***

Four months before Nicole received the ribbon and card in the temple’s mailbox.

At Shurim, an estate on the edge of the Empire. It was a small, poor and unremarkable estate.

But at the edge of Shurim, there was a large mansion. Called the House of Blanc, the inhabitants were known as a family of retired merchants.

They were not true nobles, but the townspeople respected them and called them “the Lord” or “the Lord’s family”.

Whenever there was a job to be done, big or small, the Blancs would call the villagers to their home to do it, and they would pay them generously.

If anyone was sick or injured, they would send money or food.

They had a good reputation in the neighborhood.

Although there has been an influx of people from the western part of the capital to this village, the locals are reputed to be mostly virtuous.

The village on the edge of the mountains had unusually fertile land and a warm climate.

Every day was the same for the well-to-do families in the region. It was peaceful, but also monotonous.

However, a very small change occurred in the house. It was due to an unexpected visitor.

“So, she’s the young lady that the Young Master found while out for a walk, right? For some reason, our weak young master was out of town? Did the madam leave him alone?”

“Until when will Madam keep him confined to the house? He wants to go out.”

The good landlord and his wife, who seemed to have nothing to worry about, had one problem. Their only child, their only son.

He had been told since childhood that he would not live long, and he still suffered from the flu whenever the weather turned cold.

The only time he went out was in the summer. He rode his horse to a nearby valley in the mountains, and when he returned, he was not alone.

He had brought a little girl with him, wrapped preciously in his coat.

“She sleeps as if she were dead, but the master has called in a doctor to examine her and treat her.”

“Really? Who is she?”

“I don’t know. How can an unconscious person say her name, but…….”

The maid whispered in her fellow maid’s ear.

“That girl, she’s incredibly beautiful. I can’t tell if she’s a sleeping person or a goddess.”

The maid felt a chill run down her spine as she thought of the girl she’d caught a glimpse of earlier in the day.

A small, snowy face, a prominent nose that was exactly the right size for her face, full lips that were bloodless but seemed to come alive when she opened her eyes. Eyes with long, dense lashes.

And how long, slender, and perfect her limbs are when she’s lying down.

It was almost a shock to see such beauty in the countryside.

“She must have been picked up because she’s beautiful.”

***

Isabel slowly opened her eyes. She looked around slowly.

‘Where am I?’

Her head hurt like it was going to crack. But what she saw was the scene of her dreams.

A sumptuous room with red wallpaper and bedding that looked like it belonged to a nobleman.

‘A nobleman’s room?’

But she lived in a shabby hut. Surely…… that was the last room she’d ever slept in.

“You’re awake!”

Just then, someone shouted. Isabel turned and looked at the person.

A skinny boy stood there, his eyebrows raised. He was well-dressed, like a young master from a noble family. His speech was well-mannered, as if he had been taught well. However, his green eyes and auburn hair gave him a distinctive and strange look.

For a moment, Isabel’s mind raced. She remembered the moment before she’d fainted. She must have fallen off a cliff while running away from Grace…….

‘Did this man save me?’

And he looked rich. Isabel quickly composed herself and let out a groan.

“I’m……. Why am I here, and who are you?”

“My name is Leos, and you were lying near the valley at the foot of the mountain.”

“I see. I’m sorry……. Can you help me get up?”

Isabel held out her hand weakly. Leos took her hand, unable to help himself.

“You’re my lifesaver, thank you.”

Inwardly, Isabel smiled a smile of relief.

She had been so lucky, so fortunate. To come out into the world and find someone so kind!

All of a sudden.

Just then, the door opened. A gentle-looking elderly couple entered the room.

Both have brown hair and brown eyes. They were boringly featureless. They looked nothing like Leos.

“Our guest is awake?”

“Yes, Father.”

Leos answered. Isabel was still in her pajamas, which they must have changed.

She feigned a momentary cry of surprise as they entered and hastily covered herself with a sheet. She looked like a noble girl embarrassed to be seen by a man in her scanty attire.

Her expression and behavior alone made them think, ‘This young lady is not of ordinary status.’

“Ah…….”

“You’re still not feeling well. I’ll have someone bring you some painkillers. Whatever hit you, you’ve got a pretty big gash on your shoulder. It’s a good thing you can move your arm.”

“Well, I see…….”

Isabel said sheepishly. Then she lifted her clear eyes to look at them.

“These are my parents.”

“Pleased to meet you, young lady. I’m Heather, but people here usually call me Madam.”

“Pleased to meet you, too. Mrs. Heather.”

Isabel bowed again, this time with her head. If she was a commoner or a lower-class person, she would have called Heather Madam. But as the hostess, she called Heather by her first name.

People of equal status but younger than her were usually addressed as “Madam.” or “Sir.” Heather had lived in the city before and knew it, so her eyes lit up.

“Can you tell me your name, and how you ended up lying there?”

Isabel gritted her teeth at the words.

‘Why? Because of Nicole, that damned bitch!’

Isabel fell off the cliff and into the deep, rushing waters of the ravine.

Then she was swept downstream to this manor. It took her only a few seconds to realize the situation she was in.

She also knew that this was the moment to lie.

“I don’t remember…… properly, but people called my parents Lords, and I remember the house I grew up in, with lots of maids, and they all called me Lady…….”

Isabel stammered. She described the view of the mansion realistically. Commoners didn’t usually get to see the houses of the nobility.

‘I remember what Grace’s house was like.’

So Isabel’s description of Grace’s house, where she often went to play, was believable.

“What’s your name?”

Leos asked.

“Do you remember your name?”

“Everybody…… called me Isabel…… Lady Isabel.”

Leos admired Isabel’s pitiful appearance. She was beautiful, but almost too beautiful.

“So you were a young lady from a noble family after all, but you don’t remember the slightest thing about how you came to be here?”

“I do remember one thing, a very terrible and sad memory: my family tried to force me into marriage.”

Isabel came up with a plausible lie in a matter of seconds, and told only fragments of the story to keep them guessing.

Isabel was a young lady from a small viscounty in the capital.

But when her parents died, her mean relatives tried to force her to marry a rich, older man.

So she ran away with the help of her people and took up residence in a distant monastery, a month’s journey from home.

While running from them, Isabel had an accident and lost her footing in the mountains.

“Where is that monastery?”

“I don’t know……. I don’t know, I don’t remember anything about it.”

Whenever Isabel tried to probe for details, she would always say she couldn’t remember.

“Maybe it’s a place that doesn’t have a name. I’ve heard that there are many small monasteries that virtuous people set up in the mountains to get away from the world, and those places don’t even make it onto the temple rolls.”

Leos said dully.

Heather was no fool and quickly recognized the flaw in Isabel’s words.

“Agh, my head–-”

Picking up on the hint, Isabel pretends to have a headache.

“Maybe it’s because my parents died and my relatives tormented me so harshly, and my head hurts just thinking about it…….”

“How pitiful, Mother and Father. We must help her.”

Leos already looked deeply sympathetic toward Isabel. Heather thought for a moment.

‘Yes, well, she’s just a poor girl.’

The local people called them ‘The Lord’. The townspeople didn’t recognize nobility.

They were just people from the city with money, not real nobility.

There was no shame or embarrassment in that.

The problem was their only son.

Leos was coming of age, and they never dreamed of finding him a bride. There was no social life in this rural village, and Leos had never met anyone.

Even if there was a social circle, it was rumored that he was weak, so no one of high status would give him their daughter.

But Isabel, the girl he brought home, was beautiful and the same age as his son.

‘Maybe she’s a real noblewoman…….’

If she looked into her and she’s a real noblewoman, he could make her his wife.

If she had met with an accident in the mountains, her family might think she was dead and stop looking for her.

Even if they did, it wouldn’t be easy to forcibly take a child who was already married.

It wasn’t as if they needed a bride with a lot of money, as they had no shortage of it. They lived a very simple life in the countryside, with no luxuries.

So it wouldn’t be a big deal to have Isabel with them.

Despite her reputation, Heather was not an entirely good person; she was a moderately snobbish, moderately calculating, moderately aristocratic person.

Even if they were unable to marry, it was usually the woman who was ruined in these cases, not the man. The Imperial countryside is a much more conservative culture for women.

Besides, they’re helping a girl who appears to be a noble in trouble. Their family had a justification.

‘It won’t hurt.’

Heather made a quick, calculated judgment.

Then she spoke softly.

“Perhaps it would be better for you to take it slow and try to recall your memories, with our help. You can stay as our guest for as long as you like, is that all right, my dear?”

“Of course. Make her feel at home.”

Isabel looked at them, surprised by the words, and then blinked.

“To have such nice people find me, it’s like a dream, thank you. I’ll get myself together as quickly as I can so I don’t cause any inconvenience.”

Isabel’s lips quirked upward as she said that.

‘You opened the door for me first.’

She muttered to herself.

‘You never know, maybe the guest won’t be a guest?’