* * *

The clinking of teacups now felt like background noise.

There wasn’t any actual background noise, but with my gauge dropping so drastically, I was starting to feel dizzy.

Caleus, clearly caught off guard, looked at me in shock.

“As I said… I have already made up my mind to support Ateol. My decision will not change. You should take your leave.”

I stood up abruptly and checked my status—my gauge had dropped below half.

Was it at 30%?

The moment I took a few steps, I realized the dizziness wasn’t just in my head.

The world was actually spinning.

I carefully steadied myself, exiting the tea room and quickly boarding the carriage.

Outside the colonnade, heavy rain poured down in torrents.

The sound of the rain roared and faded in waves.

Cloden, who opened the carriage door for me, looked alarmed.

“Tower Master? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just feeling a bit dizzy.”

“I will summon Eretto as soon as we return to the tower.”

Did I even respond to that?

I wasn’t sure.

As the carriage started moving, the dizziness worsened.

A wave of nausea churned in my stomach, and chills spread through my entire body.

Goosebumps crawled up my neck.

Ah, damn it. If my gauge hits zero, I die, don’t I?

So this is how it happens.

The shaking of the carriage and the sound of rain hammering against the roof seeped into my skin like needles.

My eyes throbbed, the back of my neck ached, and my whole body felt as heavy as drenched cotton.

Just when I thought I might really die, we arrived at the tower.

The rain had not let up in the slightest.

As I staggered while getting out of the carriage, a sharp sting spread through my nose—then, a rush of blood poured from it.

ꔚ

“Tower Master!”

Huh?

The voices overlapped strangely.

My body tilted, and for a moment, I thought I would collapse.

But something caught me.

Cloden?

As I blinked through the haze, a glimmer of gold entered my vision before everything went black.

ꔚ

When I opened my eyes, I was met with a familiar ceiling.

Ah, that sounded like something straight out of a reincarnation novel… I tried to push myself up, but it felt as though I were paralyzed.

After struggling for a moment, I barely managed to open my eyes.

My eyelids felt like they had been glued shut.

“Ugh… Ugh…”

“Tower Master?”

Through my blurry vision, I could make out the silhouette of a person.

That was when I finally realized why I couldn’t move.

Ateol had his hand pressed against my chest.

He was scarier than a ghost.

“Get your hand off me.”

The moment I spoke, both Ateol and I frowned at the same time.

My voice was utterly hoarse.

Ateol pulled his hand away, but my body still felt heavy and immobile.

[Health Warning!]

Health remaining: 3.

Tip: Eating something sweet will restore your health.

…Oh.

So that’s why my health never hit rock bottom before—I had been eating sweets regularly.

I don’t even like sweets that much, but for some reason, they had always seemed oddly satisfying.

Turns out, my body wasn’t craving them for no reason.

The system had been guiding me all along.

But why was Ateol here instead of Cloden?

If Cloden were here, I could at least ask him to bring me food.

I narrowed my eyes at Ateol in displeasure.

He tilted his head slightly.

“Is something wrong?”

Of course, something was wrong.

Waking up to find you in my bed—how could that not be awkward?

And where the hell was Cloden?

“If you’re wondering about the steward, he left to fetch food, knowing you’d wake up soon.”

“Oh…”

Of course, it was Cloden.

He always knew exactly what to do.

I absentmindedly tilted my head before turning back to Ateol.

Now was not the time to wonder why Cloden wasn’t here.

The real question was: Why was Ateol here?

I must be more out of it than I thought.

“Why are you here?”

“Do you not remember?”

“Not at all…?”

Ateol furrowed his brows as if he had heard something serious before replying.

“You collapsed into my arms at the tower entrance. When I asked if you were all right, you said, ‘I’m fine. Come inside.’”

“I did…?”

“Yes. There are three witnesses.”

“Who?”

“The steward, the knight commander, and my personal knight.”

“…”

“If including my knight bothers you, I can reduce the witnesses to two.”

What was that supposed to mean?

Either way, I had no recollection of any of this.

Now that I thought about it…

Back at the palace, no—ever since I left the palace, I had been feeling weak and sluggish.

The reason?

Wait. Oh, crap. My gauge!

Panicked, I pulled up my status window.

My gauge had recovered slightly but was still precariously below the halfway mark.

No way. If it drops to zero, I’ll die.

I forced my sluggish brain to come up with a solution.

I had to act exactly as I did in my past life, but this situation never existed back then—there was nothing to replicate.

At least Ateol was here.

As long as he stayed close, my gauge wouldn’t drop any further.

That was a small relief.

Just as I was holding my head in frustration, a knock sounded at the door, and Cloden entered.

He carried a tray filled with sweet and easily digestible foods.

“I heard you didn’t eat anything at the palace either. Eretto emphasized the importance of proper meals…”

“…Thank you, Cloden.”

When I smiled and spoke, Cloden stared at me blankly for a moment before smiling back.

“It’s nothing.”

I used to smile and say thank you like this all the time, didn’t I?

But at some point, I stopped.

Why?

When had even that become tiresome?

Thankfully, just that small expression of gratitude filled my gauge considerably.

Seriously, I have no idea what the criteria for this thing are.

After eating the food and tea Cloden brought, my stamina recovered—up to 12.

Stamina…

How much do other people have?

It was a shame that I couldn’t see other people’s status windows.

As I finished most of the meal, Cloden looked very satisfied and left, saying he’d bring the medicine.

While I was absentmindedly wiping the corners of my mouth, I suddenly felt a rather intense gaze from the side.

“…Why?”

Ateol was staring at me intently.

No, “staring” wasn’t enough to describe it—he was practically drilling holes into me with his eyes.

I flinched without realizing it, and he simply shrugged.

“No reason.”

“You say that after staring at me like that?”

“It’s nothing. I just… thought you smile more easily than I expected.”

“…….”

What the hell is he saying?

Even he must know how weird that sounds.

I gave him a blank look, but he remained confident as if he’d said something completely reasonable.

“What? I can smile at you too.”

I lifted the corners of my mouth and smiled at him. Ateol’s expression darkened even more.

* * *