I bid him, struggling to hide my flustered expression.
“Ah, yes. You too, Your Grace.”
Entering the room Jeff had opened for me with a dazed feeling, I was startled once again.
‘Why is it so big, and luxurious to this extent?’
The spacious room had been meticulously furnished from ceiling to floor, without a single exception, using only the finest goods.
‘Gold-trimmed decorations everywhere, and the chandelier looks like it has at least a thousand crystals hanging from it…’
It reminded me of a seven-star hotel room in some oil-rich country I had seen back in my life on Earth.
‘How curious.’
Since guest rooms weren’t rooms used on a daily basis, they were usually simply equipped with only the furnishings needed for a short stay, such as a bed, desk, and wardrobe. Normally, spare furniture from the household was placed in guest rooms, so the interior wasn’t supposed to be this lavish.
‘No matter how much this is a high-ranking noble’s residence, no, even in the Imperial Palace, they wouldn’t put this much effort into decorating a guest room.’
Stepping onto the beautiful, soft carpet, I saw that the enormous bed, large enough for six people to lie on, was draped with a flowing canopy.
Without realizing it, I slightly parted my lips as I looked around the room, when Jeff stood by the doorway and bowed politely.
“Then, please rest comfortably. If you need assistance, there is a cord beside the bed.”
After he left, I flopped down onto the bed.
“Ugh…”
As my exhausted body melted and felt like it was being sucked into the bed, a groan escaped me on its own.
‘My sleeping arrangements changed into a seven-star hotel in just a few hours.’
Just because of one person, Rastan, my lodging had changed to this extent.
Lying down, I turned my head and looked at the wall by the head of the bed. Since Rastan had gone into the room right next door, then probably.
‘He must be right behind that wall.’
Since my previous life, I had regarded him as a good person, a precious friend, but this was the first time I had come this deep into his home.
To think that he was within just a few meters of me as I lay here so comfortably.
‘I wonder if Rastan is resting comfortably like I am right now.’
Even though we were separated by a wall, the thought that we were lying this close to each other made me feel strangely aware.
Thinking about Rastan like that, I fell asleep before I even realized it.
How many hours had passed?
I woke up because sunlight stabbed into my eyes.
“Mmgh…? Why is it so bright… huh?”
Looking outside the window, the sun was, quite literally, hanging in the middle of the sky.
“What, is it daytime?”
Startled, I jumped up and pulled the cord, and soon a maid came in and bowed politely.
“We were instructed not to wake you and to let you rest until you woke up on your own.”
No matter what, it was embarrassing to come to someone else’s home as a guest and sleep in until lunchtime.
After getting ready with the maid’s help and going down to the dining room, I saw that Rastan had arrived first and was sitting there. When he saw me, his face brightened.
“You must be tired, but you woke up earlier than I expected.”
‘…It’s already lunchtime. What on earth did this man think of me?’
Shrinking with embarrassment, I greeted him.
“G-Good morning, Your Grace… no, good afternoon?”
As I sat down, I noticed that he looked somehow tired.
Of course, he must have fallen asleep late at dawn as well, so in a way it was only natural, but just in case, I asked.
“Your complexion does not look good. Did you have nightmares again last night?”
At that, Rastan flinched and touched his own face.
He clearly hadn’t even realized that there was a shadow over his expression.
He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then answered calmly.
“No. Perhaps thanks to you, my dreams were peaceful… but I didn’t get much sleep.”
“Why? You must have been exhausted.”
“…Thinking that you were just beyond the wall made my heart race, so sleep didn’t come easily.”
‘W-what is this? He’s saying something that sounds like a confession!’
Was it some kind of strategy to make my heart flutter and lead me to feel willing to get engaged, even if only by contract?
Even while forcing myself to think of it as a strategy, both of my cheeks warmed helplessly. Rastan looked at me with warm eyes and asked.
“Was your sleeping arrangement comfortable?”
Ah, right. There were many things I wanted to ask about this topic.
“Very much so. But may I ask you one thing?”
“Of course.”
“You said my room was a guest room. But it is so large and luxurious…”
Before I could finish speaking, Rastan hurriedly cut in and asked.
“Was something uncomfortable?”
“No, that is not it. I was just wondering what kind of guest room would be right next to the Head of the household’s room.”
“…Ah. I told the head butler to prepare a good room, and it seems he prepared that one. You are an important guest.”
The answer felt a little beside the point for him, so I asked again.
“Guest rooms are usually closer to the front entrance, are they not? Not the innermost part of the manor, right next to the Head of the House.”
“…It seems that the only good room currently vacant was there.”
I couldn’t understand at all how, in such a massive manor, that could be the only usable empty room.
In my previous life, Rastan had once given me a light tour of this mansion, and even then, just counting the empty rooms and guest rooms I saw easily went beyond ten.
‘But if the homeowner says so, it would be strange to press the issue any further…’
It felt suspicious in a peculiar way, but for now, I decided to let it go.
Just then, dishes that gave off such delicious aromas that my eyes widened were brought in.
After finishing the meal happily, Rastan told me to rest some more and walked me back to my room.
Standing in front of my room, he smiled and spoke.
“There is someone who would like to meet you.”
“Me?”
“She wanted to meet you right away yesterday, but I told her to wait until today. Yesterday, it was important for you to rest.”
When I looked at him with curious eyes, he grasped the handle and opened my door.
“Please, go in.”
But there was no need to go in. Someone inside ran out and wrapped me in a tight embrace.
“My Lady!!!”
“Mm—who…?”
I pushed them away to see their face, and my mouth fell open.
“Sally?!”
My Sally. The Sally I thought I might never see again. The Sally who had torn my heart apart when she appeared before me in a miserable state after suddenly becoming a slave.
Tears immediately welled up in my eyes. Sally’s face was already soaked with tears.
“To be able to see you again like this, my Lady… sob…”
“I know, Sally…”
As I held her and gently patted her, the maid’s uniform she was wearing caught my eye.
It was the exact same uniform as the maids I had seen earlier. As I wiped Sally’s tears, I asked.
“What’s with this outfit? Don’t tell me you got a job here?”
At that, Sally quickly wiped away her tears and answered with a bright face.
“Yes! I was treated here and my body recovered, but I was too scared to go back to my hometown. So I thought I would ask just in case, and His Grace, no, I mean, our Master! He allowed me to work here!”
Already calling him “our Master”.
Just then, Rastan, who had been watching our reunion with a faint smile from behind, spoke.
“It looks like you two have a lot to talk about, so I will take my leave now.”
Ah, right.
‘In my happiness, I ended up neglecting the homeowner a bit too much.’
After awkwardly saying goodbye to him, I sat down at the tea table with Sally.
The moment I sat down, I asked what I was most curious about.
“How did you end up being taken as a slave? You were supposed to go back to your hometown with your severance pay. Do you know how shocked I was to meet you in a place like that?”
“Well…”
The story Sally hesitantly told was deeply shocking. She said she had been kidnapped by several men on a deserted road while traveling back to her hometown.
Of course, her money was taken, and they even made her take some unidentified drug so she couldn’t resist or escape.
That was completely different from the ways slaves were usually acquired, as far as I knew.
‘Usually, I knew that criminals were made slaves by the state, or citizens of defeated nations were taken away, or people who couldn’t repay their debts were dragged off.’
The last method was clearly illegal, but it happened with unsettling frequency.
‘But to seize an ordinary commoner walking along normally, with no debts, and turn them into a slave in an instant.’
Kidnapping innocent people and making them slaves was something I had never even heard of.
The slave trade records of the Lansval household that I had secured only contained information about the sale of slaves they already owned.
There was nothing about where the slaves were obtained from or by what methods.
‘Does that mean there are materials I failed to secure?’
