“You must know already that I’m quite busy traveling because of my business,” said Lord Pearlman. Satisfied that I’d passed his test, he now sat back and spoke to me at a rapid pace. “I leave the castle frequently, although I always come back if there’s an emergency.”

“Okay,” I said, listening quietly.

“I also have personal business to attend to.” His “personal business” was probably related to finding his daughter. “That’s why my assistant must always be here at the castle. If there’s any sort of emergency, they must deal with it first and then send for me right away. It goes without saying that the person staying here cannot be an idiot,” he said pointedly. “Right?”

“Right,” I agreed, as I savored the last of my pudding. “An idiot doctor would cause a lot of trouble.”

“Luckily, you don’t seem like an idiot. I will introduce you to the duchess and Lord Erwan tomorrow.”

Lord Pearlman gestured to a servant and waved him over. Soon, three more glistening puddings sat in front of me.

“If you like something, you can just ask for more. Don’t try to save it for later, it makes you look like a peasant,” he said.

A peasant? I rolled my eyes. He really had a knack for doing nice things in a very irritating manner. Couldn’t he just tell me I did well, or that he’d be happy to work with me?

“I wanted to introduce you today, but the duchess and young master are entertaining visitors,” he said. “Baron Ronan Isidore and his son, Sir Wedrick, will be here for the day.”

I nearly spat out my pudding. That traitor Wedrick Isidore would be in the castle! If I weren’t a doctor, I would’ve tried to kill him on the spot. Doctors do have a lot of knowledge about poisons, after all. Unfortunately, such an act would weigh heavily on my conscience. I had studied medicine to save lives, not take them. I couldn’t use my knowledge to cause harm to another person, no matter who they were.

So Wedrick and his father will be here… After Erwan’s death, the two of them had moved quickly to take over. The thought made me grind my teeth.

It’s all very suspicious, almost as if they’d been planning it... Wait. As if they’d been planning it?!

I felt a strange chill run down my body. As Erwan's only blood relative, Wedrick was the next in line, but he’d moved into the castle right away—as if he’d been waiting. Inheritance among nobles was a complicated matter and usually took months to untangle. After taking over the title of duke, Wedrick had immediately announced his intention to rebel against the crown.

There was no logical way he could have moved as quickly as he had without a lot of preparation in advance.

I swallowed hard. Did he really do what I think he did?

* * *

After the meal, I went on a tour of the castle with Jenny.

It was the first time I’d been in such a grand residence, and I took in my surroundings with great interest. The huge castle was stately and imposing, with rich velvet drapes hanging from the enormous windows and gleaming furniture in every corner. There was not a speck of dust on any surface.

Even this magnificent castle was totally destroyed in the war, I thought.

At that time, I had been treating the wounded rebel soldiers without thinking that I was disloyal to the imperial family. I had simply been following orders. Wedrick and his aides hadn’t been kind to me, or to anyone who worked for them, but I’d had to carry out my duties as a doctor.

Jenny smiled at me, jolting me out of my thoughts. “It seems like the luncheon was a success, miss. I knew it would be.”

“It wasn’t so bad,” I said truthfully. “I just answered what he asked me. He’s planning to introduce me to the duchess and Lord Erwan tomorrow.”

“That is very promising!” she exclaimed while patting me on the shoulder. “Normally he puts his assistants through intense teaching for a week straight, so intense they cry through most of it. He only introduces the ones who endure through it all. He definitely approves of you.”

“Well, of course he does,” I replied. “I already have all the qualities of a good doctor. I have a lot of knowledge and perfect character. Why wouldn’t he approve of me?”

She chuckled merrily at my matter-of-fact statements. “Lord Pearlman is extremely busy and usually away from the castle,” she said. “It will be a great relief for him to have an assistant he can trust.”

“He needs to travel because of business, right?”

“Yes...” Jenny let out a long sigh, looking upset. “Truthfully, it’s not really his business, he just uses it as an excuse. He spends most of his time crisscrossing the continent looking for any news of his daughter.”

“Ah, I see,” I murmured. It felt weird that I knew about such a personal, tragic story.

“He also feels guilt for the death of the old duke,” she said. “They were great friends for many years. It is part of the reason he can’t leave his position here. He won’t abandon the Cereus family.” She laughed dejectedly. “My lord has many burdens on his shoulders, it would be good if you could help with some of them.”

Thinking about the wardrobe in my room, it was clear how much he wished to find his daughter. After all, he bought a completely new set of clothes for her and threw away the old ones every year.

I hadn’t heard anything about a daughter in my previous life. I had to assume this meant he’d died at the hands of Wedrick without ever finding her. Perhaps, if I took over caring for Erwan, Lord Pearlman would be able to spend more time searching for her. Maybe then his attitude would improve.

I walked through the gardens, impressed with my own kindness and generosity, when I heard a ringing voice in the air.

“Erwan, how come you can’t even hit the ball? There’s definitely something wrong with you. You should just go back to bed.”

Erwan? I whipped around when I heard that name.

“I told you people will laugh at you,” the voice snapped. “Don’t play any sports, you’ll only embarrass yourself. You’re too sick to be running around.”

Wait. Who would be so rude and give such terrible advice?

I searched through the gardens until I turned a corner and came upon the sight of a teenager in front of a young, skinny boy.

The teen looked haughty, with light brown hair and dark red eyes. His expression was cruel and mocking. It was the seventeen-year-old Wedrick Isidore. The young boy with the ball had his back turned to me, but I knew it must be Erwan.

“And you shouldn’t eat more than a bite of your meals. If you eat more than that, you’ll get fat because you’re just lying in bed all day,” Wedrick said, continuing his stream of horrible advice.

“Okay...” Young Erwan’s head drooped.

“Don’t eat any of the food from the kitchen today, okay?” Wedrick said, rummaging around his pocket. “If you’re hungry, eat this instead.” He forced a small snack into Erwan’s hand.

Instantly, my hackles were raised. That little punk!

I whirled back to Jenny.

“Miss?” Her eyes went very round as she looked at me in surprise.

I spoke to her as calmly as I could. “You should go inside, Jenny. I have something to take care of.”

“Uh, you do?”

“Yes, I do.”

“But you might forget how to get back to your room!” she exclaimed.

“Don’t worry,” I said firmly. “I memorized the way.”

With that, I thundered down the garden path.