

She frowned slightly, trying to recall.

Still a bit doubtful, she politely offered her thanks.

“Thank you, Lord Sitrit. I owe you my life.”

But William flailed his hands in protest.

“Oh, please, no ‘Lord Sitrit.’ That’s far too stiff. Just call me ‘Godfather.’”

“…Godfather?” she repeated, her expression frozen awkwardly.

He laughed heartily and explained.

“Yes, because on paper, you’re my goddaughter now.”

“…Excuse me?”

Serenia literally froze like a statue.

‘Goddaughter? Godfather?!’

That meant he had officially become her guardian.

Serenia could not make sense of this at all.

She, the scandal-ridden Lady Barishart, now opposed to the almighty Duke Admancanon family, had been taken in by William Sitrit?

He’d have to be insane to risk his entire house for that.

“Why… would you make that decision…?”

She blurted the question, eyes wide.

William seemed quite pleased with her honest reaction.

Letting out a booming laugh, he replied:

“Well, it was just for convenience, really.”

“…What?”

Seeing her utterly lost expression, William gave a reassuring smile and continued.

“Alright, let’s take it from the beginning.”

“Oh, okay.”

“The doctor who first examined you upon arrival immediately suspected poisoning.”

Serenia already knew that much and nodded calmly.

William watched her carefully from the corner of his eye, then continued.

“So I immediately reported the incident to the Capital Guard. If it had happened at the theater, there could’ve been other victims.”

“Ah…”

Serenia’s face went pale.

She was clearly worried that she might have caused trouble for the theater or other guests.

Seeing her fidget anxiously, William quickly added:

“For the record, that was just an excuse to file the report. There were no other victims, and no controversy followed—so don’t worry.”

Only then did Serenia breathe a sigh of relief, clutching her chest.

“Anyway, the guard began investigating early on the morning of December 9th. Then on December 10th, Lady Dalia Admancanon confessed to the crime.”

William narrowed his eyes, watching her calm reaction.

Just as he suspected.

This fearless young lady must have knowingly attended the Admancanon tea party, despite understanding the risks.

Though he didn’t approve, he kept a polite smile on his face.

“At any rate, her confession nearly caused an uproar with the Capital Guard—but who is she? None other than the mistress of the powerful Admancanon House.”