Of course, if Gabriel turned out to be merely a secondary male character, my remorse would be considerably lessened. After all, stealing Kanna's destined husband and causing unrequited love in one of Kanna's admirers were two entirely different crimes.
*Completely* different.
Brushing aside the unpleasant feeling coiling in my chest, I responded absently to Kanna's chatter until the conversation smoothly shifted to a new topic.
"—the painting?"
"Yes." Kanna's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "They say it was donated to the temple."
"Really?" I tilted my head, genuinely intrigued. "If this is a portrait of the deceased Donau, I'd like to see it."
"Exactly! I wonder how *holy* this masterpiece must be, if they're calling it an apparition of an angel."
"Do you want to go?" I paused, considering. "Unfortunately, I cannot accompany you."
"Why not?" Kanna's face fell. "I thought we were together—"
"Kanna!"
Hena abruptly interrupted her sister, who had been about to suggest we go as a group. *Well done, Hena!*
Confused, Kanna studied my expression. After a moment, understanding dawned, and she nodded.
"Well, yes... You would probably find it unpleasant."
*Exactly.* Curiosity was one thing, but actually traveling to view a corpse immortalized in paint was quite another. I had absolutely no desire to examine someone's remains captured on canvas. A painting of a dead person... for a modern person, that felt somehow... *criminal*, didn't it?
Of course, for Kanna and Hena—inhabitants of this romantic world—everything was different. This was a different era entirely, and the religion here invested death with sacred meaning. If the temple spoke of angels and divine blessings, then perhaps such things genuinely existed in this realm.
"If you want to see it, you should hurry," I advised them.
Gabriel had mentioned wanting to remove the painting. It would likely be destroyed soon.
---
Kanna and Hena were to visit the temple together to view the painting. I had given them a generous travel allowance so they could purchase something delicious and enjoy themselves properly. Ten gold pieces should be sufficient, surely?
In case of pickpockets or highway robbers, I divided the coins into two portions and handed each sister a separate purse.
"My lady..." Hena's voice emerged as barely a whisper. "You could purchase a *house* with this money!"
*Oh, come now, Hena!* What kind of house could one buy for such a modest sum? Did she have any idea how expensive housing was these days?!
*Oh. Right. This is a novel world.*
Although... in the books I'd read, protagonists tossed around thousands of gold coins without a second thought. Perhaps real estate was cheaper here?
"Is that true?" I asked carefully.
"Yes, my lady. A modest house can be purchased for approximately five gold pieces."
*Incredible!* So with the money I'd given them, they could buy *two* houses? Evangeline had mountains of gold hoarded in her chambers, entirely unspent. Now I understood why romance novel heroines always speculated in real estate. *Damn it!* If I'd known the plot of this story, I would have been investing instead of obsessing over that summoning portal!
"I have quite a lot of money too!" Kanna announced proudly, pulling out her own purse.
Inside, one silver coin and a handful of copper ones gleamed dully.
*A lot of money, you say?* But why wasn't there a single gold coin—only one lonely silver? Kanna wasn't exactly new to service... Perhaps her salary was being delayed?
"Hena, what salary do servants usually receive?"
"The Rohanson estate pays well, but elsewhere the annual income is approximately four silver coins."
*Four silver coins?*
"Twenty silver coins equal one gold coin," Hena hastened to add.
*I'm terribly sorry your mistress doesn't know such basic things. Thank goodness I claimed to have lost my memory.*
Twenty silver equaled one gold... So an annual income of four silver was essentially half a gold coin per year? Which meant the ten gold coins I'd casually handed them equaled roughly *fifty years* of work?
No wonder Kanna and Hena had looked so shocked.
But if prices were so low, why did Evangeline possess such an absurd fortune?
*Ah!* I remembered now! The diary had mentioned that Evangeline's mother was the daughter of a duke. This must have been her inheritance—secretly passed to her daughter, kept hidden from that vile Count Rohanson.
So the money Kanna had proudly displayed was genuinely her monthly salary. One silver coin was actually quite substantial.
"My lady, you have given us far too much," Hena said, embarrassment coloring her cheeks.
"It's perfectly fine."
Hena attempted to return the coins, but I refused to accept them. Villains always purchased favor with money—it was practically tradition. Besides, Kanna was the novel's protagonist; she absolutely could not be penniless!
A bitter feeling filled my chest. In romance novels, heroines typically hailed from noble families. Why was Kanna so desperately unlucky?!
Honestly, I didn't understand why the social status requirements seemed so *low* in this world. Perhaps because it was a darker romance novel? The heroine was a servant. The villain wasn't a duchess but merely a countess. The supposed hero was just a knight commander...
*No, that won't do.* Gabriel was definitely unsuitable as the protagonist. Kanna needed a duke. *Period.*
"Then we shall depart," Hena announced.
A carriage bearing the coat of arms of the Counts of Rohanson pulled up before the entrance, and it was time to see the girls off. *My dears, be careful. Don't fall for any scammers' tricks. Beware of suspicious people. And... don't get struck by a carriage!*
"Do you understand what needs to be done?" I asked Kanna quietly.
"Yes. I will verify whether Sir Gabriel is performing his duties adequately."
I harbored nagging doubts about Gabriel, so I had asked Kanna to observe him as well. If he proved incompetent, he was clearly unfit to be the male lead and would remain forever relegated to a supporting role.
I had sent a letter in advance requesting that he assist the girls, and Kanna herself would explain everything as an interested party.
"Can you manage without me?" I asked.
"Yes, because you always watch over us."
Kanna gazed at me with something approaching religious devotion. *Thank you for your trust, but I'm not omnipotent. I cannot keep an eye on you at all times...*
"No one will dare trouble us, because we're traveling in a carriage bearing the coat of arms of the Counts of Rohanson," Hena clarified her sister's meaning.
*Ah. So that's what she meant.*
Kanna hadn't served Evangeline for nothing. What masterful flattery!
---
## — The Temple —
The carriage rolled smoothly as it passed through the gates of the Rohanson estate.
Thanks to the noble family's crest emblazoned on the doors, no one dared block their path, and they reached their destination remarkably quickly. No one in their right mind would throw themselves before the wheels of an aristocratic carriage. Even if someone were struck, the person standing in the way would still be held responsible.
Kanna gazed out the window with unconcealed wonder, watching scenes of bustling city life float past.
"Sister, can we stop by the studio on our return? And purchase some sweets for the lady!"
"Kanna, do you intend to spend the money she gave us?"
"What's wrong with that? She gave it to us precisely so we *could* spend it."
The lady probably didn't know the actual prices and had simply handed over ten gold pieces, but even if she had understood, she still wouldn't have begrudged the expense. She genuinely didn't care whether they returned the coins or spent them. Even if Kanna purchased herself an entire house, the lady would only praise her for it.
*My sister still cannot adjust to our mistress's benevolent attitude*, Kanna thought. *She's constantly afraid of doing something wrong.*
But the mistress had always been lenient with Kanna's insolence.
*I wonder when my sister will finally understand that the lady truly values us?*
Hena showed no signs of changing her mind, so Kanna didn't press the matter.
"Sister, I've simply never been to places like this before." She lowered her eyes and feigned disappointment. "I'm sorry."
"Kanna..."
Hena's expression softened immediately. She was ready to move mountains for this version of Kanna. It might be slightly manipulative, but it was also the truth.
Kanna had been in fragile health since birth and, until recently, had been hovering at death's threshold. It was hardly surprising she'd never visited the city center. Besides, she'd never possessed the money for such luxuries.
And Hena likely hadn't come here often either. She had spent every coin she earned on Kanna's treatment.
"Very well. We'll stop by on our return."
"Thank you, sister! Wonderful!"
Kanna's radiant smile melted the worried lines from Hena's face.
*I want my sister—who sacrificed her entire life for her sick younger sibling—to finally spend money on herself*, Kanna thought. *And I want her to purchase a gift not with the mistress's coins, but with her own hard-earned wages. That would make her truly happy.*
Kanna pondered what she might give her.
"But we cannot linger long. The lady will be waiting."
"Of course. I promise."
Naturally, the lady knew everything Kanna and Hena did outside the estate. But Kanna simply nodded without comment.
*My sister doesn't seem to notice.*
Kanna reached out and poked the eye hovering beside her. It slammed shut in startled fear, then reopened—wet with tears—and fixed its gaze upon her once more.
The mistress had given Kanna this eye.
The other creatures swarming around the mistress—or growing on the estate's walls like spreading mold—were genuinely repulsive. But this solitary eye seemed almost *sweet*, even though by all rights it should have appeared horrifying.
Perhaps because the mistress had given it to her?
This eye guarded Kanna whenever the lady was absent.
One day, it had chased away a servant who was creeping through the rooms on the third floor.
Hena had mentioned there were orders forbidding anyone from ascending to the third floor. The servant had been skulking about as if searching for something valuable to steal from the former countess's chambers.
He clearly hadn't known that Kanna and Hena now resided on the third floor. Kanna hadn't intended to punish him—she had only wanted to frighten him.
She had merely commanded him to kneel. But he had been so terrified that he'd begged for mercy, offering all his money. Kanna hadn't even considered harming him. The sight of a grown man weeping and pleading for his life reminded her too vividly of the day Donau had kidnapped her.
She had let him go.
After that incident, strange rumors began circulating throughout the estate. Hena had told her about them.
"They say the ghost of the countess roams the third floor."
And to escape the ghost's wrath, one must sacrifice a silver coin.
Kanna immediately recognized who had spread this particular rumor.
---
"Excuse me... We have arrived," the coachman announced in a trembling voice, carefully avoiding Hena's gaze. His fear was palpable.
After Hena had become the mistress's confidant, every servant at the estate had begun treating her with exaggerated deference.
*"That very"* personal servant of Mistress Evangeline—that was what Hena was called now. Several staff members had already resigned out of sheer terror. Daisy, according to whispered rumors, had gone blind and been sent to a convent. Compared to such fates, Hena—who continued working calmly day after day—seemed even more mysterious.
Kanna didn't particularly care about the gossip. She spent nearly all her time at the mistress's side and wasn't officially employed, so few people knew her face. They treated her like an ordinary girl. Although, after conversing with her, people often wondered afterward: *"Who* was *that?"*
"Thank you," Hena said to the coachman.
"You're welcome, miss. I shall wait here for you."
*I wonder if this coachman remembers that he and Hena used to chat casually*, Kanna mused. *Now he addresses even a common servant girl with such excessive formality.*
"How *beautiful*!" Kanna exclaimed, gazing up at the majestic temple rising before them.
She didn't spare another thought for the coachman's behavior. There were far more interesting things to occupy her attention.
---